Budgets are tight. Fuel costs are rising. Yet buying an affordable car doesn’t mean you should compromise on safety, technology and quality. The winner of this category represents as much good car as possible for the money. Value is very important, as are running costs and all such "common sense" considerations. The price cap in this category is set at R200 000.
* price accurate at time of evaluation (1 September 2018)
How Scoring Works?
YOUR
input counts
50%
of the finalist vehicle's respective scores. We then
combine those results with the results from our judges.
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Test Team
Making up our test panel are our own experienced Cars.co.za road test team members,
as well as respected guest judges that join us for back-to-back testing at Gerotek in Gauteng in November.
In building the expanding judging panel, the goal was to achieve a balance of motoring expertise
(particularly in the first two phases of the programme, which determine the finalists) and respected non-motoring,
highly analytical media professionals, who, in many ways, represent the consumer at the test days.
The 2018/19 Cars.co.za Consumer Awards – powered by WesBank
The 2018/19 Cars.co.za Consumer Awards – powered by WesBank, concluded with the announcement of 12
category winners, and the awarding of the prestigious Brand of the Year title, at a red-carpet
event hosted at Kyalami in Johannesburg on 24 January 2019.
Conceived to be South Africa’s definitive automotive awards programme, #CarsAwards has grown in
stature, reach and influence since the inaugural event in 2016. Apart from being exclusively
supported by WesBank, South Africa’s largest vehicle finance provider, #CarsAwards is regarded as
an energetic, impactful opening number on the automotive industry calendar. Highlights of this
(fourth) iteration of the programme were:
Toyota, the first recipient of the Brand of the Year title (in the inaugural 2015/16 iteration
of the programme), narrowly defeated double winner Suzuki (2016/17 and 2017/18) to reclaim the
most coveted #CarsAwards trophy this year.
Volkswagen garnered the most trophies (four), elevating the Wolfsburg-based marque into a
comfortable lead in terms of the most category wins (10) in the history of the #CarsAwards,
ahead of Mercedes-Benz (six) and Suzuki (five).
Nissan and Honda were first-time #CarsAwards trophy recipients by virtue of their wins in the
Compact Family Car and Hot Hatch categories respectively.
The Range Rover Velar finally dethroned the Volvo XC90, which had dominated the Premium SUV
category during the first three instalments of the #CarsAwards. Volvo’s consolation was that its
XC60, the reigning World Car of the Year, claimed the Executive SUV trophy to ensure that the
Swedish marque remains the only brand, apart from Volkswagen, to have won a category every year
since 2015/16.
The Volkswagen Amarok 3.0 V6 TDI 4Motion Highline Plus and Toyota Fortuner 2.8 GD-6 4x4 Auto
were the only finalists to defend their category victories from the 2017/18 #CarsAwards,
although the Mercedes-Benz E-Class also won again, albeit with a different derivative. Suzuki
won the Budget Car category for the third consecutive year, and impressively, with a different
model on each occasion.
In no fewer than 5 out of the 13 categories the judges’ favourites did not win, due to the
impact of the Ownership Satisfaction Survey (more detail to follow).
Eighteen brands were represented in the list of finalists, with Volkswagen leading the nominations
with 7 derivatives, followed by BMW and Ford (4 apiece), and Audi, Mercedes-Benz and Volvo (3
apiece). Significantly, Porsche and Isuzu made their first appearances in the final stage of the
#CarsAwards programme, while Honda and Range Rover returned to the list of 39 after failing to
make the last round in 2017/18.
Category winners of the 2018/19 Cars.co.za Consumer Awards – powered by WesBank
Budget Car: Suzuki Swift 1.2 GL
Compact Hatch: Volkswagen Polo 1.0TSI Comfortline Auto
Premium Compact: Mercedes-Benz A200 AMG-Line
Compact Family Car: Nissan Qashqai 1.2 Acenta Auto
Family Car: Volkswagen Tiguan Allspace 1.4 TSI Trendline
Business Class: Volkswagen Arteon 2.0TSI 4Motion R-Line
* The rules of the competition requires at least 2 cars in each category to have full scores
(judges scores and survey scores) and in the case of this category, Cars.co.za could not meet the
requirement.
Hannes Oosthuizen, Cars.co.za’s Consumer Experience Manager, explains: “In the case of the BMW M2
Competition, we could not secure the required 6-speed manual derivative for testing. It was always
going to be difficult seeing as the market for a manual performance car has declined so much in
recent years. We truly appreciate BMW's efforts to help, but in the end we just couldn't get the
right car for testing.
"With the Porsche Boxster S, we could not secure sufficient owner surveys to calculate a
representative owner satisfaction score for the brand’s finalists. These issues were, in no way,
the respective brands’ faults."
Impact of the Cars.co.za Ownership Satisfaction Survey
The importance of after-sales service excellence was highlighted by the impact of the Cars.co.za
Ownership Satisfaction Survey on the final scores.
"The public interest and industry support for #CarsAwards shows that there is a need for an Awards
programme that takes a more practical and usable approach to deciding the winners,” Oosthuizen
says. “From the start in 2015 it was our goal to build and Awards programme that could be used as
a buying guide, and which would reach the entire population, not only those that follow motoring
publications."
“With 50% of a vehicle’s final score determined by a brand’s performance in the survey, a car only
really stands a very good chance of winning if it is a good product, in the eyes of the judges,
and if the brand delivers solid after-sales service,” he adds.
This year, the survey the results in 5 categories. The Volkswagen Polo (Compact Hatch), Toyota
Fortuner (Adventure SUV), Nissan Qashqai (Compact Family Car), Mercedes-Benz A-Class (Premium
Compact) and Mercedes-Benz E-Class (Executive Sedan) did not score the highest marks from the
panel of judges, yet emerged victorious because South African consumers rated their brand
experience higher than that of their competitors.
Multifaceted judging process
There are several reasons why the #CarsAwards is of greater significance than most other
automotive awards programmes. For one, the winners aren’t chosen exclusively by motoring
journalists, who report on (and review) the latest new vehicles in the market…
Although the 7 members of Cars.co.za’s editorial team chose the finalists, the combined judging
panel (including 13 respected guest judges from various backgrounds and fields of expertise) only
compiled the finalists’ individual scores once they’d evaluated the cars back-to-back during a
thorough two-day test at the Gerotek facility at the end of 2018.
Combined judging panel (in alphabetical order):
Aluta Maqoko (The Kolloquium), Ashley Oldfield (Cars.co.za), Brenwin Naidu (Sowetan & Sunday
Times), Ciro de Siena (Cars.co.za), Claire Mawisa (Carte Blanche), David Taylor (Cars.co.za),
Eddie Kalili (Freelance), Ernest Page (SA Car Fan), Gero Lilleike (Cars.co.za), Jacob Moshokoa
(947/EWN), Juliet McGuire (Freelance), Khulekani Dumisa (Khulekani on Wheels), Khutso Theledi
(YFM), Kojo Baffoe (freelance), Lerato Matebese (Driven), Mike Fourie (Cars.co.za), Nafisa Akabor
(Tech Journalist), Thami Masemola (In4Ride), Wendy Knowler (Consumer Specialist) and Wezile Bonani
(Bay FM).
All derivatives listed on the new vehicles price list on September 1 2018 were eligible for
selection and the public had just as much say in the outcome of 2018/19 #CarsAwards as the 20
judges did. Fifty per cent of the final standings was based on rankings that the respective
vehicle brands achieved in the Cars.co.za Ownership Satisfaction Survey, conducted in partnership
with data specialists Lightstone Consumer. The data incorporated feedback from thousands of
vehicle owners, based on their experiences of their vehicles (less than five years old and
serviced through franchised outlets).
In fact, the most prestigious title awarded by #CarsAwards – Brand of the Year – was based solely
on the findings of the Cars.co.za Ownership Satisfaction Survey.
Brand of the Year
Toyota superseded Suzuki as the winner of the #CarsAwards Brand of the Year title, which is
determined entirely by market and customer data, the latter from the aforementioned survey
(brands’ respective sales and after-sales service ratings are particularly impactful). The
Japanese firm had previously won the title in 2015/16, which means #CarsAwards' Brand of the Year
has been dominated by two firms in four years.
The Cars.co.za Ownership Satisfaction Survey data showed that Toyota defeated Suzuki by a very
narrow margin, while Land Rover scored the final podium position.
“We think the Brand of the Year trophy is the ultimate accolade in the South African automotive
industry,” says Oosthuizen. “It represents validation from the people that matter most – actual
car owners.’
The red-carpet ceremony was hosted by award-winning TV host and Metro FM presenter Pearl Modiadie
with guest appearances by Minnie Dlamini, Maps Maponyane, Victor Matfield and DJ Fresh, the latter
of which provided live entertainment. The event was preceded by a business presentation by WesBank
and attended by 350 guests, including industry leaders, representatives of the finance sector,
media agencies and celebrities.
The event was digitally broadcast on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and, significantly, streamed
live on the Cars.co.za YouTube channel, the biggest branded South African channel on the video
site. The multi-platform broadcast allowed consumers, who are at the core of Cars.co.za’s awards
programme, to actively participate in the event.
Visit http://www.carsawards.co.za for more information about #CarsAwards, including the category
criteria, and to view images of the award recipients taken at the event.
About Cars.co.za
Leading online automotive retail portal Cars.co.za lists more than 70 000 vehicles stocked by
hundreds of dealers and is visited by more than 1.5 million unique users a month. It has a
presence on multiple digital platforms and is the top-ranked branded SA YouTube channel (with more
than 160 000 subscribers and 54 million views).
In 2015, Cars.co.za repositioned itself as a consumer champion by optimising its editorial content
for the purposes of engaging and empowering its users. The Cars.co.za Ownership Satisfaction
Survey, in association with Lightstone Consumer, and now the Cars.co.za Consumer Awards – powered
by WesBank, underlines the company’s objective to become the most comprehensive resource available
to South African vehicle buyers, so that they can make the best-informed buying decisions.
Ends.
EDITORIAL NOTE: The full title of the programme is the Cars.co.za Consumer Awards – powered by
WesBank. Please name the programme in full wherever possible.
For more information, contact:
Mike Fourie
Cars.co.za Content Manager
072 311 1959 [email protected]
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