12 minute read
NEWS
SsangYong applies for Bankruptcy Protection
The South Korean pickup and SUV manufacturer, SsangYong Motor Company, has applied for bankruptcy protection in Korea after the company defaulted on 60 billion won (£40.4 million) in loans and interest to JP Morgan Chase, Bank of America and BNP Paribas that became payable on 14 December.
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Due to worsening business conditions, SsangYong delayed repayment and the company has been seeking to extend the maturity date with its lenders, without success, and decided to apply for rehabilitation procedures to avoid interrupting its business operations.
SsangYong will now apply for a Company Property Preservative Measure, a General Prohibition Order and Autonomous Restructuring Support. The decision of whether to commence with the rehabilitation procedures is to be agreed with stakeholders, but the company plans to resolve the current liquidity issue before the rehabilitation procedures are commenced by applying for Autonomous Restructuring Support.
In case you were wondering (I was!), Autonomous Restructuring Support is a private restructuring support programme made with the court which delays the initiation of the rehabilitation procedures by up to three months while the company continues its attempts at private restructuring.
During this period, the company continues its normal business activities, and when the company and its interested parties reach the final agreement for the restructuring, the rehabilitation procedure application is withdrawn, and it returns to its normal company status.
Parent company Mahindra & Mahindra, which owns 75% of SsangYong, refused to invest more money into SsangYong earlier in the year and instead urged SYMC to find alternate sources of funding. An official source from SYMC said; “We very much regret this situation which is the result of the difficulties being experienced from the worldwide COVID-19 situation, and the concern caused to our partners and stakeholders, especially our employees, sales networks and financial institutions. We are making every effort to transform the situation, and to build a more robust and competitive company for the future.”
In the meantime, SsangYong Motors UK continues to operate as normal. Kevin Griffin, managing director for the brand in the UK, said: “Whilst this situation is not ideal, I strongly believe that the Autonomous Restructuring Programme will result in the birth of a stronger company. I want to reiterate that our UK operations are totally unaffected, and we are very much open for business.”
SsangYong has 65 dealers in the UK, with numbers growing as it acquires dealers who are leaving the Mitsubishi network, though this has understandably been put on hold.
News
New Defender set to play vital role in Dakar 2021
Land Rover returns to the Dakar in 2021 taking on the ultimate all-terrain challenge with two Defender 110 support vehicles for the Prodrive-backed team, Bahrain Raid Xtreme (BRX) throughout the 7,646 kilometre (4,751-mile) race.
The pair of New Defender 110s will have to negotiate extreme conditions, traversing desert dunes, mud, camel grass and rocks as they carry vital supplies, crew and equipment for the team and drivers. BRX’s driver lineup includes nine-time World Rally Champion, Sébastien Loeb, from France, and two-time Dakar Rally winner, Nani Roma, from Spain.
The showroom-standard models will also provide essential support for crew members, who will camp, eat and sleep in the P400 models across 12 gruelling stages of desert driving.
The Indus Silver models are powered by Land Rover’s 400PS straight-six Ingenium petrol engine, featuring Mild Hybrid Electric Vehicle technology, and are fitted with the Explorer Pack, which includes an Expedition Roof Rack, Raised Air Intake, Wheel Arch Protection and Exterior Side-Mounted Gear Carrier. In addition, a Deployable Roof Ladder provides easy access to a roof box, which will help BRX carry all the necessary kit.
The role of support vehicle will see crew members test the Defender’s expedition credentials to the extremes. With a maximum payload of up to 900kg and maximum dynamic roof load of 168kg, each of the vehicles will be loaded with equipment and supplies, while advanced Terrain Response 2 technology, including world-first Configurable Terrain Response, will allow the drivers to fine-tune the vehicle to suit both their driving preferences and the challenging conditions.
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Volkswagen Beetle turns 75
Okay. this may not be 4x4 news, but as it’s to do with an iconic vehicle, we thought we’d share...
On December 27, 1945 the serial production of the Volkswagen Limousine (Type 1) got started. This was the real beginning of the success story of the Volkswagen. The model had originally been planned as a prestige project of the National Socialists, but from 1939 onwards the Wolfsburg plant had produced armaments instead of vehicles.
Up to the end of World War II, only 630 units of the model, which had been renamed 'KdF-Wagen' in 1938, left the Volkswagen plant.
Series production of the civilian Volkswagen, referred to internally as 'Type 1', which later became world-famous as the 'Beetle', only started following the end of World War II under the trusteeship over Volkswagenwerk GmbH which had been assumed by the British Military Government in June 1945.
The British intended to use the Volkswagen Type 1 to perform urgently needed transport tasks within their occupation zone. It was this British pragmatism that finally protected the plant against impending demolition.
Senior Resident Officer Major Ivan Hirst played a key role in this development. It was his farsightedness and talent for improvisation that made it possible to start automobile production in the years of rationing under conditions dominated by shortages. With his enthusiasm for technology and cars, his purposefulness and distinct attitude, he succeeded in transforming a former armaments plant into a civilian industrial company in an impressively short space of time.
The British Military Government had already issued an order for 20,000 vehicles in August 1945. The start of production was a visible sign of a new beginning and hope at the factory which had been largely destroyed by the end of World War II. This solution was in line with later British policy for Germany, which saw financial security and future prospects for the population as key elements in the development of democratic structures.
Nevertheless, there were considerable problems in supplying the workforce with food and living space and production was hampered by raw material and energy supply bottlenecks.
Despite these difficult conditions, the first Volkswagen sedan left the production line shortly after Christmas. Wolfsburg and Volkswagenwerk GmbH received a belated Christmas present only eight months after the end of the war. By the end of 1945, 55 vehicles had been produced.
From 1946 up to the currency reform, about 1,000 vehicles were produced per month. It was not possible to produce more vehicles in view of material shortages and rationing as well as a lack of personnel.
The trustees responsible laid the foundations for further growth of the company by the fall of 1949. They established a sales and aftersales service system and began to export the Volkswagen sedan in 1947.
The decision to develop a civilian factory and to start series production of the Volkswagen Type 1 was the starting point of a unique success story. Thanks to the early restart, the Volkswagenwerk GmbH got an excellent initial position for the economic upswing after the introduction of the D-Mark.
Under the unofficial designation of 'VW Beetle', the car became more popular than almost any other automobile model throughout the world. It was also a record breaker in terms of production duration and volume. Volkswagen only discontinued production of the VW Beetle in Mexico in 2003, after 21,529,464 vehicles had been manufactured, including about 15.8 million in Germany.
The Love Bug Legacy
by Muddy Madam
There are plenty of famous cars - Bandit's Pontiac Firebird Trans Am, the Batmobile (in its many incarnations) and Mad Max's ride of choice, the 1974 Ford Falcon XB GT to name three, but the VW Beetle is the only vehicle in the world that has had the main starring role in 5 films, and it's own TV series!
The first film, made way back in 1968, was The Love Bug about a down-on-his-luck race car driver. Fortunately his luck changes when he discovers a secondhand Beetle while looking to buy a cheap car, however he gets more than he bargained for, as his new purchase seems to have a mind of its own. He nicknames the car Herbie, and with it he starts winning one race after another, driving its previous owner, snooty car salesman and racing driver, crazy, and plenty of slapstick style hilarity ensues.
The Love Bug film proved so popular, taking over $50million at the box office ($389,564,371.26 in today's money), that it spawned 3 more sequels between 1974 and 1980, and in 2005 Disney gave Herbie a reboot, using the new style Beetle in the film Herbie Fully Loaded. As I mentioned earlier it also spawned a TV series in 1982, but unfortunately it only lasted 5 episodes.
Love it or hate it (I personally love it), the VW Beetle is probably the most famous car in the world, mainly thanks to Herbie!
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Polaris PZR essential in the making of The Grand Tour
In the latest episode, ‘The Grand Tour: A Massive Hunt’ on Amazon Prime Video, the team take on expeditions across some of the most remote and exotic parts of the world, and some of the roughest roads imaginable on the island of Madagascar. For this reason, The Grand Tour production team chose the Polaris RZR to assist behind the scenes to overcome the challenging conditions experienced along the way.
The episode follows Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May as they search for real pirate treasure that remains the most sought after in the world. Their journey starts off on the island of Reunion; a French outpost in the Indian Ocean, showcasing its impressive infrastructure, then leading on to the neighbouring African island of Madagascar, known for its unique wildlife, diverse terrain and breathtaking landscapes.
To navigate the demanding and unnerving route, the Grand Tour team needed a vehicle they could trust in case they found themselves in a dangerous situation. It also needed to manage the huge obstacles with ease so they could safely transport the delicate camera equipment from A to B, and the RZR XP 4 1000 did just that with the additional seat space to fit crew members too.
Phil Churchward, Series Director of The Grand Tour, said
Customised with a poly roof, windscreen, LED light bars and secure cargo boxes, the RZR offered a unique vehicle that the team could depend upon. The Polaris distributor in Madagascar, CT Motors, prepared the vehicle with all additional parts and modifications to ensure it was ready to take on the difficult route – including the addition of larger 15-inch tyres and a spare, just in case. Fully prepared and tested at CT Motors based in Antananarivo, Madagascar, the unit was then transported for 8 hours across to Toamasina, the start of the RN5 route.
All electric Subaru coming News
Subaru Europe, the subsidiary of Subaru Corporation in Europe, today confirmed the company is preparing for the launch of a full electric vehicle.
Scheduled for introduction in the first half of 2020’s, Subaru’s allelectric vehicle will be a mid-size SUV, similar in size to the Subaru Forester model. Interestingly it will be built on a platform shared with Toyota.
Subaru weren’t offering up much in the way of specifics, though they did say that additional information will be shared sometime next year, so I guess we'll just have to wait.
The news underlines Subaru’s efforts to reduce its environmental footprint in Europe, and satisfy a growing demand for alternative powertrains.
It also signals the brand’s second electrification step in Europe after it recently launched mild-hybrid variants of two core models in the region, where the Subaru XV e-BOXER and Forester e-BOXER models today represents 60% of the sales volume.
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Vauxhall reveals British-built Vivaro Elite Campervan
Vauxhall has revealed first pictures of its British-built and converted Vivaro Elite Campervan, a fully-approved campervan conversion of its best-selling Vivaro van. An all-electric version based on the multi award-winning Vivaro-e is also in the pipeline.
Based on the Elite trim level, and converted by specialists Wellhouse Leisure, the Vivaro Elite Campervan will be on sale in early 2021, with prices starting from £46,000.
The four-seater camper van features an elevated roof system with an upper roof bed (optional), a 25-litre compressor fridge, on-board water tank, 12V and 240V power units and a 2.2kW heating system. Also included as standard is a gas-powered kitchen with two hobs and full interior lighting.
Sleeping space is provided via a folding bed, while a leisure battery and a 100W solar panel help power and recharge appliances. Both the driver and passenger seats have a swivel function and buyers can add an optional fifth seat.
The Vauxhall Vivaro Elite comes standard with 17-inch wheels, front and rear parking sensors and a rear parking camera, a headup display, semi-adaptive cruise control and Vauxhall’s Multimedia Navi Pro system with built-in sat-nav.
The fully approved van conversion by specialists Wellhouse Leisure ensures the Vivaro’s three-year/100,000-mile warranty remains intact.
Based in Barnsley, Wellhouse Leisure has more than 15 years’ experience in building and converting campervans. All Wellhouse campervans meet the rigid second stage European Whole Vehicle Type Approval (EC WVTA) criteria.
