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 more awards: Budget Car (Ignis) and Compact Family Car (Vitara).

The editorial team chose the finalists‚ which were then test driven by 18 judges over two days at the Gerotek facility. Their scores were added to each brand’s performance in a Consumer Satisfaction Survey - with equal weighting - to determine the winners.

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