It’s a meeting of core business and future promise: the Honda CBR1000RR-R Fireblade SP motorcycle and the Honda e Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV) are both now on display in the Red Dot Design Museum.
You’ve no doubt heard of Red Dot: it’s an internationally recognised independent organisation that analyses and rewards commercial design. The annual Red Dot Award: Product Design winners are chosen by a panel of 40 judges who evaluate and discuss each entry.
Both Honda vehicles form part of the 2021 special exhibition at the Red Dot Design Museum in Essen, Germany.
Honda is of course the world’s largest maker of internal combustion engines – about 14 million of them every year, encompassing everything from automotive to marine and industrial; and super-fast motorcycles. But it’s also investing heavily in electric power, which is where the acclaimed Honda e comes in. Every Honda car will have some form of electrification by 2022.
“The Honda e was awarded the Red Dot: Best of the Best because the jury was amazed by the car at first sight,” says Red Dot’s Peter Zec. “I think it stands for a kind of paradigm shift… it connects your home with mobility, it is a real smart product and it goes far beyond our imagination. I don’t know any other car that can achieve this at the moment.”
Meanwhile, back to old school: the CBR1000RR-R Fireblade SP won the Red Dot Award in the motorcycle category.
“The jury liked it very much,” say Zec. “And we have really crazy judges that challenged the bike, including a professional racing bike rider. It’s not just good design – it has perfect performance too.”
