2011 Car of the Year

A jury of 26 selected members of the South African Guild of Motoring Journalists has chosen the following ten finalists in the 2011 WesBank/SAGMJ Car of the Year competition:

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 will be to determine the winner at 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 in which individual vehicles would be expected to perform. Routes will be designed to evaluate 4x4's 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 will offer an opportunity to re-acquaint themselves with the cars.

Jury members will ba asked 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 will be taken into account before scoring the top ten.

Fuel consumption figures will also be available, as well as a range of data that must be considered before deciding which vehicle is the best of the best.

South Africa's Car of the Year competition is unique 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.

All the cars are deemed to represent outstanding automotive engineering but there can be only one winner and, in the eyes of the Coty jury, that model will epitomise all-round automotive excellence.

The winner of the 2011 WesBank/SAGMJ Car the Year will be announced in March 2011.