Now in its seventh year, the annual cars.co.za Consumer Awards programme has announced five semi-finalists in each of the 13 vehicle categories. This completes the first phase of the programme.

Phase one of the programme saw the cars.co.za extended editorial team meeting in Cape Town to select five of the best vehicles in each category. Part of the criteria for selection was that all vehicles had to be available on the market on the 1st of September 2023, and not necessarily only launched within the previous 12 months. Furthermore, vehicles could also be considered for selection if they had pricing, were able to be ordered by customers and that the extended editorial team had some prior familiarity with the vehicles.

Noteworthy, given the popularity of lower-priced crossover segments, the awards programme has now replaced some higher-priced categories with those that are more representative of what consumers are buying currently. An electric vehicle (EV) category, focusing on the most affordable electric vehicles has also been included.

The second phase of the programme will take place in early October 2023, and will see the cars.co.za extended editorial team scoring the semi-finalists individually, with careful consideration of criteria set out for each category. From the scoring, the top three vehicles in each category will go on to be finalists and will be tested extensively back-to-back at the Gerotek proving ground in Gauteng by the judging panel on the 2nd and 3rd of November 2023.

The judging panels scores will account for 50% of the final votes, whereas the remaining 50% will be based on rankings that the various OEMs represented by the finalists achieved in the cars.co.za Ownership Satisfaction Survey. The data from the survey includes feedback from thousands of vehicle owners based on their experiences of their vehicles which would need to be less than four years old and serviced through franchised outlets.

And with that, the 2023/24 CarsAwards semi-finalists are as follows:

Entry -Level Hatch (Priced below R250 000)

consumer

  • Citroen C3 1.2 Feel
  • Renault Kiger 1.0 Zen
  • Suzuki Celerio 1.0 GL
  • Suzuki Swift 1.2 GLX
  • Toyota Vitz 1.0 XR

Budget Hatch (R250 000 to R350 000)

consumer

  • Hyundai Grand i10 1.2 Fluid
  • Renault Clio 1.0 Turbo Zen
  • Suzuki Baleno 1.5 GLX
  • Toyota Starlet 1.5 XR
  • Volkswagen Polo Vivo 1.6 Highline

Compact Hatch (R350 000 to R500 000)

  • Audi A1 Sportback 30 TFSI S Line
  • Honda Fit 1.5 Elegance
  • Opel Corsa 1.2T Elegance
  • Peugeot 208 1.2T
  • Volkswagen Polo 1.0 TSI 85kW R-Line

Entry-Level Crossover (R300 000 to R400 000)

  • Chery Tiggo 4 Pro 1.5 Elite AT
  • Haval Jolion 1.5T Premium
  • Suzuki Fronx 1.5 GLX AT
  • Suzuki Grand Vitara 1.5 GLX MT
  • Toyota Urban Cruiser 1.5 XR AT

Compact Family Car (R400 000 to R500 000)

consumer

  • Haval Jolion S Super Luxury
  • Omoda C5 1.5T 230T Lux S
  • Peugeot 2008 1.2T Allure
  • Renault Duster 1.5dCi Intens
  • Toyota Corolla Cross 1.8 XR

Family Car (R600 000 to R800 000)

  • Chery Tiggo 8 Pro Max 2.0T GDi 390 Executive
  • Haval H6 1.5T HEV Ultra Luxury
  • Hyundai Tucson 2.0D Elite
  • Kia Sportage 1.6 CRDi EX
  • Mitsubishi Outlander 2.5 Aspire

Premium Crossover (R700 000 to R1 million)

  • Audi Q3 Sportback 40 TFSI quattro S Line
  • BMW X1 sDrive18d M Sport
  • Lexus UX 250h SE
  • Mercedes-Benz GLA200d AMG Line
  • Volvo XC40 B4 Ultimate Dark

Executive SUV (R1 Million to R1.3 million)

  • BMW X3 xDrive20d M Sport
  • Hyundai Palisade Elite 7-seater
  • Lexus NX 350h F Sport
  • Mercedes-Benz GLC220d 4MATIC Avantgarde
  • Volvo XC60 B5 Ultimate Dark

Premium SUV (R1.3 million to R1.8 million)

  • BMW iX xDrive40
  • BMW X5 xDrive30d M Sport
  • Jeep Grand Cherokee L 3.6 4×4 Overland
  • Land Rover Defender 110 D250 SE County
  • Mercedes-Benz GLE300d AMG Line

Adventure SUV (R800 000 to R1.2 million)

  • Ford Everest 3.0 V6 Wildtrak
  • Isuzu MU-X 3.0TD Onyx 4×4
  • Jeep Wrangler Unlimited 3.6 Rubicon
  • Mitsubishi Pajero Sport 2.4DiD 4×4 Exceed
  • Toyota Fortuner 2.8GD-6 4×4 VX

Performance Car (Below R1 million)

  • Honda Civic Type R
  • Subaru WRX manual
  • Toyota GR Corolla Circuit
  • Toyota GR Yaris Rally
  • Volkswagen Golf R

Leisure Double Cab (Above R800 000)

consumer

  • Ford Ranger 3.0 V6 EcoBoost Raptor 4WD
  • Ford Ranger 3.0 V6 Wildtrak 4WD
  • Isuzu D-MAX 3.0TD V-Cross 4×4 AT
  • Toyota Hilux 2.8GD-6 4×4 Legend RS AT
  • Volkswagen Amarok 3.0TDI V6 Aventura 4Motion

EV (Below R1.3 million)

  • BMW i4 eDrive35 M Sport
  • BMW iX1 xDrive30 M Sport
  • Mercedes-Benz EQA250 AMG Line
  • Ora 03 Super Lux
  • Volvo XC40 Twin Motor Ultimate

APEX Magazine contributor, Mpho Mahlangu forms part of the judging panel and will be bringing more updates on the awards programme and the gruelling back-to-back test days.