Most of the products entered in Group 4 are automobiles and automobile-related components and accessories. This year there were 50 entries, including those recommended by Judges, but there were noticeably fewer automobiles entered than in last year's 1999 competition. Since the area of automotive product design is one in which consumers are deeply interested, three Judges considered and agreed upon four independent sets of evaluation criteria (for example, mainstream characteristics, groundbreaking characteristics, design impact, and superb detailing) in order to foster even greater design consciousness among the general public. Naturally, we would have liked the entries to demonstrate excellence according to all the criteria, but even if an entry was outstanding according to just one of the criteria, we gave it a positive rating. As a result, most of the products that made it to the final selection process did not exhibit good design qualities according to all the criteria. Yet there were also entries that had to be eliminated during the first round of screening, in which the products were evaluated on the basis of documents, because the explanations of their special features and excellent points were either unclear or weak. We would like to remind entrants that they should attach sketches and structural diagrams as well as photographs when preparing documents for submission and that their explanations and descriptions should err on the side of detail.

In the second round of screening, which lasted two days, we took our time in inspecting each product point by point down to the smallest detail, and arrived at our evaluations after some lively discussion. Since we considered sight recognition and ease of driving to be important design elements for cars, we conducted a full examination, taking the cars out for test drivings if necessary. To ensure that Judges would be knowledgeable about as yet unannounced models and the child seats that were mandated this year, we asked the persons in charge of the submissions to give us individual presentations.

As a result of these rounds of screening, 19 entries qualified for the G-Mark this year. This was a success rate of 38%, 58% if we count only the figures for cars. For the Gold Prize, we selected the newest model of the Honda Civic, which had not yet been announced or gone on sale, and the Volvo V70, which has undergone an incremental increase in refinement and attractiveness. Despite its compact body, the Honda Civic in particular not only guarantees interior space similar to that of an Odyssey but also provides a full, flat floor allowing a comfortable walk-through in both the front and back seats. Its packaging layout, the fundamental basis of car design, develops and expresses in a balanced, honest manner the concept of maximizing room for people and minimizing awareness of the mechanical aspects. Honda Motor Civic's flat floor is nothing new, but we gave it high marks for meeting the difficult challenges of what we might almost call negative demands, in this era when consumers are so fussy about safety performance and environmental adaptability. Together with its notably low fuel costs, these characteristics make the Civic a superior product that will present society with new standards for mid-size compacts.

We took this year's G-Mark competition as an opportunity to demonstrate the design quality standards that will help consumers select child seats, which were mandated in April of this year. With that objective in mind, Judges investigated the matter ahead of time. They recommended four entries in addition to the four submitted, and asked all the entrants to make presentations so that we could make a more objective selection. This resulted in the selection of the BMW Baby and Child Seat as the best product, and given the timing of the legislation concerning child seats, we proposed it for the Annual Theme Prize. We particularly noted that although the other products had been developed by specialized manufacturers, BMW as an automobile company had taken on the responsibility of developing these seats, just as it had taken on the responsibility of developing ordinary seats for its cars. The company mobilized its entire workforce to monitor the seats, and it analyzed the results of this monitoring in great detail as it tried to create a product that was perfectly safe, easy to use, and reliable. It was a superior child seat, which not only functioned superbly, but reflected painstaking attention to styling. As child seats become more widespread, they should not be viewed as unexciting necessities manufactured merely to comply with the law. They should instead play a role in exemplifying well-finished, attractive leading design concepts that increase our quality of life.

Regrettably, we did not find any automotive components or accessories other than child seats that we could recommend for the Gold Prize or the Theme Prize. Compared with the high levels of accomplishment seen in the design of automobile bodies, we found products showing insufficient concern and sensitivity for consumers, especially when it comes to the details. We would like to see superior entries in the area of components and accessories that further increase the attractiveness of automobiles.