Page 39 - Blue Valley Issue 5 2021

MOTORING

THE SAGMJ CAR OF THE YEAR 2021 WINNERS

BY ALAN ROSENMEYER

The First-Place Overall Winner of the 2021 South African
Car of the Year competition is the Peugeot 2008.

he South African Car of the Year (COTY) trophy, awarded since 1986, Ongoing liaison with manufacturers and keeping up with worldwide trends
is the country’s most highly respected and sought-after motoring has resulted in the constant updating of judging criteria and the creation
Taccolade. While the competition has evolved over the years, of numerous categories as well as a public vote for the Motor Enthusiasts’
(categories were introduced recently), one thing has remained true to Choice and the Jurors’ Excellence Award.
the contest - it celebrates and rewards automotive excellence based on
judging and voting by a jury who are members of the SA Guild of Mobility The COTY scoring process is so much more than just juror scoring. Once our
Journalists (SAGMJ). expert panel concluded scoring, the automated scoring factors that cover
sales performance, segment share and value for money are applied. The
This year was my first as a trainee juror on the panel and, although the automated scoring information was provided by Lightstone Auto, which
traditional 2-day physical evaluation session could not take place, the online provides data-driven insight, online market intelligence and new vehicle
scoring system that has been developed over the last few years enabled the sales data to the South African automotive industry. The Jurors’ Excellence
contest to go ahead. The scoring system was initially created to build up a Award uses raw scoring to reveal which vehicle received the highest scores
database of vehicles tested, with their strengths and weaknesses - and then before automated factors were included.
compare them to category contenders. Election is by a vote of peers and I
deem it a great honour to be part of the esteemed team.

Click here to see the Peugeot SA Team’s reaction to the win:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfsbWQX8o_8

BLUE VALLEY NEWS • Issue 5 2021• 37