Automotive Refinisher July - August 2016 by Automotive Refinisher magazine

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T H E V O I C E O F T H E I N D U S T R Y July-A ugust 2016

Editio n 186

IBIS

SPAIN

TOYOTA INVESTS IN SA VERMONT TRADE DAY

VERMONT SALES

TT 2016 ISLE OF MAN

IN THIS ISSUE

>> NEWS FROM THE ZOO >> TO INFINITY & BEYOND >> SPIES HECKER LATEST >> NEW PRODUCTS

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Tel +27 (0)31 902 7666 www.automotivepaint.co.za Automo ti ve Paint Centr e ar e so le d istributo r s of Smir dex Abr asi ves

CONTENTS J-A 2016_Layout 1 2016/07/06 12:06 PM Page 1

Contents July - August

2016

IBIS CONFERENCE Barcelona, Spain

6 40

TO INFINITY & BEYOND 2 Andrew Marsh

SPANESI EQUIPMENT Solutions

RSB

Excellence Award

TOYOTA INVESTS

Dr Van Zyl Interview

SA BIKE FESTIVAL Best Ever Expo

SUBARU

New Platforms

DID YOU HEAR? Roger McCleery

ISLE OF MAN TT Blissful Racing

HB BODY

Interview with Vasileiadis

NEW PRODUCTS Review

6 12 16 28 40 46 59 62 76 82 86

Cover: Peugeot L500 R Hybrid Concept

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PUBLISHER’S FRONT LINE

by Ian Groat

EDITORIAL

BREXIT FALL OUT BEGINS WITH NO CONFIDENCE EVERYWHERE

hile it must be said that the recent “leave” vote of the UK to curtail its membership of the EU probably won’t make any big changes for the business we’re in, it should be seen from a government point of view as a big wake up call. It seems however, that unlike the UK, our stone walling of constant corruption and a refusal to deal in any meaningful way about the nation’s woeful balance of payments issues is still underway. We’re all too busy rioting and looting about a new mayor aren’t we? The mind boggles at the size of the ANC Government’s ineptitude on economic matters. They simply don’t get it as our currency continues to slide. It’s like fiddling while Rome burns and merely enjoying the view. That said, the UK still historically represents our largest trading partner within the EU. With over 4% of all exports going their way. They also contributed around 20% of all our tourists each year. Just why did they jettison a 43 year-old deal that caught the city bankers out and gave their big business dreams such a kick in the teeth? It is probably because the UK’s real wages have been in decline since the 1980’s as they watched on at the Chinese urbanisation and unparalled growth which has been carried out in the space of 30 years. This has continued to rob them of work and long term manufacturing prospects. Rampant currency trading from the city of London markets, who are gaming the currency dealings globally every minute of the day from their own greedy needs doesn’t help either. I mean we are down 30% in real term conversion value rates, and banksters who rigged both forex and libor markets last year are yet to be punished. Everyone pays huge fines but the average South African is left with an inflation rate in excess of 15% while the World Bank says we must fix it? It is not difficult to realise that if you can’t control the currency from rife speculation and contrived sentiment how exactly do you fix it? Exactly how do you fix all the currency fraud that goes on each day? With all the Brexit talk, “Mr Average” is sick, sorry and tired of listening to expert opinion from all quarters and needs a much more convincing argument to vote their parliamentarians back again as their real earnings continue to drop in most countries. The world’s tipping point for change is coming fast with 2 trillion Dollars of the world market’s money wiped out in just days. How long can governments continue to print paper money that’s

Te le p hon e: +2 7 ( 0) 11 94 9 4 09 1

becoming ever more worthless each and every day? Surely this giant global ponzi scheme is doomed to failure. We need to get back to a gold market where money is worth something for every ounce you have after the big bang based exchange rate with stock market implosion days are all behind us. Meanwhile it’s a nice day outside with glorious South African sunshine. Thank God no one can change that! Automechanika Johannesburg 2017 The show dates for next year’s Automechanika Johannesburg have been announced. It will take place from 27-30 September. This is still South Africa’s leading international trade fair for the automotive service industry targeting trade visitors from the SubSaharan Region. Some of the categories listed are repair and maintenance, parts and components, accessories and customising and much more. Update your Address We are currently converting our database to include physical addresses so as to try different ways of delivering Automotive Refinisher to you instead of using the Post Office, which is not as reliable as it should be. A carrier has been found and this option would make sure that each person gets their magazine, no stories told, no year old post received moons later, etc. If you would drop us your physical address details as well as the contact person and address that you currently receive the magazine to, it would help a great deal. Please send this information to autoref@iafrica.com Until then happy reading!

IN ASSOCIATION WITH:

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UNITED KINGDOM

P ub li she r : Ia n G roa t Ed it or: C la i re Ma c fi e Ac c ount s: Va l G r oa t De sig n : Ja y Gr oa t As sis ta nt : N a ta s chj a F e rr e ir a C T C o rr e sp ond e nt : D a v e Fa l l Te ch nic a l Ed it or : A nd re w M a rs h 4

A U S T R A L I A MEDIA PARTNER

The views expressed in articles in Automotive Refinisher are those of the authors and shall not be construed to represent those of the Editor or the Publisher. Accordingly, Automotive Refinisher accepts no responsibility for claims and statements made by advertisers and independent columnists. Further, the appearance of advertisements herein does not necessarily indicate the approval by Automotive Refinisher for the product and/or service advertised. Material may not be reproduced in any form without the written consent of the Publisher. Automotive Refinisher is dedicated to servicing the business interests of the collision repair industry.

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Tel: +27 (0)11 834 1252, Email: info@kapci.co.za

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hanging future landscapes was the theme at the sixteenth International Bodyshop Industry Symposium (IBIS). The Spanish venue of Barcelona is always a hit with delegates and once again the conference was well attended by local and international visitors. The summit offers a platform for OEMs, insurers and collision repairers to network, enjoy informative presentations and ask questions about new developments or strategies for business. Google sent a dynamic duo from their team to get proceedings underway. Richard Offerman and Tanya Hufschmidt highlighted a few new projects that Google are involved in. They spoke of a new type of contact lens for those who suffer from diabetes. This tests the tears produced in the eye of the person wearing it and sends a red light to alert them when they need to medicate. Another project is a weather balloon that brings wi-fi to remote areas. Google have been able to creat such innovative projects by constantly thinking out of the box and being pushed out of their comfort zone. The best lesson they offer if that you shouldn’t be afraid to fail. Even in failure

you gain knowledge and then try again, but differently. Offerman and Hufschmidt said that we need to show up, wise up and be quick in this day and age. What does this mean exactly? Show up – literally be there for your customers and identify critical moments. You need to start thinking like a customer and ask yourself what they would be looking for. A customer is more likely to Google their problem and not your business name. Think about how you can link the two to drive customers to your door. Wise up means to look at the people behind the data and how best to solve their problems. Be quick is just that, speed up the progress in your business. Don’t jump at any new novelty but be open minded and inspired to try new things. Simplify your processes to make a more user friendly experience. For example, there is a new novelty called Audicam where the technician films what work needs to be done and advises the customer directly on their mobile phone by sending them a video that is pin coded for their security. The client can then advise Audi if they want to go ahead with the work and they pay for it while they’re online too.

You don’t need fancy or expensive infrastructure either. You could make the same video and Whatsapp it to your client. This makes things far more personal and you’re improving your database as you go along. The final good tip from the Google team was to look at your website and see if your customer feels as welcome there as they should feel. The internet isn’t a trend and most people literally live online these days. Next it was the turn of the insurance industry. Gregorio Rodriguez Santos, business and customer director for EMEA, MAPFRE International. He spoke about this leading company in Spain and what makes them different. The company was started in 1952 and is now present on five continents. Two of their main focus points that make them stand out is that they consider their providers and clients as part of an extended family. The second is their ever growing social upliftment projects. They operate in 29 countries and have 4.4 million direct beneficiaries. That’s quite an impressive legacy thus far. Ignacio Juárez Pérez, general manager for CESVIMAP, spoke about the claims

CHANGING FUTURE

LANDSCAPES 6

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Story & pics by Claire Macfie

handling in the Spanish market and the latest repair techniques facing body shops. There are 44 insurance companies in Spain and the average cost of a repair is 900 Euros. Labour rate is set at 35 Euros an hour. A scary statistic is that the 18-35-yearolds in the European market are looking for connectivity and not to own a vehicle. This is a huge game changer. Gone are the days of youngsters drooling over Ferraris and aspiring to be mega petrolheads, it seems the most desirable object is the next mobile phone. The onslaught of electronics and connectivity into vehicles is already underway. This results in a lower frequency of accidents but introduces a more complex repair. Training the correct skilled technicians is even more essential in going forward. Bradley Mews, principal from Supplement, spoke around the theme of beyond consolidation. He highlighted how through private equity, you could invest in a business, hold onto it for a short while and then sell at a far higher return than stocks can. An example would be AMA in Australia who went from nothing to a company with a 200 million Australian dollar value in less than two-and-a-half

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years. Mews said to be on the lookout for buy and build platforms and something with a virtuous investment cycle. In other words looking at companies or ideas that allow you to do something better and quicker with greater return. David Smith, VP supply chain/procurement, Caliber Consolidation held the floor to speak about control quality in consolidation. You need to look for the right calibre of partner to get this right. He said that people believe what you believe, so you need to create leaders that inspire teams. Honesty, trust and communication enables you to have control through the consolidation process. John Fearn, motor claims product and strategy director from Broadspire by Crawford & Company looked at the issue of connect claims. Basically controlling claims puts more into the back pocket of the insurers and makes the repair process a much better experience for the customer. They are looking to consolidate every part of the supply chain to give a concierge type of service driven by technology. He spoke of a prototype being worked on called Axidot, which is a rubber sticker that holds all the information on it which

sticks to your window. The battery is valid for 12 months and when you renew your policy, you would receive a new sticker too. The customers has an app on their phone and they can register upon the activation of their policy. This prototype can ask you via the app if you need emergency services or not if it feels a hard bump. It can send you drawings through to your phone and you can show on the drawing where the damage has been done to car. This helps the insurer know what the next step is – tow truck or drive-in. The consumer has more control and is empowered in this process. The red flags would be data protection. “Joe Public” would have to give their consent to being monitored. How will they react to that? Are claims departments ready to change? Are the processes adaptable to change? More transparency needs to be introduced into the claims process for this to happen. the first day of IBIS 2016 was certainly fast paced and posed plenty of food for thought across the board for OEMs, insurers and body shop owners who came to hear the latest ideas. The second day will be covered in the next issue, so watch this space.

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IBIS 2016 CONTINUED Excellent attendance was had at this year’s IBIS. It truly is an international networking experience.

Richard Offerman (left) and Tanya Hufschmidt were the dynamic team sent from Google.

There are a handful of the media partners, including Automotive Refinisher, that IBIS enjoys a great working relationship with. Seen here are publishers from Italy, Russia, Japan, Portugal and more.

Gregorio Rodriguez Santos (right) and Ignacio Juárez Pérez shed a lot more light on the Spanish insurance industry.

Bradley Mews gave some insight into life after consolidation and how to spot a good investment.

It’s always great to see a South African presence at such an important gathering of industry leaders.

Stephanie Corrente from Fix Auto was on hand to explain all the benefits of the global franchise network.

EMM were one of the sponsors of the event this year. Seen here is Jeroen van den Berg, General Manager Export & BeNeLux.

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PRODUcT NEWS WHAT’S HOT?

GLASURIT 68 LINE FOR COMMERCIAL VEHICLES

lasurit 68 Line: For outstanding results, brilliant, efficient and durable. Known for its high quality and versatile product lines, Glasurit recently launched the Glasurit 68 Line for commercial vehicles in South Africa. As part of the premium paint’s continuous improvement, the new system ensures that commercial vehicle manufacturing and refinishing will have a perfect finish. Commercial Vehicle Industry Glasurit 68 Line is suitable for use on manufactured road transport equipment such as truck bodies, tippers, trailers, cranes and buses. Commercial vehicle body builders are able to take advantage of the undercoats that are designed specifically for this segment. General repairers and re-furbishers, are similarly able to exploit the speed and flexibility offered by the paint system. The range of primers and fillers enable large and small areas to be repaired quickly and efficiently whilst attaining good hiding power with good edge cover. Mark Lippstreu, managing director of Denys Edwardes in Port Elizabeth who is the first customer in the BASF Market Area Africa to take up the product describes the range as a brilliant product with valueadded-systems. “We have been repairing commercial vehicles for over 40 years and key to our sustainability is utilising the right mix. With Glasurit 68 Line’s efficient application time, reduced usage coupled with its superior finish, it is a winner all round,” he adds. “We are optimistic that this will reduce key-to-key repair times whilst growing our market share as the repairer of choice,” explains Dave Henderson, HCV director for Denys Edwardes.

Seen here are Dave Henderson (left) and Mark Lippstreu. Both have nothing but praise for the Glasurit 68 Line that they use on their commercial vehicles. This one layer system allows for multi-colour finishing which does not require the use of a clear coat making it an easy-to-use, time saving, paint process. This is complemented by a unique range of 21 basic colours which can be mixed to 55 000 different colours through the Glasurit Colour Truck Guide. “For manufacturers and repairers, it is not just the paint quality that is important, but also the colour precision and reproducibility of the entire system,” says Nico Krukenberg, Glasurit commercial manager. Glasurit 68 Line system is approved by global brands such as Mercedes-Benz and Scania with BASF Coatings Service GmbH supplying the Mercedes-Benz truck plant in Wörth, Germany; one of the biggest truck plants in the world. The system is also fully integrated with Glasurit’s premium bodyshop management system, ProFit Manager.

Glasurit Automotive Refinish: An important part of BASF Coatings Within the brand Glasurit, BASF sells a comprehensive portfolio of paint systems for commercial vehicles and car refinish with the main focus on eco-efficient waterborne and high solid paints. Within this refinish system, all global legal provisions with regards to solvents reduction can be achieved without compromising on the quality of conventional paint systems such as appearance and durability. With Glasurit’s broad portfolio of products and services, the brand is able to service all its customers in the field. Glasurit Automotive Refinish products are approved from most leading automotive OEM manufacturers for refinish work due to the high colour competencies of the most renowned car brands.

Efficient Extensive Range “When it comes to efficient application, Glasurit 68 Line offers best-in-class performance with a complete paint job in just 1.5 spray coats. This adds up to a higher throughput, shorter waiting times and faster job completion,” explains Carel Nell, Glasurit regional sales manager. “The industry is focused on reliable cost effective solutions with maximum efficiency and the 68 Line is guaranteed to provide all these qualities,” notes Nell. At the heart of Glasurit 68 Line is the High-Solid 2K CV topcoat system, which is EU-VOC-compliant and can be used for applications ranging from original coating to refinishing. In addition to the topcoat system, 68 Line offers another product innovation; Glasurit 568-17 CV Multi Colour Additive. 10

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FUTURE TECH - by Andrew Marsh

TO INFINITY AND BEYOND PART 2

An eSIM is fitted at the factory to enable Audi A3, A4, A5, Q2 and Q 7 to co mmunicate with a range o f external services. V ery so on like BMW/Mini, it will be imposs ible to b uy an Audi that is not connected. So are we p ar t of the services that appear to the user, yet?

ommodity traders were the very first financial service providers, relying on a complex system of trust – ‘My word is my bond’. The practice has continued for many centuries, passing down from large farms / shipping agents / manufacturing companies to the individual. This is all good as long as the company providing the service really can trust the customer. The motor insurance industry is facing a huge change in the way it operates, and yet many companies in Europe are too slow to either recognise the dangers or to adapt their processes. For many years in the UK use of a vehicle has the requirement of insurance along with some annual vehicle inspection and road tax as a legal obligation. Up to 2005 the situation was each of the three data systems could not verify common information, relying on trust. Those who realised that a vehicle could appear to be owned by person A, driven by person B and taxed by person C made a lot of money by not paying what was due or not paying at all. From 2005 onwards co-operation of HM Government who ‘owned’ two of the three data systems, and the collective UK motor insurance companies developed new systems to cross verify information. The result was that from 2014 onwards the

Police and road side number recognition cameras could detect if a vehicle was inspected, insured and taxed. Fear not. The data systems are on line, but still require the vehicle owner / user to manually input information around once per year. Once that is done, the motor insurance company can only expect contact with the customer after they bought the policy if and when there is a claim. What’s missing? Real time data. London calling So the insurers who have business guaranteed thanks to the service being a legal requirement to use a vehicle on HM Queen Elizabeth II’s roads thought…. This is our game, and no one can get ‘our’ customer. Not even the pesky people who build or maintain vehicles. Except the wireless data transfer and manipulation revolution was not merely underway, but gathering pace. The insurers decided that because it was their ‘game’ they would add boxes which could give date / time / speed / location, and if they were hooked up to the OBD II port, vehicle data as well. Except the dream of proving who was at the steering wheel when an incident occurred, or proving the wipers were on (wet road) or that the brake lights were on

(the driver did try) are mostly just that – a dream. The collective UK motor insurers feared external competition but feared each other more – so there was no common standard to define what insurers wanted to see. The standard was indeed created, but was not agreed. So the motor insurers haired off to fit boxes, naturally at the end user’s expense, in return for discounts based on betting shop style risk pricing – all tied to a single insurer. When to use the same service with another insurers? That’ll be another box and fitting fee. The approach was technologically antiquated in 2006, when the draft standard was first written – in 2016 it’s just embarrassing. Why not fit a ‘box’ and allow any insurer to use it as part of the contract? Because there isn’t a specification for what it should do agreed by all insurers who want to offer this service. Surprise! Well, what a complete surprise. The only people taking the ‘boxes’ were the highest risk drivers who were forced by the betting shop pricing structure for ‘conventional’ policies to consider not selling themselves or grand parents to purchase but one year of motor insurance. But that’s not the half of it.

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www.autoindustryinsider.com Meanwhile in the global vehicle manufacturing world connectivity was seen as a way of improving profitability by updating software whilst the vehicle was in use. Further the vehicles which are maintained by manufacturer agents have fully ‘live’ systems which allows all kinds of commercial opportunities to take place, ranging from service reminders to buying new tyres. Why did this happen? Vehicle manufacturers (OEMs) had the same issue as the motor insurer – people would buy a new vehicle, or a young used vehicle, and then effectively spend next to nothing. Except when the vehicle went wrong under warranty. Further, the OEMs were suffering with a small device which most people carry with them at all times. The smart phone. Businesses smart enough to develop services which were accessed via smart phones soon realised they could not only bypass other businesses but also start to sell into the OEM ‘value chain’ directly. So the OEMs did what they always do. They fought back, by partnering with those very businesses to ensure at point of sale their brand was present. Note to insurers. The OEMs are collectively not very bright, but they figured that going off into a corner to invent what had already been invented was a complete waste of time and money. We can see the pattern e-Commerce is – for the moment – reliant on a series of carriers onto which service providers purchase access. No access, no business. And those insurer ‘boxes’? They were only going to have a shelf life of less than 10 years from 2010 onwards, because most vehicles built since then have the hardware and firmware to enable broadcast from and to the car. Indeed some cars have this enabled already – BMW Group for example made such connectivity standard on all cars from September 2015 onwards, whilst Audi is in the process of doing this right now –along with many, many other OEMs. So from 2006 when establishing a motor insurance communication / data standard until 2016, when no such standard exists, the commerce has moved away and relegated the insurers from being the all-encompassing provider to an aspect of service provision alongside providing maps to access to nearest Nandos. How the mighty have fallen – except most UK motor insurance companies still don’t recognise this. Still with fingers in their ears Live data streaming allows the byproduct of driver behaviour to be enabled, which has been surprisingly popular with drivers below around 35 years old. Telematics can, if set up properly, enable objective data capture at the time an event occurs. Even if one vehicle involved in a multi

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vehicle impact is equipped with data capture, it can transform the way a claim is handled. However UK motor insurers have taken the long term view (not) and decided it is a niche product for high risk customers. They know it can do more, but stumble around whilst muttering ‘customer centric’, ‘value add’, ‘key to key’ …. unable to get mass market adoption of telematics technology. The record is cracked. The future for motor insurance is bleak because of the tardy adoption of technology, inability to embrace change and belief that nothing will change. Consider this A vehicle with a basic set of driver assistance aids will have fewer incidents than one not equipped with anything but a human at the controls. Thanks to existing technology risk assessment and thus pricing can be altered km by km, location by location and by time of day. Please tell me, whilst insurers will need statisticians and actuaries – who needs underwriters? And those immense claims departments – well the next decade will lead to fewer incidents and so claims. Worse, motor insurance is now on the same level for the motorist in the UK as McDonalds or the pesky iTunes – perhaps a bit glib, but a few years from mass market reality. Now that’s transformation Autonomous illusion: On the 3 May 2016 Volvo and MIRRC Thatcham (the UK motor insurance funded repair research centre) colaunched the UK autonomous driving programme, which is an extension of the planned experiment to be run in Gothenburg. Whilst this is interesting, and the impact for the motor insurance sector will be profound, the campaign fails to mention the reasons why adoption will take a long time. These reasons are: 1- The law. No country has enabled law to cover off who is responsible for what with autonomous driving, although the USA is close to draft legislation. 2- The Insurance sector has not been part of this process, yet. 3- The systems are built in to vehicles at point of manufacture, and as yet there is no bolt-on after market system. So adoption is currently only possible for ADAS or fully autonomous systems via new vehicles. The last point is critical Once the systems are approved (Government, insurance) and mandated via law (government), the rate of adoption will be via annual sales. In the UK we have around 32 million vehicles and new vehicle sales running at about 2.5 million units per year. So from the point of agreement, it will take nearly 13 years to achieve mass adoption, during which time there will be further system 'revolutions'. Currently these systems are a mix of stand-alone and clustered networks, which will not be able to

‘Bo xes’. These rang e fro m early units, left, to devices with the ab ility to log data, bro ad cast and receive as well as charg ing up a p hone = all from a 12V socket – as s hown.

accept major upgrades to enable universal vehicle to vehicle or vehicle to infrastructure communication. This also does not address the reality – ADAS and autonomous systems are under development and are not 'perfect'. The first commercial ADAS systems have been through at least three iterations since 2008, and we can expect similar rapid system improvements when the first fully autonomous systems are released. So the sales pitch for a perfect world by 2020, 2021 or 2035 is wide of the mark. However, the change for motor insurance will be profound, and is getting underway right now. As I stated at the CIC conference, regardless of how South Africa accepts or rejects this type of technology, it is coming to the country anyway. A uto Industry C o nsulting is an independent pro vider o f technical info rmatio n to the global co llision repair industry. Products include EziMetho ds, our o nline collisio n repair metho ds system and A uto Industry Insider, our co llision repair industry technical informatio n w ebsite. For more info rmation please visit the w ebsites: w w w .ezimetho ds.co m and w w w .auto industryinsider.co m o r co ntact ben.cardy@auto industryconsulting.co m 13

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COATINGS UPDATE PRODUCT PROFILE

PPG’S SELEMIX® GROWING IN POPULARITY

perating in a highly priced competitive market PPG’s Selemix® is becoming a highly sought after product, offering customers a complete systems solution. Automotive Refinisher spoke to Ben Balsdon, Light Industrial Coating (LIC) regional sales manager for PPG in KwaZuluNatal (KZN) and Grant Graff, Light Industrial Coatings (LIC) regional sales manager for the Cape provinces and Namibia, about the growing popularity of the brand. Balsdon says the brand continues to gain ground in KZN – a market that is exceptionally tight due to the high population of competitors in the industrial coatings sector. “The KZN market in particular is very price competitive compared to the rest of the country,” explains Balsdon. “Having said that though, niche products like that of Selemix has a very specific place in this market as it covers a broader spectrum of protection to surfaces than that of the cheaper entry level brands in the market place. We offer complete systems, processes to reduce production time and a complete coatings solutions to accommodate any coating project requirement.” Balsdon, who is tasked with growing the Selemix brand awareness in KZN, has been involved in the paint industry for more than 10 years. “Now more than ever businesses are looking for ways to reduce operational and production costs,” he says. “Introducing shorter and easier processes is key in this regard, while maintaining quality and performance specifications. We offer exactly that with Selemix.” He says whilst the KZN market is extremely balanced at this point in time between various competitors as many have created generic products to match product requirements, the Selemix offering has much to offer. “The products in the Selemix range are specifically engineered to fulfill the highest possible surface protection specification requirements for their respective purposes.” According to Balsdon the Selemix range is a dynamic offering of a variety of specialised primers as well as topcoats for a coating selection, application and protective requirements for vast varieties of substrates. At the same time the Selemix direct to metal (DTM) is a brand driver. “It’s a direct to metal coating that can be applied to almost any surface type,” he says. “In turn eliminating the conventional primers process while providing extremely high 14

corrosion protection back end properties there is no doubt that Selemix DTM is the market leader in South Africa for DTM and will remain the leader as the product continues to evolve through PPG’s innovation.” According to Graff, PPG’s renowned Selemix® product has shown consistent growth in the Western Cape, Eastern Cape and Namibia as the brand continues to deliver to customer needs. The success of Selemix can be contributed to it being a high quality polyvalant system that is able to meet every possible painting and protection need. “The flexibility of the system means customers are assured of a product which best suits their individual needs,” he says. “Selemix currently is a brand that has a cycle for most applications in the commercial and industrial markets. We pride ourselves on having the ability to provide systems with a high corrosive protection on all sub strates with complete ISO standards.” Graff says with various distribution outlets serving the Western and Eastern Cape as well as Namibia, more growth is on the cards. “The product also directly speaks to the trends in the market,” he says. “We all understand the current economic situation in South Africa and the market is under pressure to deliver a top class product. At PPG we understand this and much effort goes into delivering the best possible paint systems and solutions for our customers’ specific needs.” He says with labour times in many businesses playing a large part in determining the product choice, PPG’s next generation direct to metal product (DTM), set to be launched in early 2017, is expected to impact well on the local market. “DTM is on the rise,” he says, “Also the use of electro static application equipment is increasing and being used more frequently.

Ben Balsd on, Lig ht Industrial Coating s (LI C) reg ional sales manager for KZN. Our research and development department spend a lot of time working on delivering products that speak to these trends and are able to meet market needs.” Graff, who has been in the paint industry for more than 20 years and has a passion for sales in the paint industry, joined PPG in 2014. An expert in Selemix having undergone intensive training on the product in France has been closely involved in deciding the best products required for the South African market and market related countries. As a regional sales manager he offers ongoing support and training across the regions to distributors. “A big part of my job is to create awareness that PPG is not just a paint supplier but also a problem solver and solution provider,” Graff concluded.

Grant Graff, Light Industrial Coatings (LIC) regional sales manager for the Cape provinces and Namibia.

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PRODUCT PROFILE SA expo rt manager Carloalberto Dalan says that o ur African p erformance is still the to p performing market in Africa for Spanesi.

WHAT’S HOT?

SPANESI EQUIPMENT SOLUTIONS

panesi body shop technology have been a major innovater with both body shop design and performance for many years. The founding director, Orazio Spanesi, started with his philosophy way back in 1989 in the small town of Padova. Spanesi is now in many international markets. In South Africa, the sole importer remains the Marouns Group, who are currently seeing an uptake in the company’s bench related car repair systems. “The demand for large type jig repair bench systems across all markets varies a great deal,” says Carloalberto Dalan, export area manager for Spanesi. Certain countries see huge sales for the large bench, while other countries prefer the new Mini Bench, floor mounted type of smaller repair type of units. In Africa, Carlo says that the most important market for the company remains the South African market, but Kenya and the Middle Eastern countries are also investing in more modern and accurate jig benches that the company sell. Things that often affect these sales are the current insurance writeoff rates, like South Africa where insurers are trying to impose a 50% write-off level by value of the vehicle. This influences their mini bench sales. Smaller operators who need the flexibility of a universal jig repair bench because they work on many different vehicles can quickly see the advantages that the 106 types of bench is capable of delivering in every day body shop use. Grand Tech Auto Body had the 106 system installed over a year ago and owner Knut Kolmel says that they received good

training. He has attracted a specialist panelbeater for faster set up times to get even more production from the unit. Reon Senekal was also upbeat about the work that the straightening bench delivers. “The repair is right first time in our body shop and that is important. This work centre can really deliver on areas of diagnostic analysis as well,” Senekal said. Spanesi have also sold the Touch universal electronic measuring systems in the SA market. This also allows any body shop to quickly carry out diagnosis of damaged vehicles to original factory dimensions. Speaking for the Marouns Group, Chris Burger felt that the Spanesi repair solutions were top class in durability and ease of use for collision repair needs. About Spanesi For some companies, the only thing that counts is business, others give more attention to the smiles on the faces of their customers and partners. Quality is a direct extension of their happiness.

Spanesi is a company in constant growth that has won a position of primary importance in its sector. This success comes from its capacity to increase the professional skills of anyone who works among its staff and poses the satisfaction of the technician as his or her own objective. True to the spirit of its founder, the company has grown to its current dimension of 40 000 sq m in a technologically advanced production plant where more than 80% of its range is produced. Production quality can be checked at any time thanks to a widespread organisation and constant contact with its dealers around the world, Spanesi is also renowned for its “customer care” which is just a new name for the good old relationship of friendship established with anyone who happens to choose Spanesi products. You can get more information by calling any branch of the Maroun’s Group in South Africa on the Spanesi range of repair equipment or see www.marounsgroup.co.za for more details.

Chris Berg er fro m the Mar oun’s Group (left) is seen here with Carloalberto Dalan and Reon Senekal of Grand tech Auto Bod y with the 106 Bench wo rk centre fro m Spanesi.

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CUTTING NEWS PRODUCT PROFILE

HYPERTHERM BENEFITS OF AIR PLASMA VERSUS OXYFUEL

hen it comes to cutting metal, two widely used thermal processes are oxyfuel and air plasma. Although oxyfuel is a well-known technology, plasma is more versatile – and less expensive – with a better performance record. Oxyfuel can only cut ferrous metal. It cannot cut non-ferrous material, stainless steel, or aluminium, and is generally used to cut metal 50mm thick or greater. Plasma can cut both ferrous and nonferrous material including rusted, painted, or grated metal. It is most commonly used to cut metal between 2mm and 55mm in thickness. When it comes to safety, oxyfuel is at a disadvantage because it requires a highly flammable fuel gas and an open flame. Once the torch is lit, the flame stays on until the system is manually turned off. Plasma does not use a fuel gas and its arc automatically extinguishes when the torch is removed from the metal. Ease-of-use minimises training, improves results, and increases profitability. When comparing plasma prevails as air plasma uses compressed air. There are no gases to mix or regulate. With oxyfuel, operators need to set and maintain the flame chemistry while holding a steady distance between the tip and surface being cut. With plasma, a standoff is usually not needed as many systems allow the operator to drag the torch on the material. Manufacturers now have to compete on product quality more than ever. Overall, plasma produces more precise and cleaner cuts than oxyfuel with better angularity, a thinner kerf, a smaller heat affected zone, and zero to no dross. At a minimum, plasma is twice as fast as oxyfuel when cutting metals up to 25mm in thickness and up to 12 times faster on thinner materials. Productivity is also affected by piercing delays. It can take 30 seconds to pierce 16 mm thick steel with oxyfuel. Plasma takes less than two seconds. Three things generally affect the operating cost of oxyfuel and plasma: consumables, power, and gas. Generally, consumable and power costs are higher for plasma and gas costs higher for oxyfuel. While the operating cost of oxyfuel is seemingly lower, it is not the most economical to operate because of plasma’s productivity advantage. In conclusion, oxyfuel and plasma are both well-established thermal processes for cutting metal. In deciding which method to use, companies need to weigh the above factors against business needs. For more on cutting metal, contact Hypertherm (www.hypertherm.com), a manufacturer of cutting systems with nearly 50 years of history to help businesses succeed. For more information please visit www.hypertherm.com 17 AUTOMOTIVE R E F I N I S H E R

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PRODUcT NEWS WHAT’S HOT?

AUTOMECHANIKA FRANKFURT 2016

ew exhibitors, even more product innovation and a refreshing new exhibition concept are set to make this year’s Automechanika, the world’s biggest trade fair for garage equipment, spare parts and accessories, even more interesting for trade visitors. Since the very first Automechanika in Frankfurt repair and maintenance has always been the core exhibition area of the show. It has acted as a kind of nucleus around which what is the world’s biggest trade fair for garage equipment and vehicle servicing has developed over the last 45 years from the foundation of Automechanika in 1971 until today. Automechanika 2016 is the 24th edition of the show. It runs from 13 to 17 September on the trade fair site in Frankfurt am Main and, as always, products and services for garage equipment, tools, paintwork or bodywork repair, recovery services, accident assistance or mobile services have a special part to play. As the demand for products and services for air-conditioning systems, testing systems and conceptual support in the workshop increases, the response of Automechanika Frankfurt has been a systematic reconfiguration of the Hall layout. The focus has been on Halls 8 and 9 which have been traditionally an important centre of attraction for visitors from the garage trade. This year, to ensure higher quality in this area, the products on show in both these Halls will focus on the greatly increased range of products and services for all kinds of garage equipment and services provided by the sector’s well-known and established providers. Alongside all the garage equipment specialists – the majority of which are small to medium sized companies – who traditionally exhibit in Hall 8, trade visitors will also find global players from the spare parts industry, presenting special systems solutions for garage workshops. These include Bosch and Mahle Service Solutions along with motor vehicle manufacturers such as Peugeot-Citroën. Whilst in the past traditional exhibitors such as MAHA, Snap-On, Nussbaum, Autop Maschinenbau or Texa knew how to create interest in workshop equipment through the size of their stand and the weight of their exhibits, now they are increasingly incorporating electronics and software in their products to enable new digitalised processes in servicing. The same is also true for exhibitors of tyreservicing products who are present this year in Frankfurt in even greater numbers, including Corghi, Ravaglioli or Werther. Digitalisation is having an even greater impact in the tyre market and it will be interesting to see what solutions specialist providers will present in Frankfurt. This new refocusing of the show, together with the further qualitative aggregation of exhibitors and the range of products exhibited in Halls 8 and 9, demonstrates how Messe Frankfurt is consistent in its pursuit of the path it has taken over the last few years. As Hall 9.0 has been upgraded, thanks to the new Hall 11.0 being built and the associated relocation of the main entrance, so visitors to the trade fair this year benefit in terms of enhanced content. More information is available at www.automechanika.com, in our blog www.driving-news.com and at www.facebook.com/automechanika, www.twitter.com/automechanika and gplus.to/automechanika. 22

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PRODUCT UPDATE WHAT’S HOT?

SIB ADD IMPERIAL ABRASIVI TO THEIR RANGE

new comprehensive abrasive range fully imported from Italy is being introduced by SIB to their already extensive range. It ties in well with the recent activities with their Evercoat ITW body filler range. The Imperial Abrasivi system can take care of any surface preparation activity for the synthetic grain aluminium oxide, Zirconia aluminium, and other new technologies in manufacture using the latest silicone carbide and ceramic aluminium oxide. They all deliver extra hold up to everyday use with long lasting and tough structures designed and formulated for top quality with Gold Kap dust free. 1-Car professional discs are available in 40 to 1200 grit sizes. Flexibility is guaranteed. Imperial Abrasivi are a diversified abrasive manufacturer and with improved production facilities, deliver top UNI EH 750 9001 satisfied quality on all the production rolls,

water paper, flap discs, bolts and various other specialised abrasive products in an easy to work with scale of either coarse metal removal or right down to finishing and seamless polishing. There is a product for paint removal, in

fact for any car body work in general, on fibreglass or plastic as well as new process repair products which are affordable. Call for professional service from SIB on +27(0)11 593 8920 or visit the website at www.sib.co.za

US NEWS

PPG INVESTMENT IN ALLISON PARK

urther reinforcing its longstanding reputation for "Bringing innovation to the surface," PPG recently completed a USD 7.8 million enhancement to its Coatings Innovation Centre in Allison Park, US, about 20 minutes from the company's headquarters in Pittsburgh. A key facility in PPG's global Research and Development (R&D) network for paint and coatings, new features include increased laboratory and testing space and upgraded equipment that improve the technical capabilities. In essence, it is PPG's extensive R&D team the high level resources needed to carry out a range of tasks such as accurately simulating the many and varied environments in which customers use its automotive and industrial products. A completely renovated automotive refinish training Centre also provides an excellent space where distributors, painters and collision repairers can learn to successfully use the company's automotive refinish coatings. In addition, extra space, equipment and staff have been devoted to the creation and testing of sealants, adhesives and pretreatment solutions. The substantial investment keeps PPG on the cutting edge of product development, according to David Bern, PPG vice president science and technology, and chief technology officer-elect. "The PPG Coatings Innovation Centre continues to provide an elite research and development environment where PPG scientists can ensure our customers have access to the most inventive coatings solutions. Many times the breakthroughs that help us to deliver colour durability and functionality in coatings for everything from cars and trucks to consumer electronics and heavy machinery begin at our Coatings Innovations Centre." State-of-the-art R&D capabilities are a crucial part of the PPG's future say PPG president and chief executive officer, Michael McGarry. "As PPG continues to expand its paint and coatings portfolio, the company's science and technology activities become increasingly

important for the ongoing advancement to address our customers' changing needs. Because it is the hub of our global research and development activities, enhancing the Coatings Innovation Centre strengthens PPG's overall capabilities as well as its presence in the Pittsburg area, home at our global headquarters for more than 130 years." PPG’s vision is to be the world’s leading coatings company by consistently delivering high quality, innovative and sustainable solutions that customers trust to protect and beautify their products and surroundings. Through leadership in innovation, substantiability and colour, PPG provides added value to customers in construction, consumer products, industrial and transportation markets and aftermarkets to enhance more surfaces in more ways than any other company does.

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LOCAL NEWS ACHIEVEMENTS

RSB AWARDED DISTRIBUTOR EXCELLENCE AWARD

SB AutoGroup, BASF’s R-M® premium paint distributor in South Africa, was recently awarded the EMEA Distributor Excellence award. The accolade was in honour of RSB’s achievement in becoming the largest distributor of the R-M® paint brand in BASF’s EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) region for 2015. Dr. Katja Scharpwinkel, senior-vice president for BASF Coatings Automotive Refinish Solution EMEA who presented the award together with René Lang, vice president BASF Coatings Automotive Refinish Solution Sales Management EMEA said, “RSB is an extremely well managed distributor which puts a strong focus on their customers, making the R-M® brand a good fit in what they value. RSB also has an incredible growth story where many distributors have not been able to achieve what they have achieved over the last few years.” RSB has been distributing R-M® in South Africa since 2010 and has grown the brand within the country with branches now found in Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban and Bloemfontein.

RSB AutoGroup have been acknowledged for being the largest distributor of the R-M paint brand in the Europe, Middle East and Africa region for 2015. R-M Automotive Refinish Paints: an important part of BASF Coatings Under the R-M brand, BASF markets a comprehensive range of automotive refinishing paint systems, focusing on ecoefficient waterborne basecoats and highsolids paints. By using these systems all legal solvent-reduction requirements can be complied with anywhere in the world, and with regard to appearance and resistance,

the products meet the same quality standards as solvent-borne paints. In this area, the company offers a wide variety of services to support its customers. R-M Automotive Refinish Paints is approved by most of the leading car manufacturers for aftermarket repair and chosen by the world's most prestigious car companies for its colour expertise.

PARTNERSHIPS

R-M® & JAGUAR LAND ROVER

-M Automotive Refinish and Jaguar Land Rover achieved outstanding results at the Global Sales conference held in Dubai. Following this success of R-M’s support to the Jaguar Land Rover Body & Paint Programme in the Middle East and North Africa, R-M is now extending the programme to Jaguar Land Rover body shops worldwide. As R-M Automotive Refinish bases its entire philosophy on being a caring business partner, the R-M team is working closely with key Jaguar Land Rover executives across the globe. Following the successful implementation in Middle East and North Africa, R-M and Jaguar Land Rover continue to strengthen their support to the body shop network in Europe and other countries and regions. In Singapore an agreement between R-M and Jaguar Land Rover is about to be signed, as well as actively developed in Asia Pacific. BASF’s global key account manager for Jaguar Land Rover, Arjan Klijn, said: “Customer retention was key to Jaguar Land Rovers’ growth in the Middle East and North Africa region and so it will be for all regions. We want to ensure maximum customer satisfaction with R-M’s high standards of repair quality worldwide by implementing our global blueprint for paint and body at Jaguar Land Rover.” Jaguar Land Rover certified body shops are subject to R-M’s blueprint and undergo a comprehensive six stage programme designed to maximise performance, efficiency and productivity, which is essential to development of the repairer network. The first step is to ensure the body shop is running at maximum efficiency whilst maintaining the quality demanded by Jaguar Land 28

Rover customers. R-M’s Topscan Audit achieves a fast, accurate analysis and creates a programme of significant improvements. R-M’s comprehensive training programme, which includes the implementation of waterborne automotive refinish paint technology through R-M ONYX HD, covers all grades of operative from apprentice to expert as well as management seminars. R-M’s product portfolio ensures that the painters are fully equipped to maintain optimum efficiency and repair quality. Also included with the R-M blueprint is a full range of value added services designed to maximise the performance and profitability of the Jaguar Land Rover approved body shops, together with Key Performance Indicators analysis. R-M’s commitment to being a caring business partner extends beyond just paint and body by playing an important role in developing all aspects of the Jaguar Land Rover network worldwide throughout the world.

AUTOMOTIVE R E F I N I S H E R

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Tel: 011 872 1217

RSB AutoGroup, Joshua Doore Building, 4 Andries Street South, Wynberg, JHB

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LOcAL NEWS

cHALLENGE

THE LONGEST DRIVE

he Longest Drive is a team of car enthusiasts who take on challenges aiming to drive between the Ear th’s geographical extremities. This year the the team had to cross 21 countries and drive almost 19 000 km in very different and sometimes quite challenging weather and climatic conditions. Driving from Nordkapp to the Southern tip of Africa, Cape Town, they drove constantly, 24 hours per day with short stops for refuelling. In Africa their route included the following countries: Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and finally South Africa. Experience gained during the first attempt forced the team to make some modifications to the car. A Porsche Cayenne with three seats, roll cage, LED lamps, bull bar, with an additional fuel tank under the floor that made room inside the car for spare tyres and so allowed them to remove the roof rack with a spoiler.The snorkel was also removed. The Porsche Cayenne used an unmodified V6 turbo diesel engine (245 BHP) and had an original drive train. As a result they got a lower centre of gravity and the weight was reduced by more than 100kg. This all added up to lower fuel consumption and safer driving characteristics. The Team was made up of Vitoldas Milius (Lithuania): editor-inchief of ‘Auto Bild Lietuva’ magazine. An experienced adventurer and driver, who has done a lot of record drives. MurmanskMagadan-Murmansk, Lisbon-Vladivostok, Northcape – Tarifa are just a few of his achievements. Shaun Neill (RSA): An adventurer, who spent a year racing Ferrari 360 Challenger's in the GT Series in South Africa, and then a season in the VW Polo Cup Series. He also holds the South African showjumping champion title, which he has won 3 times. Jan Kalmar (Denmark): Advanced driving instructor. Team manager in motorsport. The trip took 8 days. . The team relied on help from all over the world, and they were truly amazed with the level of support and advice they received. Their last attempt had some issues in Ethiopia and therefore they requested additional support in this region. They got in contact with SORA Tours in Ethiopia and Osman Ahmed proved to be a great enthusiast of the Project. Progress was reported daily in the form of tweets and Facebook updates and fans eagerly read their progress like this: “May 7 at 9:23 pm – White tiger found Hippo and made friends… one country behind us… Finland here we go! May 9 at 7:24 am – A small update... Just entered our ninth country, Serbia. 4 061 km behind us so only 14 000 to go... Car is good, team pushing hard and a good driver rotation is taking place. We are currently 3.5 hours ahead of schedule... Just did our third pitstop and here we meet Marcsi who is the true driving force behind this trip. Africa is getting closer but first Istanbul... May 9 at 8:23 pm – Waiting for champagne… As the cleaning lady finally got his Sudan visa… Close call. May 11 at 7:30 am – Egypt! But making very good progress…

Ready to cross borders. May 12 at 6:06 pm – We are nearly in Ethiopia… Good progress is going on… May 13 at 12:15 pm – Let us introduce you our big help, the SORA Tours Ethiopia Team, on board with Osman Ahmed and Yetnayet.. They were our helping hand along Ethiopia..Thank you for your great support! May 15 at 11:45 pm – Out of Botswana, clearing customs to enter SA now!!!! May 16 at 12:38 pm – Night driving, RSA. May 16 at 2:25 pm – 8 days 21h 03min. May 16 at 6:36 pm – 17 450 km, 8 days, 21h, 3 min, (7h, 6min. better than the former record) 1 949l diesel, 11,1l/100km. On the final day the team nearing home had a huge thank you list of people who made this adventure possible. “Thank you. We are sitting in the car with very mixed feelings... we are so close to the finish line and our time is looking really good… but still we are so far away as we saw in Ethiopia a single pothole can change all... We in the car, all agreed that the real stars of this project are all the people supporting before, during and after these drives.” The Longest Drive Team reached it’s final point, Cape Agulhas, a 17 475 km distance which was covered in eight days 21 hours and three minutes. The previous record was nine days four hours nine minutes and TLD team beat it by seven hours and six minutes. It was not easy and the team could not let any mistakes happen as the previous record was getting closer by the hour. All the pit stops in fuel stations were made in about eight minutes. More information about this incredible journey can be found on: www.thelongestdrive.net Farm Africa The Longest Drive supports the charity Farm Africa. This charity is working to end hunger and bring prosperity to rural Africa. They’re there, on the ground, ensuring farmers have the equipment and know how to manage their land more effectively. Working shoulder-to-shoulder with farmers, they help with the best farming techniques to take root and spread so there’s food not just for this harvest, but every harvest going forward. They bridge communities, governments and businesses so that farmers can not only grow food but also sell it too, so that the farmers can take charge of their future and build better lives. Find out more about Farm Africa by visiting www.farmafrica.org For more information about this incredible journey check out: www.thelongestdrive.net

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PRODUCT UPDATE WHAT’S HOT?

MIRKA GAINS WITH PRODUCTION AT NORTH CITY PANELBEATERS

n today’s ultra competitive collision repair business, perhaps one of the biggest headaches for a body shop to contend with is the situation of comebacks on completed repairs. This key point became a big focus for North City Panelbeaters based in Kramerville, Johannesburg. Stoof van Wyk, along with the help of his two daughters Carien and Madeleine, has been able to further refine the company’s operations. Carien is responsible for the administrative area, Madeleine took on the hard task of the paint and panel shop efficiency. In two years with a steep learning curve, Madeleine has streamlined the daily operations with monthly production target meetings and cost per panel controls to vastly improve the financial profitability and quality finished work at North City Panelbeaters. “To be truthful,” says Madeleine, “my background is one of business management at corporate level so it’s a brave new world down here in the paint shop. My first task I felt was to gain total control of panelbeating preparation for the paint shop.” Working closely with her technical representative from Bulldog Abrasives, Luyteyn Risseeuw, together they developed a Mirka production system that encompasses a systematic type of control to eliminate reject work. “We start off in rough panel preparation with 40, 60 or 80 Abranet grits that vary in size, depending on the damaged substrate on our panels. Then for primer preparation, Mirka’s Gold discs quickly prepare the surface with 400 or 500 grit dust free either for solid colours and basecoats. After that the colour application is moved to polishing, where in the final stage of refinishing the Mirka 1500 and 3000 ultra fine polishing preparation grits make every panel highly polishable quickly to deliver flawless quality every time. We only get paid for our repairs once, so, at North City Panelbeaters the noreject philosophy has boosted throughput considerably since we began refining the process some two years ago. “I have to say,” Madeleine continued, “our back-up service from Bulldog Abrasives has been simply fantastic as we developed the Mirka production techniques in the paint shop. We are enjoy working with a proven production package. Mirka Abrasives has definitely delivered both speed of repairs overall and our customer satisfaction levels are now running at all-time highs. I feel, it pays to spend just a short while longer on panel preparation to win in this business,” she concluded. 32

Panel preparation uses three grit levels of Abranet to perfect the sanding operation at North City Panelbeaters.

Mirka Gold dust free discs take care of final primer colour preparation work ready for colour coats.

Final polish is a quick and easy step to a flawless finish.

Madeleine Phillips of North City (left) has been helped all the way by Luyteyn Risseeuw from Bulldog Abrasives to perfect their preparation package from Mirka systems.

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INDUSTRY NEWS THATcHAM

MAKING IT STICK

ny doubts regarding the massive investment BMW made in SGL Group in order to accelerate production capacity for carbon fibre can be forgotten, as it becomes clear now how well placed the company is to exploit the lightweight advantages of fibre reinforced plastics and adhesives. I expect others are reviewing their strategies and considering how to catch up. Certainly, different ways of thinking about adhesive applications are not unique to BMW. Last year another car manufacturer gave an interesting introduction to bonding of the front crash structure of a high volume car. Its research clearly indicated that flexibility within the join was key, not a strong stiff adhesive that you’d expect. Why? Simply because, whilst we know a car body structure transmits forces along pre-determined load paths to dissipate the crash energy, the angle of the initial impact is far from certain so the small amount of flexibility within the join enables the structure to cope with and direct the forces along the chassis leg. If the joint was too still the structural section just breaks off. That in no way means we can start substituting flexible adhesives instead of high strength adhesives in repair. These special applications in production are typically augmented by other technologies, often in the case of advanced adhesive applications, this could be laser preparation of the surface to ensure the adhesive chosen has the optimum adhesion required. Thatcham is meeting with a university which is speaking with a number of car makers regarding flexible adhesive applications to enable them to build mixed-material car bodies. At the same time a number of vehicle manufacturers are talking to Thatcham to help them ensure repairability. So new adhesive technologies are definitely coming our way in the repair. But these repair solutions, usually different from the production process, need to be validated.

A couple of panels can be joined by an adhesive; that much we all know, but how that tolerates the many compounds and pollutants and other atmospheric influences we do not know. So it's important that repair solutions and processes are tested to ensure they're robust enough to perform in another crash, will last for as long as the car is on the road, and are tolerant of the different humidity and temperatures of body shops globally. The good news is that mixed-materials and adhesive developments may well increase repairability and avoid many instances of write-offs. Certainly cold joining is good for repair, rather than trying to replicate some of the advanced and adaptive welding processes. Even if friction joining methods emerge for fibrereinforced plastics, these can be replicated in repair with adhesives, maybe supported by fasteners. But in no way should we take risks with joining of any sort. And it will become ever more important that our apprentices become fully skilled with adhesive applications as well as understand the importance of finding the specific technical information for that vehicle. The whole industry will need to work together closely with new vehicle engineers to consider how a vehicle can be repaired, often with Thatcham providing guidance, and be aware and prepared to learn these techniques so that we can all continue to successfully repair cars.

AUTOMOTIVE NEWS

JAGUAR LAND ROVER’S EVOQUE COPYCAT LAWSUIT IN CHINA

hina’s cancellation of Jaguar Land Rover’s patent on the Range Rover Evoque will not stop it from going after an alleged Chinese copycat in a separate, unfair, competition and copyright proceeding, a JLR spokesman said. A source told Reuters that JLR, owned by India’s Tata Motors, was suing Chinese automaker Jiangling Motors for allegedly copying the UK automaker’s Range Rover Evoque. JLR at the time confirmed it had filed a new legal action against Jiangling. “It’s still the same situation,” spokesman Andrew Marsh told Reuters. The action on 34

copyright and unfair competition are separate from the patent proceedings, he said. Marsh’s comments come after a media report said JLR’s copycat lawsuit against Jiangling could suffer a set back given both companies’ patents had been cancelled by Chinese authorities. Public records on the website of China’s patent re-examination board show the Evoque patent was ruled invalid in April because the design had been displayed or published elsewhere before a patent application was filed. The board also ruled in May to invalidate

the patent of the alleged copycat, Jiangling’s Landwind X7, saying in the decision that it strongly resembled the Evoque. “Both automakers could still appeal the board’s ruling on the patents’ validity,” said Chen Jingo, a Beijing-based intellectual property lawyer at Zhong Lun Law Firm. “Even if the patent remains invalid, JLR could argue separately that Jiangling is competing unfairly by confusing customers or that the Evoque’s design is automatically protected under copyright law as a piece of music or other creative work would be,” Chen said.

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Telephone: +27(0)79 206-7881 / Fax: +27(0)11 452-8372 Tyrone: +27(0)82 856-1200 Aki: +27(0)84 889-7014 / Email: info@phoenixchange.co.za Website: www.phoenixchange.co.za

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INDUSTRY NEWS US NEWS

US JUDGE DISMISSES STEERING CLAIMS

COMPREHENSIVE AEROSOL PAINT RANGE DESIGNED FOR YOUR REPAIR SHOP

CALL HOLTS SOUTH AFRICA

+27 (0)11 613 6111

ecommendations to let three shops’ “ s t e e r i n g ” allegations survive a motion to dismiss, a federal judge has dismissed and ordered closed a Mississippi collision repairers’ lawsuit against insurers. Though the ruling involved questions of Mississippi state law, Middle District of Florida Judge Gregory Presnell’s ordered recently could have national implications if it indicates Presnell’s sentiment on all the related litigation before him. Capitol Body Shop et al v. State Farm et al was the first case of the 20-odd cases nationwide in which Magistrate Judge Thomas Smith, asked by Presnell to make recommendations on those lawsuits’ state law claims, had ruled should partly be allowed to continue at all. Granted, Smith only supported retaining a tiny portion of the lawsuit, advising the rest to be dismissed with prejudice. Like Presnell, Smith has generally “ruled” against collision repairers in the cases from numerous states consolidated before the Middle District of Florida. But with Capitol, Smith finally saw merit in one element of the shops’ arguments, and followed this with a similar position in Tennessee’s Brewer Body Shop et al v. State Farm et al and recommending allowing Lousiana shops to revise interference allegations in Parker Auto Body et al v. State Farm et al and Southern Collision v. State Farm et al. Unfortunately, Presnell disagreed with Smith on the four instances involving three shops and tossed them along with the rest of the case. If that represents his sentiment for the multi-state litigation, i.e., he’s just “over it” and has made up his mind, it could kill whatever momentum had been building with Smith’s recommendations. “To state a claim for tortious interference, the Plaintiffs must allege that the acts were done with malice, that is, with the unlawful purpose of causing damage and loss,” Presnell wrote. Presnell ruled that given the malice requirement of Mississippi law, simply steering customers away from a shop to save an insurer money was technically acceptable. You had to prove malice. “There are no allegations that these Plaintiffs had complained about the payment ceilings set by the Defendants, so punishment could not have been the driving force behind the steering,” Presnell wrote. “And the Plaintiffs allege that it was a ‘foregone conclusion’ that the Defendant would pay the same amount for the repair at their shops or any competing shop, so compliance with maximum price ceilings could not have been an issue, either.” He ignored Smith’s finding that two factors supported the idea the steering was malicious: l Based on the idea that the insurers allegedly knew they wouldn’t pay more than a fixed amount anyway, the steering must have been done for another reason, such as malice, than financial gain, Smith noted. l The insurers had allegedly made false claims about the shops in question, Smith wrote. In fact, Presnell doesn’t seem to address either of Smith’s points at all, which seems like an absurd omission. If anything, it only buttresses shops’ arguments that the court fails to acknowledge points in support of repairers’ position within court filings. The only hope for the shops’ claims lies with an appeal to the Eleventh Circuit. However, the shops in Florida’s A&E Auto Body et al v. 21st Century et al haven’t appealed their case since Presnell dismissed it with prejudice last year, a point insurers have raised in briefs regarding at least one other appeal. Though the Capitol case was filed first, Presnell ruled first on A&E, and his findings against the Florida shops have informed many of his and Smith’s subsequent decisions.

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PROSPEcTON DURBAN PLANT TOUR

TOYOTA INVESTS IN SOUTH AFRICA Stor y by Ian G ro at

he Japanese automaker Toyota, announced that it has invested over R6,1 billion to facilitate production of the allnew Hilux and Fortuner at its Prospecton plant in Durban. More than 2 500 jobs have been created in the operations of Toyota South Africa and its supplier base following the investment for the production of the new Hilux and Fortuner models. Andrew Kirby, TSAM President and CEO of Toyota SA, said that Toyota suppliers, including five new international suppliers that they attracted to South Africa, had invested more than R1.7 billion in the country. These investments also ultimately contributed to increased localisation of parts and modernisation of facilities and processes. This reaffirms Toyota South Africa Motors’ (TSAM) position as the largest automaker in South Africa, manufacturing no fewer than five individual models (Hilux, Fortuner, Corolla, Corolla Quest and Quantum) in complete-knock-down (CKD) form, as well as selected Hino and Dyna models produced as semi-knocked-down (SKD) 40

assemblies. “This latest announcement gives evidence of a company that is definitely committed to South Africa by strategically investing in the people, tools and equipment to produce cars and commercial vehicles of world-class standard, that are not only destined for the domestic market, but will also fly our flag high on the international stage, thanks to a robust export plan.” “It is in fact more than that. It’s also a celebration of the pivotal role that both Hilux and Fortuner play in the overall development of the South African motor industry,” Kirby concluded. The plant will reach full production by next year. This was Toyota Motor Corporation of Japan’s largest investment to date in South Africa, but it is not just about the financial investment, it’s also about the opportunity it provides Toyota SA to develop its people, grow its skills base, develop the capacity of its supplies and lay the platform for sustainable growth and development. Dr Johan van Zyl, the chairman of Toyota SA and chief managing

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More than 2 500 jobs have been created at Toyota SA and its supplier base with the new 6.1 billion Rand investment destination in production. Workers have enjoyed long periods on quality production training in Japan to be able to deliver world class quality. officer of Toyota Motors Europe, also said planning and getting approval for this substantial investment took place several years ago. Van Zyl said he was grateful for the proactive manner in which the government, through the Department of Trade and Industry, backed the future of the motor industry post 2020 when the Automotive Production and Development Programme (APDP) comes to an end. He echoed Kirby’s sentiments, adding that: “The TSAM of today is vastly different to the same company only 10 years ago. This is all due to an ability to change with the times and I am glad to say that as we have changed, we have become better and more focused to the benefit of our customers.” Van Zyl did, however, reiterate the importance of stability on the production line: “Although we are justifiably proud of the achievements of the motor industry in growing production and especially exports post-1994, we must remember that South Africa Andr ew Kir by is the ne w CEO at Toyota and says their dri ve to incr eas e localisatio n will continue to mod er nise and g ro w the local oper atio n.

currently produces less than 1% of the 90-million vehicles made worldwide each year. “We have to remain world competitive not only in terms of wages and productivity, but also regarding labour stability. I cannot stress enough the importance of engagement – engage, engage and engage again – the need to employ dispute resolution as the first and ultimately only line of defence rather than resorting to strike action as the solution. I am confident that a fair and equitable labour agreement can be reached and rest assured, that no matter what, Toyota will do its utmost to continue to put its customers and South Africa first.” President Jacob Zuma also congratulated Toyota on the investment adding that this would make a significant contribution towards dealing with the serious challenge of unemployment. The investment clearly demonstrates the confidence that global automotive producers have in SA as an investment destination.

To g ive you an idea of the incr easing comp lexity, these sub assembly sectio ns used to hand le ar ound 30 differ ent b ody p ar ts. Now with mod el p ro lifer atio n and b oos ted pr oduction levels, they have to hand le close to 80 p ar ts deliver ed tr ack side for assembly in s trict sequence o rd er.

For tuner quality output is quite amazing with zer o defects being r egister ed in glob al mar kets.

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INTERVIEW INTERVIEW DR DRJOHAN JOHANVAN VANZYL ZYL

TALKING HEADS Crowning a lifetime of industry achievement, Dr Johan van Zyl is seen with President Zuma, at the revamped Prospecton Toyota SA plant in Durban at the recent opening. The Toyota Motor Corporation have made further investments for the SA model production facility where the quality is absolutely world class.

r Johan van Zyl joined Toyota South Africa in 1993 and his involvement with the motor business grew out of his former educational background. He obtained a doctorate in commerce while lecturing at the University of Potchefstroom. He made steady progress within Toyota where he was mainly responsible with dealer development activities. By 2009 Dr van Zyl had been named as managing officer of Toyota on an international scale of responsibility. He is now incredibly busy as he was also named CEO for both the African region and in 2016 he also took on more responsibility in Europe Toyota leadership. His international business acumen and knowledge of the industry has been strengthened dramatically with travels to Japan, the United States and Europe. Automotive Refinisher took time out to talk to Dr van Zyl about the passion that has driven his career at Toyota Motor Corporation. Please tell us how a Professor of Economics at Potchefstroom ends up running and managing such a huge business as the Toyota Motor Corporation I was really fortunate in my early years with Toyota in that my position came in at the retail level where I was then working with some industry giants like Brandt Pretorius and the late Bert Wessels. Their

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balance and sense of company achievement sort of rubbed off on me in a heavy way. This developed into a passion to attain the number one status that Toyota South Africa eventually did achieve for many years. Tell us about your earlier life as an educationalist in South Africa. Education with my hobby probably came first. In a period of mechanical hands-on type of learning my job became one of helping my dad to service and fix cars after school. You know in those days cars were essentially very simple and a service constituted the draining of oil and setting the points on most cars. This served, I suppose, to put me well and genuinely in the enthusiasts league. It was a good source of all things mechanical. I also had some very quick motorcycles and cars. After starting my personal mobility interests with an 80cc Benelli kidâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s bike, I worked my way through university. My first car was a Mini 850cc and then I went on to a series of Alfaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s, many of which I still own today. They are refurbished like my 1750 Alfa Veloce along with the early S500 Toyota sports car. So between my official doctorate studies, I was always fixing and maintaining my own vehicles in the early days. How do you place the Toyota operations in South Africa on a world scale of success right now? To be truthful on that question I am exceedingly proud of what we have

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achieved in SA. Our total business success remains quite remarkable. With my new business responsibilities on an international scale it seems we still have much to be done to move further ahead. I am confident that the recent appointment of Andrew Kirby as CEO, and his leadership will deliver the team performance that Toyota Motor Corporation are planning for our export market and the African footprint that the brand now enjoys. With the huge new investment in local production facilities, how important has the Hilux model and For tuner derivatives been in all this? I guess you should look at our Hilux, Corolla and Fortuner ranges right now on a global scale. These models are what people want to own in their respective segments across the world. Undoubtedly the support that Hilux has enjoyed in racing off-road has boosted our sales in many divisions of South American markets in a major way. This could be due to our Dakar results which have been absolutely amazing. Countries like Brazil and Argentina have become huge on just Hilux sales alone. Added to this is another big win and that is that our quality out of the Prospecton plant in Durban is absolutely world class. I mean we’re experiencing zero faults on the Fortuner range in all markets – and that says it all. The local content and assistance from the Department of Trade and Industry has been shifted a number of times. It has

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been a game changer in some ways, merely as the vehicles become more complex to do with increased electronics. How will we shape up going forwards into local manufacture of these units? I must say, in a manner we have pioneered a way forwards at Toyota with over 70% of vehicles being made locally. Importantly, we have attracted many of our key providers to establish local production centres for just-in-time track side supply in Prospecton. There remains a big deal of scope to develop this further and I am very pleased that the government have a renewed strength of purpose to pursue production initiatives even further in the motor manufacturing business. For Toyota South Africa on a global scale the manufacturing plant would need to become a one or two model production facility to become more competitive. Will that be the fate for South Africa in the Toyota world? What we are seeing globally right now is that manufacturing facilities and assembly lines in the foreseeable future will move to become much more flexible in the way that they produce, wherever these facilities are for Toyota. We have always been able to adapt to new situations that occur in model demands and the vital role that the latest logistics play in all this has eased our production line forecasting for local production needs. With both the United Kingdom and Europe now occupying much of your

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main concerns, how do you cope with all the international travelling that comes with the job? At present I spend a great deal of each month between the UK plant in Derby and in the Toyota European headquarters in Brussels. That is a lot of flying time. With that in mind, I am usually able to go to see the Boks play at my favourite rugby ground, Twickenham in the UK. You have to be true to your roots and part of mine has always been rugby a sport which I enjoy in my spare time. Finally, I understand that even today you still like to collect and refurbish some key cars and motorcycles that you have owned, is this correct? Yes that is so true. You can bet on one thing though, one day when time permits I will be able to spend more time down in the garage doing what I like doing best – tinkering around with my collection of vehicles that are waiting my return to the spannering side of life. But right now, I am caught up in the huge world of Toyota achievements, so it will have to wait a little while longer while the other side of my life remains so dominant.

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Dr J o h an v a n Zy l r e ma i ns k e en ly inter ested in his own vehic les and bikes. Her e he is seen sitting o n a r acing machine fr om the 1960’s. It is fitted with mag nesium wheels and his comment was, “How on ear th d o they r ace these things that ar e so cr amp ed ?”

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TRADE EVENTS

Suzuki went all out with the Moto GP r ace b ike flown in for their br and enthusaists to tak e in.

SA BIKE FESTIVAL The chance to ride over 30 new motorcycles at the all-new Kyalami Grand Prix track drew in over 24 000 visitors.

Publisher Ian G ro at seen with Malcolm Go uld with their Rat Bike, BMW comb ination.

t’s hard to say if the 24 000 show goers to this inaugural SA Bike Festival came out to see all the new two-wheeled wizardry or just to take in the all-new Kyalami Grand Prix circuit in it’s refurbished glory. One thing is certain, though, no one ended up being disappointed over the three-day event. With co-advertising organised and powered by the Discovery Channel, the whole event became a petrolhead wonder with jampacked family fun for all attendees. Organisers were up on normal presentation standards with a battery of live music and a combination of all the latest models and track rides on their newest offerings from 16 motorcycle manufacturers. The Michelin Superbike school helped participating hopeful owners become familiar with their new road machinery. All the heavy hitters were out for this new adventure. BMW, Triumph, Suzuki, Yamaha, Victory and a host more were on hand with cutting edge sports bikes and tourers. A total of 74 new models parked out in the pit lane waiting for the bikers to hop on board, from learner machines to something really big for touring. Centered around this were 124 industry-related exhibitors pedalling their wares from new riding services, luggage holders, helmets, gloves and other items. Visitors were also spoilt for choice in the double storey show centre at the festival. With international wheelie champion, Julien “RazorBack” Welsch, and his team kicking up a big din with amazing freestyle riding tricks, backed up by Brian Cappa’s, who has a new pickup truck act. 46

Off-road riders were also able to create some dust with the BMW motor Enduro track action all weekend. Coupled with this a range of adventure ride outs to selected surrounding lands, helped by a team of specialist technical instructors to show exactly how capable the new bikes from Honda, Suzuki, Husqvarna, KTM, Yamaha and Triumph can handle the rough stuff. The custom bike show delivered a festival highlight exposition showing their passionate owners who breathe new life into machines of the past. Mario Kyprianides and his assistant judge, Keith Zeeman had a tough task awarding winners’ trophies. Speaking for the organisers, Nicole Muller of Clarion Events said their long-term ambition to establish and create a whole new awareness to a new target audience was achieved.This year was the largest ever bike expo put on in South Africa. She went on to say that they hoped this would encourage a whole new generation of young motorcycle enthusiasts to take up biking in a big way.

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1. Bikes for rides on the track came in all sizes. 2. Stephen Lurie and the Motul girls showed their huge range of lubricants. 3. With big noise ever present, the skilled demo teams were something to see. 4. KTM showed next yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s new products as a reveal. 5. The recently renovated Kylami circuit is now a worldclass facility to host any event. 6. Classic and custom machines proved to be a big part of the retro theme at the Festival. 7. The Zeeman demon is a race replica Suzuki 150cc look-a-like machine available to entry level riders. 5

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LOcAL UPDATE PROUDLY SA

PROUDLY SA - VW VOTED TOP GLOBAL PLANT

olkswagen Group South Africa's (VWSA) plant in Uitenhage has been recognised as the top manufacturing plant in the global VW production network in 2015. VWSA achieved the highest index score of 113.2% amongst 13 plants around the world. This was the first time that Uitenhage was rated as the top manufacturing plant since Beetle production started back in August 1951. The 13 global Volkswagen production plants are all measured on the same key performance indicators such as production volumes, production quality, costs per unit, units produced per employee, health and safety incidents and the factory’s improvements in reducing its carbon footprint. Raising the bar Key in VWSA achieving these results were the 120 000 Polos and Polo Vivos produced in 2015 at much better than budgeted cost levels. Another contributing factor was exceeding the 'Think Blue Factory' targets which were set in 2010 to reduce energy consumption, water usage, waste and emissions by 25%. By the end of 2015, VWSA had exceeded the target by 17.2%, achieving 42.2%. Of the 120 000 cars produced in 2015, over 66 000 Polos were exported to predominantly right hand drive markets such as the United Kingdom, Australia, Japan and Ireland. In addition, 113 000 engines were also produced, of which 81 000 were exported to markets such as India, China and Mexico.

WE ARE NOW DIGITAL Great news! All issues of Automotive Refinisher magazine are available for easy download on all iPads and Android tablets. Check out past editions on our website www.autoref.co.za or go to www.autoref.co.za/past-editions Get all your latest news on new products and equipment for your repair shop, as well as training info.

Uk NEWS

DOUBLE TROUBLE OPEL CORSA BEWARE

pel Corsa tops the list for combined write-offs and finance in a UK survey. Analysis conducted by My Car Check in the UK recently, listed their top 10 write-off vehicles and that the Corsa obtained three of the top five unwanted positions. The warnings are given mainly for double trouble problems for owners of mainly second hand vehicles on UK roads. “Almost half of all used vehicles (46%) have a warning against them, but many have more than one. Over the last year the Opel Corsa was most likely to have the two most common serious warnings, both write-off and finance. Used buyers should note that Corsa models took three of the top five unwanted positions, with BMW X5 D Sport Auto and 520d M Sport also prone to double trouble. “Even leaving the safety aspect aside, previous write-offs should cost a lot less than a like-for-like non-accident-damaged vehicle. If you buy a car with outstanding finance debt it could be repossessed by the legal owner, the loan provider, leaving you massively out of pocket. For the price of a few litres of fuel, we help consumers avoid such costly mistakes and give them confidence that they’re making the right decision.” My Car Check holds up to 77 fields of data for every vehicle on UK roads, all points that buyers should be aware of before making an offer.

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INDUSTRY NEWS FUTURE TEcH

GEARING UP FOR AUTONOMOUS DRIVING

utonomous driving will take a substantial step forward this year, according to analysis published by Frost & Sullivan in its report, Strategic Outlook of Global Autonomous Driving Market in 2016. It says that 80% of original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) hope to finalise their automation technology roadmap during 2016, which should pave the way for new business models in the automotive ecosystem. The report added that once the market established a conducive testing environment and develops improved sensing capabilities its focus will turn to augmenting data acquisition and validation capabilities. However, the industry is battling several technological challenges in its creation of the ideal sensing suite. Companies are striving to offer vision capabilities in multiple driving conditions at a reasonable price, but the current software and validation capabilities are not sufficient. Above all, the industry is in dire need of a favourable regulatory framework, and that framework needs to assist the growth of the global market rather than just the regional markets. “The participants that will enjoy success are not likely to be singular entities,” said Frost & Sullivan intelligent mobility research analyst, Arunprasad Nandakumar, “But those with the strongest partnerships and ecosystems. These companies are expected to boast a robust product and service portfolio that best address the needs of next-generation drivers.”

Meanwhile, Frost & Sullivan says another key impacter on the future of cars is artificial intelligence (AI) and digitalisation. It says that future cars will be cognitive. Not only will they recognise voices and be able to optimise the journey, they will also incorporate other AI technologies such as computer vision, machine learning, rules-based systems and planning and scheduling. This, as well as the impact of AI on society and our cities, will be debated at Frost & Sullivan’s Intelligent Mobility event taking place in London. Isabel Dedring, deputy mayor, transport at Greater London authority, will be a keynote speaker at the event exploring how policies have to change in order for cities to be able to adapt to these changes in an ideal way. Also speaking will be Julia Steyn, vice president, urban mobility programmes at General Motors, who will discuss GM’s concept of new urban mobility business models to target new customers. Sarwant Singh, Frost & Sullivan senior partner, said: “We are moving into an era where AI and digitisation in cars and transport will disrupt the future of the car and pave the way for new business models. Everything from vehicle design to ownership models and mobility services will be transformed. This an exciting change for the industry.”

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DRIVEN SUZUKI GL+

t first glance you will see how the new generation Vitara has had quite a make over, with its sharp angular lines updating it’s image to a more rugged handsome fella. Since the Vitara’s conception in 1988, the vehicle was aimed at the compact SUV markets and earned its respect amongst its peers thanks to its great build quality and off roading capability. Unfortunately our Vitara GL+ version didn’t come with the new AllGrip technology so we never got the chance to test its offroading ability. I understand with the AllGrip tech. you switch between four separate drving modes namely AUTO, SPORT, SNOW and LOCK to best suit the terrain and your Vitara senses and divides power between the front and rear axles accordingly to get you through. From the oustside, Vitara’s muscular stance flared side panels and a large chromed grille don’t dissapoint.The new two tone colours available in the range with blacked out roof and pillars really have brought a customised youthfulness to the version. Moving into the spacious interior the Vitara’s redesigned dashboard has coloured panels which brighten up the space nicely. The sound system is a MP3/WMA compatible CD player with Bluetooth/Hands-free connectivity, which is super driver friendly thanks to steering wheel controls with cruise control. With the new generation Vitara following in its predecessor’s tyre tracks with Suzuki’s cutting edge All-Grip off road technology and super comfy on road performance, there’s more competition in sports utility form. On delivery of the new Vitara you could be a bit concerned about the weight of the vehicle performing with the fairly modest

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by Jay Groat 1600cc engine, as the vehicle weighs in at just under 1800kgs. Had they taken it too far or were they a few fries short of a happy meal? Settling into the daily routine with the Suzuki Vitara it didnt take long to get to the conclusion that size doesn’t alway’s count, as this four cylinder proved how it punches way above its weight. It’s no secret that car-makers are shedding weight in every possible area to reach better consumption figures and allow for more connectivity and safety systems, and all the while still being competitive when it comes to pricing. It is easy to admire how Suzuki in its long history of car and bike manufacturing, manage to get what they do from this 1.6 litre. It’s not fast off the mark but dig a bit deeper into the rev counter you soon realise how great the engine is. With the 1.6 litre across the five-derivative range there are three specification levels to choose from (GL, GL+ and GLX) and a choice of two transmissions (fivespeed manual and six-speed auto), as well as either front-wheel or all-wheel drive. The Suzuki Vitara also comes crammed full of safety specifications with a 7 airbag setup achieving a 5-star EuroNCAP rating, giving you safety peace of mind. Also included across all models is the Anti-lock Brake System (ABS), Brake Assist System (BAS), Electronic Brake-force Distribution (EBD) and Electronic Stability Program (ESP). All in all a very impressive package when considering you have just about every creature comfort you’ll ever need on top of world class safety. Get out there and test drive one for yourself. Visit http://www.suzuki.co.za to find your nearest dealer.

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INTERNATIONAL NEWS GREEN cARS

GREEN CARS MOVE UP

espite a tumultuous year for the automotive industry, manufacturers have continued to offer exciting technology options for a growing vehicle market. The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) released its 19th annual comprehensive environmental ratings for vehicles. The following vehicles comprise the Greenest List for 2016: The Smart ForTwo Electric Drive tops the Greenest List for the third year in a row with an unprecedented Green Score of 63. Toyota’s Prius line performs exceedingly well once again, with the new Prius Eco nabbing the 4th spot, while the Prius C and original Prius claim spots #8 and #9. For the first time ever, the Greenest list is completely populated by plug-in and hybrid vehicles; not a single vehicle with only an internal combustion engine appears. This is partly due to the disappearance from the American market of a few of the longstanding entries on the Greenest List, including the Honda Civic Natural Gas. However, the conventional Smart ForTwo and Chevrolet Spark hover just below the Volkswagen Jetta Hybrid. “The 2016 scores are in, and plug-in electric vehicles are outpacing all other vehicle offerings in terms of environmental friendliness. Fortunately, the electricity sector is slated to become cleaner over the life of model year 2016 vehicles, thanks to the Clean Power Plan, and that has bumped up electric vehicles’ green scores this year. Nevertheless, it’s important to acknowledge that how green your electric vehicle truly is depends on the electricity it uses to charge,” said ACEEE lead vehicle analyst Shruti Vaidyanathan. The newest additions to the list are the Volkswagen eGolf and the Kia’s Soul electric vehicle, which claim the #5 and #7 spots respectively. This year marks the first time a Kia vehicle has earned a top spot since 2009. The improved 2016 Chevrolet Volt also nabs a spot this year (#11) thanks to significant increases in fuel economy and its new streamlined vehicle design. Once again this year, a diverse array of manufacturers are represented among the top 12 vehicles, including two American manufacturers. Modern clean diesels have repeatedly placed well in ACEEE’s annual rankings, only a few places away from the “Greenest” list. However, following the EPA announcement that Volkswagen has cheated federal emissions standards since 54

Chevro let Tr ax

2009 with the use of defeat devices, greenercars.org suspended its Green Scores for all affected VW, Audi, and Porsche diesel models. Greenercars.org identifies practical options in each class among the top widely available, automatic transmission, petroleum-fueled models, since many of the vehicles on the Greenest list are not widely available. The Greener Choices list includes trucks and SUVs, such as the Chevrolet Trax and the GMC Canyon. The gasoline-powered Chevrolet Spark and Honda Fit top their respective car classes. As the list demonstrates, consumers can make greener choices whatever their vehicle needs may be. Domestic manufacturers claimed five of the 12 Greener Choices spots: Greenercars.org provides the facts necessary to examine the ecoperformance of any 2016 model. The site assigns each vehicle a Green Score, a single measure that incorporates lifecycle

greenhouse gas and criteria pollutant emissions. Updates to this year’s methodology include new estimates of emissions from fuel sourcing, transportation, and distribution as well as Clean Power Plan adjustments to electricity emissions. In addition to highlighting the year’s Greenest, Meanest, Greener Choices, and best-in-class lists, the greenercars.org website features informative write-ups on model year 2016 highlights, a consumer primer on vehicles and the environment, and advice on how to buy green when shopping for a new car or truck. Green Scores of the 1,000+ configurations of all model year 2016 vehicles are available for free in the greenercars.org interactive database, along with each configuration’s fuel economy, health-related pollution impacts, and greenhouse gas emissions. Visitors to the database can also build custom lists for comparing vehicles.

Volks wagen e-Golf

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AR JULY- AUGUST 2016 NAT_NOV/DEC 2005 paganation 2016/07/06 2:03 PM Page 11

FUTURE TECH WHAT’S HOT?

SUBARU READIES NEW PLATFORM, AUTONOMOUS DRIVING GOALS

ubaru has unveiled a nextgeneration vehicle platform it says will improve safety and driving performance while keeping the small Japanese automaker competitive through to 2025. The new architecture will underpin all the brand’s nameplates beginning with the redesigned Impreza small car arriving in the second half of this year. The Subaru Global Platform is designed to accommodate gasoline drivetrains in addition to traditional hybrid, plug-in hybrid and all-electric systems. Details of the new technology were outlined recently by executives at the global headquar ters of Fuji Heavy Industries, Subaru’s parent company. The platform is a key pillar of Fuji Heavy’s plan to achieve worldwide sales of 1.1. million vehicles in the fiscal year ending March 2021. “Starting with the car coming out this year, we will advance to the next level, using the new Subaru Global Platform to provide Subaru with more safety and fun every year,” said Naoto Muto, executive vice president for global engineering. The new platform should be able to underpin Subaru vehicles through to 2025 with regular improvements, executives said. Autonomous Driving Subaru also outlined new targets for autonomous driving using the brand’s new camera-based eyesight safety system. Next year, Subaru will introduce a new traffic jam assist function. It will allow the car to start and stop automatically in slow

traffic and steer the car automatically around curves. Subaru’s current system requires the driver to manually re-engage acceleration once the car has come to a full stop. The existing technology also does not feature automatic steering. Traffic jam assist will work at speeds up to 55 km/h. Then by 2020, Subaru said it will introduce a semi-autonomous driving function for highway driving. That system will allow automated lane changing and automated steering around curves. it will combine radar sensors and GPS mapping with Eyesight. Fun, Efficient The new platform will not only make Subaru cars safer and more fun to drive, it will make their cars less costly to engineer, said Tetsuo Onuki, vice president of global engineering. That is because it will be possible to produce components for multiple models at one factory instead of over multiple factories. This will increase efficiency and allow Subaru to more flexibly shift production between factories in the United States and Japan to quickly adjust to changing demand. Subaru can focus its limited personnel and product development resources on variations of one platform instead of spreading them thinly across multiple

platforms. Finding new ways to boost efficiencies while improving its cars is key for Fuji Heavy in an era in which bigger rivals are increasingly able to leverage volume to slash costs. Subaru channelled savings into upgrading the performance of the new platform, Onuki said.The goal is to enhance the product without raising sticker prices, he said. He added that Subaru aimed to surpass European brands for ride and handling. Among the improvements: l Body rigidity improved 70% to 100% l Centre of gravity lowered for better handling l Collision impact absorption improved by 40% l Noise and vibration reduced by 15%. Upcoming Vehicles Subaru is the latest of several automakers to rollout commonised platforms. Toyota Motor Corporation just debuted its iteration, the Toyota New Global Architecture, in the redesigned four th-generation Prius hybrid. Nissan Motor Company launched its Common Module Family platform in 2013 in the Rogue crossover. Subaru plans to begin selling its first plug-in hybrid in 2018.

AR JULY- AUGUST 2016 NAT_NOV/DEC 2005 paganation 2016/07/06 2:03 PM Page 14

PRODUcT UPDATE WHAT’S HOT?

NEW CLASSIC JIGS FROM CELETTE SA

elette are re-introducing a new set of classic jigs to cover Porsche brands, specifically for classic body shop repair. The selling price of early Porsche models have gone through the roof on the global market and these precious early models need to be correctly refurbished if their value is to be held. Top repairer in KZN, Panelrite, in Pinetown were among the first South African repair centres to order the recently re-introduced classic jigs for Porsche. Gordon Webb, who manages the company, says that on a recent rebuild of an expensive and rare Carrera model, the Celette package produced a chassis that was arrow straight and all the door gaps were absolutely perfect. These re-introduced early model Porsche jigs work perfectly everytime for Panelrite.

ANNOUNcEMENT

3M AND FESTOOL, STRATEGIC COLLABORATION

M and TTS Tooltechnic Systems Ag & Company. KG announced a strategic collaboration to provide customers in the global automotive collision repair industry a new and comprehensive surface preparation and finishing system. As par t of the collaboration, 3M’s Automotive Aftermarket Division (AAD) will become the exclusive supplier of 3M and Festool Automotive Systems products in the automotive aftermarket. The new system is expected to launch in the U.S. and Canada later in 2016, with additional countries to be announced at a later date. “Our collaboration with Festool Automotive Systems combines 3M’s leadership in abrasives technologies and Festool’s premium power tools, dust extraction technologies and service to deliver customers an unparalleled solution

for complete dust extraction needs,” said Laurie Altman, vice president and general manager of 3M’s AAD. “With this agreement, customers in the automotive aftermarket will now have access to one of the most comprehensive portfolio offerings in the industry from one provider.” “We are proud to enter into this collaboration with 3M to offer a premium surface treatment system for body shops,” said Christian Oltzscher, chief sales officer, TTS Tooltechnic Systems AG & Company KG. “With the combined world-class portfolios of tools and abrasives, and the expertise and extensive distribution capabilities of 3M sales and service professionals, we will be able to serve customers in the automotive

aftermarket even better. Our goal is to make body shops more profitable.” 3M’s abrasives, including the new 3M Cubitron II Abrasives, will now be offered in conjunction with Festool Automotive Systems surface prep tools, dust extraction capabilities and services.

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AUTOMOTIVE R

EASICOAT YATU AD J-A 2016_Layout 1 2016/07/06 11:43 AM Page 1

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AR JULY- AUGUST 2016 NAT_NOV/DEC 2005 paganation 2016/07/06 2:03 PM Page 2

LATEST NEWS

DID YOU HEAR? by Roger McCleery

A Mach 1 For d Mustang fr om the late 1960s, just one o f the many gor geous car s that wer e seen at the Clas sic Car Show.

ddie Keizan, one of the founders of Tiger Wheel and Tyre who revolutionised the tyre retailing business, was also one of South Africa’s great all-round motor sportsmen during its Golden Years from the ’70s to the ’90s and owned an aircraft charter business, died of cancer on May 21. As a man who had a remarkable life, he will be deeply missed by all those who came in contact with him as will his wife Hilary and children, Natasha and Gary and the grandkids. You have got to hand it to the South African Motor Industry. Despite the tough economic times we find ourselves in, thanks in the main to policies and non-vision of our current Government, the motor industry still keeps bringing out new models, have exciting events and lots of activity amongst its ranks of 50-plus manufacturers all trying to sell cars in this country. If you see it launched overseas, there is no doubt you will see it here sometime in the near future. Not many countries in the world can boast the activities and the goings-on as we have here in our resilient motor industry that still keeps its head above water. Maybe we don’t do it on the scale of some of the bigger countries – and remember we are only 1% of the world’s motor market, but we still equal the lot of them as far as launches and shows go. Worldwide, things are looking good for the VW Group. Sales for the first quarter of 2016 – despite all the negative stories overseas – still top the charts. VW sold 2.5 million vehicles (up .8% over last year). Toyota, the biggest sellers in 2015 were down to .3% or 2.46 million vehicles; while GM was third 2.5% lower at 2.36 million units. There are plenty of reasons for this shift. Toyota in Japan suffered a huge fire at a major component supplier and the recent earthquakes impacted on everybody. Volkswagen is still the biggest passenger car seller here in South Africa – which they have been for a number of years. Since the Volkswagen UP was launched in February 2015 with three-doors, four new derivatives of this car have joined the scene with four doors. They will certainly add to the 3 550 units that UP has sold in this country so far in the A00 small car segment. These new models are powered with the same 1.0 litre engine pushing out 55kW. All have five-speed manual transmissions. Prices start at R156 300 and go up to R185 000, depending on the spec. Doing very well at the Jaguar-sponsored Simola Hill Climb in Knysna was the locally made Birkin two-seater sports car, based on the famous Lotus 7. Beautifully made, these Birkins are produced at 62

Prospecton in Durban (close to Toyota and the Autodraft Cobra Factory of Tony Martin’s. Kits are available at R66 500 to which you must add the engine and gearbox. The complete car comes in at R375 000 with a 1600cc motor. Toyota are having a brilliant year with the Toyota Gazoo South African racing team unbeaten so far in either rallying or Donaldson cross-country racing. In rallying the combination of Leeroy Poulter and Elvene Coetzee in their Toyota Yaris lead Giniel de Villiers and Carolyn Swan by just seconds. In off-road racing it is Leeroy Poulter with Rob Howie as navigator finishing ahead of Anthony Taylor in the Toyota Hilux models as seen in the ‘Dakar’. If you are into MotoGP racing how about the performance of our very own Brad Binder from Krugersdorp/Valencia who has taken his works KTM motorcycle to a hat-trick of wins in Jerez, France and Mugello in the Moto3 class. This is for 250cc singles with six-speed ’boxes and able to race at 250 km/h. Brad started the Spanish Grand Prix in 35th and last position and came through the field to take the lead with six laps to go and win by six seconds. Brilliant. At the time of going to press he leads the World Moto3 Grand Prix Championship by 47 points. It seems that everybody who normally watches Formula 1 racing is now adding MotoGP to their list and watching this exciting youngster. The Hyundai Motor Company has recruited the world renowned designer Sang Yup Lee, the former head of exterior and advanced design at Bentley to become their vice-president of styling in Korea. He wants to contribute to automobile designs for both Hyundai and the Genesis brand. The top designer of the Group is still Peter Schreyer. Lee has also worked on the Camaro at GM and the Corvette Stingray. He joined the VW Group in America as chief designer in charge of VW, Audi, Porsche and Lamborghini. Not a bad person to have in your team. 50 million vehicles sold since they started, Suzuki is now introducing a new little LCV called a Super Carry which will make its world debut in South Africa. The Carry, with a 750kg payload, is built to the normal quality and durability standards of every Suzuki. With a forward control cab, the unit retails for R130 000 with a 300 000km warranty. Not a bad deal. On two wheels comes a first in motorcycle warranties. Husqvarna have a six-month warranty on all their two-stroke and four-stroke Moto-X models. That’s confidence for you.

AUTOMOTIVE R

AR JULY- AUGUST 2016 NAT_NOV/DEC 2005 paganation 2016/07/07 12:10 PM Page 3

Listen to Roger McCleery every Tuesday on Radio Today (1485 AM) at 17h30 for everything about SA motoring.

Maybe you thought that Mahindra only made SUV’s and commercials of the four-wheeler type for sale. Wrong. Third in the world Moto3 Championships in Grand Prix racing are Mahindra motorcycles racing right up there with the best that Honda and KTM can offer. Always with a reputation for making high quality big grip tyres are Continental. Their latest Continental Sport Contact 6 was uncanny at its launch at Zwartkops. Fitted to the two high performance Mercedes these tyres would not let go on a sodden skid-pan or on the circuit. There just seemed to be no limit to their grip. Actually a different Sport Contact is made separately for each manufacturer of high performance cars. This is to maximise the performance of the cars with tyres that suit their characteristics. Wheel sizes come from 19-inch to 23-inch. The tyres are rated to 350 km/h continuous. Continental’s vision is to try and achieve in the not too distant future accident-free motoring, certainly from a tyre point of view, anyway. The motor industry is not just about selling cars. Volkswagen has given two support vehicles and fuel to a LWAZI Research boat for use in conservation at Dwyer Island in Gansbaai. This is where the marine big five live such as African penguins, Great Whites, seals, dolphins and whales, plus a myriad of sea birds. Volkswagen are leaders in the field of customer care in South Africa, according to the latest IPSOS report on sales and service experience of customers. The most successful designer of Formula 1 cars in history, South African Rory Byrne was in Cape Town recently to support a charity evening run by his sister, Bronwen for the people of Hout Bay. He gave a large audience insights stories on who he had worked with from team owners to technical directors and to many drivers, including Ayrton Senna, Michael Schumacher, Derek Warwick, Teo Fabi, Martin Brundle and a host of South Africans suc as Kenny Gray, Rad Dougal and Trevor van Rooyen – some of the people he had worked with over the years. Seven Formula 1 Constructors’ and Drivers’ Championships plus a myriad of Formula Fords FF2000 Super Vee and other titles have come his way since he started his career in England in the late sixties. Rory has been at Ferrari for the last 19 years and spends his days in his 72nd year split 50/50 between Thailand and Maranello. Great Wall Motor Company of China is to distribute Haval Motors products, a wholly owned subsidiary of Great Wall from now on. GWM want to maintain their position as the most successful Chinese manufacturer in South Africa. The Ford Mustang in right hand form has made a great hit here in South Africa. The waiting list is growing. Sales are averaging out at 100 units per month. It is 52 years since this icon was first launched in the UK in left hand drive form. In 2015 Mustang sold 145 000 units around the world. The Ford GT with a few wins chalked behind this impressive new design, took on the best at Le Mans this year. Numbers of the three Ford cars were 66, 67 and 68 to celebrate the three years that they won at Le Mans. Naturally, a class win for 2016 was duly awarded. The Classic Car Show, in association with Rolling Thunder, resumed the battle of the mid-size V8 icons on the first weekend of July in Gauteng. Once again it was a petrolhead’s delight with so many muscle cars to be seen, as well as many so-called pony-cars. The Corvette Owners Club of South africa hosted their Concours d’ Elegance and there was an auction of sports cars and clean pre-owned cars added to the mix at this year’s show.

AUTOMOTIVE R

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PYRMO_Layout 1 2015/10/28 11:14 AM Page 1

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AR J-A CLAIRE 2016_NOV/DEC 2005 paganation 2016/07/06 2:09 PM Page 17

PRODUCT NEWS WHATâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S HOT?

HURRICANE UPGRADE THE GP 100 SPRAYBOOTH

he GP 100 remains one of the best value for money spraybooths on the South African market. Silver Falcon have now moved to add value to this booth with a host of new options such as a glass front viewing door and increased lighting with LED lights in the roof and side walls. This delivers amazing lux lighting levels. The booth is powered by a 5.5 kW electric motor which has both inlet induction fans and exhaust fans. Stuart Mackie says that as a value proposition the GP 100 booth ticks all the right boxes on price. It remains at approximately R232 500 to purchase and many options are available, for example drive-in and out doors, above floor mounting designs, as well as pit floor packages. It has a full seven metre standard size spray cabin that meets and exceeds all motor manufacturer approval programmes. This unit was recently installed at another Sparkling Auto Care Centreâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s franchise shop, located at the new Mall of Africa on level

three of the parkade. Sparkling Auto Care Centres offers a complete range of auto body repair and car wash services: e.g. auto detailing, dent and paint repair, polishing, mag wheel repair, etc. The company was founded in 1992 and rolled out the franchise opportunities in 2006; since then the company has expanded nationally and internationally; currently 10 outlets in full operation with further upcoming outlets during the latter part of 2016 and beyond. The latest outlet located at Menlyn Retail Park in Pretoria is set to have an output of 10-12 cars per day through the auto body repair section and 150-200 cars per day through the car wash and auto detailing sections. Mackie says that the speedy installation by Silver Falcon Hurricane assisted the Sparkling Auto Care Centres outlets in being operational in record time. For more information on the Silver Falcon range of spray booths call 083 628 2288 or visit www.hurricaneauto.co.za

The upgraded GP100 booth features large panel glass viewing doors. The interior LED lighting is simply superb.

Silver Falcon say these simple control panels hold up well in daily use.

Sparkling Auto Care Centres have seen rapid expansion since the franchise started in 2006 with the Mall of Africa location now in operation. Call 086 199 6622 for franchise information.

AUTOMOTIVE REFINISHER

AR J-A CLAIRE 2016_NOV/DEC 2005 paganation 2016/07/07 11:56 AM Page 18

INDUSTRY UPDATE BUSINESS SENSE

IF you caN’t MEasurE It, you caN’t MaNagE It

ou can't manage what you can't measure' is an old management adage that remains applicable to this day. As your collision repair business grows, management often find themselves under significant pressure from many directions, with new financial demands being but one area of critical focus. This pressure, along with the absence of information that allows critical business decisions to be made, can often be crippling for a business financially. Faced with issues such as growing turnover and maintaining sustainable profit margins, an owner-operator certainly does have his hands full, and being able to access experienced financial executives of the highest calibre, who can assist in this regard, always remains a real business challenge with these services usually only obtainable at high cost. With that in mind, where a more streamlined, results driven set of company results are demanded, the deployment of key parttime interim financial executives is a trend that makes sound business sense. A new initiative for overall financial company wellness has recently been launched by The Financial Team. Grant Robson, managing director of the company says, “Our service model is one that works across many industries and particularly well within the collision repair industry. We feel that there is an opportunity to assist top-end, ambitious owner-operators who need on-going financial assistance.” The Finance Team consists of a team of graduate professionals who are available to assist owner-operators. Their seasoned and experienced chartered accountants are able to offer a part timeor interim solution, ranging from one day to five days a week, to provide your business with a cost efficient financial management solution at a fraction of the cost of a full time resource. Long term industry specialist, Seth Luntz, who has recently been engaged as an associate of The Finance Team and has close to 20 years experience in the supply of specialist supplies to the collision repair industry, went on to say: “We don’t ask for exorbitant upfront placement fees but alternatively charge an affordable allinclusive hourly rate for our services. This solution also comes with no lengthy contractual conditions. Our high-end business

Seth Luntz (left) and Grant Robson are two of the team members of The Finance Team. They specialise in optimising your business resources.

consultancy specialises in delivering accurate cash flow and financial information that bankers demand in the face of loan attainment or overdraft management situations. We would like to develop our clients in the collision repair industry by providing them with a dedicated resource that customers can learn to trust by delivering value through the experience and technical abilities possessed by our professionals,” Luntz concluded. If you would like to obtain more information on The Finance Team, call 0861 007 917 or visit them on www.financeteam.co.za, or email info@thefinanceteam.co.za

US NEWS

BMW FINED

MW will pay a a $10 million fine and another $10 million worth of compliance procedures for failing to correct a MINI crash deficiency. The company, which said it addressed the issue but allegedly didn’t, will owe another $20 million if it doesn’t comply with this consent order, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). In 2014, the NTHSA noticed that sideimpact moving deformable barrier tests at eight km/h above the federal standard could be harmful to the spine of a child riding in the back of a 2014 MINI two-door hardtop Cooper. BMW said that the MINI Cooper should have been tested at the same weight of a Cooper S, and recalled certain 2014 Coopers to add a “small foam patch” in the rear door panels and 2014-15 Coopers to state a higher weight, according to the 66

NHTSA. Under the NHTSA Consent Order, BMW admits it failed to recall the MINI Coopers within five days of learning the 2014 and 2015 models weren’t up to snuff for side-impact crash protection. “It also acknowledges additional violations discovered in NHTSA’s investigation. “For the second time in three years, BMW has been penalised for failing to meet that obligation. The company must take this opportunity to reform its procedures and its culture to put safety where it belongs: at the top of its priority list.” BMW must hire an independent safety consultant to determine how best to comply with federal law and, intriguingly, try a pilot programme to see if data analytics can find defect trends, as well as figuring out how to keep dealerships from selling recalled cars.

The case is interesting from a collision repair perspective because it speaks directly to a vehicle’s crashworthiness as well as the threat of a recalled crash part or vehicle continuing to circulate in the system. It also shows the difference a seemingly minor change, a little extra padding and an extra eight km/h can have on how well an occupant fares, a good argument for following OEM procedures to the letter on your end.

AUTOMOTIVE R E F I N I S H E R

MAROUNS AD M-A 2016_NOV/DEC 2005 paganation 2016/03/16 11:21 AM Page 1

new rapid bolt on repair area l e-glass curtain with ttv red eye protection l self assembly with aluminium rails l free standing work area l available in two sizes

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AR J-A JAY 2016_NOV/DEC 2005 paganation 2016/07/06 12:28 PM Page 5

VERMONT SALES EFFICIENCY IS KEY

VERMONT SALES GREEN EXPANSION

n the previous issue of Automotive Refinisher we covered the Johannesburg customer open day for Vermont Sales. We learned that the company was in the process of moving their operation to its new head office and warehousing facility, right next door. Here is a follow up story on their new state-of-the-art and eco-friendly facility. Thanks to excellent year on year growth since the company’s inception in 1985, Vermont Sales found themselves outgrowing their previous premises very quickly. Plans and designs began in 2012 and were set for a future growth that the company is enjoying and more. After a long search for space to build their new home, it was surprising to find that they could acquire the property next door to their old warehouse in order to build. Construction of their new warehouse began in 2015. It was completed within the year and in record time. They now have everything they always dreamed of in their new home. The new building is not only bigger and better but has also been built with a more sustainable and eco-friendly aspect in mind. Speaking to Ryan Hunt, CEO of Vermont Sales, he said, “We needed more space and better systems of circulation for company growth, which is why we made this investment for the future. What our previous premises lacked in space and systems efficiency we now have going forward. “Every system in our upgraded greener facility operates seamlessly in each department thanks to a well thought out workflow plan and by grouping related processes. We were able to do this as we built from scratch and designed our systems and process needs into the building. Everything from bulk storage, picking and dispatch is now in its right place and this makes for a very happy team. We couldn’t ask for more,” added Hunt. 68

Another more interesting part of design in the warehousing facility is its attention to the environment. Utilising the latest sustainable technologies throughout the building the company are now recovering up to 50% of it’s running costs. Some of the systems put in place were double insulated windows to keep heat in during the winter months and heat out during the hot summers. This lack of temperature fluctuation has helped keep energy costs down. Rain water and light harvesting units have been installed throughout the facility and they have also made a significant difference. Light harvesting, as its name suggests, ensures that the entire warehouse operates via given natural light. Small light harvesters in the roof concentrate natural light into pockets of bright light which almost look like halogen lamps in the ceiling. This helps keep running costs to a minimum as there is little need for electricity, unless it’s a cloudy day. The Lux lights are triggered to switch on if the light level is too low, but in a country that enjoys so much sunshine, it’s an obvious choice. Rain water is harvested from their enormous warehouse roof and stored in tanks which then supplies clean water to either flush toilets or water the company gardens. “We still have a few more plans in the pipeline which will eventually take us off the grid completely, but for now we are excited about the current performance figures that we are finding from this eco-friendly environment we have made.” Hunt concluded. By just addressing these three issues a company could stand to save a lot of running costs on a month to month basis – something to certainly think about and implement. The new home for Vermont Sales, thanks to its fresh design has boosted company moral and increased efficiency by ensuring faster delivery times. This will maintain the growth of the company for a very long time to come.

AUTOMOTIVE R E F I N I S H E R

AR J-A JAY 2016_NOV/DEC 2005 paganation 2016/07/06 12:28 PM Page 6

by Jay Groat

1. The new warehousing facility with light harvesters in the roof concentrating natural light instead of using electricity. 2. Main reception is very inviting with their pledge wall to a greener more sustainable Vermont Sales. 3. Pickers picking customers orders to be boxed and shipped off. 4. Despatch and deliveries area. 5. One of the many on-site sales team members answering calls in their spacious call centre. 6. The practical training area inside their new training centre.

4 5

AUTOMOTIVE R E F I N I S H E R

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AR JULY- AUGUST 2016 NAT_NOV/DEC 2005 paganation 2016/07/06 2:04 PM Page 25

TEcHNIcAL UPDATE

by Andrew Hooker

FUTURE TEcH

LIVING IN A MATERIAL WORLD

very company has a culture of some sort, and develops its own sense of the right and wrong way to do things. Car makers are no different. The core team of engineering leadership directors and managers find an engineering style which works for them, and new engineers adapt to this way of working. These strategies evolve and adapt as new vehicle development sometimes demands a radical new solution, or perhaps a brilliant new engineer brings a new idea that can be tried, tested and adopted. In addition, there are external influences. Perhaps a competitor takes a technological lead that needs to be matched or, more likely, a key supplier offers a new product or process that is cost-effective in developing the product. Currently, new vehicle engineers are being offered an awesome array of materials to consider working with. Composite materials, including glass fibre and carbon fibre are still expensive in their raw form, but automated production processes such as robot tape laying and resin injection are significantly reducing production times, which in turn lower the cost of each part. There is a tipping-point where a material is or is not economical enough to use in volume, and that tippingpoint for composites is within the grasp of many vehicle manufacturers. That the material can be recycled is an attractive additional benefit. Many manufacturers are already deciding their composite strategy; whether to employ them structurally, for components within the drivetrain, or for a cosmetic finish. The applications for aluminium, both in sheet format and as a casting, are increasing rapidly. As well as its relative light weight, it is a material that engineers find consistent in its crash impact deformation, making it predictable for crash safety structures. Aluminium castings for key nodes such as the shock absorber mounts produce a stiff, rigid body for greater dynamic performance. Also, as Jaguar has shown with the new F-Type, new processes have 70

resulted in sharper creases being pressed into the panels, making this very attractive to the car engineer who has to produce a car to match the aggressive lines conceived by “the designer’s pencil”. Audi has chosen to use aluminium for the body of the new TT, even though the chassis underneath is steel-based. Mercedes has done the same with the C Class. Both have found that, whilst a good solution for overall weight reduction, having the relatively lighter material on top has resulted in a lowering of the centre of gravity, producing a car that handles better. But the steel industry is far from resting on its laurels. New advanced steels are coming onto the market, and there are higher grades of Ultra High Strength Steel (UHSS) making for stronger and stronger structures. All three of these material groups are expensive, and all have challenges in production. The cost of composites and aluminium are often cited as a limiting factor, but that is now the only drawback. Aluminium is often used for expensive prestige cars, but some of these can have a long service life and the engineers need to consider repair and replacement strategies that are suitable for the material when it is much older and its proper ties have changed. Composites, essentially a material sandwich, can have a tendency to delaminate and repair options so far are limited. For composite applications such as suspension leaf springs, or even coil springs, the in-service life needs to be considered; what temperature ranges are they exposed to around the world, and what level of road debris will they be subjected to? Realistically, repair must also be considered. Whilst most car body shops are used to steel, the joining parameters for welding the new generation of steels can be a challenge on the production line, let alone in an aftermarket workshop. Adaptive welding, with every weld controlled by computers, is reassuring but expensive and therefore largely just an option for a car

plant. So, how do we know what process to apply for a damaged car with a stack of advanced UHSS panels to join? In repair we do not have access to the computer aided engineering packages that can tell us how much a par ticular joint between two different materials will flex and the load on that joint. Let’s be honest, none of us can look at a panel with no external information and accurately guess what specific material and grade it is, much less see the material that is behind it. Perhaps a few years ago, and we all remember it, we could apply the same procedures to any panel, safe in the knowledge we are doing the right thing. But those days have gone. Even at Thatcham’s famous research centre we have to firstly identify the materials, then the joining processes used, and often why these were used, before we can consider and assess the best method to reinstate the panel and car body. We do this because of the benefit of working alongside many of the vehicle manufacturers, and the steel and aluminum suppliers, among others. It’s not guesswork, it can’t be, as getting it wrong on a modern car could seriously compromise the structure. We put in the hard research work and testing so we can always crash test a car to validate our work, so you don’t have to. You haven’t got the time, and probably cannot easily get access to the data from every car manufacturer.You don’t have to, we’ve done it already so that the repairer can confidently and efficiently carry out a safe, quality, correct repair. Car repair isn’t easy, and it hasn’t been for a long time. With the development of new plastics, new steels, new laser welding processes, and new fasteners and adhesives, it is certainly not going to get any easier. But we know that good crash repairers who use the correct training, the correct tools and equipment, and the correct specific repair information, can continue repairing safely for their customers, both the insurer and the man on the street.

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NEWS FROM THE ZOO - by Roger Houghton

SA CONSIDERED SECOND BEST EMERGING MARKET

outh Africa is considered the second most important emerging market in the world after Thailand, according to KPMG’s recently-released Global Automotive Executive Survey. This is despite SA’s slowing economy, political upheaval and the potential for further labour unrest as negotiations over working conditions draw nearer. This is a boost for one of the country’s key manufacturing industries when the whole economy that was in the shadow of possible downgrading to junk status by international ratings companies. Other countries seen as the automotive world’s other important emerging markets were Indonesia, Turkey and Argentina. China and Germany were top of the list as the most attractive first world countries in which motor companies will invest in the future, with quite a bit of support for India. The 2016 KPMG survey is the result of analysing input from 800 automotive executives from 38 countries on a wide variety of topics. Seventeen executives from South African companies took part in the survey. This is four times more executives than surveyed previously. For the first time in the history of this important survey 2 123 customers from around the world – of all ages and educational backgrounds – were also interviewed to provide KPMG researchers with insights, perspectives and opinions. The survey took place between July and November 2015 so the perceived effects of the Volkswagen Group’s diesel emissions cheating scandal was probably factored in by many of the respondents, as ‘Dieselgate’ was blown open on September 18. KPMG South Africa’s comprehensive media briefing held in the company’s offices in Johannesburg recently provided in-depth information not only on the international automotive scene: it also had a strong South African focus, delivered by Gavin Maile, the local Automotive Sector Leader. The facts and figures certainly provided plenty of food for thought as the local industry faces another strong downturn in sales. The vagaries of the economy of SA, together with the high tension political environment and the volatility of the Rand, are making things difficult for planners in the overall business world. Those in the motor industry are also having to deal with huge cost pressures which are resulting in ongoing retail price rises and thereby putting an added dampener on new vehicle sales. It was interesting to see in the KPMG survey the forecasts from various sources for vehicle sales in SA in 2016. The general consensus is that the figures will be lower than 2015, but the amount of decline varies. WesBank is the most pessimistic with a forecast of a 12% decline in the total vehicle market, while KPMG predicts a fall of 10% and the Innovation Group a drop in the total market of between 8-10%. The Imperial Group sees a drop of between 5%-10%, while Econometrix forecasts the same range for the drop in car sales only. NAAMSA’s current forecast is for a total market of 555 500 vehicles in 2016 compared to 617 749 units in 2015, a drop of 10%. NAAMSA’s forecasts for the various sectors are: 367 000 cars, 160 000 LCVs and 28 500 MCVs and heavy trucks and buses. The KPMG international survey showed that there has been a big swing in the priorities of global automotive executives over the past 72

Gavin Maile, who is responsible for the Automotive Industry sector at KPMG, and presented the annual Global Automotive Executive Survey 2016. year. Maile explained that “connectivity and digitalisation” is now the most important trend for the motor industry until 2025, displacing “market growth in emerging markets” as the top priority. The latter subject has dropped to fourth. Just over half the respondents – 50.1% – rated “connectivity and digitalisation” as “extremely important” and this support lifted it from 10th spot in the 2015 survey to top spot now. The number two priority in 2016 is “hybrid electric vehicles” and it runs “connectivity” a very close second with support from 49.5% of the executives. The second-placed priority in 2015 was “downsizing and optimisation of the internal combustion engine”. It has taken an even bigger drop in the eyes of the executives, falling to 10th spot. Third on the 2016 priority list is “battery electric mobility”, which shot up from ninth place in 2015. Third place on the list of priorities in 2015 had been “platform strategies and modular production systems” which is now down in eighth position. It is interesting to note that the South African executives interviewed also rated “connectivity and digitalisation” as number one, considering SA is more an emerging market than a First World environment. In fact the local executives' first three priorities were the same as the overall list, but they dropped “market growth in emerging markets" to sixth place, with “downsized internal combustion engine” and "fuel cell electric vehicles" in fourth and fifth positions respectively. BMW, which is currently celebrating its centenary as a vehicle manufacturer, is seen as a ground-breaking innovator and technology leader, well ahead of the rest of the field. A surprise is that the Toyota Group is rated a clear number two in this aspect of the automotive business. This is a big change for a company that is generally seen as somewhat conservative. However, Toyota’s long-running success as a maker of hybrid vehicles has obviously proved vital in this opinion switch as is the fact that it is one of the first companies to market a hydrogen fuel cell car, with the Mirai, already available in selected markets. The Toyota Group also comes out top when executives answer the question “Who will succeed in the marketplace in the next five years?” Fifty-eight percent of the executives surveyed believe Toyota will fare best, but the current world number one is chased hard by BMW (57%) and Volkswagen Group (56%). Next up are Hyundai, Ford, Honda, General Motors Renault-Nissan, Mitsubishi and Suzuki. • If you would like to read the full KPMG report and have the opportunity to use an interactive online tool to drill down into the report go to: www.kpmg.com/GAES2016

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PRODUCT PROFILE WHAT’S HOT?

SATACLEAN RCS - A “MUST” FOR EVERY PAINT SHOP

pray gun cleaning is an unpopular task amongst painters although keeping your spray gun clean is the best thing you can do for your next paint job, and with the price of spray guns constantly climbing, keeping them in an excellent operating condition is more important than ever. Gone are the days of pouring a bottle of cheap thinners into a spray gun, sloshing it around, and with the trigger pulled back flushing it again several times while spraying it into the shop. Often spray guns are even “soaked” in thinners over night. Big mistake. By doing that the air and fluid passages become clogged with paint residue. The resulting residue grows little by little until the air passages become plugged. The spray quality of the gun becomes compromised and must be repaired or replaced for a significant sum of money. Your shop needs a spray gun cleaning system that doesn’t only clean your spray gun thoroughly, but also saves you money and protects your gun, and the environment. The SATA clean RCS is a cleaning system for intermediate spray gun cleaning operated with compressed air. It optimises the painting process and thus increases the profitability of the body shop. The installation of SATA clean RCS in the spraybooth allows one or more successive colour changes with extremely short cleaning intervals by avoiding unnecessary, additional trips in and out of the booth. l The closed cleaning system for manual paint spray guns is VOC compliant l It provides thorough cleaning of all of the material passages of the paint spray gun l It has a low solvent consumption - only 0.1 litre pure cleaning solvent per gun - due to two separate cleaning solvent containers one for the washing, and one for the rinsing cycle l Contains a cart for the easy refilling of the containers i.e. for replacing the cleaning agent l There is a replaceable filter inside the washing container which keeps the coarse residue from the washing process out of the cleaning fluid containers l The high performance, durable, low-wear double diaphragm pump assures the long life span of the gun washer l Brush with cleaning fluid feed for manual pre-cleaning of gun and cup; a pedal activates the flow of the cleaning fluid towards the brush The SATA Clean RCS Spray Gun Cleaning Systems are available from Bulldog Abrasives Southern Africa (Pty) Ltd. Contact their sales team on +27 (0)11 786 5991 or on sales@bulldogabrasives.co.za, and request for a representative to come and show you the benefits of these incredible cleaning systems. You won’t regret it.

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SPRAYING UPDATE PRODUcT PROFILE

DEVILBISS NEW PRIMER GUN

TW DeVilbiss have recently developed a new gravity feed specialised gun using their latest advanced technology high efficiency air cap designs. It is suitable for all types of primers, either high build solvent borne types or the latest generation water based materials The spray gun can be ordered with up to five different kit derivatives from 1.4 mm up to 2.5 mm air caps and fluid tips. The PR10 will easily spray polyester sprayfillers which are very viscous, standard fillers or surfacers. To avoid any chance of operator fatigue, the new design utilises a new air valve for smooth triggering application control. It also has an ergonomic gun body. The gun held in the hand exhibits a much improved fit and feel. The greatly increased large spray patterns makes the spray gun operate with a

Seen recently at Tunzi Automotive in Durban from left to right are Bernie Davenport, Tunzi Automotive, Adrian Perry from ITW DeVilbiss UK and Mark Weatherill from Tunzi Automotive with the new primer spraygun. fast and easy application. To beef up the durability, the whole gun is now a drop forged body and looks impressive with a new Prolite PRI. It is manufactured to the latest quality standards and also carried full

configuration approvals from the world’s top 26 refinish companies who trade in global markets. You can get more information on the PR10 by visiting www.devilbiss.com

WHAT’S HOT?

NEW KAROCLE STARBASE BASECOAT

uto Korea, the leading auto paint makers who market Karocle, have recently introduced the full range of Starbase basecoats into South Africa. Having completed a pilot marketing assessment to prove that their expanded range meets South African body shop demands, Ted Kim, managing director for specialised refinishing products says that Starbase products are fully approved by both Hyundai and Kia car manufacturers in Korea. The new basecoat has an extensive range of toners with over 80 toners which cover the full 70 000 formulations that Starbase and the 2K Solid range of Karocle cover on global automotive colours. The colour tools on offer also include a colour Profi Chip Box which includes over 4 000 hand sprayed-out colour chips on the world’s most popular shades. Karocle is actively looking for local distribution on the new range of Korean paints manufactured in Korea by Karocle. They have a very professional offer for any body shop paint retailer. It covers the full colour spectrum including xyrillics, flip flop

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The Starbase colour box contains 4000 of the world’s most popular colours plus derivative shades on offer from car makers. pearl and special effect pearl shades that are increasingly being demanded in the market place. The basecoat range is backed up by a full range of medium solid and high solid clears and hardeners in the Starbase range of high performance wet look clearcoats. Karocle is

manufactured to the best quality standards available by Samhwa Paint industries in Korea. To get more information on the Starbase range you can call Ted Kim on +27 (71) 567 0190 or visit www.karocle.com 75

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ISLE OF MAN TT RACES 2016

ISLE OF MAN

TT 2016 RACES RACES

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Story by Ian Groat

ecords tumble in the two-week road racing bonanza with record crowds packing the mountain course.

Practice Held all week long in the preceding week of TT racing on the Isle of Man, arguably the seminal home of motorcycle road racing, the evening sessions threw out record lap times of 132,803 mph posted by Ian Hutchinson on his BMW Superstock machine and comfortably inside the record pace of Michael Dunlop on another BMW Hawk Racing machine. The evening sessions, thankfully, were held in glorious mist free conditions. This enabled some competitors to get more practice in than the previous 10 events allowed. Among the fastest newcomers were Seamus Elliot and Alessandro Polita. The sidecar race was also bordering on record pace with John Holden and Andy Winkle topping the leaderboard at 115, 349 mph. Spectators were ever present in the pageant type event that the TT races have developed into. It now draws a global audience of visitors and with live streaming broadcasts on the internet, it’s sort of morphed into the most amazing week of bike racing held anywhere on the planet.

Ian Hutchinson set the early pace in the Superbike qualifying - recording a 131mp/h lap from a standing start and breaking the beam at the Sulby speedtrap in excess of 196mp/h. AUTOMOTIVE R E F I N I S H E R

TT Superbike Race Saturday’s big race was a thriller for the entire six-lap race. Dunlop shattered the lap record in the process, posting a 133,369 mp/h and breaking the 17-minute lap record. Staggeringly, Dunlop’s full race time also blitzed that of John McGuinness. Dunlop reflected on his many podium positions by saying that the bike built for BMW Hawk must have come from the smallest workshop even seen in Ireland. Ian Hutchinson romped home in second place, It was the start of a phenomenal week of success for the Bingley Bullet. ‘Hutchy’ was followed home by John McGuinness who celebrated his 45th podium finish in TT racing. Keith Hickman also sealed his best even finish in fourth spot on the Honda Fire Blade – but all race long just seconds split the timing on the front runners with Dean Harrison taking his Silicone Kawasaki Quantum Superstock two-leg race. ‘Hutchy’ did the double in the express stock class. These races are run over four laps. He broke the lap record from a standing start with an astonishing speed of 133,098 mph lap in the race opener. Dunlop was out with gearbox woes, so ‘Hutchy’ was comfortably ahead of the dingdong battle between Harrison and James Hillier’s Kawasaki racers. Winning by such a large margin, ‘Hutchy’ announced he just loved riding the BMW stock machine in the second leg. Monster Energy Supersport Event The Monster Energy 600cc Supersport two-leg four-lapper turned into another two-man battle between Hutchinson and Dunlop. After all the hard work, Dunlop’s home run was excluded after finishing 77

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Ian Hutchinson on the back wheel of a Tyco BMW Superstock bike.

second to Hutchinson’s Yamaha R6. The technical infringement brought Harrison to runner-up spot with Hillier in third place. Dunlop had been found to be using coated cam buckets that were not allowed. It was supplied by Marr Train Racing and had been installed in a spare engine. Dunlop apologised profusely for this oversight. In the second race, however, Hutchinson once again got his head down with another stellar ride to equal 14 TT wins. The same total as the acclaimed Mike Hailwood had achieved in hs lifetime. It was yet another totally dominated performance on a Yamaha, and his fourth win in a row by 17 seconds over Dunlop. With Harrison romping home in third to round out a very successful TT week on Kawasaki machinery. Sidecar Races John Holden and Andrew Winkle took their total to two wins in Saturday’s leg but the race was to prove a dramatic one due to a fatal sidecar crash red-flagging the three-lap race. On the second lap at Cullen

the podium places went to Peter and Allen Faulds and Jevan Walmsley and Fin Aki Aalto. Race favourites Dave Molinar did not start and the Birchell Brothers also retired. In the second exciting leg the threewheel combination race delivered a fourth win for the ultra-fast Birchell Brothers, Ben and Tom. The overall win was a sweet one by some 38,78 seconds ahead of overall sidecar champions Holden and Winkle. Molineaux wrecked his motor with tangled valves, putting them out on a poor week for them at the TT. Tim Reeves and Patrick Ferance came home in third spot to fill the podium places. TT Zero Race Bruce Anstey won the ‘silent’ electric bike race with only five finishers claiming his 11th TT victory. Anstey who rode the experimental Mugon Honda machine in this one-lap race overtook race favourite and fastest in-practice teammate, McGuinness at Ballacraine. His machine was strickened with electrical problems which were

eventually traced to a faulty kill switch. McGuinness took fourth spot overall. Running well in second place was William Dunlop on the Victory US Machine, but eventually Bruce Anstey was too strong for the opposition and Daley Mathison took third pace on the experimental racer from the University of Nottingham. A big danger is the seagulls that are always present, and can’t hear these machines coming until the splat at 180 km/h takes place – which also unhinges the rider – to say the least. Benetts Lightweight Twin-cylinder based 650cc racers dominated this class and winning for the second year in a row was Ivan Lintin from Hillier’s Kawasaki by some 12.4 seconds over the four-lap dash. These two were comfortably quicker. Eventually third place rider Dave Moffat, all three on Kawasaki bikes, but the best sounding machine was that of Italian Carlo Benetti’s incredible Paton. A machine that dominated the 70’s golden era. The week’s races continued in

Michael Dunlo p o n the back wheel of MDRacing BMW Sup er sto ck machine at Ballacraine.

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John McGuinness making it look easy.

glorious spring sunshine – once the early morning mists had cleared. PokerStar Senior TT race, 6 laps This race has always been billed as the celebrated race in its 108 years of running. It is the one to win for Senior TT racers. It is also a full test of rider and machine endurance with two pit stops to refuel. Plenty can go wrong. Dunlop from Ballymoney was in no mood to loose this one and see his arch rival McGuinness take victory. Once he could do that he knew on corrected time that he was leading the race. With McGuinness, Bruce Anstey, Connor Cumins, Michael Rutter and 10 more top competitors – it was always going to be anyone’s race by lap. By lap three, half distance, Dunlop was up on Hutchinson by some 16 seconds and McGuinness. Some 27 seconds behind the two leaders, scrapping it out on the road was a dynamic clash between Dean Harrison, Rutter and Manxman, Connor Cummins.

The leaderboard chopped and changed all race long. Refuelling, MacGuinness jumped them all by a seven-second lead with a superquick stop to cement third spot. Going into the final lap it was a fired up Dunlop on a Hawk Racing machine holding on to a slender 14-second cushion upon Hutchy, with veteran champion McGuinness’s Honda some 35 seconds adrift. All three leaders were by now circulating together for the last lap, way ahead in a masterclass of riding this difficult race. The terrific week ended with a race with a total of a 31.476-second lead for Dunlop domination on the 1000 cc BMW Hawk racing machine. His 13th TT win in a record race time for the Pokerstars Senior race. His comment at the prize giving was that he was happy to make amends to his sponsors for a troubled week, while the massive crowds all around the circuit enjoyed the best racing for a number of years. ‘Hutchy’ enjoyed a great week on the Tyco BMW and McGuinness came through

the race to scoop third with a combination of stunning pit stops and a great tow around from ‘Hutchy’. Summary The 10th running of the TT races were absolutely scintillating to see and enjoyed by all who came to look at the greatest road racing show on earth. With machines now hurtling down the Selby straight at over 320 km/h there is little or no room for rider error and this year over 10 deaths were seen on the island. 50-year-old Paul Showsmith, who owned his own race team, Ice Valley, was among the fatalities. The danger of competing in the TT races was brought home to many and the question on many people’s lips is: “have these powerful machines outgrown the narrow roads of the Isle of Man”? Today the race is still quite simply man against machine against the clock, but there doesn’t seem to be any shortage of brave hearts to compete any time soon. Amazing.

Senior TT winner Michael Dunlop shaking hands with 2nd place John McGuinness (left) and Ian Hutchinson in the winners' enclosure.

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INTERNATIONAL NEWS RESEARcH

JAGUAR LAND ROVER RESEARCH WILL HELP AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES DRIVE MORE HUMAN-LIKE

aguar-Land Rover is investing in a multi-million research project that will help future autonomous vehicles drive naturally like human drivers, rather than robots. A fleet of Jaguar and Land Rover vehicles will be driven daily by employees of the London Borough of Greenwich, to establish how a range of different drivers react to real-world driving situations, including heavy traffic, busy junctions, road works and bad weather. Data from sensors in these cars will reveal the natural driving behaviours and decision-making that drivers make whilst driving, including complex and stressful scenarios. These include giving way at roundabouts and intersections, how drivers ease forward at junctions to enter a flow of traffic, or how they react to an emergency vehicle coming up behind their car whilst in a traffic jam. The three-year £5.5 million MOVE-UK project, which is led by Bosch, will also use this data to help develop insurance policies for future autonomous cars. Insurance experts will provide their expertise on the liability of certain scenarios using the real-world driving data supplied by the fleet of test cars. Rt Hon Sajid Javid MP, Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills announced the UK Government’s support for the MOVE-UK research with a £2.75 million grant from the UK’s innovation agency, Innovate UK. This funding for collaborative research is part of the Government’s £100m Connected and Autonomous Vehicles Fund. Dr Wolfgang Epple, Director of Research and Technology, Jaguar Land Rover said “To successfully introduce autonomous cars, we actually need to focus more on the driver than ever before. Understanding how drivers react to a range of very dynamic and random situations in the real world is essential if we want drivers to embrace autonomous cars in the future.” “Customers will need to completely trust the vehicle before they opt-in and engage automated systems. If an autonomous car can be programmed to have a very similar reaction to a real driver, then the autonomous experience will be more natural, and the driver more likely to allow the car to take control. “Customers are much more likely to accept highly-automated and full autonomous vehicles if the car reacts in the same way as the driver. By understanding and measuring positive driving behaviours we can ensure that an autonomous Jaguar or Land Rover of the future will not simply perform a robotic function,” added Dr Epple. “Ultimately we want to be able to give drivers the choice of an engaged or autonomous drive. If drivers have confidence in the automation they will seamlessly flick from one mode to the other. Autonomous mode will help with any challenging, or less stimulating activities on the journey, like parking or driving in heavy traffic. If this automated experience feels natural and safe, the driver will be able to genuinely relax and will be happy to let the car take control.”

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KAROCLE AD M-J 2015_Layout 1 2015/05/18 10:59 AM Page 1

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INTERVIEW WITH VASILIS VASILEIADIS, HB BODY CEO

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“Over 90% of our production comes from export demand.”

B is a new name in the South African marketplace. The company already export to over 70 international markets. It is a family owned company that was founded way back in 1982, with the aim to produce quality products for the car refinishing trade. Automotive Refinisher took time out to talk with Vasilis Vasileiadis who heads up the HB activities as CEO. As a family owned company you have made major inroads into international markets while Greece seems to struggle right now. Why is this? Our global footprint of the HB brand system is based on a concept of only producing the very best quality in the various segments that we operate in. This, when combined with a great team spirit within the company, has driven our success dramatically. In recent years, it’s probably because we remain a small company and our ability to react quickly to ever changing market conditions has greatly increased our position. The world of car refinish is a huge one. Wherever you go it’s a vibrant industry and right now over 90% of our production is being driven by export demand. For us it is difficult to imagine just where HB Body will be in the next few years. We are now particularly pleased about the brand’s local acceptance in South Africa from Bulldog Abrasives, the sole importer for the HB Body range. When we look at available colours on the HB Body range you have already got 18 000 in the system. Can you give us some more insight into this? Our colour updates are coming from all over the planet and are based on accurate formula development. We offer a fast and easyto-use retrieval computer with our hand sprayed colour chips which have all been tried and tested in our own R&D laboratories. To reduce wasteful overmix problems that could occur, we have also now introduced the X Rite Colour Analyser and it’s delivering amazingly accurate colour matching. It has become a big advantage in our colour management in all markets. Gathering accurate colour samples has always been a major challenge for paint refinish companies. How do you manage this at HB Body? We’re seeing many different trends on a global basis with Japanese and Korean markets introducing many new pearl xyrillic special effect colours. The challenge for us is to keep up with this pace of change on new vehicle OEM colours that are now in demand; this, plus the many VOC compliant restrictions that operate in some countries. This makes the colour development side of our operation a demanding one right now HB Body have been certified for ISO 9001 quality standards since 1998. Has this guaranteed quality level helped sales internationally? To give a guarantee of quality is a vital part of our philosophy at HB Body. We have backed this with over a 21 million Euro investment to keep new equipment in production meeting critical quality standards. Spraypainters in all markets are the same. They want a product that excels every time, but also demand a value driven price for that performance. That’s where we fit in. Our price to performance levels are the best in the business. It’s a key part of our successful track record as a paint manufacturer with over 30 years of success under our belt. How important are your body fillers in terms of turnover to the group? This company was founded on fillers and good quality primers. This unique start has always seen a major focus on foundation products. Our wet-on-wet primer performance is class leading as too are the Solids formulations. These are the back bone of any successful refinish package. So what is the future for HB Body, your subsidiaries as well as the markets you operate in right now? The sheer drive and passion to succeed at HB Body has undoubtably contributed to our company becoming a force to be reckoned with in any world market. Right now we are painting mild steel substrates, carbon fibre and high strength steel and aluminium materials. If they make cars from reinforced paper, they will still need to paint them to look good. For us we are in good shape right now. With motivated staff, the latest production technology and our own label and tin manufacturing plant, whatever changes lie ahead in the future we are up for the challenge to continue this company’s advance and success in any repair market across the world. We are also attending many major trade shows like Automechanika, to understand our local importer expectations of the HB Body brand.

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Driven Fiat FULLBaCK

ollowing the world reveal at the “2015 Dubai International Motor Show”, the newest addition to the award winning Fiat Professional range was revealed at a specialised event held 100 metres below ground level. Backed by over a hundred years of history and an excellent reputation in the global LCV industry, the Fiat Professional brand is making another leap forward with the launch of Fullback, one that completes its current extensive range of products and services that are tailored to the needs of professional customers. The Fullback has sporty proportions with its forward extending cab and a reduced front overhang. The front has a definite touch of Italian style in line with the new stylistic mark of the brand. The sides have distinct ribs that streamline the body and the rear is well connected to the cab. The interiors reflect the functionality of a work vehicle as well as the comfort and elegance of a high range SUV. Perfectly in line with the best of the competition in terms of configuration, dimensions and engines, Fiat Professional’s new pickup in South Africa will be available with two engine options on the double cab - a 2.5-litre diesel with a power output from 100kW to 131kW, whilst the single cab comes standard with a 2.4-litre petrol engine that delivers 97kW. The petrol engine is provided with a five-speed manual gearbox, the diesel engine offer is aligned to the best competition and can be combined, according to each market’s offer, with a manual gearbox or automatic transmission, both with five speeds. At the time of launch the diesel engine will be available with a manual transmission.

Fullback is available in a 4x2 version (rear-wheel drive) in the single and double cab, as well as in a 4x4 version (all-wheel drive) in the double cab; the latter will certainly be the one most appreciated by those who, for work reasons, need to reach areas that are far away from asphalted roads or drive down tough offroad trails, with part time 4x4 manual selection and rear differential lockers (e-locker). The Fullback range consists of three model derivatives as mentioned earlier, the single cab 2.4 Petrol (97kW) 4x2 comes standard with the following: 2wd High rider, power windows, manual air conditioning, central power locking, 16” steel wheels, cloth seats, ABS with EBD and the rear load bin is rubberised. The Double cab 2.5 Diesel (100kW) 4x2 SX comes standard with Elocker rear axle, leather trim, cruise control, power windows front and rear, manual air conditioner, driver and passenger airbags, ABS with EBD, audio controls on steering wheel, 17” alloy wheels, tow bar and rubberised load bin. The flagship Double cab 2.5 Diesel (131kW) 4x4 LX comes standard with part time 4WD, E-locker Rear Axle, 17” alloy wheels, Bi Xenon headlights, leather trim, cruise control, Bluetooth and USB, rear view camera, driver and passenger airbags, ABS with EBD, keyless entry (remote), audio controls on steering, tow bar and rubberised rear load bin. So as you can see there is nothing you are short of in your new Fullback pick-up, it’s capable of getting you through the toughest terrain.

AUTOMOTIVE R E F I N I S H E R

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INDUSTRY UPDATE REcALLS

VW TO SPEND BILLIONS ON DIESEL CARS IN THE US

mbattled automaker Volkswagen will spend $1-billion to buy back 600 000 diesel cars in the US that were fitted with an emissionscheating device. Volkswagen, the US government and private lawyers have reached a deal for the automaker to buy back some of the nearly 600 000 diesel cars that cheat on emissions tests and spend more than $1 billion to compensate owners. The “deal in principle” includes a maximum amount of spending, but the final details, like how much each owner would get, are still being worked out. Some owners would get a choice of having VW repair their cars or buy them back, but that would vary by model year and engine type. The deal likely is part of a bigger payment package from VW. It does not yet include plans on how to repair the cars, the person said. The cars can spew out harmful nitrogen oxide at 40 times the allowable limit. The agreement is likely to be announced soon during a federal court hearing in San Francisco. It will not include plans to fix the

cars. Those plans, and the cost of the fixes, are apparently still under negotiation. “They’ve agreed on a maximum amount of money, over $1 billion for compensation and how it’s allocated and distributed remains to be seen.” Owners won’t find out how their cars will be fixed, nor will they know exactly how much they will get in compensation. At the hearing, Senior District Court Judge Charles Breyer will also discuss a schedule for depositions and information exchange between all sides in this case. He could even set a trial date if he’s dissatisfied with the agreement. Representatives for VW, the lawyers and the government have all declined comment and that they would await until the hearing before speaking. Owners have filed dozens of lawsuits against VW after it acknowledged that it

INNOVATION

intentionally defeated emissions tests and put dirty vehicles on the road. The cheating allowed cars to pass laboratory emissions tests while polluting on real roads. VW has told its shareholders it had set aside $7.3-billion to help defray the potential costs of a recall or regulatory penalties. Breyer has told the lawyers to come up with repair and compensation plans before the hearing or face a trial. He wants to know the timing of any fixes and planned payments to owners. Lawyers for the owners have said that if there’s no deal, they want an expedited hearing or a trial before the judge gets an order for “equitable relief ”, alternately they want a full trial that would include punitive damages against VW in the same time frame. VW say that progress is being made toward a fix and compensation solution.

Cathode (Solid)

Anode (Mg Metal)

NEW TOYOTA BATTERY RESEARCH

he electrolyte has been the trouble spot for magnesiumbased batteries, but Toyota's researchers may have cracked that, paving the way towards their production. Engineers at the Toyota Research Institute of North America (TRINA) think they've found the secret to using magnesium in rechargeable batteries. This would replace lithium as a safer, more energy-dense option for batteries in everything from cell phones to cars. Magnesium has been considered a potential replacement for lithium in rechargeable batteries for some time. Lithium is not stable in air and can combust when exposed, so to make lithium-ion batteries safer, the ions are reduced and the lithium is embedded into graphite rods. This reduces the amount of metal (reducing density), which limits the amount of power the li-ion battery can store. To increase density, engineers have toyed with the mix of lithium and graphite and the shape of the cells, but the balance is tricky. Magnesium, on the other hand, is stable in the atmosphere and more potentially energy dense than lithium is in terms of storage.The trouble is, forming an electrolyte that doesn't degrade the magnesium while offering efficient transfer had proven difficult – until a chance discovery during research into hydrogen fuel cells changed that. Principal scientist and chemical engineer Rana Mohtadi of Toyota overheard colleagues discussing the challenges of developing a 86

Electrolyte (liquid)

magnesium-friendly electrolyte. She realised that the properties of the hydrogen storage material she'd been working with might be conducive to a magnesium-based battery. They formed a team and set to work to test it. The manager for Toyota's research group, Paul Fanson, attributes the discovery to the diversity of the research staff at TRINA and the collaborative nature of the facility's culture. The team has produced a paper outlining the discovery, which was published in the Angewandte Chemie International Edition. They hope that other researchers outside of Toyota can find use in the material and hasten the development of usable magnesium-based batteries. There is still some way to go before we'll be slotting magnesium batteries into our smartphones with the researchers estimating that it could be 20 years before these batteries go mainstream. The hope is that making the discovery public may help speed up that timeline.

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AR JULY- AUGUST 2016 NAT_NOV/DEC 2005 paganation 2016/07/06 2:03 PM Page 12

INTERNATIONAL NEWS WHAT’S HOT?

BASF CHINA ExPANSION

ASF has signed an agreement to acquire the assets for Guangdong Yinfan Chemistry Co Ltd in China. The acquisition allows BASF to establish a stronger coatings production footprint by gaining access to a state-of-the-art automotive refinish coatings plant in China.’ It will also enable BASF to broaden its automotive refinish portfolio in Asia Pacific by adding the Yinfan line of products to its global brands including Glasurit, R-M, Baslac and Norbin. “The acquisition underlines our strong commitment to growing our automotive coatings business and further investing in emerging markets,” said Markus Kamieth, president of BASF’s Coatings division. “With this acquisition, we will broaden our portfolio and gain access to a strong distribution network, which will strengthen our position in the fast-growing Chinese automotive aftermarket.” The closing is expected in the second half of 2016, subject to necessary regulatory, statutory and other approvals. Both parties have agreed not to disclose financial details of the transaction.

INSURANcE

LEADING INSURER TO PACK UP ITS UK MOTOR BUSINESS

llianz UK hopes to implement a phased withdrawal from the UK motor market this summer, putting 170 jobs at risk. If the withdrawal does go ahead, Allianz won’t accept any new direct home or motor insurance after 30 June and won’t invite renewals after 31 July. It has stressed though, that there will be no effect on home and motor or policies sold through brokers or on the company’s partnerships with motor manufacturers. Chief executive Jon Dye said: “Withdrawing from the direct home and motor markets is a difficult decision because of its potential implications for our people and we will work individually with them to try and find alternative roles within the business. “Despite significant investment in our direct business, the price sensitive and highly competitive market conditions mean we have not been able to achieve the scale of operation necessary. “This situation is unlikely to change within a time-scale we find acceptable so after careful consideration, withdrawing from this market is the best way forward for the business.” Instead, the company will create a new trading division combining commercial and personal lines, led by Simon McGinn, who is currently general manager of Allianz’s commercial business. Jon said, “A single trading division will help ensure we have a coordinated business strategy that delivers profitable growth across all products and channels. “It will drive best practice and achieve economies of scale in areas including marketing and distribution and brings us more closely in line with the structure that has underpinned the successs of the Allianz Group.”

AUTOMOTIVE R

A DVA N C E D T E C H N O L O G Y LASTING IMPRESSIONS

ExPRESS DELIVERY UNLIMITED SERVIcE SA Auto Paints have a solid 20 year history in body shop supplies. Our legendary service in Gauteng covers a full product range of foundation fillers and primers, superfast colour matching service and customer care that really counts for your business. We have a full fleet of express delivery vehicles on hand. Suppliers of: Auto Glass Lamps Motor Spares Bonnets Abrasives Fenders Spoilers Auto Paints We are stockists of Luxor Paints

Call Today

Tyrone Zackey +27 (0)11 673 9381 Patrica Farrell 082 901 1175 082 885 7301 Trevor Basson 079 632 1612 Visit: www.luxorpaints.co.za Mail: info@luxorpaints.co.za

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NEW PRODUCTS SMIRDEX SMOOTH EDGE FOAM MASKING TAPE This smooth edge foam masking tape is a simple way to mask your car and protect the interior. It reduces levels of hard paint edges. It comes in a dispensing box and is available in strips of five metres in length. It is for use on B and C apertures and is more absorbent. It also cleans removal adhesive. Call Automotive Paints for more information on their complete range of Smirdex on +27 (0)31 902 7666 or visit their website: www.automotivepaint.co.za

KAPCI COATINGS 6050 UHS ANTI-SCRATCH CLEARCOAT Kapci 6050 is a high solids anti-scratch clearcoat especially designed for application over waterborne basecoats. It offers a scratch resistant, highly durable, high gloss finish. Kapci 6050 gives optimal performance and final finish when baked. Kapci 6050 HS Anti-Scratch clear complies with the VOC limit in accordance to the EU legislation. Call them on +27 (0)11 834 1252 to find out more information.

MAKITA 18V CORDLESS ANGLE GRINDER WITH BRUSHLESS MOTOR

The Makita DGA454ZK cordless angle grinder is a powerful 115mm multi-application tool, delivering fast grinding with an impressive 8,500 r/min. Its compact slim body style weighs in at 2.5 kg and has a ergonomic shape with soft grip that fits like a glove, allowing for one-hand grinding and cutting. This model features a brushless DC motor, which generates less heat build-up and greater torque making it ideal for prolonged use in any application. For further information on your nearest Makita dealer contact Jean-Pierre du Plessis on +27 (0)11 878 2600 or visit our website www.makita.co.za or www.facebook.com/MakitaPowerToolsSA 88

AUTOMOTIVE R E F I N I S H E R

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HYPERTHERM POWERMAX30 AIRÂŽ Hypertherm, a manufacturer of plasma, laser and waterjet cutting systems, recently introduced the Powermax30ÂŽ AIR, a new portable air plasma system and internal compressor all in one. With the built in compressor and the ability to operate on both 120- or 240 volt lines, the Powermax30 AIR is a highly versatile system that enables metal cutting just about anywhere. Weighing only 13.5 kg the Powermax30 AIR provides 30 amps of output enabling a recommended cut capacity of 8 mm and a severance capacity of 16 mm. For more information on the Powermax30 AIR or the other products of the Powermax AIR family, please visit www.hypertherm.com

ANEST IWATA ENTECH LS400 HVLP

GYSLINER DENT PULLING WORKSTATIONS Gysliner is a complete dent pulling workstation, essential for repairing small, medium and big dents: for example a sill, wheelhouse, car mudguard, etc. l Remove dents without disassembling l Repair without replacing l Reduce the down-time l Increase margin l Improve profitability For all enquiries, please contact Aerocure on +27 (0)11 444 6454 or info@aerocure.co.za

AUTOMOTIVE R E F I N I S H E R

The new Entech LS400 represents the completion of the Supernova range of product. Entech LS400 offers a wide range of applications for waterbased coats to the professional user. Entech HVLP technology and pre-atomisation technology coupled together give users a very high comfort of application, a stable and large fan pattern, very high stability in droplet sizes and maximum savings. Call Anest Iwata to find out more about the Entech LS400 and other products in their range on +27 (0)11 463 2169. 89

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NEW PRODUCTS HB BODY 699 SR PROLINE CLEAR COAT HB Body 699 SR Proline is a 2K HS acrylic transparent Clear Coat. Its high gloss retention, excellent levelling and fast hardening properties, make this Clear Coat suitable for spot panel and full automotive repairs. It can be used with a combination of BODY 720 / 722 / 727 / 721 Hardener in a 2:1 ratio. Due to its superior coverage and levelling, this product is a far more economical product than most conventional clear coats. HB Body’s full range of products are available from their sole distributor in Sub-Saharan Africa, Bulldog Abrasives. Contact their sales team on +27 (0) 11 786 5991 or on sales@bulldogabrasives.co.za, for more information on this exciting range of paint products.

SNAP-ON PROTECT YOUR HANDS Beat the elements this winter. Impact glove features a wind resistant nylon shell with C40 3M®Thinsulate®insulation to trap warm air and help regulate your body temperature. l Touch screen compatible l 5mm EVA knuckle padding combined with Impact Guard™ on the index finger l AX™ Double Connect touchscreen compatible thumb and index finger l Hook and loop closure with Ariaprene®wrist panel for comfort and flexibility l Triple layer palm construction l Micro brushed tricot lining l Water repellent shell, machine washable You can find out more about this product by contacting their Snap-on dealers or account manager, or by contacting customer service on 0861 762 766, emailing: enquiries@snapon.co.za or visit www.snapon.co.za

HITACHI SANDER POLISHER FROM BOLT & ENGINEERING

Bolt & Engineering Distributors Group who are distributors of Hitachi Power Tools are very pleased to announce the introduction of the new Hitachi HTC-SP18VA Sander Polisher 180mm 1250W Electronic Control. With power input of 1250W and maximum power output of 2560W for sanding and polishing, constant speed control. Soft start and overload protection. Two ways of changing speed with trigger and dial. Durable bearing design. You can get more information by calling 082 909 0987 or earle@bolteng.co.za 90

AUTOMOTIVE R E F I N I S H E R

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ATOMIC COATINGS LIGHT WEIGHT BODY FILLER FROM DYKOR PAINTS ATOMIC is a super lightweight body filler for professional car body repair. ATOMIC has been formulated by South Africaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s leading Body Filler Manufacturer using the latest International resin and extender combination. The product allows super smooth and easy spreading application. It is very easy to sand to fine feather edge even if left for several hours. ATOMIC will adhere to a variety of substrates and can be used under all conventional paint systems. For more information on this product contact your nearest Dykor Paints branch or visit www.dykorpaints.co.za

PRESTA ULTRA 2 STEPÂŽ CUTTING COMPOUND

TEROSON EP 5055 STRUCTURAL BONDING ADHESIVE TEROSON EP 5055 is a two-component high-strength epoxy-based structural bonding adhesive with excellent corrosion protection properties for bonding metal (coated and uncoated) e.g. steel, aluminium or sheet moulding compounds. It is ideal for roof and panel bonding. The product exhibits excellent corrosion prevention and spot-weldable properties. It is necessary to use an application tool with piston rod. For more information on this product you can call Henkel on +27 (0)11 617 2400, email: ag.marketing@henkel.com or visit their website: www.loctite.co.za

AUTOMOTIVE R E F I N I S H E R

Presta's Ultra 2 Step Buffing System was designed to simplify the buffing process, saving you time and money while delivering unparalleled results. This advanced system features waterbased products that contain no waxes, fillers or silicones. Start with the advanced Ultra 2 Step Cutting Compound to remove 1200 grit and finer sand scratches from both new and aged paint. The Ultra 2 Step Compound has been designed to work effectively with both wool and foam pads and over a wide range of buffing speeds. Complete the process by following with Ultra 2 Step Finishing Polish. For more information on the Presta 2 Step Buffing System as well as a demonstration and a process chart on how to get the best out of the system, contact Bulldog Abrasives sales team on +27 (0)11 786 5991 or on sales@bulldogabrasives.co.za

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INTERNATIONAL NEWS JAPANESE NEWS

MITSUBISHI ADMITS FUEL RIGGING EFFICIENCY TESTS

apanese automaker Mitsubishi admitted it manipulated pollution data in more than 600 000 vehicles, after reports of misconduct sent its Tokyo-listed shares plummeting earlier. "We found that with respect to the fuel consumption testing data, the company, conducted testing improperly to present better fuel consumption rates than the actual rates," it said in a statement released as it started a press briefing in Tokyo. The embarrassing revelation comes in the wake of a massive pollution-cheating scandal at Volkswagen that erupted in September, 2015 and which the German giant is still struggling to overcome. It also marks the latest blow for Japan Inc. after auto parts giant Takata was hammered by an exploding air bag defect blamed for at least 11 deaths, and as Toshiba tries to recover from a huge accounting scandal. Mitsubishi said it would halt production and sales of the affected vehicle models, mini-cars sold in Japan, and warned that the number of affected vehicles would likely rise. The maker of the Outlander sport utility vehicle also said it would investigate cars it sold overseas. "The company conducted testing improperly to present better fuel consumption rates than the actual rates," Mitsubishi president Tetsuro Aikawa told a Tokyo news briefing. He added that the test was "different" from one required by

Japanese law, and warned that the automaker's bottom line would take a hit. "This is not a simple problem and we need time to assess the impact," Mitsubishi's top executive said. "But I'm sure there will be an impact. "We've always thought that the VW (Volkswagen) emissions scandal would rumble on and now it looks like the dodginess is not confined to the German carmaker," said Joe Rundle, head of trading at London-based ETX Capital. "Mitsubishi's bombshell that it's been falsifying fuel-economy tests calls into question whether we have a much larger industry-wide scandal on our hands." The rigged figures were discovered after Nissan found inconsistencies in fuel-economy data and reported it. Japan's number-two automaker said it would halt sales of the affected cars. "Today, we have no plans to change our relationship," it added, referring to its production outsourcing to Mitsubishi. Mitsubishi sold more than a million vehicles at home and overseas in its latest fiscal year. "Taking into account the

seriousness of these issues, we will also conduct an investigation into products manufactured for overseas markets," the carmaker said in a statement. Volkswagen has been hammered by a global scandal that erupted when it emerged that it had installed emissions-cheating software in 11 million diesel engines worldwide. The costs of the scandal are still incalculable but are expected to run into several billions of dollars as a result of fines and lawsuits. South Korean automakers Hyundai and Kia in 2014 agreed to pay $100 million to settle a US government investigation into exaggerated fuel efficiency on 2012 and 2013 car models sold in the United States.

DENT PRO-PORTABLE DENT PULLER

Call us on

076 142 7263 082 452 6631 www.panelprotech.co.za

Tel: 011 425 4062 Franz: 082 463 6284 Email: info@specialheat.com 1 Madeley Street, Rynfield, Benoni 92

Supercure Spraybooth Rail System

Procure Mobile Infra-Red

Hotbox Colour Matching Dryer With Timer AUTOMOTIVE R E F I N I S H E R

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WHAT’S HOT? JOBS, EQUIPMENT, SERVICES AND MUCH MORE

TEKNIKLOTH® A Tekniklean Product

WIPES AWAY SURFACE CONTAMINATION Teknikloth®- high-tech lint free surface cleaners are an absolute must for all paint shops. They provide less wastage and linting than other systems of preparation. Suitable for use on both water based and solvent based systems.

Photo supplied by Primo Panel and Paint Pinetown

Unique properties include: n Lint Free n n No scratched or damaged paintwork n n Does not break up in any known solvent

Strong wet strength Excellent absorption

We have been supplying the industry for the past 18 years.

NEW DISTRIBUTORS WELCOME. Call 031 579 3688 for your nearest distributor.

Email: sales@tekniklean.co.za or joanne@tekniklean.co.za

AUTOMOTIVE R E F I N I S H E R

DON’ T FEEL LEFT OUT? ADVERTISE ADVERTISE AND BUILD BUILD YOUR YOUR BRAND. BRAND. The voice of the collision repair industry for over 30 years

CALL US +27 (0)11 949 4091 EMAIL US autoref@iafrica.com

AUTOMOTIVE R E F I N I S H E R

AR JULY- AUGUST 2016 NAT_NOV/DEC 2005 paganation 2016/07/06 2:04 PM Page 26

AFRIcAN PANORAMA - AND THE WINNER IS...

tanding on the other side of the office desk with a couple of smiles that would take plastic surgery to remove, were the paint shop team of Michael and Moses who powered up the repair spray shop team. They quickly blurted out that of 15 000 contestants to win a trip to Germany, their names had been drawn as the outright winners to visit a major refinish company and enjoy a slap-up reception from the top executives in a week long visit to Frankfurt later in the year. It was all quite unbelievable and so the deal was set to take place some six months later. But as usual, disappointment raised its ugly head when the show organisers slid into voluntary liquidation and took all the hotel reservations and expenses with them, except for the pre-booked flights. So the team turned to the luckless Boss for help. In a moment of stupidity the Boss said he wasn’t going to let that stop them from enjoying the trip of a lifetime and promised he would accompany them and even donate a 1000 Euro’s each for them to spend and realise the dream of an overseas travel trip for the very first time. The Boss had a plan to arrive early and take in the huge exhibition and meet the young hopefuls on the stand in Germany where the paint company were present. Moses was only 22 years old and Michael, also fairly unworldly at 26, and both from small town Riverleigh. Their only interest in the main was in body building and consuming loads of steroids to bulk up their body frames to Adonislike levels of attraction to catch the local good looking ladies. When they eventually arrived, bleery-eyed from the overnight flight the introductions were done and they enjoyed the privileged day in a big way.They munched through lunch like a couple of starved dogs and by 2 pm Michael told the Boss they were worn out from the flight and would call it a day for some rest back at the Railway Hotel in downtown Frankfurt. The Boss agreed, but quickly told them not to get involved with too many strangers in the area as the local underworld firm of the mafia were in full charge of the red light district where the hotel was situated. That night, returning to the hotel, the Boss inquired from the hotel 90

manager if he had seen the two lads “No” was the reply but they were probably at the “Love for Sale” hotel over the road. When the pair of bedraggled visitors finally showed up, late for dinner, it appeared that they had done a perfect money disappearing act with the whole ground floor of ladies from Bulgaria, Slovenia and the rest of Europe. Donating over 500 Euros on pleasure for another brain that lurked somewhere down in their underwear. The Boss had warned them of doing business with ladies of the night whose sole purpose was to denude their wallets on the way to the pleasuredome, but it was quickly forgotten. That evening the Boss went with them for a tour of the red light district to make sure that they didn’t blow the rest of their money on frivolous sexual fantasies but they were on their first visit overseas. In a way they were almost uncontrollable venturing into dingy, poorly lit emporiums who only deal in porn and glasses of expensive champagne. After about six or more beers the party were stood outside of Arnold’s Club, boys only, at two a.m. in the morning and Michael was shouting the fact that he wanted to dance and they were from Johannesburg. The huge bouncer dressed in liederhosen black leather gear told them to ‘disappear’ and go to bed, as transexuals were not allowed inside the club at any time. The next day the Boss gave them the balance of the money for the week and told them to be much more judicious about living it up in Europe. They would have to keep enough money to make it back to the airport, as he had to return home and leave them to it in Germany. Well you can guess the rest. Later that week they met two more ‘working girls’ and blew the rest of their pocket money on wine, women and song, so much so that another visiting South African mate of the Boss had to chaperone them to the airport as their funds were non existent. For them it was a trip of a lifetime but the boss wasn’t a big winner on that week of foreign travel with his favourite spray painters. Michael and Moses had hit the red light district in Frankfurt in a big way and donated every last cent they possessed to the system. Oh it is so nice to be young and brainless!

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COLLISION REPAIR ASSOCIATION 2_Layout 1 2015/05/15 11:49 AM Page 1

Enjoy the recognition you deserve.

We thank you for providing us with the opportunity to introduce our dynamic service offerings and present to you a vision for simplicity, success and sustainability. The CRA has evolved as an organisation with passion, understanding and the will to provide results to our esteemed members from the basis of being a voice to the auto body collision industry. We employ consultants and are associated with people suitably qualified in all aspects of collision repair and related business management skills with high integrity and willing to offer their support to ensuring the success of your facilities. Our objectives are issues the proactive body shop owner does not really have the time to concentrate on to ensure the optimisation of their business. The constant changes in the law, support in compliance with statutory requirements, relationship mentoring with government and insurers on selection criteria with regards to financial allowances on mark-up and labour rates as well as aiding consumer choice on service expectation. Further hereto our aim is to provide technical support and training on advancements in collision repair techniques and new equipment investment advice. To date the CRA has achieved significant change with benefits and are on the road to create market awareness which in the short term will emulate consumer appreciation not previously evident in our local market. Our mission will ensure via procedural compliance that our forum will enforce a code of conduct that covers consumer protection, work force motivation and job security and ultimately peace of mind to business owners on secure, and beneficial return on investment. We have also concluded annual inflationary labour rate increases with a major insurer

including labour rate allowances above the rate which individual repairers would normally be able to achieve independently and thus extended as a financial benefit to approved members. This will be protracted via further meetings to almost all the other major insurers in the short term. As with any Association annual membership fees are payable to cover administration costs and our membership is based on grading status. Further hereto our membership is extended to equipment and service related suppliers whom have a similar vision of business ethic. These include at present paint suppliers, a BEEE accreditation agency, an authorised health and safety compliance consultant, quoting and business management software suppliers and high end workshop equipment suppliers. This will also result in better service, support and preferential rates on association. We provide an on-line E Procure business data profile of members to support recognition for independent role players in every area of activity in the collision repair industry. The platform will provide assistance to work providers and consumers with accident damaged vehicles to make educated decisions in allowing the most professional repairer the opportunity of refurbishment within acceptable time frames and in line with warranty reinstatement protocols. In conclusion we trust you can see the benefit of belonging to our Association and look forward to the synergy we can create by our providing valued service and more importantly ensuring your enthusiasm and input is shared with other members at organised events of our approved panel. JOIN THE CRA AND GET THE RECOGNITION YOU DESERVE!

T he

benchmar k

quality

Call us on 0861 726 272 or Visit www.crasa.org.za

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