“T

his is definitely a great car,” declares Edwin Chuang. The vehicle in question is the new Mercedes-benz E-class, the 10th generation of the brand’s business saloon. Edwin, the CEO and founder of boutique hotel operator sáv Hospitality, has been behind the wheel for about 20 minutes, navigating from the stunning waterfront setting of the Redhill Peninsula along the south side of Hong Kong Island and over its central spine of mountains.

Edwin knows a fair bit about good design— and about cars. With a background in property development, he is a qualified architect, urban planner and interior designer who graduated from the prestigious Parsons School of Design in New York. He spearheaded his company’s recent expansion into the hospitality world with sáv, an acronym that stands for “stylish, attitude, visionary”—the brand’s key values. His ventures now include a hotel in Hung Hom and others in Xiamen, Taipei and Cebu.

The entrepreneur’s first car was a Mercedesbenz E-class, which he owned when he was living in Boston in 2003, and his love affair with the marque has continued ever since. He owns an A-class hatchback, which he uses for daily driving around Hong Kong.