2011 WesBank / SAGMJ Car Of The Year Finalists
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A vote consisting of the full members and a jury made up of 26 selected members of the South African Guild of Motoring Journalists (SAGMJ) have chosen the following ten finalists to partake in the 2011 WesBank / SAGMJ Car of the Year competition to compete for honours in the country’s premier motoring event.
BMW 5 Series 530d
Citroen DS3 1.6 THP Sport
Ford Figo 1.4 Ambiente
Honda CR-Z 1.5 i-VTEC Hybrid
Hyundai iX35 2.0 CRDi GLS Automatic AWD
Hyundai Sonata 2.4 GLS Automatic Exec
Kia Sportage 2.0 VGT Diesel AWD Auto
Opel Astra 1.4T Enjoy Plus
Volkswagen Amarok 2.0 BiTDI 4x2 Double Cab
Volkswagen Polo 1.6 Comfortline TDI 77kW
The next step in the process is to determine the winner from a two-day test session to be held in February 2011 at the Gerotek test facility near Pretoria, where the cars will be assessed independently by the Jury members.
In keeping with the broadened competition the testing at Gerotek will allow the vehicles to be evaluated under the conditions individual vehicles would be expected to perform under. Routes are designed to evaluate 4x4s or sports cars, as the average consumer would use them.
While Jury members are already familiar with the vehicles they have voted into the final, the testing days offer an opportunity to re acquaint themselves with the cars.
It allows Jury members to pay close attention to the cars’ aesthetics, build quality and ergonomics, while considerations based on perceptions of value for money, cost of a spares’ basket, safety features and environmental friendliness can be taken into account before scoring the top ten.
Fuel consumption figures are also available as is a range of data that must be considered before pronouncing on which vehicle is the best of the best.
South Africa’s Car of the Year competition – sponsored for the past 26 years by wheels bank, WesBank, with additional support from Total and Hollard Insurance – is unique in the world in that the victor is determined not by popular vote as in most countries, but by actual testing of the finalists to determine by what margins they meet criteria for COTY honours.
While all of the models are deemed to represent examples of outstanding automotive engineering, there can be only one winner and, in the eyes of the COTY Jury, that model will epitomise all-round automotive excellence.
The announcement of the finalist list was made this morning at a breakfast at Randpark Golf Club, Randpark, Johannesburg.
The winner of the 2011 WesBank / SAGMJ Car the Year will be revealed in March 2011.
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