Autodealer now involved
Since Sean Nurse is now part of the entire process, albeit as a trainee juror for this year, we thought we’d fill you in on the revisions made for this year’s competition. You might ask how a jury is selected for this, well this year, Sean was chosen to be a juror, however, he must complete two years as a trainee before being able to take part. The voting process sees members of the SAGMJ vote to produce a jury shortlist from which the final 25 (minimum) to 30 (maximum) jurors are selected.
The changes
There have been several changes made this year. The first alteration is that vehicle model range is up for nomination, not only one specific model. For example, the Ford Fusion range is in the final instead of perhaps the 1.5-litre turbo automatic as might have been the case in previous years. There are pros and cons to this. On the one hand, it’s representative, and not exclusively targeting one model. On the other hand, the manufacturers will likely give jury members the best possible models for evaluation days, meaning that as judges, they must consider the whole range and not just the top-spec model provided, which can be tough. The manufacturers are at liberty to choose the three models required for testing however, each must beidentically specified and therefore priced the same.
One car to rule them all
But how are the cars made eligible? Model ranges within eight months of global launch dates at the start of the South African competition (1 January 2014 for the 2016 competition), are eligible for that year’s competition.
This year there will only be one winner. I remember a few years back when the BMW 5 Series and the Volkswagen Polo TDI shared the spoils. This year there won’t be a runner-up, only the winner will be announced but a full analysis of the scoring will be published. The scoring is also different; the vehicles will be scored in categories, with judges providing points for value-for-money; exterior design; interior design and practicality; safety; handling and dynamics; performance and overall excellence. A statistical weighting will be introduced per category, as well.
When does it go down?
The competition has begun with the finalists being selected already. The official testing days start in February 2016 with on-road evaluations the first day, followed by intense testing at Gerotek the following day. The winner will then be announced at the WesBank Awards Banquet in March 2016.
Independent accounting auditors will collect jury members’ scores (via an electronic scoring process) at the close of the test days, monitor the entire scoring process and oversee the announcement of the winner at the banquet.
