It's official - the Hyundai Elantra 1.8 GLS is South Africa's Car of the Year for 2012.
The South African Guild of Motoring Journalists kept its guests biting their nails until late on Thursday night at its COTY banquet in Midrand.
The decision follows a long and complex judging process, which included an initial vote for ten finalists followed by a thorough two-day evaluation of those finalists by 30 jury members at the Gerotek test facility near Pretoria.
The winner had to beat nine other finalists in the form of the Alfa Romeo Giulietta 1.4 125 kW MultiAir Distinctive; Audi A6 3.0T TDI Quattro S tronic; Citroen DS4 THP 200 Sport; Ford Focus 2.0 TDCI Trend Powershift; Kia Picanto 1.2 EX; Mercedes Benz SLK 350; Peugeot 5008 2.0 HDi Active; Suzuki Kizashi 2.4 SDLX and VW Jetta 1.4 TSI 118 kW Highline.
APPLES WITH APPLES
Despite what some detractors say, this competition does not directly compare each ten finalists with each other - given that they come from all walks of automotive life. Instead, the jury evaluates each vehicle on its own merit and bearing in mind what it brings to its particular class.
Even the evaluation at Gerotek is set-up with this in mind, allowing the individual vehicles to be evaluated under the conditions they would be expected to perform under. Routes are designed to evaluate 4x4s or sports cars, as the average consumer would use them.
The competition's convenor, Mark Jones, explains the purpose of the final testing days: “It allows Jury members to pay close attention to the cars' aesthetics, build quality and ergonomics, while considerations based on perceptions of value for money, cost of a spares' basket, safety features and environmental friendliness can be taken into account before scoring the top ten.
“Fuel consumption figures are also available as is a range of data that must be considered before pronouncing on which vehicle is the best of the best.”
Watch this space for more information on how the vehicles were scored and what the runners up were.