As some of the SA Car Fan team makes its way up to Sandton today for the glittering Wesbank/SAGMJ 2013 South African Car of the Year announcement, we bring you news that the new Volkswagen Golf 7 has been named as the 2013 European Car of the Year. What about in the South African competition you may be asking yourself. Is the new Golf 7 not a competitor in South Africa too?
Well, it has been launched and we have already driven it extensively across the country to bring you our first drive report, but it wasn’t launched in time to be included in the SAGMJ’s current competition. It will no doubt be a strong contender in the 2014 competition in South Africa.
Despite the struggling European economy, the renowned award is still seen as an important barometer of automotive excellence. The Volkswagen Golf 7 was announced as the award winner in the run-up to the start of the Geneva International Motor Show.
In his acceptance speech on behalf of the Golf 7, Prof. Dr. Martin Winterkorn, Chairman of the Board of Management of Volkswagen AG, stated: “This is a superb result and we are very proud of it. This most significant European award is the perfect final touch to the list of prizes we have already won. Over 29 million customers have made the Golf into the icon that it is. The new Golf will continue this success story.”
The best new cars have been given prizes annually since 1964. The panel of judges, consisting of 58 automotive journalists from 22 countries, nominated eight cars for the final run. The finalists were compared and evaluated during the last few months under a broad range of criteria, such as fuel efficiency, comfort, safety, driving properties, functionality, design and technological progress.
In the final vote, the new Golf came out on top with a total score of 414 points – the car in second place received a score of just 202 points. Two Volkswagen models have received the coveted prize before, the Golf in 1992 and the South African built Polo in 2010. In just one full sales month in South Africa, and an abridged at that, the new Golf has sold over 760 units throughout February. We think it is pretty fabulous and we won’t be surprised to see it dominate next year’s Wesbank/SAGMJ 2014 Car of the Year competition.
