The MAN Lion’s City E gets crowned with the iF Gold Design Award 2020

The MAN Lion’s City E has been chosen as the winner of the iF Gold Award in the “Automobile/Vehicle/Bike” category by the design judging panel of the iF International Forum. The bus design team has now won an iF Design Award for the fifth year running. This year, also BYD won a prize at the iF Design Award for the ‘Home from Home’ design concept.

Over 7,000 candidates from 56 for the iF Design Award

78 international design experts from more than 20 countries chose this year’s iF Design Award winners from a total of 7,298 entries from 56 countries. The judging panel also acknowledged outstanding achievements in design with a particularly special award: the iF Gold Award. In the “Automobiles/Vehicle/Bikes” category, the design of the MAN Lion’s City E won over the experts to win the coveted award. The award winners will be honoured at a ceremony in Berlin on 4 May.

«Compared to last year, the number of entries increased by around 1,000. With that in mind, we can take even greater pleasure from the fact that the MAN Lion’s City E came out on top – and won an iF Gold Award to boot,” says Rudi Kuchta, Head of Business Unit Bus at MAN Truck & Bus, who adds: “Once again, our design team has put in an incredible shift. With this latest success story, they have brought us one step closer to becoming the number 1 supplier in the European city bus segment. This also rings true with what many customers say: that the MAN city bus is the most beautiful city bus on the market».

A clean and consistent design, according to the jury

Here the motivation from the jury from the official website of the award: «This is how good an electric bus can look! The new Lion’s City E is the flexible-length base vehicle of the new MAN city bus family. With its modern and high-quality appearance, this bus sets standards in its class. Its dynamic, timeless lines give it a formal appearance while also emphasizing its outstanding modular properties. Thanks to the C&T and light concept, the wheelchair-accessible and barrier-free interior is generous, inviting and bright. For the benefit of the driver, the ergonomically designed cockpit is both highly functional and aesthetically attractive. Ergonomic and aesthetically pleasing, the design of this electric bus is clean and consistent. Outside, the front with brand-specific headlights impressed us, as did the use of glass surfaces and modular body panels. On the interior, high quality materials and a modern color scheme shine through in every detail».

The official opinion of the design judging panel of the iF International Forum stated: “In terms of the exterior of the vehicle, we were impressed by the front end with its brand-specific headlights, not to mention the use of glass surfaces and modular body parts.” It went on to state: “The interior of the vehicle is characterised by glistening high-quality materials and a modern colour scheme that is reflected even in the minutest details.”

MAN, the fifth iF Design Award in a row

The iF Design Award has been awarded annually since 1953 on the basis of established criteria. These criteria include the outer appearance and design of the product, the degree of innovation, ergonomics and functionality as well as environmental aspects.

MAN was amongst the winners at the very first awards ceremony in 1953 and, since then, has picked up a total of 15 iF Design Awards; four of which being the coveted iF Gold Award. “This award is one of the most prestigious design awards in the world. The fact that our bus design team has now won it for the fifth year in a row makes us extremely happy. It is also an impressive demonstration of how much innovation and outstanding design work goes into our buses. Thanks to the incredible level of collaboration across all of our departments, we have managed to achieve the ideal result for our customers, drivers and passengers once again,” says Stephan Schönherr, who, in his role as Vice President Styling Bus, is in charge of omnibus design for the brands MAN and NEOPLAN at MAN Truck & Bus.

In 2016, the iF Design Award went to the MAN Lion’s Intercity, in 2017 to the NEOPLAN Tourliner, in 2018 to the MAN Lion’s Coach and in 2019 to the MAN Lion’s City. The fully electric MAN Lion’s City E, which will go into series production in the second half of 2020, is now the fifth prizewinner in a row.