The South African Guild of Motoring Journalists has announced nine finalists for the 2009 Car of the Year competition, with two manufacturers slotting two cars each into the finals.
Honda's Jazz 1,5 EX and Accord 2,4i both romped in, with newcomer Suzuki's Swift 1,6 GLS and SX4 2,0 proving that Japanese motorcycle manufacturers know how to build exceptional cars.
Joining them for the final judging at the end of January are the Audi A4 1,8T Ambition Multitronic, the Ford Fiesta 1,6 Trend five door, the Jaguar XF 3,0 V6 Premium Luxury Automatic, the Mazda6 2,5 Individual and the Volkswagen Tiguan 1,4 TSi Trend&Fun 4Motion.
The nine finalists will be evaluated together on the road and on the track to establish which of them truly stands head-and-shoulders above the cars it's intended to compete against in the South African market.