The Volvo XC60 D5 R-Design has won the Executive Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV) category at the Cars.co.za Consumer Awards while the Volvo XC40 T5 AWD R-Design specifically – took home top honours in the Premium Crossover category.

The Cars.co.za Consumer Awards – powered by WesBank – is the largest and most influential awards event on the South African motoring calendar. Since 2015/16, the winners of the annual #CarsAwards have been announced at a gala event early in the year. The Covid-19 pandemic made this impossible in 2021, and so the winners were announced during the Cars.co.za Consumer Awards TV presentation, which was broadcast on DStv’s Motorsport HD channel on February 15.

According to Greg Maruszewski, Managing Director at Volvo Car South Africa, the two awards are further reinforcement of the two vehicles’ excellent traits. “I am proud to say that both of these vehicles have performed exceptionally well when it comes to motoring competitions – not only here in South Africa but indeed all over the world. In 2018, the Volvo brand dominated the car industry’s major awards after the XC40 won the 2018 European Car of the Year and the XC60 was named 2018 World Car of the Year. This was the first time that Volvo had won either of these respected awards. Since then, numerous other awards have followed, the latest being the Cars.co.za Consumer Awards,” he explains.

While the esteemed judges of these awards are giving the two vehicles the thumbs up, so too are motorists. “Volvo Cars reported the best January in its history and these models are two of the reasons why. In January 2021, the XC40 was the company’s top-selling model globally, with the XC60 occupying second spot,” said Maruszewski.

“Both vehicles are performing well in South Africa too. The XC40, in particular, is finding favour with South African customers. Local sales of this model rose by 37 percent in January 2021 (versus January 2020). This is encouraging given the fact that the XC40 recorded an 8.40% share of its segment in 2019 and that grew to 14.70% in 2020,” Maruszewski reveals.

“I am pleased to see that our company’s investments into new products are paying off,” says Maruszewski. “We are up against some tough competition in the luxury car sector, but these awards for the XC40 and XC60 show that Volvo vehicles have the right combination of design, connectivity and safety that appeals to both journalists and customers here in South Africa and also across the world.”