TOYOTA ETIOS: TAZZ REPLACEMENT LAUNCHED IN SA

When the Toyota Conquest stormed into the South African market back in the mid-1980s, who knew that it was the start of a 30 year love affair. Conquest was of course replaced by the Tazz, which, for all intents and purposes, remained Conquest under the skin, regardless of the new name. And for a while everything kept going right. That was until five years ago when Tazz vanished into thin air, leaving Toyota South Africa without a key to the youth’s heart.

CAR SALES ON THE UP IN MAY

Mzansi buyers continue to slurp up new cars like they were being offered on a 2-for-one special. Why, just last month (May 2012) sales of new motor vehicles went up by 20.7% compared to May 2011, and 17.8% over April. Granted April traditionally sees fewer buyers’ feet in showrooms because of the public holidays, but still, the figures are encouraging. At least for those of us who detest public transport.

MERCEDES-BENZ SLS AMG CHANGES NAME, UPS POWER

It hasn’t even been two years since it first launched, yet the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG has been updated and somewhat upgraded for the year 2012. In addition to increased power, SLS also gets interior refurbishments and get this, a brand new name!

HUSQVARNA ANNOUNCES SOUTH AFRICAN DISTRIBUTOR

Husqvarna Motorcycles, a BMW Group company, is proud to announce that CMH Marine and Leisure, a division of Combined Motor Holdings (PTY) Ltd. will be the new official importer and distributor for South Africa, Namibia and Lesotho.

MCLAREN MP4-12C GETS POWER BOOST

McLaren Automotive is apparently boosting the power output of its only supercar so far, the MP4-12C. The gullwinged rocket is powered by a 3.8-litre twin turbo motor working out a sweaty 441kW and 600Nm of torque. But wait, there’s more! Now you can get just a bit more of those kiloWatts, but only if you ask nicely.

BMW M PERFORMANCE SPRUCES UP MIGHTY M5

BMW in Europe has confirmed that its new M Performance division has been doing work on the M5. Just to be clear, there hasn’t been an improvement in power delivery, so it stays at 412kW and 680Nm of torque as standard. Changes however, are over the skin, so to speak.

CITROEN C1 FACELIFTED

Time for a fresh-up of the Citroën C1, the smallest member of this French outfit, and one that shares its very DNA with the Peugeot 107 and Toyota Aygo. So several ideas came through the kitchen and made their way into the car’s look and feel.