These are the best cars in South Africa – across the major categories

The South African Guild of Mobility Journalists (SAGMJ) has announced the winners of its Car of the Year (COTY) competition, which includes the best vehicles across a range of vehicle categories.

The winners were selected from 25 semi-finalists and 49 entrants, with jurors test driving and evaluating the vehicles daily to select the eventual winner of each sub-category.

After a four-week scoring process, the Toyota Corolla Cross was selected as the South African Car of the Year.

Mercedes Benz C-Class won this year’s prestigious Juror’s Excellence Award. Introduced in 2021, the award only considers the raw scoring of the expert jurors without automated scoring factors. The overall winner includes additional scoring criteria like sales, segment share, and spec-adjusted pricing.

The Peugeot 208 picked up the Motor Enthusiasts Choice Award, while the Budget and Premium categories did not have any contenders in 2022.

Winners across the remaining categories included:

Compact Category winner – Toyota Urban Cruiser

Compact Family Category winner – Toyota Corolla Cross

Midsize Category winner – Mercedes Benz C-Class

Performance Category winner – Volkswagen Golf GTI

New-energy Category winner – Toyota Corolla Cross Hybrid

Adventure Sports-Utility Vehicle Category winner – Toyota Landcruiser 300

Double Cab 4 X 4 Category winner – Nissan Navara

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