automotive business review december 2009 / january 2010

From an automotive industry perspective, 2009 was effec-

tively a tale of two industries. For the new vehicle market,

with a dramatic three year cumulative drop in unit sales,

it was the worst of times, whereas for the automotive

aftermarket, judging from the avalanche of anecdotal evidence, it

was the best of times. The problem is that it is all anecdotal, as if

the companies riding on the crest of an ageing car parc do not

want to gloat or boast, preferring to look glum and nod in sympa-

thy with their tortured siblings. It is also a form of a security blan-

ket, which allows for decisions to be deferred and allowing time to

see if the situation will continue. The psyches have indeed been

deeply scarred by the misadventures of profligate brokers and

bankers. Three recent automotive aftermarket conferences con-

firmed this prognosis, with all the presentations confirming the

better than expected scenario, but no one shouting from the

rooftops. Gordon Odgers, CEO of Midas, put it into a nutshell at

the Midas Napa Convention 2009, when he said that “the really

good news is that in the automotive industry the aftermarket is the

best place to be, despite the challenges.”

This should be a call to arms for those sitting quietly on the side-

lines. All the economists are saying that we are entering the sweet

spot of the car parc; four to twelve year old cars are in the hands

of the motorists to an extent not seen before, and the industry

should not only be licking its lips in anticipation, it should be

aggressively pursuing this market, in many proactive ways; leverag-

ing working capital, advertising, marketing, sales promotions, and

all those good things. But all I see is hesitation and hand wringing,

the last refuge of insecure businessmen. Come on guys, get out of

your funk, and do something to make things happen. The world

is your oyster, and is there for the slurping. The automotive after-

market has never been for sissies, but for goodness sake, all I see is

handbags at twenty paces.

T h e P h o e n i x

D e c e m b e r 2 0 0 9 – J a n u a r y 2 0 1 02

w w w. a b r b u z z . c o . z a

Good Riddance to 20092009 was a watershed year for countries, companies, institutions, politicians andindividuals, with practically no one exempted from its effects. The overwhelmingmajority were impacted negatively, with the result being a general malaise and a lack-lustre approach from all and sundry, which does not really reflect reality. But, asthe marketers will tell you, perception is fact, so the challenge is to go into 2010with a new mood, and a new energy.

ABR’s message is to drop this attitude, and to say

sayonara to 2009, and to welcome 2010 in an

entrepreneurial embrace. As part of this exer-

cise, we have allocated a significant number of

pages of our December 2009/January 2010

issue to what we call our “Appreciation Section”.

Appreciation that we have seen 2009 through,

no matter how good or bad the year actually was. And apprecia-

tion that 2010 is going to be better, much better, for all, but with

the automotive aftermarket being “the best place to be”. The

response from the progressive and appreciative AAMA members

has been generally enthusiastic, and other similar minded compa-

nies have joined in the celebration. These will be the flag bearers of

the 2010 renaissance. To those still on the fence, get out those

whips and stirrups, put on your leathers, and ride the bronco with

verve and dash. The beast wants to be tamed, but does not appre-

ciate the limp wristed approach. Go get ‘em, cowboy!

and Welcome to 2010….

ABR wishes its readers a restful and reflective year end. Use the time tocharge your batteries and to mend relations with your loved ones, and then

…. Come out Smoking.

C o n t e n t s

2020 8484 8787

4

The publisher and contributors have done their best to ensure the accuracy of the articles and cannot accept responsibility for anyloss or inconvenience sustained by any reader as a result of information or advice in Automotive Business Review. The informationprovided and opinions expressed in this publication are provided in good faith and do not necessaraly represent the opinion of thepublisher. No article may be reproduced in any form without the prior written permission from the publisher, except for the quota-tion of brief passages in reviews.

2 The Phoenix Good Riddance to 2009

6 What’s the Buzz

12 e-CAR National e-CAR Indaba 2009

17 Show Time Tyre Expo 2010

18 The Chery Story The Toughest Test

20 Auto Topical The 2010 World Cusp

22 Frankly Speaking 2009 – A Watershed year

24 Intelli-Driving Safe Driving Tips

25 Appreciation Section # One

40 Tony’s Take King II est mort, vive King III

42 Weighty Issues The Hope Fades

44 Appreciation Section # Two

50 Top Class Topics Working Hands Aren’t Always at Work

52 Health Care An Update on Moto Health Care

58 Commercial Vehicle News Peugeot Introduces the Tepee Peugeot Increases its Commercial Vehicle Footprint

62 Tyre Safety Tyres’ Contribution to Safety in Motoring

56 Personal Profile Q & A with Dave Powels

65 AIDC Quiz

66 Customer C.A.R.E. Customer Relationship Management

Trilogy Customer C.A.R.E. Programme

Publishing Editor

Graham Erasmus

083 709 8184

Commercial Vehicle Editor

Alwyn Viljoen

082 458 9332

Intelli-Driving Editor

Eugene Herbert

082 941 3785

Correspondents

Beeton, Frank

Borlz, Baron Claude

Burford, Adrian

Gamble, Austin

Hogg, Gilbert

Keeg, Howard

Macaskill, Richard

McCleery, Roger

Twine, Tony

Wilde, Fingal

Published by:

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Printing:

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72 Diamond Dialogues Opening the Doors of Perception to Standards and Controls – Part Two

74 AAMA Alert Currency Challenges

75 Partinform River Deep, Mountain High

80 Capricorn Insights A Helping Hand

82 Launch Technologies Launch’s Silver Bullet

84 Partinform What They Were All Waiting For!

86 Diesel-Electric Convention Robert Bosch Announce New Workshop Franchise

88 Industry Update The end of an era

89 Vehicle Evaluation The Z Car

90 Industry Update Passing the Baton

92 Life Goes On Restoring the Status Quo

A New Sunrise

96 Market Research Quality, Service, Satisfaction – the Manufacturers Respond

97 Burford on Brands A Reliable Citizen

98 Vehicle Evaluation A Capable Commuting Vehicle

Champ All You See

99 Two Wheels The Sting in the Tale

100 Hogg’s Wash Wolf Whistle

102 Corporate Conscience Putting Something Back

Fore a Good Cause

106 Fast Wheels Formula S

Scandal Ridden Formula One Season Closes

110 Wilde Things Get Thee to a Nunnery, Sir!

111 The Last Writes

Official Mouthpiece of

5

W h a t ’ s t h e B u z z ?


SUZUKI ALTO ACHIEVES 1.67 LITRES PER100KM IN CITY DRIVING

After a successful New Zealand North-South drive at an average of justover 3.5 litres/100 km last month, the highly fuel efficient Suzuki Altohas taken part in a further fuel efficiency marathon, this time downthrough Australia, managing to complete the journey at an average con-sumption of 3.2 litres per 100km overall, an 18.5 per cent improvementover the official Australian combined figure (+13 per cent over Europeanfigure) and a staggering 2.0 litres per 100km attained in City traffic – thelowest recorded of any entered vehicle. The Global Green Challenge ranNorth-South from Darwin to Adelaide and placed conventional andalternative fuel cars against each other in a 3000km real world test. Thewinner of the challenge was the vehicle judged to have recorded thebiggest improvement over its official fuel consumption figure. Alto wonthe ‘Light’ and ‘Small’ car categories; ‘best urban cycle’ category and anoverall CO2 emission of 89.9g/km, using just 123 litres of fuel for theseven day trip.

A letter of intent was signed on 5th November 2009

in Flins between the Renault-Nissan Alliance, the

French Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) and the

French Strategic Investment Fund (FSI) to set-up a

joint venture company that would develop and man-

ufacture batteries for electric vehicles, under the

patronage of Christian Estrosi, the French Minister

for Industry. Renault, Nissan and the CEA would

bring technical expertise and infrastructure support

in addition to an equity investment. Consistent with the contin-

uous support and proactive policies of the French government towards zero

emission mobility, FSI will join the project and contribute to 125 million Euros. In

order to complete the financing of the project, the European Investment Bank (EIB) is consider-

ing a loan of up to 50% of the 280 million Euro debt financing. The joint venture between Renault, Nissan,

CEA and FSI would focus on advanced research, manufacturing and the recycling of electric vehicle batteries. The joint venture

plans to produce batteries from mid 2012 at the Renault Flins plant, located 30km from Paris. Production capacity is targeted at

100,000 batteries a year. The investment value of the first phase of the project is estimated at 600 million Euros.

The Schaeffler Group has added anotherrenowned award to its comprehensive collectionwith the “Outstanding Technology 2009Award”. This important prize is awarded by theSociety of Automotive Engineers (SAE) basedin the USA. The award for “outstanding tech-nology” was presented during the SAETechnology Congress held in São Paulo inOctober. Among the milestones in innovationpresented in Brazil, such as the dry doubleclutch for direct-shift transmissions and thetwin tandem ball bearing, the jury of expertsparticularly honored the world’s first fully-vari-able hydraulic valve control system UniAir.UniAir has been in production since May 2009and is used by Fiat and Alfa Romeo in theMultiAir models of the MiTo and Punto Evo

series. A total of 123 technical innovations werepresented to the 8,500 visitors during the three-day technical conference. 17 of these innova-tions came from the Schaeffler Group. Thedecisive factors for the jury’s decision were theproduct advantages of the fully-variable valvecontrol system, i.e. the significant reduction offuel consumption and emissions while improv-ing the performance of the engine, and thetechnical implementation of the concept in thedevelopment of a volume produced product.“There is probably no better occasion for atechnology award than a renowned technologycongress,” explained Sergio Pin, Vice PresidentAutomotive Sales and Production Developmentof the Schaeffler brands INA and FAG in SouthAmerica.

GM Board Decides to Retain Opel Given an improving business environment for GM over the past few months, and the importanceof Opel//Vauxhall to GM’s global strategy, the GM Board of Directors has decided to retain Opeland will initiate a restructuring of its European operations in earnest, it was announced earlyNovember. “GM will soon present its restructuring plan to Germany and other governments andhopes for its favorable consideration,” said Fritz Henderson, president and CEO. “We under-stand the complexity and length of this issue has been draining for all involved. However, fromthe outset, our goal has been to secure the best long term solution for our customers, employee,suppliers and dealers, which is reflected in the decision reached today. This was deemed to be themost stable and least costly approach for securing Opel/Vauxhall’s long-term future.”

suzuki@suzuki-media

The Renault-Nissan Alliance, the CEA and the FSI sign intent to create a joint venture to develop and manufacture batteries for electric vehicles in France

South Africans move towardeco-friendly vehicles

CO2 emissions are becoming increasingly topi-cal, as they are one of the contributors to globalwarming. A total of 17 % of global CO2 emis-sions generated by industrial and combustionprocesses can be attributed to road transport, andreducing such emissions is therefore one of ourmost important goals. The key is to lower thefuel consumption and to make our vehicles moreefficient and environmentally friendly in general.“To this end Mercedes-Benz Cars is pleased toreport year-to-date sales of the C-Class C180Kompressor BlueEFFICIENCY model of 3 481units which amount to 33 % of the local C-Classsales,” says Eckart Mayer, Divisional Manager atMercedes-Benz South Africa. Total sales for theC-Class model range in October reached 1 010units, representing a market share of around 43% in the medium luxury segment. The newlyintroduced E200 CGI BlueEFFICIENCY hasalready made great inroads in the market. TotalE-Class sales amounted to 232 units, of which69 were E200 CGI BlueEFFICIENCY models.This equates to 30% of total E-Class sales. “Weare pleased to note that our customers arebecoming more and more eco-conscious, as canbe seen by the success of our BlueEFFICIENCYmodels, launched this year,” concludes Mayer.

Award for outstanding technology



NEVER IN THE S.A. AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRYHISTORY HAS THERE BEEN A MORE CRUCIALTIME FOR AN AFFORDABLE AUTOMOTIVECOMPONENT AND TECHNOLOGY SHOW!

Sayings of old, such as: “When the going gets tough, the tough get going”and “Ask not what your country can do for you? But what YOU can do foryour Country” - truly apply to the times we are going through at present. Itis a time for creativity and doing our bit to make a difference in our ownback yard. Our industry needs every ounce of positive stimulation that itcan get and the WATS Expo (Workshop Aftermarket & Technology Show)had this in mind from as far back as 2005. WATS is perfectly aligned, will-ing and able to do just that. Where else can exhibitors get a 3x3m Standwith a Basic Shell Scheme for a mere R 4,950.00 plus Vat? Only at WATS!A Big Bang for your hard pressed Buck! Have you registered for your standyet? 24-25th March 2010 @ The Pretoria Show Grounds. WATS for 2010will run for 2 days, in the same week as the Heavyweight Expo that alsotakes place at the Pretoria Show Grounds from 23-26th March 2010. Willyou play your part in stimulating our Industry in 2010? Or will your com-pany be “Inconspicuous by its Absence” - a powerful quote from a pioneerof the original WATS planning Team. Activity breeds interest! Activitymakes things happen! Activity kills lethargy! Activity is Healthy! Period! Asecond show is planned in September or October 2010 in Bloemfontein, forwhich HUGE interest has been shown, some stands already tentativelyreserved even before the Floor Plan has been formulated! The organisers willfinalise the Venue and Date for this show by the end of November 2009 andwill make the details available on the WATS website duringDecember/January and in their WATS January 2010 Press Releases. For fur-ther information visit www.wats.co.za where you can also register on-line orcontact Miranda on: 082 9680 214 & [email protected] or Johann on: 0825515 061 & [email protected]. The WATS Expo’s are fully Endorsed by theRMI (Retail Motor Industry Organisation of S.A.)

A vote consisting of the full members and a jury made up of 30 selectedmembers of the SAGMJ have chosen the following eight finalists to par-take in the 2010 SAGMJ / WesBank Car of the Year competition to com-pete for honours in the country’s premier motoring event:

Alfa Romeo MiTo 1.4i Turbo Petrol

Audi Q5 2.0 T S tronic

Chevrolet Cruze 1.8 LS

Hyundai i20 1.6 GLS

Suzuki Alto 1.0 Litre GLS

Toyota Prius 1.8 ECVT Advanced

Volkswagen Golf VI 1.4 TSI 90 kW Comfortline

Volvo XC60 3.0T Geartronic

The next step in the process is to determine the winner from a two-daytest session to be held in February 2010 at the Gerotek test facility nearPretoria, where the cars will be assessed independently by the jury mem-bers. ABR shall do an analysis of the finalists in its February 2010 issue.

As a distributor of automotive spares for over 25 years, ACSA-MAG has grown to become a leading distributor of auto-elec-trical spares throughout the KwaZulu-Natal region, offering amassive range of high-quality branded automotive aftermarket

products including ACSA-MAG, BRITAX, MAG BRAKES, TRUCK-LITE, WARN, COME UP, UNIONTECH, TERRIER ! and ECH-LIN. The company was also appointed by Control InstrumentsAutomotive as one of its distributor for KZN and has recently taken onthe distribution throughout the province for HELLA automotivewiring. The company also has a subsidiary business - FIXEM POWERSTEERING & SUSPENSION SPECIALIST, which has three branch-es in the region offering repairs to power steering systems (racks andpumps), conversions from manual to power steering and repairs to vehi-cle suspension.

Tel 031 312 1030, Fax 031 312 1070 e-mail [email protected]

ACSA-MAG now also distributing TERRIER!

Exhilaration. Emotion. EvolutionWhat a great start. The first cars are barely off the production line andalready the first all-new Lotus in 15 years, the Evora, is winning awards.Not just any awards either. How about CAR Magazine’s (UK) prestigious2009 PCOTY Award. The starting field of 30 performance cars was divid-ed into 5 groups with the Evora being lined up at Rockingham RaceCircuit against the Porsche Cayman S, Audi TT RS, Nissan 370Z, BMWZ4 3.5, Infiniti G37 and Mazda MX5 in the sports cars category. Withless than a second separating the Porsche, Audi and Lotus, the lap timeswere sizzling. The cars were assessed, pushed and scrutinized in detail. Andthen there were five. The finalists in their respective classes were theLamborghini LP670-4SV, Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG, Renault Clio Cup200, VW Golf GTi and the Evora. And the overall winner, the LotusEvora. The Lotus Evora will arrive in South Africa in early 2010. It willretail for R 899 000.

FINALISTS ANNOUNCEMENT - 2010 SAGMJ / WESBANK CAR OF THE YEAR

Bridgestone South Africa wins Focus onExcellence best tyre awardFor the third time in four years Bridgestone South Africa is a winner in the annualFocus on Excellence Awards, sponsored by WesBank and hosted by Focus onTransport and Logistics magazine. The Focus on Excellence award for best tyre wasawarded to Bridgestone South Africa for its Bridgestone brand for the second year insuccession. Bridgestone’s popular Firestone range won the inaugural award in 2006.Bridgestone provides transport operators with a comprehensive range of commercialvehicle tyres, ideally suited for a wide variety of applications. Julio Fava, general man-ager of producer sales at Bridgestone SA, accepted the award: “I’d like to thank eachand every transport operator and manufacturer who bought even one Bridgestonetyre in the past year. Without our customers we have no business, so thank you forthe continued support.

Bridgestone supports Cape Leopard Trust

Bridgestone South Africa has added the Cape Leopard Trust tothe organisations it is supporting under its corporate socialinvestment umbrella and Bridgestone’s global One Team, OnePlanet initiative. The support is in the form of a set of new tyres,including spares, for the Trust’s fleet of five 4x4 vehicles as wellas a substantial cash donation. The Cape Leopard Trust wasformed in 2004 to facilitate conservation of the Western Cape’spredators through the combination of conservation strategies,research projects and tourism initiatives. The Trust operates inwilderness areas in the Cederberg, Swartberg/Gamka corridorand Namaqualand areas. “We are delighted to associate ourselveswith the Cape Leopard Trust,” said Romano Daniels,Bridgestone South Africa’s general manager of group marketingand communications. “They are doing important conservationwork, while at the same time providing valuable learning oppor-tunities, in particular to children, about the endangered Capemountain leopard. Our support is in line with our commitmentto conservation and the environment as embodied in our 4x4Fundi programme.”

TREAD CAREFULLY IN SUMMER RAINS

Correct tread depth is vital to ensure that your car is control-lable on wet roads. This is according to Romano Daniels,Bridgestone South Africa’s General Manager of GroupCommunications and Marketing. “Many people think thatthe purpose of tread on tyres is to grip the road,” he said, “butit’s actually to disperse water on wet roads. If your tyres areworn, they might not be able to clear away standing water fastenough and the tyre will then begin to skim along the surfaceof the water. This is called aquaplaning or hydroplaning,” he explained. He said that aquaplaning was very dangerousbecause the tyre was no longer in contact with the road, mean-ing the vehicle could not be braked or steered. “Motorists inthe summer rainfall areas of South Africa should pay carefulattention to their tread depth to ensure proper traction inthe sudden downpours which are common at this time of

year,” he added.



KenKen 9 X 9How to Play:

Like Sudoku, even though difficulty may vary from puzzle to puzzle,

the rules for

playing KenKen are fairly simple:

For a 9 x 9 puzzle, fill in with the numbers 1-9.

• Do not repeat a number in any row or column.

• The numbers in each heavily outlined set of squares, called cages,

must combine (in any order) to produce the target number in the

top corner of the cage using the mathe-

matical operation indicated.

• Cages with just one box should be filled in with the target number

in the top corner.

• A number can be repeated within a cage as long as it is not in the

same row or

column. Answer on page 107

Setting the record straight: The November 2009 Automotive Business Review, on page 87, had a heading titled: "Sabat hosts the 7th annu-al power wheelchair race at Kyalami during the Vodacom Power Tour on the 17th October 2009." This was an error. The event at Kyalamion 17 October was in fact the final round of the WesBank Super Series - a sponsorship WesBank took over from Vodacom some 3 years ago.

ABR regrets the error.

(from left) Bridgestone’s 4x4 specialist Johan Mostert, Bridgestone GM WesternCape Errol Momsen, Cape Leopard Trust’s Elizabeth and Quinton Martins,

and Mandy Lovell of Bridgestone Corporate Communications.

Yujiro Kanahara(centre), chairmanand CEO ofBridgestone SouthAfrica, with JulioFava (right), generalmanager producersales, and RomanoDaniels, generalmanager group PRand marketing.


National e-CAR Indaba 2009It all happened on Saturday, 7th November 2009, at Emperor’s Palace – “The Palace ofDreams”. The National e-CAR Indaba 2009 comprised an exciting programme of updates,announcements, business presentations, branding advice, economic overviews, motiva-tional talks and much more. It all ended with a dinner and show at the fantastic Theatreof Marcellus, with the guests treated to Richard Loring’s “Midnight Hour”, featuringClint and Co, taking the audience on a non-stop nostalgic musical experience.

WilfriedLangenbach –Manager e-CAR(Pty) Ltd.

The e-CAR nationwide chain of vehicle service centres

has taken South Africa by storm since its introduction

in 2004, a mere five years ago, and now boasts a mem-

bership of 60 highly committed e-CAR outlets. e-CAR

outlets offer a wide variety of services to today’s discerning

motorist, and thus it is no wonder that e-CAR is the fastest

growing workshop network in South Africa. The Indaba’s vibrant

presentation and participation lived up to this reputation.

Wolfgang von Ey, Chairman ofDESAMARK, opened the conference

with a compliment to the e-CAR manage-

ment team, and lauding the “unbelievable

growth of e-CAR”. He also gave the sage

advice that the e-CAR chain is only as

strong as its weakest link, and that unity is

strength.

Rolf Krull, MD of DESAMARK, out-

lined the four success components of

e-CAR, and its value added package:

• e-CAR (Pty) Ltd. – the brand custo-

dian and the network developer.

• Preferred Suppliers – Ate, BOSCH,

Gabriel, GUD, Hella, Osram, Ram,

SACHS, Valvoline – quality prod-

ucts, sales support and training.

• Diesel-Electrics – training, promotions, product info, sales

support, competitive pricing & specials, efficient delivery

service, quality brands, financial support

• e-CAR Members – quality customer service, local advertis-

ing/promotions, national warranty, quality products,

technical expertise, financial support

Development Highlights:

21 new members appointed in 2009:Alrode Hauser Barry Hauser

Benoni Gear Gary & Rika du Preez

Chatsworth Advanced Turbos Anthony Pillay

Durban Autospec Faried Adam

Durban Millers Sunil Soonalall

Edenvale DTC Tuning Mike & Shellene Marshall

Ermelo Car Doc Frank Thomas

Fourways Motormax Deon & Angela Cosky

Isando M&M Petrol & Diesel Michael Botes

Isithebe Powertrans Shokes Naidoo

Klerksdorp Bonding Warren & Kevin Hengst

Kuruman GGMC Gert Roselt

Lichtenburg West End Auto Electrical Dick & Ilse du Randt

Marble Hall Marble Auto Electrical Marius Stassen

Meyerton Exhaust Tech Manie Prinsloo

Modderfontein Top Care Auto Clinic Craig & Glen Emmerich

Nelspruit Performance Auto Wayne & Stella Masher

Northam Northam Auto Clinic Mohammed Dudhia

Stanger Max Power Anil Dhaver

Thabazimbi Thaba Auto Electric Karel & Jacob Stassen

Welkom du Plessis and Claassen Ben du Plessis / Willem Claassen


Highly successful regional meetingse-CAR formed part of the award winning Diesel-Electric stand which achieved Gold Award status at AutomechanikaSouth Africa in March 2009Monthly Internal NewslettersQuarterly Newsletters for Motorists

Outstanding Performers in 2009, giving extraordinary support to e-CAR:

Pinetown Chris Swale Motors Chris Swale

Cape Town Beemer Auto John Clay

Stellenbosch Tomson Motors Sean Thompson

Durban B&R Auto Babu Salik

Randburg Ferndale Auto Service Ike Eichweber

Woodmead Corporate Car Clinic Brent Curtis

Sasolburg Car & Truck Hamish Kiddle

Rustenburg Rustenburg Auto Joao Amorim

Phalaborwa Phalaborwa Auto Electrical Thys Taljaard

• Continue Building e-CAR Brand

• Speed up Network Development

• Encourage Members to Attend Training Courses

• To add weighting on training for “Workshop of the Year” Competition

• Further Emphasis on Technical Assistance

• Upgrading of Workshop Standards

The responsibility in raising standards rests at e-CAR head office, Diesel-Electrics, and e-CAR members

Future Activities

Awards

“Best ResultsAchieved in

Bosch Training”went to Nick

Papamalis of SparkyAuto Electrical,

Brakpan

“Workshopof the Year”

Winner

– Car & Truck:

Hamish Kiddle

“Workshop of the Year”2nd runner-up

– Corporate Car Clinic:

Brent Curtis

“Workshop of the Year”1st runner-up

– Rustenburg Auto Electrical: Joao Amorim


Andy Roth, Owner Diesel-Electric (Rand)- “A little bit of this, a little bit of that”Profit is not a dirty word

Bosch at the forefront of advances in vehicle safety

“Technology is endless – if you don’t train and keep up withtechnology, you will be left behind”

Clients have been spoilt radically by OEM dealerships – treated with respect, high class reception areas.

Now once their car is five years old, they migrate to non-OEM workshops and expect similar treatment

First impressions are important:- reception area

- corporate clothing

- spotless workshop

- handled professionally

- customer etiquette

Only deal in top quality parts, train your staff, obtain the right equipment, spruce up your business, make

use of technology to communicate with customers, make your customer want to come back

Do:

Stick to OEM specs

Stick to top suppliers

Treat the customer and his property with

respect – better than your own car

Communicate with your customer

Be positive, reliable, punctual and honest

Run your workshop professionally

Don’t:

Fit parts supplied by the customer

Make functional repairs

Modify vehicles

Fit inferior products because of price

Make your customer lose face

Play around – ask for help

Do’s and Don’ts

Benefits and Responsibilities of e-CAR membership

“We will not participate in the economic downturn”

“We Need to Belong”

Gavin Sharples

Be different, change

your attitude, take a

risk, wake up to the

opportunities, be

authentic, be honest,

and get the balance

right. Don’t just think

outside the box, DO

outside the box.

Hamish Kiddle– Car & Truck


Tony Twine, Director

Econometrix – OneMan’s Poison

The world rode a wave of false prosperity for 20

years based on the rise of commodities, equities,

and assets; and everyone felt amazingly rich as

the banks pumped more money into the system,

and then someone dislodged a card in 2007.

The banks stopped lending, and worst of all, the

banks stopped lending to each other. The collapse of Lehman

Brothers in Sept 2008 brought everything to a head, and fixed

capital formation and sales of durable goods simply hit a brick

wall. The drop in demand for commodities and the contraction

of all economic activity exposed the camouflaging of risk, and the

chickens came home to roost, leaving no one unaffected.

The concomitant loss of confidence was exacerbated in the

motor industry, which was also feeling the effects of a fundamen-

tal shift vehicle production worldwide, and the move to more

environmentally friendly vehicle technology. The result for the

automotive industry was the tsunami of the century. In South

Africa, car sales hit a peak in Oct 2006, then dropped 10% in

2007, 25% in 2008, and 25% in 2009. The loss of confidence

was amplified by nervous banks. Paradoxically, all this bad news

is good news for the automotive aftermarket. The meat of the car

parc will move into a lucrative band from 2009 to 2011, and this

is the opportunity to build customer retention for the slightly

leaner years from 2012 to 2014. Growth will stabilise in

2014/2015, so those who prepare well will benefit from the bulge

and beyond.

Ewald Faulstich, Director Automotive Aftermarket Division, RobertBosch SA

– Strategic Importance of a Sustainable, Successful e-CAR Concept

“The battle is on for the hearts, minds and soul of the motorist”The automotive aftermarket will benefit from the high car sales between 2004 and 2007, that are now out of

warranty and are looking for competent aftermarket workshops.

The biggest challenges for these workshops in a dramatically changing workshop market are to master complex and state of the art

vehicle technology and the fact, that the motorists have a vast choice between many workshops.

The biggest needs for workshops are to build strategic partnerships with winning wholesaler organisations, to join a leading

aftermarket workshop concept, to develop best in class technical competence for all their workshop mechanics and to develop the

absolute understanding for the need of best in class customer care and relationship management for all workshop staff members.

The “brand performance” of a workshop organisation is a result of an outstanding corporate design, highest possible corporate

competence (mainly technical competence) and highest possible corporate “behaviour” (mainly customer care management) at all

times by all members of this workshop concept.

Chris Koller, Group

Managing Director,

Interbrand Sampson

The Importance of

Upholding the e-CAR brand

• Think of your brand as a family – this is where your

identity rests.

• e-CAR stands for “the workshop network of choice for

the out of motor plan motorist”.

• Brand is much more than a logo

• A Brand is a Promise Made, a Promise Kept

• So many points that affect the total branding experience

• A Brand impacts all constituents – investors, employees,

consumers

• A brand has cycles – creation, management, evaluation,

re-evaluation

• A brand helps the customer make a choice

• A brand is a business asset, not just a marketing depart-

ment

• Make the e-CAR brand an experience – attract, build,

capture

• Live up to your brand promise

S h o w T i m e

17

Sir Tom Farmer joins speakers at Tyrexpo Africa’10 tyre

industry conferenceSir Tom Farmer CVO CBE KCSG DL, the man credited with revolutionising tyre retail-ing in the UK, will present a keynote speech at the TyrexpoAfrica industry conferencein Johannesburg next March. Sir Tom, founder and chief executive of the Kwik-Fitretail empire, is one of the most recognisable names in the global tyre industry. Hefounded Kwik-Fit in Scotland in 1971, developing it to become one of the world’slargest automotive parts repair and replacement specialists, before selling the com-pany to Ford in 1999.

Among many honours, Sir Tom

was awarded the CBE in 1990,

received a Knighthood in 1997

and in the same year was made

a KCSG (Knight Commander with Star

of the Order of St. Gregory the Great). In

2009 he was created a Commander of the

Victorian Order (CVO) in the Queen’s

New Year’s Honours. He now supports a

wide range of charitable and philanthrop-

ic causes while maintaining an interest in

the UK tyre business through his involve-

ment with the Farmer Autocare retail

group in his native Scotland. His presen-

tation to delegates will cover the Kwik-Fit

success story; the challenges facing today’s

tyre retailers and the ‘customer experi-

ence.’ He will also provide an expert

insight into key business areas such as

price discounting, staff motivation and

the added value factor. “Sir Tom Farmer is

universally known and admired for his

stellar achievements with Kwik-Fit so we

regard it as a real coup to have secured his

involvement in the TyrexpoAfrica confer-

ence,” says Rowena Suthers, sales director

with exhibition organiser ECI

International. Sir Tom will join an impres-

sive gathering of speakers

in Johannesburg that includes Georg

Schramm, head of marketing and sales

for Dunlop/Apollo, South Africa;

David Wilson from the UK Retread

Manufacturers Association and Dr

Etienne Human, lead consultant with

South Africa’s National Waste Tyre Project

and CEO SATRP Co.

Further speakers for the one-day confer-

ence on March 5 2010 will be announced

in the coming months. As the conference

continues to build, so does the number

and quality of exhibitors supporting the

event. Leading automotive equipment

manufacturer Robert Bosch & Beissbarth

SA and tyre repair specialist Chemvulc are

among the latest well-known suppliers to

confirm their involvement in the show.

More about TyrexpoAfrica 2010

Delegates can now use online pre-registra-

tion (www.eci-international.com) to guar-

antee fast and hassle-free entry. Exhibition

hours include late night opening on

Friday until 8.00pm, allowing conference

delegates and visitors to attend after busi-

ness hours. The last day of the exhibition

will be a Saturday, offering further incen-

tive for those unable to attend during the

working week.

TyrexpoAfrica 2010 will provide trade vis-

itors with direct access to tyre suppliers

including Stamford, Infinity, BKT,

Tandem, Techking, Tubestone and SA

Tyre Distributors (Federal & Hercules),

while those involved in retreading and

repair will be able to do business with the

likes of Chemvulc, Elgi Rubber Company

and Treadsdirect. Garage and workshop

equipment will be well represented by

suppliers such as Robert Bosch and

Beissbarth, Leaderquip, Hofmann

Megaplan, Rema Tip Top and Steinbichler

Optotechnik.

A full list of exhibitors can be foundon the ECI website at www.eci-inter-national.com.

The third staging of Tyrexpo Africawill take place at the SandtonConvention Centre, Johannesburg(SCC) on 4, 5 and 6 March 2010.



A series of articles on the rise of the Chery automobile

The Toughest TestSouth Africa is not for sissies. We are of pioneering stock and we have tamed the landand tamed the rivers with a fortitude that equals any other endeavour on our planet. We are tough and expect the same toughness from our means of mobility. Itgoes back to the 1800’s when we used oxen and horses to turn South Africa from a barren hinterland into an agricultural giant, and now in the early part of the twenty first century we continue the tradition with our mechanical steeds.

Jannie van der Walt is one of the people who uphold

this tradition. Jannie works for OVK (Oos Vrystaat

Kaap Operations Limited), a farming co-operative

that covers a vast track of land encompassing the

Eastern Free State, the Northern Cape and the

Eastern Cape. OVK is in the business of agronomy,

from maize, wheat, sunflowers, dry beans, asparagus,

cherries, fruit and vegetables, through to planted pas-

tures, natural grazing veld, wool/mutton, dairy/beef, horse breed-

ing and ostrich farming. Jannie is based at OVK’s offices in

Hopetown in the Northern Cape, and he lives in van der Kloof,

on the banks of the van der Kloof dam, the second largest dam in

South Africa and one of only two hydro power dams in South

Africa. The van der Kloof dam wall is 108m high, and when full

the dam stretches for over 100 km, holding some 3,2 billion cubic

meters of water. This gives one some perspective of the distances

Jannie has to travel when visiting his clients in the Northern

Cape, and thus he averages a good 5 000 km per month in carry-

ing out his duties as a wheat marketer. With the high price of

petrol, and the rough gravel roads he traverses on a daily basis,

Jannie needs a tough and fuel efficient vehicle. So when his 1400

bakkie gave up the ghost in August 2008, Jannie took a “chance”

on a Chery QQ 0,8 TE, with the knowledge that McCarthy stood

behind this vehicle with warranties and maintenance plans. South

Africa’s lowest priced car seemed to be a good bet for Jannie, so he

took the leap of faith.

The result? A very happy Jannie van der Walt told ABR in the last

week of November 2009 that he has now done 71 000 trouble

free kilometres, achieving a consumption of 23 to 24 km per litre

(4,25 l/100km), and the little warrior handles the gravel roads

with aplomb and exceptional comfort. It has passed the toughest

test with flying colours and he describes this purchase as “one of

the best buys I’ve ever made”. More power to your elbow, Jannie!

A very happy Jannie van der Walt with his Chery QQ 0,8 TE

The last book of the Christian Bible, Revelations warns us that, as the end time drawsnigh, we will hear of wars and rumours of wars. In these, the last days of 2009 we arehearing of economic recoveries and rumours of economic recoveries. Astrologers,unlike their hopefully more scientific counterparts in economics and weather forecast-ing, use the term “cusp” to describe a transition or boundary zone between two starsigns or era’s – perhaps it is safer to apply that term to short term economic forecaststhan to call a virile and vibrant recovery for the battered world economy in 2010.

A u t o T o p i c a l


Global markets for equities,

commodities and currencies

outside of the US Dollar all

took heart in November when

the G7 leaders announced that they would

continue to support the fledgling turn-

around of the levels of activity in their

respective economies which had become

visible after the mid-point of 2009, by

continuing to pump cheap credit into

them. Readers of these columns over all

the months that ABR has existed will recall

that money illusion created by cheap cred-

it is held by many to be the cause of, rather

than the solution to the fall-out in finan-

cial markets, the credit squeeze and the

subsequent toppling of real economic

activity levels around the world after 2007.

In looking forward to the year 2010, the

level of confidence with which we enter

the year, must surely be better than it was

12 months earlier. Economists often avoid

talking about confidence within their sce-

nario building rationales, largely because it

is difficult to measure, highly individualis-

tic and difficult to aggregate, and even

more difficult to predict in terms of tip-

ping points or major changes of direction.

Forecasts inevitably assume a flat trajecto-

ry at point of departure levels for the mood

of both suppliers and consumers in a mul-

titude of markets, which is the main reason

that even the most sophisticated of statisti-

cally informed forecast scenarios hardly

ever turn upwards or downwards with the

venom that reality and the wisdom of

hindsight seem to dish up.

Putting this set of ideas together, it certain-

ly appears that global economic fortunes

are in the process of changing for the bet-

ter, but the reason for the change (contin-

uous pump priming of large economies by

easy credit creation), could be the hallmark

of the lack of sustainability of the next

upturn, just as it was the primary cause of

the rise and fall of the economic and busi-

ness cycles the last time around.

2010 is unlikely to be as bad on the mar-

gin as 2009 turned out to be, largely

because the sentiment that sat with us at

the Christmas Dinner table last year is

decidedly more cheerful than it has been

for 18 months or more. This is as true for

the large economies of the world as it is for

us back home in South Africa. This alone

should make both the consumer and busi-

ness sectors of most economies that much

more open to taking risks, even if they are

only relatively modest ones, which will

stimulate both the demand and supply

sides of the global real economy. But

Scrooge’s ghost of Christmas Future

lingers in the wings of this combined bib-

lical and astrological forecast scenario. Just

as Scrooge was promised a grey, nihilistic

future because of his then current behav-

ior, it is difficult to believe that the world

economy can revert to, and then sustain,

sturdy levels of real economic growth by

simply taking more of the same drugs

which got it into the trouble that it was in

between 2007 and 2009. The reliance on

force feeding economies with credit may

literally paper over the widening cracks for

a time, and that time could well extend

throughout and even beyond 2010. But

the forces of economic gravity will

inevitably return if the ever heavier façade

is not supported by a comparable strength-

ening of the steel and concrete structures

papered over by ever increasing amounts of

cheap credit.

Therefore, brethren, let us eat, drink and

be merry this Christmas, and carry our

new restored confidence into 2010, but be

mindful of the growing layers of wallpaper

on the world’s economic walls. If the dead

Presidents depicted on the various denom-

inations of US Dollar Bills are smiling, ask

yourself why they are crossing their fin-

gers? After all, Scrooge’s late partner, Jacob

Marley, is dead. Isn’t he?

by Tony Twine

The 2010 World CuspPut together the Author of the Book of Revelation, Scrooge, Milton Friedman, an Astrologer

and Tony Twine and check your forecasts for 2010

20

When, at some time in the future, we look back on 2009, it is quite likely that thisyear will be recognised as a fairly substantial watershed in the history of the glob-al motor industry. Although some very important issues, such as the sale of Volvo

Cars by Ford and Volkswagen’s takeover of Porsche, still have to be finalised,enough has happened already for us to mark 2009 as a year when the

industry changed direction, and after which it was never going to bethe same again.


At the beginning of the year, there

was still no certainty that two of

the world’s largest vehicle manufac-

turers, General Motors and

Chrysler, would survive. It was

only after a great deal of financial

intervention by the US govern-

ment (estimated to be heading

towards the $US 100 billion mark)

that they were able to enter a peri-

od of bankruptcy protection, and re-emerge in considerably

scaled-down forms, to carry on with “business, but not as usual”.

In the process, GM probably gave up any hope of regaining the

position at the top of the global pecking order that it previously

occupied for 77 years, while Chrysler found itself effectively taken

over by Fiat, who had been absent from the US market for a quar-

ter of a century, and was looking for a way back in.

In this process, there were a considerable number of casualties.

These included the closure of more than 20 North American man-

ufacturing plants, the cancellation of more than 4 000 dealer out-

lets, and, in an industry that was already shedding jobs, more than

30 000 additional redundancies. The “Chapter 11” bankruptcy

protection process used by both GM and Chrysler made it legally

possible for them to make these cuts, in spite of previously bind-

ing contracts.

Somewhat perversely, the Ford Motor Company was busy polish-

ing its marble while its compatriots were going through the pain

and humiliation of bankruptcy. Ford had chosen to go it alone,

using “normal” commercial avenues to fund its business and turn-

around plan. It had also woken up to the fact that its overseas sub-

sidiaries were building some outstanding products, with North

American marketing potential. Ford’s avoidance of invoking state

aid was positively received by the very taxpayers who were being

asked to finance GM and Chrysler’s survival. The disposal of

Jaguar/Land Rover, plans to sell Volvo, and the scaling down of

Ford’s long-standing shareholding in Mazda, caused nary a ripple.

The year 2009 will, almost certainly, be the first in which the

United States no longer lays claim to the world’s largest domestic

vehicle market. Indications, at time of writing, are that China will

finish the year with more than 10 million unit sales, while the US

languishes at around the 9 million mark. The US market has now

fallen to just more than half of its all-time record level of 17½ mil-

lion units set in Year 2000, but most analysts believe that Chinese

production and sales volumes will rise to even higher levels during

the next decade.

While all this was going on, we were witnessing the apparent

power struggle between Volkswagen and Porsche. Early in the year,

we envisaged a “minnow-eats-whale” scenario where the relatively

miniscule sports car manufacturer (11 000 employees, 100 000

cars per year) was positioning to take control of the global giant

(300 000 employees, 6 million cars per year). However, after three

years of building up its VW shareholding, Porsche’s plans, togeth-

er with its cash flow, came undone, and by mid year, Volkswagen

was talking “merger”, and Porsche’s role was reduced to becoming

yet another brand in an expanding VW portfolio! The process is

still rolling out, but it now seems inevitable that the absorption of

Porsche will become just another stepping stone on VW’s intend-

ed path to World Number One.

To get there, of course, Volkswagen will need to unseat new

incumbent Toyota, who had, in turn, arrived in that position at

precisely the wrong time! Having assured a skeptical world that it

never intended to get there, the Japanese firm had to admit, among

falling volumes and rapidly disappearing profits, that it had been

executing a world leadership strategy (surprise, surprise) all along,

but would, in future, follow a more prudent course. Does that

mean waving Volkswagen serenely by into first place? Not likely,

Toyota is too proud for that, but methinks that they will both be

confronting threats from Hyundai-Kia, and the larger Chinese

groupings, before too long.

We haven’t even mentioned new technical directions, like plug-in

hybrids and all-electric cars, but the evidence presented above is

enough to support the “watershed 2009” theory. As we approach

2010, there is a general expectation of some improvement in glob-

al car markets, although most forecasts are still fairly conservative.

Vehicle manufacturers will be hoping for considerably less drama

than was the case in 2009, but 2010 could still turn out to be an

“interesting” year.

20092 0 0 9– A Watershed Year

F r a n k l y S p e a k i n g

by Frank Beeton


Safe Driving TipsIn this competitive world where margins are being pressed it is important to see whereadded value can be introduced, particularly when there is significant expenditureinvolved. With that in mind it is important to see how encouraging safe driving prac-tices makes good business sense. Here are two very good reasons for continuing withactivities that enhance both the qualities of people’s lives and reduce business costs

Helping Your Business Business has never been more competitive. Margins are being

squeezed and the constant challenge is to drive for better efficien-

cy in all areas of your business. This drive for efficiency means

developing ‘best practices’ and ensuring that you have properly

trained people to implement your strategy. Recently, proper train-

ing of staff has become an increasingly important part of this suc-

cess - and rightly so. Thousands through to millions of Rands are

invested in equipment and processes which need to be protected

by the provision of adequate training. Nowhere is this truer than

in the use of company vehicles. A very significant amount of cap-

ital is invested in the company fleet – whether they are cars main-

ly used privately or commercial vehicles. Yet teaching people how

to drive is an often neglected part of the process. Why? Because it

is assumed that if someone has a licence that they “know how to

drive”. Unfortunately not everyone can drive well.

Road Safety for Your Staff Here are a few reasons that you should have a planned driver

training program in place to protect your staff:

• Your staff should be provided with a safe workplace, this

includes their travel to and from work.

• A vehicle used for work purposes can be classed as a workplace

and should have the same level of safety and training provid-

ed as per an office, workshop or building site.

• Vehicles with corporate signage are a billboard of your brand.

It is important that driver behaviour is of an appropriate stan-

dard if driving a sign written vehicle or a driver’s action could

reflect poorly on your business.

• Staff who participate in a Drive to Survive defensive driving

course will learn life skills beyond that of their workplace,

helping them to keep their family and friends safe on the

roads also.

• Staff feel rewarded by employers who provide driver training

as it is more than the usual ‘training’ courses normally associ-

ated with a workplace (i.e., computer training, systems train-

ing, etc).

Navigate your way out oftroubleWe often take for granted the things we need to do which will

ensure our safety while on the road. With that in mind we

thought it prudent to share a tip which could prevent the driver

from becoming a road victim. Obviously, initially we would rec-

ommend that everyone driving a fleet vehicle is properly trained

so book them all onto our Drive to Survive defensive driving

course before handing over the keys but an issue for fleets that has

become more relevant nowadays is the use of satellite navigation

systems, usually suctioned onto the windscreen. Two problems

exist with these sat-nav systems; one is that the positioning of the

sat-nav on the windscreen is often detrimental to the view of the

road and surrounding area and the second issue is that thieves see

either the system still plugged to the windscreen or the suction

cup mark on the windscreen and will target the vehicle for a

smash and grab (they know that even when a sat-nav is not in its

cradle on the windscreen most people leave them ‘hidden’ in the

console). These problems can be avoided in one of two ways,

select sat-nav as a fitted option at time of vehicle purchase or have

your fleet drivers place the sat-nav in a position out of sight of

thieves which will also usually move the unit away from obscur-

ing vision out of the windscreen.

Teen TipsAs you may recall we recently launched a website dedicated to

teen driving -www.teendriving.co.za. It has been gratifying to see

that some parents have acted on our suggestions for a Teen/Parent

Contract. The wisdom of having some level of accountability is

highlighted in the following article from a US Blog. For those

who haven’t visited the website please do so as it is really practi-

cal and it contains some interesting features which will facilitate

learning some good driving disciplines. Amongst others there are:

• SAFED – an interactive program

• The anatomy of a Teen Car Crash &

• A reaction test for driving and texting

Remember our teens are our leaders of tomorrow – we don’t want

them disabled or worse still DEAD. A recent American survey

released has shown the role parents can play to ensure their

teenagers are safe when driving on the road. According to the sur-

vey done by the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, 25% of teen

drivers who either own cars or have free use of one were involved

in crashes. Those who have to ask for permission to use a car have

far fewer accidents. Parents know when their children get behind

the wheel that is risk involved. "The moment they get into that

car and leave, I'm a nervous wreck because they're first time driv-

ers," said Charlene Anderson. Not surprisingly, teenagers have a

different view. "It gives a sense of freedom to teenagers and it

makes them feel older," said 16-year-old Marissa Dutra. "You feel

you don't have to rely on your parents to go anywhere you want."

Traffic crashes are the number one cause of death for U.S.

teenagers with about 5,000 a year. Other highlights of the survey:

Teenagers who have clear rules set by their parents had fewer acci-

dents and parents who are actively involved in setting those rules

cut the risk of drinking and driving by 70%.

by Eugene Herbert

I n t e l l i - D r i v i n g

In the grand tradition of Royal succession, the King Committee pub-

lished its third report on Corporate Governance in South Africa on

1 September 2009. There is little doubt that its recommendations will

be pursued by companies throughout the South African Economy during 2010, if they

have not begun the process already. Better, more effective governance inevitably

places greater loads on executive and non-executive directors of enterprises. Here

follows an imagined set of notes from the laptop of an equally fictitious director of

a motor sector company, making the transition towards some of the provisions of King

III at a last imagined board meeting at the end of 2009.

T o n y ’ s T a k e


by Tony Twine,Senior Economist,Director –Econometrix (Pty)Ltd

Recent U-turns to be monitored:• Education policy

• HIV Aids policy

• Arms procurement policy

• Principle of equal force when used by

police

• Free floating exchange rate

• Labour broking

• Deployment of inadequately skilled

comrades to key positions

• Helen Zille’s list of 700 laws / legisla-

tions hampering growth and employ-

ment

Government Relations • Must contact Min. Gordhan before

Budget on 17th February 2010 to find

out the maximum number of cars that

can be bought with 70% of a cabinet

ministers annual salary

• Remember not to confuse Gill Marcus

at SARB with the other GM when

sending out correspondence

• UK Elections: post early sympathy

card to Gordon Brown, in case Royal

Mail is on strike!

• School holidays 2010 – to be made

continuous with SADTU strike days

and consolidated days absent by

Teachers – no school possible after

24th March.

• Ask Julius what the Venda word for

hetero co-stochasticity is. If there isn’t

one, we can stop worrying about it!

• See if we can get a James Bond Aston

Martin for Mo Shaik (Double-O-Mo,

or did M also stand for MO) as new

head of the Secret Service.

• Play down the heads up by Zapiro

regarding Presidential plumbing.

Energy• Alternate fuel program – must get hold

of Renegade Oil Minister Ethel al

Kohol to discuss prospects

• Electricity supply – find out who’s the

boss!

• Spotlights for Soccer Field – why is

output measured in candle power?

Soccer World Cup• SWC 2010 – how many Ivorian ele-

phants can we get into a Mini Cooper?

• Must fast-track plan to dispose of all

the rental vehicles after SWC tourna-

ments

• Zimbabwe political solution – see note

on rental cars above

• Check fixed armament on BRT vehi-

cles.

Motor Industry• APDP – set up committee to review

details next December, if there are any

• Buy rights from US Military to build

civilian version of Abrahams Battle

Tank

• Energy conservation – no more electric

seats, windows, windscreen wipers or

washers and reduce power of head-

lights, tail lights and break lights. Our

indicator lights have been optional for

years!

Sponsorships• Sport Sponsorship – which is fastest:

Cheetah? Shark? Bull holding its

breath?

• Formula 1 sponsorship – are we still on

the Button?

Treasury matters• Solution to cash-flow matter to end of

financial year: In February, all compa-

ny Visa credit card accounts for

January to be paid with company

Master Cards, in March all Master

Cards to be paid with Amex Cards,

and April it is the new financial year.

Useful topics for Dinner Table Chat:• De-ja-moo, which is the feeling that

you have heard this bull before!

• Sick notes signed by Schabir Shaik’s

Doctor

• Judge Motata’s school of judicious

driving

King II est mort,

vive King III!

w e i g h t y i s s u e s


The Hope Fades...

However, subsequent

events have caused

us to put our

celebrations on hold.

In October, the

Department of Trans-

port sent a letter to transport stakeholders

advising of a strategy proposal that will

reduce the maximum permitted axle mass-

load of trucks on secondary roads from 9

000 kg to 8 000 kg, and designate certain

commodities which, in future, would be

banned from road transport. It is necessary

to state, at the outset, that more detail

relating to the definition of a “secondary

road”, or identification of the commodities

that would, perforce, be moved to rail

transport, is unavailable, so the following

comments must be seen as a broad

response to a particularly vague proposal.

In fact, we had rather hoped that this kind

of vague reasoning had disappeared from

the Department of Transport, together

with the past incumbents of its Ministry.

Even the most cursory consideration of the

possible outcomes, however, would identi-

fy certain obstacles which the implementa-

tion of such a strategy would encounter.

Consider the following:

• How many truck journeys are solely

confined to “primary roads”? The exis-

tence of differentiated axle limits for

specific road classes will provide trans-

port operators, drivers, and, not least

of all, the law enforcement authorities

with a nightmare scenario. They are all

having enough trouble with the pres-

ent, unified, legislation, now we pro-

pose to make it more difficult for

them.

• The rural road infrastructure that the

DoT is aiming to protect is largely

devoid of permanent weighbridges.

How will the enforcement authorities

enforce axle load legislation on these

roads without them?

• Lower axle limits = less payload. Less

payload, if you want to deliver the

same tonnage of coal to the power sta-

tions = numerically more truck(load)s.

How does this help to reduce wear and

tear on the roads?

• Transnet Freight Rail (think of it as the

successor to the good old SAR) has

experienced considerable difficulty in

satisfying its customers on the dedicat-

ed one-product lines running into

Richards Bay and Saldanha (these are

really dream operating scenarios for

any rail operator). Transnet’s ability to

provide satisfactory levels of

time/cost/security efficient services on

general freight haulage between ports

and the interior has been in question

for some time. Any reduction in the

level of service currently provided by

road haulage, if and when designated

goods are diverted through legislation

on to rail, will, inevitably, result in

lower levels of National productivity.

No, Minister Ndebele, this is not the way

to solve the problem. The real solution lies

in regular, quality road maintenance, and

effective, consistent, and honest law

enforcement. Yes, the rural roads have

been abused, but reducing legal axle limits

will only increase the margin of abuse, not

its frequency. Road transport legislation is

already complex, and making it more so

will not bring about a quantum leap in

infrastructure conservation. As in so many

other cases, the government is, once again,

exhibiting a propensity to change legisla-

tion, rather than effectively enforce what is

perfectly adequate and already on the

statute books. It hasn’t worked before, and

it won’t work this time.

As far as Transnet Freight Rail is con-

cerned, it’s all about management. This

parastatal must realise that it needs to be a

provider of transport solutions, not just an

operator of trains. There is an excellent

national case for moving goods from road

to rail, but this must be achieved through

the provision of time/cost/security bene-

fits. Once shippers become convinced that

rail is the most cost-effective solution to

their transport needs, it will not be neces-

sary to bring about modal shift through

legislation. There is no evidence that the

huge swing to long distance road trans-

port, since deregulation in the 1990’s, has

come about because people like trucks, in

fact there is considerable public agitation

in favour of banning trucks from busy

roads at peak traffic times. The simple fact

is that road transport has helped the

national economy to grow, whereas com-

pulsory use of the eroding rail system

would, surely, have applied the brakes.

Much of the strategic thinking that has

emerged in DoT policy documents since

1994 is quaintly socio-political, and not

reflective of the realities of business in

modern South Africa. What South Africa

needs now, more than ever, is pragmatic

policy making, to produce the most desir-

able outcomes for the country. Minister

Ndebele, please don’t spoil the party so

early in your term of office!

by Frank Beeton

42

Back in the August issue, you would have caught us singing the praises of SouthAfrica’s newly-appointed Transport Minister, Sibusiso Ndebele, and his Deputy,Jeremy Cronin. The cause of our celebration was an apparent appetite to take on theminibus taxi “industry”, and ensure that Bus Rapid Transit actually got off theground to provide a real public transport service to South Africa’s long-sufferingcommuters ahead of next year’s Soccer World Cup. Subsequent events seem to haveconfirmed this direction, and the relatively peaceful inauguration of Johannesburg’sRea Vaya system is a tribute to the steadfastness of the new management team at thenational Department of Transport.

T o p C l a s s T o p i c s


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Permatex’s fast selling Fast Orange® line features a broad selection of formulas and sizes

for removing the most difficult dirt, and they’ve been doing it for over 50 years, and

have become in America the hand cleaner of choice for the hard working technician.

Wherever hands are getting seriously dirty, there’s a place for Fast Orange, because the

hard working technician needs clean hands to do other daily chores, and he needs a

waterless hand cleaner that really cleans – without turning his hands into sandpaper.

He needs the strength to remove grease, grime, paint, adhesives and all other dirt his working

hands get into, plus conditioners to prevent cracking and drying out. In South Africa, Top Class

Automotive focuses on the Permatex Fast Orange Smooth Cream Hand Cleaner, available in a 14

oz. plastic tub, and a 4.5 lb. container (product codes 33013 and 33406); and the Permatex Fast

Orange Pumice Lotion Hand Cleaner, available in a 15 fl. oz. bottle, a 15 fl. oz Brush-Up® bot-

tle with nail brush, a half gallon bottle with pump bottle, and a one gallon bottle with pump

(refs. 25116, 25113, 25217 and 25218). Note: one fluid ounce = 29,57 millilitres,

one gallon = 3,785 litres,

one oz. = 28,35 grams,

and one lb. = 0,454 kg.

TopClass MD,Richard Pinnard


h e a l t h c a r e

An update on Moto Health Care

52

Custom. This option is targeted at income earners who are look-

ing for cost effective access to affordable private hospital cover as

well as comprehensive primary care benefits. A preferred provider

network basis for primary care has been used to maintain afford-

ability. The benefit adjustments for 2010 have been based on

feedback received from members during 2009 and include:

• A comprehensive HIV benefit

• The addition of a chronic medication benefit covering the

Chronic Disease List conditions through Chronicare as the

preferred DSP. This is a capitated benefit and it does not

include the treatment plans.

• An out of hospital specialist benefit of R2 500 per beneficiary

and R5 000 per family subject to pre-authorisation and use of

a DSP provider.

• A denture benefit per adult beneficiary.

• An emergency transport benefit.

Essential. The Essential option offers only primary care benefits

but at a comprehensive level through a preferred provider network

to maintain affordability. This option is targeted at those income

earners who are not able to afford a more comprehensive benefit

offering but without compromising on their emergency or pri-

mary healthcare needs. For 2010 it is proposed that new members

need to have an income of less than R3 500 in order to be eligi-

ble to join Essential. The other benefit improvements are:

• An emergency stabilisation benefit in private hospitals (this

benefit is restricted to events threatening loss of life or limb

only )

• A public hospital benefit limited to R50 000 per family per

annum .

MHC’s 2010 Budget. The financial projections for 2010 are as

follows:

Gross contributions R983,333,000

Net risk contributions R856,037,000

Net relevant healthcare expenditure R767,215,000

Gross healthcare result R 88,822,000

Admin expenditure R 85,245,000

Managed Care R 20,468,000

Net healthcare result (R 16,891,000)

Investment income R 23,743,000

Net surplus R 6,852,000

The above financial performance

will sustain the fund’s solvency

ratio at 31, 6%, well above the

minimum ratio of 25% set by the

Council for Medical Schemes, and

satisfies the principle that a

breakeven financial result be target-

ed. However, please bear in mind

that in determining the projections

certain assumptions are made and

historical data is used, such as the

membership numbers at certain

dates. Any material deviations

from these could have a significant

impact on the projected results one way or the other.

In the November article I alluded to the road show that was being

planned to introduce the new benefits to stake holders. This has

since taken place and I am pleased to report that feedback indi-

cates that the new benefits for 2010 were well received, particular-

ly the Classic option’s savings plan. Here is further clarity on the

mechanics of the savings plan:

• 22% of the contribution will be allocated to the savings. This

is in line with the requirements of the Medical Schemes Act.

• A sum equal to a full year’s savings will be available for claim

payments in the first month, pro-rated if a member joins dur-

ing the fund year.

• Should a member terminate membership and a shortfall exists

between claims paid and the amount saved, the scheme

reserves the right to recover such shortfall from the member.

• Any savings accrued at the date of termination of membership

will be refunded within four months of termination date, but

the scheme may offset any debt owed to the fund against such

savings, e.g. outstanding contributions.

• No interest will be paid or charged on the savings account.

Finally, a summary of benefits for 2010 and an option selection

form have been sent to all members. I urge all members to care-

fully consider their healthcare needs for next year and to select the

most appropriate option. Even if a member elects to remain on

the same option he/she is still required to complete the form to

enable the administrator to verify and update each member’s

details on the data base. In the event some members missed the

deadline of 30 November, 2009, for the submission of the option

selection form, I urge them not to leave it but still to submit it

without further delay.

Barry Canning, ChairmanBoard of Trustees - MOTO

Health Care

In last month’s edition I covered the amendments to the current

benefits that will be implemented in 2010 for the Optimum,

Classic, and Hospicare options. I also undertook to deal with

the Custom and Essential options in this edition. So here goes.

C o m m e r c i a l V e h i c l e N e w s


Peugeot introduces the Tepee tothe South African MarketThe 2010 World Cup is almost upon us, and the hospitality industry will soon be mak-ing demands on vehicle manufacturers to deliver people movers with class andpanache. With this in mind, Peugeot Motors South Africa has introduced the Tepee, agenerously equipped eight-seater which also won’t go unnoticed by families who wantan enticing mix of space, comfort and safety.

Peugeot Motors SA says in its press release that

life is too short to drink instant coffee; life is

too short to drink blended whisky, and not too

short for single malts. It adds that people are

meant to travel in style, even if they travel en

mass. That’s why they’ve introduced the Tepee

to the local market. The Tepee shares chassis

fundamentals with the acclaimed Expert van

range, making it eminently suited to an application where it may

be required to spend many hours on the road everyday, much of

that time with a substantial cargo of passengers and their luggage.

In essence, the Tepee represents a new way of travelling thanks to

its bold design, car-like dynamics, and an exceptionally spacious

and comfortable cabin which can quickly and easily be configured

to carry between two and eight occupants. And with Peugeot’s

leadership in the turbo diesel field with their HDi engine range,

the Tepee’s power plant is ideally suited for its function. Under the

stubby bonnet is a willing and able version of the company’s direct

injection, common-rail 2,0-litre HDi, rated at 88 kW at 4 000

rpm and 300 Nm at just 2 000 rpm – this high torque output at

a low speed makes it ideal for carrying heavy loads at low engine

speeds. When mated to the light-shifting ML6C six-speed box its

breadth of capability is enhanced further, giving it a combination

of lugging power and open road cruising ability which is hard to

match. The engine meets Euro 4 emission standards and emits

just 198 grams of CO2 per kilometre. This translates into fuel

consumption of just 7,5 litres per 100 km in the Combined cycle,

dropping down to 6,5 on the open road. With an 80 litre fuel

tank, operators will waste little time at the fuel pumps and

because it is so clean-burning, oil changes are required only

every 30 000 km.

Speed-sensitive electro-hydraulic steering and the combination of

MacPherson struts with a coil-sprung torsion beam axle at the

rear ensures ride comfort for all three rows, and a cabin designed

by Pininfarina meets the driver’s needs in terms of comfort and

convenience, further attended to by a height-adjustable seat with

lumbar support and a steering column which adjusts in vertical

and horizontal planes. All doors lock automatically once under-

way and cruise control is just the press of a button away to reduce

the driver’s workload once on the freeway. The front passenger

also gets an individual seat, which like the driver’s, has a fold-

down armrest. Passengers are able to dictate their own heating and

cooling requirements thanks to separate air conditioning controls,

while there are sliding windows for those in the second row, and

hinged rear quarter lights for those even further back. All of this

results in an open and airy ambience, conducive to a pleasant

motoring experience. Access to the second and third rows is via a

sliding door on each side of the vehicle, with a tilt/fold mecha-

nism for the 60:40 split ensuring easy access to the third row from

either side.

The Tepee is a first-class people carrier and because people invari-

ably come with luggage, there’s plenty of space for that. There is

761 litres of storage space when loaded to window level and a

giant 1 195 litres up to the roof. And that’s before a single seat has

been removed. In addition to a high level of dynamic ability from

a chassis which behaves with decorum seldom associated with

people-carriers, the Tepee benefits from Peugeot’s deep-seated

belief in occupant safety as a core of vehicle design. The Tepee

model sold in South Africa also has driver and passenger airbags

and disc brakes all round enhanced by anti-lock and electronic

pressure distribution systems.

Peugeot Increases its Commercial Vehicle

Expertise Footprint in South AfricaDuring the Peugeot Tepee Launch in Gauteng on 6th November 2009, it was revealedthat PSA (Peugeot and Citroen) is the leading commercial vehicle manufacturer inEurope, and that PSA had a remarkable LCV market share of 22%. This is a startlingstatistic, compared to the South African scenario. Granted, South Africa’s LCV profile is dramatically different to Europe, but it was instructive to learn that in thefussy and demanding European market, PSA rules the roost.

With this in mind, and

in the knowledge that

Peugeot has what it

takes, Peugeot Motors

South Africa has dra-

matically increased the appeal of its light

commercial vehicle range, by equipping

and up-skilling four dealerships to cope

specifically with the needs of the business

user and fleet operators, and with the

intention for “the lions to take control of

the concrete jungle”. Dubbed Light

Commercial Vehicle Centres, these out-

lets, as well as continuing to sell passenger

vehicles, will direct additional focus

towards the Partner, Expert and Boxer

lines. This will give the market access to

one of the most modern and competitive-

ly-priced ranges of vans in the country,

with a size and load capacity to suit the

vast majority of users. Situated at key

points around the country (East London,

Tyger Valley, Pinetown, Woodmead and

Isando) these outlets will be staffed with

specially trained sales and service person-

nel and will be equipped with the neces-

sary infrastructure to maintain and sup-

port this kind of vehicle. However, com-

mercial vehicles, including the recently-

launched Expert Tepee eight-seater bus,

can be sold by any of the 26 Peugeot fran-

chises across Southern Africa though not

all as yet have the infrastructure and staff

to provide the tailored aftermarket sup-

port. More dealers will qualify as LCV

outlets over time with the objective of

making it possible to meet customer needs

anywhere where there is a ‘Blue Box’. “A

van has become a far more practical and

intelligent method of carrying a large load

in a secure environment, protected from

the elements and secured in a safe man-

ner,” says Jean Francois Bacos, Peugeot

Motors South Africa’s Managing Director.

“Cargo is extremely valuable and an

enclosed vehicle increases the chances of it

getting to its destination safely. This also

extends to the dynamic ability and fea-

tures such as the low floor of a Peugeot

van ensures minimal dynamic penalty

when laden. We have also accelerated

technical training at these outlets and

showroom and workshop staff have been

given the necessary skills, with the key

objective being to ensure minimal down-

time for the end user in the event of the

vehicle needing servicing or repairs. Each

dealership is obliged to meet high stan-

dards in terms of training, and commer-

cial vehicle experts have worked with sales

staff to ensure they understand the specif-

ic needs of the commercial vehicle buyer.

This includes gaining knowledge on

aspects such as the legislation pertaining

specifically to loading a vehicle, as well as

the necessary technical knowledge to

enable them to make informed decisions

on aspects such as how gearing, torque,

load and road gradient affect a vehicle’s

suitability for a specific task.” Each outlet

has also invested in equipment and special

tools to enable them to service and main-

tain these models. Light Commercial

Vehicle Centres will also have access to a

dedicated parts contact at Peugeot head

office in Johannesburg for speedy ordering

and delivery of parts. As well as keeping

an inventory of fast-moving items (which

will be constantly monitored and meas-

ured to see how these patterns change),

breakdown parts not on this fast-moving

list will be delivered overnight. “There is

huge room for growth at this end of the

market and as the end-user becomes more

mature, the advantages of a van-based

solution to transportation needs is becom-

ing more apparent,” says Bacos. “These

outlets will enable us to better meet the

needs of existing Peugeot commercial

vehicle owners and give prospective buyers

another compelling reason to buy

Europe’s leading LCV”.



Anthony Olivier, General Manager - Sales, and Jean Francois Bacos, Peugeot MotorsSouth Africa’s Managing Director, are confident that they have the winning combination

of vans and people carriers


60

PARTNERThe Partner, released locally

just over a year ago, is already

making an impact in the way

it provides an affordable,

secure and practical solution

to mobility needs in a compact

package. Internationally, near-

ly 1,5-million Partners have

been sold since 1996 in a seg-

ment which continues to

grow. The Partner is available

with either a 1.6-litre HDI or

a 1.6-litre petrol power plant,

and is capable of carrying a 3.3

cubic metre volume and a pay-

load of 850 kilograms.

Significantly, the width

between wheel arches is suffi-

cient to accommodate a stan-

dard Euro pallet, which meas-

ures 1,2 by 0,8 metres. With a

wheelbase of 2 728 mm, the

Partner can comfortably swal-

low two of these. Designed by

professionals for professionals,

one of the new Partner’s key

features is the Multi-Flex

bench seat, which means it can

legally carry three occupants.

Its modular design incorpo-

rates a fold-flat outer seat

enabling Partner’s interior to

be quickly reconfigured to

carry a load length of three

metres. In addition, the back-

rest of the centre seat can be

folded forward to act as a

handy work surface.

EXPERTSpending all day behind the wheel of a van loaded with a valuable cargo can be a tiring business,

which is why Peugeot chose Pininfarina to design the Expert’s cabin with minimal driver fatigue

as a prerequisite. Features include a height and reach adjustable steering column, a gearlever which

sprouts from the centre console (and is therefore just a hand-span from the rim of the steering

wheel), and a massive windscreen with a glass area of 1,68 m 2 to provide a

commanding view of the road. The Expert is an excep-

tionally distinctive vehicle, but the styling

isn’t just about getting noticed. With its

steeply-raked windscreen and tight-fitting

curves it has a wind-cheating shape, and

when coupled to an efficient 2,0-litre HDi

turbo diesel ensures low fuel consumption

and emissions. Expect fuel consumption in

the region of 7.2 litres/100 km in the

European Union combined cycle and just

194 grams of carbon dioxide emitted per kilo-

metre from the 88 kW/300 Nm power unit. A

six-speed gearbox results in it being exception-

ally frugal when cruising, as well as providing a

spread of ratios which enable it to cope easily in

stop-start conditions when fully laden.And the taxi fraternity have also been catered for, so travel

in style, folks!!!!

BOXERThe Boxer heralded the start of Peugeot’s assault on the local

van market and in 2002. A former European Van of the

Year, it remains the lynchpin of the brand’s commercial

vehicle line-up, with two wheelbase choices and high and

low roof heights for a total of five van derivatives, as well as

chassis/cab configurations with long and short wheelbases.

Two HDi turbo diesel engine capacities – 2,2 and 3,0-litre -

are available; the smaller rated at 88 kW/320 Nm while the

larger one has an impressive 116 kW and 400 Nm. All

Boxers have a height-adjustable steering column and a four-

way adjustable driver’s seat. The electronic instrument clus-

ter wouldn’t look out of place in a Peugeot passenger vehicle

and the large, clearly-marked gauges have plenty of class.

Every aspect of the cabin layout and design was shaped by

one consideration: minimising the driver’s load. Therefore

convenience features include a removable clipboard, an A4

storage compartment, mobile phone holder, ashtray with

cigarette lighter, and a 12 Volt power point. There is plenty

of additional oddment space in the doors too.

by Marcus Haw

62

Tyresand TheirContribution to Safety in Motoring

This is tragic for the country, horrific for

the families involved and extremely costly

in all ways.

For the fleet owner, the cost implications

can be catastrophic, and as mentioned in

the previous issue, planning for the fu-

ture can reduce incidences of disaster to a

large extent. Very few if any fleet con-

trollers or private users take the season

seriously enough to bother. We can’t real-

ly expect it when the deaths on the roads

each year affect the road users themselves

so little that they don’t even try to change

their habits.

So we have a situation where the very

people who own and control the highest

percentage of vehicles on the roads be-

come those who take no responsibility for

any of the actions which add to the sce-

narios which lead to the “Season of

Death”.

You want to read some interesting facts

about tyres, how to get better life out of

them and how to save money with them.

You should have a responsibility, making

sure that the vehicles are used in the cor-

rect and respon-sible way. However, at

this time of the year so many fleet owners

don’t see to any of these key aspects.

We are also road users, and we have spent

a lot of time and effort on trying to get

the road safety message across to you all.

We do it through showing tyres as the

safety critical items they are, and by

showing you how to use them correctly

and safely. As road users alone we have

the right, but we would be remiss if we

didn’t connect the dots with our road

safety inter-ests.

The problem does not lie with fleet con-

trollers alone. The problem lies with the

culture we have all developed. A culture

of a lack of care; a lack of consideration

for others and a total lack of respect for

the law. And the worst is that it is a cul-

ture that is growing. Witness how stop

street signs have all become yield signs.

When last did you see someone take any

notice of the or-ange light on a robot?

They used to mean CAUTION, slow

down a red light is about to come on.

Now they seem to mean “hit the loud

pedal” and get through the red light

before the other traffic starts moving.

Witness too, while sitting in a traffic

snarl-up on a highway, how many people

fly past you in the emergency lane. What

has happened to us? Eve-ryone we speak

to agrees that we should consider revok-

ing licenses.

The point is that road laws appear to be a

thing of the past. And those who like to

blame others but themselves need to look

again. The culture is growing! And while

we hear all the platitudes of how policing

is going to be improved, the question has

to be asked; WHEN?? Our roads are a

nightmare and tyres are a part of it all.

Have you noticed the growth in roadside

tyre dealers? Have you noticed that more

and more road users are actually buying

their tyres from irresponsible traders? It is

scary. We have actually seen a guy with an

ML350 parked at one of these traders

while they fitted tyres to his trailer.

Believe it, people behave strangely. And

they still don’t see tyres as the safety criti-

cal items they are. So you see, while the

blame for all the idiocy, madness and

recklessness, we face on our roads does

not lie solely with the fleet owners/con-

trollers, we have to look at one fact very

seriously. Around 60-70% of the cars on

the road are fleet owned. Probably a sim-

ilar amount of the bakkies on the road are

fleet owned and the great majority of

HCV vehicles are fleet owned. These are

not verified figures but can’t be too far off,

and the fact we have to face is that there-

fore a very large percentage of responsibil-

ity for the way they are used rests with the

fleet owners and controllers. And if they

are not taking the necessary care of their

tyres, you can put your years salary on the

fact that they are not looking at other fac-

tors either. Road safety rests with each

and every one of us who use the roads. It’s

not up to the ‘others’. It’s up to us.

Placing a “How am I Driving” sticker on

the rear of your vehicle doesn’t take care

of your corporate responsibility.

Your corporate responsibility should

include the highest standards of vehicle

maintenance. It should include the high-

est standard of driver training, and the

highest penalties for drivers transgressing

road laws. It should include leading by

example, and the top company people

As we approach the festive season our nerves become overactive.

Especially on the roads! Our roads seem to have a large percentage

of bad drivers on them all year. But at this time of the year they seem

to double in numbers and the stress of the year; the increase in alco-

hol freely handed around at Christmas parties etc, doubles the

mayhem, not the numbers. What ever the reasons, it seems the road

user behavior gets worse.

63

www.bridgestone.co.za

should be the first to attend advanced

driving courses, proudly displaying their

certificates in the reception areas. Their

vehicles should be in immaculate condi-

tion at all times and be exceptionally

clean. And their tyres should be of the

finest quality, in the best condition.

The fleet vehicles should become industry

leaders in appearance and quality of

workmanship and maintenance. How

many of you are taking your responsibili-

ties seriously? How many of you care

enough to take the steps mentioned

above?

If the surveys we have recently been

involved with, all of which have been fleet

related, then none of you are.

The tyres which have been checked in

these surveys have been remarkable in

two main ways. One is that that the infla-

tion pressures were not as bad as we had

expected them to be. In fact we found a

bigger percentage of overinflated tyres

than under. Very unusual! The second

remarkable fact was the amount of tyres

with extremely low remaining tread

depths. It is most likely a sign of the eco-

nomic panic, but it is a very frightening

situation. If the tyres on fleet vehicles are

being allowed to run with dangerously

shallow tread, at the start of the rainy sea-

son and the start of the holiday period,

there is a serious lack of responsibility

within the minds of those in control of

those fleets. Only six fleets were involved,

so no-one is suggesting that this is a coun-

try wide phenomenon but it remains a

major worry.

How many fleet vehicles are in this con-

dition? How many fleet controllers are

taking chances like this to get their budg-

ets looking better?

Tyres are a wonderful indicator of the

true overall condition of a fleet. If the

tyres are not being looked after, you can

lay big odds that the brakes are not being

looked at, service intervals have been

lengthened and general maintenance has

become low priority.

The fleets we have recently checked were

not impressed with our reports, and any

future dealings with them are seriously in

doubt. Road safety is a serious matter,

and anyone stupid enough to play with it

should be arrested for attempted murder.

This is not an exaggeration, because peo-

ple will die on our roads this festive sea-

son, and you as fleet people can increase

these deaths, or you can reduce them.

This is a fact. We are all responsible, but

you have more vehicles in your control, so

your responsibility is greater.

Have a wonderful Christmas

and a safe and restful getaway.

Let’s all look forward to a year

of recovery and prosperity.

Think Safety and Drive Safe.

One last thought. How many of you

have arranged transport for your staff

to get their inebriated souls safely

home after the imminent parties?

Those that have, well done, but please

check the tyres on those vehicles

before you load your staff in them.


INTERVIEW WITH DAVE POWELSMD OF VWSA

When did you join VWSA?

In 1989 when I was 27. I was appointed asa Supervisor in the Tax AccountingDepartment before moving into PurchasingLogistics, which is the heart of any assemblyplant. In my third year I was given the jobof managing the Export Department at atime when we were only exporting compo-nents abroad but with bigger plans to exportcomplete cars in the future. In a competitivemarket it was important to keep our cus-tomers overseas happy with the correct partsand proper packing.

When did you start exporting cars?

In the early 90’s we received big orders froman emerging market in China for the A2Jetta, which was a defining moment for us atVWSA. From then it was travelling all overthe world looking for customers to supplycomponents and cars to. By then I was theGM of Finance Controlling which is a vitalpart of this business. I did this for threeyears.

Did you stay in South Africa?

No. I was called to Head Office inWolfsburg to work in the FinanceDepartment for a few years and then downto Audi’s Head Office at Inglostadt where Iworked for the company’s Finance Director.

Do you speak German?

I learned German there as did my wife,Kathi and my son, Christopher, now 13,who was born in Germany.

After all that experience in Germany?

Then it was back to South Africa asFinancial Director at VWSA. This was at atime when the country was starting to gothrough an economic decline so the job wasjust that bit more difficult. I did this untilI was offered another position abroad again.

Where did you move the family to thistime?

To Sao Paulo in Brazil, which is the heart ofthe motor industry in South America.

What language did you speak?

Portuguese. So did the family. My daugh-

ter, Rebecca (8), born in Port El.izabeth,speaks fluent Portuguese, as does Rachel (5),who was born there and has a totallyBrazilian attitude to life.

Big things happened in Brazil duringthe five years you were there?

I was Vice-President responsible forFinancial Services and Corporate Strategy asVW in Brazil was big into car and compo-nent exports and getting into trucks as well.This was challenging in 2002. I timed itright once again. Brazil was going through acurrency collapse.

Going into 2007?

I was sent back to South Africa as MD ofVWSA Group responsible for Volkswagen,Audi and Commercials. Guess what? Morechallenges in South Africa as the countrywas going through a currency collapse aswell.

Policy of VW in South Africa in thefuture?

Volkswagen has been in South Africa for 58years. We are dominant in the passenger carmarket and we mean to continue.Commercials will be a big part of our strat-egy. Now that the market is so open it bringsbig pressures. Priorities are to be competi-tive cost-wise and of course, quality, which isa given and which is ongoing. Exports are anessential part of any vehicle plant in SouthAfrica. We have exported cars and compo-nents since 1991. First was the A2 Jetta,followed by the Golf 4 and the Golf 5, thePolo and the Jetta 5. More local content inour product is a must otherwise why have acar plant in South Africa. We have intro-duced new models in 2009 and will contin-ue to do so. A one-ton pick-up fromArgentina is high on our list which will helpus in our bid for new business. People play abig part in our strategy. After all, we makepeople’s cars. We must give our stake-hold-ers and share-holders a good return on theirinvestment. We are fortunate that Germanyand particularly our Chairman, Dr. JochemHeizmann, who is a Volkswagen BoardMember, understands the BEE policy in thecountry, our needs and other quirks.

Where did you grow up and go toschool?

I was born in P.E. and went to school atMarist Brothers and then UPE. From myschool days I always wanted to be aChartered Accountant like my father. Afterqualifying I went to Deloittes for a whileand then wanted to go into banking.Before making up my mind on this, I decid-ed on a more exciting future, somethingwhich was more global.

Sports you like?

Number 1 is rugby. Coming from PE I havedone the lot. Swimming, wind-surfing,water-skiing, athletics and cricket. I go togym three to four times week.

Mentors in your career?

Peter Searle, former MD of Volkswagen,who way back had faith in me and took achance offering me a job that didn’t exist atthe time. The other one was Hans ChristianMaergner, who was the MD in Brazil, whowas also an MD of VWSA. I worked withthis impossibly demanding man for sevenyears. He opened my eyes to the technicalside of the motor business and also how tohandle adversity with a never-say-die atti-tude of guts and determination.

Did you have a love of cars when youwere growing up?

Always. When I was at UPE, I loved AlfaRomeos and bought a GT Junior for R600.I totally dismantled it and rebuilt it, and gotto know the workings in detail of a motorcar the hard way.

What will you do when you retire?

At 47 I am way off that but I would like tohelp under privileged people, to give themopportunities that I have got in my life fromVW. Also, I get restless and if I am healthy,I would love to travel.

P e r s o n a l p r o f i l e

by Roger McCleery

South Africa has produced great motor men over theyears. Whether they be local or foreigners, they haveled some of the biggest motor companies in the world withdistinction. The two biggest motor companies in SouthAfrica are Toyota and VWSA both run by top young SouthAfricans. One of these is Dave Powels, the MD ofVolkswagen, who has been in the firing line in the motorbusiness for the last twenty years – here and overseas.

Q & A

Roger McCleery asks the questionsSee how many of these 20 Questions you can answer.

by Roger McCleery

Answers on page 107

1. How many Citi Golfs (Golf 1’s) did Volkswagen South Africa manufacture (to the nearest 1000) in 31 years?

2. Who owns Zwartkops Racing Circuit?

3. Who is the new President of the FIA?

4. Name three teams who have withdrawn from Formula 1 in the last year.

5. What tyre company is withdrawing from Formula 1 at the end of 2010?

6. Knysna had a first ever motorsport event in 2009. What was it?

7. Who was the first winner of this Knysna Motorsport Event?

8. How many makes of motorcycles have won the 500c /MotoGP Championship since 1949?

9. Name them.

10. Where was the Trabant – the world’s worst car ever made – produced?

11. What company in the USA designed the first Jeep?

12. Stirling Moss was a World Motor Racing Champion. In what class?

13. In what year was the first Cape Grand Prix held at Killarney?

14. What was Elvis Presley’s favourite make of car?

15. What company patented the first plastic bodied car in the 40’s?

16. In what year was the last Volkswagen Beetle manufactured in Uitenhage?

17. The late Angela Heinz founded the annual “Angela’s Picnic” in Johannesburg. What car did she drive?

18. Two South Africans competed in the 1964 Monte Carlo Rally in a 1071 Mini Cooper Super S. Who were they?

19. How many different vehicle manufacturers compete in the South African Car Market?

20. Castor Bridge just outside White River in Mpumalanga is famous for what?


Q & A

CRM is normally part of the

marketing department howev-

er some motor companies also

have CRM personnel in their after sales

department. This area of specialisation

is different to other marketing activities

in the sense that the strategies normal-

ly spreads over a number of years and,

very importantly, this area can normal-

ly measure its effectiveness in outcomes

like sales, unlike other marketing and

sales departments.

Let’s look at the elements of the CRM concept I am working on:

Customer Database: This is the heart of any CRM programme.

In order to develop the relationship with the customer, you need

information about them. The better the data, the better the abili-

ty to meet the customer’s need even to the point where you can

‘wow’ them time after time. This is not easy though. The data

must be correct and up to date otherwise there is a real risk of

actually irritating or even upsetting the customer. It always feels to

me that my bank wants my information over and over again. If

they do not seem to be able to keep my data, why bother giving it

to them? I am always surprised at how few automotive companies

actually get this right. They have these streams of data coming via

the internet or campaigns, normally what we would call Leads or

Prospects. They also get information from dealers for warranty

purposes, etc. The dealers are notoriously bad though, they want

to hit their targets and providing the right and complete data is

not high up on their priority list. The more successful automotive

companies address this challenge by actually paying the dealers for

good data (!). Once a good quality database is established the next

challenge is to manage the data flows very well in order to prevent

corruption of data. Example of data flows: the customer phones

into the call centre and there is an opportunity to validate and

update information, a customer fill in a OTP (Offer to Purchase)

at a dealership or when a customer is phoned to establish their sat-

isfaction with the service received (CSI), etc. The important thing

is the database must not be spoiled in any way by overwriting

good data with bad data or creating duplications. For this reason

the best companies has a dedicated person in charge of their cus-

tomer database with the data going into it. This person’s job is to

achieve maximum data accuracy and they tend to use words like

cleaning, scrubbing and deduping!

Extracting and Profiling: As can be seen a lot of effort goes into

setting up a database but what happens now with this data? Well,

this is where the fun starts. Having the data means that you can

see who your customer actually is. You can do profiling. This indi-

cates the demographics of your customer like gender, age, where

do they stay, where do they work, etc. as well as psychographics

like what sport or hobbies do they enjoy, are they family orientat-

ed, adventure seekers or art freaks. What radio stations do they lis-

ten to and what magazines do they buy. Exciting stuff! All this

helps tremendously with the questions marketing people grapple

with; where should they advertise, what media should be used,

what exact magazine or newspaper? What type of marketing cam-

paign would be most effective to which group? With all the new

electronic media coming to the fore like MMS and Mobi sites,

Mixit and Facebook, there is a proliferation of possibilities.

Loyalty Programme: This is where the data really starts to work.

The idea is to encourage and recognise loyalty of customers. It

mostly starts in the form of a Contact Programme where regular

interaction with the customer is established. This can start with a

Welcome Pack and/or a welcome message (e-mail, SMS or letter

in the mail), followed by regular e-newsletters or magazines

(which is quite costly to produce but nevertheless quite popular

with customers if it is a high quality magazine). The next step is to

respond to important events like birthdays, birthdays of product

(e.g. the car) and other events like Valentine’s Day, Woman’s Day,

Father’s and Mother’s Day, etc. More sophisticated campaigns

attempts to identify important events in customer’s lives like a

baby being born, child matriculating, relocation or even separa-

tion. These events many times results in a change of sorts which

affects the mobility needs and a good time to be interacting with

the customer.

Invitations: It is always difficult to know who to invite to events

and launches of new products. Interacting with the customers

does help to identify the big fans and product ambassadors out

there. These people will always promote your product and it is

important to recognise this by involving them in these activities.

This is than also an objective of a CRM strategy.

In summary: As can be seen by this example; the idea of CRM is

very simple but the execution to a database of customers that can

be many thousands is a bit more involved. Please remember next

time you receive your personalised invite to your favourite brand’s

new model launch; a lot of work has gone into that invite!

www.t-r-m.co.za

T 0861 TRM TRM

F 086 686 8382

C u s t o m e r C . A . R . E .


Customer Relationship Management– doing a real live exampleI am currently working on a proposal for one of the automotive compa-nies in South Africa. Going through the details of the plan I realisedthat this illustrates a typical CRM strategy very well and for thosereaders that have not had a lot of exposure to CRM, this will give a nicecondensed look at what CRM is all about.

Theo Calitz has beenworking in or involvedin the motor industryfor the last 16 years.

A MechanicalEngineer by

profession, he is pas-sionate about customercare and his company, T-R-M specialises inautomotive CRM forthe automotive indus-try and has been doing

it for nine years.


C u s t o m e r C . A . R . E . P r o g r a m m e

Module SEVEN - THE ROADTO DAMASCUS

We ended off the

last module with

the chief execu-

tive looking like

an idiot, with the

laying of a wreath

at the tomb of the unknown customer.

And this same humiliation must also be

the fate of every single employee. Why do

I use words like idiot and humiliation? Is it

not better to use words like pride and cel-

ebration, or victory and enthusiasm? We

should soar with the eagles, not gobble

with the turkeys. Yes, we should, but these

superlatives will come later. For now, at the

beginning of the process, we are looking

for humility.

Humility is the cornerstone of customer

care. It is the foundation on which the

three Trilogy Truths have been conceptu-

alised, and is the bedrock on which a true

customer care culture is built. Customer

care comes from the realisation that one is

nothing without the customer. It is a feel-

ing similar to that of the philosopher who

looks upwards at the immense array of

stars, or of the mariner who looks over the

vast expanse of ocean, and they realise how

insignificant one really is. But it also gives

one a sense of awe, a feeling of peace, and

a surge of power, knowing that you are

part of this wonderful, inexplicable uni-

verse. This humility is the start of the cus-

tomer care journey, and the inexorable

path to the road to Damascus experience,

the blinding realisation that C.A.R.E. sim-

ply means CUSTOMERS ARE REALLY

EVERYTHING. As I’ve said many times

before, and I’ll say it thousands of times

again, once this is understood intellectual-

ly and emotionally, everything you do

from 8 to 5 will fall into place, and you

will have the right perspective. If the truth

be told, once this basic premise is in place,

no further training is necessary, as you will

automatically be a customer care profes-

sional. Unfortunately, even if you are one

of these very rare creatures (endangered or

extinct might be closer to the mark), it is

very likely that your staff do not agree with

you. As a word of warning, if you do not

prepare them properly for this earth shat-

tering realisation, and just announce it out

of the blue, they will most probably con-

sider you off your rocker. The secret is to

get them to come along for the ride. And

let us not fool ourselves; it will be a crazy

roller-coaster ride.

But we MUST have a go. The alternative

is ghastly enough to contemplate -- crush-

ing boredom, rutted day after rutted day,

surviving month to month, management

account after management account, annu-

al audit after annual audit, and not having

the faintest clue as to how we actually put

something on the bottom line, despite

ourselves. Therefore, take your staff on this

wonderful journey of adventure, to explore

exotic parts of your business that have

never been seen before, and where they

actually get fascinated by the customer.

WHAT - THE CUSTOMER?

Of course, we all know that customers are

smelly little creatures. They are manipula-

tive, scheming, always looking for a bar-

gain, taking credit where no credit is due,

wanting everything for nothing, en so

voorts, en so voorts. I could go on and on

and on ......For all we know, in their pri-

vate lives they could behave quite badly.

They could be bulimic, adulterous, vain,

rebellious (not necessarily a bad thing),

spiteful, hurtful and shallow. They may

even cheat on their golf handicap.

Yet, with all of these faults, we MUST get

our employees to be fascinated with the

customer. Not only fascinated, they must

be besotted with the customer, and very

importantly, they must LOVE the cus-

tomer. Whoa, hold it right there, I’m talk-

ing emotional love, not physical love.

Before you read module seven, please refresh your memory by readingmodules one to six. This is important, as you should regularly refreshyourself with the philosophies expounded - this is necessary to fight thebombardment of negative images of the customer that one is exposed tocontinuously in the working environment. We have to fight fire with fire,and the antidote to negative brainwashing is positive brainwashing.Therefore, read and reflect, read and reflect, over and over again.Remember, you are fighting years of indoctrination.

– sponsored by Federal-Mogul

continued on p70

70

CAN THIS BE DONE?

Do you believe that this can be done? Can

we take our staff ’s minds off next Saturday’s

rugby game, or that drink at the club

tonight? Can we make our staff absolutely

fascinated and moonstruck over the cus-

tomer, even a customer with all the faults

mentioned above? YES, WE CAN ! And it

has been done before - there is a significant

precedent to prove that perceptions can be

amazingly manipulated. Reality can be so

distorted that we can make “Alice in

Wonderland” look quite pedestrian.

In the next chapter, this incredible story

shall be unveiled. A true story, a story

which is stranger than fiction, which shall

serve as the driving force, and the confir-

mation of my belief, and our strategy, to

make the customer KING, for everyone.

1. We are constantly being exposed to negative images of thecustomer.

Give some examples.

2. If you start becoming fascinated by the customer, it willallow you to explore exotic parts of your business that havenever been seen before.

What am I talking about?

3. People are always trying to get a bargain, and merely theperception of getting something for nothing excites them.This is human nature. Are you different?

Discuss.

4. Why do people look forward to the week-end?

Discuss the good reasons and the bad reasons.

DISCUSSION POINTS

C u s t o m e r C . A . R . E . P r o g r a m m e– sponsored by Federal-Mogul

Mud and GutsOn the 17th of October 2009 the WCCC (WesternCape Challenge Club) hosted the Monroe National4x4 Extreme Challenge at Dirt & Dust, Durbanville.This is the only National event in the Western Cape

for the year and competitors took up the challenge enthusiastically topit their skills against drivers and their vehicle. Participants arrived in asmorgasbord of vehicles with varying levels of modification to tacklethe course with gusto. The vehicles had to negotiate obstacles that weredesigned with a great deal of imagination and a desire to make it real-ly, really difficult. However, despite the fact that the word Obstaclemeans to: impede, stand in the way of, or hold up progress, the mud,water, steep climbs and ditches – merely added to the determination ofthe teams of driver and co-driver. The adrenalin pumped (in both thespectators and participants) and there were some seriously anxious andexciting moments. And large dollops of humour. Philip Lutz comment-ed that "Monroe is once again very pleased to be able to sponsor thisimportant annual 4x4 event which we have been doing since 2006. Wehave an extensive off-road range of shocks such as the price competitiveheavy duty Monroe Gas-Magnums, the high performance gas heavyduty Monroe Adventures or the ultra heavy duty gas tri-tube 9-wayadjustable Ranchos’, an event such as this is a good fit with the compa-ny’s products range and target market."

Anyone got mud vision? The driver didn’t let this little ‘challenge’ stophim from driving out of the water hazard anyway

from p69


Last month, we discussed what the SABS (South African Bureau of Standards) does, and gave abrief history of this valuable institution and the recent legislation enacted to create the NRSC(National Regulator for Compulsory Standards) to bring effect to the separation of duties of theSABS and the newly created NRCS. We now discuss the rationale behind the NRCS.

The National Regulator for Compulsory Specifications

Act (Act 5 of 2008) was promulgated in Government

Gazette 31216 on 4th July 2008 and took effect on 1st

September 2008. The Act transferred the Regulatory

Division of the SABS and all regulatory functions of the SABS to

a new statutory Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) institu-

tion - NCRS. The new Act also transferred all the employees in

the SABS Regulatory Division to the NRCS, together with rele-

vant regulation including compulsory specifications, agreements,

assets and obligations. The legislation was the culmination of a 10-

year process intended to align South Africa with world best regu-

latory practice and to meet the requirements of the World Trade

Organisation (WTO) agreement on TECHNICAL BARRIERS

TO TRADE (WTO TBT Agreement).

Thus the NRCS effectively replaced what used to be known as

SABS Regulatory, and the reason for this change was the realisa-

tion that, together with the problems around perception, that the

SABS as an entity, no matter how principled or pure its objectives,

could not be seen to be both judge and jury, and even prosecutor

and defence lawyer, for all the activities under its jurisdiction. A

clear delineation of duties was necessary. With the creation of the

NRCS the SABS was relieved of this odious burden and could

revert to the critical role of setter of standards, and the equally

important function of being a testing house, without the addition-

al encumbrance of being the body to enforce these standards. It

was simply unreasonable to expect the SABS and its employees,

who were working with various companies in different roles and

capacities, sometimes with emotional ties, to show no bias what-

soever. The SABS was in the invidious position of playing both

good cop and bad cop, and it was clear that another oversight

body was needed, to clear up the confusion, and perception, no

matter how right or wrong this was. The NRSC solved all that.

The preamble of the NRCS Act states that the right of the public

to health, safety and environmental protection is entrenched in

South Africa's Constitution, and it adds that the National

Regulator for Compulsory Specifications (NRCS) protects these

rights by administering and enforcing compulsory specifications

in the interest of Public Health; Safety; and Protecting the

Environment. From an automotive perspective, the products that

are covered are typically those that fall under the “life and limb”

category, such as hydraulic brake hose, glass, lamps, friction mate-

rial, seat belts, tyres, baby seats, side mirrors, motorcycle helmets,

and reflective tape for commercial vehicles, buses, and trailers, etc.

Giel Steyn does mention that it is surprising that there are no

compulsory standards for suspension parts, and comments that

this should be addressed urgently. The NRCS inspectors focus on

the specified products that fall under the compulsory specifica-

tions via inspection and they have the right to inspect anyone who

distributes this product. They also have the authority to impound

or quarantine this product at warehouses, outlets, ports, or wher-

ever this product is stored. If the necessary procedures are fol-

lowed, this product can even eventually be destroyed if it is

deemed to imperil public safety or health.

In the next issue of ABR, we shall look at what exactly is a com-

pulsory specification, and how responsible companies such as

Grandmark International go about in following the procedures as

laid down in the importation of product that meets and even

exceeds these standards and at reasonable prices.

Giel Steyn

D i a m o n d D i a l o g u e s

EditorialPartnership

Opening the doors of perception toStandards and Controls – Part Two


In this series of articles ABR discusses with Giel Steyn of Grandmark International the four significant factors that should be taken intoaccount when purchasing automotive parts - Technology, Quality, Safety and Value for Money. These four characteristics are inter-related, andeach cannot stand on their own, and together they become a motorist's best friend. Similarly, diamonds are also judged on four characteristics,known as the “four c's” - carat, clarity, colour and cut; and of course, diamonds are a girl's best friend. Grandmark International, as a dis-tributor of automotive parts, is keenly aware of the need to source only the best in Technology, Quality, Safety and Value for Money, andtherefore it is appropriate that this series of articles is titled Diamond Dialogues.


Alert

Currency ChallengesChallenge is a word that is frequently used and abused. To such an extent that somecommentators have even suggested that the word be banned from business discourse,as “challenge” has become the flavour of the month, displacing “problem” as thedescription of choice to describe a situation which requires action and foresight.However, it would definitely not be hyperbolic to describe currency fluctuations asextremely challenging for the South African businessman.

In the November 2009 issue of ABR, we introduced AAMA Alert, a monthly column to look at the issues that affect the automotive aftermarket. In the first column, we brought to light the problemsassociated with a volatile rand, and promised to look at this subjectin more depth in the next issue of ABR.

To get a handle on this, let’s look at a real life sce-

nario. Company A is a company that trades in auto-

motive product. It has a manufacturing base, but

also has access to manufacturing bases around the

world, as it is part of a multi-national. This multi-

national makes decisions the old fashioned way, i.e. it sets up

manufacturing bases where it is economically relevant. This rele-

vance is based on factors such as costs, location, viability, and very

importantly, long term sustainability. Company A, being a patri-

otic company, wants its parent company to set up a widget plant

in South Africa, and does its business study based on a

Rand/Dollar exchange rate of 10:1 (Don’t laugh, the Rand was

over ten to the Dollar a mere ten months ago!). This commodity

is available from the parent company’s other plants worldwide at

13 dollars, and Company A needs to meet this and wishes to

make a 30% gross margin. Thus a landed cost of 10 dollars is the

target, and all the sums are done, and the figures come out just

right – it can be done. Company A can make the widgets for R80,

and with judicious expense control and fast turn of inventories,

the targeted return on investment can be met. Hooray! Problem

solved, and a challenge met. The factory is built, with parent com-

pany investment, and the future looks rosy for all and sundry. The

parent company gets the product at the right price, Company A

achieves its financial targets, and the country earns much needed

foreign exchange. The contracts are signed and amongst much

fanfare a ceremony is held with the attendance of many digni-

taries, and the first sod is turned with a gold plated shovel. Let the

good times roll!

Unfortunately, before the factory has reached roof height, the

rand has strengthened to 7,5 to the dollar. Good news for infla-

tion, and good news for the petrol price, but not so good news for

the sleep patterns of the CEO for Company A, because his num-

ber crunchers have told him that the 10 dollar selling price for his

widgets now translates to R75, R5 below his cost price. Eish, a

great business plan in flames, and a CEO in the hot seat. Of

course, his local profits now look great when reported in dollars,

and his imported product racks up the margins, but what is the

mix, and how do you plan intelligently for the future? It makes a

night out on the tables at Monte Casino look like a well managed

portfolio.

Each business has its unique characteristics,

but whatever situation you are in, intelligent

planning is well nigh impossible. The automotive

aftermarket is crying out for a more stable

environment. This means a stable currency.

The question is, what interventions are needed

to achieve this? More on this debate in

the future.


Howard Keeg follows the action

River Deep,Mountain High

River Deep,Mountain High

The final Partinform show of the year, held at the

Ingwenyama Conference & Sport Resort, was near-

ly engulfed by this extraordinary show of strength by

Mother Nature, but she flattered to deceive, and

after half an hour of pyrotechnics that would have made

Vincent van Gogh proud, and a deluge that would have quick-

ened Noah’s pulse, the gods rested and the show went on. But

it was a close thing, and at 17h15, a mere 15 minutes before

the guests were due to arrive, odds were being taken by some

sub continent bookies as to whether anyone would turn up at

all. The organisers’ ashen faces brightened at 18h00 as the

turnstiles started to click, and by 19h00 the festivities began,

with a solid turnout of over 135 guests, testament to the

pioneering spirit of the Lowveld folk. And their fortitude

was rewarded with a parts display, technical information,

one on one involvement with the manufacturers and rep-

resentatives of top class brands, networking with their

Lowveld colleagues, prizes galore and the opportunity

for one lucky guest to be part of the Forza Racing

Ferrari Track Experience on 19th November (see fol-

lowing story).

On the escarpment of Mpumalanga, WhiteRiver sits amongst deep rivers and highmountains, but on the evening of Tuesday,10th November 2009, the heavens openedand threatened to turn White River rapid-ly into a series of grade six rapids, andconfirming its waterway name. My oh my,the thunder was as loud as an Ike Turnerklap, and the lightning and downpour wasas vivid and glistening as Tina’s torso.


At 17h30, the stands were ready,with nowhere to go. The Partinformpersonnel were at their posts, butwith only one straggler to talk to.

Before.......The Indhlovu Hall at the Ingwenyama Conference & Sport Resort leaked like a sieve during the downpour.M.C. Stander, Food & Beverage Manager at the Resort, said that it was the first time in his four years atthe resort that he had seen the hall leak, and he described the deluge as “the mother of all storms”


At 19h00 a relieved Alex

Christodoulou of Axis Event

Management and Master of

Ceremonies Duane Rockwell

could get the show on the road.

Duane had driven up from

Johannesburg, haven given

himself ample time to arrive by

17h00, but only arrived at

18h00, because of “the biggest

rainstorm I’ve ever driven

through, and a most frighten-

ing experience”. Duane said

that he was amazed at the

turnout, as if no one had

turned up, he would not have

been surprised.

Colin Murphy, Chairman of Partinform, wel-

comed the intrepid guests, and gave them an

update on the current trends in the automotive

aftermarket. He emphasised the need for the

industry to support the motorists who were

keeping their cars longer, and to assist them in

keeping their vehicles in tip top competition, by

the provision of quality branded parts, and after

sales service. He also warned of the dangers

inherent in the imminent Consumer Protection

Bill, as everyone involved in the supply chain

would be jointly and severally liable for inferior

product and consequential damage.

Three of the guests who made it to the showwere Rusty and Marlene Bourne of RustyBourne Midas, Cape Town, and MariseBourne of Lowveld Garage Equipment. TheBournes have recently moved to White Riverand the intensity of the storm had even sur-prised Rusty, not unused to the Cape ofStorms. Despite having seen their newly laidgarden washed away by a one metre highwall of water a few minutes before, the

Bournes showed their spirit by shrugging itoff and arriving at the show as if nothing hadhappened.

After.......


An ecstatic Riaan Vosges of Horst Auto Workshop discovers that he is the winner of the

Forza Racing Ferrari Experience. Riaan took part in the Partinform Quiz after been drawn

out of the hat. He told ABR that he expected a “broekskeur moeilik” question, but could

easily answer in the affirmative as to whether Luk was a major supplier of clutches to the

South African automotive manufacturers.

Part of the Mpumalanga Manne that braved the elements to get to Partinform


I n s i g h t s

To join Capricorn Society Limited call Rob Mildenhall on083 654 2094 or e-mail him at

[email protected] or visit their website onwww.capricorn.com.au

A Helping Hand2009 was a tough year for the automotive industry. Who would have thought at the CapricornSociety’s annual bash events in Durban and Gauteng during November 2008 what was awaitingus? Upon reflection, the members of Capricorn had very little to worry about, because the Societywas proactive and prescient from day one, and proved that it was a partner that offered realisticassessments and genuine benefits, and the Capricorn ship and those who sailed on her navigatedthe storm with relative ease, albeit with the sails trimmed to take into account the circumstances.

ABR has observed from both a distance and close-up how

professionally and business like Capricorn Society, and

its members and suppliers, have confronted the issues,

and this behaviour has set them apart from the rest. To

appreciate the authenticity of these words, one just needs to peruse

the back copies of ABR from February 2009 to November 2009,

and to reread the series of articles under the banner of “Capricorn

Insights”:

February 2009: Capricorn Society signalled its intention to

tighten up its criteria for membership, a move welcomed by the

South African founder members.

March 2009: In reaction to the global financial crisis, Trent

Barlett, CEO of Capricorn Society, sent out an open letter to its

suppliers committing to prompt payment of its accounts and the

guarantee of no bad debt, proving that Capricorn was “an organi-

sation that you can trust and rely upon”.

April 2009: Capricorn Society staff were a prominent feature at

the Autodata stand at Automechanika South Africa in March

2009, to ensure that all members who visited the stand were aware

of the benefit of free technical vehicle data to Capricorn members.

May 2009: The first MIWA/RMI “Mystery Shopper Programme”

winner, Bruno Burri of Swedo Tech Services, attributes his mem-

bership of Capricorn Society as a key factor in his success.

June 2009: Rob Mildenhall, Capricorn’s South African Business

Development Manager, explained the rationale behind Capricorn’s

emphasis on debt collection, prompt supplier payment, and

integrity when doing business.

July 2009: Pieter Haak, General Manager After Sales, Barloworld

Motor Retail South Africa, explained to ABR about the philoso-

phy of “Fewer, Bigger, Better” and how Capricorn Society fitted

the Barloworld values, and how happy Barloworld was to be a

Capricorn supplier.

August 2009: The parade of happy suppliers continued, with

Louis Nel, Franchise Parts Manager, McCarthy Motors, expound-

ing the virtues of Capricorn Society, and how its service offerings

fitted Mercedes-Benz DNI (Distribution National Inventory) sys-

tem like a glove.

September 2009: ABR devoted an article to the International

Day of Cooperatives, a day set aside by the United Nations to hon-

our and recognise the effective role that cooperatives play in glob-

al business and development

October 2009: ABR interviewed four loyal Capricorn members

to confirm that the procedures put into place by the Society to

protect and enhance its values, had the full support of the mem-

bers.

November 2009: An interview with Malcolm Perrie and Chris

Hillier of Federal-Mogul Aftermarket put the cherry on the cake,

through the affirmation that Capricorn Society is an effective mar-

keting and sales tool in the automotive aftermarket supply and

service chain, with particular reference to the Capricorn Preferred

Supplier Loyalty Programme.

A litany of praise indeed, and ABR spoke to Rob Mildenhall about

this huge vote of confidence from suppliers and members alike.

Rob said that “Capricorn is a pragmatic organisation that is not

scared to take tough decisions for the good of the whole. An exam-

ple of this is our decision to postpone our year end function to

early in 2010, as we realise that 2009 has been a tough year, and

this has put pressure on our suppliers and partners. With this

approach, we have been an invaluable catalyst in the automotive

aftermarket. Our guarantee of payment, and the reduced exposure

to debt for the suppliers, has encouraged and grown business in

the industry, even in these depressed times. Our loyal members

believe in the cooperative concept and continue to build our coop-

eratively minded company. They are the heart of the company, and

2010 will see further growth, as all our combined hard work bears

fruit, and we look forward to expansion in the next year.”


Launch’s Silver BulletLaunch Technologies SA (Pty) Ltd has only been operational in South Africa since2000, but in this short space of time Launch has established itself as a major sup-plier of automotive aftermarket service equipment to the automotive and allied indus-tries in Southern Africa. One of the major reasons for this success is that the qual-ity range of Launch equipment and products are fully backed up and serviced by in-house after sales service teams. Thus it comes as no surprise to learn that of theworkshops in South Africa using Launch equipment, that 70% of their requirementsare met by Launch Technologies.

A series of articles on Launch Technologies SA (Pty) Ltd

• The most powerful diagnostic scan tool in the world thatcovers more vehicle makes and a wider range of systemsthan any other, including all major North American,European and Asian models

• Wide language choices, from English to Chinese

• Upgrades via www.x431.com up to 400 times every year

• Reliable hardware, proven platform, software and technology

• Display data stream in waveform

• Equipped with international standard ports for the connection with all vehicles

• Provision of a whole list of distinctive functions, including handwriting input, P.D.A. facility and a calculator amongst other features

• Offering 32-bit access due to the advanced hardware

All good and well, and very necessary. But Launch’s sil-

ver bullet is its X-431 Super Scanner. The origins of

the X-431 began in 1994, when Launch Tech Co. in

China developed its first generation scanner named

the LE100. Over the years Launch improved on this

scanner significantly, and in 1998 they developed the

fourth generation of the 431ME and the enhanced 431ME 1 model.

Development continued apace, and in 2004 the X-431 was ranked

among the top 20 service tools of the year, and in September 2004 it

was rated number one in the kfz-Meister Service appraisal.

International acceptance continued with the granting of certification

by California’s BAR association in 2005, and the rating of Top

Product of the Year 2005 in February 2006 by the UK’s Professional

Motor Mechanic Magazine. Further awards have followed, and the

X-431 has become the trailblazer of Launch product, with worldwide

use in over 80 000 workshops. Its open platform diagnosis represents

the latest technology and the future of vehicle diagnosis. Just read

what Launch claims in the product brochure:

Howard Keeg follows the action


What they were allwaiting for!

Eight Partinforms under the belt, ten ABR’s read and entry forms completed, and tenmonths of waiting was over. D Day had eventually arrived. On a cool cloudy day, withrain threatening but thankfully holding off enough to allow for a Forza RacingTrack Experience, the twelve lucky winners gathered on Thursday 19th November atZwartkops Race Track to partake in an experience of a lifetime. For those who did notmake it for 2009,the Partinform roadshow shall be on the road again in 2010 andtwelve more racing experiences will be up for grabs once more – details to follow inthe February 2010 issue of ABR.

… and the reason why we get so many speeding tickets

Malcolm Perrie, Chairman ofAAMA, welcomed the guestsand explained the rationalebehind the establishment ofAAMA, and the importantrole that the Partinform showsplay in getting the message ofquality branded product acrossto the trade

It was discovered at the last

minute that Riaan Vosges of

Horst Auto Workshop did not

have a driving licence, which

disqualified him from partici-

pating in the full schedule.

The organisers made up for it

by giving Riaan two hot laps

around Zwartkops.


The business end of the Ferrari 360, which takes the car from

0 – 100 kph in four seconds

The Partinform shows and the organisation of the Racing

Experience requires tons of organisation and behind the scenes

administration - Beryl Gill bore the brunt of the work in

2009, and Colin Murphy, Chairman of Partinform, acknowl-

edged her invaluable input in an appropriate way

The sponsors made liberal use of

stickers, which must have added

a couple of milliseconds on to

the lap times.

D i e s e l - E l e c t r i c C o n v e n t i o n


Robert Bosch announce new

Workshop Franchise for South AfricaThe Diesel-Electric Convention 2009, held on Friday 20th November 2009 at

Maropeng in the Cradle of Humankind, came electrifying alive just before after-

noon tea, when Ewald Faulstich, Director Automotive Aftermarket Division at

Robert Bosch (Pty) Ltd, made the announcement that Robert Bosch was soon to

launch a new workshop concept, AutoCrew, into South Africa, and by so doing,

following the lead of their parent company in Germany.

For anyone who has been following the global trends

in the automotive aftermarket, and reading between

the lines from previous presentations from Ewald

Faulstich and other commentators in the industry,

this announcement comes as no surprise. In actual

fact, this has been a long time coming, considering

that the “Bosch Dienst” workshop concept was launched in

Germany in 1921, and later expanded globally, and by the time

the first Bosch Service opened in South Africa in 1937, the need

for professional workshop support for the growing vehicle car

parc was moving from a good idea to an absolute imperative.

Robert Bosch was simply ahead of its time and with today’s tech-

nologically complex and advanced vehicles, the need for more

professionally run and well supported workshops is simply not

being met in South Africa. Based on this fact, and the realisation

that a vacuum was being created which will eventually be filled by

someone else with an eagle eye and deep pockets, the rationale

behind the move makes perfect sense. Many entities have made

the attempt the past few years, with limited success, but as Ewald

Faulstich put it, “someone will eventually find the right formula

and hit the jackpot”. The Diesel-Electric organisation saw the

trend over five years ago, and made the first move with the intro-

duction of the e-CAR workshop concept in this country in 2004,

which is today the fastest growing workshop network in South

Africa, and now boasts 60 members. However, Robert Bosch

apparently feels that the vacuum remains unfilled, and they evi-

dently want to head off potential interlopers at the pass, or at least

create barriers to entry which will discourage any aspiring new-

comers. And the figures that Ewald gave at the convention made

for a compelling case. 80% of workshops in Europe are IAM

Franchised, whereas this figure is roughly 20% in South Africa.

To put it into perspective, four out of five workshops in South

Africa are independently run, and whilst they may offer a high

level of personalised service, they will soon fall behind the

technological curve, and will need to join a bigger organisation to

remain relevant. This is the pond in which the Bosch Service,

the e-CAR, the AutoCrew, and other national franchises are going

to cast their nets.

We Keep Vehicles MovingThe keynote address at the Diesel-Electric Convention 2009 was

presented by Gürcan Karakaş, Senior Vice President, Automotive

Aftermarket, Sales Independent Aftermarket, Robert Bosch

GmbH, who emphasised that from day one the Robert Bosch

Group was built on research and development, and that its

globalisation was built on the genetic code of Bosch. Today, 74%

of Bosch sales revenues come from outside Germany, which is not

a recent trend, as even before WW1 80% came from outside

Germany. Gürcan Karakaş’ presentation was on “The

Independent Aftermarket in Challenging Times”, and his progno-

sis was that the battle for profit in the aftermarket is today focused

on the second tier of the trade, i.e. independent and franchised

workshops; national workshop chains; DIY/petrol stations; OES

owned workshop franchises; and IAM workshops owned by

OEMs. The emphasis is on more professional management, inter-

national workshop concepts, adaptation to legislation, and the

making use of intermediaries. In the mature markets, the trend is

for more and more workshop generalists, whilst on the distribu-

tion side the move has been to concentration and rationalisation.

South Africa needs to recognise these trends, and to identify the

business opportunities and threats therein. He concluded with the

following key messages to the delegates:

• Long term aftermarket growth potential exists but

competition will increase

• Positive and negative industry trends require different

strategic solutions

• Meeting workshop needs and binding workshops is key to

success

• Parts & Bytes strategy is a key pre-requisite for continued

success

• Together with its partners Bosch AA will increase market

share

• Continuous market changes require organisational

adjustments both at Bosch and its partners

Ewald Faulstich echoed these sentiments, and warned the

delegates not to underestimate the battlefield, and to this end

Bosch was to focus on four concepts/strategies: Parts, Diagnostic,

Workshop, and Communication. He said that the “middle age car

parc” was where the battle would be most intense, and that the

key to acquiring a large part of this business was to enlarge the

circle and to build walls around the circle. Central to this theme

was the incremental expansion of workshop franchises, through

additional e-CAR, AutoCrew, Bosch Diesel and Bosch Car

Service outlets. Enhancing this would be an emphasis on supply

chain management, and creating an image of “Best in Class”

brand performance and brand value. As both Ewald and Gürcan

said, “If we do not shape the market, the market will shape us”.

With this philosophy, we can be assured that Bosch does indeed

intend to keep vehicles moving!

D i e s e l - E l e c t r i c C o n v e n t i o n

87

The two key presenters at the Diesel-Electric Convention wereEwald Faulstich Director Automotive Aftermarket Division atRobert Bosch (Pty) Ltd, and Gürcan Karakaş, Senior VicePresident, Automotive Aftermarket, Sales Independent Aftermarket, Robert Bosch GmbH

The convention was held at Maropeng, in the heart of the cradle of humankind. An appropriate venue,as the theme centred on the concept of “Adapt or Die”

The convention allowed for someintense networking

Wolfgang von Ey (Snr) fromVaal/OFS was presented with aMost Valued Diesel ElectricBusiness Partner “Life Time”Award after 25 years service,and he regaled the delegates witha history of the organisation

After the convention ABRmanaged to collar themale side of the technicalpresentation team, whoplayed a crucial role inupdating the delegates onthe Bosch BusinessConcepts and Strategies,and the detail therein.

Lilian Hansen was thesole female presenter, whoenlightened the delegateson the initiatives aroundbrand management,advertising, sales promo-tions and e-commerce.Lilian managed to let herhair down at the GalaDinner.

The covetedDiesel Electric ofthe Year trophieswent to Welkom(Category B) andRustenburg(Category A).

I n d u s t r y U p d a t e


The end of an eraIt all started in 1974 with the introduction of the Golf 1 in Europe. And it ends inthe first quarter of 2010, when the last Citi Golf leaves a VW showroom. 36 yearsof an icon that even the most optimistic of planners could not have foreseen.

Golf 1 became an immediate success when it was

launched in South Africa in 1978, four years after it

was launched in Germany, as it was the small car suc-

cessor to the even more iconic Beetle. But it was the

impending launch of the Golf 2 in 1984 that gave VWSA a

headache, as it was about to lose a popular entry level vehicle.

Thus was born the Citi Golf, after an initial look at an “Econo

Golf”, and a young, vibrant team from VW’s advertising agency,

which included fashion designer, Jenni Button; copywriter, John

Cooke; art directors, Brian Plimsoll and Mel Miller; illustrator,

“Zippie” Zimmet, took this vehicle to unimaginable heights.

Ironically, it was Brian Plimsoll who came up with the “freedom

of the Citi” slogan, and 25 years later, the freedom will no longer

be, as announced by David Powels, Managing Director of VWSA,

at a media conference in Midrand on 2nd November 2009. In

reality, the Citi’s freedom will roll on, because VWSA built 517

384 units of the A1 derivative from May 1978 to August 2009,

and as Powels promised at the conference, VW will “continue to

service and support the Citi Golf as long as it takes”. The good-

bye will be long and extended, as VW has built up stock of the

Citi Golf, and is being coy about the Citi’s successor, which will

only be revealed in the first quarter of next year. Volkswagen of

South Africa is paying homage to the original Golf 1, with the

introduction of a final limited edition Citi, aptly branded, Citi

Mk1. Only 1000 of these collectors’ cars will find their way into

the hands of motoring enthusiasts in South Africa and around the

world. Two of the last produced Citi Mk1 units will join other

Volkswagen Classic cars that are on permanent display at the

Autostadt, the Volkswagen Group Museum and Brand Expo in

Wolfsburg, Germany and at the Volkswagen AutoPavillion Brand

heritage centre in Uitenhage. In addition, during November 2009

VW embarked on a goodbye tour around the country, and also

auctioned unit number 003 and the last Citi produced to be

available to the public, the proceeds going to a community-based

organisation, Ubuntu Education Fund in Port Elizabeth.

Interesting facts about Citi • Over 120 employees currently working at VWSA production

plants in Uitenhage have only worked on the A1 line (Golf 1

and Citi) production. Collectively, they have 2700 years of

experience on the Citi.

• In 1984, only 300 Citi Golf units were sold per month.

25 years later, over 1600 units are sold in a single month.

• In 2006, an average of 130 units were produced per day and

28 550 units were sold.

• In 1984, the retail price of the Citi Golf started at R 7 630

and in 2009 the retail price starts at R84 700.

• Citi has outlasted five generations of the Golf range.

The last MK1 Golf comes off the production line in Uitenhage on

21 August 2009

Three proud godfathers of the Citi Golf, at the announcement ofthe Citi Golf ’s demise on 2nd November 2009. l to r, MikeGlendinning, Director, Sales & Marketing Director; DavidPowels, Managing Director; Bill Stephens, Division Head,

Communications.

V e h i c l e E v a l u a t i o n

89

The Z Car

For one week, cour-tesy of Nissan SouthAfrica, I was Zorro, the capedcrusader, patrolling the streets of Gautengin the classic Nissan 370Z Coupe, the ultimate Z car. A 7 speed automatic, with a natu-rally aspirated fuel injected 3,7 litre V6 engine, pushing out 248kW @ 7000 rpm, and366Nm @ 5200 rpm, and acceleration of 0 to 100kph in roughly 5,5 seconds, and aclaimed 0 to 200 kph in 20,8 seconds, this car is a meneer.

It may not be the fastest sports car on

the block, nor does it have the bells and

whistles that some of the over the top

fire belching bling vehicles have, but

this is a true blue sports car, with a nod to the

heritage of this genre. And at R516 200, it is

affordable and perfect for my age group.

Actually, it is perfect for any age group, but

from my perspective it is the car for me if I

was so inclined. It has all the power that one

needs, its dynamic weight balance gives a

feeling as if it runs on rails, and it has phe-

nomenal braking, thanks to 19” wheels and

14” front brake discs with four piston cal-

lipers. It is a thoroughly modern sports car,

but remembers its 240Z roots from 1970,

and a full redesign of the 2003 350Z. I did

not have the opportunity to really test this

baby, which requires some illegal driving, but

for the week that I had it, I managed to do

750 km on one tank in mostly city and free-

way driving, with an estimated 9,7l/km. I

did not nurse the car, so this is very accept-

able fuel consumption. What I really liked

was the long paddles if one moved to manu-

al mode, which was not really necessary as

the automatic box is great, and the whole

console moving with the steering wheel on

adjustment, thus always giving full view of

the dials. One quibble, and that is the road

noise, but I did notice that the tyres on my

test car were scuffed, which could have con-

tributed – those motoring journalists, tut,

tut. And finally, this car does some amazing

things for my masculinity. With my normal

sedan, no one seems to notice me, but with

the 370Z, I was being escorted into parking

bays, and the opposite sex did not seem to

mind that I am hirsutely challenged. On sec-

ond thoughts, I am so inclined.

by Howard Keeg

The laws of attraction

Without the Z car.

With the Z car.

This is a true Z car. Wherever you look, you see a Z.




Q: The phrase “commitment to stakeholders” is a muchbandied about term. What does this represent to you?

A: This is a broad question, but we take all our stakeholders seri-

ously. Shareholders, customers, franchisees, suppliers, staff, the

community in which we operate, they are all uppermost in our

minds. From the broader automotive aftermarket angle, of which

your magazine is particularly interested, we are acutely aware of the

responsibility we bear towards our suppliers in ensuring improved

market penetration, and the need to be the standard bearer for

quality product. Over achieving the expectation of our customer

base is paramount to growing their loyalty and support hence our

mantra of “Delivering the Promise”. Naturally, we also take the

responsibility of protecting our employees’ jobs extremely serious-

ly, and we will move heaven and earth to sustain this position.

I would also like to add that our commitment to social projects is

important to Midas. We are deeply committed to assisting under-

privileged communities and deserving cases, and are already assist-

ing three schools and various hospices. There are financial con-

straints, of course, so in addition to our company funding, we raise

money for these projects, and we proactively disburse these funds

as efficiently as possible, with the aim of inculcating a self sufficien-

cy ethos amongst the recipients. I recently attended a prize giving

at the Madibatlou Middle School in Olifantsfontein and it was

gratifying to see that our efforts are bearing fruit. We also intend

being more active in environmental projects in future, and all I can

say at this stage is watch this space.

Q: What are the big issues that are currently exercising yourminds?

A: Quality and cost issues are always in the debate, but the bigger

issue at the moment is the impending Consumer Protection Act.

This is going to have a material impact on the market. The exact

ramifications of the CPA are as yet not clear, however, we under-

stand that we will have to restructure our agreements with our sup-

pliers and franchisees to take this impact into account. We think

that overall the CPA will be good for the industry. Midas of course

will comply with the CPA, as it will favour those who deal in qual-

ity. It is a new factor that will affect business, to an extent still to

be assessed.

Q: And challenges for the future?

A: Pricing is a challenge, and the pressure on margins will

increase. The market is going to get more competitive, which is

good news for the consumer. Service, like quality a few years ago,

is becoming a given, and expectations continue to increase.

Supply chain efficiency will become a challenge, and the ability to

feed an increasingly insatiable market demand for a wider and

wider range of vehicle models whilst retaining acceptable working

capital levels will definitely be a challenge. Outlets carry less stock

and expect multiple deliveries a day. The challenge is to meet this

requirement whilst managing the increased cost that is associated

with a higher service offering.

Q: What will the market look like in five years time?

A: The market will be more competitive, but paradoxically it will

be less cluttered. The current recession is already taking casualties,

but the outlets that survive will be leaner and meaner, with the

trend moving even stronger to quality and service. Thus there will

be a strong bias towards franchised outlets as the consumer turns

to brands that can be trusted. Brand loyalty will strengthen

amongst consumers, and they will be looking for good deals on

KVI’s (Known Value Items). The consumer will be more educat-

ed and demanding, with the CPA accelerating this trend.

However, Midas is well positioned and confident that it will meet

the market needs over the medium term.

Q: Do you intend the steer the Midas ship for the next 12years, like your predecessor?

A: When I was studying to be an Accountant I never even dreamt

I was going to end up in the automotive industry. I thought that

I was going to end up in some form of banking, as I did have a

stint at Lloyds in London. I really enjoy the industry and more

importantly the people I work with every day. I love the people,

and the culture of a strong team working together is great. This

philosophy stands us in good stead, and I really appreciate the

support that I get from this team, which is a solid combination of

experience and youth. I look forward to the future with relish.

Passing Baton

ABR ONE ON ONE WITH Warren Espinoza

the


91

ABR ONE ON ONE WITH GORDON ODGERSQ: Corporate Governance has become the big buzzwordrecently. From your perspective, what are the differencesfrom 12 years ago and today?

A: Twelve years ago we were a listed company, with our major

shareholders being Dorbyl and the McCarthy Group. I remember

spending my life doing reports on corporate governance matters.

Most of these reports had no positive impact on the business, but

the best practice characteristics around corporate governance were

very useful, particularly the audit committee, the regular board

meetings, the internal audits and the trading updates. When we

delisted we retained the best practice features, whilst throwing out

the chaff. This allowed us to focus on trading issues, and to spend

executive and management time on improving our competitive-

ness and growing market share. We also achieved huge cost sav-

ings by not sweating the small stuff. With the Imperial deal, we

remain unlisted but are now a subsidiary of Imperial Holdings.

This will bring some additional corporate activity, but not to the

extent of a listing. The additional corporate requirements burden

does not constitute a big deal, as these past few years we have not

only kept in place the best practice aspects we brought forward

from the Dorbyl days, but actually improved on them.

Q: The emphasis on trading issues is obviously dear to yourheart. Has this environment changed in the past 12 years?

A: Legislation has started to impact the trading environment. The

NCA (National Credit Agreements Act) had an effect on the

industry, and the CPA (Consumer Protection Bill) will have a

profound impact on the industry. Not necessarily a bad thing, and

in many ways a very positive effect should come through in the

long term, after the short term disruptions. I think this is playing

a role in the move from independent stores and workshops to

franchise operations. There is also a lot more emphasis on logis-

tics and supply chain management, and the elimination of ineffi-

ciencies in these areas. The market has also been clearly delineat-

ed between premium priced branded product and the more value

orientated house brands. This market differentiation is not being

driven by us, but by the consumers, who want the choice between

A and B. We find that as a vehicle gets older, the motorist is more

inclined to purchase the B product. There is even a C segment for

the really old cars, but Midas does not participate in this segment

of the market, as there is no space for dubious quality, and the

CPA will have a very big impact on those who dabble in white box

product. I believe that this will accelerate the consolidation that is

currently taking place, What I do find concerning is the recent

trend of OES/P&A operations crossing over into the independent

aftermarket, who are using the benefit of low OEM pricing to

penetrate the market, to my mind unfairly.

Q: From a personal point of view, what are the big issuesconfronting Midas at the moment?

A: My total focus at the moment is the bedding down of the

acquisition by Imperial Holdings, who have taken a majority

stake in Midas. By the time your magazine hits your readers’

desks, the transaction should be in the final throes of execution. I

am very excited about this deal, as this transaction should unlock

certain shareholder issues, and substantially improve the financial

situation of Midas, and providing intra-Imperial opportunities.

What Midas likes particularly about this deal is that Imperial has

adopted a non-interference approach, and very importantly, they

have respect for Midas management who will continue to run the

business, and have respect for the Midas business model. Another

big issue is the strong Rand. This is putting pressure on the auto-

motive aftermarket, and we are seeing that whilst we are growing

in terms of units, this is not reflected in the financial statements.

This is also having a detrimental effect on the local manufactur-

ers, with a cost base in Rands, and the pressure to grow earnings.

Q: What do you see as your role in the future?

A: I will be CEO of Midas until the end of 2011, with total

responsibility for the Midas Group and reporting to the Board.

After that, I will stay on in a non-executive role. But that is still

two years away, thus I cannot dwell too long on this, as in the

interim I will have my hands full in satisfying the shareholders,

the customers, the franchisees, the suppliers, our employees, who

all have a stake in the future success of Midas. This is more than

enough to exercise my mind, but I love the challenge, as opera-

tional issues are what it is all about and the front line is where you

will find me.


In the November issue of ABR, we covered the 2009 Midas Napa

Convention, held at Emperors Palace, Gauteng on 23/24 October

2009. The event ended off emotionally with the “passing of the

baton” from Gordon Odgers, CEO, to Warren Espinoza, COO, in

respect of the day to day responsibilities of the Midas Group. ABR

waited for the hubbub to die down before interviewing both gentle-

men, with the view to finding out whether it was business as usual at

South Africa’s largest automotive aftermarket organisation, and

what was the anticipated effect of the acquisition of 56% of Midas

by Imperial Holdings.

GM is clawing its way back from the brink, and this was

outlined by Nick Reilly, International Operations

President and GM Vice President, during his light-

ning visit to SA in mid September. Nick pointed out

that GM is number one in China, the world’s biggest market, and

is aggressively pushing ahead with its alternative fuel vehicle pro-

gramme. GM has also not cut back on its R&D programme,

which consumes US$7,5 billion per annum, with the only differ-

ence that it is now getting more bang for this particular buck.

Reilly assured us that GM will be ready for the global upswing,

and at the same conference Steven Koch, then retiring GM

President of African Operations & GMSA Managing Director,

confirmed that GM is in South Africa for the long haul. He said

that GM’s regional strategy was to be “a coalition of one”, and that

come what may, “we’ll be the last OEM standing”. Brave words,

but said with conviction. This is what is required for the industry,

some backbone. A delightful little soufflé of optimism, but the

cherry on the cake came during Ford South Africa’s media break-

fast on the 3rd November, when Hal Feder announced Ford’s

global third quarter results. Hal commemorated the occasion by

wearing a green tie, to celebrate the swing from red figures to

green figures; green shoots indeed. Ford celebrated a pre-tax prof-

it of US$1,1 billion, and the really good news is that this profit

came from all the regions. North America was particularly gratify-

ing, with a US$357 million operating profit. This all translates

into improved cash flow and a pervading sense of optimism that

Alan Mulally’s “Turbo Machine’ is getting better, and moving for-

ward. The only dark spot was the Volvo results, but even these are

getting better. Ford may be talking to interested parties, but

maybe they should imitate GM, who on second thoughts have

decided to hold onto Opel. This Swedish marque has such a good

heritage, that it may be better for Ford, to paraphrase Volvo’s

singing Scandinavian cousins, to revaluate and to “take another

chance on Volvo”. As long as it’s not their Waterloo, but let’s not

get into that pernicious pessimistic mode.

On Friday, 6th November, it was Peugeot South Africa’s turn to

show confidence in the future. Displaying their range of commer-

cial vehicles to their media, and predicting better things to come,

it was good to hear MD Jean Francois Bacos say that Peugeot saw

South Africa as a growing market, and that apart from South

Africa being a good testing ground from a development point of

view, it was the niche markets that provided opportunities for

Peugeot in their commercial vehicle endeavours. At about the

same time as the Peugeot presentation, Chrysler Group LLC, par-

ent company to Chrysler South Africa (Pty) Ltd, importers of

Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge vehicles as well as MOPAR parts and

accessories, held a comprehensive press conference at their Auburn

Hills headquarters in Michigan. The Group divulged an unprece-

dented detailed future five-year plan including both business and

product aspects going forward to 2014. The good news for South

Africa is that changes are not anticipated in the current Chrysler,

Jeep and Dodge brand offerings, with the promise of a range

expansion. Chrysler’s local dealer network has expanded over the

last three years adding some seven new sales outlets to reach a total

of 35. This represents a clear commitment by the dealer body to

build and fund ongoing Chrysler Group expansion in the local

market. Life does indeed go on.

L I F E G O E S O N


Restoring the Status QuoIn May 2009, in the heart of the darkness, ABR decided to introduce itsLife Goes On series. This was in response to the general negativity andpessimism that was seeping into the very fabric of the automotive indus-try. The problem that ABR had picked up was that this negativity was nolonger a superficial fear of the unknown, but rather that it had penetrat-ed the psyche of practically everyone, from the chief executive through

to the tea lady. Life Goes On was a psychological call to arms, and ABR roped in AustinGamble to weave his words of magic. Serendepitiously, Austin was assisted in his endeav-ours by two optimistic presentations from General Motors and Ford in the same month,and this served as the base for a series of increasingly upbeat articles. Now, six monthslater, whilst we have not gone full circle, we’ve taken the first careful steps to recov-ery, and Austin can toast some of the “green shoots”. We’ve also asked RichardMacaskill to look at this issue from an economic perspective, as outlined by CeesBruggermans in a recent address to the industry.

Steven Koch Hal Feder Nick Reilly Jean Francois Bacos

by Austin Gamble

L I F E G O E S O N


A New SunriseIn the October issue you were left with a slight teaser in one of ABR ‘sBuzz items – a brief article titled Down, But Not Out was concluded withthe phrase “Life Goes On.” Down, but not out explored a topic worthy ofmuch more space than it received, that of the economic recession – or, moreaccurately, the economic recovery. That’s right, Cees Bruggermans, chiefeconomist of First National Bank, spoke not about how bad things are, oreven about how bad they have been, but rather about what the path to eco-

nomic recovery is going to be like for South Africa. This fact makes it a very apt topic forthis month’s Life Goes On column because life does indeed go on, and whether it is rainyor sunny outside, whether we are in an economic downswing or upswing, bad time or good,we all need to keep moving forward in spite of it.

“I have titled my presentation Catching

the next wave,” commenced Brugger-

mans, starting on a positive note immedi-

ately. One thing Bruggermans made clear

is that before we can see where we are

going, we must first see where we have

come from, and to do that we need to

understand why we had an economic cri-

sis in the first place. “It was the failure of

the collective imagination of some very

bright people,” he joked. He further

emphasised two major mistakes that peo-

ple tend to make, one of which is that

people sometimes think it is hard to break

a system when it is in fact very easy, and

the other is that sometimes people think it

is very easy to break a system when it is

actually very difficult. The latter is the

important one, as this is the mistake peo-

ple made in forming their attitudes

regarding the economic recession. “It is

actually very difficult to destroy the inter-

national financial system,” stated

Bruggermans. As discussed last month,

people will always come up with new ways

of making money, but these will be the

first to fall away during times of recession.

“The stress-tested, residual innovations

from the past thousand years are what we

are left with,” noted Bruggermans. The

sub-prime lending crisis was one of the

newer methods of making money, and

this is why it fell away so dramatically. It is

important to note that this was not in fact

the cause of the recession though. The

world was already heading into a recession

when this happened. The economy is a

cyclical thing and, as such, there will

always be upswings and downswings; it is

the natural economic cycle of the world.

Pre-Lehman, as it was referred to on the

day, the economy was already weakening.

Oil had hit almost $150/bbl, and this

took approximately $2 trillion out of the

world’s income. The sub-prime lending

crisis was, however, a major contributing

factor to the recession and the sheer

depths the economy was plunged into.

What people did, was panic, and as

Bruggermans joked, “When we panic, we

do it in style.” This panic led to a debt spi-

ral, which caused loss of trust and in turn

loss of stability, loss of solvability and ulti-

mately the loss of credit flows.

Bruggermans said that according to esti-

mates, wealth loss during the recession

was somewhere in the region of $3 – 4

trillion worldwide. This refers to paper, or

financial losses, and while the panic may

have been a human phenomenon,

Bruggermans commented that “the dam-

age was very real.” 30% seemed to be the

magic number during the recession – this

was approximately how much production

was cut across the board, and this meant

that people became very defensive in the

way they handled their cash flow. There

was almost immediately a 16% industry

collapse, worse in many places, like

Germany, which experienced a 25%

industry collapse due to the fact that they

are so highly specialised, and as

Bruggermans put it, “The greatest reces-

sion in 80 years was borne.”

We all know what happened during the

recession, and it is probably not some-

thing worth musing upon. While it is vital

that we learn from the hard times, it is not

vital that we linger on them. What is

important though, is how we drag our-

selves from the situation in which we cur-

rently are.

“What it really took was someone with

power,” noted Bruggermans, “to say that

this will not stand.” This person was Ben

Bernanke, chairman of the Federal

Reserve Bank. “I was not going to be the

Federal Reserve Chairman who presided

over the second Great Depression,”

Bernanke said. And with that statement,

the road to recovery had been embarked

upon. Bernanke had the power to make a

difference, and that is exactly what he did.

He started by guaranteeing the banks in

order to restore trust, after which arranged

takeovers were put in place to restore solv-

ability. New capital was injected to

improve solvability and interest rates were

collapsed to kick start credit flows once

again. And that is exactly where we stand

today. It is important to remember that

the recovery is not a V-shaped curve

though. There is no sharp kick after which

everything is great again; instead it is U-

shaped, it is a gradual transition, a slow

transition, but a transition to the positive

nonetheless. We are not out of the woods

by any means, but it seems that at last, we

have found the map that will eventually

lead us out, and back into the sunshine.

by Richard Macaskill

M a r k e t R e s e a r c h


Quality, Service, Satisfaction– the Manufacturers Respond

Two important market research survey results were announced early in November2009, with both surveys indicating that companies are beginning to respond to theneeds of their customers. From an automotive perspective, the results indicated agood match, with one notable exception.

Quality, service, satisfaction, and other relevant criteriago hand in hand, and this has been validated time andtime again by market research and the various awardsthat are dished out to acknowledge this are gratefully

accepted by those companies that strive to meet and even exceedexpectations. The predicament for these companies is that eachtime a company ups its game, the expectations go higher andhigher, with the cycle becoming both virtuous and vicious.Virtuous in that standards continue to improve, which is good forthe overall health and sustainability of the company; and viciousin that it is a cycle that never ends, and a treadmill that just getsfaster and faster, with no letup. Such is the customer serviceconundrum. There is no room to hide, because customerC.A.R.E. means exactly that, Customers Are Really Everything.To the awards. First to the plate was Ask Afrika on 3rd Novemberat the Venue, Melrose Arch, with the Orange Index 2009 awards.The Orange Index rates service excellence across brands andindustries, which is instructive in itself and a candidate for a fullblown article all by itself. ABR was particularly interested in theautomotive category results, with Audi taking first spot, followedby Toyota, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Mini, Nissan and Volkswagen.Some glaring exceptions (which ABR shall investigate further),but on the whole the usual suspects are there, but Audi does sur-prise because at the Synovate Quality Awards on 9th Novemberdown the road at the Campus, Bryanston, Audi was practically ano show, with only the Audi A4 getting 3rd spot in the mediumpassenger vehicle segment, and the other models performing quitebadly. It is accepted that Ask Afrika is all about service excellencewhilst the Synovate survey is all about quality, but as per pastexperience, the two should correlate. As previously mentioned,ABR shall dig a little further into this with future articles.

Looking at the Synovate results, it is clear that automotive com-panies have responded magnificently to their customers in termsof quality. In 2001, the average number of problems per new carwas 182 per hundred vehicles (1,82 problems per vehicle). In the2009 survey, this has dropped to 93 per 100, less than one prob-lem per vehicle! And the majority of those problems are squeaksand rattles, electrical hitches, brakes and handbrakes. Hardly aserious mechanical problem in sight. The overall winner was theMercedes-Benz E class, followed by the Mercedes-Benz C class,then the Mercedes-Benz A Class, which was closely followed bythe Mercedes-Benz A class, thus it was no surprise that Mercedestook top spot for the best local plant manufacturing passengervehicles, and the top spot for best luxury passenger car brandoverall. Audi didn’t come close, which brings us back to the cor-relation question. As a matter of interest, Toyota and BMW tooksecond and third in the local plant category, and Volvo and BMWtook second and third in the luxury brand category. When it cameto best volume passenger car brand overall, Mazda and Toyota tiedfor first place, with Peugeot taking third spot, a significantimprovement on past performances. The two vehicles that tookthe two bottom places were the Citi Golf and the Fiat Palio, bothwhose days on the showroom floor are numbered. This confirmswhat they told you in business economics; that quality comesfrom two areas: design and manufacture. These are old designswith tooling about to give up the ghost, so the odds were stackedagainst them. In the seventies and eighties they would have beenvying for top spot, but now time and technology has caught upwith them. Old war horses that are now going to pasture, withtheir heads held high.

Go to www.abrbuzz to get the detailed results.

The Mercedes-Benz E Class had a phenomenally low 33 problems per 100 vehicles in the first few months of ownership by obviouslyecstatic customers, as indicated by the Synovate Quality Awards.

B u r f o r d o n B r a n d s

97

A reliable

CITIzenNormally this column discusses brands, as in Toyota, Porsche, Alfa,and so on. This time we’re drilling down a bit and featuring Volksie’sCiti, a car which has just been discontinued but certainly qualifies as abrand in its own right.

Igrew up in the Citi Golf era. In fact, the Citi debuted in the

year (1984) I legally qualified to drive – not that

I wanted a front-wheel-drive shopping trolley

with bright ‘Mondrean’ colours: I had my eye on

a rotary-engined Mazda Capella with a very loud

exhaust and the ability to be driven very sideways. But

most of my school mates – at least the smart ones with

clear-headed parents who had never smelt hot oil while

drinking cold beer on the cheap seats at Kyalami – had

been given hand-me-down 323s, Corollas, Y-series

Datsuns and of course early Golfs. It was ideal student fare:

practical and economical, albeit rather dull. Volkswagen’s

marketing people saw the opportunity in this and because a

bigger and significantly more expensive Mk II Golf was on

the way, the stories goes that they hatched a plan to stay in

that student/first-time buyer market by relaunching a ‘new’,

stripped-out Mk I to be called the Econo Golf.

Then the advertising people were brought into the loop and they

said: ‘hmmm... kak idea: why not rather make it youthful and

funky and paint it in bright primary colours and fit it with white

bumpers and white wheels and make it a teeny bit more expensive

and call it the CitiGolf? So they did, and no one looked back for

a quarter of a century.

It was a stroke of genius but even the gurus underestimated its

longevity and relevance. The forecast in 1984 was that they would

sell about 300 per month and the lifespan would be five years at

most. In July this year 1 630 Citis were sold, just a month before

the last and 377 484th one came down the line.

There probably aren’t many South African families that haven’t

owned a Citi and it has become the de facto entry-level car in this

country. Simple, soundly engineered and cheap and easy to main-

tain and repair, an entire industry has sprung up around it. Being

popular with the youth, every second Citi boasts tinted windows,

lowered suspension, a rowdy exhaust and a set of mags. Being

light means the larger-engined versions are very rapid and there is

no shortage of seriously fast ones around. It has also given dozens

of drivers an ‘in’ to motorsport.

While it remained largely unchanged for much of its life, by the

late-1990s Volkswagen South Africa started a programme to

address its shortcoming. Ventilation was improved, the dated

ergonomics were helped dramatically by the Polo-esque interior

and a repositioned gearlever, the old-school front quarterlights

(which made the exterior mirrors pretty useless) eventually gave

way to one-piece side glass, tail lights grew larger as did the petrol

tank, and (from early 2009) you could even have a Citi with an

airbag. The brakes, traditionally one of the car’s weakest points,

were improved though not by much!

There were myriad special edition models, including the Sport

(with a 1.8-litre engine) Rhythm, Storm, Blues, Deco, Sonic and

even a Bafana Bafana version. The hottest were the CTi (82 kW)

and the 90 kW Citi R. And let’s not forget the Shuttle and Chico,

hire company fodder and maybe not all that far from the Econo

Golf concept...

The final 1000 have simply been called the Citi MkI and will sell

for R113 500 (a far cry from the R7 630 which the base model

cost in 1984) but they will benefit from a quarter-century of

development and will be generously-specced and individually

numbered. Two of these will join other Volkswagen classics on

permanent display at the Autostadt, the Volkswagen Group

Museum and Brand Expo in Wolfsburg, Germany and at the

Volkswagen AutoPavillion brand heritage centre in Uitenhage.

Late in its life the Citi took some flak for being ‘unsafe’. Sure, it

was seriously old but it was also fundamentally a sound design

and even in the early 1970s Germans were well aware of crumple

zones and the like. It also handled in a predictable manner with

suspension which isn’t vastly different in concept from some cur-

rent-generation cars. While it doesn’t make the grade in terms of

passive safety and brakes when compared to 21st century offer-

ings, the fact remains that it put hundreds of thousands of South

Africans on the road. If ever a car was right for the times, it was

the Citi.


by Adrian Burford



A CapableCommuting Vehicle

The interim solution to our commuting andenvironmental crisis is under our noses.Who will take the lead in changing our

nasty habits?

In August 2009, Suzuki introduced its fun and funky Alto subcompact vehicleto the media at a launch in Bloemfontein. The initial impressions were good, butI waited until I got the car for a week, before giving it a full evaluation. Thisduly happened, and I am happy to report that this little car stayed true to itspromises during the week that I had it.

This truly impressive little car, with a rev counter that goes

to 8 000 rpm, but does not allow you to go beyond 6

500 revs, really delivers the goods as an easygoing com-

muter vehicle. It will not suit a family, nor a rep with a lot of lug-

gage to lug around, but to go from A to B as economically as

possible, and with low CO2 emissions, it sure is a winner. I

drove 550 km on its small petrol tank, all city driving, and still

had a quarter tank left when I reluctantly parted with a vehicle

that was growing on me. It was the realisation that with a small

sacrifice to the comforts and add-ons that a bigger car offers, one

could still get around nippily and easily, and at a significantly

reduced fuel bill, that got me thinking that maybe we as a species

have gone beyond the pale. I commute 90% of the time all

alone, and to drag an extra few hundreds of kilograms, and some

superfluous air in the cabin, will one day appear to be totally

ludicrous to a more evolved homo sapiens, who will look at the

denizens of planet earth in the early part of the 21st century as a

particularly stupid and selfish knuckle dragging species. The

future anthropologists/psychologists will also spend a lot of time

in analysing and pontificating on the incredibly low levels of self

esteem that caused such aberrant behaviour. Many PhD’s will be

earned on the back of our Neanderthal type conduct. And we

shall deserve the opprobrium. In the midst of a global warming

crisis, we have stuck to our profligate ways, and the debate in a

few decades time will focus on why we still had our heads in the

sand, with our backsides in the leather seats of mobile dinosaurs.

It is truly a cerebral paradox, an enigma wrapped in a riddle.

When will we reach the tipping point? Next year, or in five years

time, or even later? No one knows, but it is clear that we shall

not do it alone. It will require some disaster or government leg-

islation to change our Malthusian habits. As a modern day Marie

Antionette would be inclined to say, “Let them drive Altos”.

by Howard Keeg

T w o W h e e l s

99

The Sting in the Tale Goedkoop is Duurkoop must be one of the most appropriate and accurate axioms everinvented. It is a maxim that is confirmed over and over again, every minute of the daysomewhere in this world. This has been going on since time immemorial and yet, as Iwrite this, some idiot (used advisedly) is perpetrating this folly, either at a roadsidestall, or an antique shop, or an auction house, or a vegetable counter at Pick ‘n Pay,or a motor spares shop, or a motorcycle dealer, or even through the purchase of apirate DVD at the robots. The pirate DVD is particularly instructive, because you arerunning quite a few risks, of buying a dud, or a bad copy, or even been prosecutedfor buying counterfeit product. The list is endless.

This thought crossed my mind as I listened to a presen-

tation at the Vespa dealership at the Design Quarter in

Fourways, Johannesburg. The premise of this presenta-

tion was to not just look at upfront costs, but to look

at the costs over the life of the product, and the lights kept on

going on in my head about my previous skirmishes with cus-

tomers over this obvious observation. In my past life I used to

market and sell clutches to the automotive trade, and it never

ceased to amaze me that many otherwise intelligent people were

happy to buy and fit a “white box” clutch kit which was doomed

to fail prematurely, in anything from one to ten thousand kilome-

tres (it was simply a case of pot luck), rather than procure a pre-

mium quality clutch that was designed to last for 150 000 km

upwards. The discounts on the white box clutches ranged from

30% to 70%, but even if the discount was 100%, it was still

absolute folly, because the labour involved in replacing a clutch

was anything from three to four hours, and in certain Italian psy-

chological experiments, up to eight hours! Labour rates are no

laughing matter, so any perceived saving at the counter was quick-

ly negated once the cheep, cheep clutch gave up the ghost, unless

you could find a fellow idiot (used advisedly) to fit the clutch for

free; and let’s not go into the ramifications about the quality of the

fitment from such a philanthropic fool! I could go further and fill

reams and reams about all the stats revolving around downtime,

loss of hair, induced diarrhoea, and general gemoedsbekakking*

when a vehicle breaks down between Pofadder and Hotazhel, or

on the road running past Diepsloot.

This story is about the Italian Wasp, the Vespa, so let’s get to it.

When the Italians were chewing over what they were to call the

world’s first scooter, they wanted to signify many things – agility,

brilliance, familiarity, forthrightness, attractiveness, reliability,

spontaneity and a certain amount of natural elegance without any

formalism. No, wasp does not do this, but Enrico Piaggio realised

that the shape of his first scooter, with a narrow waist and large

hindquarters, brought to mind the body of a wasp. “Vespa” means

Wasp in Italian, so no other name was considered. A good choice,

it turned out, as the modern interpretation of the association with

a wasp is that the Vespa scooter has a gentle buzz with a sting in

its tail. And for those who go for a cheaper scooter, the sting in

the tail comes in the lifetime costs of the scooter, and not the

upfront costs. Therein lies my article, which in the spirit of ABR’s

Words in Action, does have a sting in the tale.

*And for those wondering, gemoedsbekakking is a wonderfully

descriptive Afrikaans word for stress. Words in Action!


Stress Free

City Driving

H o g g ’ s W a s h


Wolf Whistle Wolf Whistle

The thought first crossed my mind during the Currie CupFinal between the Bulls and Cheetahs that today whenteams are equally matched, rugby games are no longerwon by an act of individual brilliance, or a superior fit-ness regime, or the incisive minds of the coaching staff.Unfortunately, today rugby games are more often wonthrough the pernicious mood or bias of the referee andhis assistants, who seem to favour the home team, eggedon by fans driven by adrenaline, nationalistic fervour andalcohol, in equal measure.

This thought went from supposition to affirmation dur-

ing the Springboks/Leicester game, and the theory was

rock solid and more like fact by the time Wayne Barnes

blew his wolf whistle after 80 minutes of frustration in

Toulouse, an appropriate name for any visiting team to this decid-

edly one-eyed supporters den. Wolf whistle? I hear you ask.

Because these guys are wolves in sheep’s clothing, without any

threat of sanction as they decimate the hopes of teams, coaches,

and supporters alike. The sheep may represent purity, but I say

bah humbug, and bah, bah black sheep. Let’s first take a look at

the Bulls Cheetahs fixture at Loftus Versfeld. Good old’ Jonathan

Kaplan, he with the natural silver highlight in his hair, got this

game seriously wrong. Someone, who I assume is a Cheetahs sup-

porter, sent me an e-mail the other day with a detailed account

(and pictures which confirm the accusation conclusively) of all of

Kaplan’s errors. Damning indeed, but this e-mail did not even

mention the illegal scrumming method of Gurthro Steenkamp,

for which he got away scot free for the first half an hour of the

game, courtesy of an “experienced” referee and his insomniac

linesman. This had a profound influence on the outcome of the

game, let alone all the other errors. Put this all together, and there

definitely would not have been a celebratory bus ride through

Pretoria. Oh no, it would have been the City of Roses which

would have displayed the silverware.

Next, the grubby city of Leicester played host to a third rate

Springbok side (is Earl Rose Pieter de Villiers’s love child?). Once

again, Gurthro Steenkamp did his illegal boring in, which Stuart

Dickinson gratefully picked up. However, Dickinson, who man-

ages to make all other referees look competent, also picked up

many other things, which only a drug crazed zombie could fath-

om, and nine times out of ten, guess what? went in favour of the

home team. The result? A mediocre English league side beat a

demoralised South African Coloured Invitation XV, who by the

time the final whistle blew, were too scared to even pick up the

ball from a static ruck, so abysmal was the refereeing. But the

piece de resistance was the performance of Wayne Barnes. Apart

from only seeing the imperfections of the frustrated fellows in the

green and gold, he committed the cardinal sin of allowing a bla-

tant off-side French player to steal the ball from the up and under,

which resulted in a try. This was after the Springboks had

absorbed the initial onslaught and were leading 13 – 3 and gain-

ing the ascendancy, and must have been gut wrenching for the

Boks. Together with his penalties against the Bok scrum whether

they were going forward or going back, and every single 50/50

decision going for les bleus, this turned the game completely, and

a fired up French team eventually shut out the doomed

Springboks, who had been reduced to mere spectators by the

whistle of clown prince Barnes.

How do we solve this? There has to be a ruthless examination of

referees’ errors and bias by an impartial panel, and the appropri-

ate punishment. Suspensions, just like the players have to endure,

would rapidly change the behaviour of these home town

favourites. What’s good for the goose is good for the wolf in

sheep’s clothing!

by Gilbert Hogg

Wayne “ClownPrince” Barnes

Stuart DICKinson Quiet, I’m on the phone.... I got away with it!


101

ChampAll You See

You’ve got to hand it to the French. They’ve got style, class, and joie d’vivre. Andthey know it. You would also be a little arrogant if you had the Louvre, the EiffelTower and the Château de Versailles. Oh, did I mention champagne and the can-can?Southern Africa’s equivalents respectively are the loos in Diepsloot, the HillbrowTower and the Zimbabwe Ruins. Oh yes, and sparkling wine and the toyi-toyi. Francealso has the Peugeot 308cc, whilst we have the …… ummm.

This is what was racing through my mind when I took delivery of the stunning 308cc

from Peugeot’s head office in Linbro Park, and my immediate reaction was to lighten

the inferiority load by going into convertible mode, despite threatening dark skies.

After three hours of blood, sweat and tears, I had the top down (sorry, old joke). No,

a mere 20 seconds later, I was on my way, with air streaming aerodynamically past my bald pate,

and anxiously on the lookout for an Isadora Duncan wannabe so that I could complete the pic-

ture for the close to agog spectators. Someone from above has a sense

of humour, because in a matter of minutes the skies opened, and by

the time I had found a safe place to park, and the 20 seconds to get

the roof back up, I was doing a credible impersonation of a drowned

rat. 20 seconds is a short time, but still inadequate when someone is

pouring a bucket of water on your head. However, I accept that I was

tempting fate, and paid for it. Stupidity may be a more accurate

description.

After this inauspicious and drenched start, things got much brighter

and sunnier, and I had time to appreciate this French beauty in both

coupe and open air versions, and savouring freeway, town and rural

driving. It is simply sublime, and you soon forget that this rather large

car has only a 1600 engine. But not just any petrol engine, a powerful

(110kW) yet refined twin-scroll turbocharged 1.6 engine, with tech-

nology such as high pressure direct petrol injection, which gives plen-

ty of power and torque plus real fuel efficiency. And with a 60 litre

tank, you do not have to visit the petrol station very often, which

pleases forecourt phobes like me. This car has all the bells and whistles that you would expect from a R336 000 vehicle. Sounds a lot,

but in this time of madness when some small B segment cars are going for R200 000 plus, it’s actually a bargain. We do live in inter-

esting times, and in a better economic environment this car would sell well, because it deserves to. Now how do I solve my problem of

car claustrophobia that has befallen me ever since I gave this beauty back?


by Howard Keeg

102

Putting Something Back

C o r p o r a t e C o n s c i e n c e

Sparepro has been riding the wave of an ageing car parc, and 2009has been a good year for them. Irrespective of how the year has been,Sparepro has been building up a tradition, in both hard times andgood times, of giving something back to the community of South Hills,with many social and charity initiatives put into place by the manage-ment and staff of Sparepro. Patrick Latouche, General Manager ofSparepro, says that Sparepro’s philosophy is one of “service”, in allits facets and forms. Thus, on 28th November, 2009, Patrick and hisstaff were hard at work in inculcating this philosophy and “walking

the talk”. A Christmas lunch, with all the trimmings, was served to the elderly folkfrom the surrounding community at a municipal hall in Moffat View. ABR was there togive a pictorial overview of a blessed event.

C o r p o r a t e C o n s c i e n c e

104

Trysome Auto Electrical PartsDistributors Held their Annual Golf Dayat the Benoni Lake Golf Course on the

10th November 2009, with all the proceeds going to charity. ABR was

there to bring you the action.

Fore a Good CauseFore a Good Cause

F a s t W h e e l s

106

Formula S No, it is not baby formula. Nor is it a cheap hotel. No, Formula S standsfor Formula Student, an international competition for students fromall over the world, founded in 1981, to encourage students to cuttheir teeth, technologically speaking, via the development and manufac-ture of a single seater racing car. The vehicle is then subjected to rigorous testing on a racetrack, with the emphasis not just on speed,but on an overall package based on the whole process of car develop-ment, including design, performance, financial planning and marketing.

by Howard Keeg

To replicate the real life experience, the students have to

assume that they have been engaged by a manufactur-

ing entity to produce a prototype car for evaluation as

a production team. The target market is the non-pro-

fessional weekend racer, which requires a low cost, easy to main-

tain, reliable car that has high performance in terms of accelera-

tion, braking, and handling dynamics. The car must also look

good, be easy to drive, and use common parts. With an estimat-

ed production run of 1 000 vehicles per annum, the challenge for

the students is to design and manufacture a prototype that best

meets these goals and parameters. Each year, this team of Rory

Byrne wannabes then competes with other teams to see which

team has the best overall car. In August 2010, the location of this

challenge will be in Germany at the famous Hockenheim race cir-

cuit, and the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU)

will be the first and only team from Africa to participate in this

international event, once again putting Port Elizabeth on the map

as the South African city with practically every first in sports

events, following rugby, cricket, tennis, bowls, hockey, and many

more. We are sure that windsurfing must be in that group.

NMMU intends to maintain its presence in international

Formula Student competitions, so it is the duty of the country to

get behind these pioneers in all aspects of support. Last year the

competition was won by the University of Stuttgart, with the

University of Hertfordshire coming in second, and the University

of Western Australia taking third spot. Since this is NMMU’s first

attempt it would be stretching it a bit to expect a win, but to fin-

ish ahead of the skaapsteekers would be great (before I’m accused

of being anti Aussie, I must

point out that some of my

best friends are snakes).

The competition in Germany will not only evaluate the technical

aspects of the completed car, but will also evaluate the different

marketing and sales plans of the competing teams. This requires a

multi-disciplinary approach, and NMMU has not taken any

chances, with an all inclusive approach, involving the faculties of

arts; business and economics; education; engineering and infor-

mation technology; health sciences; law and science. Quite a

formidable force, but they can do with even more support, from

the automotive industry. I am aware that NMMU is talking to

AAMA, but let everyone get behind our boys and girls.

Anyone who wishes to assist, in any way possible, please contact

either of the project leaders for NMMU Racing, Howard

Theunissen or Trevor Stroud; [email protected];

[email protected] or 082 775 8536, 083 419 3707.


The project leaders for NMMU Racing, Howard Theunissen and Trevor Stroud


Answerfrom page 35

1. 517 0002. Peter du Toit3. Jean Todt4. BMW, Honda and Toyota5. Bridgestone6. A Hill Climb7. Sarel van der Merwe8. 89. AJS, Norton, Gilera, MV Agusta,

Yamaha, Suzuki, Honda, Ducati10. East Germany

11. The American Bantam Car Company12. F2 in a Cooper Borgward in 1959.13. 196014. Cadillac15. Ford 16. 197817. A pink Morgan18. Gene Bosman and Gus Menzies19. 5220. A car museum.

Answers From page 65


From the west, and from the east...

Seen from the highway...

Is this spring cleaning or is something up! More on this in the

February 2010 issue of ABR.

F a s t W h e e l s


Sport in this world suffers from scandals. Either the greedof officials who profess to run things or drugs in the caseof non-mechanical sport, where a lot of heavily disguisedturbo-charging pills or injections help gets results. Motorsport is noexception, although I must say so far Moto GP and World SuperbikeRacing, two of our best sports as far as exciting entertainment for thefans goes, is scandal free. So far. One thing scandal does with all itspros and cons is draw attention to a sport.

Could we say that Formula 1 is no excep-

tion? Put the rich, influential beautiful

people and the self-interest of politicians

together with the colour, glamour and

exciting noise of factory grand prix cars

and add a few investigative journo’s look-

ing for stories and hey presto - you are in

the headlines. It has happened for years.

We had the President of the FIA, Max Mosley, involved in a sex

scandal that was supposed to rock the very roots of Grand Prix

racing. It didn’t. Given time it went away because nobody other

than his family really cared. So scandal sells books and promotes

ticket sales to events.

Flavio Briatore, the team boss of Renault, who has done great

things for that team and drivers, resigned from his position after

Nelson Piquet Jnr, spilt the beans about a deliberate crash in

Singapore in 2008. Felipe Massa was highly upset about this as this

incident basically lost him his world championship. McLaren with

their $100m fine for using Ferrari IT technology was another one

a few years ago, and so on.

Through all this, Formula 1 will survive and carry on. It will have

a new look but will continue whether BMW, Honda and Toyota

depart the scene or not. Renault is discussing its Formula 1 posi-

tion as we write but basically want out. These teams are all doing

it for themselves and certainly not necessarily for the sport.

Through all this, Formula 1 in the main provided the most unpre-

dictable season in history. Jensen Button winning the Formula 1

Championship in Brazil brought a new happy face to GP racing

along with his team-mates, Rubens Barricello, (sometimes)

Sebastian Vettel, (the next Formula 1 Champion?), Mark Webber,

Fisicella and Lewis Hamilton. Gone are the miseries that used to

occupy the Winners Podium, like Prost and Senna, plus of course

the Finns, who can be forgiven for this attitude, coming as they do

from a country with eight months of a bitterly cold winter and also

the language problem.

Have you seen the joy on the faces of the Moto GP, Superbikes and

the Americans in Nascar and Champ Car racing when they win?

That’s what we would like to see on a Sunday in Formula 1. The

Brawn GP Team under the genius, Ross Brawn, formed only three

weeks before the first Grand Prix in 2009 in Australia, without any

fuss or politics led the season from the start and were never head-

ed throughout the year both in the Drivers or Manufacturers

Championship. What a fairy tale story that makes. Mighty things

were expected from the McLaren and Ferrari teams who held sway

in 2008 and were all set to do it at the beginning 2009. But they

were made to look very average until they stopped talking and

started getting some results by adjusting their cars to suit the rules.

Mercedes Benz and Renault engines dominated the scene. Toyota

nearly had the performance but not the results. A messy power

struggle between the FIA and the Formula 1 Teams nearly result-

ed in splitting Formula 1 forever. Cool heads put things on the

back burner given a promise that Max Mosley was giving up his

FIA Presidency. Max has actually done great things for motor sport

and road safety in his 11 years at the top. Now the newly elected

President, Jean Todt, who competed himself at the top level in ral-

lying, has taken over the reigns and we should see Formula 1 tak-

ing on a new look. Todt of course steered Ferrari to its greatest suc-

cesses ever. He knows the goings-on of the sport first-hand.

So what can we expect in 2010? A few teams have departed, four

other teams have been accepted in the line-up with the new owner

of BMW hoping to get a spot. Some technical rules have changed

and refuelling has been discontinued. Nobody has really made the

effort to design cars that are passer-friendly, except on the tradi-

tional Grand Prix Circuits like Silverstone, the Nurburgring,

Monza, Belgium, Brazil, Japan and now Turkey.

The follow-my-leader circuits with brilliant facilities that in some

cases must have cost a fortune to build, remain. But they do take

this world sport to countries that were never thought of before and

have no motor sport history or indeed a motor industry.

To those of you who might have stopped watching Grand Prix rac-

ing or so you say, get to a GP somewhere, sometime in the future,

and you will be thrilled and amazed with the sheer speed, exciting

noise and cornering capabilities of F1 cars with the world’s best

driving talent at the wheel.

Roll on 2010.

by Roger McCleery

SCANDAL RIDDEN FOR-MULA 1 SEASON CLOSES

W i l d e T h i n g s

110

Get Thee to aNunnery, Sir!South Africa is a unique country, in many aspects. One of its uniqueaspects is the ability of anyone on wheels to buy a good portion ofone’s monthly requirements at the robots. A dangerous pastime in manyrespects, and frustrating for those behind you while you process theprocurement requirements, covering such things as haggling, entreat-ing, and in the case of pirate DVD’s, furtive exchange. Very strangeindeed, but what is even stranger is that the traffic authorities allowthis extremely dangerous pastime, whilst spending an inordinate amountof time and effort in nailing the lunatics who dare to go 72kph in a 60kph limit in their modern marvels of safety. Diarrhoea inducing indeed.

Fingal Wilde is back,with a story he hasbeen threatening towrite for some time.He’s back because of anavalanche of requestsfrom our readers. Bothof them threatened topull their subscriptionsif Fingal was not back,so we have no option...

Back to the subject of robot shopping. Of course, many of those hassling you at the robots are not trying to sell you something.

Some are begging, and some are just trying to offload pamphlets for which they are paid a pittance, considering the safety

hazards and the environmental dangers. My sympathies lie with the pamphlet purveyors, so I always endeavour to relieve them

of their burden, because I will read almost anything. I have even been known to read telephone directories in lonely hotel

rooms when nothing else is available. The flavour of the month in robot literature seems to be some outrageous promises made by a

motley crew of professors and doctors, relating to penis size, lovers, business success, bad spells, weight loss, and much much more. These

guys, who go under a variety of exotic names, are seriously impressive all-rounders. Monikers such as Prof. Sampoa, Dr. Mama Osman

& Dr. Ali, Prof. Wakho (very appropriate) and Dr. K.K. Victor abound. But one small pamphlet stands out (excuse the pun) from the

rest. The name is also different, resonating legal partnership or high flying consultants; Tony & Associates, and it addresses both men’s

and women’s needs. One solution proffered is the promise to solve virginal discharge. This got my mind racing in all directions, and my

first thought was that it must have been a very naughty nun! And it is amazing

how far the mind can wander when so severely provoked. For some reason I got

round to Hamlet and Ophelia, and the realisation that Shakespeare was one

prescient dude, and that he was doing his Nostradamus thing when he put

these words into Hamlet’s mouth; “Get thee to a nunnery, why woulds’t thou

be a breeder of sinners?” You see, ever since I saw the da Vinci Code, I can

unravel any puzzle. Shakespeare was actually talking about Julius Malema.

Ophelia is code for “Odious prick has everyone looking into Australia”.

And Shakespeare was warning us about this Peter Pan fellow. The nun-

nery reference could indicate where nun’s stay, but I prefer the theory

that nunnery was Elizabethan slang for brothel. And he was warning

us that Julius Malema is actually a closet hermaphrodite, who frequents

brothels but fortunately cannot pass on his seriously disturbed genes.

Yes, I know, there is no Pedi word for hermaphrodite, but that didn’t

deter Shakespeare, who is reputed to have had a vocabulary of some

30 000 words, which is about 29 900 more than Julius’ Pedi

vocabulary. Please be assured that this is not a Pedi bashing

exercise, some of my best friends are North Sotho.

In actual fact, according to the sometimes outra-

geously wrong Wikipedia (notice the pedi in

Wikipedia), the American spelling of paedia-

trician is pediatrician because it is a tribute to

the childlike nature of such Pedi luminaries as our

Julius. And pedicure originally denoted, before it was

bastardised to its present usage, that Julius was taking

his foot out of his mouth.

That’s all folks, I have to go. Those two hermaphrodite looking

nurses have arrived to put on my long sleeve jacket, and to take

me back to my nice room with the soft walls.

by Fingle Wilde



T h e L a s t W r i t e s by Baron Claude Borlz

The greatest source of humour and Pathos inSouth Africa is the ABR reader:

1. The nicest thing about the future isthat it always starts tomorrow.

2. Money will buy a fine dog, but onlykindness will make him wag his tail.

3. If you don't have a sense of humour,you probably don't have any sense atall.

4. Seat belts are not as confining aswheelchairs.

5. A good time to keep your mouth shutis when you're in deep water.

6. How come it takes so little time for achild who is afraid of the dark tobecome a teenager who wants to stayout all night?

7. Business conventions are importantbecause they demonstrate how manypeople a company can operate with-out.

8. Why is it that at class reunions youfeel younger than everyone else looks?

9. Scratch a cat and you will have a per-manent job.

10. No one has more driving ambitionthan the boy who wants to buy a car.

11. There are no new sins; the old onesjust get more publicity.

12. There are worse things than gettinga call for the wrong number at 4 am- it could be the right number.

13. No one ever says "It's only a game."when their team is winning.

14. I've reached the age where the happyhour is a nap.

15. Be careful reading the fine print.There's no way you're going to likeit.

16. The trouble with bucket seats is thatnot everybody has the same sizebucket.

17. Do you realise that in about 40 years,we'll have thousands of old men andold ladies running around with tat-toos? (And rap music will be theGolden Oldies!) No! Say it isn't so!

18. Money can't buy happiness -- butsomehow it's more comfortable tocry in a Porsche than in aYaris.

19. After 60, if you don't wakeup aching in every joint,you are probably dead!

Law of Queues: If you change queues, the one you have moved from will start to progress much faster than the queue you have moved to.

Law of Telephones: When you dial a wrong number, you never get an engaged tone.

Law of Mechanical Repairs: After your hands become coated with grease, your nose will begin to itch.

Law of the Workshop: Any tool, when dropped, will roll to the least accessible order.

Law of the Alibi: If you tell your boss that you were late for work because you had a flat tyre, the next morning you will have a flat tyre.

Bath Theorem: When the body is immersed in water, the telephone rings.

Law of Encounters: The probability of meeting someone you know increases exponentially when you are with someone you don’t want to

be seen with.

Law of the Result: When you try to prove to someone that a machine doesn’t work, it will!

Corollary to the Law of Result: When you try to prove to the workshop that your car is playing up, it will perform faultlessly.

Law of Biomechanics: The severity of the itch is inversely proportional to the reach.

Law of Coffee: As soon as you sit down for a cup of hot coffee, your boss will ask you to do something which will last until the coffee is cold.

Some aphorisms to mull over:

* Late Flash... Tiger Woods has applied tojoin the group

And new additions toMurphy’s Law:

Suid Afrika se nuwepopgroep sensasie

automotive business review december 2009 / january 2010

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