Colin-on-Cars - The awards roll in for Stellantis

The Stellantis auto giant is raking in the awards with the Peugeot 9X8 winning the "Grand Prize for the most beautiful Hypercar of the year" at the 37th Festival Automobile International and The 37th Festival Automobile International jury pinning the prize for the Most Beautiful Car of 2022 to DS 4.

The Peugeot 9X8 Hypercar was revealed in July 2021 and has won over the Festival Automobile International’s jury and car design enthusiasts.

"I am very proud to win this prize, which is an acknowledgement of the Design and Peugeot Sport teams’ work, who worked together on this project," says Matthias Hossann, Peugeot's Director of Design. "The quality of the exchanges with the Peugeot Sport team was exceptional, both on a technical and human level.”

Competition

The Peugeot 9X8, a brand new generation of competition car, due to make its debut in the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) in 2022, incorporates all the contemporary aesthetic codes specific to the Peugeot brand: a feline stance, fluid lines enhanced by signs of sportiness, sleek and structured flanks and also the distinctive three-clawed light signatures of the Lion. 

Slim and sleek, the Peugeot 9X8 elicits emotion and embodies speed. The Peugeot 9X8 is already an iconic object, an aesthetic and technical revolution, the ultimate design adventure.

The interior of the Peugeot 9X8, a trademark sign of Peugeot's design expertise, incorporates the brand's specific i-Cockpit concept. As with a production vehicle project, as much high level care has been given to designing both the inside and outside of the car. The cockpit of the Peugeot 9X8 has been created in its entirety to offer drivers a more ergonomic and intuitive experience.

Designed by the DS DESIGN STUDIO PARIS, DS 4 stands out with its proportions and remarkably imposing presence, as much on the outside as on the inside.

This Most Beautiful Car of the Year prize is the seventh trophy awarded to DS Automobiles during the last eight Festival Automobile Internationals.

Reward

“This Most Beautiful Car of the Year prize is a reward for the women and men who have shaped DS 4, way beyond the team at DS DESIGN STUDIO PARIS. Before even drawing the first pencil line, we worked with our engineers for two years to model the technical platform,” says Thierry Metroz, DS Automobiles Design Director.

“When we started the creative process, our room for manoeuvre for rolling out a new concept was remarkable. Inspired by the DS AERO SPORT LOUNGE concept, also recognised last year by the Festival Automobile International, DS 4’s shape is unique in the segment with hitherto unseen proportions. The line is athletic, very muscular, compact and sat on very large wheels. It turns out to be aerodynamic, efficient, and charismatic all at once.”

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Colin-on-Cars - Peugeot bakkie makes a comeback

The Peugeot 404 pickup – or bakkie – was an iconic feature of the South African motoring scene but, as times changed and the French company withdrew operations from here, it also vanished except for some in collector’s garages.

Now, the bakkie returns as the Landtrek and available in 4x2 and 4x4 double cab guise, both powered by a 1,9-litre turbo-diesel engine that develops 110 kW thanks to a variable turbine geometry with 16 valves. With a torque of 350 Nm, Landtrek adapts to the prevailing terrain through Manual, Sport, or Eco modes.

For 4x4 versions, the rear differential is equipped with a mechanical rear differential lock providing extra traction when one wheel slips. The Borg-Warner Transfer case allows for easy transfer between 2-high, 4-high and 4-low modes with the simple turn of the rotary switch. The new Peugeot Landtrek 4x4 has a fording depth of  600 mm, approach angle of 29 degrees or 30 degrees (depending on version), departure angle of 27 degrees or 26 degrees (depending on version), break-over angle of 25 degrees and ground clearance up to 235 mm.

Peugeot is becoming increasingly global with the new Peugeot Landtrek, which enters the One-Ton Pick-Up segment with the goal of becoming a new benchmark in a market that represents around 300 000 annual sales units in the Middle East Africa region.

Light Commercial Vehicles (LCVs) account for more than 25% of the South African new vehicle market, making Landtrek a key launch for Peugeot in a key market.

South Africa certainly is an important market for Peugeot. The brand has opened 15 new dealerships in the past 18 months and boasts one of the freshest product ranges on the market today, with 80% of the passenger car range refreshed in the last year alone. Peugeot has launched the new 2008 in February (the 2021 South African Car of the Year), 3008 facelift in April, new 208 in May, and now Landtrek.

The Landtrek offers up to three tons of towing capacity and a payload that exceeds one ton.

A complete range of customised accessories for the new Peugeot Landtrek will be available in the Peugeot network, a key feature in the Pick-Up segment. In total, more than 28 dedicated accessories will be available.

The modularity of the rear bench seat in the Landtrek Double Cab adds versatility to the cabin, with the possibility of folding the backrest in 60/40 or 100%. In addition, the rear seat cushions can also tip-up in a 60/40 split to allow for numerous and flexible loading configurations.

When folded down, the backrests can support a load of up to 100 kg. In addition, two ISOFIX fasteners ensure the safety and docking of child seats.

The passenger compartment offers 1 550 mm shoulder room in row two and a knee space of at least 50 mm.

The new Peugeot Landtrek features advanced connectivity, automatic dual zone air-conditioning, 10-inch' HD touch screen compatible Apple CarPlay /Android Auto and 10 GB hard drive.

Safety is aided by six crash bags and an Electronic Stability Programme that includes Hill Descent Control, Hill Start Assist and Trailer Swing Control with Lane Departure Warning on the range-topping 4Action.

The headlamps are equipped with LED light signatures on both the front and rear and has rear reverse cameras and parking sensors. The off-road camera (in the passenger rear-view mirror) and 360 degree panoramic vision support the driver when negotiating obstacles or narrow lanes on the 4Action 4x4, further aided by additional front obstacle sensors.

The Peugeot Landtrek is covered by a 5-year/100 000 km Warranty and Service Plan with maintenance intervals every 10 000 km.

Pricing:

Allure Double Cab 4x2: R 579 900

4Action Double Cab 4x4: R 669 900

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Colin-on-Cars - Peugeot 2008 is Car of the Year

The Peugeot 2008 is the South African Car of the Year as judged by members of the SA Guild of Mobility Journalists, today’s announcement following the first online scoring of the competition that dates back to 1986.

The South African Car of the Year trophy is the country’s most highly respected and sought-after motoring accolade. While the competition has evolved over the years (categories were introduced recently), one thing has remained true to the contest; it celebrates and rewards automotive excellence.

Peugeot 2008

The 2021 SA Car of the Year (COTY) had its unique challenges. For the first time in the competition’s history, we did not host our scheduled two-day juror evaluation event. An ongoing online scoring system available to all South African Guild of Mobility Journalists’ (SAGMJ) members was created in 2019 based on scoring criteria that closely mirrored COTY’s voting criteria. The scoring system was initially created to build up a database of vehicles tested, their strengths, weaknesses and to be able to compare them to category contenders.

Our expert COTY jurors had access to this scoring system and were encouraged to score vehicles as they experienced them on launches or as test-drive vehicles and to input scores and notes via the SAGMJ scoring system. The use of this ongoing scoring system had been introduced to COTY jurors and trainee jurors as part of the COTY process before 2021.

The selection of our COTY jurors and the training of potential jurors had remained as stringent as ever.

Based on specific requirements, potential jurors and trainee jurors are presented to SAGMJ members who choose their peers through the online voting system. Trainees are required to complete a 2-year apprenticeship under the guidance of a juror mentor. On average, the turnover on our jurors is about 17% annually, and our trainee programme ensures that we have a constant pool of newly trained jurors to step into the jury team.

“To ensure we are continuously developing our systems and stay relevant; there was a concerted effort by the SAGMJ to meet with OEMs and ensure we were cognisant of their input on various matters relating to COTY,” says Chairman, Carl Wepener.

“The COTY Committee also paid close attention to worldwide competition trends and took advice from experts in the field. The result is that COTY created more categories and will also be making provision for the new mobility enhanced vehicles we will see more of in the future. We are very proud of two of the new categories, the Motor Enthusiast’s Choice and our Jurors Excellence Award.

Mercedes-Benz E Class - Motor Enthusiast's Choice Award

“In the last two years, the public has become more involved in our COTY scoring/voting process. This voting counted towards the juror scores and effectively held the weight of a single juror. Having discovered that this made minimal impact, we wanted to encourage the public to be more involved and, as such, we felt that the public rightly deserved their own award - the Motor Enthusiast’s Choice Award.”

The COTY scoring process is so much more than just juror scoring. Once the expert panel concluded scoring, the automated scoring factors that cover sales performance, segment share and value for money, are applied. The automated scoring information was provided by Lightstone Auto, which provides data-driven insight, online market intelligence and new vehicle sales data to the South African automotive industry. Our Jurors Excellence Award uses raw scoring to reveal which vehicle received the highest scores before automated factors were included.

Additional honours the SAGMJ instituted at their Annual General Meeting held on 26 June 2021 were the Most Admired OEM, which was presented to Stellantis, and the Lifetime PR Achiever’s Award, which was presented to Lindsay Pieterse from BMW. Although these two awards are not officially part of the COTY competition, they are just as prestigious.

The 2021 South African Car of the Year category winners are:

- Budget Category: Toyota Starlet

- Compact Category: Hyundai Venue

- Compact Family Category: Peugeot 2008 SUV

- Family Category: Audi A4

- Premium Category: BMW 4 Series

- Adventure Category: Toyota Land Cruiser Prado

- Double Cab Category: Toyota Hilux Double Cab

- Performance Category: Porsche 911 Turbo S

- New Energy Category: Porsche Taycan

- Motor Enthusiast’s Choice: Mercedes-Benz E-Class

- Jurors Excellence Award: Peugeot 2008 SUV

The first-place overall winner of the 2021 South African Car of the Year competition is the Peugeot 2008. The Toyota Hilux Double Cab was placed second, while the BMW 4 Series came third.

Hyundai Venue
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