Toyota and Lexus take Cars Awards' top prize

Toyota South Africa Motors (TSAM) passenger car arms Toyota and Lexus have won the overall Brand of the Year award in the 2023/24 Cars.co.za Consumer Awards.

Inaugurated in 2015, the competition lays claim to having the endorsement of national automotive business council Naamsa and is sponsored by Absa bank.

The prestigious accolade comes on the back of a record year for TSAM as a group in 2023 — selling about 10,000 more vehicles (142,612 units in total) than recorded in 2022, cementing 44 years of market leadership.

This is a significant achievement on the sales front as the new vehicle market overall experienced myriad challenges in 2023 as a result of pressure from socioeconomic and political spheres.

Sales and after-sales ratings from customers are among the core metrics underpinning the determination of the Brand of the Year recipient. With a score of 88.3% for Toyota and its premium division Lexus, the victory was unequivocal.

Cars.co.za acknowledged the consistently superior after-sales support Toyota and Lexus provided to customers via a countrywide dealership network in excess of 220 outlets.

The manufacturer is no stranger to the Brand of the Year award, having taken the title on three previous occasions.

From a product perspective, it was the practical Toyota Corolla Cross 1.8 XR that took top honours in the Compact Family Car category of the competition, while the vaunted Toyota GR Yaris fended off rivals in the Performance Car segment.

These accolades complement an already well-stocked trophy cabinet for both models. The Corolla Cross was the 2022 South African Car of the Year, as deemed by the South African Guild of Mobility Journalists (SAGMJ), while TopGear SA declared the GR Yaris its 2021 Performance Car of the Year.

Meanwhile, Lexus has two contenders in the running for 2024 South African Car of the Year, the NX and LX.

In the product evaluation aspect of the Cars.co.za Consumer Awards, there are two components to the final scores. First, a rigorous process of driving and scoring by a panel of esteemed motoring media representatives conducted at Gerotek in Tshwane. The second 50% is based on feedback from actual owners, through surveys conducted by the Cars.co.za team.

Leon Theron, senior vice-president for sales and marketing at TSAM, extended his heartfelt gratitude to the SA market for their continued support and appreciation of Toyota and Lexus.

“Without their continued support and trust in us, we would not be here. Finally, to our entire complement of staff and dealer network, thank you for your hard work, and this bears testament that your efforts truly matter to our customers,” he said.

TSAM has a long-standing relationship with the local market, with domestic production of Toyota models dating as far back as 1962.

At its Prospecton plant in KwaZulu-Natal it manufactures the Hilux, Fortuner, Corolla Quest, Corolla Cross, Hiace and certain Hino models for local sales and export.

This year the automaker will expand its portfolio with a mild hybrid derivative of the Hilux, the performance-orientated Hilux GR-S II and latest generation Land Cruiser Prado.

This article was sponsored by Toyota.