Mercedes-Benz has taken home three awards from 2011 Drive Car of the Year, including the Drive Car of the Year Overall winner award which went to the C 250 CDI.

The Managing Director of Mercedes-Benz Cars, Mr Horst von Sanden was very pleased by the win. “The latest C-Class has been an instant success not only here in Australia but also around the world. We worked hard with the factory to come up with the right specification that would add additional value to an already great car.

Winning two categories and taking out the overall 2011 Drive Car of the Year trophy is a very exciting and proud moment for Mercedes-Benz,” said von Sanden.

Not only was the C 250 CDI judged the best passenger car against the best of the best (regardless of category), the judges mentioned it was one of the toughest fields in the history of the award.

“Forty-six cars were selected across 13 categories in this year's awards, with prices ranging from $18,990 to $340,000. They were chosen from more than 250 models driven by Drive journalists during the past 12 months”, said the Drive Team.

In the category Best Luxury under $80,000, the Mercedes-Benz C 250 CDI was up against some stiff competition but the “Mercedes-Benz C 250 CDI stood out in this category with its classy cabin, excellent road manners and super-efficient diesel engine.

Everybody wants more for less these days, and that premise is the key to the success of Drive’s Car of Year for 2011, the Mercedes-Benz C 250 CDI.

The family-sized Benz has more torque, or pulling power, than a lot of petrol-guzzling V8s, yet it uses less fuel than the average city runabout.

The secret to this impressive balancing act is the diesel engine that lurks beneath its stately bonnet”, said the Drive team about the category and overall winning Mercedes-Benz C 250 CDI.

In the Best Performance over $60,000 category, the C 63 AMG Coupé took out the award against two very different performance cars.

The Drive team including racing legend John Bowe said “The ballistic Benz bowled over the high-octane opposition in this year's Drive Car of the Year awards with bullet-like acceleration and a wonderful exhaust note.

And it was a clear win for the Benz too. Everyone who drove it simply loved it”, said the Drive team.