The Volvo XC90 has dethroned Porsche after 3 years at the top of the Car of the Year competition in South Africa. Porsche didn’t have a finalist in this year’s WesBank / SAGMJ COTY line up, but the Volvo saw off fierce competition from 11 other deserving finalists to come out as the COTY winner!
Second place was awarded to the Ford Fusion, whilst the Mazda 2 finished out the podium in 3rd place.
The other finalists in this year’s WesBank COTY were:
- BMW i3
- Citroen C4 Cactus
- Ford Fusion
- Honda HR-V
- Jaguar XE
- Kia Sorento
- Land Rover Discovery Sport
- Mazda 2 Hatch
- Opel ADAM
- Opel Corsa
- Peugeot 308
The Volvo XC90 scored above its compatriots in a stringent testing process, in which the finalists were judged across a variety of categories including:
- Exterior Aesthetics
- Interior Design & Practicality
- Safety & Technology
- Handling & Dynamics
- Performance
- Efficiency
- Value for Money
- Overall Excellence
Additionally, the guidelines of the competition stipulated the winner should strive toward representing innovation and ingenuity in marketing and engineering. With its advanced safety features and unique take on features and specification, the Volvo XC90 is a deserving winner.
The winner was selected by the 26 judges of the WesBank COTY jury, after days of testing at South Africa’s Gerotek testing facility in Pretoria.
The Volvo XC90 is the 2nd Volvo to win the coveted COTY title after the S40 won it in 2005.
Read our review of the Volvo XC90 HERE
