Mikel Mabasa, CEO of naamsa, announced that his organisation will utilise its esteemed, trusted and independently audited datasets to recognise and honour the top-performing brands across various segments and categories within the entire automotive value chain. “We are committed to objectively celebrating the best-performing brands in the following segments:

▪ Passenger Car of the Year and the biggest Achiever of the Year in the Passenger Segment;

▪ Light Commercial Vehicle of the Year and biggest Achiever of the Year in the LCV Segment;

▪ Medium, Heavy and Extra-Heavy Commercial Vehicle of the Year;

▪ Bus of the Year;

▪ Other Commercial Vehicle Achiever of the Year;

▪ New Energy Vehicle of the Year in Battery Electric, Plug-in and Traditional Hybrid Models;

▪ Top Locally Manufactured Vehicle of the Year; and

▪ Top Exported and Top Imported Vehicles of the Year.

Naamsa has examined the top-performing dealerships in the country by volume, planning to honour the Dealer of the Year and the Dealer Achiever of the Year for the reviewed year. To ensure our adjudication process remains unpredictable and engaging, we are utilising all audited data from 1 June 2023 to the end of July 2024.

The selection of finalists and winners is based on objective, reliable data that has been independently audited by a respected firm in the country. “This year, we will continue to showcase the socio-economic contributions of our members by presenting awards such as Job Creator of the Year, Women and Youth Empowering OEM of the Year, as well as the WesBank Transformation Performance awards, including Most Improved and Compliant BBBEE OEM of the Year,” he stated.

“Naamsa reliably collects, processes, aggregates and publicly distributes different auto data sets each month on the performance of all our vehicle brands in the country. Over an extensive period, naamsa has perfected the science of collecting new vehicle sales data, which has become the country’s leading economic indicator and which closely correlates with GDP performance numbers.

“Our production, export, import and new vehicle sales data is reliably used by many reputable local and international organisations each month to aid them with their own decision-making. The naamsa data is also made available to the market to support economic modelling and projections, and to inform Government regarding their global trade negotiations,” he reaffirmed.

Every year, naamsa honours individuals who make significant contributions to the development and growth of South Africa's automotive industry. This year, the following individuals will also be recognised:

▪ Top Auto and Business Journalist and a Top Emerging Auto Journalist of the Year;

▪ Top Media House of the Year;

▪ Long Service Award;

▪ naamsa Value Creator of the Year; and

▪ naamsa Lifetime Achievement Award.

The following brand finalists are announced [in alphabetical order per Award]:

1. NEW VEHICLE SALES CATEGORY:

Passenger Car of the Year: Suzuki Swift; Toyota Corolla Cross; Toyota Starlet; VW Polo; and

VW Polo Vivo;

Biggest Achiever of the Year | Passenger Segment: Citroen C3; Ford Everest; Renault Clio

V; Volvo XC60; and VW Golf 8;

Light Commercial Vehicle of the Year: Ford Ranger; Isuzu D-Max; Nissan NP200; Toyota Hi

Ace and Toyota Hilux;

Biggest Achiever of the Year | LCV Segment: Ford Tourneo Custom; JAC T-Series; VW

Amarok, VW Transporter Cr-Bus and VW Transporter PU;

Medium Commercial Vehicle of the Year: Hino 300 Series; Isuzu N-Series; Iveco Daily; Toyota

Coaster; and VW Crafter;

Heavy Commercial Vehicle of the Year: FUSO HCV; Hino 500 Series; Isuzu F-Series; TATA

LPT; AND UD Trucks Croner;

Extra-Heavy Commercial Vehicle of the Year: MAN TGS; Mercedes-Benz Actros; Scania G

Series; UD Trucks Quester and Volvo FH;

Bus of the Year: MAN Bus; Mercedes-Benz Bus; Scania Bus; Volvo Bus; and VW Volksbus;

Other Commercial Vehicle Achiever of the Year: Isuzu FX-Series; Iveco S-Way; MAN TGM;

Scania Bus; and UD Trucks Kuzer;

New Energy Vehicle of the Year | Battery Electric Models - BMW iX; BMW X1; BMW X3;

Volvo EX30; and Volvo XC40;

New Energy Vehicle of the Year | Plug-in Hybrid Models - BMW X1; BMW X5; BMW XM;

Volvo XC60 and Volvo XC90;

New Energy Vehicle of the Year | Traditional Hybrid Models - Haval H6; Haval Jolion; Lexus

NX; Toyota Corolla Cross; and Toyota RAV;

2. MANUFACTURING CATEGORY:

Top Locally Manufactured Vehicle of the Year: BMW X3; Ford Ranger; Toyota Hilux; and

VW Polo; and VW Polo Vivo;

Top Exported Vehicle of the Year - BMW X3; Ford Ranger; Isuzu D-Max; Toyota Hilux and

VW Polo.

3. DEALERSHIP CATEGORY:

Dealer of the Year | Passenger: Durban South Toyota; Hyundai Pinetown; Renault

Bryanston; Suzuki Bassonia JHB; and Suzuki Boksburg;

Dealer Achiever of the Year | Passenger: Autowagen Bronkhorstspruit; BB Mount Fuji

Louis Trichardt; Gobabis Toyota; Haval Northcliff and Hyundai Harbour View;

4. IMPORTERS CATEGORY:

Top Imported Vehicle of the Year: Chery Tiggo Pro 4, Hyundai Grand i10; Mahindra Scorpio Pik

Up, Suzuki Swift; and Toyota Starlet;

• The winners will be announced at the inaugural event on Friday, 18 October 2024, at the Cape Town International Convention Centre.