The South African Auto Week 2023 ended in a crescendo on Friday 13 October when captains of industry, automotive icons, representatives from national and local government and the media met for the 2023 Accelerator Awards.

The Accelerator Awards are an annual black-tie dinner hosted by naamsa to celebrate the top-performing vehicles, manufacturers, importers, dealers, businesspeople and media over the preceding 12 months.

“What makes the Accelerator Awards to unique, and so coveted, is the fact that it is based on hard facts. Naamsa is the custodian of all the industry data, from sales to dealer performance, and we thought it prudent to use this information to award the outright best performers in various sales, service and performance categories,” says Mikel Mabasa, CEO of naamsa.

Mabasa explains that naamsa collated all the vehicle sales, dealer sales, individual brand performances, automotive media articles and customer feedback in deciding its award winners. It also cast its net wider than just sales to also acknowledge, and encourage, the positive work done by vehicle brands to become more BBBEE compliant and to develop female leaders and youths.

This year’s awards garnered special attention from the automotive industry as they also included the best-performing new energy vehicles. This has become increasingly important as the industry changes from one focused purely on internal combustion engines to one that can compete globally in a world where electric and other new energy vehicles have become the focus.

“In our SAAW23 keynote address, Deputy President Paul Mashatile rightly said that the automotive industry is set to undergo more change in the next decade than it did in the previous 100 years. This is why naamsa’s role in facilitating industry discussions, lobbying government policy and engaging with global players has become so important,” says Mabasa.

The range of Accelerator Awards was grouped by local manufacturers for passenger vehicles and local manufacturers of commercial vehicles, ranging from light commercials like bakkies and panel vans to extra heavy trucks and buses.

The awards also included the best performing imported vehicles and the top journalists and media houses. All these awards were measured in the period July 2022 to June 2023.

Lastly, Mabasa and his team paid special attention to some of the most-influential industry stalwarts in their series of Long Service and Hall of Fame Awards.

The Awards, in no particular order, were made to:

1. Passenger Car of the Year: Suzuki Swift; Toyota Corolla Cross; and VW Polo Vivo. Winner: Polo Vivo.
2. Biggest Achiever of the Year (compared to previous years) Passenger Segment: Honda BR-V; Suzuki Baleno; and Suzuki Dzire. Winner: Suzuki Baleno.
3. Light Commercial Vehicle of the Year: Ford Ranger; Isuzu D-Max; and Toyota Hilux. Winner: Toyota Hilux.
4. Biggest Achiever of the Year (compared to previous years) Light Commercial (LCV) Segment: Ford Transit Custom; Kia Picanto Runner; and VW Caddy. Winner: Kia Picanto Runner.
5. Medium Commercial Vehicle of the Year: Hino 300 Series; Isuzu N-Series; and Iveco Daily. Winner: Isuzu N-Series.
6. Heavy Commercial Vehicle of the Year: FAW CA 15; Hino 500 Series; and Isuzu F-Series. Winner: Hino 500 Series.
7. Extra-Heavy Commercial Vehicle of the Year: Mercedes-Benz Actros; Scania G-Series; and Volvo FH. Winner: Mercedes-Benz Actros.
8. Bus of the Year: MAN Bus; Mercedes-Benz Bus; and Scania Bus. Winner MAN Bus.
9. New Energy Vehicle of the Year for Plug-in Models: BMW iX; BMW iX3; and Mini Hatch 3-Door. Winner BMW iX3.
10. New Energy Vehicle of the Year for Traditional Hybrid Models: Haval H6; Toyota Corolla Cross; and Toyota RAV. Winner: Toyota Corolla Cross.
11. Top Locally Manufactured Vehicle of the Year: Ford Ranger; Toyota Hilux; and VW Polo. Winner: VW Polo.
12. Top Exported Vehicle of the Year: BMW X3; Toyota Hilux and VW Polo. Winner: VW Polo.
13. Top Imported Vehicle of the Year: Suzuki Swift; Toyota Starlet; Toyota Urban Cruiser. Winner: Suzuki Swift.
14. Dealer of the Year for passenger vehicles: Durban South Toyota; Hatfield VW Pretoria; and Suzuki Bassonia JHB. Winner: Bassonia JHB.
15. Dealer Achiever of the Year for passenger vehicles (performance year-on-year improvement): Bidvest McCarthy Nissan Woodmead; Broadway Toyota Mahalapye; and Mariental Toyota. Winner: Bidvest McCarthy Nissan Woodmead.
16. Top Imported Vehicle of the Year: Suzuki Swift; Toyota Starlet; Toyota Urban Cruiser. Winner: Suzuki Swift.
17. Top Business Journalist of Year: David Furlonger.
18. Top Auto Journalist: Roger Houghton.
19. Top Emerging Auto Journalist of the Year: Reba Semakane.
20. Top Media House of the Year: Dealerfloor.
21. Long Service Award: Johan van Vreden, Ombudsman of the Motor Industry.
22. naamsa Value Creator of the Year: Hendrik Moolman.
23. naamsa Lifetime Achievement Award: Brand Pretorius.
24. Women Empowering OEM of the Year: VW SA, Isuzu SA and Ford Motor Company of Southern Africa. Winner: Ford Motor Company of Southern Africa.
25. Youth Empowering OEM of the Year: Toyota SA Motors, BMW SA and Mercedes-Benz SA. Winner: Toyota SA Motors
26. Women and Youth Empowering Importer of the Year: Stellantis and Hyundai. Winner: Hyundai.
27. Women and Youth Empowering MHCV OEM of the Year: UD Trucks, Daimler Trucks and Volvo Trucks. Winner: UD Trucks.
28. Job creator of the Year: BMW SA, Toyota SA Motors and Ford Motor Company of Southern Africa. Winner: BMW SA.
29. Most improved BBBEE Compliant OEM of the Year: Mercedes-Benz SA, BMW SA and Nissan South Africa. Winner: Nissan SA.
30. Most improved BBBEE Compliant Importer of the Year: Volvo Cars and Motus Group. Winner: Motus Group.
31. Most improved BBBEE Compliant Commercial Vehicle OEM of the Year: Scania South Africa, Daimler Trucks and UD Trucks. Winner: UD Trucks.
32. Most improved BBEE Compliant Manufacturing OEM: Isuzu SA, Toyota SA Motors and Mercedes-Benz SA. Winner: Isuzu SA.

Naamsa will return in 2024 with the third iteration of the SA Auto Week and Accelerator Awards with a special event open to the public and hosted at the Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit.