The Formula 1 track in Kyalami hosted the final: 10 contenders were put through their paces by the jury made up of the leading automotive journalists in South Africa. Ten automotive newcomers faced off with the “Car of the Year 2017” award up for grabs. The Opel Astra amassed 2,370 points to claim first place and relegating the Audi A4 (2,339 points) and the VW Passat (2,337 points) to second and third place respectively.
“The Opel Astra, a multiple award-winning car, perfectly embodies much of the spirit of the competition by combining engineering excellence, driving pleasure and value for money in a worthy winner of South Africa’s ultimate motoring accolade,” said head judge Bernard Hellberg at yesterday’s award ceremony in Kyalami.
The jury was especially impressed with the driving behavior and handling qualities of the Astra. Ian Nicholls, President and Managing Director General Motors Sub-Saharan Africa said: “As a company, Opel has always been at the forefront of innovation, embracing new challenges by offering unique solutions to the motoring needs of a diverse customer base.”
The success in South Africa takes the Astra’s tally of national “Car of the Year” awards to 13[1] , while simultaneously giving the compact car from Rüsselsheim its first win outside of Europe, where it won the renowned European “Car of the Year 2016” award.
The Astra is one of the bestselling models in the Opel portfolio and has been ordered around 400,000 times since its market launch in 2015. The compact car is also available as the Holden Astra in New Zealand and Australia where it recently joined the Insignia VXR, Cascada and GTC in the Holden portfolio.
