NZ motoring visionary presents Volvo with international award

Sandy Myhre (left)with Dr Lotta Jakobsson and Marta Garcia in Milan.   Photo: Supplied

Four women members of the jury for Women’s Worldwide Car of the Year were in Milan, Italy late last month to present an award to Volvo and to conduct a panel discussion.

They were Marta Garcia, Executive President of Women’s Worldwide COTY (WWCOTY), New Zealander Sandy Myhre, Honorary President of WWCOTY, Monica Secondino from Italy and Sabina Kvášová from the Czech Republic. 

The award was for the Most Female-Friendly Car Company. It is called the Sandy Myhre Award (in honour of the Myhre who started WWCOTY), and she was there to present the trophy to Lotta Jakobson from Volvo.

The press event was held at the Volvo Studios in Milan.  The panel discussion was moderated by Maddalena Fossati, Director of La Cucina Italiana and CondeNast Traveller and preceded by a greeting from Michele Crisci, President of Volvo Car Italia.

Dr Lotta Jakobsson is Volvo’s Senior Technical Specialist, Injury Prevention. Photo: Volvo

The panel discussion also had the participation of Dr Lotta Jakobsson, Senior Technical Specialist Volvo Safety Centre, Katharina Sachs, Senior Exterior Designer, Volvo Cars, Chiara Angeli, Head of Commercial Operations Volvo Car Italia, and Myhre.

After the session, Myhre presented her award to Jakobsson. Myhre said the event was well-attended and made a valuable contribution to women and motoring.

“There were a lot of one-on-one interviews after the discussion and the award presentation so the event got a lot of coverage in Italy and in Europe generally.  I was proud to be a part of it,” said Myhre.

The WWCOTY is the only car awards group in the world comprised exclusively of women motoring journalists, including AutoMuse’s Liz Dobson.