(17 Mar 05)

Our thanks once again to Evan Rothman of www.dieselcar.co.za for information from South Africa. The local Guild of Motoring Journalists has just announced the twentieth winner of the South African Car Of The Year competition, and it's the Volvo S40 2.4i.

SACOTY operates quite differently to similar awards elsewhere in the world. The finalists are named several months in advance, and are then tested by a Guild jury panel. Their scores are compared against a price/value curve, and at this point we can imagine some hard-working soul sitting in a soundproofed room for several days trying to work out which car has emerged on top.

The S40's opposition included the Audi A6 3.0 TDi quattro, BMW 120i, Ford Fiesta 1.4i five-door, Mazda3 1.6 Dynamic, Opel Astra 1.8 Sport, Peugeot 407 2.2 ST Sport and Volkswagen Golf 2.0 TDi Sportline. Not one of them gets a sniff of glory - in South Africa, a model is either the car of the year or it isn't. There are no runners-up.

This is the first year that a Volvo has won the award. The most successful manufacturer to date is BMW, with five wins, followed by Opel on three and Audi, Renault and Toyota on two each. Alfa Romeo, Ford, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan and Volkswagen have, like Volvo, achieved one win each.

Volvo Road Tests

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