It feels surreal but we’ve got it
after 23 years,” commented the thrilled General Motors Southern Africa -Product Communications Manager Lunga Ntsendwana.
He was speaking exclusively to SLM at the 2017 Wesbank Car of the Year (CoTY) banquet, were Opel Astra won the title.
Commented the bucket-sweating ‘Lungzta’ as he’s affectionally known to motoring journalists: ”The Opel Astra has been the finalists for the past three-years’ now we’re reaping the rewards. It was hard-work that got us this prestigious title that we last won ages ago. ”
The competition comprised 10 finalists, following a vote by members of the South African Guild of Motoring Journalists (SAGMJ).
Audi A4 came second and Volkswagen Passat third, respectively.
Addressing over 200 motoring executives, media, analysts and economists De Kock admitted that car sales has now been taken over by rentals as a result of economical decline and exchange rate, among others.
“Rental cars are now used mainly for tourism purposes meaning the buying power from consumers have declined irrecoverably, a concern that must be addressed,” he pointed out.
Below is the list for other finalists:
Renault Kadjar
Mazda CX-3
Jaguar F-Pace
Hyundai Tucson
Honda Civic
Audi A4
Toyota Fortuner
Volkswagen Passat
Volkswagen Tiguan
