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Cloud-based vaccine management system launched in Africa

By: Sane Dhlamini 24th November 2020 IT giant Oracle and the Tony Blair Institute announced on Tuesday the launch of the cloud-based Oracle Health Management System, which will help African countries manage large-scale vaccination programmes. Ghana, Rwanda and Sierra Leone are the initial users of the system, which will create... →

UP conducts real time emissions testing to help inform policy

By: Marleny Arnoldi 23rd November 2020 The Centre for Transport Development, within the University of Pretoria’s (UP’s) Faculty of Engineering, Built Environment and Information Technology, has acquired a system that can measure vehicle emissions while driving. The portable emissions measurement system (Pems) unit is a first for... →

An engineering student and Professor Johan Joubert alongside UP's portable emissions measurement system

Toyota Gazoo Racing to field four locally built bakkies at the 2021 Dakar Rally

By: Irma Venter 23rd November 2020 Toyota Gazoo Racing (TGR) will be entering four crews in the 2021 Dakar Rally, scheduled to start on January 3 in the Saudi Arabian city of Jeddah. The works team will consist of Nasser Al-Attiyah and navigator Mathieu Baumel; Giniel de Villiers and navigator Alex Haro; rookie Henk Lategan and... →

uYilo founding member of the Global Sustainable Mobility Partnership

By: Irma Venter 20th November 2020 South African national e-mobility programme, uYilo, has announced that it is a founding partner of the Global Sustainable Mobility Partnership (GSMP). The GSMP is a network of independent, not-for-profit organisations with experience in implementing low and zero-emission mobility. →

Next year could see local auto industry regain some momentum

By: Irma Venter 20th November 2020 Next year could see the local automotive industry regain some momentum in terms of domestic sales, exports and production, but it will not manage to claw back all of the losses recorded in a Covid-19-hit 2020. The newest National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa (Naamsa)... →

NADA calls on Transport Minister to address licensing department backlogs

By: Irma Venter 19th November 2020 The National Automobile Dealers’ Association (NADA) has written an open letter to Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula, urging him to address backlogs at licensing departments countrywide. The association says that “extensive administrative delays in document turnaround times and vital operational... →

Brabus armoured G-Class now available in South Africa

By: Irma Venter 16th November 2020 Local vehicle armouring specialist, SVI Engineering, has been appointed as the official distributor of Brabus Automotive armoured products in Africa, starting with the Invicto Mercedes-Benz G-Class range, says SVI Engineering business development manager Nicol Louw. →

South African-made MellowVan ready for global rollout in 2021

By: Irma Venter 16th November 2020 The South African conceived and developed MellowVan will enter commercial production next year, says MellowCabs founder Neil du Preez. The electric three-wheeler, aimed at the last-mile delivery market, is currently the subject of a number of advanced large-scale proof-of-concept projects with... →

The MellowVan

Solar roll-out at Ford start of project to be 100% energy self-sufficient by 2024

By: Irma Venter 13th November 2020 The Ford Motor Company of Southern Africa (FMCSA) has kicked off a 13.5 MW, R135-million solar-energy project at its Silverton assembly plant, in Pretoria. The project forms part of a larger programme to develop an integrated renewable energy solution for the facility, with the aim to be entirely... →

Motus launches its own digital vehicle marketplace

By: Irma Venter 9th November 2020 The JSE-listed Motus group has launched its own digital vehicle marketplace, called motus.cars. This platform ties together all the Motus business entities in one digital location, with the aim to provide a simplified online shopping experience. →

Tim Abbott to depart BMW, but stay in South Africa; Van Binsbergen new CEO

By: Irma Venter 9th November 2020 South African-born Peter van Binsbergen has been appointed as the new CEO of BMW Group South Africa and sub-Saharan Africa (BMW SA). He replaces outgoing CEO Tim Abbott. Van Binsbergen, who will take up his new position on January 1, started his career →

Peter van Binsbergen

South Africa needs SMEs in its journey towards e-mobility

By: Simone Liedtke 6th November 2020 The electric mobility (e-mobility) industry cannot be advanced without the help of local small and medium-sized enterprises and their participation in the sector, uYilo e-Mobility Programme director Hiten Parmar said on November 6. Speaking during the virtual Battery Technologies Webinar, on... →

VW CEO Diess says pandemic poses biggest near-term challenge

By: Bloomberg 6th November 2020 Volkswagen CEO Herbert Diess said the coronavirus pandemic poses the biggest near-term challenge for the world’s largest carmaker, hitting as the company shifts strategy to tackle climate change. While VW has a “healthy order bank” and remains confident on sales in the coming weeks, its... →

BMW to set up pilot plant as it aims for large-scale battery-cell production

By: Irma Venter 6th November 2020 The BMW Group will set up a pilot plant to produce lithium-ion battery cells. This comes as the German carmaker seeks to penetrate all aspects of the battery-cell value chain: from selection of materials to battery cell composition and design, all the way to near-standard production and recycling. →

Electric trucks on the radar for South Africa, says Daimler

By: Irma Venter 6th November 2020 There is “definitely a demand for alternative drive vehicles in South Africa”, although the diesel engine, or internal combustion engine, will continue to play an important role in the local transport industry, says Daimler Trucks Southern Africa product management head Christo Kleynhans. “We... →

Volvo Trucks to test LNG trucks for possible South African debut

By: Irma Venter 5th November 2020 Volvo Trucks Southern Africa has brought two liquefied natural gas (LNG) trucks to South Africa to test their performance under local conditions. The trucks have specifically been developed for heavy regional and long-haul operations. →

The Volvo LNG truck

e-mobility, EVs present opportunities for SADC, but action required

By: Tasneem Bulbulia 4th November 2020 The uptake of e-mobility and electric vehicles (EVs) is set to increase globally and this provides a myriad of opportunities for the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region, especially given its endowment of natural resources used in the production of the batteries used in these... →

Local consumers ready for EVs, but they seek cheaper cars with more range

By: Irma Venter 2nd November 2020 The 2020 South Africa Electric Vehicle (EV) Car Buyer Survey shows that consumers are ready to buy EVs, and that they are willing to do so in the next five years. However, they want a vehicle that costs less than R500 000 and they want more range and faster charging than what is currently the... →

George Mienie

Volvo Group and Daimler Truck sign agreement for new fuel-cell JV

By: Irma Venter 2nd November 2020 The Volvo Group and Daimler Truck have signed a binding agreement for a joint venture (JV) to develop, produce and commercialise fuel-cell systems for use in heavy-duty trucks as the primary focus, as well as other applications. Both partners say they hope to make the new company a leading... →

Daimler’s first hydrogen fuel-cell truck to start customer trials in 2023

By: Irma Venter 30th October 2020 Daimler Trucks has unveiled its first hydrogen-based fuel cell truck. The GenH2 Truck is aimed at the long-haul transport market and marks the beginning of commercial fuel cell drive development for the German truck maker. →

Gautrain to complete electric bus pilot project by end-2021

By: Irma Venter 27th October 2020 The Gautrain Management Agency (GMA) is busy with a feasibility study to investigate the possible future use of alternative drivetrains in the Gautrain bus fleet, says GMA COO Tshepo Kgobe. As part of this programme, the GMA expects to complete a pilot project, employing an electric bus, at the... →

Tshepo Kgobe

Tax breaks, grey import probe needed to revive car market – Naamsa

By: Irma Venter 23rd October 2020 As many European countries reintroduce lockdown measures to deal with a second wave of Covid-19, South Africa’s vehicle exports to these markets are “increasingly under pressure”, says National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa (Naamsa) CEO Mike Mabasa. The European Union,... →

Toyota, Denyo develop fuel-cell power-supply vehicle

By: Irma Venter 16th October 2020 Japanese vehicle manufacturer Toyota Motor Corporation (Toyota) and Denyo have announced that they have jointly developed a fuel-cell power-supply vehicle. Denyo, a manufacturer of mobile generators, will work with Toyota to start verification tests with the aim of commercialising the truck. →

BMW SA signs new charge point deal with GridCars

By: Irma Venter 16th October 2020 BMW Group South Africa (BMW SA) has appointed GridCars as its official electric vehicle (EV) charge point operator, with effect from September 1. The local arm of the German manufacturer says the responses from existing BMW i3 drivers were considered before the conclusion of a new three-year... →

Cartrack reports profit growth, despite Covid-19 disrupting its growth ambitions

By: Irma Venter 14th October 2020 Covid-19 was like getting a puncture when you are driving really fast on the highway, says Cartrack CEO Zak Calisto. “We were ready to grow in the 2021 financial year, and we still got growth, but not quite what we anticipated, or what we had planned for, but our economies of scale allowed us to... →

Zak Calisto

John Moffat Prolock awarded face-shield tender

By: Irma Venter 12th October 2020 Johannesburg-based John Moffat Prolock (JMP) has been awarded a contract to supply government hospitals in Gauteng with its locally manufactured face shields. JMP executive director Jerome Govender says the company is facing decreased off-take of its normal products owing to Covid-19, and... →

JMP factory manager Leon le Roux, Govender and Rootman

Green energy a macro-economic imperative, says VW’s Kamuhinda

By: Irma Venter 12th October 2020 Green technology, electric cars included, are coming to Africa not just because of the Paris Climate Change Agreement, but because Africa has a problem of energy supply, says Volkswagen Africa business development director Serge Kamuhinda. “For a country like Rwanda, fuel imports account for 12%... →

Electric trucks on the radar for South Africa, says Daimler

By: Irma Venter 9th October 2020 There is “definitely a demand for alternative drive vehicles in South Africa”, although the diesel engine, or internal combustion engine, will continue to play an important role in the local transport industry, says Daimler Trucks Southern Africa product management head Christo Kleynhans. “We... →

Motus sees new-vehicle market of 420 000-plus in 2021

By: Irma Venter 9th October 2020 Vehicle retail, rental, aftermarket and import group Motus believes that the new-vehicle market could reach between 420 000 and 440 000 units in 2021, up from the expected 350 000 to 380 000 units this year. The decline expected this year in the new-vehicle market, compared with 2019 (when it... →

Auto industry’s EV roadmap aims to accelerate sales and production

By: Irma Venter 9th October 2020 South Africa needs to kick-start the production of electric vehicles (EVs), while it also needs to sell more EVs. This was the single most important recommendation from a Trade and Industrial Policy Strategies report on ‘Harnessing EVs for Industrial Development in South Africa’, released earlier... →

Naamsa, Messe Frankfurt to host auto conference in November

By: Irma Venter 6th October 2020 Messe Frankfurt South Africa is partnering with the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa (Naamsa) in a virtual engagement session on Wednesday, November 18, to probe the way forward for the local and global motor industry. This event will be staged in association with... →

Tax breaks, grey import probe needed to grow local car market, says Naamsa

By: Irma Venter 2nd October 2020 As many European countries reintroduce lockdown measures to deal with a second wave of Covid-19, South Africa’s vehicle exports to these markets are “increasingly under pressure”, says National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa (Naamsa) CEO Mike Mabasa. The European Union,... →

Mike Mabasa

Electric Mini to debut on local shores in fourth quarter

By: Irma Venter 2nd October 2020 BMW Group South Africa (BMW SA) will launch South Africa’s fourth electric vehicle (EV) in the fourth quarter of this year, when the Mini SE will make its local debut. The Mini SE follows the new style of EVs, where a known model is turned into an electric car, and the vehicle is not manufactured... →

Government support for automotive manufacturing sector must ‘embrace’ EVs, says uYilo

By: Irma Venter 2nd October 2020 The supporting policy driving vehicle manufacturing in South Africa needs to “evolve and embrace electric vehicles (EVs)” in order for the country to fully adopt the technology, says uYilo eMobility Programme director Hiten Parmar. “It should be clearly defined, incentivising multinational... →

BMW SA signs new charge point deal with GridCars

By: Irma Venter 29th September 2020 BMW Group South Africa (BMW SA) has appointed GridCars as its official electric vehicle charge point operator, with effect from September 1. The local arm of the German manufacturer says the responses from existing BMW i3 drivers were considered before the conclusion of a new three-year agreement... →

Battery electric vehicles to make up 25% of Kia sales by 2029

By: Irma Venter 28th September 2020 “By refocusing our business on electrification, we are aiming for battery electric vehicles (BEVs) to account for 25% of our total worldwide sales by 2029,” says Kia president and CEO Ho Sung Song. Kia says it plans to establish a leadership position in the global electric vehicle (EV) market by... →

Kia CEO Ho Sung Song

Green shoots evident in local economy, says NADA chairperson

By: Irma Venter 28th September 2020 “There is a natural tendency for South Africans to look at the negative aspects of the nation’s economy under lockdown, but if we look on the brighter side, green shoots are in plain view,” says National Automobile Dealers’ Association (NADA) chairperson Mark Dommisse. “Firstly, we are pleased... →

Mark Dommisse

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