The fiendishly good-looking Ford Fiesta has won a prestigious “Red Dot” award for international product design and has been praised by the judges as one of the “most stylish cars in the world”.

The Red Dot design awards are presented annually by Essen-based Design Zentrum Nordrhein Westfalen, a German design institution.

The jury assesses each entry against a series of criteria which includes innovation, design, functionality and quality. For the 2009 award, 3,231 submissions were received from 49 countries.

The awards are presented in three categories: product design, communication design and design concept. Within each category there are 17 product areas covering a broad diversity of goods, from sofas to caravans, watches to computers.

Previous automotive winners have included the Maserati Quattroporte, the Mercedes R Class, and the Lamborghini Murcielago Roadster.

The red dot design award is the latest in a long line of accolades received by the new Fiesta, according to Ford. Among recent awards, it was named Semperit Irish Small Car of the Year for 2009.

Earlier this month, Fiesta was named one of the three finalists in the 2009 World Car Awards; the winner will be announced in New York next month.

Reproduced courtesy of Irish Examiner.