The Porsche Boxster has been crowned the 2013 South African Car of the Year in the prestigious Wesbank / SAGMJ Car of the Year competition. The Porsche Boxster is the first Porsche in the history of the competition to make it as a finalist and to win the competition. The announcement came after a gala dinner hosted by Wesbank, the headline sponsor, and the South African Guild of Motoring Journalists (SAGMJ) at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg.

Porsche Boxster impressed the jury

The winning vehicle is required to score highly in its own class and not against the other finalists, across a range of categories including value for money, safety, dynamics, technology and aesthetics to name a few. The Porsche Boxster was highly revered and has redefined its market segment and excels in terms of performance, dynamics, quality, value and desirability, which is enough to beat the other 11 finalists for top honours.

The Competition

The Wesbank / SAGMJ Car of the Year competition is based on the European Car of the Year points-based system but is unique in the world as all the finalists are also put through a stringent testing procedure by the COTY jury at the world-renowned Gerotek Vehicle Testing Facility outside Pretoria before any votes are cast.

This year, the jury consisted of 30 SAGMJ members who each were allowed to allocate 50 votes to all 12 finalists, but to no less than seven and with no more than 10 points allocated to any one vehicle. The Jury members are also required to motivate their votes, with the points allocated and motivation thereof open to scrutiny once the winner has been announced.

The Jury was also forced to apply an equaliser after several manufacturers failed to adhere to the COTY rule of supplying vehicles in standard specification for evaluation purposes. Some of the vehicles featured unreasonable levels of optional equipment that in some cases enhanced the vehicle’s ride and handling. As such, the jury voted for the vehicles as delivered but applied a mathematical equation to the final votes to compensate for any advantage these excessively specified vehicles may have gained.

The SA Car of the Year competition has run since 1986, with Wesbank being the headline sponsor since inception. In 2012, Hyundai became the first Korean car brand to win the title with its Elantra 1.8 GLS and in 2011, both the BMW 530d and the VW Polo 1.6 TDI shared the crown.

Final results for the 2013 Wesbank/SAGMJ Car of the Year competition

Porsche Boxster – 221 votesRange Rover Evoque Si4 Dynamic 5-door – 181 votesToyota 86 High Spec 6MT – 177 votesKia Rio 1.4 TEC Hatch Manual – 144 votesLexus GS 350 EX – 143 votesHyundai i30 1.8 Executive – 106 votesBMW 320i Automatic – 104 votesNissan Juke 1.6 DIG-T Tekna – 79 votesOpel Meriva 1.4T Cosmo – 67 VotesFord Ranger 3.2 XLT 4X4 Double-cab A/T – 56 votesToyota Yaris 1.5 HSD Xs – 47 votesMercedes-Benz B180 CDI BlueEFFICIENCY – 35 votes