Old Mutual Insure has been named the competition’s new headline sponsor for the 2022–2023 South African Car of the Year (COTY) award in collaboration with the South African Guild of Mobility Journalists (SAGMJ), the group that established and currently acts as the custodian of this prestigious auto competition.
“Old Mutual Insure is proud to support COTY, a significant competition that has not only recognized achievement but enhanced automotive standards throughout the years. Customers of non-life (short-term insurance) would ultimately profit from quality and innovation in the automotive industry since safer automobiles, for example, would probably result in fewer vehicle accidents, hijackings, and theft. One of the main reasons we decided to join as the headline sponsor was the indirect impact on our consumers“,
said Garth Napier, MD of Old Mutual Insure.
He continues by saying that COTY has grown to be a beloved calendar highlight for both the general public and automakers.
“Since COVID-19, the automotive market has seen a significant transformation. Due to supply chain interruptions, demand for both new and used cars has increased, and companies like ours are looking for new ways to assist clients in maintaining enough insurance coverage. The conventional tendencies no longer hold, which affects both clients and insurers,”
says Napier.
Old Mutual Insure is rightly proud of its history of service and quality, as well as its variety of insurance products, and is one of the top businesses in Southern Africa’s non-life insurance market. In a similar vein, COTY was founded in 1986 and has a strong history of recognizing automotive excellence.
The South African Guild of Mobility Journalists‘ interim vice-chairman and the chair of the 2023 COTY, Mabuyane Mabuza, says:
“Through our partnership with Old Mutual Insure, we hope to explore several ways to collaborate, from consumer education to road safety. Our goal is to establish a long-lasting symbiotic partnership.
Both companies place a high priority on transformation, and we take pride in the fact that this year’s COTY committee features the most diverse group of auto journalists in the competition’s history, including Lerato Matebese, Thami Masemola, Jason Woosey, and Brenwin Naidu. All of the members have a lot of COTY jury expertise and are prepared to examine a record number of electric and hybrid cars, among a remarkable assortment of other vehicles,”
Mabuza continued.
Vehicles launched in South Africa between January 1, 2022, and October 31, 2022, will soon be examined by the COTY committee to see if they fit the criteria for participation. For instance, automobiles with more cosmetic than mechanical upgrades will not be eligible. The official 2023 COTY semi-finalists will thereafter be chosen by SAGMJ members using a specific COTY online voting mechanism.
The finalists that the jurors will review will be chosen in the final round of online voting. Design, utility, engineering, powertrain, ride and handling, technology, safety, and other factors are taken into account during the final evaluation and detailed grading procedure. Old Mutual Insure and COTY will reveal the 2023 automobile of the year sometime in the middle of 2023.
