Spanning over a 36 year history with the first edition of the competition taking place in 1986, the coveted South African Car of the Year (COTY) competition saw 49 entrants with 25 semi-finalists between the hotly contested categories. Carl Wepener, Chairman of the South African Guild of Mobility Journalists (SAGMJ) stated: “Although we saw the competition develop and grow over the past 36 years with introducing category winners, additional categories, automated scoring, the public’s favourite and Juror’s Excellence Award, one thing did not change – the exceptional contenders and their proud makers,”
After a four-week scoring process by 25 jurors, Toyota reigned supreme with the Corolla Cross voted as the overall South African Car of the Year while its fellow hybrid derivative also managed an award in the new-energy category. The winners for this year’s competition are as follows:
Compact Category: Toyota Urban Cruiser
Compact Family Category: Toyota Corolla Cross
Midsize Category: Mercedes Benz C-Class
Performance Category: Volkswagen Golf GTI
New-energy Category: Toyota Corolla Cross Hybrid
Adventure SUV Category: Toyota Landcruiser 300
Double Cab 4×4 Category: Nissan Navara
No contenders were entered in the Budget and Premium categories for the SAGMJ Car of the Year although the Mercedes Benz C-Class took the title of the Juror’s Excellence Award. The public vote held over social media which saw the attractive Peugeot 208 hatchback take the win. Additional honours instituted at the SAGMJ’s Annual General Meeting in 2021 were the Most Admired OEM and the best PR in the industry. “This year’s respective winners are Mercedes Benz SA and Deon Sonnekus from Hyundai SA, and although these two awards are not officially part of the COTY competition, they are just as prestigious,” says Wepener.
Keyword: The SAGMJ Car of the Year 2022 category winners