The June 2010 NAAMSA new vehicle sales results reflect the slow conditions of the market as, as many analysts predicted, soccer fever gripped the nation with the kick-off of the month-long international festival which is the Soccer World Cup tournament.
Thanks to our friends at Aveoforum.com we now have a pretty clear picture of what the new-generation Chevrolet Aveo will look like. Based on spy pictures captured while the car was testing, the Aveoforum gurus spent some time behind the screens of Photoshop to accurately depict what Chevy engineers had tried so hard to hide.
The lines are certainly sharp, but not complex. Chevy went for simpler, but funkier looks to take on the likes of Mazda2, Ford Fiesta and Volkswagen Polo.
The first official picture of the all-new addition to the Range Rover family is released today, following an exclusive preview in London for guests attending a 40th birthday celebration of Range Rover held with long time UK Range Rover partner, VOGUE magazine.
Named the Range Rover Evoque, this all-new coupé will join the Range Rover and Range Rover Sport in North American dealerships in fall, 2011. It will be the smallest, lightest and most fuel efficient Range Rover ever produced. The compact 4WD Range Rover Evoque is engineered to meet North American customer and regulatory demands for increased fuel efficiency in highly capable luxury SUVs.
The big winners at the 2010 International Engine of the Year Awards were Volkswagen, BMW and Mercedes-Benz. VW brand drove off with just two awards, yet it was not the quantity that mattered but the quality. It won 2010 International Engine of the Year, the kingpin of them all. Apart from that, it also took best 1 to 1.4-litre engine with the 1.4 TSI used in cars like the Golf, Scirocco, Jetta, Touran, Tiguan and the Seat Ibiza Cupra.
Ford has announced the establishment of a world class Supplier Incubation Facility in
Silverton, Pretoria that will provide skills development and training for BBBEE
companies.
The announcement follows the company’s confirmation of a R3 billion investment to
expand manufacturing operations for its next-generation global compact pickup truck
programme in Silverton, and Puma diesel engine production at its Struandale, Port
Elizabeth facility.
Jaguar Land Rover's new CEO, Dr Ralf Speth, initiated the challenge to the Jaguar engineering team to construct an XKR to celebrate Jaguar's 75th anniversary, which would deliver a combination of enhanced performance, superb chassis and steering control and grip levels to inspire the driving enthusiast to explore the true potential of the XKR's capabilities.
Mike O'Driscoll, managing director, Jaguar Cars, said "The XKR 75 will provide owners with exclusivity, excitement and a hint of Jaguar's great heritage. This is a fitting way to celebrate the sporting credentials of the XK marque in the 75th year of the Jaguar name", he continued.
Ecurie Ford France, one of the partners of the popular Le Mans Classic event which takes place between July 9th and 11th, has prepared a collection of just five Focus RS cars in unique colour schemes, each paying tribute to the Ford cars which made 'blue oval' history at the Le Mans 24 Hours.
Each of the five Focus RS Le Mans Classic vehicles will be finished in the colours of one of the Ford cars which made 24 Hours history for Ford. During the event itself, they will even carry the race number of the cars to which they’re paying tribute:
With South Africa confirmed as one of the destinations to which the McLaren MP4 12C is headed, it is now down to guesswork as to who gets the contract and where the dealership will be based. I still say Sandton, some people have suggested Cape Town. McLaren’s offices in the UK were not helpful either, only telling me that an announcement will be made in due course. Very PR indeed.
Meantime let’s check out McLaren F1’s racing Champions Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button as they take the supercar through its paces on this awesome video. Both seem exceptionally impressed of course, as I suspect they should.
As the national Taxi Recapitalisation Programme (TRP) gains momentum, taxi operators are looking for vehicles that not only meet TRP safety specifications but bring new levels of comfort, reliability and profitability to their fleets. While the local taxi industry has historically been dominated by Asian mini-bus derivatives, European ‘people-movers’ have entered this market following the implementation of the TRP in 2005, largely due to their greater carrying capacity and dual wheels on rear axles.
The best qualified driver to talk about the Belgian event is the 2009 winner and defending IRC champion Kris Meeke.
"Last year, when I first discovered the route during recce, I wondered where I had landed. It's such a strange, unique event," recalls Kris Meeke. "It's not until you actually get to do the stages in anger that you realise what a challenge they are. The roads are very fast, but also incredibly narrow, so your driving needs to be extremely precise and it isn't easy to pull out any real gaps. You have to hit the ground running and keep up a quick pace all the time, otherwise you can soon end up losing two or three places."
