Asia Briefing: German cars scoop top awards in China

The Chinese share the global affection for German cars, but they are particularly fond of the Mercedes S-Class, and this scooped the debutant China Car of the Year award at the Guangzhou Car show.

President and CEO of Mercedes-Benz China Nicholas Speeks said the award, which won out of a group of 53 contenders, "reaffirms the model's stature and position in China, its top market worldwide".

While you can understand perhaps how the Porsche 918 Spyder became the first winner of the China Performance Car of the Year title, a real triumph for German engineering, or marketing skill, came with the announcement that Porsche's Panamera E-Hybrid won the China Green Car of the Year title.

Pleasant surprise
Even Porsche China's chief operating officer Michael Kirsch seemed surprised at the luxury sports car winning an environmental award.

“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,” said Mr Kirsch.

Car sales remain strong in China. Total sales of passenger cars, sport utility vehicles, multipurpose vehicles and minivans surged 14.9 per cent year-on-year to 1,631,394 units in November, according to figures from the China Passenger Car Association.