The 2018 WesBank SA Car of the Year finalists – in a nutshell

By Stuart Johnston

Right now, there will be industry-insiders shuddering, when contemplating the 10 WesBank SA COTY finalists for 2018. The recent announcement included the “P” word, and that, of course, stands for “Porsche”.

Nothing wrong with that, for the 2018 Porsche Panamera is indeed a superlative car and worthy of its inclusion. But in the context of the SA Car of the Year competition, the collective industry mind will harken back to the years 2013, 2014 and 2015; that’s when Porsche scooped overall honours three years in a row, and there were some subtle (and not-so-subtle) hints from industry and public, that the SA Guild of Motoring Journalists had lost touch with the needs of the common man. Never mind that a Porsche (pretty much any Porsche you care to mention) is an excellent car, but many felt this triple-crown for the Stuttgart manufacturer was hard to justify.

In 2016 the winner was a Volvo XC90 (also a pretty “elitist” vehicle taking its price of close to R1-million into consideration) , but last year, thank goodness, an Opel Astra won to a general sigh of relief. Here was a winner that ticked all the boxes - it represented a huge step forward for Opel in terms of dynamics and build-quality, and at around the R300 000 mark it was realistically attainable.

So, putting the “P factor” aside for a moment, what does the current list of 10 finalists say about the South African Guild of Motoring Journalists’ priorities, when it comes to assessing new cars?

Well, looking at the spread from the cheapest (Kia Picanto) to the most expensive (Porsche Panamera), you’d have to say, that price-wise, the Guild has the market pretty well-covered. Finalists have to be brand new ranges, rather than updates of existing ranges. So, for example, the recently-launched Golf GTD wouldn’t make it even though it is an excellent car, as the current Golf range has been around for a number of years.

Interesting to note that, this year, the winner will be a range of cars, and not a specific model. The test days in January 2018  will see manufacturers supply a representative model of each range, but jury members should keep this in mind when judging each car.

So, here’s the big question: How the heck do you compare a Porsche Panamera, costing  between R1,3-million and R3,1-million, to a Kia Picanto or a Suzuki Ignis, weighing in at around the R160 000 to R180 000 mark?

The answer: Not very easily. But the best analogy is to take a theoretical example of a very wealthy man who has just indulged himself in, say, an a Mercedes-Benz S500 Cabriolet, and his family suggests that maybe he should spread the love around a little, and refurbish their sets of wheels.

For his wife he will probably consider an upmarket SUV (say in the R500 000 to R800 000 price range), for his son he’s probably looking  at a reasonable hot-hatch (at R450 000-plus) and for his daughter who couldn’t care about cars and is just starting university, he may well consider a Picanto or an Ignis. In other words, cars don’t compete with each other, but with other cars in their class or segment. So there you have our market-spread of finalists in a nutshell, and if you speak to a multi-franchise dealer (Colin Lazarus of Centurion springs to mind), there are plenty of these wealthy individuals with just this sort of buying power.

And as you know, one of the secrets of staying rich is spending your hard-earned money wisely. In each case, he will research the cars in question and their competitors, and take numerous test drives before he’ll make his decision. He will want the best car in each category. And having reviewed his multi-car purchase after some time, he’ll probably decide which of those cars was the best buy; the one that stood out head and shoulders above the rest in its price category.

That, in nutshell, is the job that faces the SAGMJ jury members when they judge these 10 finalists over a two-day period this coming January.

“Excellence and innovation.” Those are probably the most important criteria for the judges, and of course there are the questions of value for money and affordability.  These two factors are not the same thing: A Volvo S90 at around R800 000 can represent excellent value-for-money in its category, but in terms of affordability it is naturally a bit challenged. Ditto for the BMW 5 Series, the Land Rover Discovery, and the Audi Q5.

And even the Suzuki Ignis and Kia Picanto, in their price categories, are not seen as “cheap” cars by buyers who would consider, say, a Datsun Go at R110 000, as a logical entry into the new-car market.

In summary, herewith AutoTrader’s thumbnail take on the 2018 SAGM Car of the year finalists, listed in alphabetical order:

Alfa Romeo Giulia

If you had told this writer, say, five years ago, that an Alfa Romeo would be a COTY finalist, I would have told you to switch to a less toxic brand of nicotine substitute. Fact is, the 2017 Giulia represents an enormous achievement on the part of Alfa Romeo in giving enthusiast drivers exactly what they want, in terms of a car that excels in dynamics, but has that indefinable “soul” quality.

The Giulia has won numerous Car of the Year awards already in other countries, courtesy of Top Gear Magazine in the UK and Autocar, who called it a “game-changer”. Despite marginal sales here, it deserves its place in COTY 2018 for exactly that reason. Prices range approximately from R550 000 to R630 000 (for the two-litre model).

Audi Q5

Hewn from a block of high-tensile steel. An interior crafted with the subtlety and integrity of an artist-cum-designer approaching Da Vinci levels of genius. These are the types of accolades that have been showered on Audi over the years, and the Q5 is the latest iteration of a brand that has been voted “most aspirational” by German university students (they don’t come much more informed or discerning than that bunch). A firm handle on the present, but always with an eye to the future. That’s Audi. The Q5 as entered costs in the region of R700 000.

BMW 5 Series

The BMW 5 Series is the car that gave the Bavarian automaker its foothold in South Africa back in the 1970s, and it has never looked back. Each ensuing 5 Series range has been excellent, a worthy contender to a market segment previously  dominated by Mercedes. And along with Audi, these three German marques are still seen as the cars to beat. The latest 5 Series is superb in almost every respect. Prices range from approximately R750 000 to R1-million.

Kia Picanto

The previous Picanto, in the eyes of this writer, should have won at least one COTY award already. Cute, edgy in styling, and dynamically perfectly tailored for a car that appeals to students and pensioners alike, it shows just what can be done with an affordable small-car package built very much to a price. The latest is all of these with extra features such as more connectivity and more luggage space than before, the new model following market dictates with precision. Prices of the Picanto range from R134 000 to just under R200 000. Affordable!

Land Rover Discovery

The new Land Rover Discovery is one brave new vehicle from the people who introduced muddy footprints into the homes of the genteel. This new Discovery is polarising to say the least, as hard-core bush-whackers sneer at its “softer” looks and complexity, while upwardly-mobile achievers are rushing to sign up for one of these symbols of adventure. It rides like a limo on the open road, it has svelte new looks more suited to Oscar Night than the Okavango, but it can still go anywhere! It fully deserves its spot in the COTY limelight. But, at prices ranging between R700 00 and well over R1,2-million, depending on options fitted, it is certainly not cheap.

Peugeot 3008.

Cross-over: this is the buzz-word amongst strategists in the motor industry, as these half-hatch, half-SUV creations are seen as the hottest ticket to the fastest  expanding segment of the new car market. Peugeot is one of the most innovative of the French motor companies, great at producing van-like utility with a level of high style, and an eye for flair and practicality second-to-none. No wonder the 3008 SUV won the 2017 European Car of the Year title, amongst numerous other awards.

Porsche Panamera

Once this car was seen as the “ugly duckling” in the Porsche range. But those of us lucky enough to have driven one, know that Panameras have become as beautiful as the headline act in a Sports Illustrated Swimsuit edition, as soon as you get behind the wheel.

The new 2018 Panamera sets new levels of limo-like ride quality, alloyed to grip-levels worthy of a Le Mans contender. That’s thanks to a level of hi-tech handling refinements, unsurpassed in a four-door model. It also introduces new metal-bonding techniques for a more lightweight and rigid chassis, and it’s all-new, apart from the famous Porsche badge. Affordable these cars are not, costing between R1,3 and R3-million. But value for money? Oh yes! If you want the best, you pay the price. And, the Panamera looks much better in second-generation form.

Suzuki Ignis

There’s only one thing I don’t like about this car, and that’s its name. I believe it means something catchy and fiery in some or other language (actually, it’s taken from the Latin word that means to ‘ignite’), but for me it has connotations of a friendly old aunt with grapes on her hat, or a character trait or occurrence that’s less than pleasant.

Having said that, there is absolutely nothing unpleasant about the Suzuki Ignis, in the metal. It manages to be spunky without being frivolous, classy without being overpriced, and its street-cred is backed up by the best fuel economy in the business. At R189 000 for the more mid-range manual model, it’s a bargain - a gift that keeps on giving. Yeah!

Toyota C-HR

Toyota means never having to say you’re sorry, to paraphrase the “Love Story” catch-line that this company has had with South Africans for the past 35 years or so. Toyota means reliability, good re-sale value, practicality, and excellent build quality. Will the C-HR tick the boxes for all the COTY criteria?

Well, a Toyota was the winner of the very first WesBank-sponsored Car of the Year competition  in 1986. Over three decades on, WesBank is still the main sponsor, and Toyota is still the market leader. If this was a sales competition, Toyota would have been a COTY contender each and every year. But the COTY award is about innovation as well as excellence, rather than playing it safe. The Japanese-based brand hasn’t won a COTY prize since the late 1980s but… maybe. Maybe its C-HR, the first really funky-looking Toyota since the RAV4 of the early ‘90s, will change all that!

Volvo S90

This is one of the most dramatic new cars to be launched in South Africa in the past 12 months. It has superb styling, punctuated by that ultra-strong front grille, which somehow evokes images of a car that a superhero would like to drive, yet it never strays into the cartoon realm of frivolity. But it has ALL the semi-autonomous technology, that works brilliantly!

What’s more, a short time spent with the S90, powered by a powerful two-litre four-cylinder engine, showed it to have a ride and handling package to match its looks, and the promise of great fuel consumption for a car of this level. Will it be enough to win COTY 2018? We’ll let you know what we think after the January test days.

*AutoTrader is the official media partner of the 2018 WesBank South African Guild of Motoring Journalists annual Car of the Year Competition, now in its 32^nd year. The views expressed in this article are those of the author, rather than that of AutoTrader.