XPeng X9 Wins the Luxury Class in German Car of the Year 2027

The XPeng X9 has won the Luxury class in German Car of the Year 2027 — the category for new cars priced above €70,000, decided by a jury of 47 German and international motoring journalists.

The class winners were announced on 22 September, and the X9 now sits among the five finalists for the overall German Car of the Year 2027 title, which is decided on 2 November.

What the X9 beat, and what it beat it with

The five class winners this year are:

Class	Price band	Winner
Budget	under €25,000	Volkswagen ID Polo
Compact	up to €40,000	Kia PV5
Premium	up to €70,000	Mercedes-Benz GLC (electric)
Luxury	over €70,000	XPeng X9
Performance	—	Hyundai Ioniq 6 N

Every class winner is electric, and a second Chinese brand took a special award: Geely's E2 was named best value. German reports relay GCOTY co-founder Jens Meiners describing the X9 as the jury's "surprise winner" and noting it is the first MPV to take the Luxury group, against 12 other brands — we could not verify that line against a German-language original, so treat it as relayed rather than confirmed.

XPeng's own case for the car, as set out in the post:

• Space: seven 24-inch cases behind a full seven-seat load; 2,554 litres with the third row power-folded; second-row zero-gravity seats that recline 180° with 10-point massage.
• Chassis: rear-wheel steering and dual-chamber air suspension standard, which on a car over 5.3 m long gives a 5.4 m turning radius. The jury's stated reason was the combination of technology, design and interior concept.
• Charging: an 800-volt architecture with a 5C pack, 10–80% in about 12 minutes, which German outlets have treated as one of XPeng's genuine strengths on long drives.

In Germany the X9 starts at €77,600, which puts a Chinese MPV directly into the price band of a Mercedes V-Class — the point the original post is making, and the reason a German jury award matters more than most.

The Australian part, which is the practical one

This is not an award for a car you cannot buy. The X9 has been on sale in Australia since July, with orders open and deliveries starting:

• FWD Standard Range — A$89,900 (up to 535 km WLTP)
• AWD Performance — A$109,900 (up to 580 km WLTP)

It is also the first XPeng sold here with the company's own Turing chip (750 TOPS) running infotainment and driver assistance. In other words: the car that a 47-journalist German jury just put top of the luxury class is the same car in Australian showrooms, competing against the Kia Carnival and EV9 end of the market rather than against Chinese rivals.

What this award is, and is not

• It is a journalist jury award, not a test result. GCOTY ranks new cars by segment, and the Luxury segment is defined by price — above €70,000 — rather than by any measured outcome.
• The X9 has not won the overall title yet. It is one of five class winners; the "German Car of the Year 2027" is announced on 2 November.
• The "first MPV" claim is relayed. It appears in Chinese coverage of a jury co-founder's remarks and is plausible — last year's Luxury winner was the Cadillac Vistiq, an SUV — but we have not seen it in the organisers' own material.
• Specifications are XPeng's. Range, volume, charging times and equipment levels in the post are manufacturer figures.
• An award does not sell cars. What it does is answer the question European buyers ask about a Chinese brand at a German price: whether it belongs in the conversation at all.

The bottom line

A German jury of 47 motoring journalists has put a Chinese people-mover first in the class where German brands have historically been strongest, and it is the same car Australian buyers can order from A$89,900. The commercial value of the trophy is unproven; the symbolism is not. It is the clearest signal yet that the X9's problem in Europe was never the product.

Source: 烟隐烟隐 (Weibo), with the class results from Auto-Medienportal and Australian pricing from Cars24 — translated & adapted for XPENGTech.