CNH wins big at Good Design awards

CNH Industrial has emerged as the big winner at the 2020 Good Design Awards announced last week, with its agricultural brands - STEYR and New Holland, its construction brand CASE and powertrain brand FPT Industrial all winning an award each in the Transportation category.

Conferred by the Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design and the European Centre for Architecture, Art, Design and Urban Studies, these awards recognise products and concepts featuring innovative and ergonomic designs across a wide range of categories including electronics, medical, furniture, robotics and more.  

STEYR’s Konzept Tractor, New Holland’s BigBaler 1290 High Density, CASE’s ‘Project Zeus’ concept electric backhoe loader and the FPT Industrial concept Cursor X engine managed to impress a panel of judges comprising design professionals, industry leading specialists, design journalists and critics.

STEYR’s Good Design Award was given in recognition of the creative yet practical thinking behind the Konzept, a striking study of the future of tractor development, CNH said. The distinctive design brings real-world benefits in areas ranging from performance to visibility to sustainability. Examples include the minimalist cabin interior where information is projected on to transparent screens, enabling maximum visibility and enhancing operator comfort and productivity.

The award also acknowledges the Konzept’s forward-thinking technology, including an innovative hybrid power system combining a conventional engine, a generator and electric drives. The concept tractor was designed in conjunction with sister CNH Industrial powertrain brand FPT Industrial. Its modular hybrid powertrain system is compact, smart and efficient enough to allow different power sources to be used depending on application. As a result, the tractor can be operated with zero noise/exhaust emissions where possible, CNH said.

The New Holland BigBaler 1290 High Density was commended for its design vision and enhanced operational efficiency. The product’s flowing lines were inspired by nature, specifically the sight of crops swaying in the breeze as they grow, and its sinuous, sleek form reflects the machine’s functionality.

The BigBaler 1290 High Density’s Loop Master knotting technology helps eliminate twine offcuts, thus saving farmers about 6km or 46kg of twine over the course of a baling season, CNH explained.

The CASE ‘Project Zeus’ electric backhoe loader prototype combines the essence of CASE’s heritage and its mission to enhance sustainability in construction, CNH said. The electric machine has the same power and performance as its standard diesel equivalent and delivers significantly lower operating costs, the company added. Production models of the concept, to be branded as the CASE 580 EV, will be delivered in early 2021. 

CNH said the jury was impressed by how the concept conveyed design heritage stretching back to 1957, while also delivering an efficient and clean operation. It was also commended for its innovative lighting/backlighting design elements, clean lines and contouring, as well as a modern and intuitive user experience.

The FPT Industrial Cursor X is a concept engine designed for ‘Planet Earth’ defined by the four ‘M’ philosophy. The first ‘M’ is for ‘Multi-power’, meaning it can be powered by the most sustainable fuel for the specific mission – natural gas, hydrogen, fuel cell electric generation or battery-stored energy. Next is ‘Modular’ which makes the unit easy to assemble and integrate into a vehicle, while the third ‘M’ stands for ‘Multi-application’ to power a wide variety of machines from agriculture to construction; and from commercial vehicles to power generation applications. The last ‘M’ stands for ‘Mindful’, meaning the engine is self-learning and fully connected.

The Cursor X was recognized for bringing the ‘engine out from under the hood’, transforming it into a design statement in itself.