Mercedes S Class is first-ever China Car of the Year

The luxury sedan scooped the top honor at the inaugural award ceremony held during the Guangzhou Auto Show.

The car beat 52 other makes and models -- whittled down to three finalists ahead of the ceremony last week -- to what is hoped to become a coveted title, knocking the Range Rover and Chang'an Ford Mondeo into runner-up positions. Of receiving the ceremony's top honor, President and CEO of Mercedes-Benz China Mr. Nicholas Speeks, said: 'the decision reaffirms the model's stature and position in China, its top market worldwide.'

As well as the overall winner, there were prizes for different car categories with Porsche's hybrid hyper car, the 918 Spyder, becoming the first China Performance Car of the Year.

What's more, the same company's Panamera E-Hybrid GT car was named the China Green Car of the Year, leading Chief Operating Officer of Porsche China, Mr. Michael Kirsch, to say: 'it makes us humble that Porsche has won two awards tonight. I'm surprised a luxury sports car can win a green car award. That means our effort in developing green technology has paid off.'

The final award, for outstanding design, went to the Citroen DS5, or, as it is known in China, Chang'an PSA DS5. According to the jurors, it was chosen for 'breaking the rules of a conventional design with its unique style.'

The awards were open to any new car that went on sale in China between October 1, 2012 and September 30, 2013 and winners were selected and voted on by a panel of 10 independently appointed automotive magazine editors.

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