Fiat's Panda and 500C as
well as Alfa Romeo's MiTo are all finalists in three of
the seven categories in this year’s WOW Women’s Car
of the Year Awards organised by Associated Magazines
in association with Nedbank Motor Finance in South
Africa. All finalists are reviewed in the latest issue
of WOW (Women on Wheels).
The Fiat Panda features
in the best hatchback category of the WOW
Awards, the Alfa Romeo MiTo, which starts at RS
227,000 in South Africa, is nominated in the sports
car section and the inimitable new Fiat 500C
"Cabriolet", priced on the local market at under
RS200,000, heads up the list of finalists in the
convertible category.
Oscar Rivoli, Managing
Director of Fiat Group Automobiles South Africa
highlights the importance of these nominations: “Style,
safety, practicality, affordability and
environmental-awareness are the cornerstones of our
brands – they’re also attributes that especially appeal
to the fairer sex, so the fact that we have made it to
the finals in so many categories is very gratifying
indeed.”
WOW Awards
This is the
fourth instalment of the Women’s Car of the Year
Awards and “every year it gets bigger and better,” –
so says Charleen Clarke, consulting editor for WOW
and convener of the WOW Women’s Car of the Year
judging panel. The WOW Women’s Car of the Year Awards
is the only car awards in South Africa designed and run
by women, for women.
The judging
panel for this year’s awards is again headed by the
president of the South Africa Guild of Motoring
Journalists, Charleen Clarke. She is joined by South
African Car of the Year jury member Heléne Griffiths,
award-winning motoring journalist Peta Lee, Mabuyane
Kekana from the Sowetan, Lindsay Vine from DStv’s
Ignition and Janine-Lee Gordon from City Press.
This year there
are seven categories, each with its own finalists chosen
according to their ability to fit the lifestyle of
women. There are 10 finalists in all categories, apart
from the SUVs & MPVs category, in which there are 21
finalists. The judges will also present a special award
for the Best Value for Money Car of the Year.
