The world’s leading automotive designers have voted the Alfa 8C Competizione as the 2006 Production Car Design of the Year in Car Design News magazine's annual awards contest; with an overwhelming 73 per cent of their readers placing the stunning new Alfa Romeo sports car into their top three contenders.

The Alfa 8C Competizione, with its powerful new 4.7-litre V8 engine, debuted in full production format at the Paris International Motor Show last autumn, as the first Alfa Romeo built supercar to arrive on the market for several decades.  Designed under Wolfgang Egger, the head of the Alfa Romeo Design Centre, the Alfa 8C Competizione’s takes inspiration from several classic Alfa sports racing cars.

Following the Alfa 8C Competizione home in the Car Design News category reserved for production cars' was the Audi R8, which polled 71 percent, while another exciting new Italian sports car, this time the breathtaking Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano, rounded out the top three with 49 percent. A second category in the Car Design News awards was for concept cars and it was won by the Saab Aero X, created by designer Alex Daniels.
 

With its classic sports car proportions, innovative detailing, and dramatic single piece canopy that seduced so many at its Geneva debut last March, commented Car Design News Editorial Director Brett Paters, "the Aero X is the ultimate concept car of 2006." Second and third places in this category went to the Citroën C-Metisse and Mazda Nagare respectively.

Organised by Car Design News, the world’s leading automotive design magazine, the awards were voted on by more than 100,000 leading automotive designers spread across the world industry worldwide. Established in the USA in 2000 and now based in London, Car Design News has a unique design focus with no road tests or driving impressions, just informed perspectives on car design exclusively written by experienced automotive designers to give a unique designer perspective.