For the first time in the 26-year history of South Africa's Car of the Year competition, both BMW's 530d and Volkswagen's Polo 1.6 TDI shared top spot this year, scoring exactly the same number of points.
For the first time in the 26-year history of South Africa's Car of the Year competition, both BMW's 530d and Volkswagen's Polo 1.6 TDI shared top spot this year, scoring exactly the same number of points.
South Africa's prestigious WesBank / South African Guild of Motoring Journalists Car of the Year competition was given a new lease of life for 2011. And, as if following perfectly a changed script, the more modern and completely transparent European Car of the Year-based scoring system produced the tie between the two vehicles.
The historic announcement was made by the South African Guild of Motoring Journalists at a WesBank-sponsored gala banquet, at Gallagher Convention Centre, Midrand, on Tuesday, attended by the who's who of the South African motoring industry.
As in the past, the announcement of the winner comes after a stringent process of voting and physical testing of eligible vehicles – which now include double-cab bakkies launched in the South African market during the past year.
All the testing took place at the world-renowned Gerotek vehicle testing facility outside Pretoria. The big difference this year was that instead of making use of a complex and undisclosed judging and scoring system, the guild jury members were given 25 points to allocate to no more than five, no fewer than three of the finalists – as is done in the European competition.
With all the scores and the judge's comments being open for scrutiny from the moment the winners were announced, and no more than 10 points being allowed to be allocated to any one vehicle by a judge, it was always going to be a close race – and the final audited scores showed this to be the case.
The winning vehicle must score highly in its own class across a variety of categories, including value for money, safety, dynamics, technology and aesthetics.
While separated by more than R400 000 in sticker price, this year's two winners were clearly well ahead of their peers.
Final Results:
BMW 530d / VW Polo 1.6 TDI 77 kW Comfortline 91 Points
Ford Figo 1.4 Ambiente 77 Points
Hyundai Sonata 2.4 GLS Exec 76 Points
Kia Sportage 2.0 VGT AWD AT 63 Points
Citroen DS3 THP 150 Sport 59 Points
Hyundai ix35 2.0 CRDI GLS AWD AT 48 Points
Opel Astra 1.4T Enjoy Plus 39 Points
Honda CR-Z 1.5i V-Tec 21 Points
VW Amarok 2.0 BiTDI 4×2 Double Cab 10 Points.
