SA’s Car of the Year is...

South Africa’s Wesbank/SAGMJ 2017 Car of the Year is the Opel Astra.The winner was announced at a cocktail banquet at Kyalami on Wednesday night, beating eight other finalists, namely the Audi A4, Hyundai Tucson, Jaguar F-Pace, Honda Civic, Renault Kadjar, Toyota Fortuner, Volkswagen Tiguan and Volkswagen Passat.This is the fourth time that an Opel has taken top honours in the competition’s 31-year history, previous winners being the Opel Monza 160 GSi in 1991, Opel Kadett 140 in 1994 and Opel Astra 160iS in 1995.The latest Astra is no stranger to accolades, being Europe’s 2016 Car of the Year, and the compact hatch also emerged as IOL’s favourite car of 2016, taking the top honours in our annual Best of the Best awards late last year.“Car buying patterns of the South African public are changing and the Opel Astra reflects those changes in terms of offering both value for money as well as innovative technology,” the South African Guild of Motoring Journalists (SAGMJ) said after announcing the winner. “Powered by new-generation 1.0-, 1.4- and 1.6-litre turbocharged petrol engines which are available in either manual or automatic, the Opel Astra impressed the COTY Jury with its incredible road holding and build quality”.It was a close-fought competition, however. In the end, the Astra garnered a total of 2370.2 points from the jurors, while the second-placed Audi A4 scored 2338.6, only just ousting the Volkswagen Passat (2337.3).The SA Car of the Year competition is judged by 28 jury members. All jurors spent two days evaluating the finalists in a variety of conditions in Gauteng earlier this year. The jurors then scored each finalist in 12 categories that covered exterior design, interior materials, layout, technology, engine, gearbox, engineering, ride, steering/handling, affordability, value and overall excellence.SA Coty is not a direct comparison between the finalists, rather the jury members assess each car in relation to its natural market rivals. – iol.co.za

SA’s Car of the Year is...

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Republikein 2025-11-20

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SA’s Car of the Year is...

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