The Toyota Corolla Cross was voted the South African Car of the Year by the South African Guild of Mobility Journalists (SAGMJ).
This year's COTY competition was particularly exciting, with the 2022 COTY jurors selecting 25 semi-finalists from more than 49 entrants with some hotly contended category rivalries.
Mercedes Benz C-Class won this year's prestigious Juror's Excellence Award. Introduced in 2021, the Award is particularly impressive as it only considers the raw scoring of the jurors without automated scoring factors. The overall winner includes additional scoring criteria like sales, segment share and spec-adjusted pricing.
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 4x4 Category: Nissan Navara
The Budget and Premium categories did not have any 2022 contenders.
The public has become more involved in the COTY scoring/voting process over the last four years via social media. Two years ago, the Motor Enthusiasts Choice Category was introduced. A social media blitz lasting six weeks saw the vehicle the public responded to the most in a hotly contended all-out popularity contest. It was not an easy battle as PRs seized the opportunity to showcase their Finalist/s, but the Peugeot 208 beat out stiff competition to take the win.
"One thing has remained true to this remarkable contest: it celebrates and rewards automotive excellence. Our jurors are experts in their field and clearly understand vehicles and the mobility sector," says Graham Eagle, chairman of the 2022 COTY committee.
The COTY scoring process is much more than just juror scoring. Once the expert panel concluded scoring, the automated scoring factors that cover sales performance, segment share and value for money are applied. The Guild's COTY competition partner, Lightstone Auto, provided the automated scoring information, which provides data-driven insights, online market intelligence and new vehicle sales data about the South African automotive industry.
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, according to Carl Wepener, Chairman of the SAGMJ.
South Africa’s fast evolving automotive industry faces an urgent challenge in ensuring technical aftersales skills keep pace with increasingly advanced vehicle technology.
South Africa’s electric vehicle (EV) market is at a pivotal moment. Progress has been made in manufacturing, registrations, and charging infrastructure, but the pace and scale of adoption will depend on decisive policy choices and coordinated industry action.
TruckStore, the used-vehicle division of Daimler Truck Southern Africa, has opened a new facility on the West Rand, strengthening its presence in one of Gauteng’s busiest used-truck corridors.
Advertisement
Advertisement
You can't buy happiness but you can buy cars and that's kind of the same thing.
Unknown
South Africa’s fast evolving automotive industry faces an urgent challenge in ensuring technical aftersales skills keep pace with increasingly advanced vehicle technology.
Isuzu Motors South Africa has begun distributing the latest D-Max from its Gqeberha plant to dealerships across the country, with further shipments planned for more than 30 African markets.
Stellantis is accelerating its push into software defined vehicles through an expanded partnership with Qualcomm Technologies that will bring more advanced driver assistance, connectivity and in car digital systems to its next generation vehicles.
