The South African Guild of Motoring Journalists has announced the candidates for the South African Car of the Year and the Fiat Bravo 1.4 T-Jet Sport has been nominated as one of the nine finalists.

The South African Guild of Motoring Journalists has announced the candidates for the South African Car of the Year and the Fiat Bravo 1.4 T-Jet Sport has been nominated as one of its nine finalists.

Fiat Bravo’s historical identity and state-of-the-art engineering skills, pride in its past and a renewed determination to innovate has made it a clear favourite in Europe already. A beautiful well-built Italian hatchback, the Fiat Bravo is agile, entertaining to drive, and competitive, thanks to the excellent balance between content and price. The new Fiat Bravo is 'concrete beauty', a car that was designed to give customers the substance that comes from outstanding safety and reliability, coupled with the enjoyable, sporty driving style that the whole world expects from an Italian car. 

All passenger car models brought to market between October 14, 2006 and October 30, 2007 are eligible for entry to the South African Guild of Motoring Journalists' Car of the Year. More than 150 full SAGMJ members are polled and the finalists selected. The 32-person jury, drawn from newspapers, magazines, internet publications, televisions and radio stations based across the country, then meets to discuss aspects of the nominated cars before voting commences on the final selection.

After the announcement of the shortlist, the group will meet in January to carry out further tests at Gerotek near Pretoria, and in the surrounding area. During the test days, the cars undergo stringent evaluation including dynamism and performance, aesthetics and build quality, safety features and environmental friendliness. Other aspects assessed are paintwork and the quality of materials used as well as the overall driving comfort. Jurors also consider value for money, running costs and the cost of a spares' basket. At the end of the evaluation programme, the judge's score sheets are independently audited and the points tallied. The results are sealed and the jury does not know which model it has collectively scored as the winner until the March announcement is made at a gala banquet.

The nine finalists for the South African Car of the Year are: Fiat Bravo 1.4 T-Jet Sport, Land Rover Freelander TD4 HSE Auto, Honda CR-V 2.2 i-CTDI, Lexus LS460, Mazda2 1.5 Individual, Mazda5 2.0 Active, Mercedes-Benz C220 CDI Classic, Nissan Qashqai 2.0 Accenta and Toyota Corolla 1.8 Exclusive.