The Volvo XC90 scooped the coveted 2016 Wesbank South African Guild of Motoring Journalists’ Car of the Year award on Tuesday night at an exclusive gala dinner held at Emperor’s Palace in Kempton Park, east of Johannesburg.
The Volvo XC90 SUV ticked all the boxes, taking 50 percent of the judges’ votes. The adjudicators were looking for, among other things, interior design and practicality, exterior aesthetics, safety and technology, performance, handling and dynamics, efficiency, value for money, and overall excellence.
Twelve cars were shortlisted as finalists last year, and judging done by the 26-member jury, consisting of motoring journalists selected by members of the SAGMJ, took place in early February.
The Ford Fusion cruised into second place, with the little Mazda2 right behind it in third.
This year saw a marked departure in the competition, firstly because it was the first time the runners-up were announced, and secondly because Porsche was not featured at this year’s event after winning the Car of the Year award for three consecutive years in 2013, 2014 and 2015.
Bernard Hellberg Jr, chairman of the SAGMJ, said the finalists were different cars in their own rights and that they were not really in competition with one another.
Hellberg said WesbankCOTY was a way of trying to find the car that best represents the pinnacle of motoring excellence, something that includes technology, engineering and daring in car design.
Wesbank chief executive, Chris de Kock, presented a worrying forecast for the car industry, predicting that new vehicle prices may increase up to 60 percent by 2019 if the rand-dollar exchange rate reaches $1/R20.
De Kock said Wesbank also forecast that the industry would see an average decrease of 12 percent on all vehicle sales.
– African News Agency (ANA)
