Eight cars will contest the South African Guild of Motoring Journalists Car of the Year 2010 competition with the final result and announcement of the winner taking place in March next year.

At a function in Johannesburg this morning the eight finalists were revealed to executives from all the motor companies operating in the country.

The eight nominees are:

Alfa Romeo MiTo 1.4 Turbo	Audi Q5 2.0T S tronic
Chevrolet Cruze 1.8 LS	Hyundai i20 1.6 GLS
Suzuki Alto 1.0 GLS	Toyota Prius 1.8 ECVT Advanced
Volkswagen Golf VI 1.4 TSI Comfortline (90 kW)	Volvo XC60 3.0T Geartronic

The process of deciding the finalists for the WesBank-sponsored competition involves a general poll of all members of the Guild following which the Jury makes its final selection on a vote based on the results of the member poll. The Jury consists of Guild members who are all directly involved in road testing vehicles during the year.

In February next year the eight finalists will be put through their paces by the Jury members in a two-day back-to-back testing session on public roads and at Gerotek, near Pretoria. Vehicles will be minutely examined and scores on both static and dynamic evaluations tallied to find the ultimate winner.

Colin Windell is the editor of Fleet magazine and contributor to SACarFan.

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