“This year’s COTY finalists show us the tremendous speed of research and development in the automotive industry. The finalists represent the best of the best in South Africa, and we are eager to see who the winners of this year’s competition will be,” says Carl Wepener, Chairman of the SAGMJ.

Besides the overall winner’s crown, finalists can also win one of ten categories: Budget, Compact, Compact Family, Midsize, Premium, Luxury, Performance, New Energy, Adventure SUV and 4X4 Double Cab. The first category, Budget, has no contenders this year.

The most competitive categories in this year’s competition are the Midsize and Performance categories, with five finalists each. The Midsize category comprises the Audi A3, Hyundai’s Palisade, Santa Fe and Staria, and the Mercedes Benz C-Class. BMW’s 128ti and M3, Porsche 911 Carrera GTS, Toyota GR Yaris and Volkswagen Golf GTI are the finalists in the Performance category.

This year, the New Energy category represents a wider range of vehicles, which indicates the increased focus by OEMs in this segment of the market.

The Adventure SUV and 4×4 Double Cab categories are just as competitive this year as the 2021 COTY competition, where a newcomer in the class is competing against an established, locally manufactured rival.

With six finalists in five different categories, Toyota has the most finalists in this year’s competition. Hyundai is in second place, with five finalists in three different categories.

The twenty-five finalists for the 2022 COTY competition:

“The Car of the Year committee is extremely pleased with the variety of vehicles that made the final round of this year’s competition. Our jury panel of experts has a tough task ahead of them,” says Graham Eagle, Chairman of the 2022 COTY committee.

The final round of scoring will commence shortly and continue until early April. This round also includes data from Lightstone, which is used for automated scoring based on segment sales volumes and spec-adjusted competitor pricing.

This year again will see a Motor Enthusiast’s Choice (public vote) which was introduced during last year’s competition. Posts of each Finalist will be regularly published on social media, and the Finalist with the most likes wins. The official hashtag for this year’s COTY is #2022sacoty.