The South African Guild of Motoring Journalists (SAGMJ) announced the Hyundai Elantra 1.8 GLS as South Africa’s 2012 Car of the Year (COTY) at a gala banquet at Gallagher Convention Centre, Midrand, on Wednesday 14 March. The awards function, hosted by competition sponsor WesBank, was attended by the who’s who of the South African motoring industry.
While Hyundai have won Car of the Year accolades around the world in the past, this particular title eluded them in South Africa and was not only a first for their country, but it was also a first for Hyundai South Africa, who have had vehicles in the Top 10 in the past few South African Car of the Year competitions.
The Hyundai Elantra 1.8 GLS was a strong contender for the title from day one of the competition and made it’s way through to the final top 10. All the finalists are put through their paces at the world renowned Gerotek vehicle test facility outside Pretoria via a number of modules designed to properly test the vehicles within a controlled and safe environment. This ensures that the country’s top full-time motoring journalists, which make up the COTY Jury, are given an opportunity to fine tune their thoughts and ideas around the finalists before they allocate their points to the vehicles.
The Jury members are given 25 points in total to allocate to no more than five of the finalists and no less than three as is done in the European competition. These scores and the judge’s justifications are open to scrutiny from the moment the winner is announced in the interest of understanding the responsibility of the task at hand and to ensure and demonstrate complete transparency in determining the winner.
The WesBank / SAGMJ COTY competition is about automotive excellence and the winning vehicle must score highly in its own class, not against each other as is often thought, across a variety of categories including those which reflect value for money, safety, dynamics, technology and aesthetics to name but a few.
| Final Results | |
| Vehicle | Points |
| Hyundai Elantra 1.8 GLS | 230 |
| Kia Picanto 1.2 Ex | 155 |
| Volkswagen Jetta 1.4 TSI 118 kW Highline | 141 |
| Suzuki Kizashi 2.4i SDLX | 49 |
| Alfa Romeo Giulietta 1.4 125 kW MultiAir Distinctive | 48 |
| Audi A6 3.0 TDI quattro S tronic | 30 |
| Ford Focus 2.0 TDCi Trend PowerShift Sedan | 27 |
| Citroën DS4 1.6 THP 200 Sport | 22 |
| Peugeot 5008 Active 2.0 HDi | 20 |
| Mercedes-Benz SLK 350 BlueEFFICIENCY | 3 |
