Three finalists in each of the 13 categories were assessed on a wide variety of merits by a total of 20 judges over two days at the Gerotek test facility near Pretoria.
The panel comprised Cars.co.za’s in-house team of expert motoring journalists together with a group of hand-picked guest judges, each with a specialist background or field of expertise.
All vehicles available on the South African market on September 1, 2018, were eligible, not only new products that were launched in the past 12 months.
These are the vehicles still in the running in their respective categories:
Budget Car (under R200,000)
Kia Picanto 1.2 Style
Suzuki Swift 1.2 GL
Volkswagen Polo Vivo 1.4 Comfortline
Compact Hatch (R200,000 – R300,000)
Ford Fiesta 1.0T Titanium
Mazda2 1.5 Individual Plus Auto
Volkswagen Polo 1.0 TSI Comfortline Auto
Adventure SUV (R550,000 – R700,000)
Ford Everest 3.2 4WD XLT
Isuzu mu-X 3.0 4WD
Toyota Fortuner 2.8 GD-6 4×4 Auto
Compact Family (R300,000 – R400,000)
Ford EcoSport 1.0T Titanium Auto
Hyundai Creta 1.6 Executive Turbodiesel Auto
Nissan Qashqai 1.2T Acenta Auto
Family Car (R400,000 – R500,000)
Mazda CX-5 2.0 Individual
Peugeot 3008 2.0 HDI Allure
Volkswagen Tiguan Allspace 1.4 TSI Trendline
Leisure Double Cab (R500,000 – R800,000)
Ford Ranger 3.2 4×4 Wildtrak Auto
Toyota Hilux 2.8 GD-6 4×4 Raider Auto
Volkswagen Amarok 3.0 V6 TDI Highline Plus 4Motion Auto
Business Class (R600,000 – R800,000)
Audi A5 Sportback 2.0TFSI quattro Sport S Line sports
Mercedes-Benz C300 AMG Line
Volkswagen Arteon 2.0TSI 4Motion R-Design
Executive SUV (R700,000 – R900,000)
Audi Q5 2.0 TDI quattro Sport S-Line sports
BMW X3 xDrive20d M Sport auto
Volvo XC60 D5 R-Design
Premium Compact (R450,000 – R600,000)
Mercedes-Benz A200 AMG-Line
Volkswagen Golf GTI
Volvo XC40 T3 R-Design
Hot Hatch (under R700,000)
BMW M140i sports-auto
Honda Civic Type R
Renault Megane R.S. 280 Lux
Performance Car (under R1 million)
Audi TT RS
BMW M2 Competition
Porsche 718 Cayman S
Premium SUV (R1 million – R1.3 million)
Porsche Cayenne S
Range Rover Velar D300 R-Dynamic SE
Volkswagen Touareg V6 TDI Luxury R-Line
Executive Sedan (R800,000 – R1 million)
BMW 520d M Sport
Mercedes-Benz E220 d Avantgarde
Volvo S90 D5 AWD R-Design
