Thousands of votes were cast and the winning cars in 11 categories were chosen out of 120 finalists (over and above the overall winners). Cars were also voted for by the all women judging panel, which included WOW editor Juliet McGuire and nine other motoring journalists: Melinda Ferguson, Janine-Lee van der Post, Mabuyane Kekana, Lindsay Vine-Smyth, Ané Theron, Jeanette Kritzinger, Carrie-Anne Jane, Liana Reiners and Vuyi Jabavu.
“Judges voted based on things such as good value for money, practicality, comfort, and performance,” says Juliet McGuire, the driving force behind the awards.
The ten judges voted for cars in each category via a point system and the car with the highest number of votes was then crowned the winner of that category. Judges were then asked to vote for their overall car of the year. The Hyundai Tucson took this top honour due to its affordability, practicality and overall value for money.
WOW readers were able to vote for their favourite cars online (2808 entries were received with 2383 Unique Entries) and their votes were counted to determine the winner in each category. The 11 winners each received a Reader’s Choice award and the Range Rover Sport was chosen from the list of category winners as the Reader’s Choice 2016 WOW Car of the Year.
“The reason these awards are so important is because they are the only awards that are catered to women and voted by women,” says McGuire. “These judges are at the top of their game within the motoring journalism industry. It’s also interesting to see what the public would consider the best of the best.
“This was the first year whereby a point system was used in the voting process and I could not be happier with the results. It is a true reflection of what the leading female motoring journalists in this country deem to be the best of the best. The Reader’s Choice section of the awards is also a first for the WOW awards. Usually we include it in the total votes, but I felt we should keep them separate as to see exactly what our readers are thinking when it comes to the best cars on the market.”
Judges' votes:
