The jury of the 2014 WesBank/SAGMJ Car Of The Year has announced the nine candidates who will battle for the award which will be presented to one winner next year in February. The announcement of the finalists took place in the Nasrec Arena on the second day of the 2013 Johannesburg International Motor Show.

The evaluation procedure

The judging process will include a two-day evaluation session to be held in Gauteng at the world-renowned Gerotek test facility near Pretoria in January 2014. This is where the jury will asses the cars independently under the conditions individual vehicles would be expected to perform under, with routes and modules designed to test the vehicles in a similar way the average consumer would use them.

The evaluation days will further offer the Jury the opportunity to reacquaint themselves with the vehicles and specific aspects such as aesthetics, build quality, ergonomics, fuel consumption, environmental friendliness, safety features and value for money. They will also have access to independent performance test data, comparative pricing and specification data from RGT Smart as well as comparative parts pricing data, compiled by Malcolm Kinsey.

The candidates

Here are the nine 2014 SA Car Of The Year finalists of which some are already available or will be by the end of the year.

2013 Audi A3 Sportback 1.4T FSI Manual

2013 Jaguar F-TYPE 3.0 V6 S

2013 Lexus IS 350 F-Sport

2013 Mercedes-Benz A 45 AMG

2013 Peugeot 208 GTI

2013 Porsche Cayman S

2013 Renault Clio4 66kW Turbo Dynamique

2013 Volkswagen Golf 7 1.4 TSI 90kW Comfortline DSG

2013 Volvo V40 D3 Geartronic Excel

The winner of the 2014 WesBank/SAGMJ Car the Year will be revealed at a gala banquet in February 2014.

2014 SA Car Of The Year candidates gallery