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THE WITNESS
DECEMBER 19, 2019
MOTORING
www.witness.co.za
Key Group to service Peugeots
Munching the miles
IT has been a busy two weeks for Peugeot and Citroën on local and international fronts. First Peugeot Citroën South Africa announced it has ceased operations with FMGH group that manages Peugeot Pietermaritzburg. “As of Friday, 13 December 2019 the FMGH group will no longer sell new Peugeot vehicles or carry out warranties or services on their premises,” MD of Peugeot Citroën South Africa, Xavier Gobille said said in a statement. “It is with regret that we are parting ways with FMGH in Pietermartizburg and we’d like to thank them for the services.” The Key Group took over aftersales operations in Pietermaritzburg on Tuesday, working from 2 Peter Kerchoff Street in Pietemaritzburg. Customers wanting to service or maintain their vehicles can contact Key Pietermaritzburg on 033 345 2542 or on e-mail pmburgservice@keygroup.co.za. Customers can also visit our website on www.peugeot.co.za or contact our call centre on 0860 655 2683. Then Peugeot S.A. (PSA) and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles last week announced a Combination Agreement providing for a 50/50 merger of their businesses to create the fourth largest global automotive OEM by volume and third largest by revenue. The combined company will have annual unit sales of 8,7 million vehicles, which puts it in the same league as the Renault–Nissan–Mitsubishi Alliance. Aside from closing under-performing dealerships in towns like Maritzburg, the new group said it will have a much greater geographic balance with 46% of revenues derived from Europe, mainly in France and Italy, and 43% from North America. The new combination also plans “to reshape the strategy in other regions”, like China, where the PSA Group and its Chinese partner Dongfeng Group in September restructure their joint venture operations to cut costs and boost annual sales to 400 000 vehicles by 2025. — WR.
New Venue offers savvy design and convenience features that are tough enough for the R56 ALWYN VILJOEN THE first thing I checked in Hyundai’s latest small sports utility, the Venue, was whether it had a full size spare. For I was about to embark on two-day, 1500 km road trip along the R56, a stretch of tar road that has all the scenic potential to become a legendary tourist drive like Route 66 in the U.S. I must confess, I had my misgivings. The all-new Venue looks chunky, but its is a small A-segment car with a three-cylinder petrol mill “aimed at urban adventurers”. Would its whine drive me dotty on the long Karoo roads? Will the cruise control maintain speed up and over the Eastern Cape’s mountains? Before answering these questions, let’s explain the name. Hyundai has been in the habit of naming its SUVs after a city or place. With the “Venue” they decided to go generic, naming the car “the place to be” while reaching the final desired destination, wherever that may be. “The Venue is an exceptional small SUV that offers a powerful and very efficient turbocharged engine, outstanding comfort and convenience levels and many safety features,” says Stanley Anderson, sales and operations director of Hyundai Automotive South Africa. He launched the Venue in three speci-
Hyundai’s Venue is a comfortable place to be on a long road trip. PHOTO: ALWYN VILJOEN
fication levels: the entry-level Motion on 15-inch wheels, and on 16-inch wheels, the middle section Fluid and the rangetopping Glide, which I got to drive. That extra inch helped to absorb the shock of a large pothole outside Richmond. All three versions have Electronic Stability Control, while the Glide has
side lamps that light up the pavement, or side of the road when turning. All three models come with electronic stability control electronic brake-force distribution and brake assist, all of which work in a simulated emergency stop. All Venues also come with Hill Start Assist Control. Inside, there is enough
leg, head and shoulder room for four adults and a 350-litre boot for their luggage. Even with four adults on board, the overstroked little engine’s 88 kW and 172 Nm happily growled over hill and dale with the cruise control set at a 100 km/h — thanks to those Newtons kicking in
BRIDGESTONE SA MAKES FIRST 19”
from a low 1 500 r/min. At 100 km/h, the on-board computer reported a best consumption of 6,1 l/100 km, which beats Hyundai’s official 6,5 l/100 km. The Glide has a seven-speed DCT gearbox, which are ideal for hard riding, but overkill for a car aimed at urban drivers and it cannot decide which gear to be in at constant low speeds. I did like that the infotainment system’s 8-inch Display Audio touchscreen does not reflect the sunlight, as many of these screens do, and that my ancient phone easily paired with Hyundai’s system. In the very dry Eastern Cape, glovebox cooling kept fresh the excellent chutney biltong from a tiny butchery in Eliot, while rear air conditioning ducts — rare in small cars — kept the passengers in a similar state. The Venue has many worthy competitors, including the Renault Duster, Ford EcoSport, Haval H1, and VW T-Cross, but the seven-year or 200 000km warranty, seven-year or 150 000 km roadside assistance, and a thee-year or 45 000 km service plan trumps ’em all. Venue 1,0 prices Motion (manual) R274 900 Motion (DCT) R 304 900 Fluid (manual) R 309 900 Fluid (DCT) R 339 900 Glide (DCT) R369 900
Murray’s latest supercar uses a big fan ALWYN VILJOEN AFTER delivering the OX, a boxy 4x2 truck designed for developing markets, Durban-raised Professor Gordon Murray changed tack and last week shared details of T.50, a “fan car” that Murray said “rewrites the rulebook for road-car aerodynamics”. Murray said in a statement the T.50 will have the most advanced and most effective ground-effects and aerodynamics “ever seen on a road car”. The driver can choose between six aero modes to optimise handling or straight line performance
Vmax Mode and ram induction boost the output from the T.50’s V12 engine to 700hp (529 kW) from 650 hp. This engine is also the highest revving in the world right now, redlining at 12 100 rpm. Murray said he designed “functional bodywork” with the proportions and styling of the 980 kg car shaped by aerodynamics. The flowing upper surfaces end in a rear that is dominated by a prominent 400 mm-diameter fan. Murray used the big fan, engine exhaust, ground effect diffusers and engine bay cooling as styling features. “We were highly focused on achieving
the purest possible form for the T.50, an objective we’ve achieved through worldfirst engineering innovations and active underbody aerodynamics. We will reveal the completed design at the T.50 supercar’s global debut in May,” Murray said. The super car sells for £2 million (over R37, 5 million) and only 100 cars will be built. Most of them have already been allocated to enthusiasts, with the first T.50s to be delivered in May. Murray said his latest super car had generated more demand and from a wider than expected global customer base, with a significant number of T.50s heading to buyers in the U.S. and Japan.
BRIDGESTONE South Africa has become the first local manufacturer to produce 19-inch tyres, thanks to an investment in new technology at its Brits facility. The new tyres are being produced for the BMW X3, which is manufactured in nearby Rosslin. The company said in a statement South African manufacturers face stiff competition from overseas imports, and factories needed to invest wisely in new equipment to carve out new niches in both the domestic and global markets. Bridgstone said the equipment to make 19-inch tyres added new capability in the local tyre manufacturing market and forms part of its initiative to equip local workers for the Fourth Industrial Revolution. — WR.
EUROPE MOVES TO 0% BY 2025 THE European Commission has announced measures to make fossil fuel cars very expensive by 2025, according to the EU’s new Green Deal, unveiled last week. Under this environmental pact, the EU will revise car and van standards by 2021 “to ensure zeroemission mobility” from 2025 using a combination of new standards, and ubiquitous charging infrastructure. After 2021, new cars will have to emit less than 95g of CO2 under the current rules, although EU officials say that the figure will have to drop to zero in the 2030s. Electric vehicles are on course to form the backbone of the Commission’s plans to green mobility, although the Green Deal does make mention of boosting alternative fuelling structures like hydrogen and methanol fuels. The commission is also planning a review of trucking emissions in 2022. — WR.
CV Joint speCialists
for CV joints, ball joints, tie rod ends, wheel bearings.
Gordon Murray’s latest supercar makes the most of ground effects to improve handling and traction.
341 GReYlinG stReet Pmb. 033 342 9174/75
YEAR END SAVINGS AT RENAULT PMB 2015 Chev Spark 1.2LS A/C, P/S, E/W
2019 Kwid Auto AMT
GET A RENAULT KWID from
Low mileage, full house
AUTO
EXPRESSION
CHOICE OF 2
R139 900
WAS R159 900
2010 Toyota Corolla Advance
R89 900
WAS R109 900
2019 NP200 1.6 8 VALVE
Full house, Mags
P/s, bin liing, deliver mileage, manual
AS
NE
R135 500 DYNAMIQUE
W
AUTO
R144 500
2014 Chev Utility 1.4i
2015 Picanto 1.0 LS
A/c , p/s , canopy
A/C, P/S, E/W
SIMILAR TO PIC
R89 900
WAS R109 900
2018 Renault Sandero 900t Expression
R104 900
WAS R139 900
2013 Nissan Qashqai 2.0 Acentia
Full house
Colours to Choose
AMT (AUTO)
R134 900
WAS R149 900
2018 Renault Stepway 900t Expression Full House
R149 900
WAS R179 900
2018 Clio Dynamique 900t
R156 500
Full house
R149 900
WAS R159 900
2014 Navara 2.5 4x4 Manual Canopy, bull bar, tow bar
MA SP N AGE EC RS IAL
R154 900
WAS R179 900
2018 Renault Duster 1.5 4x4 Dynamique Full house
Colours to Choose
R159 900
WAS R174 900
R189 900
R239 900
WAS R229 900
WAS R279 900
R239 900
WAS R259 900
DEMO DEMO DEMO
2019 Stepway 900T Plus
Full house, Leather S/Grab
2019 Renault Megane IV 1.6 Expression
DEMO
S/Grab
DEMO
2019 Duster 1.5 DCi Dynamique FULL house, Manual DEMO
WAS R289 900
R209 900
WAS R249 900
R269 900
WAS R289 900
R309 900
DEMO
AUTO
WAS R349 900
087 803 1999
087 893 0488
2019 Renault Koleos Dynamique
Full house
DEMO
AUTO
SIMILAR TO PIC
R209 900
2019 Duster 1.5 Dynamique
Full house, Extra’s Side Step, Tow Bar, Front Bar, S/Grab
R449 900 Hlengiwe Zulu
WAS R499 900
087 896 6665