Japanese car maker Suzuki was named Brand of the Year for the second consecutive year at the 2017/18 Cars.co.za Consumer Awards in Johannesburg on Thursday.
“We think the Brand of the Year trophy is the ultimate accolade in the South African automotive industry‚” said Cars.co.za’s consumer experience manager Hannes Oosthuizen.
“It represents validation from the people that matter most – actual car owners.
“Suzuki has managed to achieve impressive market share growth in the past 12 months while also maintaining excellent service levels.”
Suzuki also won two of the 13 category awards: Budget Car (Ignis) and Compact Family Car (Vitara).
Members of Cars.co.za’s editorial team chose the finalists‚ which were then test driven by 18 judges over two days at the gruelling Gerotek facility. Their scores were added to each brand’s performance in a Consumer Satisfaction Survey - with equal weighting - to determine the winners.
“This is a crucial distinguishing feature of our car awards‚ because buying a car is ultimately about much more than just the product‚” Oosthuizen said.
“Consumers buy into a brand and essentially enter into a relationship with it.”
This year the consumer survey results impacted five categories in particular. The Toyota Fortuner (Adventure SUV)‚ Suzuki Ignis (Budget Car)‚ Mini JCW (Fun Car)‚ Volkswagen Amarok (Leisure Double Cab) and BMW M2 (Performance Car) all emerged victorious because their customers rated their brands higher than the competition.
The highest overall score of the 39 finalists in this year’s competition went to the VW Golf 1.4 TSI‚ which won the Premium Hatch category with a score of 81.6%.
Here is the full list of winners:
Budget Car: Suzuki Ignis
Compact hatchback: Mazda2
Premium hatch: VW Golf
Executive SUV: Mercedes GLC 250d
Business class: BMW 420d Gran Coupe
Executive sedan: Mercedes-Benz E350d
Compact Family Car: Suzuki Vitara 1.6 GLX Auto
Family car: Mazda CX5 2.5 Individual
Leisure double-cab bakkie: Volkswagen Amarok 3.0 V6 TDI
Adventure SUV: Toyota Fortuner 2.8 GD-6 4x4 Auto Everest 3.2 4WD
Premium SUV: Volvo XC90 T8 Twin Engine R-Design
Fun car: Mini John Cooper Works
Performance car: BMW M2 M-DCT
Suzuki wins top consumer award
Japanese car maker Suzuki was named Brand of the Year for the second consecutive year at the 2017/18 Cars.co.za Consumer Awards in Johannesburg on Thursday.
“We think the Brand of the Year trophy is the ultimate accolade in the South African automotive industry‚” said Cars.co.za’s consumer experience manager Hannes Oosthuizen.
“It represents validation from the people that matter most – actual car owners.
“Suzuki has managed to achieve impressive market share growth in the past 12 months while also maintaining excellent service levels.”
Suzuki also won two of the 13 category awards: Budget Car (Ignis) and Compact Family Car (Vitara).
Members of Cars.co.za’s editorial team chose the finalists‚ which were then test driven by 18 judges over two days at the gruelling Gerotek facility. Their scores were added to each brand’s performance in a Consumer Satisfaction Survey - with equal weighting - to determine the winners.
“This is a crucial distinguishing feature of our car awards‚ because buying a car is ultimately about much more than just the product‚” Oosthuizen said.
“Consumers buy into a brand and essentially enter into a relationship with it.”
This year the consumer survey results impacted five categories in particular. The Toyota Fortuner (Adventure SUV)‚ Suzuki Ignis (Budget Car)‚ Mini JCW (Fun Car)‚ Volkswagen Amarok (Leisure Double Cab) and BMW M2 (Performance Car) all emerged victorious because their customers rated their brands higher than the competition.
The highest overall score of the 39 finalists in this year’s competition went to the VW Golf 1.4 TSI‚ which won the Premium Hatch category with a score of 81.6%.
Here is the full list of winners:
Budget Car: Suzuki Ignis
Compact hatchback: Mazda2
Premium hatch: VW Golf
Executive SUV: Mercedes GLC 250d
Business class: BMW 420d Gran Coupe
Executive sedan: Mercedes-Benz E350d
Compact Family Car: Suzuki Vitara 1.6 GLX Auto
Family car: Mazda CX5 2.5 Individual
Leisure double-cab bakkie: Volkswagen Amarok 3.0 V6 TDI
Adventure SUV: Toyota Fortuner 2.8 GD-6 4x4 Auto Everest 3.2 4WD
Premium SUV: Volvo XC90 T8 Twin Engine R-Design
Fun car: Mini John Cooper Works
Performance car: BMW M2 M-DCT
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