October 4, 2018
Witness
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Saffers like Hilux most South Africa’s best-selling vehicle remains a bakkie, while Suzuki SA bucks the dip in car sales ALWYN VILJOEN TOYOTA’s Hilux bakkie remains South Africa’ best-selling vehicle, followed by the VW Polo hatch, the Ford Ranger bakkie and then the Polo Vivo sedan. While Ford say they are leading the double-cab sales, Toyota sold 3 943 bakkies of all types in September’s 26 working days — or on average 18 bakkies every working hour of last month. The busy plant at Prospecton also exported 3 823 Hilux bakkies, but Ford’s plant in Silverton worked even harder, sending 6 547 Rangers out of SA. This was not, however, the most impressive news from the car sellers. That title goes to Suzuki South Africa, who received seven awards at Suzuki’s annual awards in the Middle East and Africa region in New Delhi, India last week. Local owners would be pleased that Suzuki SA is the Champion of Champions for its growth in sales and customer service rankings. André Venter, divisional manager for sales and marketing at Suzuki Auto South Africa, said Suzuki SA also received awards for the highest sales in the region, the highest volume growth in Africa, the best training of its staff
is an improvement of 22% on its sales in September 2017. In contrast, the overall vehicle market declined by 1,9% in the same period. Sales of medium and heavy trucks, however, showed the third month of growth, albeit only at 4,7%, with sales of 702 medium trucks and 1 840 heavy trucks. Outside the Daimler Group’s aggregate sales, Isuzu and Hino lead among the medium to heavy trucks, with Svania and Volvo leading the extra heavies. A rise in truck sales is often seen as a harbinger of economic growth, but the recent rise in trucks sales are more likely due to wise fleet operators placing orders before the rand falls even further.
The Nissan NP200 is SA’s best-selling half-tonner. This is one of 200 NP200s that last year travelled over two million kilometres for Ampath Laboratories. PHOTO: MOTORPRESS in Africa, the highest parts and accessories sales in Africa, the highest sale of accessories per vehicle and the most improved systems and processes in sales. Suzuki SA also received an award
for the best customer retention activities and a second-place award for exceptional automobile dealer management. Since July 2017, Suzuki has then broken its own sales record five times
and has become a top 10 vehicle brand with regular sales above 1 000 units. In September, Suzuki again sold over 1 000 units when it handed over the keys to 1 140 new vehicle owners, which
September’s Top 10 selling vehicles (Bakkies in red) Toyota Hilux 3 943 VW Polo 3 866 Ford Ranger 3 016 VW Polo Vivo 1 976 Nissan NP200 1 888 Toyota Corolla Quest 1 375 Toyota Fortuner 1 345 Toyota Quantum 1 287 isuzu KB 1 193 Toyota Yaris 1 111
Sumitomo plant makes truck and bus tyres in KZN ALWYN VILJOEN AS South Africa’s fleet managers struggle to budget around the highest fuel prices in history, they can at least look forward to a bit of price war between manufacturers of radial tyres for trucks and buses. This after Sumitomo Rubber Industries officially opened its new plant in Ladysmith, where the company makes 24 different sizes of bus and truck tyres for SA’s market. The Sumitomo plant had a three-year hiatus to be retooled after being sold by India’s Apollo to Japan’s Sumitomo. With the plant now back on line, it means the Bridgestone plant in Brits is no longer supplies the only made-in-SA truck and bus radial tyres. CEO of the Sumitomo plant, Riaz Haffejee, confirmed to Wheels the competition in the industry, especially from imports, is very tough, but pointed out that each time the rand weakened, prices for imported tyres increased. He said the Made-in-Ladysmith tyres
On the left, the latest Made-in-KZN commercial vehicle tyres for highway use, and on the right, a truck tyre grooved for rough dirt roads. PHOTO: ALWYN VILJOEN comply with European standards but have been extensively tested across the African continent to ensure fleet manag-
ers have the right tyre for the country’s specific application, be it on long haul, urban roads, or over sand and mud
tracks. Haffejee said an extensive range of advanced patterns has delivered proven results in fleets around the world and offers unparalleled performance in all wheel positions. The plant also provides technical support to tyre buyers to help them get the most from each tyre, but it does not provide on-road support or retread services. The Ladysmith plant makes Falcon, Dunlop and Sumitomo tyres and uses Dunlop Energy Control Technologies in selected patterns to render long-lasting performance in all wheel positions. These technologies combine innovative design technologies aimed at controlling heat energy build-up and energy loss while ensuring a more consistent contact patch; resulting in lower rolling resistance, higher mileage, a more wear resistant tread and a reduction in uneven tread wear. It all adds up to excellent cents per kilomtre for any fleet requirement, Haffejee said. alwyn.viljoen@witness.co.za
Jaguar i-pace drives from JHB to Durban using no petrol JAGUAR has successfully completed a long-distance journey between Johannesburg and Durban using its recently announced Powerway charging network in an all-electric I-PACE. The pre-production Jaguar I-PACE, in South Africa for testing and homologation purposes, began its trip with a fully topped-up 90kWh battery at the Jaguar Centurion dealership in Gauteng recently. Roughly three hours later, after travelling almost 310km of the N1 and N3 Powerways towards Durban, the 298kW electric SUV made a stop to recharge at the now publicly available 60kW fast charger installed at the familiar Bergview rest stop complex in Harrismith. The Jaguar I-PACE’s battery was replenished to 100% capacity at the Jaguar Powerway fast charger in just enough time for its driver to enjoy breakfast. The recharge was billed at roughly quarter the cost of full tanks of petrol or diesel in SUVs with similar power outputs. The Jaguar I-PACE completed its inter-city road trip 306km later at the
The Jaguar I-Pace’s 90kWh battery needed topping up once on the downrun from Jo’burg to Durban, which Jaguar says shows long distance journeys are possible without using petrol. PHOTO: MOTORPRESS Durban Marina, where it posed alongside the harbour’s yachts for some celebratory photographs. The trip aimed to prove the practicality of an EV combined with the new Jaguar Powerway charging infrastructure announced earlier this month. The Jaguar Powerway makes long journeys possible and practical in an EV.
Richard Gouverneur, managing director of Jaguar Land Rover South Africa and sub-Sahara Africa said: “With the introduction of the Jaguar Powerway, electric vehicles such as the Jaguar I-PACE are no longer restricted to the confines of urban areas. Long distance journeys are now possible without using a single drop of petrol.
“EV recharging infrastructure in South Africa may still be in its infancy, but Jaguar’s R30-million investment has started the revolution and put us at the forefront of e-mobility.” The Jaguar Powerway recharging network, in partnership with GridCars, will feature 82 new public charging stations for all electric vehicles and plug-in hyrbids in the country’s major hubs and along frequently-travelled motorways between the country’s major city centres including Johannesburg, Pretoria, Durban, Cape Town, Port Elizabeth, East London and Bloemfontein. A combination of convenient charging locations will include 30 fast chargers placed at every Jaguar Land Rover dealership, 30 at various shopping centres nationwide and 22 along the N1, N2 and N3 motorways. The R30 million first phase of the Jaguar Powerway will be completed by the end of November 2018. Three additional public fast chargers will be erected at points along the N3 Powerway between Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal in 1Q19. — Wheels Reporter.
Rally racers escape serious injury ALWYN VILJOEN THE most recent rallies saw two crashes that proved again roll cages and five point harnesses work much better than air bags to keep drivers alive. In Secunda KZN’s Guy Botterill and Simon Vacy-Lyle had electric and gearbox issues with their Class R2N Toyota Etios on the prologue on Friday, leaving them to chase the VW Polo of points rival AC Potgieter on Saturday. The Hillcrest-registered riders managed to claw back 22 seconds on Saturday, but then it all went wrong on Stage 10, when they did a second run through the section known as Tjorrie, with a lead of 2,2 seconds over Potgieter. “We’re not entirely sure what happened,” said Botterill afterwards. “We hit the bank in exactly the same spot as before, but this time it kicked the car up violently and
KZN rally racers Guy Botterill and Simon Vacy-Lyle pushing their Toyota Etios to the limit at Secunda before parking it on the roof, while at a regional rally stage in KZN, Trevor Graham and navigator Kevin Cunningham were lucky to escape with a few broken toes, severe bruising and abrasions after a six-metre plunge. we rolled over, ending our race.” They emerged unscathed from the car and the damage to the Toyota Etios was cosmetic. In KZN at a regional rally BMW driver Trevor Graham and navigator Kevin
Cunningham were lucky to escape with severe bruising and abrasions (and broken toes in Graham’s case) after driving off a six-metre bank to land hard on the vehicle’s nose. The “finish it to win it” approach of
After showing more than 70 trucks, including several electric trucks, at Hannover in Germany, Mercedes-Benz moved to the Paris Motor Show where the cars division today premieres the battery-electric Mercedes-Benz EQC (above) and the A 35 4MATIC (below). While the EQC looks styled to star in the next animation about cute cars, the AMG A-Class is already raking in orders, thanks to its 2-litre turbo engine tuned to make 225 kW. AMG said its engineers had fine tuned the bodyshell, suspension, all-wheel drive, transmission, drive programs “for maximum driving dynamics without compromising on everyday comfort”.
Dean Redelinghuis and navigator Amon Meyiwa paid off with a win in their CTH Transport Sharpline Polo. Tony Ball won he off road car section and Daniel Botes was fastest on the quads.
NEW BOSS AT VW BRAND
Martina Biene (pictured) is the new head of the Volkswagen Brand in South Africa, effective from October 1. Biene, who was previously the head of product marketing for the Volkswagen brand in Wolfsburg, will be responsible for the Volkswagen brand in the South African market. Biene has 16 years of experience in the Volkswagen Group, having worked in Germany, Belgium and Luxemburg. Biene replaces Carla Wentzel who has been appointed as the group managing director of Volkswagen Group Ireland. — WR.
Peugeot’s e-Legend Concept pays homage to the Peugeot 504 Coupe from the 60s, with the same big, grinning grill and inside, a lot of blue velour and wood trim from the 60s, balanced by an ultra-modern digital display. PHOTO: PEUGEOT
The e-Niro, the first fully electric crossover utility vehicle produced by KIA. It has a range of 485 kilometres on the WLTP combined cycle. While the electric motor requires no transmission, the car still features a pair of metal paddles behind the steering wheel. These paddles let drivers choose between three levels of energy recuperation. The higher the level of recuperation chosen by the driver, the more energy the regenerative brakes try to harvest. The e-Niro will enter production in Q2 2018 at KIA’s Hwasung manufacturing facility in Korea, and will go on sale in select European markets by the end of 2018. PHOTO: MOTORPRESS
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Carla Wentzel. PHOTO: MOTORPRESS
TRIBUTE RALLY IN KZN THE Natal Motorcycle and Car Club (NMCC) will be hosting a regional motor rally on October 27 with racers affiliated to either Motorsport South Africa (MSA), or the World of Motorsport ZA (Womza) competing together for the first time. The rally will be staged in the Dalton area, with eight stages totalling 100 km through cane fields and plantations, thanks to the patronage of the Dalton farmers. A one-kilometre fun stage has also been prepared for Reach For A Dream children, who will be whisked around by two experienced rally drivers. This tribute rally is in recognition of Zane Rencken, a greatly respected rally racer who died in a work related incident earlier this year. • To get involved, contact Dean Redelinghuis on 083 657 1526.
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