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THE WITNESS
MARCH 7, 2019
GENEVA AUTO SHOW
March 7, 2019
Witness
WHEELS ADVERTISING: AVIR THULSIRAM ON 084 278 3447 VOLKSIE TO TOP ALL VOLKSIES: VW-owned subsidiary Bugatti revealed the one — and only — Bugatti La Voiture Noire (the black car) at the Geneva Motor Show on Tuesday. Bugatti president Stephan Winkelmann said the car was built for “a Bugatti enthusiast” and cost $12,5 million (around R177 million), making it the most expensive new car in the world. With rare cars outperforming most investments, the enthusiast stand to recoup the money reportedly spent on this 8,0-litre 16-cylinder Volksie to top all Volksies, which may yet rival the $70 million paid for a 1963 Ferrari 250 GTO at auction last year.
‘Peak car’ in Europe Labour union in Germany warns that employment in automotive trades will start to decline ALWYN VILJOEN
LIGHTWEIGHT SUPERCAR: Ginetta launched its supercar at the Geneva International Motor Show, where company chairman Lawrence Tomlinson said only 20 models of the Akula will be built and sold for £340 000 (over R6,7 million). Tomlinson said 12 have already sold before the car was publicly unveiled. The G58 is powered by a 428 kW (575 bhp) V8 power plant, but weighs just 940 kg.
… NOW YOU’RE MOTORING
MERCEDES-BENZ announced last week that it will team up with BMW to provide all-electric cars for ride hailing services and develop self-driving car technology. Under the “X-Now” brand, BMW already operates “Drive Now” car sharing in European, “ReachNow” for ride hailing in the U.S. and “ChargeNow” for charging. Merc and BMW have jointly invested over $1,1 billion into their collaboration that will involve several companies around the world, such as Car2Go in the U.S., Kapten in France, and Beat in Mexico, with the focus on linking people with transport that fits their needs, be it to find wheels, from a chauffeurdriven car, to a bike or even bus; to
finding a charging point or parking. Mercedes cites studies showing that 30% of traffic in cities is drivers cruising around looking for a space to park their wheels. “Ultimately, we want to offer our customers as many options as possible for getting from A to B. In short, this is about driving, riding or being driven,” said Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche, in a statement announcing the joint venture. While it may seem that Merc and BMW are ditching their carefully nurtured brand images, both companies have been projecting current car owning trends and in major cities and they see fewer people opting to own a car that is parked for 23 out of 24 hours. Stephan Rammler, an auto industry consultant and professor of transporta-
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Carmakers can only survive as mobility-service providers, not as auto manufacturers.
tion design at Braunschweig University of Art said the three core features of mobility in the 20th century are dissolving — owning a car, driving it, and fuelling a combustion engine. In the U.S. and Europe, fewer young people are getting a driver’s licence and those who do, want their wheels to generate income or at least split the costs, as shown in a survey published by Volvo
and the Harris polling organisation last week. The survey stated almost one in three (32%) of the respondents said a car-sharing programme sponsored by a manufacturer would increase the likelihood that they would buy a car. Volvo sells a one-year subscription programme for its XC40 small SUV that has proven more popular than dealers can accommodate, and has indicated it plans a similar programme for its first electric car, the Polestar 2. These new attitudes to car ownership have not reached southern Africa, where getting a driver’s licence are still as important to young people as getting a smart phone. This means jobs at local dealers as well as at the plants of Toyota in Prospecton, Merc in East London, Ford in Silverton, BMW in Rosslyn plus Isuzu
Sipuka returns to race Audi Global Touring Cars
MOST POPULAR: The most popular car at the Geneva Motor Show has already pulled in 15 000 registrations of interest since its pre-show unveiling last week. This is Honda’s “e Prototype” but Honda said production has started and it will be ready to sell the “prototype” in European markets this year. The little electric car is about the size of the original Golf and is set to excite the world of evees in the same way that iconic hatch once did, thanks to rear wheel drive and instant torque from its electric motor. Honda said the e Prototype has a 200 km range and can fast charge to 80% of this range in 30 minutes. Current speculation is that the cute Honda will sell from about R470 000. TOP 3 WORLD CAR FINALISTS World Car of the Year • Audi e-tron • Jaguar I-PACE • Volvo S60/V60 World Urban Car • Hyundai AH2 / Santro • Kia Soul • Suzuki Jimny World Luxury Car • Audi A7 • Audi Q8 • BMW 8 Series
World Performance Car • Aston Martin Vantage • McLaren 720S • Mercedes-Benz AMG 4-door Coupe World Green Car • Audi e-tron • Hyundai Nexo • Jaguar I-PACE World Car Design of the Year • Jaguar I-PACE • Suzuki Jimny • Volvo XC40 — Wheels Reporter.
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Simon (left) and Terry Moss with Tschops Sipuka, back in the Global Touring Cars fold. PHOTO: MOTORPRESS the #8 Audi A3 GTC racer. “It’s a unique feeling for me to be back where I started with Terry Moss and Audi,” said Sipuka. “A lot of good memories came back when I recently tested the GTC Audi car and worked with the team again. I was privileged to previously drive alongside Simon in single seaters and back then it was mind boggling on how fast he was. We’ve come a long way since then and so to be teamed together in 2019, it will be
exciting. Everyone will keep pushing each other to extract the best performance possible for the Audi team. I look forward to the new season.” For long-time GTC steerer Simon Moss, 2019 brings new opportunities to step forward in leading the Audi team, after his front-running success for the last three years. “When Tschops first raced for my father I was only in school, so I’ve watched his whole career unfold in
front of me, but I’m excited to have him as my team-mate,” said Simon Moss. “We’ll both be out there to take the championship, it belongs with the Audi team. After finishing second last year, it’s my goal to be right up there and win the championship and for us to get a 1-2 finish again. Audi South Africa will also continue its motorsport partnership with Terry Moss Racing in 2019 as the official title sponsor to the team. — WR.
Shorter back with a bang in Falken Polo Cup race AT the Dezzi Raceway over the weekend, the Falken Polo Cup lived up to its reputation for exciting racing with former champion Chris Shorter pushing hard to beat current champion Jeffrey Kruger. Described by Witness Wheels readers as the most scenic race track in the world, the Dezzi Raceway certainly provided a beautiful backdrop as the 25 young hopefuls experienced all types of weather the South Coast can produce. After qualifying on slicks on a wet track, the fastest six drivers got a flying lap to influence the order of the starting grid. As expected, times were close but when the flag was waved, it was youngster Bradley Liebenberg who pipped defending champion Jeffrey Kruger to pole, followed by Jason Campos and the first of the Shorter brothers, Chris. Polo Cup debutant Stiaan Kriel rounded out the top 5. What followed was two extremely close races that had the passionate Dezzi Raceway crowd quite literally on their feet for the combined 20
Keegan Campos collided with Jurie Swart in a first-corner incident that nearly saw Swart’s Polo roll over in a typically action-packed Falken Polo Cup Race that had the fans at Dezzi Raceway on their feet last weekend. PHOTO: MOTORPRESS laps of action. For the final race, the top six qualifiers got their starting positions from a lucky draw. At Dezzi’s, which has only one line in the dry, this led to paint being swopped and a few moments that had members of the crowd gasping.
Times from both races are added to reveal the overall winners for the day. When the calculations were completed, it was Chris Shorter who came away with the overall victory ahead of Jeffrey Kruger. It was a very popular victory for the
young man who together with his brother Matt missed the 2018 season due to personal reasons. Bradley Liebenberg was third overall, just beating newcomer Stiaan Kriel to the podium. Jason Campos got fifth, a mere six 10ths of a second ahead of Volkswagen Motorsport’s Jonathan Mogotsi. “It was an incredible weekend of racing,” said Mike Rowe, head of Volkswagen Motorsport. “The series once again proved how popular it is with competitors and spectators alike and it also serves as proof of the level of talent we have in this country. “It was also the first time that the new GTis raced on the Dezzi circuit and together with the Falken slick racing tyres, the cars went faster around the 2,5 kilometres than ever before. If this opening weekend was anything to go by, we are all in for a very exciting and intense season,” Rowe said. • The next round of the Falken Polo Cup is at Zwartkops Raceway in Pretoria West on April 5 and 6.
Exports carry SA’s car trade COMMENTING on the new vehicle sales statistics for the month of February, the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa (Naamsa) said that the disappointing sales in January had continued last month, but exports are up and it seems South Africans cannot get enough bakkies and minibuses. Of the 43 251 units sold last month, 14 123 units were bakkies or taxi vans, up 932 units (7,1%) from the 13 191 light commercial vehicles sold during the corresponding month last year. Naamsa said it expected the light commercial vehicle market to continue growing over the medium term. Sales in the medium and heavy truck segments of the industry had also performed remarkably well and at 662 units and 1 466 units, respectively, reflected an improvement of 14,3% for medium commercial vehicles and 8% for heavy trucks and buses. Exports of mostly bakkies also continued to show strong growth, with 6 202 vehicles exported in February — up 22,5% on February last year. The auto trade expects export sales to reach 400 000 units in 2019 compared to the 351 139 vehicles exported last year. Out of the total reported Industry sales of 43 251 vehicles, 82,7% represented dealer sales, some 10% were sales to the rental industry, 3,9% to government and 3,4% for corporate fleets. Naamsa expects post-election policy reforms and government’s commitment to revitalise the South African economy with the aim of achieving a substantially higher economic growth rate should also translate into improved domestic sales numbers during the second half of 2019. Overall, an improved second half performance in terms of sales was expected while vehicle production levels will continue to benefit from strong vehicle export sales. — WR.
FEDEX STARTS SAME-DAY BOT TESTS
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LEGENDARY racing driver Tschops Sipuka made his return to national circuit racing with Terry Moss Racing and the Audi South Africa team in the 2019 Global Touring Cars (GTC) Championship, at Dezzi Raceway over the weekend. Having started his racing career with Terry Moss Racing in 1999, six years have passed since the 40-year-old last drove for the Port Elizabeth team but he will create a formidable duo with former team-mate and last year’s GTC runner-up, Simon Moss. Born and bred in Qumbu in the Transkei, Sipuka competed in a diverse range of categories locally and globally, including Formula Volkswagen in Germany, a 25-hour endurance race at Spa Franchorchamps, saloon car racing in Malaysia and Super Truck racing in South Africa. But it is his record wins with Terry Moss Racing that stand out most, having won the Volkswagen Polo Cup titles back-to-back in 2002 and 2003. “After I finished driving and started Terry Moss Racing in 1991, the man that migrated to Audi with me was Tschops Sipuka, and when we were looking at our team restructure for 2019, I thought to myself that there’s no one better to join the team than Tschops,” said team owner Terry Moss. Sipuka has not raced nationally since 2012 and the former Audi driver said he is looking forward to again steering
and BAIC in Port Elizabeth are safe in the medium term. This does not mean, however, that South Africa’s vehicle industries do not have to brace for change, as industrial cities in Germany, the seat of car manufacture in Europe, are now doing. The IG Metall union reports Germany may already have reached “peak car” and that employment in automotive trades will start to decline this year. More than a third of Germany’s 210 000 jobs in engine and transmission production will disappear by 2030, IG Metall says. “Carmakers can only survive as mobility-service providers, not as auto manufacturers,” says Horst Lischka, IG Metall’s Munich head and a member of BMW AG’s supervisory board. • alwyn.viljoen@witness.co.za.
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INTERNATIONAL courier company FedEx is testing the SameDay Bot — an autonomous delivery device designed to help retailers make same-day and lastmile deliveries to their customers. With the bot, retailers will be able to accept orders from nearby customers and deliver them by bot directly to customers’ homes or businesses the same day. FedEx is collaborating with companies such as AutoZone, Lowe’s, Pizza Hut, Target, Walgreens and Walmart to help assess retailers’ autonomous delivery needs. On average, more than 60% of merchants’ customers live less than five kilometres from a store location, demonstrating the opportunity for on-demand, hyper-local delivery. The FedEx bot is being developed in collaboration with DEKA Development & Research Corp. and its founder Dean Kamen, inventor of many life-changing technologies, including the iBot Personal Mobility Device and the Segway. Proprietary technology makes the bot highly CV Joint capable, allowing it to navigate unpaved surfaspeCialists ces, kerbs, and even steps for an extraordinary for CV joints, ball joints, door-to-door delivery experience. tie rod ends, wheel bearings. FedEx plans to test the bot this summer in 341 GReYlinG stReet select markets, including Memphis, Tennessee, pending final city approvals. Pmb. 033 342 9174/75 — WR.
This 1969 VW Beetle, named ‘Boy’ is shining proof of a son’s love for his late father and its lost and found story can be heard at the V-Dub meet and greet at the VSCC in Pietermaritzburg on March 16. Entry is free and all fellow VW enthusiasts are welcome.
EVENTS DIARY
The FedEx SameDay parcel delivery robot can climb pavements and teach itself to recognise obstacles en route to deliver everything from pizzas to car parts in a five kilometre radius around a merchant’s store.
• Saturday: Kleboc Jolivet National X-Country Round 2 at Sutherland Farm. • April 7: KZN X-Country Round 3 and Enduro Round 1 at New Hanover. • April 20: Monster Jam Durban, fans must book through Computicket, and are warned against buying from other sources.