The BMW X3 was named SA Car of the Year 2025.
The locally manufactured BMW X3 is South Africa’s Car of the Year for 2025.
Having taken the excellence of its previous generation a step forward, the German manufacturer secured its second SA Car of the Year in a row after the BMW 7 Series won the prestigious award last year.
The Suzuki Swift came in second and BMW completed the podium with the M5 finishing third. The Mahindra XUV 3X0 picked up the Jurors’ Excellence Award.
A total of 17 vehicles were selected as finalists, spread across six categories: budget, family, premium, executive, adventure utility and performance.
Twenty-seven jurors selected by the South African Guild of Mobility Journalists went through a thorough and rigorous process where they evaluated each of the finalists over three days through a combination of track and road-based testing as well as a static assessment.
Although the 17 finalists did eventually compete with each other for the coveted prize of Car of the Year, the guild urged jurors to strictly use each vehicle’s direct rivals as a reference point when scoring.
A winner was chosen from each category and an overall winner was selected from them.
Budget
The Suzuki Swift picked up the award for the budget category.
The Mail & Guardian previously reported that the new Swift felt like a completely refreshed product from the Japanese manufacturer, not merely an update.
For between R264 900 and R284 900, depending on whether you enjoy manual or automatic, you can jump into the top-of-the-range Swift, which comes with a host of features that seem too good to be true for the price.
Suzuki has introduced a new Z12E 1.2-litre three-cylinder petrol engine in the Swift, which makes it a good drive for such a small car.
The Swift beat the Mahindra XUV 3X0 and the GAC GS3 Emzoom to take home the prize in this category.
Value: It feels like a brand-new vehicle not an update, and you get a lot of car for your money with the new Suzuki Swift. Photo: Supplied
Family
The Volkswagen Tiguan was victorious in the family category.
The new Tiguan has a striking exterior. VW has also dedicated a lot of time and effort to making it feel like a family car by installing new ergoActive Plus leather seats with pneumatic four-way lumbar adjustment and a pneumatic 10-chamber pressure massage function.
They also increased the boot space by 37 litres in the new model, giving the owner a total of 652 litres, which outshines pretty much all of its rivals.
The Tiguan picked up the award ahead of the Mini Countryman and Jaecoo J7.
Premium
The eventual winner overall, the BMW X3, was also named the winner of the Premium category.
This is where BMW started dominating the awards at Car of the Year.
The eventual winner in this category was the X3.
BMW really had to produce something special to top the previous generation X3. To accomplish this, as previously reported, they took a practical, efficient, luxurious and comfortable SUV, with fun-to-drive dynamics, and added a futuristic element.
The interior enhances that futuristic feel with a new double-screen layout, the interaction bars given to the driver and passenger, and the glass roof, which replaced the sunroof, although that might still be controversial.
To come out top in this category, the X3 overcame the likes of the Omoda C9 and the Volvo EX30 — the only fully electric car to make it as a finalist this year.
Executive
This category only had two finalists: the BMW 5 Series and the Mercedes-Benz E-Class. It was a real 50-50 with exceptional German engineering gunning for the top of the segment.
Both vehicles provide a sense of luxury and comfort. The M&G recently tested the E-Class and could find few faults with the vehicle. While we haven’t yet tested the BMW 5 Series, it seems equally special just from the look of it.
The latter was named the winner in this category.
It would be intriguing to see the jurors’ scorecards to gauge just how close this category was.
Adventure utility
The Toyota Land Cruiser Prado won this category.
It’s difficult to challenge this vehicle, with its off-road capability and luxury refinements.
The fact that the blocky exterior was made with the ease of replacement parts in mind shows just how much of an off-roader this car totally is.
The Land Cruiser Prado pipped the likes of the GWM P500 and Mitsubishi Triton at the post in this category.
Performance
The BMW M5 zoomed to the top of this category.
At this point, even the host of the event had asked the BMW team to let the other kids play.
But, in terms of performance, there’s only so close competitors can get to an M5.
Now in its seventh generation, The M HYBRID drive system in the new M5 brings a 4.4-litre V8 engine, with classic high-revving character, together with an electric motor.
This helps the vehicle develop maximum output of 430kW and peak torque of 750Nm.
To see BMW incorporate an electric motor into a car that is so loved for its noise is groundbreaking and also one of the reasons that the M5 has been taken to new heights.
The BMW M5 overcame strong competition from the Ford Mustang GT and the Mercedes-Benz C63 S E Performance.