The South African Guild of Mobility Journalists has announced the 2021 South African Car of the Year (and nine category winners).
THE PEUGEOT 2008 has beaten 23 other finalists to emerge the 2021 South African Car of the Year.
The competition, which has been staged by the South African Guild of Mobility Journalists since 1986, also included nine category winners (see below), covering every segment from budget cars through to adventure vehicles, double cabs and new energy vehicles.
But there can be only one overall winner, and this year the Peugeot 2008 compact SUV was the vehicle that impressed judges the most, with its combination of sophistication and value.
The 2008 was also the most popular vehicle with jurors before the value-based automated scores were added to the overall tally, leading to it also scooping the Juror’s Excellence Award.
Second place overall went to the Toyota Hilux, while the BMW 4 Series took third place in the competition.
These were the 2021 South African Car of the Year category winners:
Budget: Toyota Starlet
Compact: Hyundai Venue
Family Compact: Peugeot 2008
Family: Audi A4
Premium: BMW 4 Series
Performance: Porsche 911 Turbo S
New Energy: Porsche Taycan
Adventure SUV: Toyota Land Cruiser Prado
Double Cab: Toyota Hilux
The SAGMJ also announced the winner of the public vote, with the Motor Enthusiast’s Choice award going to the Mercedes-Benz E-Class.
The 2021 South African Car of the Year competition was open to vehicles that were launched in the country between November 2019 and April 2021. This was the first year that that the scoring was completely electronic, as there were no official test days in which all the finalists were assembled. As is the case with many international competitions, the jurors – consisting of experienced motoring journalists – rated the cars based on their experiences testing the vehicles throughout the year.
“The 2021 SA Car of the Year (COTY) had its unique challenges. For the first time in the competition’s history, we did not host our scheduled two-day juror evaluation event,” the SAGMJ said. “Thankfully, we had the foresight to create an ongoing online scoring system available to all South African Guild of Mobility Journalists’ (SAGMJ) members in 2019 based on scoring criteria that closely mirrored COTY’s voting criteria.
“The scoring system was initially created to build up a database of vehicles tested, their strengths, weaknesses and to be able to compare them to category contenders.”
Previous South African Car of the Year winners:
2020: Jaguar I-Pace
2019: Mercedes Benz A-Class
2018: Porsche Panamera
2017: Opel Astra
2016: Volvo XC90
2015: Porsche Macan S Diesel
2014: Porsche Cayman S
2013: Porsche Boxster
2012: Hyundai Elantra 1.8 GLS
2011: VW Polo 1.6 TDI and BMW 530d
2010: VW Golf 6 1.4 TSI Comfortline
2009: Honda Accord 2.4i Executive
2008: Mazda 2 1.5 Individual
2007: Honda Civic 1.8 VXi
2006: Audi A3 Sportback 2.0 TFSI
2005: Volvo S40 2.4i
2004: Renault Mégane 1.9 dCi
2003: VW Polo 1.4 TDI
2002: Audi A4 1.9 TDI
2001: BMW 320d
2000: Renault Clio 1.4 RT
1999: Alfa Romeo 156 T-Spark
1998: Ford Fiesta Fun
1997: BMW 528i
1996: Audi A4 1.8
1995: Opel Astra 160iS
1994: Opel Kadett 140
1993: BMW 316i
1992: Nissan Maxima 300 SE
1991: Opel Monza 160 GSi
1990 – BMW 525i
1989: Toyota Corolla GLi Executive
1988: BMW 735i
1987: Mercedes-Benz 260E
1986: Toyota Corolla GLi
