The Cars.co.za Consumer Awards, which was established to be the most prestigious, credible and influential awards programme in the South African motor industry, is entering its second year now – powered by WesBank.

Following the success of the inaugural award season, the winners of which were announced on 14 January 2016, the second iteration, now backed by the biggest provider of vehicle finance in South Africa, looks to again recognise the finest derivatives on sale in the new vehicle market.

Find out who the winners were in the inaugural Cars.co.za Consumer Awards

“It was very encouraging to see the response of the motor industry and the extensive coverage of the first awards programme by the general media,” said Cars.co.za Consumer Experience Manager, Hannes Oosthuizen. “It demonstrated that our methodology was regarded as credible and relevant.

“WesBank finances the majority of private vehicle purchases in South Africa and our awards programme was designed to help consumers make the most considered buying choices right down to specific derivatives… the finance house’s endorsement adds gravitas to our initiative,” he adds.

“WesBank is delighted to announce the partnership with Cars.co.zaas the headline sponsor of the Consumer Awards," saysSimphiwe Nghona, CEO Wesbank Motor Division.

"We believe thatCars.co.zahas a very innovative approach with the programme and innovations resonate very well with WesBank. WesBank is known in the industry as a long term partner and has successfully established Joint Venture arrangements with most of the Original Equipment Manufacturers. WesBank’s success is attributed to these longstanding partnerships and we look forward to the future prospects of theCars.co.zaConsumer Awards – powered by WesBank,” he adds.

Updated awards categories

The popular double-cab segment has duly secured its own category in the second Cars.co.za awards.

The award categories have been updated to take into consideration new vehicle sales trends (such as the increased demand for small compact crossovers, the buying public’s preference for SUVs over sedans and MPVs, as well as the introduction of several new and facelifted double-cab bakkies).

“The category amendments are based on our analysis of vehicle sales statistics; the majority of the semi-finalists represent the types of vehicles people are buying in respective segments of the market,” Oosthuizen says.

What’s more, the judging methodology has changed to incorporate more expertise (the extended Cars.co.za editorial team), as well as the recruitment of extra guest judges from specialist fields. The votes cast by the collective judges will have a 50% weighting on the final results of the awards.

“Not only has the editorial team grown from four members to seven, the guest judges (all of which are informed about the vehicle market) have been drawn from a wide variety of fields. Collectively, the judging panel is now more representative and diverse in terms of ages, interests and expertise,” he continues.

The Cars.co.za judges

Ashley Oldfield (Road Test/Technical Editor)Ciro de Siena (Manager, Cars.co.za Video)David Taylor (Senior Journalist)Francisco Nwamba (Contributor)Gero Lilleike (Journalist)Hannes Oosthuizen (Consumer Experience Manager)Mike Fourie (Content Manager)

The guest judges

Branko Brkic (Founder and Editor – The Daily Maverick)Eddie Kalili(Group Motoring Editor – Destiny, Destiny Man and Sawubona)Juliet McGuire (Editor – Women on Wheels)Khutso Theledi (YFM presenter/DJ/car spinner)Kojo Baffoe (journalist/writer/media strategist)Nafisa Akabor(tech journalist and Cars.co.za contributor)Wendy Knowler (consumer journalist – The Times)

Public has a bigger impact on outcome

Critically, the remaining 50% will be based on the findings of the Cars.co.za’s Ownership Satisfaction Survey, in partnership with leading data specialists Lightstone Consumer. The brand-specific data incorporates feedback from thousands of South African new vehicle owners, based on their experiences of their vehicles (must be less than five years old and serviced through franchised outlets).

This multifaceted judging process distinguishes the Cars.co.za Consumer Awards – powered by WesBank from rival programmes. All vehicles sold as new on (or launched in the market by) 1 September 2016 were in contention to be semi-finalists (provided they conformed to their categories’ criteria); therefore, not only newly introduced or general model ranges were considered as potential category winners. Theoretically, if a vehicle is the best in its segment, it can win its category throughout the lifecycle of the product.

Therefore, following the upweighting of the findings of Cars.co.za’s ongoing Ownership Satisfaction Survey in the judging process (compared with the previous programme), the public now has an even bigger impact on the outcome of the Cars.co.za Consumer Awards – powered by WesBank.

“TheCars.co.za Consumer Awards – powered by WesBankis unique in the way that real owner experience with their vehicle brands directly, and significantly, impacts on the results. No other industry measure blends expert opinion and analysis with consumer experience in this way. It means that when the winners are announced there is real resonance with public opinion,” Lightstone Consumer Chief Executive Paul de Vantier added.

The first phase of a six-month programme

The first Cars.co.za Consumer Awards ceremony took place in January 2016.

“There are many awards programmes out there that claim public participation. What we mean when we talk of consumer input, is not a popular voting mechanism,” Oosthuizen adds. “We want real, credible input, and the only way to do that is for the public to give us their views on the cars they know best – the ones they own – by participating in our survey.”

The second phase of the six-month awards programme will see the website’s editorial team score the five vehicles in each category, based on predetermined pillars of success (more information is available at https://www.carsawards.co.za), to narrow the field of potential award winners from 65to 39. Following that, the combined judging panel (Cars.co.za editors and guest judges) will evaluate the finalists back to back during a two-day test. Members of the public can follow developments of the judging process on Cars.co.za’s channels — related content will feature the #CarsAwards hashtag.

Cars.co.za will again announce its Brand of the Yearbased entirely on ownership satisfaction data. The current title holder is Toyota.

More information on the programme, including its categories, judges and finalists, is available on https://www.carsawards.co.za.

The finalists are (in no particular order):

Budget car(less than R160000)

Suzuki Celerio 1.0 GLRenault Sandero ExpressionChevrolet Spark 1.2 LSMitsubishi Mirage 1.2 GLXToyota Aygo X-Play

Compact hatchback(between R160 000 and R250000)

Peugeot 208 VTI 1.2 ActiveHonda Jazz 1.2 ComfortFord Fiesta 1.0T TrendOpel Corsa 1.0T EnjoyVolkswagen Polo 1.2 TSI Comfortline

Compact family car (between R250 000 and R350000)

Ford EcoSport 1.5 TDCi TitaniumHonda HR-V 1.5 ComfortNissan Qashqai 1.2 VisiaRenault Captur dCi 90 DynamiqueSuzuki Vitara 1.6 GL+

Family car (between R350 000 and R500 000)

Honda CR-V 2.0 Elegance AutoHyundai Tucson 2.0 NU Elite AutoMazda CX-5 2.0 Active AutoNissan X-Trail 2.5 SE CVT AWDVolkswagen Tiguan 1.4 TSI Comfortline DSG

Performance car (between R600 000 and R1 000000)

BMW M2 M-DCTMercedes-AMG A45 4MotionAudi TTSHonda Civic Type-RFord Focus RS

Premium hatchback (between R350 000 and R500000)

BMW 120i M Sport sports-autoVW Golf GTI DSGVolvo V40 T4 Inscription AutoOpel Astra 1.6T Sport PlusMercedes-Benz A220d Style

Fun car (less than R600000)

Ford Fiesta STMazda MX-5Mini JCW autoAudi S1 Sportback QuattroVW Golf GTI Clubsport

LifestyleSUV (between R500 000 and R750000)

Ford Everest 3.2 LTDToyota Fortuner 2.8 GD-6 4×4 AutoLand Rover Discovery Sport TD4 SEKia Sorento 2.2 CRDi AWD Auto SLXNissan X-Trail 1.6 dCi 4×4 LE

Executive sedan (between R750 000 and R1 000000)

Audi A6 2.0T QuattroJaguar XF 25t PortfolioLexus GS350 F-SportMercedes-Benz E220d AvantgardeMercedes-Benz E350d Avantgarde

First class(more than R1000000)

Mercedes-Benz S500e LWBBMW 750Li Design Pure ExcellenceJaguar XJ L 5.0 Supercharged AutobiographyRange Rover SDV8 Autobiography LWBMercedes-Benz GLS500

Leisure double cab(more than R450000)

Fiat Fullback 2.5 4×4 LXFord Ranger 3.2 Wildtrak 4×4 AutoFord Ranger 2.2 XLS 4×4 AutoToyota Hilux 2.8 GD-6 4×4 Raider AutoVW Amarok 2.0 BiTDI 4Motion Highline Auto

Business class(betweenR500 000 and R750000)

Audi A4 2.0T FSI Sport S-tronicBMW 330d M Sport sports-autoJaguar XE 20d R SportMercedes-Benz C250 AMG LineVW Passat 2.0 TSI R-Line DSG

PremiumSUV (between R750 000 and R1 200000)

Audi Q7 3.0 TDI QuattroBMW X5 xDrive30dJaguar F-PACE 30d R-SportLexus RX350 EXVolvo XC90 T8 Twin Engine Inscription

About Cars.co.za

Leading online automotive retail portal Cars.co.za, which lists tens of thousands of new vehicles stocked by more than 1 000 vehicle dealers countrywide, delivers in excess of 30 million page views per month to more than a million unique users. Cars.co.za has a presence on multiple digital platforms and it’s ranked in the top 10 branded South African YouTube channels with 12 million views to date.

In 2015, Cars.co.za repositioned itself as a consumer champion by optimising its editorial content for the purposes of engaging and empowering its users. The recent Cars.co.za Consumer Satisfaction Survey, in association with Lightstone Consumer, and now the Cars.co.za Consumer Awards– powered by WesBank, underlines the company’s objective to become the most comprehensive resource available to South African vehicle buyers, so that they can make the most-informed buying decisions.

View more information about the second Cars.co.za Consumer Awards

Participate in the Cars.co.za Ownership Satisfaction Survey