GINIEL, TOYOTA SA, DAKAR: HISTORY MADE!

Toyota made history at the 2012 Dakar Rally in South America when three Toyota Hilux pickups built and developed in South Africa by Toyota Motorsport finished third, sixth and 11th in an 8 000-kilometre 15-day marathon that saw the original 161 starters in the car category reduced to 79 at the finish.

GEELY PARTNERS WITH THE FRENCH

Geely has announced a strategic partnership with Faurecia France, a global Fortune 500 company and the sixth largest automotive parts supplier in the world, to form a joint venture manufacturing automotive exhaust systems.
 

AUDI R8 GT SPYDER COMES TO MZANSI

Following on the sold-out success of the Audi R8 GT Coupé, Audi South Africa is now introducing the Audi R8 GT Spyder on special order. Like the Coupé, the open-top version of the high-performance sports car is capped at 333 units scheduled for production 2012. Each car sports an individual number on the gear lever knob.
 

OVER 3000 MZANSI MINIS AFFECTED BY GLOBAL RECALL

If you are a MINI owner or driver, or you know someone who drives these lovely little cars, you may want to read this carefully. It’s a press statement we received from BMW South Africa this morning regarding a global recall for pretty much the entire MINI range.

LIFE AFTER FORD: VOLVO LOOKING FOR NEW MATE

Volvo Cars used to be owned by Ford of the United States. Now it’s owned by Geely of China. The relationship with Ford means the two are still tied together in terms of some technologies and powertrains they both use. But this will all end in 2017, and Volvo wants to ensure it’s not left out in the cold when it happens.

NEW KIA CEE'D PICTURES OUT

The all-new Kia Cee’d may be coming to South Africa later this year. Maybe. It definitely arrives in Europe in the second quarter. For now what we have for sure are these official pictures. The car will be unveiled at the 2012 Geneva International Motor Show this coming March. Where it’s placed relative to the new Rio is a bit of a mystery to us though, but we expect it to be priced higher.

BENTLEY WOOING MAYBACH OWNERS

Bentley is apparently doing its utmost to woo Maybach clients. Remember Maybach? It’s a car brand owned by Daimler AG, which also owns Mercedes-Benz. Last year the company decided to kill Maybach, and will instead create more high-end, expensive S-Class models to keep Maybach customers happy. Word is, they currently aren’t already, no thanks to being left in the lurch after paying top dollar to join an exclusive club.

NEW CHINA DEALERSHIP FOR ASTON MARTIN

After significant investment and growth in China, Aston Martin continues its bold expansion, with the recent opening of the luxury British marque’s largest flagship showroom, in the Pudong district of Shanghai.

TOYOTA NS4 ADVANCED HYBRID COMING IN 2015?

The recently-previewed Toyota NS4 Advanced Plug-In Hybrid Concept certainly raises a few eyebrows, and answers a few pending questions regarding its maker. It was unveiled at the 2012 North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) in Detroit.

NISSAN JUKE-R HAS CRAZY PERFORMANCE!

The crazy Nissan Juke-R is based on the regular Juke, a small-sized SUV/ crossover/ hatch. Love it or loathe it, the Juke has made a strong impact on Nissan sales so far. And the Juke-R is just the right concept to attract even more buyers to it.

MAD MINI GP BACK ON THE BLOCK?

American publication Car and Driver says it has absolute confirmation from one of the MINI North America executives that the BMW brand is about to unleash hell upon us. Back in 2006 MINI released the John Cooper Works GP edition which was extremely limited in availability. Actually if I recall, there were only 29 sold in Mzansi. Apparently the MINI GP is making a return.

AUDI A6 ALLROAD FOR EUROPE

An all-new allroad version of the A6 has been announced for the European market. You’ll remember the allroad that was in South Africa in the early 2000s. We drove it and loved it. Now Audi plans to woo customers who aren’t too interested in the Q7 but are quite attracted to the A6 as an alternative.

A 160KW BMW 125i COULD BE ON ITS WAY TO MZANSI

Last week we reported that BMW South Africa was planning a basketful of new product launches this year, as many as 12 or 13 in total. We mentioned one of them as being added derivatives of the new 1 Series hatch. Well, we think we’ve figured out at least two of these.