Tanyaradzwa Nyamajiyah

After months of rigorous testing the latest Porsche Boxster was on Wednesday announced as WesBank/SAGMJ South African car of the year.

The Boxster entered the record books by becoming the first Porsche model in the history of the competition to win the WesBank/SAGMJ car of the year award. This was also the first year a Porsche model was included as a finalist.

The COTY judging panel have used the European Car of the year point scoring system for a few years now. The jury consisting of 30 members put the 12 finalists through their paces at the Gerotek Vehicle Testing Facility situated outside Pretoria.

Value for money, safety, dynamics, technological advancement and aesthetics are a few of the categories the winning car must fulfil. One important aspect to note is that the winner must score not only score highly against the car of the year finalists, but must also score highly against its direct rivals.

The SA Guild of Motoring Journalists has been running the car of the year competition since 1986. Twenty-twelve was also a historic year for the competition after the Hyundai Elantra won, making Hyundai automotive the first Korean manufacturer to win the competition. In 2011 the BMW 530d and the Volkswagen Polo 1.6TDI shared the crown.

Although the Boxster was a title favourite due to its stunning physic and brilliant performance, many will still wonder how a R589 000 Porsche can be Car of the Year.

The final results are as follows:

Interesting facts: 

• BMW has won the SA Car of the Year title a record six times (1988, 1990, 1993, 1997, 2001 and 2011),
• Audi Opel and Volkswagen have all won the SA Car of the Year title three times each with Honda, Renault and Toyota taking the title twice,
• Alfa Romeo, Mazda, Ford, Hyundai, Mercedes-Benz, and Volvo have all won the title once.

tanyaradzwan@thenewage.co.za