9:18 pm, December 19, 2011
Winner: Citroen.co.uk | Produced by Dagobert
Commended: Volkswagen.co.uk, Audi.co.uk
WITH huge budgets and the capability to speak to some of the biggest names in web design, you would think that car manufacturers have the best sites in the business.
That, unfortunately, is not always the case. In fact, there are some makers out there who get the game so badly wrong that many of our judges voted on some of the worst.
But we’re not here to name and shame the rotten ones – rather to celebrate the creme de la creme of big-budget sites whose aim is to make both consumers’ and dealers’ lives easy. And that maker this year is Citroen.
Staggeringly it’s the second year the charismatic French firm has won this gong. It’s not staggering that they’ve won, more that other manufacturers haven’t upped their game.
Last year the Citroen UK website wooed our judges with a bold, detailed and engaging design – and the same can be said this year too.
There are a few added details this year such as easier navigation and social media integration at the bottom of the website homepage, but the basic Gallic flavour remains. A sweeping carousel showcases a whole host of features. Included are a year’s free fuel offer and a game, plus a chance to win a Citroen DS3 Racing, news about the firm’s motorsport successes, the facility to ‘like’ Citroen on Facebook and promotions on ‘actual’ cars.
The French firm is a deserved winner – a feeling shared by Ewards judge Ashley Hitchcock from Spidersnet, who said: ‘I like the way this website engages the user. The crisp, clean design helps navigate the user to their chosen destination with ease. The addition of the large image-driven dropdown menu also helps expose all aspects of the site.’
New to the Ewards judging panel this year, Autos on Show’s Adam Price added: ‘It’s a design-led website that is rich in information.
‘They have taken significant steps in putting the forecourt at the fingertips of their online customers. It stood out due to ease of navigation and the ‘‘configure a car’’ option is highly detailed and includes a 360-degree internal view.’
