Autocar and Courland International are shouting out to university students to enter the 2014 Autocar-Courland Next Generation Award, the automotive industry talent search that is regarded as the premier competition of its type.
Students from all courses are encouraged to enter.
The 2014 winner will be rewarded with a £7500 paid work experience package, comprising one month at each of the contest sponsors: Jaguar Land Rover, McLaren Automotive, Peugeot, Skoda and Toyota.
Head judge and Autocar editor-in-chief, Steve Cropley, said: “The UK automotive sector is seeing incredible growth and success and now is a great time to join the industry.
“The future is just as important as the present; fresh talent with new ideas is crucial to the continuous evolvement and achievement of the industry and, as such, it welcomes new and original concepts. I say to students: enter the competition; you’ve got to be in it to win it. What do you have to lose?”
The winner of the 2012 competition, Roberto Pace, now works at McLaren Automotive and 2013 winner Jake Larsson starts his work experience this month at Skoda.
The contest was launched in 2009 to offer students a unique chance to launch their automotive industry career.
To enter the competition, students need to answer, a brief in 500 words and submit their entry via the Autocar-Courland Next Generation Award website – autocar.co.uk/nextgenerationaward – by 1 September 2014.
If selected for the next stage of the competition, students will need to demonstrate how the idea could be made viable within a business environment and the advantages it would offer.
Submissions are welcomed from all disciplines, including – but not limited to – engineering, marketing and communications, design and media. Special credit will be given to the originality of entrants’ suggestions.
The six best entrants will attend a mentoring session with one of the assigned judges from the 2014 sponsor companies to refine their idea and presentation skills.
This will be followed by the final judging day at the home of Autocar at Teddington Studios on 12 November 2014. The entrants will make presentations to a panel of leading industry executives from the 2014 sponsor companies. At the end of the day, three finalists will be selected.
The three finalists will be invited to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders’ annual dinner in London on 25 November, where the winner will be announced.
Your chance to win a paid work experience package
If you’re a student then enter by answering the brief:
‘Describe, in no more than 500 words, an idea, innovation or
change to corporate policy that would improve the UK automotive business.’
The idea could work in any area of the automotive business –
from concept through to the sales showroom and aftermarket.
Submit your entry via autocar.co.uk/nextgenerationaward – by 1st September 2014
