Das Goldene Lenkrad

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Das Goldene Lenkrad ('The Golden Steering Wheel') is one of the best-known German awards for new car models. It has been awarded since 1976 by the Axel Springer SE-owned tabloid BILD am Sonntag (BamS), since 2009 in cooperation with Auto Bild.

The rules were tightened in 2017. For the first time, the results in everyday fuel consumption had an impact on the grading of the test cars. If the difference between the specified factory consumption and actual consumption was too large on a fixed test track, this led to the deduction of points.

In addition, the vehicles were randomly inspected by the independent testing organisation DEKRA. If there were too many deviations from the legal limits applicable from September 2017, the car was disqualified.

Tom Drechsler, Editor-in-Chief Auto of the BILD Group: "The new tests in the style of doping controls have two consequences: They make the price even more valuable: for the customers and for those who build the cars."

In the case of diesel vehicles, the DEKRA test was mainly concerned with nitrogen oxide emissions; in the case of petrol engines, the particle values were determined.

The 2018 award ceremony was cancelled on 22 June 2018 due to exhaust gas manipulations.^[1]