Winners: Cars.co.za Consumer Awards – powered by WesBank

The Cars.co.za Consumer Awards – powered by WesBank – celebrated its 5-year landmark when the programme’s 13 category winners and the recipient of the Brand of the Year title were announced during a gala event held at the Kyalami Grand Prix circuit on 6 February 2020.

#CarsAwards was conceived to be South Africa’s definitive automotive awards programme; the list of vehicles it recognises is meant to guide car buyers to make the best-informed purchasing decisions… Cars are judged directly against their peers in specific categories, each of which has distinct requirements. What’s more, 50% of the final scores is based on brand-specific after-sales data that incorporate customer feedback from thousands of South African vehicle owners.

Since its debut in 2015/16, the #CarsAwards has grown into the largest and most influential awards event on the South African motoring calendar and, since 2017, the programme has been loyally supported by WesBank – the largest provider of vehicle finance in South Africa.

“As South Africa’s largest vehicle and asset finance house, we want to align our brand with impactful industry initiatives, especially those that add value to consumers. Walking this journey alongside consumers continues to make these industry-recognised awards very effective, as their contribution plays a vital role in the final decision. We congratulate all the winners for this year’s awards and look forward to seeing what the upcoming year brings,” says Lebogang Gaoaketse, WesBank’s Head of Marketing and Communication.

• In the four previous iterations of the #CarsAwards, Suzuki and Toyota won the Brand of the Year title twice. However, the 2019/20 recipient of the most coveted #CarsAwards trophy – which is determined entirely by market and customer data – is Volkswagen.
• And, by garnering six more trophies on the night (BMW and Toyota won two each), Volkswagen remains the most prolific category winner (16) in #CarsAwards history.
• Representatives of the Volkswagen Amarok, Arteon and Polo, Toyota Fortuner and Suzuki Swift ranges successfully defended their category victories from the 2018/19 #CarsAwards, although in the case of the Amarok and Swift, with different derivatives.
• The Volkswagen Amarok and Toyota Fortuner have now won their respective categories – Leisure Double-Cab and Adventure SUV – for three consecutive years. Suzuki won the Budget Car category (with a Swift derivative) for an incredible fourth year in a row.
• Three of the 2019/20 category winners (BMW X3, Mazda CX-5 and the Volkswagen Golf GTI) rebounded from having finished as runners up in the previous year’s #CarsAwards. 
• In no fewer than five of the 13 categories the judges’ favourites did not win, due to the impact of data from the Cars.co.za Ownership Satisfaction Survey (more details to follow).
• The narrowest victory margin (0.1%) was in the Budget Car and Leisure Double-Cab categories; the largest (3.2%) was in Compact Hatch. The Budget Car category had the smallest gap between first and third place (1.4%); Performance Car the biggest (12.6%). 

Seventeen brands were represented in the list of finalists. Volkswagen led the nominations with 7 derivatives, followed by BMW, Ford and Toyota (4 apiece), Mazda and Suzuki (3 apiece). The Chinese SUV brand, Haval, made its first appearance in the final stage of the #CarsAwards, while Jaguar and Land Rover returned to the list after failing to make the last round in 2018/19.