OREANDA-NEWS. The new S-Class has won the world's most prestigious award in car body construction: at the annual EuroCarBody Conference in Bad Nauheim at the end of October, it beat off the competition to achieve first place.

One of the aspects that impressed the jury most was the highly innovative hybrid design of the S-Class body featuring various materials including die-cast aluminium and high-strength steels. (S-Class: Fuel consumption, urban/extra urban/combined cycle: 10.3-5.5 l/100km; combined CO2 emissions: 242-146 g/km; efficiency classes: F-A.). On a related note, the jury also praised the efficient implementation of the required joining technologies such as aluminium MIG welding and the first use of Robscan welding with aluminium in large-scale production.

Other models in the running included the BMW i3, an electric vehicle with CRP body (2nd place), the Lexus IS (3rd place), the Range Rover with all-aluminium body (4th place) and the Infinity Q50 (5th place) with innovations in material and joining technology as well as high production efficiency.