Research house Ipsos has revealed the winners in its yearly survey to find the best quality vehicles sold in South Africa, as well as the local plants producing the best quality vehicles.

The awards are based on telephonic interviews conducted with new-vehicle buyers after three months of ownership, covering sales made from January to December 2014.

onsumers indicate the problems they experience in four categories, namely noise levels; appearance; static functional aspects (such as water leaks); and dynamic functional aspects (such as steering and handling).

These problems are calculated as problems per 100 vehicles (PP100), with a lower score being the best outcome.

The study’s results represent 83% of the vehicles sold in South Africa.

The average PP100 for the 2014 study is 37, better than the 39 in 2013 and the 154 in 2005, indicating that vehicle quality is, in general, on the up, says Ipsos Automotive Business Unit director Patrick Busschau.

The vehicle crowned as South Africa’s best entry-level car is the Volkswagen Polo hatchback (30 PP100).

The best hatchback is the Toyota Auris (19 PP100), with the gold award for the best small sedan shared by the Chevrolet Sonic (24 PP100) and the Nissan Almera (26 PP100).

The best medium sedan is the Lexus ES (10 PP100), which also makes it this year’s overall winner.

The award for the best sedan is shared by the Audi A3/S3 (22 PP100), the Nissan Sentra (23 PP100) and the Toyota Corolla (23 PP100).

The Mercedes-Benz E-Class takes top honours in the top executive segment (17 PP100), with the C-Class coupe (13 PP100) tops in the sports coupé segment and the Toyota Avanza (24 PP100) best in the multipurpose vehicle segment.

The best new luxury passenger car launched in 2014 is the Lexus ES, the most improved luxury passenger cars are the Mercedes-Benz A-Class (39 PP100 to 22 PP100) and the Audi A3/S3 Sportback (38 PP100 to 22 PP100), with top honours for the overall best luxury passenger car brand shared by Mercedes-Benz, Lexus and Audi.

The top prize for the best local plant manufacturing passenger cars in South Africa is shared by Toyota and Mercedes-Benz, both producing vehicles at 25 PP100.

The Ipsos best quality small recreational vehicle is the Volkswagen Tiguan (13 PP100) and the best large recreational vehicle the Audi Q7 (13 PP100).

The best new recreational vehicle is the Kia Sorento (22 PP100), with the most improved recreational vehicle the Kia Sportage (55 PP100 to 34 PP100).

Gold for South Africa’s best quality three-quarter-ton bakkie is shared between the Nissan NP200 (45 PP100) and the Chevrolet Utility (46 PP100).

The best petrol single-cab bakkie is the Toyota Hilux (26 PP100), with the best petrol double-cab bakkie the Nissan Hardbody (24 PP100).

The gold award for best diesel single-cab bakkie is shared bythe Toyota Hilux (31 PP100) and the Ford Ranger (33 PP100).

The best diesel double-cab is the Nissan Navarra (24 PP100).

The best new light commercial vehicle launched in 2014 is the Nissan Hardbody petrol double-cab (24 PP100), with the most improved light commercial vehicle the Nissan Navarra diesel double-cab (56 PP100 to 24 PP100). The award for the overall best light commercial vehicle brand is shared by Toyota and Ford.

The best one-ton single-cab bakkie brands are Ford and Toyota, with Toyota the best double-cab brand.

The best local plant manufacturing light commercial vehicles in South Africa is Toyota’s Durban facility, producing vehicles at 31 PP100.