Honda has won two honours at the 2023 Red Dot Design Awards, for the all-new Civic e:HEV and for the Civic Type R. Honda also celebrated a further two Red Dot Design Awards wins, for the CB750 Hornet and XL750 Transalp motorcycles.
The Red Dot Design Awards are an internationally sought-after distinction, recognising outstanding product design that is aesthetic, functional, smart or innovative. Selected by a panel of 50 international experts that tests and evaluates each entry, the winners reflect the latest technical, social, economic and ecological requirements of consumers.
The all-new Civic e:HEV hatchback followed a development ethos of ‘Exhilarating Civic’, focussing on how the exterior and interior packaging can work together to create a more comfortable and refreshing in-car experience that will enhance owners’ everyday lives.
The latest model to adopt Honda’s noiseless, elegant design direction, the new Civic features a longer wheelbase, a lower, sleeker roof line, and a lower belt line that increases the glasshouse. This not only improves outward visibility, but also delivers the same sense of space and airiness experienced inside the original Civic.
Developed under the model concept of creating the “Ultimate Sports 2.0”, the new Civic Type R enhances the sleek and sporty silhouette of the standard model, adding wider arches, wide flow-formed 19” wheels, aggressive track-focused styling and a functional rear wing that produces genuine downforce. Internally, the new Type R pays homage to its iconic predecessors, featuring red carpet and figure-hugging sports seats, along with a new metal teardrop weighted shift and a bespoke digital dialset.
On two wheels, the CB750 Hornet motorcycle also took home a product design award. The revived nameplate sits atop a middleweight naked sport bike that takes inspiration from its ancestor, featuring a brand new 755cc parallel twin-cylinder engine, cradled by a brand-new lightweight steel-diamond frame. Honda’s design team in Rome penned the CB750 Hornet as a new, contemporary expression of technical beauty with sharp lines and aggressive angles. The main signature of the Hornet is the fuel tank, which takes inspiration from the shape of a hornet’s wing and typifies the muscularity and athleticism associated with Streetfighter style motorcycles.
In addition, the XL750 Transalp received top honours from the Red Dot jury. Marking a return of the Transalp name to Honda’s motorcycle line-up after nearly a decade, the XL750 Transalp brings the comfortable do-it-all crossover to a new generation of riders. Built around the same all-new 755cc parallel twin-cylinder engine as the Hornet, it faithfully references the iconic 1986 original XL600V Transalp but with an unmistakeably modern look, thanks to the sculpted fairing and screen that work together to reduce buffeting and increase weather protection. Sleek, simple, and clean, the iconic long-legged stance remains, projecting the adventurous intent for which the bike is renowned.
This year’s accomplishments bring the number of Red Dot Design Awards won by Honda to 13 since 2020, including a ‘Best of the Best’ accolade for the Honda e in 2020. Both it and the CBR1000RR-R Fireblade SP have since been inducted into the Red Dot Design Museum in Essen, Germany, one of the world’s most significant exhibitions of contemporary design.
