The Geely GC9 was declared 2016 China Car of the Year (CCOTY) at an awards ceremony during the Guangzhou Auto Show.
Geely, who have owned Swedish car giant Volvo since 2010, revealed the flagship GC9 in 2014 which becomes the first domestic model to win the China Car of the Year title. There were 140 candidates eligible, with the Geely GC9 coming out on top after convincing 22 jurors at the CCOTY Beijing test-drives beginning of November. The evaluation rules allow all jurors test-drives in Beijing, two weeks before the final awards ceremony, before voting starts.
The prize was received by President and CEO of Geely Mr. 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. And as a Chinese domestic brand, we will give everything to improve the reputation of Chinese manufacturers."
The CCOTY jurors noted that the Geely GC9 had "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."
Jens Meiners, Vice Chairman of the World Car Awards commented: "The China Car Awards have quickly grown into a standard of excellence on the Chinese market, a market with unique demands and preferences. This year's winner demonstrates that the Chinese auto industry is fully capable of creating cars that take the lead in a tough and fair competition. As vice chairman of the World Car Awards, I would like to convey our congratulations to the participants and winners, as well as the distinguished jury of the China Car Awards. We are proud of our inspiring and successful relationship."
Other awards included the 2016 China Design Car of the Year - won by the Mercedes-Benz AMG GT and the 2016 China Performance Car of the Year, which was won by the Ferrari 488 GTB. The 2016 China Green Car of the Year was awarded to the Lexus NX 300h while the Volvo XC90 scooped 2016 China SUV of the Year.