The 2016 China Car of the Year is the Geely GC9. This is the first domestic model to receive the award, which was handed over during the 2015 Guangzhou Auto Show.
The prize was received by the company’s president and CEO, An Conghui, who said: “Geely is of great honour to be awarded China Car of the Year. The GC9 is just the beginning of a new series of highly competitive models.”
In order to be eligible for the award, all cars had to enter the Mainland Chinese market between September 30, 2014, and October 1, 2015. The winner was voted by 22 jurors, who had to choose between no less than 140 candidates and justified their pick by saying:
“[The Geely GC9 is] a perfect blend of a new modern Chinese design language with state of the art technology from Volvo. The GC9 is spacious, luxurious with appealing quality and overall highly competitive within the mid-size segment. It’s a leap forward compared to former Chinese domestic models.”
Besides the 2016 China Car of the Year, there are also four other different categories, which include the 2016 China Design Car of the Year, won by the Mercedes-AMG GT S, the 2016 China Performance Car of the Year, which was the the Ferrari 488 GTB, the 2016 China Green Car of the Year, won by the Lexus NX300h and the 2016 China SUV of the Year, which was won by the Volvo XC90.
The Geely GC9 was first shown last year, in Guangzhou. The model has the company’s new design language and it was penned by Volvo’s former styling boss, Peter Horbury. It is based on the KC Concept, unveiled in Shanghai back in 2013, and it is Horbury’s first vehicle developed as a Chief Designer at Geely Auto.
Top 3 Finalists for 2015 China Car of the Year:
1. Geely GC9 | 104 points
2. Mercedes-Benz Maybach S-Class | 61 points
3. Jaguar XE | 55 points
Top 3 Finalists for 2015 China Performance Car of the Year:
1. Ferrari 488 GTB | 116 points
2. Porsche 911 GT3 RS | 55 points
3. Mercedes-Benz AMG GT S | 49 points
Top 3 Finalists for 2015 China Design Car of the Year:
1. Mercedes-Benz AMG GT S | 61 points
2. Ford Mustang | 59 points
3. Volvo XC 90 | 52 points
4. Geely GC9 | 48 points
Top 3 Finalists for 2015 China Green Car of the Year:
1. Lexus NX 300h | 92 points
2. Audi A3 Sportback e-tron | 73 points
3. BMW 530Le Plug-In Hybrid | 55 points
Top Finalists for 2015 China SUV of the Year
1. Volvo XC 90 | 72 points
2. GAC Toyota Highlander | 54 points
3. Land Rover Discovery Sport | 47 points
3. Ford Edge | 47 points
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