Suzuki South Africa has doubled its chances in the 2019 Auto Trader South African Car of the Year competition when the jury and public voted to include two of its models in the latest version of the competition.

The South African Guild of Motoring Journalists (SAGMJ) yesterday announced that both the Suzuki Jimny and the Suzuki Swift have been selected in the Top 12 finalists for the 2019 competition. Suzuki is the only brand to have two finalists in this exclusive list.

The 2019 Auto Trader South African Car of the Year competition welcomes a dramatic redesign of the competition that was first hosted in 1986. This year, both the Guild and the general public could vote for their list of semi-finalists from a pool of eligible vehicles that have recently been launched in the South African market.

From this initial round of voting, both the new Suzuki Swift and new Suzuki Jimny were chosen on the list of twenty semi-finalists and both models were again selected for the final list of twelve finalists.

The two Suzuki models will be tested alongside their peers and other finalists for the next three months in everyday driving. The Jury, which consists of 25 of South Africa’s most well-known motoring journalists, will then test the finalists on Kyalami in March 2019, before announcing the winner at a gala event in April 2019.

The Suzuki Swift is the reigning Japanese Car of the Year and it was a runner-up in the World Car of the Year Awards. It is also a finalist in the current Cars.co.za Consumer Awards, powered by WesBank.

The Jimny has only been on the market for a couple of months, but it has already been named the latest recipient of the global Good Design Awards and there is a growing waiting list for this hardy 4x4.

PO Box 1995 Kelvin 2054 South Africa Tel: 0861 511 1111 Web: www.suzukiauto.co.za Says André Venter, divisional manager for sales and marketing at Suzuki South Africa: “We are honoured to have two finalists in the new Car of the Year Awards, especially because this year’s awards also consider customer feedback.

“As Suzuki, we believe that our success lies in building cars that fit customers’ lifestyles and their budgets. Competitions like this one and the Consumer Awards where we have been voted Brand of the Year for two years in a row, indicate that we are without a doubt on the right track.”