The 29 best cars in South Africa right now – With pricing

The South African Guild of Mobility Journalists (SAGMJ) has announced the semi-finalists for the 39th annual Car of the Year (COTY) competition.

It was a busy year for the automotive industry, as no less than 70 new passenger cars comprising 243 derivatives were launched in 2024.

The COTY voting committee has been hard at work sorting through this collection of models and has managed to narrow the list down to 29 semi-finalists.

This list will then be shortened to a group of 20 finalists, which will be announced in early 2025 along with the categories they will be competing in.

In choosing this year’s contenders, the SAGMJ deemed that special-edition models and minor facelifts are ineligible to run, but that new derivatives to existing series are fair game provided they can distinguish themselves in terms of their technical and mechanical makeup.

This year’s semi-finalists comprise a diverse selection of models, from the economical and affordable Suzuki Swift to the high-octane Mercedes-AMG C63 S E Performance.

Another distinguishing characteristic of 2024 was the sheer number of new Chinese entrants, including the BYD Seal, Chery Tiggo Cross, GAC Emzoom, GAC Emkoo, GWM P500 HEV, GWM Tank 500, GWM Tank 300, Jaecoo J7, Jetour Dashing, Jetour X70 Plus, and Omoda C9.

“The increase in the number of Chinese marques is well-reflected in these early stages of the 2025 COTY. The public would be right to wonder if the country might see its first-ever Chinese-built COTY,” said Thami Masemola, Chairman of COTY.