The organisation’s 75-member jury made this a very good year for Mercedes-Benz. The German carmaker claimed three of the five awards, including the top prize for the new C-Class sedan. Said Mercedes’ global communications director Christoph Horn: “We aimed to show with the new C-Class that in the premium mid-sized segment, you can have luxury that is usually at home in the higher segments.” The C-Class tipped the Ford Mustang and Volkswagen Passat for the win.

Mercedes also took the World Luxury Car of the Year award, with the new S-Class Coupe. Horn commented, “This is something that we’re extremely proud of because the S-Class Coupe is la bella macchina, but from Sindelfingen, Germany.”

And it was the Mercedes-AMG GT that roared off with the World Performance Car trophy. Rob Moran from Mercedes-Benz USA said: “We’re proud of our AMG team for this, the second clean-sheet sports car design we’ve delivered. Also, we kind of think of our cars as our kids, so as parents, we’re proud of them when they do well.”

Winning the World Car Design of the Year, the Citroën C4 Cactus continued its global roll, having just won the Production Car of the Year award from the UK-based Car Design News.

The World Green Car trophy was awarded to the BMW i8. Ian Robertson of the BMW’s Management Board said: “This is not only a sports car for the future, but it pioneers new materials. Plus, it’s a fully connected car.”

The new auto-show season kicks off in September with the Frankfurt motor show.

If you would like to comment on this or anything else you have seen on BBC Autos, head over to our Facebook page or message us on Twitter.