SA Car of the Year finalists unveiled
Excitement is building after the announcement of the finalists.
THE 2014 South African Car of the Year announcement was a huge spectator event at the Johannesburg International Motor Show last Saturday.
For the first time in the 29-year history of the WesBank/SA Guild of Motoring Journalists’ Car of the Year competition, the announcement of the finalists turned into a highly popular spectator attraction.
The decision by the organisers to announce the finalists in the Nasrec Arena on the second day of the 2013 Johannesburg International Motor Show, with plenty of advanced publicity to show-goers by dint of a super-powerful public address system, meant that the banks surrounding the nine finalists lined up on the arena’s perfectly-trimmed lawn were packed with people.
“That really was a great idea, and I am thrilled with the number of people who left the show-halls to watch the count-down to revealing the finalists,” said WesBank’s Car of the Year co-ordinator, Michelle Davis.
“It was a great idea to do the finalists announcement on one of the most popular show days,” added Michelle.
The spectators broke into spontaneous applause as each finalist was announced. The finalists are Audi A3 Sportback 1.4T FSI Manual, Jaguar F-TYPE 3.0 V6 S, Lexus IS 350 F-Sport, Mercedes-Benz A 45 AMG, Peugeot 208 GTI, Porsche Cayman S, Renault Clio4 66kW Turbo Dynamique, Volkswagen Golf 7 1.4 TSI 90kW Comfortline DSG and Volvo V40 D3 Geartronic Excel.
The winner will be announced at a WesBank-hosted gala dinner in February 2014.
The announcement of the 2014 Car of the Year finalists follows a vote cast by a 30-member jury, elected by their peers, on the 40 semi-finalists.
The next step in the process is a stringent two-day evaluation session to be held in Gauteng in January 2014. Of this evaluation, testing procedures at the world-renowned Gerotek test facility near Pretoria remain a critical aspect and allow the jury members to assess the cars independently under the conditions individual vehicles would be expected to perform under, with routes and modules designed to test the vehicles in a similar way the average consumer would use them.
The evaluation days offer the jury the opportunity to reacquaint themselves with the vehicles and specific aspects such as aesthetics, build quality, ergonomics, fuel consumption, environmental friendliness, safety features and value for money, to name but a few.
The jury will also have access to independent performance test data, comparative pricing and specification data from RGT Smart as well as comparative parts pricing data, compiled by Malcolm Kinsey.
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The finalists are:
Audi A3 Sportback 1.4 FSI Manual
Jaguar F-Type 3.0 V6 S
Lexus IS 350 F-Sport
Mercedes-Benz A 45 AMG
Peugeot 208 GTI
Porsche Cayman S
Renault Clio 4 66 kW Turbo Dynamique
Volkswagen Golf 7 TSI 90kW Comfortline DSG
Volvo V40 D3 Geartronic Excel
