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The Mercedes E-Class has been voted as the EuroCarBody car with the best bodyshell out of nine new series-production entries that included the Jaguar XJ, Audi R8 spyder and BMW 5 Series GT.

The decision was made by a jury consisting of about 400 conference delegates and board members.

Seven years ago, the E-Class model was crowned the winner of the first ever EuroCarBody Award and the model this year achieved top marks in the voting categories "Customer value" and "Innovative process, production and plant concepts".

Mercedes said the active bonnet feature on the bodyshell is one of the developments that "illustrate how devel-opment of the E-Class body focused on customer value at all times".

The active bonnet reduces the risk of injury to pedestrians by raising the distance between the bonnet and engine in the event of a collision.

The feature also has a "reversible design" and if is triggered by a minor bump, the driver can very easily return the bonnet to its original position and reactivate the system. This is done by simply opening the bonnet and then closing it.

Mercedes body manufacture project manager Stefan Tritschler says that the entire production process of the E-Class body is customer-focused.

Besides the customary quality assurance measures, process monitoring procedures are employed for all joining operations to safeguard quality during each and every manufacturing step, he says.