This Week In The News

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NEWS IN SHORT

  • Someone spent R376,000 in one Takealot order on Black Friday.
  • We are not running a charity — Volkswagen boss sends big warning over South African factory.
  • Naamsa CEO Mikel Mabasa slammed the lack of urgency on pronouncements around government policy to support or encourage and stimulate NEVs in South Africa as absolutely “pedestrian”
  • The Limpopo Provincial Government has spent R55 million for 102 bakkies to gift to “deserving traditional leaders” in the province. The state already allocates over R1.2 billion annually to traditional leaders.
  • 18 new cars launching in South Africa in the coming months
  • The Telsa’s Cybertruck hasn’t even hit the market yet, and Elon Musk already is lamenting that Tesla has dug its own grave.
  • The new Ford Territory will touch down in South Africa in 2024, and it is poised to compete in the fiercely popular mid-size SUV segment.

Volkswagen Passenger Car CEO Thomas Schäfer

“We are not running a charity” — Volkswagen boss sends big warning over South African factory.

Volkswagen’s global passenger car boss has expressed concern over the future viability of the German automotive giant’s operations in South Africa, Reuters reports.

On Friday, Volkswagen Passenger Car CEO Thomas Schäfer said factors like the country’s competitive labour costs once put the South African factory among the manufacturer’s best performers globally.
The VW Kariega plant in the Eastern Cape has been assembling cars for over 70 years.

It currently manufactures the highly popular Polo and Polo Vivo hatchbacks and employs over 3,500 people. The plant has played a vital part in establishing Volkswagen’s popularity in South Africa, and it exports thousands of cars to international markets each year.

However, Schäfer said the cost of mitigating challenges like load-shedding, rising labour costs, and delays in railway transport and the movement of goods through South Africa’s ports had eaten away at the plant’s advantages.

“Eventually, you have to ask, ‘Why are we building cars in a less competitive factory somewhere far away from the real market where the consumption is?'” Schaefer said. “I’m very worried about it … We’re not in the business of charity.”

Naamsa CEO Mikel Mabasa said that the production of vehicles was no longer about a fight between the manufacturers themselves; it had become a battle between countries due to the high contribution of this industry to economic growth and job creation.

“The world is not waiting… Other markets have been absolutely clear about what their policies are going to be,” Mabasa said. Mabasa warned that the global headquarters of car manufacturing firms urgently needed to make decisions on whether their next production lines were going to be in South Africa or elsewhere. “For them to do so, they need to be able to posture based on whether governments in the countries where they are operating are able to give them some policy certainty,” Mabasa said. “If the South African government remains silent, as it has been for the longest time, it obviously puts a lot of pressure on our local manufacturers.”

The Department of Trade, Industry, and Competition (DTIC) previously committed to publishing an automotive green paper on NEV’s by the end of the calendar year.

NOVEMBER 2023 SALES DATA USED CARS

THE 5 BEST USED CAR SELLERS
• TOYOTA
• FORD
• VOLKSWAGEN
• BMW
• HYUNDAI

TOP 10 DERIVATIVES USED CAR SALES

• VOLKSWAGEN POLO VIVO 1.4 TRENDLINE (5DR)
• SUZUKI ERTIGA 1.5 GA
• VOLKSWAGEN POLO VIVO 1.4 COMFORTLINE (5DR)
• VOLKSWAGEN POLO 1.0 TSI COMFORTLINE
• FORD RANGER2.2TDCI XL P/U D/C
• NISSAN NP200 1.6 A/C SAFETY PACK P/U S/C
• VOLKSWAGEN POLO 1.0 TSI TREND LINE
• RENAULT KWID 1.0 DYNAMIQUE / ZEN 5DR
• CHERY TIGGO 4 PRO 1.5T ELITE SE CVT
• RENAULT TRIBER 1.0 DYNAMIQUE / ZEN

TOP 3 USED COMMERCIAL / BAKKIE SALES

• FORD RANGER 2.2TDCI XL P/U D/C
• NISSAN NP200 1.6 A/C SAFETY PACK P/U S/C
• FORD RANGER 2.2TDCI XL A/T P/U D/C

Average age of used vehicles sold : 5 Years

Big petrol price cut coming next week
The Department of Mineral Resources and Energy will announce fuel price changes before they come into effect on Wednesday, 6 December, where current data points to a cut for both petrol and diesel.

Daily under and over-recovery numbers from the Central Energy Fund (CEF) point to a petrol price cut of around R1.00 per liter, and a much bigger cut for diesel at between R2.22 and R2.28 per liter.

Did you know?

  • Thirty-One Percent of fatal accidents Involve alcohol.
  • Men more likely to cause an accident than women.
  • 74 316 km is the average mileage for all car sales in SA.
  • BMW is the most searched for car brand.
  • From April to June 2023, 5 488 cars were stolen in South Africa.
  • Hitler helped design a car, the Volkswagen Beetle.
  • Volkswagen produce more sausages than cars The Volkswagen currywurst is very popular and even has its own part number 199 398 500 A. It's been rolling off the production line at the firm's Wolfsburg factory for nearly 50 years now.