WITH a fourth win for the revered German manufacturer, the Opel Astra took top honours at the 2017 WesBank South African Car Of The Year announcement at a cocktail dinner hosted by WesBank, the competition’s headline sponsor, in Johannesburg last week.
Facing tough competition in this year’s 10-vehicle strong line-up – vehicles that all represent the best of the best from a cross-section of segments and price points – the popular Opel Astra was a worthy contestant, ultimately taking South Africa’s most prestigious motoring prize.
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.
Being the fourth Opel (following the Opel Astra 160iS in 1995) and yet another small sedan/hatch in the competition’s history to be crowned the winner, the Opel Astra has proved tremendously popular globally and has won numerous awards.
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.
This year’s jury selected the Astra as overall winner with 2,370.25 points, and most impressively, 94.8 percent of its points were awarded in the five to 10 scoring range. This clearly indicates that the Opel Astra is a brilliant all-rounder.
The South African Guild of Motoring Journalists (SAGMJ) also recognised the Audi A4 (2,338.56 points) as first runner-up, as well as the Volkswagen Passat (2,337.35 points) as second runner-up in this year’s competition.
Beaten by a narrow yet decisive margin, both the Audi A4 and Volkswagen Passat are winners in their own right.
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Previous winners
1986 Toyota Corolla Twin Cam
1987 Mercedes-Benz 260E
1988 BMW 735i
1989 Toyota Corolla GLi Executive
1990 BMW 525i
1991 Opel Monza 160 GSi
1992 Nissan Maxima 300 SE
1993 BMW 316i
1994 Opel Kadett 140
1995 Opel Astra 160iS
1996 Audi A4 1.8
1997 BMW 528i
1998 Ford Fiesta Fun
1999 Alfa Romeo 156 T-Spark
2000 Renault Clio 1.4 RT
2001 BMW 320d
2002 Audi A4 1.9 TDI
2003 Volkswagen Polo TDI
2004 Renault Mégane 1.9 dCi
2005 Volvo S40 2.4i
2006 Audi A3 Sportback 2.0T
2007 Honda Civic 1.8 VXi Sedan
2008 Mazda2 1.5 Individual
2009 Honda Accord 2.4 Executive
2010 Volkswagen Golf 6 1.4 TSI
2011 BMW 530d and Volkswagen Polo 1.6 TDI
2012 Hyundai Elantra 1.8 GLS Executive
2013 Porsche Boxster
2014 Porsche Cayman S
2015 Porsche Macan Diesel S
2016 Volvo XC90
2017 Opel Astra
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