New Polo named as 2011 Wesbank/SAGMJ Car of the Year finalist
The new Polo has been chosen alongside the Volkswagen Amarok Double Cab pick-up as a finalist for the 2011 Wesbank/SAGMJ Car of the Year competition in South Africa. The new Polo 1.6 TDI Comfortline 77kW will compete with the Amarok 2.0 BiTDI 4×2 Double Cab and eight other finalists for the country’s premier motoring award. Volkswagen is hoping that the new Polo or Amarok will make it two in a row for the brand, following Golf 1.4 TSI’s success in the 2010 competition. The winner of the 2011 WesBank/SAGMJ Car the Year will be revealed in March next year.
‘Volkswagen Group South Africa is honoured to have two of its cars as the finalists in this prestigious competition, especially the Amarok which has just been launched in South Africa and is the first Double Cab finalist in the CoTY competition. In the past three years, Volkswagen brands have made the final list of the competition. The nomination of our cars as finalists, is a strong endorsement of our brand strength,’ said Mike Glendinning, Director Sales and Marketing, Volkswagen Group South Africa.
The next step of the competition is a two-day test session in February 2011 at the Gerotek test facility near Pretoria, where the cars will be assessed independently by the CoTY jury members. In keeping with the broadened competition, the testing at Gerotek will allow the cars to be evaluated in conditions each vehicle would be expected to perform under. Jury members will pay close attention to the cars’ aesthetics, build quality and ergonomics, while considerations based on perceptions of value for money, cost of spares, safety features and environmental friendliness will be taken into account before scoring the top ten.
