Author:charleen-clarke
One cannot help but admire the Haval brand. When parent company GWM South Africa launched the brand little over a year ago, it certainly looked promising. After all, Haval is Chinaโs best-selling SUV brand and the GWM brand had already built a solid reputation for itself on local soil in the ten years prior. (Today, GWM remains active in the bakkie segment of the market, while Haval is now the name associated with the companyโs passenger cars.) My first taste […]
Andreas Renschler and Volkswagen Truck & Bus are really in the news! This has been a long time coming. So much was expected of Renschler when he joined the Volkswagen board on February 1, 2015. The company had waited for the long-serving Daimler executive for a year (he obviously had a restraint of trade in place). For a while, it seemed as though he wasnโt going to make a huge difference โฆ because it was business as usualโฆ Well, in […]
As South Africans, we all love to complain. In fact, Iโm convinced itโs an official national pastime! One of our favourite topics is the bad condition of roads in South Africaโฆ However, it seems that weโre not alone. According to road safety and breakdown recovery specialist GEM Motoring Assist, the roads in the United Kingdom (UK) ainโt looking too posh either. โThe UK road network is in an appalling state, with more than 24 000 miles (38ย 600 km) of road […]
Volvo Trucks has introduced its first all-electric truck for commercial use โ the Volvo FL Electric for urban distribution and refuse operations, among other applications. Sales and series production of the new model will start in Europe next year. โWeโre immensely proud to present the first in a range of fully electrically powered Volvo trucks ready for regular traffic. With this model we are making it possible for cities that aim for sustainable urban development to benefit from the advantages […]
A month ago or so, you might have seen the comparative test between the Toyota Fortuner 2.4 GD-6 4ร4 and the Mitsubishi Pajero Sport 2.4 4ร2 โ in which I declared the Pajero Sport my favourite vehicle in the segment and one that deserves to do much better in this segmentโs one-sided sales race. This week I have what โ admittedly โ is the vehicle that shouldโve featured in the comparison with the Fortuner, the 4ร4 version of the Pajero […]
The all-new Actros and Arocs will be launched in South Africa in May and September this year respectively. CHARLEEN CLARKE jetted to Dubai to get a sneak preview of both of these vehicles. In South Africa, we always talk about the demanding conditions in which trucks operate. This market isnโt for sissies, we say (rather proudly). Having just been to Dubai and experienced operating conditions there first-hand, I can categorically state that we are wrong! I was invited to Dubai […]
Automotive suppliers in South Africa can prosper โ and make big moolah (despite the many challenges that they face). However, they need to address certain issues, inlcuding capital expenditure (capex) and training. These are two of the findings of a special report called the South African Automotive Supplier Industry Benchmark Report 2018. FOCUS attended a special function to mark the release of this report, which is produced for the National Association of Automotive Component and Allied Manufacturers (Naacam), on Tuesday […]
Thereโs a massive shortage of truck drivers in the United States; it stands at about 50ย 000 right now, and this is estimated to grow to 174ย 000 by 2026. Given this situation, Uber is testing a freight-delivery method that blends self-driving and conventional driver-operated trucks to relieve drivers from too much time spent away from home. Human beings are better suited at manoeuvring trucks in busy cities; autonomous driving is better suited to tedious highway driving (because a self-driving truck doesnโt […]
While some companies (especially here in South Africa) are battling to survive, Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles (VWCV) is romping to the bank vault โ having made its highest profit ever! Last year, VWCV delivered around 498 000 vehicles to customers all over the world (versus 478 000 in 2016). Sales revenue rose to around โฌ11,9 billion (R176 billion) โ versus โฌ11,1 billion (R165 billion) in 2016. Profit soared to โฌ853 million (R12,6 billion) โ versus โฌ455 million (R6,8 billion) in 2016. […]
An awesome new Land Rover Discovery has gone on sale in the United Kingdom. Itโs called the Discovery Commercial and itโs a rather sexy alternative to a van or bakkie. Instead of seats in the second and third row, it comes with a rather handy 1 856 litres of cargo space. Available with Land Roverโs Ingenium 2.0D SD4ย 179 kW and 3.0D TD6ย 192 kW engines, the Discovery Commercial shares the fundamental underpinnings of the regular Discovery, so you can deliver that […]
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