Car of the Year finalists announced

Published Oct 23, 2014

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Johannesburg - The finalists for the 2015 WesBank / SAGMJ Car of the Year competition were announced in Johannesburg on Thursday.

This follows a vote cast by a 29-member Jury from the South African Guild of Motoring Journalists, from an original list of 40 semi-finalists. Only 11 cars survived that vote:

 

THE FINALISTS (In alphabetical order)

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The important thing to remember about Car of the Year is that it's not a case of these cars competing against each other, but rather a case of each being assessed with its natural rivals in mind, which the judges will be familiar with.

In order to get properly reacquainted with each of the contenders here, the 29 jury members will spend two days in March next year putting each finalist through its paces at the Gerotek test facility near Pretoria.

Each vehicle will be assessed independently, with routes and modules designed in accordance with what is to be expected from such a vehicle. Part of the Renault Duster's evaluation, for instance, will be on an off-road trail, while that obviously won't be the case for the cars in the competition. Performance machines like the BMW M4 and Subaru WRX, on the other hand, will have their chance to shine on the ride and handling track at Gerotek.

Having all the cars in one place will give the jury the opportunity to have another look at each finalist, assessing each one afresh for build quality, styling, comfort, fuel consumption and eco-friendliness, and safety features, weighing each against running costs and value for money - especially as they'll have Malcolm Kinsey's latest report on comparative parts pricing to work from.

Our publication is involved too, with the jury including Independent’s group motoring editor Denis Droppa and IOL motoring editor Jason Woosey.

The winner will be announced on the evening of 18 March, but obviously it's never too soon to start arguing about the finalists and predicting outcomes. So without further ado, which is your winner?

 

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