November 9, 2017
Witness
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Spanners fly over code for auto trade Car makers criticise proposed plan for vehicle repairers as well intentioned, but flawed THE National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of SA (Naamsa) has criticised as well intentioned but flawed a voluntary code proposed by the Competition Commission for South Africa’s vehicle repair, ser vicing and parts supply sectors. The code backs independent mechanics, of whom some 2 500 are represented by the Motor In dustry Workshop Association, (Miwa) who are part of the right to repair modern cars at inde pendent workshops. When Les McMaster, chair of Miwa, launched the right to re pair campaign in 2013, he said South African laws must change to follow the international Right to Repair (R2R) trend. At the heart of the argument is the owner’s need to have a ve hicle repaired at lower rates at independent aftermarket deal ers without voiding the dealer or manufacturer’s warranty; against the original manufactur ers’ need to profit from its in vestment in proprietary infor mation, systems and tested safe ty standards. “There is a need for a fair and competitive regulatory environ ment that enables freedom of choice for the consumers and that gives aftermarket business es a chance to stay in business,” McMaster has been saying since 2013. The Competition Commis sion backs this view with its pro posed voluntary code for the au to trade, but Naamsa said in a statement on Monday while the code “appears well intentioned”, it overlooks a number of realities and important considerations in the auto trade. Naamsa said the competition commission need to take into ac
count the thin profit margins and the “intensely competitive nature of the industry”. Naamsa said the automotive industry in South Africa did not deliberately exclude small medi um enterprises from automotive aftermarket, repair, servicing and parts supply activities. In stead “market and commercial realities” are keeping small play ers out of the loop. “Anyone can participate in franchise dealer operations,” states Naamsa, as long as they can overcome the “restrictions to participation”, which includ ed access to loans, skilled techni cians, expensive diagnostic technology as well as feet through the door. “These represent market and commercial realities and should not be construed as anticom petitive,” said Naamsa. Naamsa said there was also no need for independent work shops to vie for a slice of the war ranty pie, as South Africa has over 11,2 million motor vehicles, of which 75% are no longer un der warranty, service or mainte nance plans. “The competition authorities should be careful to avoid irrepa rable harm to an industry which has become the successful cor nerstone of growth and develop ment in South Africa. “Already, the publication of the draft code of conduct and the associated uncertainty has resulted in established business es, as well as potential new en trants, placing on hold any ex pansion decisions pending the outcome of the process,” said Naamsa. “It is essential to safeguard in vestments of existing and future participants in the automotive
value chain which in turn re quires a code which is realistic and practical. “In this regard, during June 2017, Naamsa made a submis sion to the Competition Com mission on a code of conduct based on the Russian code with added elements from the Euro pean Union and Australian codes.” Naamsa believes that the Competition Commission should revisit the industry’s ear lier proposals in this regard, since they adequately address in ternationally accepted practices, the legitimate interests of con sumers and the objectives envis aged by the Commission. Moreover, any future propos als by the authorities should be subjected to a socioeconomic employment impact study to avoid negative consequences for the automotive industry, the South African economy and the industry’s customers. Richard Clarke, chairperson of the notforprofit Section 21 company R2RSA, told Wheels24 earlier this month that denying workshops the chance to repair vehicles because of warranties and access to information allows original equipment manufactur ers to monopolise the auto trade. “If there is no change, work shops will no longer be able to service new vehicles sold in five years’ time,” Clarke warned. • A copy of Naamsa’s submis sion to the Competition Com mission may be accessed on Naamsa’s website www.naam sa.co.za. • For more information on the right to repair campaign, email elizabeth@r2r.org.za. • alwyn.viljoen@witness.co.za
“There is a need for a fair and competitive regulatory environment that enables freedom of choice for the consumers and that gives aftermarket businesses a chance to stay in business.”
Rallycross comes to Cape Town Killarney race circuit in Cape Town will host the 12th and final round of the year’s FIA World Rallycross Championship in the competition’s first ever visit to South Africa on Saturday and Sunday. Organised by the Western Province Motor Club, tickets are still available on ticketpros.co.za, starting at R150 and going up to R700 for a chance to see race drivers like Sebastien Loeb, Petter Solberg, Matthias Ekström and Ken Block in action. PHOTO: MOTORPRESS
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Cape Town signs clean bus pledge CAPE Town mayor Patricia de Lille joined the city leaders of 11 world cit ies who have pledged to procure only zeroemission buses from 2025 and ensure that a major area of their city is zero emission by 2030. Auckland, Barcelona, Cape Town, Copenhagen, London, Los Angeles, Mexico City, Milan, Paris, Quito, Se attle and Vancouver all signed the C40 FossilFuelFree Streets Decla ration last week. The policies are designed to fight air pollution, improve the quality of life for all citizens and help tackle the global threat of climate change. The cities committed to: • increasing the rates of walking, cy cling and use of public and shared transport; • reducing the number of polluting vehicles on city streets; • leading by example by procuring zeroemission vehicles for city fleets; and • working with suppliers, fleet oper ators and businesses to accelerate the shift to zeroemissions vehicles and reduce vehicle kilometres in cities. Cities will report back every two years on the progress they are making towards the goals of the C40 Decla ration. C40 estimated that there are 59 000 buses of all types operating on the streets of the 12 cities. Among them, London says it has the largest electric bus fleet in Eu rope, with more than 2 500 hybrid electric buses made by China’s BYD and Britain’s Alexander Dennis. In an expanding market, other makers include Volvo, Mercedes Benz Daimler and Proterra. Caroline Watson, an expert in low emission vehicles at C40, said the declaration is meant as “a clear com mitment in writing to raise the bar and give a signal to the private sec tor” to encourage greener invest ments in cities.
A Porsche Cayenne racing through a desert landscape. PHOTO: PORSCHE
CAYENNE ON A WORLD TOUR JOHANNESBURG is one of the cit ies in Porsche’s “World Expedition 2018” — a rallystyle driving tour that takes place in over 20 coun tries on six continents over 80 days. Only 28 spots are available for each of the six expeditions and pricing is available on application, which translates into “if you have to ask, you can’t afford it”. Participants will have to com plete their expedition in specific time as if racing in a rally, but teams can earn bonus minutes by posting photos, videos, streams or tweets on their social media. The participants competing in the 13day African expedition will depart from Johannesburg on Ju ly 10 next year. They have to drive 4 700 km to Tanzania, via the Mak gadikgadi Pans National Park in Botswana and the Victoria Falls on the Zambian side, and northern Kenya. More details from info@ porscheworldexpedition.de — WR.
November 9, 2017
Yamaha introduced its Cross Hub halfton bakkie at the Tokyo Motor Show last week. The full electric bakkie packs four seats on a narrow base measuring only 4,5 long, which is almost a metre shorter than any of the double cabs in SA today. Yamaha has no plans yet to build the concept bakkie. PHOTO: YAMAHA
Cars soon sold next to ovens Japanese household goods retailer plans an electric car ALWYN VILJOEN FROM Tokyo, Nikkei reports that Ja pan’s leading consumer electronics re tailer, Yamada Denki, plans to sell small electric vehicles in the next two years. Better known for selling rice cookers and fridges, Yamada Denki last week an nounced it will invest over a billion yen (over R124 million) for 10% in electric vehicle startup Fomm. The startup was founded in 2013 and includes engineers who have worked on developing electric vehicles at a Toyota Motor group company. Nikkei reports Fomm is also negotiat ing with Chinese businesses and plans to build electric fourseater vehicles for the Japanese market in Thailand through electronics maker Funai Electric. Sales are targeted at tens of thousands of vehicles a year. British research firm IHS Markit predicts a demand for 4,58 million electric vehicles globally by 2025, which is over six times more elec tric cars than the 690 000 that will be sold this year. Because electric vehicles have 40% fewer parts and are 35% cheaper to maintain than cars with internal com bustion engines, more nonvehicle com panies are looking towards making cheap mode transport to meet the de mand for electric vehicles. In the U.S., Workhorse in May re ceived 4 560 preorders when it revealed the CEO, a hybrid bakkie, while Bolling er is planning to build an allelectric re
Japanese electric goods retailer Yamada Denki plans to start selling electric cars like this alongside its fridges and microwaves. PHOTO: FOMM make of the Land Rover Defender based on market feedback. In England, household vacuum maker Dyson has announced plans to sell its own range of battery powered cars from 2020. In Germany, Deutsche Post DHL is building some 4 000 electric delivery vans per year with Ford. Deutsche Post DHL confusingly calls these vans Street Scooters and has told Bloomberg it plans to assemble 10 000 evans each year, which would make the StreetScoot er the bestselling electrified light com
mercial vehicle in Europe, ahead of the Renault Kangoo. In Sweden, Einride is showing the TPod, an electric truck that has no space for a driver, while in Europe, the brown vans of UPS are being retrofitted with electric motors to replace diesel engines. Stefan Bratzel, director of the Centre of Automotive Management at the Uni versity of Applied Sciences in Bergisch Gladbach, Germany, predicted no frills electric vehicles built by nontraditional vehicle makers will disrupt the auto in dustry in the next few years..
Mechanics called on to recycle old oil THE Recycling Oil Saves the Environ ment (Rose) foundation has identified backyard mechanics and small work shops as the main culprits that pol lute with lubricating oil instead of re cycling the oil and associated car parts. “While industry faces rigorous envi ronmental compliance, in domestic backyards and in small workshops, mechanics are often not disposing of their used oil correctly, with thou sands of unaccounted for litres literal ly going down the drain,” said Bubele Nyiba, CEO of the Rose Foundation. “Used oil is a hazardous substance containing poisonous substances and
heavy metals that can pollute the en vironment and are dangerous for your health.” He urged small workshops and DIY car enthusiasts to collect and store their used oil carefully and to drop it off at an approved disposal points for safe recycling. Nyiba said that irre sponsible disposal is largely due to a lack of knowledge about the available alternatives rather than a lack of re gard. “DIY mechanics can drop used oil and related waste off at their nearest approved municipal garden refuse site — a list of which is available from the Rose Foundation.” said Nyiba.
“In some areas, where there are no convenient dropoff points, we urge larger workshops and service centres who have the storage facilities, to ac cept used oil and related waste from private individuals. The workshops are paid for the oil collected, so accepting oil from backyard mechanics is at no cost to them and it is the environ mentally responsible thing to do.” There are service providers that col lect oil containers from service sta tions in the major metropolitan areas of Johannesburg, Cape Town and Dur ban. To find an accredited collector or dropoff point, visit www.rosefound ation.org.za. — Wheels Reporter.
The Toyota Hilux petrol single cab makes its owners the happiest. PHOTO: MOTOPRESS
Toyota tops new Ipsos survey WITH its extensive model range To yota has come out on top in terms of the number of gold awards won in the latest vehicle quality survey done in SA by Ipsos, the internation al market research company. The recently announced results are derived from a detailed survey conducted in 2016 involving more than 7 000 owners of vehicles from 17 brands, representing 72% of new vehicle sales in SA during 2016. Toyota collected 10 gold awards in the various categories, compared to eight for Nissan, six for Volkswagen, five for Audi, two for Ford and one each for Opel and Renault. More than one gold award was made in some of the categories where two or more vehicles or brands both qualified and could not be separated for the gold award in terms of the number of problems reported per 100 vehicles (PP100). Audi, Volkswagen and Toyota each collected four gold awards in the Pas senger Car category, with Nissan tak ing three and Ford bagging two. Audi won gold for Overall Passen ger Car Brand, Top Hatch (A3 Sport back), Medium Sedan (A5 Sport back) and Top Sedan (A3). Toyota’s golds came in the Small Hatch (Yaris), Small Sedan (Corolla Quest), MultiPurpose Vehicle (Avanza) and Local Passenger Car Manufacturing Plant (tied with Volkswagen). Volkswagen’s gold awards were achieved in the Small Hatch (Polo), Small Sedan (Polo), Volume Passen ger Car Brand (tied with Nissan) and Local Passenger Car Manufacturing Plant (tied with Toyota) categories. Nissan collected gold in the Entry Level (Micra), Small Sedan (Almera) and Volume Passenger Car Brand (tied with Volkswagen) categories. Ford’s Mustang collected two gold awards, for Sports Coupé and New Passenger Car. Gold winners in the Recreational Vehicle category were Audi Q5 (Small RV), Toyota Prado (Large RV), while Renault Captur and Opel Mokka shared the honours for New Recreational Vehicle. Nissan scooped the most awards in the Light Commercial Vehicle cat egory, achieving five gold awards for the ThreeQuarter Ton Pickup (NP200), Petrol Double Cab (Hard body), Diesel Double Cab (Navara), One Ton Single Cab Brand (tied with Toyota), One Ton Double Cab Brand (tied with Volkswagen). Toyota collected four gold awards for Petrol Single Cab (Hilux), Diesel Single Cab (Hilux), OneTon Single Cab LCV Brand (tied with Nissan) and Best Local LCV Manufacturing Plant. The only other brand to collect gold awards in the LCV category was Volkswagen, for Overall Light Com mercial Vehicle Brand and One Ton Double Cab Brand (tied with Nis san). The Audi A3 Sportback topped the Passenger Car rankings with 27 problems reported per 100 vehicles (PP100). The Audi Q5 topped the Recreational category with a score of 33 PP100. The best performing Light Commercial Vehicle was the Toyota Hilux Petrol Single Cab with a score of 43 PP100.
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November 9, 2017
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Haval H6: a beaut on dirt ALWYN VILJOEN goes far to find fault with a Chinese SUV, and fails HAVAL is the only Chinese car brand to compete in the Dakar, in which race the H8 has finished three times in the top 10 in the past five years. This tells petrolheads all they need to know about the premium brand from Great Wall Motors (GWM). Nonpetrolheads will, however, be asking “Hawho?”. For them this quick refresher. • Haval is the premium subbrand of GWM in China, like Lexus is to Toyo ta, AMG to Merc, Infiniti to Nissan and Genesis to Hyundai. • GWM last year took full control of its South African subsidiary as part of the giant Chinese company’s in ternational expansion strategy. • Charles Zhao, MD of Haval Motors SA, said South Africa plays an impor tant part in Haval’s international ex pansion plans. (This is especially nice to know in the wake of announce ments from General Motors, Dodge and Chrysler that they will close their dealers in SA next month.) • Haval is already exported to eight countries apart from South Africa. Now, back to the SUV at hand — Wheels recently reported how the H6 passed China’s tough rollover test, with all doors opening after the car was sent tumbling down a tar road for 100 metres. So we already know the H6 is rela tively safe and now, having driven this SUV for over 1 500 km over the dirt and tar, I can unreservedly rec ommend the Haval H6 for anybody in the market for a comfortable, af fordable family van. Pricing for the five models, all of them 4x2, starts at a very competi tive R330 k and goes up to R390 k. The models are available in three trim levels — City, Premium and Luxury — all with dualzone climate control, electric/folding side mirrors with demister, keyless entry, remote audio controls and auto lights/wip ers, electrically adjustable driver’s seat, Mercstyle “pleather” uphol stery, full Bluetooth, Aux and USB functionality. The Premium and Luxury models come with six air bags, electronic sta bility programme (ESP), hill descent and ascent control and a reverse cam era. The Premium adds a sunroof — not the wisest option in sunny SA — and a higher quality sound system. I drove the Premium, which retails for just under R340 k, with the two litre turbocharged petrol engine av eraging just over 10 km per litre (9,7 l/100 km) to the Wild Coast and back to Pietermaritzburg. Inside, Audi drivers will feel very familiar with the button layout, but
this is not just another cheap Chi nese ripoff. I was really impressed at how well the suspension soaked up corruga tions on dirt roads and how no dust seeped into the cabin. The H6 is sold with either a six speed dualclutch or sixspeed man ual. I had the manual and would have liked a bit longer ratios to crawl along the Wild Coast’s steeper bush tracks. The petrol engine’s turbo kicks in at just over 2 000 revs, which is a bit high for crawling, but very driveable on tar, which is where most H6 mod els will spend their lives and where the flat torque curve ensures suffi cient power when you want to pass a truck. The Luxury comes with Xenon lights, but I found the Premium’s hal ogen lights very good at night. Inside the cabin, ambient strip lighting adds colour at night, much like the topend MercedesBenz models do these days. And like the Mercs and the Ford Mustang, the H6 projects its logo on the ground next to the front doors when you unlock the car. In the dark, this impresses everyone each time, but also helps to show the puddles before you step in them. After four days of sitting in it, I can only sing the praises of the driver seat. At the rear, the bench tilts or folds flat into a bed for the children with minimum fuss. If I have to find a fault, it is the spacesaver spare tyre that the H6 comes with. Haval’s more expensive competitors, however, have no spare tyre at all, and those who have been in this position tell me even fitting a spacesaver is better than waiting a day for a truck to fetch you from the middle of nowhere and then typi cally another two days for the right tyre to be delivered from the city. There really is a lot to like in the H6, which arguably combines all the best design features from the com petitors in what everyone I asked agreed is a very attractive package. All the Haval models are backed with a fiveyear/100 000 km warran ty, a fiveyear/60 000 km service plan, and fiveyear/unlimited kilome tre roadside assistance. Key specs Model: Premium 4x2 at R339 900 Engine: 2litre turbo Power: 140 kW Torque: 310 Nm between 2 000 rpm to 3 600 rpm Transmission: 6speed manual • alwyn.viljoen@witness.co.za The Haval H6 comes with a spacesaving spare tyre, which is not useful on Africa’s rural roads, but when a slow puncture happens, look for the nearest yellow Dunlop franchise, where someone will patch the hole cheaply.
‘Having driven this SUV for over 1 500 km over the dirt and tar, I can unreservedly recommend the Haval H6 for anybody in the market for a comfortable, affordable family van.’
The Haval H6 combines the best traits from various sport utes into a very attractive package that rides on a suspension setup that just loves those dirt roads leading to hidden coves on the Wild Coast. PHOTOS: ALWYN VILJOEN
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Sandra Gomez of Spain (left) will attempt to better South Africa’s Kirsten Landman’s (above) record as the only woman to have finished the Gold class of the Roof in Lesotho, next week.
November 9, 2017
Brett Swanepoel (left) and Wade Young (right) are two top riders from SA who aim to beat off the international competition in the 50th Roof of Africa next week. PHOTOS: FILE
Showdown on the Roof The 50th ‘mother of hard enduros’ will be intense as riders battle Lesotho’s mountains for a win SEVERAL showdowns loom at the 50th edition of the annual Motul Roof of Afri ca, which takes place in Lesotho from November 15 to November 18. Africa’s largest and oldest offroad event will host an international show down between top riders Graham Jarvis and Alfredo Gomez, who face a serious battle from three KZN riders. Gomez was somewhat controversially defeated by Jarvis at the 2016 event after a calculation error. Gomez thought he only had to finish with Jarvis to take the win and ended up losing the race by a mere nine seconds on the final climb to the finish line. There is bound to be blood as the rid ers, who are sponsored by opposing en ergy drinks, gear up to ride in Lesotho’s
heat and high altitude in an epic show down. Other international riders who can not be left out of the mix are Andreas Lettenbichler (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) and his son Manuel Letten bichler (Brother Leader Tread KTM). Competitive racing runs deep in the Lettenbichler genes, and the young “Let tie” superstar has often been described as the future of hard enduro. Adding an extra international twist is Mario Roman. The Sherco Factory Rac ing rider placed second behind Jarvis in the Red Bull Sea to Sky and Red Bull Ro manics this year. Landman vs Gomez For the first time in the Roof of Africa’s
history, there will also be an exciting bat tle between the women riders who have been brave enough to sign up for the Gold route. Brother Leader Tread KTM’s Kirsten Landman is the only woman to have finished the Gold class of the event. While the local enduro hero usually executes a complete whitewash in her category, she will enjoy being pre sented with a challenge from another fe male rider for a change. The challenge will come from the 2016 FIM Women’s SuperEnduro World Cup winner, 2015 AMA Enduro Cross Cup winner, 2014 Spanish Trials champion and multiple X Games medal ist, Sandra Gomez (no relation to Alfre do). The Spaniard stepped onto the Afri can continent for the first time last
month. She flew in for the National En duro season finale, and thoroughly en joyed getting a taste of what Lesotho’s treacherous terrain is like. A brutal local battle for the Roof of Africa title is also on the cards for this year’s event. After a tough setback this season, Brett Swanepoel will be itching to put on a proper show. Swanepoel will be up against Travis Teasdale, who beat him to the National Enduro championship title recently, and his teammates Scott Bouverie and Dwayne Kleynhans. A local dark horse who has the poten
Toyota Gazoo Racing may have conceded this year’s world championship title to Porsche, but it has promised to race to the final next week to record another win in the World Endurance Championships. PHOTO: TOYOTA
Toyota just misses a onetwo in Shanghai TOYOTA GAZOO Racing dominated the Six Hours of Shanghai to win its fourth race of the 2017 FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) season on a day tinged with frustration. Sébastien Buemi, Anthony Davidson and Kazuki Nakajima, in the #8 TS050 Hy brid, took victory by more than a lap from their nearest challengers for Toyota’s third win in Shanghai, setting the fastest lap of the race in the process. However, the team had been on course for a second consecutive onetwo finish prior to a late collision which damaged the #7 TS050 Hybrid of Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and José María López. They eventually finished fourth. That result means Toyota go to the final race of 2017, in Bahrain on November 18, level on four wins each with Porsche. How ever, both title battles are over, with Por sche and drivers Timo Bernhard, Earl Bam ber and Brendon Hartley confirmed as world champions. When the race began, López led from pole in the #7, while Buemi lost a position but fought back to pass both Porsches.
With 26 cars on track, traffic was always a challenge and López hit the #26 LMP2 after 30 minutes, losing eight seconds and dropping to third. He recovered the position and, as the onehour mark approached, handed the #7 over to Kobayashi in second place at the first pit stops. Unlike its sister car, the #8 crew chose to double stint the tyres, and Buemi resumed the lead. But after two hours, all leading cars had made their second pit stops and Kobayashi led in the #7 with Davidson just behind on new tyres in the #8. Both were well clear of the #2 Porsche while the #1 was now one lap behind. Davidson put the new tyres to good use and passed Kobayashi for the lead, record ing several quick lap times to extend his advantage prior to a full course yellow, dur ing which both TS050 Hybrids pitted, the #7 changing two tyres and switching driver to Conway. The two TS050 Hybrids continued to lead beyond the halfway point and were consistently faster than the competition. Nakajima lapped the thirdplaced Porsche
#2 with around two hours to go and the cars eased their pace to avoid unnecessary risk. When the final pit stops came with just under an hour to go, Buemi took new tyres in the #8 while López only refuelled, mean ing he led. However, contact with the #91 Porsche GT damaged the left rear of the #7 and cost 13 minutes in the pits. Quick work by the mechanics allowed the car to return to the track and take the chequered flag in fourth, seven laps behind. Hisatake Murata, team president, said Toyota deserved the onetwo and it was a pity to lose time right at the end of the race due to contact with a lapped car. He congrat ulated Porsche on winning CV Joint but said Ga speCialists zoo will race for CV joints, ball joints, for another tie rod ends, wheel bearings. win at the final race of the sea 341 GReYlinG stReet son next week Pmb. 033 342 9174/75 end. — WR.
tial to cause an upset is Wade Young. The rider sent shock waves into the world of hard enduro in 2012 when he won the prestigious Roof of Africa as a 16yearold. Young missed out on the event last year because of an injury that he sustained at Red Bull Sea to Sky. Young said he will be more hungry than ever to stake his claim at this year’s event. A promising youngster who looks set to follow in Young’s footsteps is Matt hew Green (16), who recently won the High School Championship in the Na tional Enduro series. — Supplied.
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