Tata Motors, with the Zest from its passenger vehicle (PV) and the Ultra from its Commercial Vehicle (CV) stable, has won the top honours at the recently concluded 2014 CII Design Excellence Awards. The Design Excellence awards were initiated by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in 2011 to establish design as a tool for national competitiveness in the country.

The Zest won the overall award in the ‘Mobility’ category from among a field of more than 10 vehicles, including commercial vehicles, special purpose vehicles and two-wheelers, prevailing over competition from five different categories. Furthermore, the Zest also bagged the first rank in the passenger vehicle category as the best designed car. On the other hand, the Ultra won the best designed truck award in the four-wheeled CV category.

Commenting on the awards, Pratap Bose, Head of Design, Tata Motors, said “We at Tata Motors are thrilled to have received this award for the Zest and the Ultra. It is a recognition of the creative talent of our 200 design staff from nine nationalities in our three Global Design studios in Pune, Coventry and Turin. It has been our constant endeavour to provide best-in-class products and services, and this award only strengthens our belief further. DesigNext is one of the three critical vectors supporting the ‘Intense Product Focus’ pillar under our new HorizoNext strategy. The new design language is always forward looking, and anticipates the emotional and functional needs of our customers in both PV and CV markets in India and globally. The design language establishes the exciting nature of the automotive business and expresses this in a unique and recognizable way to make all Tata Motors products stand out. The design of our vehicles is one of the major focus areas for us and we are determined to offer cutting-edge design solutions to our customers which speak a global language.”