Have you ever owned one of these? South Africa’s car of the year since 1986

The 2018 WesBank SA Car of the Year was revealed at a gala event in Gauteng on Tuesday evening.

The competition comprised 10 finalists, following a vote by members of the South African Guild of Motoring Journalists (SAGMJ), which had previously identified 21 semi-finalists.

The Porsche Panamera was announced as the overall winner, beating the Volvo S90 into second place, while the Alfa Romeo Giulia placed third.

The SAGMJ has run the South African Car Of The Year competition since 1986, with WesBank as its headline sponsor since inception.

In recent years, the competition has had many historic moments, including 2012 when Hyundai Automotive SA won the title for the first time in its history and became the first Korean vehicle brand to win.

In 2011, the competition caused an even bigger stir when, for the first time in history, the BMW 530d and Volkswagen Polo 1.6 TDI shared the crown. And in 2015, the Porsche Macan became the first SUV to win the COTY contest.

BMW has won the SA Car Of The Year title a record six times (1988, 1990, 1993, 1997, 2001 and 2011). Opel is the only manufacturer to have won the title for two consecutive years, and has ultimately won the competition four times. Audi and Volkswagen have each won three times, while Honda, Renault, Toyota and Volvo have won twice.

Previous winners of the WesBank South African Car Of The Year competition:

The Toyota Corolla Twin Cam won the inaugural event in 1986, followed by Mercedes-Benz 260E in 1987, the BMW 735i in 1988, and the Toyota Corolla GLi Executive in 1989.

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