SATURDAY, 24 OCTOBER, 2015
Wired inspiration Zamazulu pupil shows his Zulu’ngenuity in apprentice competition MADLALA Khulekani from Zamazu lu Secondary School in greater Eden dale is one of seven Grade 12 pupils from across South Africa who made it to the finals of the Jaguar Land Rov er Apprentice Competition 2015, to be held on October 30. The competition formed part of Jaguar’s third annual Apprenticeship Roadshow and challenged pupils who study Maths and Science to cre ate a propelled vehicle using recycla ble materials. If Khulekani’s design is judged to show the most creativity, motiva tion, innovation and engineering in sight, he will win R10 000 as well as R20 000 for his school. The roadshow had Jaguar Land Rover visiting over 10 000 pupils at 75 schools in South Africa and forms part of its commitment to addressing the shortage of technical skills in the country. Each roadshow exposes high school pupils to career opportunities in the motor industry, with local deal ers on hand to encourage pupils to apply for the Jaguar Land Rover Ap prentice Programme. The roadshows focus on rural and township schools to give equal opportunities to pupils
Madlala Khulekani from Zamazulu Secondary School in Edendale is one of seven pupils in SA who reached the finals in the Jaguar Land Rover Apprentice Competition with this propelled model made from recyclable materials, including the surfboard on the Landy’s roof. PHOTO: SUPPLIED in these areas. “Right now the industry is not de livering the technical skills required by the marketplace, in terms of ca pacity,” says Brian Hastie, Network Director of JLR SA and SSA. “We’ve
embarked on this journey to meet the immediate need for highly qualified individuals who can be deployed across our dealer network.” Interested students can visit their local Jaguar or Land Rover dealership
to apply for the Apprenticeship Pro gramme. — WR. • Interested pupils can also apply online for the Apprenticeship Pro gramme on jagapprentice.co.za or www.lrapprentice.co.za.
Why the Ferrari and Elio shares ring a Joule bell ALWYN VILJOEN TWO carmakers are selling bits of themselves in the U.S., but both in vestments look a lot like that shortcut that takes you to the dry cleaners. Fiat Chrysler, which owns 90% of Ferrari, started selling 10% of this stake on the New York Stock Ex change on Wednesday. Stock analysts described the trade not as buying into a car builder, but into a luxury brand. Demand nevertheless quickly out stripped supply, keeping the price at the higher end of $48 to $52 (R645 to R700) range. Fiat is keeping the share hot by limiting supply to 10%. Eventually, however, Fiat plans to sell off its entire 80% stake in Ferrari (with Piero Ferrari keeping the re maining 10%). The laws of supply and demand dictate this will lead to a price slump, which is why analyst Martin Tilier ad vises investors to wait for the slump, rather than pay top dollar now. Tilier’s best advice, however, is to invest in Fiat Chrysler, which pro vides better prospects than Ferrari. In Detroit meanwhile Ferrari is not the only rarely spotted car to pimp itself to shareholders. Elio Motors has for the past two years been touring America to tout ownership — both of its enclosed trikes and the company — to all com ers. For the trikes, Elio Motors is of fering four levels of “expressions of interest” in its trike, starting at a $100 “Iwantin” level; and going up to a $1 000 “Iamallin” stake. Individuals can also reserve inter est for an equity stake in Elio Motors, which its founder Paul Elio compares
Paul Elio (left) has big dreams for his sleek trike in the U.S, which will be all the more credible when he actually puts Elio trikes on roads, like Scoot did this week in San Francisco with Nissan’s electric quad. PHOTOS: SUPPLIED to Tesla Motors during its “cheap” days as a startup. Elio recently explained his mission to change the future of America’s commute during a TEDex Detroit talk. He said he plans to build the trikes in an mothballed GM plant in Shreve port, Louisiana, giving jobs to 1 500 Americans in the factory and as again many in downstream manufacturing. The company has also signed an agreement with autoservicing fran chiser Pep Boys to have future Elios repaired in cities across the U.S. To date, over 45 000 people have “solidified their place in American au tomotive history” by reserving a stake in an Elio trike.
Practising what Elio preaches In San Francisco, another city trans port visionary, Michael Keating and his team of treehuggers this week an swered riders’ demand for small cars by rolling out Nissan’s little tandem “quads”. Ten of these twoseater electric cars will join Keating’s 400 electric scooters that already provide rental rides from designated garages all over the Bay area as part of the Scoot Net work. Keating compares electric bikes to healthy salads; electric scooters to smoothies; and cars to steaks. On this scale Nissan’s little electric car qualifies as biltong — not quite as healthy for the city, and its com muters as a saladbike, but not as
much overkill as a steakcar. Keating and his team are already practising which Paul Elio preaches and in comparing Keating’s quiet Scoot quad rollout to Elio’s ongoing marketing since 2013, this observer was reminded of the Joule electric car. South Africa’s taxpayers paid over R300 million to see just one running Joule built between 2009 and 2012, and that using offtheshelf technolo gy. Despite also constantly announc ing its plans with almost as much fan fare as does Elio Motors, the Joule company closed down in 2012, claim ing lack of funding. Here’s hoping all those Elio fans are not being led down the same Joule path. • alwyn.viljoen@witness.co.za
GREEN Car Journal this week named the Hyundai Sonata midsize sedan, including the Sonata Eco, Sonata Hybrid and Sonata Plug in Hybrid, as a finalist in the 2016 Green Car of the Year award in the United States. PHOTO: QUICKPIC
TOYOTA RECALL OVER HOT WINDOW SWITCH TOYOTA is fixing 60 709 cars sold in 2012 that may have a powerwindow glitch that present ed a fire risk. Toyota SA said 75% of these vehicles have already received “service action” at Toyota deal ers in SA. The recall is an extension of a 2012 special service campaign action that involves 6,5 mil lion vehicles globally. The affected models are: • Auris (manufactured from 2006 to 2008) • Corolla (2006 to 2010) • Yaris (2006 to 2010) • RAV4 (2006 to 2010) Toyota said: “The remedial action involves in specting the window switch board and applying heatresistant grease to the switch to ensure smooth operation. If necessary, the switch board is also replaced. “At this stage it is not yet clear how many additional South African vehicles will be affect ed by the current international recall action. “Toyota South Africa Motors will make this information available as soon as confirmation of the potentially affected vehicles is received,” the company said in a statement. — WR.
• Optional - Two-year/unlimited km warranty • 80-point mechanical check • Terms and conditions apply. E & OE • Ownership guaranteed • 7-day exchange plan • Mileage certified • Full service history PRICE COLOUR MILEAGE VW UP! 2015 Take UP! 1.0 55 kW White 6000 km R121 000 2015 Take UP! 1.0 55 kW Silver 4500 km R125 000 2015 Move UP! 1.0 55 kW Blue 5000 km R125 000 POLO VIVO 2014 Vivo 1.4 Trendline 5-Door White 26 000 km R132 900 2014 Vivo 1.4 Trendline Sedan Silver 20 000 km R129 900 2015 Vivo 1.4 Trendline 5-Door Silver 8 000 km R149 900 2014 Vivo 1.4 Sedan White 71 000 km R109 900 2012 Vivo 1.6 Trendline Silver 84 000 km R119 900 POLO 2015 Polo GP 1.2 Comfortline Sunrise Red 9 000 km R226 900 2012 Polo 1.6 TDi Comfortline 5-Door White 58 000 km R175 900 2014 Polo 1.4 Trendline Sedan White 32 000 km R154 900 2014 Polo 1.4 Trendline Sedan Silver 16 000 km R159 900 2014 Polo GP 1.2 TSi Trendline White 34 000 km R169 900 2012 Polo 1.6 Comfortline 5-Door Red 31 000 km R165 900 GOLF 2012 Golf GTi 2.0 TSi DSG White 122 000 km R259 900 2011 Golf GTi 2.0 TSi DSG Red 69 700 km R259 900 2014 Golf 7 1.2 TSi Trendline Tungsten 28 000 km R208 900 2014 Golf 7 1.4 TSi Comfortline While 19 800 km R254 900 2013 Golf 7 GTi 2.0 TSi DSG Red 76 000 km R319 900 2013 Golf 7 1.4 TSi Comfortline DSG White 73 000 km R219 900 JETTA 2012 Jetta 1.4 TSi Comfortline White 60 000 km R169 900 2012 Jetta 1.2 TSi Trendine White 79 000 km R155 900 OTHER VW 2011 VW Tiguan 1.4 TSi Trend Silver 90 000 km R189 900 2015 VW Tiguan 1.4 TSi Trend Silver 6 000 km R314 900 2011 VW Touran 2.0 TDi Comfortline Grey 78 000 km R204 900 2013 VW T5 Kombi 2.0 TDi 103 kw LWB White 83 000 km R349 000 2015 Touareg 3.0 TDi V6 Reef Blue 14 500 km R699 000 OTHER 2010 Audi A5 Sportback 2.0 TSi Multitronic Grey 79 000 km R199 900 2015 Isuzu KB 300 D-teq D/Cab Auto White 16 000 km R399 900 2012 Hyundai i20 1.4 White 85 000 km R109 000 Mastercars warranty not included in advertised price.
Barons Pietermaritzburg
Tel: 033 845 3100 After hours: Laurie 082 783 8040 • Rajen 072 228 9834 • Sanjay 083 639 0989 • Barry 072 235 4244 • Phumlani 073 744 8350