The South African Guild of Motoring Journalists (SAGMJ) has announced the 23 finalists for the 2021 South African Car of the Year awards.

Besides the overall winner’s crown, the finalists can also win in one of nine categories: budget; compact; family compact; family; premium; performance; new energy; adventure sports-utility vehicle (SUV); and double-cab.

The final category, luxury, has no contenders this year.

The most competitive category this year promises to be the family compact section, with six finalists, says the SAGMJ.

Here, the competitors are the Hyundai Creta, the Kia Seltos, the Mazda CX-30, the Peugeot 2008, the Toyota Corolla sedan and the Volkswagen T-Roc.

The budget category includes the Hyundai Grand i10, the Suzuki S-Presso and the Toyota Starlet, while the compact category has the Hyundai Venue, the Opel Corsa and the Suzuki Vitara Brezza vying for top honours.

The family category includes the Volkswagen Caravelle as finalist.

Hyundai and Toyota each have four models on the finalist list.

Mercedes-Benz, Porsche and Suzuki have two finalists each and Audi, BMW, Kia, Land Rover, Opel, Peugeot one finalist each.

The list of finalists comprises, in alphabetical order:
Audi A4 (family)

BMW 4 Series (premium)

Hyundai Grand i10 (budget)

Hyundai Venue (compact)

Hyundai i30 N (performance)

Hyundai Creta (family compact)

Kia Seltos (family compact)

Land Rover Defender 110 (adventure SUV)

Mazda CX-30 (family compact)

Mercedes-Benz E-Class (premium)

Mercedes-Benz GLA (family)

Opel Corsa (compact)

Peugeot 2008 SUV (family compact)

Porsche Taycan (new energy)

Porsche 911 Turbo S (performance)

Suzuki Vitara Brezza (compact)

Suzuki S-Presso (budget)

Toyota Corolla sedan XS and XR (family compact)

Toyota Starlet (budget)

Toyota Hilux (double cab)

Toyota Land Cruiser Prado (adventure SUV)

Volkswagen T-Roc (family compact)

Volkswagen Caravelle (family)

The SAGMJ says the final round of scoring in this year’s competition was scheduled to continue until June 11.

This round of scoring also includes automated factors based on sales data.

The category winners and overall South African Car of the Year Winner will be announced on June 26.