Thursday 24 January, Midrand – The 4th iteration of the Cars.co.za Consumer Awards delivered a trendy gathering of the South African motoring fraternity; including manufacturers, media, industry partners and celebrities.

The competition is judged in two parts - a panel of judges (comprising motoring media, consumer journalists and influencers) and the South African motoring public – thus affording the competition its Consumer Awards’ name.

With the award for ‘Adventure SUV’ presented by Springbok Victor Matfield – the Toyota Fortuner 2.8 GD-6 4x4 AT proudly rolled onto the stage to claim the title as South Africa’s favourite Adventure SUV. This is the second year the Fortuner has won this title, reinforcing South Africa’s love for the super-versatile 7-seater SUV.

The Fortuner’s combination of people and goods-carrying capability, standard features and go-anywhere ability, underpinned by Toyota’s legendary Quality, Durability and Reliability (QDR) have made the Fortuner a mainstay in the hearts of Mzanzi’s people.

The awards’ ceremony concluded with the Brand of the Year award, appreciably the most prestigious of the categories. The entire room was in suspense as Ghana Msibi (Wesbank Executive Head Sales & Marketing) delivered the preamble explaining the criteria and metrics.

It was a prestigious moment as the Toyota logo appeared on the big screen and two of the top-selling Toyota models (the Hilux and Fortuner) simultaneously drove onto the stage. The award was accepted by the Toyota Public Relation’s team.

“We are extremely proud to have been chosen as Cars.co.za’s Brand of the Year. We had a very successful 2018 with a 10-year high market share of 24.2% and would like to thank our customers for their loyal support in helping us to achieve the highest position in the Customer Experience Index,” said Calvyn Hamman, Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Toyota South Africa.