NEW YORK, April 2 — At the annual ceremony held today at the New York International Auto Show, the German manufacturer not only picked up the top honour but also the awards for best performance car and best luxury car.

2015 World Car of the Year: Mercedes-Benz C-Class

The latest generation C-Class, Mercedes’s entry-level executive sedan beat quite eclectic but strong competition from the Volkswagen Passat — which has just been named European car of the Year — and the latest generation Ford Mustang to scoop the top prize.

While German marques have come to dominate the overall best car category — picking up the award in six of the last seven years — the performance car award usually goes to something with a more Italian flavour. However, here too the latest flagship hot Merc, the Mercedes AMG-GT, came out top. beating the latest Jaguar F Type and the phenomenal BMW M4 in the process.

In the luxury car category there were no surprises. The only thing that can compete with a Mercedes S Class, even in new coupé form, is a Rolls-Royce, meaning that the Range Rover Autobiography Black and the BMW i8 didn’t stand a chance.

However, the i8, which is one of the most environmentally minded and technologically advanced supercars ever built did scoop the Green Car of the Year award, the only category that is decided by a group of environmental motoring experts and scientists, rather than a pool of leading motoring journalists.

Quite deservedly, considering how exciting its styling, despite being aimed at a very mainstream audience, the Citroen Cactus was named 2015 World Car Design of the Year and in doing so was the only non-German car company to be honoured at this year’s ceremony, which also included the Mercedes-Benz C-Class and the Volvo XC90. — AFP-Relaxnews