Automotive Business Review September 2009

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New Suzuki Alto AAMA Appoints ABR Pennies from Heaven Staying Alive Let Them Ride Bicycles Team Timken Back to Form

The

Phoenix

High Altotude September 2009 is the first anniversary of ABR, and what better way to celebrate than to welcome to our front cover the Suzuki Alto, just a tad more than one year after Suzuki Auto South Africa’s high profile return to South Africa. And there’s more to celebrate; ABR has also been appointed as the official mouthpiece for AAMA (Automotive Aftermarket Manufacturers Association). Two high altitude milestones.

Publishing Evolution...the survival of the fittest. Publishing Revolution...the Rise of the Phoenix and the Forging of Premium Prose from the Crucible of Fire

T

he Suzuki Alto launch (see page 14 for the full story) is indeed an appropriate cover story for our first anniversary issue, as it was the Suzuki SX4 that was the first vehicle evaluated by Howard Keeg in the very first issue of ABR (September 2008), and the Jimny and Grand Vitara launch was the very first vehicle launch that the Phoenix attended in early September 2008, and the Jimny graced our cover in the October 2008 issue. Another coincidence is that the Alto and ABR both share certain characteristics, as appropriately defined in Suzuki’s press release, and I quote with relish; “a dynamic new contender and a trend setter that is set to redefine the compact city car concept, and an unprecedented combination of superlative design, packaging, safety, fuel efficiency and low emissions.” Substitute the vehicle appellations with publishing terms, and this could be describing ABR when it was launched! Taking this a little further and thinking laterally you can also shoehorn AAMA into this descriptive mould. The ABR AAMA

link makes sense, as both operations share traits and characteristics that make it a good fit, and both have histories and origins that were not exceedingly auspicious, but mimicking the ugly duckling, are becoming stunning swans, and promising futures beckon. AAMA can be traced back to 1986, when the Partinform Component Manufacturers Association was conceived, and in the words of Paul Williams, who served as Chairman from 1994 to 1998, it “was a creation of good comradeship and the mutual sharing of costs for trade evenings”. Malcolm Perrie, the first Chairman of AAMA, was more forthright when he announced the formation of AAMA in November 2008, stating that they had “formalised the old boy’s tea club known as Partinform into a properly constituted and registered association”. The roots of ABR are a little more tenuous, but November 2002 would be a logical starting point, when the Phoenix responded to an SOS from an ailing friend, and selflessly kept Auto Engineering & Spares alive for eight months, before handing back the reins to a

reinvigorated and dramatically changed persona. The publishing bug had bitten, and the Phoenix was soon back in the saddle, creating and sustaining AutoInsight from March 2004 to July 2008, before once again handing over the reins of a healthy publication to some intriguing individuals. It is difficult to find words to adequately describe the unusual ways that the recipients of this largesse contrived to repay this hard work, suffice to say that they redefined the notions of gratitude and generosity. The Phoenix responded in the only way he knew – to up the ante. ABR set the bar even higher and started to redefine the concept of trade publications, and a dynamic new contender and a trend setter in this publishing niche was born with an unprecedented combination of superlative design, packaging, and words in action. Similarly, AAMA is set to redefine the parameters of the automotive aftermarket’s activities in information dissemination, training, lobbying, quality standards, supply chain sustainability, proactive policing of inferior products, etc. You can read more on page 18.

w w w. a b r b u z z . c o . z a 2

September

2009

Contents

50

53

54

2

The Phoenix

8

What’s the Buzz

12

Personal Profile

Dr. George Nyabadza

14

Cover Story

New Suzuki Alto

18

AAMA

ABR Appointed AAMA Official Mouthpiece

22

Tony’s Take

Barack Obama and the 40 traders

24

Frankly Speaking

Electric Avenue

26

The Chery Story

A Well Respected SUV About Town

28

AIDC AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY CONFERENCE 2009

30

Auto Topical

How to Nail Jelly to the Ceiling

32

Weighty Issues

The Marriage of MAN and VW Trucks

34

Managing the Risks

Keeping It Clean

36

Health Care

Managing Your Health

38

Tyre Safety

Tyres’ Contribution to Safety in Motoring

40

Road Safety

Road Safety and Driver Safety – An Oxymoron?

44

Customer C.A.R.E.

Customer Relationship Management Trilogy Customer C.A.R.E. Programme

49

Intelli-Driving

Defensive Driving Tips

High Altotude

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

Publishing Editor Graham Erasmus 083 709 8184

Intelli-Driving Editor Eugene Herbert 082 941 3785

Commercial Vehicle Editor Alwyn Viljoen 082 458 9332

Correspondents Beeton, Frank Borlz, Baron Claude Burford, Adrian

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Gamble, Austin Hogg, Gilbert Keeg, Howard McCleery, Roger Twine, Tony Wilde, Fingal

Published by: Trilogy Publishing Advertising Sales: Stanton Porter Marketing Werner Kolver Tel: 012 654 2745 Cell: 082 577 8411 e-mail: [email protected]

Category

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70

50 Robert Bosch

Invented for Life The Golden Triangle

53 e-CAR

Pennies from Heaven

56 Lubrication Update

A Blue Chip Investment Castrol Launches GTX Anti-Sludge

58 P&A News 60 Capricorn Insights

Floods Hit Katima Mulilo Cooperatives- it’s time has come

63

Industry Update

Staying Alive

64

Diamond Dialogues

The Heroes of the Aftermarket #2

66

AIDC Quiz

68

Wilde Things

Let Them Ride Bicycles

69

Burford on Brands

The Yin and the Yang of Chevrolet

70

Corporate Conscience

I am Me

72

Hogg’s Wash

South Africa’s Prime Exports

74

Life Goes On

A Reality Check

78

Industry Update

Bosch Golf Day Gabriel Wings Take Flight

80

From the Cockpit

Team Timken Back to Form

82

Fast Wheels

Unpredictable Formula 1 in 2009

83

The Last Writes

Editorial Office: 81 Alma Road Wendywood Tel 27 11 656 2198 Fax 27 11 802 3979 e-mail: [email protected] Website: www.abrbuzz.co.za

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Subscriptions and Data Management: Trilogy Trading & Promotion P O Box 69 Wendywood 2144 Tel 27 11 802 6020 Fax 27 11 802 3979 e-mail: [email protected]

Design and Reproduction: j. Kraft Information Design cc Tel: 012 997 6946 Fax: 012 997 6987 e-mail: [email protected]

Printing: Business Print Centre, Pretoria Official Mouthpiece of

September

2009

What’s

the

Buzz?

Hino bids fond farewell to industry veteran Three years ago Piet van Wyk de Vries set out to achieve a mammoth task: the rebranding and revitalisation of Toyota Trucks into a dedicated truck business that would operate autonomously from Toyota SA. Having not only realised this goal but done so with unmatched success and acceptance of the Hino brand, van Wyk de Vries has chosen to hand over the now-established business unit to a younger successor. “I have achieved what I set out to do,” he told Hino’s dealer principals, gathered for the manufacturer’s annual Piet van Wyk de Vries with long-time secretary and personal assistant, Casper Kruger dealer strategy conference. “The Christine Boshoff (left) and Leone van Wyk de Vries (right), his wife and Hino brand has been established dedicated support system during his tenure at Toyota. and it’s time for new blood to take this brand forward to even greater successes.”Casper Kruger, who has spent ten years with Toyota in various capacities from heading up Lexus to general manager: marketing and planning, will henceforth be at the helm of Hino in the capacity of general manager. Van Wyk de Vries’ departure, while expected, does not come without sad farewells and fond memories. “Piet is retiring after a very successful 25 years within the Toyota Group,” said Andrew Kirby, senior vice president for sales and marketing, Toyota SA, to a gathered audience of Hino clients and dealer principals at the annual Hino client appreciation dinner.

In safe hands: the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter Safety on South African roads in general and all aspects closely related to public transportation are currently very topical. Following the valuations and findings of this year’s FIFA Confederations Cup, which show an immediate necessity to improve all modes of public transport services to ensure a successful 2010 FIFA World Cup, Mercedes-Benz has reiterated that safety is paramount to all its products and that the brand takes all elements of safety extremely seriously. “The Mercedes-Benz Sprinter and the various conversions undertaken by recommended Mercedes-Benz body builders, comply fully with the latest regulations and standards issued by the National Regulator for Compulsory Standards (NRCS/SABS),” says Nicolai Berger, Divisional Manager Vans, Mercedes-Benz Commercial Vehicles. “The latest example is the newly introduced (mandatory) roof escape hatch which has to be fitted to all TRP (taxi recapitalisation programme) taxi conversions registered as of 1 July 2009 onwards. The Mercedes-Benz Sprinter INKANYEZI taxi conversion comes with this feature as standard,” adds Berger.

HYUNDAI GENESIS RECEIVES J.D. POWER AND ASSOCIATES 2009 APEAL AWARD J.D. Power and Associates has selected the Hyundai Genesis as its most appealing midsize premium car in the 2009 Automotive Performance, Execution and Layout (APEAL) StudySM. The J.D. Power and Associates APEAL award measures what consumers like and dislike about their new vehicles during the first 90 days of ownership, particularly with regard to the vehicle's design, content, layout and performance. Genesis received high marks for its exterior design, engine and transmission, interior comfort, and technology and entertainment features totalling 864 points – 26 points above the midsize premium car segment average. In addition, the Hyundai brand showed a 16 point improvement on 2008.

BSM and Fiat in landmark deal BSM and Italian car giant Fiat have announced their partnership which will see Fiat as the new fleet provider for BSM (the British School of Motoring), the UK’s most popular driving school. Fiat will provide BSM with 14,000 cars over the next four years, most of them the award-winning Fiat 500 – Car of the Year 2008 – along with the popular Grande Punto model. The fleet vehicle is the biggest depiction of the BSM brand, and the introduction of the stylish Fiat 500 design is intended to appeal to new learners by echoing the brand’s iconic feel. BSM will start to take delivery of the new fleet this summer and complete the exchange of all fleet by the end of the year. BSM has a network of 94 UK driving centres from Inverness to Truro and teaches more than 130,000 learners a year. The agreement will make the Fiat 500 even more visible on Britain’s roads – and help Fiat with its plan to target the 500 at the key young drivers market.

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Bridgestone supports home for orphaned and abandoned babies Vulnerable children from previously disadvantaged communities, who have been abandoned, orphaned or born to HIV-positive parents, will benefit from a donation by Bridgestone South Africa. Impilo, a place of safety for children in need of care from birth to three years of age, is situated in Fairvale, Johannesburg, where it provides a homely environment in the transitional period before the children are returned to their parents or extended family or placed in an adoptive or foster home. Bridgestone’s donation includes a cheque for R10 000 as well as a gift of R5 000 worth of nursery and office necessities. “We have been supporting Impilo for some years,” said Bridgestone’s Mandy Lovell. “We have a responsibility to the communities from whom we draw our employees and assisting an organisation like Impilo, which provides an essential service to the community, is an integral part of our social investment programme and falls under the umbrella of Bridgestone’s global One Team, One Planet initiative.”

September

2009

What’s 2010 Bus Safety Can Be Boosted Upon the completion of the recent Confederations Cup held in South Africa as a ‘tester’ for next year’s FIFA World Cup, the organisation’s president, Sepp Blatter had high praise for the organisers of the event but had no hesitation in pinpointing his concerns over the country’s ability to effectively shuttle soccer fans from game to game. “This is a big, big challenge,” he said. While Blatter may have focused his criticisms on public transport infrastructure, one can be sure that he and many other soccer officials, not to mention politicians, also have serious concerns over the

Hyundai Becomes World’s 4th Biggest Automaker Recent sales results from Reuters in the UK have confirmed that Hyundai Motor Company is the 4th biggest automaker in the world with 2,153 million units sold in the first half of 2009. Hyundai Motor also reached 5 percent of the global market share in the first half of the year for the first time ever, amid a 15 percent decline in global automobile demand compared to a year earlier. This result was achieved by expanded share in developed countries including U.S., China and in Europe as the automaker boosted efforts to raise its brand image and continued to expand marketing activities in local markets. In China, Hyundai sold 257,000 units in the first half, a 56% rise from a year earlier, mainly helped by its China-exclusive models. Hyundai’s total exports to Africa also reached one million units recently, of which Hyundai Automotive South Africa has contributed 20% to this impressive milestone.

Show News Celebrating its fifth anniversary, Automechanika Shanghai will take place 9 – 11 December 2009 at Shanghai New International Expo Centre, China. To date, the show has already attracted over 1,800 exhibitors from 15 countries and regions – China, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, the Netherlands, Singapore, Taiwan, Turkey, UK and USA. The exhibition area will be almost 100,000 sqm to accommodate the expected record number of 2,000 plus exhibitors. Automechanika Shanghai, Asia’s number one trade show for automotive parts, equipment and service suppliers, continues to receive strong support from international trade associations as well as local and overseas companies. Seven pavilions from around theglobe – Germany, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, UK and USA are already confirmed for the show.

the

Buzz?

safety of buses and taxis used to transport the expected 450 000 visitors to the event. “Short of detailing bus and taxi accident statistics, South Africa ranks in the world’s top ten as far as public transport-related fatalities are concerned. While time may be short, every measure needs to be taken to ensure improved road safety during 2010 and after,” says Louis Swart, managing director of Drive Report, a local company specialising in driver behaviour improvement. Drive Report is the South African agent for DriveCam, an in-vehicle video camera that records erratic driving incidents in the form of 12-second clips which are transmitted to fleet controllers via WiFi, enabling them to implement corrective coaching before major accidents occur.

Bridgestone South Africa has warned motorists that under-inflated tyres place them at a higher risk of having a blowout Romano Daniels, Bridgestone General Manager Marketing and Communications, says that tyre under-inflation is one of the most serious risk factors for crashes. “An under-inflated tyre runs at higher temperatures than it is designed for,” he explains. “The excess heat and friction can cause the tyre to disintegrate, leading to a blowout.” Daniels says that under-inflated tyres also cause fuel consumption to increase because of the extra rolling resistance that results. “Another concern is tyre life,” he says. “An under-inflated tyre wears down much faster. This means that motorists may only get 50 to 60 per cent of the tyre life they would expect from a correctly-inflated tyre.”

SKF AND ATLAS COPCO UP THE ANTEFOR LOCAL SKILLS DEVELOPMENT WITH NEW TRAINING CENTRE SKF South Africa and Atlas Copco South Africa recently entered into a joint venture to establish a new ultra-modern training facility. SKF’s Reliability Maintenance Institute (RMI) is an extension of the SKF Group vision, ‘Equipping the world with SKF knowledge’ and serves as a global vehicle to place knowledge into the hands of customers and employees. “The RMI affirms SKF’s philosophy of continued investment in people through training, irrespective of economic climate”, says SKF South Africa Managing Director, Gavin Garland. “Companies that use and create opportunities to train and develop employees and provide skill sets during the current global economic crisis will not only retain their position and market share but will reap the benefits when the economy recovers”. According to Garland, skills development is a hot topic in the current negative global financial climate and he cites two examples: “The UK is increasing apprenticeship opportunities while India has approved a skills development policy to enhance capabilities and empower their workforce to work better, smarter, and safer”.

GREEN TRAINEES REPORT SAVINGS, SAFETY Employees of SA tyre manufacturer Bridgestone are already reporting positive results after they hit the road with new driving skills as part of the Make Cars Green campaign. The campaign, which was devised by the FIA, is sponsored internationally by Bridgestone Japan, and consists of ten ‘greener motoring’ tips, five of which relate directly to driving style. More than 120 Bridgestone employees across South Africa have attended the first two parts of a three-part driving improvement course presented by driving skills company driving.co.za. An initial seminar on defensive and economical driving was followed up by a 50-minute practical on-road training session for each trainee, showing how to put the new skills into practice in preparation for the practical test in a few weeks’ time. Romano Daniels, Bridgestone General Manager of Group Communications and Marketing, said the training had been well-received so far. “A number of our trainees have said that they are saving more than one litre per 100km over their usual consumption, and one has already credited the course with saving him from a serious crash,” he said. “Even Makoto Ota, our Marketing and Sales VP, has commented that he is no longer perturbed by taxis and vehicles dashing in ahead of him,” Daniels added.

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September

2009

Personal

Q&A

profile

by Roger McCleery

INTERVIEW WITH DR. GEORGE NYABADZA

WesBank, the ‘Wheels Bank’, is the biggest and longest standing sponsor in motor sport in South Africa. Besides this they have been sponsoring the South African Guild of Motoring Journalists Car of the Year Competition for 25 years, the National Automobile Dealer Association meetings, Motor Rallies and over the last two years, the WesBank Street Race in Soweto. WesBank has also been behind the V8 Supercars which are the fastest most powerful racing cars on South African circuits for the last 26 years. The man who heads up the team sponsoring these high profile events is Dr. George Nyabadza, the General Manager of Marketing. Q: Sponsorships like these give you an exciting platform on which to promote what WesBank stands for? A: Over the last four years we have sought to make sure that all our sponsorships are aligned to our overall brand strategy which itself is derived from our corporate strategy. After careful consideration, as core to our business model, we create partnerships and are always there for the long haul as we have been with every other sponsorship we have had. Our partnerships involve wearing our hearts on our sleeves and getting involved on a day to day basis with the companies and properties we sponsor. For example in motor sport, we know everybody on first name terms and what they do. In addition to this our personal and individual efforts tend to become recognised by our partners. I have been appointed Director on the Board of Motorsport South Africa. Our motorsport coordinator at WesBank, Tom Kubeka, has also become the first black Clerk of the Course in South African Motorsport, after passing the exams with distinctions. At the WesBank Street Race Launch, Jan-Louis Pretorius spent time in Soweto getting to activate the sponsorship in the township where he actually went and lived. Michelle Cowburn is also hands-on to motorsport and knows all the key role players by name; all three of these managers are empowered by me to make decisions on our behalf. In order to deliver on WesBank’s brand and strategic position as “experts in asset finance” we have developed eight brand imperatives that govern how we utilise our brand communication tools to reach our target markets. We deeply understand WesBank’s target markets, both current and future, and our spon-

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sorships meet the needs of our customers, across all races, gender and age. For example motorsport, the WesBank Super Series, predominantly caters for our white customers at the traditional circuits while the WesBank Street Race predominantly caters for the growing black market. Soweto is a case where we know the growth of the market is going to come from as more and more Blacks are becoming economically active and financing more and more customers. Interesting enough surveys at the event, have shown that even Northern Suburbs people, across all races, came to see the Soweto Street Race for themselves.

into the education and well being of the kids. My father always told us that we had our inheritance through the education they provided us. A wonderful start to life.

Q: Has all this been good for WesBank?

A: I qualified as a Chartered Accountant at 22 working for Ernst and Young. Armed with my CA I joined a Construction Company first as Group Accountant and then moved over to Amtec Motors in Harare as the Group Finance Manager of six dealerships that handled Mazda, Nissan and Hino Trucks. This was a great challenge for me and my entry into the retail industry. After spending a year or so at Head Office I wanted to get into operations for some of the action and was given a great opportunity to run the 100 vehicles a month dealership in Bulawayo, which I did for four years before going back to Harare.

A: Myself and my team do all this for the WesBank brand because of what WesBank is – a culture of empowerment from an owner-management philosophy where every business case is thoroughly debated honestly for the best result for both WesBank and for the new partners we are sponsoring. If we as a marketing team were involved or worked for another company we would never have been able to have the WesBank Street Race: Soweto. This event is also a classic demonstration of our partnership philosophy as we now have new partners within the City of Johannesburg with the full backing of the Mayor.

Q: Schooling? A: I went to a private school called PeterHouse in Marondera, Zimbabwe. Besides education I had a great love of rugby and played for the first team as well as the Mashonaland schools 2nd team. Q: After school?

Q: In the motor business you normally need a mentor.

Q: How did this all start for you? A: I was born in Zimbabwe in 1967. I was one of seven kids. My Dad, who started as a truck driver and eventually became the Fleet Manager of his Company, and my mother a hard-working home based entrepreneur, put everything

A: Whilst all this was happening I met Paddy O’Brien who was the MD of Sewells of which was at that time part of WesBank. My CEO at that stage, Brian Stevenson, was part of Paddy’s performance groups; he allowed us to attend performance groups at home and here in South

Continued on p49 September

2009

Cover

Story

New Suzuki Alto – by Howard Keeg

A dynamic new contender

The Suzuki Alto was first introduced in Japan in 1979 as a small car (kei car in Japanese), and has since gone on to hit the 10 million sales mark worldwide, with 4.8 million sold in Japan and 5.2 million sold in other countries. Thus it has been a long time coming to South Africa, in its seventh generation guise, but the wait has been worth it. 2009 is also an auspicious year for the introduction, with Suzuki celebrating its 100th anniversary.

S

uzuki has been both circumspect and active since its high profile launch in South Africa in mid 2008, initially introducing the sporty Swift and SX4, followed closely by the more family orientated Jimny and Grand Vitara, and now the compact Alto city car, bringing the Suzuki range to five attractive vehicles. And at the Alto media launch in Bloemfontein, the City of Roses, we were promised the status Kisashi in 2010, which will make the range reasonably comprehensive, and will give the current Suzuki network of 23 dealers something to offer to most of the aspiring Suzuki owners visiting their showrooms. The Alto has attributes linked to sporty and involving dynamics, as well as high levels of comfort and convenience – and, of course, outstanding affordability and value for money, which according to Kazuyuki Yamashita, Managing Director of Suzuki Auto SA, "as the newest model in Suzuki's world-car strategy, the Alto is perfectly in tune with the needs of the modern motorist. The Alto offers economical and environmentally friendly, yet thoroughly entertaining driving characteristics, top-notch features and exceptional value. It is also an exciting and important addition to our growing product portfolio in SA. The Alto will undoubtedly appeal to both environmentally and budget-conscious motorists, as well as young, sophisticated urbanites who demand eye-catching style, easy-going practicality and involving dynamics."

Suzuki tells ABR in its press release that the Alto is the product of an extensive Japanese and European market research, design and development programme. The programme focussed on producing a stylish and modern compact car that perfectly matches demanding European tastes and standards – aspects which are equally pertinent in the exceptionally competitive Eurocentric SA market. Suzuki adds that the result is an undeniably sporty five-door shape that exudes vibrant urban energy, despite the car's compact dimensions: it has an overall length of just 3,5 metres. At the same time, the Alto is sophisticated and elegant, while boasting an exceptional drag coefficient of just 0,30, enhancing overall fuel efficiency. Two versions of the sprightly Alto are available, comprising the entry-level GL – which is ideally placed to satisfy the requirements of the price-sensitive end of the market – and the top-spec GLS, tailored to more discerning buyers demanding an uncompromising level of standard features in this segment. Both models are powered by a highly efficient , all-aluminium 1,0-litre three-cylinder engine boasting multi-point fuel-injection, four valves per cylinder and Euro 3 emissions compliance. Although the European versions of the Alto feature the latest Euro 5-spec engines, the Euro 3 unit was selected for the SA market due to its greater compatibility with the quality of local fuel. The engine is also better suited to the demanding high-altitude operating conditions experienced at the Reef, making it the preferred choice for the largest proportion of SA drivers. The power unit delivers superior driveability and cruising ability, while its output characteristics have been complemented by the fitment of a shorter final drive that further benefits all-round performance. Economical and eco-friendly, the engine is credited with a power output of 50 kW at 6 000 r/min and a torque peak of 87 Nm at 4 500 r/min. It boasts an uncharacteristically sprightly character for its segment, matched to a low kerb weight of just 895 kg.

Alto GL

Alto GLS 14

September

2009

Cover

This is sufficient to propel the Alto from 0-100 km in 16 seconds, and attain a more than respectable 145 km/h top speed. More notably, however, the Alto is credited with a convincing combined cycle fuel consumption figure of just 5,7 litres/100 km, and a very competitive CO2 emissions rating of only 133 g/km. Despite its budget-friendly status, the GL incorporates an impressive level of standard equipment, including power steering that enhances the Alto's exceptional in-town manoeuvrability. Air-conditioning with a pollen filter, and dual front airbags, also count amongst its headline features. These are complemented by an integrated immobiliser, front seatbelts with pretensioners and force limiters, dual rear ISOFIX child seat anchorage points, a remote fuel lid opener, and a 12-volt accessory socket. There is a backlit digital clock, dual-speed front wipers with intermittent function, a rear window wash/wipe facility, and a wide array of practical storage compartments front and rear. A full-size spare wheel is standard, while a roof-mounted antenna is preinstalled to ease the aftermarket fitment of a CD receiver on GL models. In keeping with its more upmarket positioning, the Alto GLS model gains alloy wheels, fitted with 155/65 R14 tyres that have

Story

been specifically designed to enhance fuel economy while still offering impressive grip. Further distinguishing features include colour-coded door handles and mirrors, front fog lamps and remote central locking. Additionally, the interior specification extends to tilt adjustment for the three-spoke steering wheel, a rev counter, front electric windows, a six-speaker sound system with MP3-compatible CD tuner, 50:50 split folding rear seats, a remote tailgate release, and a luggage compartment cover. The safety equipment is also bolstered to include ABS with Electronic Brakeforce Distribution (EBD) and Brake Assist (EBA) functions, ensuring optimum emergency stopping performance. "The Alto encapsulates Suzuki's decades of unrivalled small car expertise, resulting in an affordable, efficient, safe and stylish compact newcomer that is delightful to drive and own. It’s a superior city runabout, and expresses all of the core values of the Suzuki 'Way of Life!'," Yamashita concludes. The Alto GL and GLS models are launched at a recommended retail price of R104 900 and R119 900 respectively. A threeyear/100 000 km warranty is included as standard.

An eco-friendly heritage The Alto was introduced in 1979 in Japan as a very small car, with its main attractions being a low price and good fuel economy. The first Altos had two engine options; a 593cc two-stroke and a 543cc four-stroke, delivering 21kW and 23kW respectively. In 1990, 657cc and 658cc engines were introduced, and these are still available because of the strict taxation regime on high performance engines – a truly eco-friendly heritage which continues to this day.

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ABR Appointed as Official Mouthpiece of AAMA 2008 was an auspicious year for the South African automotive aftermarket, with four important milestones. Firstly, the industry came back from their year end holidays in January 2008 to discover that the cabinet had approved the Consumer Protection Bill. A hiatus followed until a frenzied second half of the year. September 2008 was particularly significant, with the establishment of South Africa’s premier automotive aftermarket publication, Automotive Business Review (ABR), and then the announcement by the Minister of Trade & Industry of the Automotive Production & Development Programme (APDP). Then, in November 2008, the year was closed out and the circle completed with the formation of the Automotive Aftermarket Manufacturers Association (AAMA). Apart from being acronym and initialising heaven, these four events will, as the years unfold, all prove to be glorious high points for the automotive aftermarket in South Africa. The Consumer Protection Bill, when it takes effect, and more importantly, when it is enforced, will prove a boon to those who play the game fairly and squarely, and it will become an albatross around the neck for those who dabble in shoddy product and shady practices. ABR has already established itself as the most influential automotive aftermarket publication in South Africa and without a peer in sight is slated to become the dominant purveyor of news for the industry for the foreseeable future. The APDP will only come into effect in 2012, but it already has had an influence on long term investment decisions, and time will show, as South Africa takes enormous strides in attaining the goal of one million units of vehicle production, that the component industry’s long term viability was saved by this particular piece of government assistance. AAMA came about because specific needs of the automotive aftermarket were not been met by bodies such as NAACAM and the RMI, and the Partinform platform was there to be built upon, and AAMA brought South Africa more into line with international trends and practices. An example of this is the AAIW (Automotive Aftermarket Industry Week) which is held annually in Las Vegas, where three aftermarket bodies combine to deliver to the automotive world an extravaganza of parts, accessories and services. The AAIA (Automotive Aftermarket Industry Association) and AASA (Automotive Aftermarket Suppliers Association) join forces to run the AAPEX show (Automotive Aftermarket Products Expo) at the Sands Convention Centre, whilst three kilometres away at the Las Vegas Convention Centre, SEMA (Specialty Equipment Manufacturers Association) unveils their own show, encompassing ten specialised councils. All under the banner of the all encompassing term “aftermarket”. NACE (International Autobody Congress & Exposition) and CARS (Congress of Automotive Repair & Service) have also joined the bandwagon, leveraging off AAIW, and putting on their own show at the cavernous Mandalay Bay Exhibition Centre, at the southern end of the famous Las Vegas Strip, to deliver comprehensive education and training by industry experts. Together, NACE and CARS represent the cornerstone of the Automotive Service & Repair Week (ASRW) and are sponsored by the Automotive Service Association (ASA). ABR is com-

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mitted to playing a role in promoting something similar to AAIW and ASRW in South Africa, and the sooner the better. The Consumer Protection Bill, ABR, the APDP and AAMA all exist because of South Africa’s unique and vibrant automotive aftermarket and they are all influenced by each other, to different extents. Therefore, it is not surprising that ABR and AAMA took their relationship one step further with AAMA appointing ABR as its official mouthpiece. In a flash of prescience on the 21st January 2009, ABR interviewed Malcolm Perrie, Managing Director of Federal-Mogul Aftermarket, the first Chairman of AAMA, after AAMA’s inaugural meeting, and with the appointment of ABR as the official mouthpiece, we revisited this interview and chatted to Malcolm again to get an update, which unsurprisingly has very little deviation from the original interview. Malcolm explained the reasons for the formalisation of Partinform into a far more powerful institution, saying that whilst all the founding members of AAMA are also members of NAACAM and/or the RMI, in many cases it was a situation of being a square peg in a round hole. “NAACAM is primarily an OEM focused body, whereas the RMI is a retailed focused organisation. Both do a good job in their respective areas of expertise and focus, and the AAMA members intend to continue to leverage off the strengths of these important bodies, but in many cases the specific interests of aftermarket manufacturers are nor being catered for.” To this end, he adds, AAMA does not intend to duplicate what NAACAM and the RMI do, but rather to focus on what they do not do, or do not do well. Thus AAMA intends to complement the offerings of these bodies, and to service the unique interests of the aftermarket manufacturers in four specific areas: 1. Strategic Input: A focus on government lobbying and the presenting of a united front, for the good of the local aftermarket industry, and for the good of the country. AAMA’s voice must be heard at the legislative level, and standards, test procedures, and very importantly, enforcement, must be of the highest priority. Good enforcement with no legislation, and vice versa, good legislation with no enforcement, means very little. September

2009

2. Training Support: The establishment of a training academy to serve the interests of the local aftermarket industry, spreading the training net as wide as possible, whilst pooling resources to create training teams that deliver cost effectively. Important issues such as product training and the full understanding of MERSETA requirements will get attention. However, training will be product specific, which may not necessarily comply with MERSETA requirements 3. Partinform: The venerable Partinform format continues, promoting local brands and passing on the vital message of quality and safety to all corners of the country via the tried and tested mini-trade show formula – getting face to face with the end users and retail shop employees in the rural areas and emerging markets. A focus on educating the industry on the different quality levels of life and limb parts, and the how, why and what behind parts availability and technical support, will play an increasingly important part of Partinform. And, of course, the Consumer Protection Bill will have an enormous impact on the industry. 4. Supply Chain Sustainability: A huge opportunity exists in the area of supply chain management and improvement, via a

combined approach to areas of common interest. There is tremendous wastage in supply chain costs in many areas: inward and outward logistics; customs management, and the need to lobby strongly on commodity prices. At its formative stage, AAMA consisted of thirteen founding members, all who had been accepted on their credentials as being existing Partinform members. For future members, the process is more structured, with an application form to be completed by aspiring members. The entry requirements stipulate that members must be local manufacturers whose route to market is through the traditional channels, and not via vertically integrated distribution. Agents need not apply, as equity in the brand will be a prerequisite. AAMA now stands at sixteen members, with three new members having joined early in 2009. ABR humbly accepts its mandate to be the voice of AAMA. The Editorial Advisory Board has been nominated and once the Board has been constituted, it will be announced in the October issue of ABR.

The inaugural AAMA Executive: Malcolm Perrie, chairman; Murray Long; Norman Bull; Colin Murphy, Partinform chairman. AAMA held its first meeting on 21st January 2009.

September

2009

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The Objecives of the Automotive Aftermarket Manufacturers Association are: (i)

promote, protect and encourage the general and collective interests and image of the members engaged mainly or substantially as brand owners in the manufacturing sector supplying the Automotive Aftermarket;

(ii) protect the brand value of members operating within the South African Automotive Industry aftermarket; (iii) provide a forum for members to meet with a view to promoting and protecting the interests of the members of the association; (iv) promote employee training and training accreditation within the automotive aftermarket and to facilitate the establishment and administration of a joint training facility in the automobile aftermarket parts industry; (v)

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promote and protect the interests of members, customers and the public by ensuring that proper standards of quality, service and ethical trading conditions are maintained by its members;

(vi) jointly promote members’ brands and products in the Southern African market by facilitating trade shows and similar marketing activities; (vii) engage the relevant Industry Bodies in trade, labour, legislative and other matters affecting members and, as desirable, to promote, support or oppose any proposed legislative or other measures affecting thee interests of members collectively; (viii) promote and disseminate to members and the authorities any information of value and use to them; (xi) print, publish or advertise in any news media, periodical, book or leaflet that the Association may think desirable; (xii) do all such other things as are incidental or conducive to the attainment of the objects above specified.

September

2009

What’s the Buzz?

CONTROL INSTRUMENTS AUTOMOTIVE ANNOUNCES THE INTRODUCTION OF THREE NEW CATALOGUES ECHLIN SWITCH CATALOGUE - AN 88 PAGE CATALOGUE CONSISTING OF AN EXTENSIVE APPLICATION GUIDE FOR CARS AND LDVS COVERING: FAN, OIL PRESSURE, REVERSE LIGHT, STOP LIGHT AND TEMPERATURE SWITCHES. IT ALSO INCLUDES A COMPREHENSIVE ILLUSTRATED BUYERS GUIDE SECTION SHOWING PIN CONFIGURATION, OHMS RESISTANCES AND TEMPERATURE VALUES WHERE APPLICABLE. AUTOEXCEL AUTO- ELECTRICAL COMPONENTS GUIDE - AN ILLUSTRATED 140 PAGE BUYERS GUIDE CATALOGUE COVERING ALTERNATORS/STARTERS AND THEIR ROTATIONAL PARTS. COMPLETE UNITS SHOW MOUNTING POSITIONS, PIN CONFIGURATIONS, AND APPLICATION DETAILS ALONG WITH THEIR RESPECTIVE OE REPLACEMENT NUMBER. A 20 PAGE OE CROSS REFERENCE PART NUMBER GUIDE CAN BE FOUND AT THE BACK OF THE CATALOGUE. ECHLIN STEERING SEAL KITS AND SEALS A 14 PAGE REFERENCE GUIDE WITH AN 8 PAGE APPLICATION SECTION COVERING RACK SEAL AND PUMP SEAL KITS FOR CARS AND LDVS FOLLOWED BY A LISTING OF SEALS FROM SMALLEST TO LARGEST I.D. FOR QUICK IDENTIFICATION. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE E-mail: [email protected] OR PHONE 011 627 2500

Cannes International Advertising Week 21-27 June 2009 Samantha Podmore, who until the 31st August 2009 was the Marketing & Communications Manager of Federal-Mogul Aftermarket, recently attended the Cannes International Advertising Week, and came back all revved up with creativity. This is what she had to say about the event, “What an unbelievable experience to go to Cannes and see the best of the best compete for the prestigious Grand Prix of Advertising. The standard of work on presentation was incredible and it was great to see a South African Ad Agency among the top entries. From registration to award ceremonies the event was a well oiled machine and even though attendance was down, due to the economic world recession, the standard of the event was still top class. Each category on offer - PR/Promotion/Direct, etc. - held a different but well thought out concept, some held shock value, some pulled at the heart strings and others just made you smile, but each one targeted and achieve its message. It also gave great opportunity to network and attend seminars on the different advertising mediums. Each speaker was a class act and encouraged you to expand your every day thought process. Although not every speaker targeted my particular area of experience, it was awesome to hear and learn about their field and what is happening internationally. At times I did feel like a preschooler, as there is so much creativity to absorb in such a short time span and you are bombarded with intense imagery and sounds from all sides. But from a professional point of view, I certainly benefited from the event and have come back to SA, with my creative juices flowing and more educated in the new trend of the times. I was also lucky enough to be given a guided tour of the wineries in Provence and to see some of France most beautiful landscapes and beaches. Cannes is truly a place of beauty and charm, from her side street bistros to her crystal clear topaz waves, Cannes is a place everyone should take the opportunity to visit and enjoy.”

Tony’s

Take

Barack Obama and the 40 derivative traders… by Tony Twine, Senior Economist, Director – Econometrix (Pty) Ltd

Everybody speculates, but nobody loves a speculator. The lack of enmity usually arises when speculation turns into a professionally managed drive that pushes prices of commodities, currencies or equities in a direction that is disadvantageous to the majority of minor speculators in any of those items, who consider themselves powerless to either counter or take advantage of major speculative thrusts by well healed market players.

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ake the performance of the crude oil price during 2008 as an example. Market players produced a speculative bubble in the price of crude oil which was clear to see, but repeatedly dressed it up with cock-and-bull stories about impending shortages, cuts in production from minor oil fields and a growing demand vs supply gap. It was easy to detect the source of the inflation going into the bubble, because each successive statement that drove the price upwards came from an oil analyst for a financial corporation, not an oil analyst for an oil producer. O, there was a Sheikh or two in the mix, but we can guess which side of the price trajectory they favoured. Of course, the speculators probably never actually owned a barrel of oil between them. What they did own were future contracts to buy or sell crude oil at a specific price at a specific date in the future, or option contracts to do the same. Each and every one of us can buy similar contracts at a fraction of the underlying value of the strike price, for any range of commodities, currencies, government and Eskom bonds, single equities or even the entire Johannesburg Stock Exchange listing. It is more than a little ironical that financial instruments that were originally developed to safeguard investors have become principal tools in the hands of market speculators who use them to drive perceptions of future prices. Suppose then an investor

buys a commodity at a given price, say $100 per unit, in the belief that he can sell it at a price of more than $100 at some date in the future. Thus, even the truest of true blue investors is speculating on at least two levels when he purchases an asset, firstly that the future price of the asset will move in his favour, and secondly that the carrying costs of owning the asset will not exceed the growth in value of the asset. In order to contain what is really an open ended risk (the asset may turn out to be either valueless or valued by the market into which it is to be sold at a price lower than $100 at a point in the future), the asset holder or a financial intermediary may sell a contract that will allow the holder to sell the asset at, say, $105 at a date in the future. Such a contract represents as firm a commitment as a spot purchase across the counter for the asset. A variation of such a future contract is one that gives the holder of the contract an option, but not an obligation, to buy (a call option) or sell (a put option) a given quantity of the asset at a given price on a given date in the future. Known as derivatives, these future and option contracts were intended to limit the risk to the owners and potential owners of the assets which underlie the existence of the derivative instruments. But, the derivatives have taken on a life of their own, being traded at a fraction of the value that

the rights attached to each instrument represent in terms of the asset. In this way, they can, if they exist in sufficient volume, end up driving the market price of the underlying asset, rather than simply acting as an insurance policy against sudden unexpected price movements. So, oil prices rose on the driving force of derivative trading, not because of fundamental supply and demand references. Consumers of oil products grumbled away, but themselves immediately switched into speculative mode, filling their tanks ahead of suspected or announced price increases. From July 2008, they speculated in the opposite direction, waiting for prices to drop on the back of falling crude oil prices. On the way up, they bought SASOL shares, as the price fell, they ditched them. What can be done to prevent the knock-on damages that occur when speculative intensity rises to fever pitch? Unfortunately, the answer appears to be “very little!” Market mechanisms only work if participants who buy and sell perceive different values in what they have vs what they can get by adjusting their asset and liability portfolios. Consumers do the same thing. The Obama campaign promised constraint of speculators, but the only governments which really got this right operated in Moscow and Beijing, and he might have trouble taking the American ethos to either of those destinations.

Ken Ken 5 x 5 How to Play: Like Sudoku, even though difficulty may vary from puzzle to puzzle, the rules for playing KenKen are fairly simple: For a 5x5 puzzle, fill in with the numbers 1-5. • 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 mathematical 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 33

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September

2009

Frankly

by Frank Beeton

Speaking

Electric Avenue

After a mere 40 days of Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, General Motors walked away from its “bad assets”, including the Saab, Hummer and Saturn brands, a number of factories and numerous labour agreements and supply contracts, and emerged as the “new” General Motors Company. With US government aid estimated to total around $US 50 billion, the sanitized GM was put back into a viable operating condition, to compete for its share of sales in the still depressed global markets with adversaries who have not had the opportunity to call on anything approaching this level of support. The rescue process was not universally popular, even in the United States, and many people were left asking: “will they make it?”

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or the record, the “new GM” will initially be a privately held company, with its common stock owned by the US treasury (60,8%), the United Automobile Workers union’s retiree health-care trust (17,5%), the Canadian and Ontario governments (11,7%) and “old GM” bondholders (10%), until an Initial Public Offering is launched, possibly in early 2010. The US dealer network is planned to reduce from the previous level of 6 000 outlets to around 3 600 by the end of 2010, domestic manufacturing facilities will be cut from 47 to 34, and employment will reduce from around 91 000 to 64 000 over the same timeframe. One opinion put forward by industry observers was that very little has really changed at GM apart from the strengthening of its balance sheet. This view had possibly been reinforced by the surprise return of 76year-old former “Car Czar” Bob Lutz, as vice chairman responsible for “creative elements of products and customer relations”. Last February, the enigmatic Lutz had announced his retirement, and some felt, at that time, that his departure would open up avenues for GM to completely rethink its product strategy. GM’s portfolio has come in for a great deal of criticism, and its reliance on large cars, pickups and Sports Utilities for much of its profitability input has been identified as a major contributory factor to cumulative losses approaching a staggering $US 100 billion that were chalked up over the past three years, as well as the former Corporation progressively giving up more and more of its North American market share, which has reduced from well over 40% in the 1950’s to a current level of less than 20%. Clearly, GM’s problems have gone a lot deeper than just product strategy, and the depth of the cuts that have recently been made into corporate structures and iconic nameplates clearly indicate this. It is also true that most of the company’s problems have been lodged geographically in its North American operations, and no amount of offshore success has been able to compensate for this fact. However, to dealers, customers and the outside world, the

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product is the most visible and tangible manifestation of what the company is doing, and provides the most important basis for judging its success or failure. This is the motivation behind so much time, energy and money being expended on building product image. It is precisely for this reason that GM, now concentrating on its Chevrolet, Cadillac, Buick & GMC brands, badly needs to get its product mix right. It is easy to say that it should just adapt European or Korean product for the North American market, but past experience has shown that this direction is not an automatic panacea. However, it could be that the Opels that were recently badged as Saturns were not adequately promoted or merchandised, hence their failure to even rescue that minority brand. The Korean-sourced General Motors Daewoo products have done well on a global scale, with production running at around 1,5 million units per annum, but they have been hidden in the US behind Chevrolet and other domestic GM nameplates. Optimum research, strategy, planning and execution will be needed by the new company if it is to succeed. Of course, we now have the headlong rush towards plug-in rechargable electric vehicles. GM is at the forefront of this movement, and Bob Lutz has positioned himself as the champion of the Chevy Volt, the company’s first PHEV. There is much debate over how successful this product direction will turn out, given that pricing levels are estimated to be even higher than already expensive hybrids, and it will probably take another upward rush by the oil price before PHEV’s really take off. GM is also progressing with development of Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition (HCCI) technology for petrol-fueled engines, but no production plans have been revealed, as yet. There is no doubt that GM is as technologically strong as any other vehicle manufacturer on Planet Earth, but radical departures along inappropriate technology paths have the potential to eat money very rapidly, and could easily undo all the good that has been done with the rescue operation in 2009.

September

2009

A series of articles on the rise of the Chery automobile

A Well Respected SUV About Town by Howard Keeg

When I took delivery of the Chery Tiggo 1,6 Compact SUV for a vehicle evaluation, I had to lay down the law – to myself. The law revolved around my accepting that I was to drive down to Durban, and drive back to Johannesburg, in a budget SUV, and that this SUV was not an expensive latest generation mortgage consuming Sandton zooming past the Joneses chariot. A corollary to this law was that I had to shelve my Jeremy Clarkson alter ego and bring to the fore my humbler side, the part of me that correlates to the common man, i.e. the vast majority of our country’s population. I was, for a week, as the Kinks would say, “going to be a well respected man about town” driving a well respected SUV around said town. Once this law was in place, I was in a position, both emotionally and intellectually, to give an honest evaluation. Mission accomplished, and here is my evaluation, sans motoring journalist sense of self.

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he Chery Tiggo 1,6 Tiggo TX is a 4x2 front wheel drive SUV that would not have elicited a lifted or batted eyelid ten years ago, with rather pleasing external lines and a modern and spacious interior layout, with satisfactory appointments. It has a willing 1600 engine (output 80kW @ 5800 rpm; torque 147Nm @ 4 300 rpm) that does the job without much fuss. First and second gear and a slightly notchy gear change take a little getting used to, primarily because we have been so spoiled by the latest and greatest transmissions in heftier priced models, and I have a strong feeling that this would not have solicited much comment a decade ago. The return trip to Durban was surprisingly pleasant, with this compact SUV doing all that was expected of

Modern and well pleasing lines

it and cruising happily up hill and dale at 120/130 km/h in fifth gear, with fourth gear only required up such obstacles as van Reenen’s Pass, which was not an issue, as the speed limit of 80 km/h presented absolutely no problems for this eager little warrior. I am afraid that there is precious little else that I can say, as there was no drama of any sorts, and the small amount of town driving that I did was also negotiated with ease and aplomb. For the price of R164 900 you get a 3yr/100 000km warranty and a 3 year 75 000km service plan that is backed up by the reputable McCarthy organisation, which in any language translates into a perfectly acceptable package. So there it is. If you want to hear quibbles and criticisms, you’ll need to speak to the Jeremy Clarkson clones, of which there are many I’m afraid.

The Tiggo 1,6 delivered a commendable 6,9 litres per 100 km fuel consumption on the round trip

This could be one of many SUVs

CHERY VEHICLES PERFORM WELL IN 2009 TOTAL ECONOMY RUN

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hery, scored two podium positions in their respective classes on the recent Total Economy Run 2009. Chery is distributed in South Africa by Amalgamated Automotive Distributors, a joint venture between Imperial Motor Holdings and McCarthy Limited. Competing in Class A (petrolengined cars with engine capacities between 750 and 1 150cm3) the Chery QQ3 was crewed by Francois van Rensburg and Thinus van Rensburg. They achieved a figure of 6.57ℓ/100km on a very demanding event, with lots of inclines and even some rain ensuring that the going was quite tough throughout, certainly not suiting the smaller

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capacity vehicles like the Chery QQ3. The class was won by a Daihatsu Charade. Competing in Class D the Chery J5 of Syd Brett and Joe Smith performed equally well in the class for 1800cc - 2000cc vehicles. Achieving a figure of only 7.1ℓ/100km with their 2-litre J5. They even ended up a very respectable 8th overall on the Efficiency Index. The class was won by Willie Nel in a Ford Focus 1.8Si. This year’s Total Economy Run was run over three days, with the start and finish at the Badplaas resort. The event attracted a strong field of 28 vehicles, representing 14 different brands, thus competition in the various classes was very keen, with many of the crews having competed in numerous Total Economy Runs. The route

took competitors over a variety of roads in Mpumalanga, covering stretches of road from Ermelo to Hazyview.“We are delighted with the good consumption achieved by the Chery QQ3 1.1 and J5 in the Total Economy Run, as this event is acknowledged as an excellent way of comparing the potential fuel economy of various makes and models of vehicles under identical conditions,” commented the managing director of Chery SA, Brett Soso. “As the route was especially tough on the smaller capacity vehicle’s the QQ3 still did the brand proud, but we are especially proud on the achievements of the 2-litre Chery J5 for ending up as high as 8th overall in such a strong field.” September

2009

AIDC Automotive Industry Conference 2009

SA AUTOMOTIVE WEEK BOOST FOR REGIONAL ECONOMY Automotive manufacturing hubs throughout South Africa stand to benefit from potential new investors who will be attending the second South African Automotive Week in October, according to National Association of Component and Allied Manufacturers of South Africa (NAACAM) Executive Roger Pitot. He says companies such as “Chana, Tata, Mahindra, Goodrich Tyres and others,” are looking at investing in South Africa to take advantage of the emerging African market and to gain access to the European and US markets as well. Held every second year, on alternate years to the Johannesburg International Motor Show, South African Automotive Week takes place in Port Elizabeth from October 710 this year. Hosted by NAACAM and the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa (NAAMSA), the South African Automotive Week (SAAW) is the only dedicated trade show for the automotive components industry. The importance of the auto industry to the local economies of Durban, East London and Nelson Mandela Bay (Port Elizabeth) was highlighted in the latest Absa property revue, which found that the three auto hubs had suffered the biggest decline in property values. At a local level, SAAW is expected to inject over R35-million into the Nelson Mandela Bay economy. SAAW director Andrew Binning says local industry – from car hire companies and accommodation establishments to printers would benefit significantly from the spend on infrastructural costs for the Initiative and from over 3 000 trade delegates expected to converge on Port Elizabeth. “Add to these revenues the value of deals negotiated at the event – surveyed at the inaugural Week in 2007 to be conservatively at R30-million,” says Binning.

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n important theme of the Week is the economic crisis and opportunities created by government for the industry to sustain itself and refocus on its vision of producing 1 million vehicles by 2020. “South African Automotive Week will provide the platform and networking opportunities for the auto industry to fully exploit the opportunities which exist for component manufacturers, distributors and exporters.” According to Binning, 20 per cent of exhibitors at the 2007 event concluded deals above R100 000, while the top nine per cent completed agreements above R500 000. Nearly 70 per cent of exhibitors said they had had a “very positive” or “overwhelmingly positive” interaction with visiting buyers. This year’s event will host delegations from the United Kingdom, France, Netherlands, Germany, Spain, Italy, India and China. SAAW sponsors include the Eastern Cape Provincial Departments of Transport and Economic Development, the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality, Coega and MERSETA. For more information or opportunities please contact Alastair Stead at Inkanyezi Event Organisers at 086 1101 475, email [email protected] or visit www.saaw.co.za

South Africa in danger of “losing” auto components industry “If we do not join hands and make the auto components industry work, we will lose it,” is the warning given by South African Automotive Week (SAAW) chair Alfred da Costa. His warning comes as the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa (NAAMSA) says in its report for the second quarter of 2009 that “as a result of low industry volumes and ongoing financial stress experienced by suppliers, availability and security of supply is increasingly at risk in certain instances. The ever present need for global cost competitiveness and vehicle manufacturers’ cost reduction targets continue to pressurise suppliers. The strengthening of the Rand also causes

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domestic components to become less competitive.” Among the steps being taken by the industry is an Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) supplier forum, which will be hosted in Port Elizabeth on October 8 as part of SAAW, which runs from October 7 to October 10. Da Costa, who has interests in component manufacturing, says one of the biggest challenges facing the local components industry is that it is largely unknown outside of South Africa. “Through my travels overseas, I have become very concerned about the level of what we can call naivety about the South African components industry. The industry overseas simply does not know what we have in this country. SAAW includes a components trade expo, and a “Navigating the storm: A roadmap to vision 2020” conference organised by the Automotive Industry Development Centre (AIDC). Delegations from a number of foreign countries have already confirmed attendance at SAAW, according to Da Costa, who says the expo is an opportunity to show the world “how sophisticated and competitive our auto components industry is”. SAAW has the backing of the National Association of Automotive Component and Allied Manufacturers of South Africa (NAACAM), as well as the AIDC and NAAMSA. For more information go to www.saaw.co.za

HAS THE TIME COME FOR GOVERNMENT TO SUPPORT THE AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY IN THE CREDIT CRUNCH? The need for government support to the automotive industry is set to come more sharply into focus in the context of record lows in average production capacity utilisation levels, severe job losses and depressed retail sales, says Barlow Manilal, CEO of the AIDC. NAAMSA's latest quarterly review released in August 2009 points to the extent of the crisis in the automotive sector.

September

2009

Vehicle manufacturers are reeling from a huge drop in domestic and export demand for new vehicles. Executive Director Nico Vermeulen described the current situation as "unprecedented in the history of the SA automotive industry." During the first half of the year, almost 4,500 car manufacturing jobs were shed. Adding to the woes of the industry, retail sales slumped 6.7 % year on year in June, according to Statistics SA. The data is being used as an argument for further interest rate cuts this year. "Government will need to assess the situation carefully, given the sizable influence of automotive manufacturing on the economy," says Barlow. "The provocative question of whether the SA automotive industry deserves a bailout will be a focused panel discussion at our Automotive Industry Conference," he says. The Automotive Industry Conference 2009 takes place on 7 and 8 October 2009 at SA Automotive Week. Panel members include Firoz Cachalia (MEC for Economic Development), Mcebisi Jonas (MEC: Department of Economic Affairs & Tourism), Dr Matthews Phosa (ANC Treasurer) and Irvin Jim (NUMSA National Secretary). The panel discussion will be facilitated by eTV news anchor Jeremy Maggs. The theme of the conference is "NAVIGATING THE STORM: A ROADMAP TO VISION 2020". The first day of the conference takes the form of a plenary session with plenty of opportunity for discussion and debate. The second day sees delegates focus on specific areas of interest: Supply Chain Development, Supplier Development and Skills Development & Training. The Automotive Industry Conference 2009 is being hosted at SA Automotive Week in Port Elizabeth. "This offers great additional value to delegates," says Lance Schultz, AIDC Manager and Conference Manager. SAAW includes the only NAACAM endorsed International Trade Show in South Africa. The Trade Show is focused on Component Manufacturing, is for trade only and attracts buyers and suppliers from throughout South Africa and around the globe. Site tours to the Coega IDZ, an OEM and Fifa 2010 Soccer World Cup Stadium are among key networking opportunities, which also include golf and the famous Gala Networking Dinner on Port Elizabeth's blue flag beach attended by the who's who of the automotive sector. Over 500 companies have registered on SAAW's business matchmaking system. To register for the Automotive Industry Conference or view the full programme, visit www.aidc.co.za.

September

2009

Auto

by Tony Twine

Topical

How to Nail Jelly to the Ceiling

In President Jacob Zuma’s announcement of interventions to rescue vulnerable sectors and consumer groups in the current recession, put forward in the first week of August, the hard pressed motor, clothing and textile sectors, all received a mention.

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he slim references that were made tended to suggest a leaning towards supply side support. Such support usually takes the form of tariff reductions or cash-flow infusions in order to tide over companies in sectors where contractionary trading conditions are deemed to be temporarily rather than permanently constrained. Sadly, this ducks the question of whether it is better to stimulate the supply or the demand side for the output of such sectors. Even if that is decided, is it feasible to stimulate either or both sides of the economic equation? The problem with stimulating the supply side of any sector, is that the only reason that such support could be necessary has to be that there is significantly reduced demand for its output. In such a case, tax payers money is being used to prop up productive activity that is not confronted with an equivalent level of demand. Alternatively, it allows the recipient companies to survive without producing at levels that would normally ensure their ongoing survival. Either the government pays the producers to build up output inventories, or to sit around doing less and less for the same amount of revenue. This is the General Motors and Chrysler bail-out approach. The problem with replicating this approach on even a microscopic level for the South African motor sector is that there is much less obscene fat to be chopped out of the local supply chain. The vehicle assemblers and imports have indicated that they are in survival mode and are only likely to topple if their international owners hit the wall – and not even then, according to

GM South Africa. Therefore, the most probable targets of supply side intervention have to be the local component manufacturers, whose dominant business interests have moved distinctly off shore since the MIDP forced a change of focus away from import displacement towards export promotion after 1995. Very clearly, supporting these suppliers at home in South Africa will not increase demand for their output in foreign countries, and the transfer from the local government to those producers can only last a limited time period, which may well be shorter than the time required to restore previous levels of demand in heavily hit foreign economies. Some economies, including those which have simultaneously granted supply side support for their motor sectors, have also stimulated the demand side for vehicles. Germany took the lead, providing tax rebates for scrapped vehicles 9 years or older. It was an enormous success. The British market also recovered sharply on the back of a similar plan. In the USA the cash-for-clunkers programme went a long way to producing the first year-on-year positive growth in vehicle sales for 19 months, recorded as 2% growth in July 2009. A significantly differently structured demand side program in China, focused on rural demand for commercial vehicles, saw annual sales growth leap to 48% in June 2009. The very success of these programs has led to concerns about what happens when they are terminated. The South African Rescue Package appears to favour the supply side approach, rather than stim-

ulating demand. The most probable rationale, apart from the local vehicle suppliers having said that their future survival does not depend on government hand-outs, is that the cost to a government already saddled with a deficit budget and a growing reality that lower than expected revenues will expand the fiscal deficit beyond planned levels, is a fairly decisive stopping point. Also, there is a big difference in using taxpayer’s money in countries with comparatively wealthy social networks to subsidise aspirant vehicle buyers. Try explaining why the South African government is subsidising car purchases to a village of poverty stricken individuals in Limpopo or Transkei, and see which way they vote in 2014. Vehicle sales volumes are also notoriously price in-elastic, but very sensitive to economic growth in South Africa. No sizeable impression is likely to be made on the number of units demanded in the local market without a stimulus subsidy in the order of 20% of purchase prices, representing R27bn in last years sales revenue terms. That is R27bn that government simply does not have available to spend. The response so far by the South African Government to calls for support from the motor sector appears entirely understandable, even though it does not solve the problem of a lack of demand, both at home and abroad. When it is made public, we can expect it to help cash-flows rather than sink wealth into component exporters or anybody else within the sector.

McCARTHY OPENS NEW SUZUKI DEALERSHIP IN BLOEMFONTEIN McCarthy Limited has announced the opening of a new McCarthy Suzuki dealership in Bloemfontein. The Group already has five Suzuki dealerships in Parow, East London, Pretoria Central, Strand and Umhlanga. “The Suzuki brand is renowned for its exciting and dynamic automotive products. As Suzuki Auto South Africa’s leading dealership partner, we believe the brand has a lot to offer motoring customers,” said Brand Pretorius, CEO of McCarthy Limited. “Looking at the brand’s performance over the past year, we have great confidence in the future of the Suzuki brand in South Africa.” According to Kazuyuki Yamashita, managing director of Suzuki Auto South Africa, “the central South African region is particularly important to the company strategically, both from a vehicle sales point of view, as well as to support for our existing customers in the area. McCarthy’s has been one of the top performing dealer groups since the launch of Suzuki Auto South Africa in 2008, and we are delighted that they will be handling the new Bloemfontein dealership,” said Yamashita.

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September

2009

weighty

by Frank Beeton

issues

THE MARRIAGE OF MAN AND VOLKSWAGEN TRUCKS

One of the most interesting events currently unfolding in the South African trucking scene is the impending merger between MAN Truck and Bus South Africa, and the heavier commercial vehicle business of Volkswagen South Africa. This follows the €1,175 billion acquisition by MAN’s German principals of Volkswagen’s Brazilian truck and bus-building operation, Volkswagen Caminhöes e Ônibus, during the first quarter of 2009. The immediate ramifications of this takeover included instant Brazilian market leadership for the expanded MAN operation, and the appearance of MAN powerplants in some VW test units, where MWM International and Cummins diesel engines had been used previously. From a longer term perspective, the merger raised prospects for a considerable enhancement of the MAN/VW global footprint in both geographic and product coverage terms, making it highly significant for its potential future impact on the pecking order within the global truck community.

I

t was notable that, despite some nominal overlap between the heavier Brazilian products and models in MAN’s own truck line-up, there is more than enough differentiation in market positioning, particularly when comparing VW’s more basic models and MAN’s state-of-theart TGL, TGM, TGX and TGS series, to suggest that the sum of the two ranges would open up significant additional opportunities across world geographic regions with differing requirements in respect of vehicle complexity. This situation will apply equally in South Africa, where MAN has historically been placed among the industry “heavyweights”, whereas the recently-arrived VW truck and bus models have slotted in among the “volume” market participants. Details of the local integration modus operandi recently announced by MAN CEO Thomas Hemmerich include consolidation of all vehicle assembly at MAN’s Pinetown, KwaZulu-Natal facility, the conversion of qualifying VW truck dealers into dual-brand outlets, and the absorption of VW product and warranty liability by MAN. One of the conditions of the takeover was that the Volkswagen products would retain their original branding, thus ensuring continuity of VW’s truck market presence. It should be noted that the VW Crafter van range, which participates in the Medium Commercial Vehicle market segment (3 501-8 500 kg Gross Vehicle Mass), is to remain within the Volkswagen light

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vehicle distribution network, and is not affected by this merger. It will be interesting to see if MAN explores the possibilities of extending the Volkswagen range sold in South Africa downwards. Currently, the Constellation truck line-up covers the GVM spectrum from 13 to 24 tons, but the presence, in the Volksbus passenger range, of a 9 ton GVM chassis, hints at the availability of lighter models. In fact, the range of vehicles produced at Resende, in Brazil, also includes smaller trucks with payloads ranging down to three tons, plus related bus models, and it may be desirable for the local planners to look at some additional VW-sourced product in order to provide more complete coverage of the truck and bus markets above 3,5 tons GVM. While it could be said that the local market performance of the VW Constellation range has been slightly disappointing since its initial introduction in 2007, much of this can be ascribed to the total lack of historic truck-market experience and credibility on the part of the manufacturer and its dealers. Future prospects for the range, under MAN stewardship, could be considerably brighter, and have the potential to “stir up” the HCV segments, between 8 501 and 16 500 kg GVM, in particular. The price positioning of these models is more than competitive with the Japanese marques that currently dominate this mass spectrum, and product perceptions are bound to improve as more MAN influence is bought to bear on their technical make-

up. Likewise, the creditable stand-alone local success achieved, thus far, by the Volksbus passenger models, should be considerably enhanced by association with MAN’s market-leading bus operation. It can be expected that VW chassis will soon be offered with off-the-peg variants of the Lion’s Explorer body superstructures built at MAN’s Olifantsfontein plant, which have been well accepted by the local operating community. While the MAN buses will undoubtedly continue to satisfy the needs of larger, more sophisticated operators, the VW products promise to exploit opportunities among smaller operators, particularly in the rural areas, where more basic “emerging market” specifications are favoured. Looking ahead, the combination of MAN and VW products, supplemented by shipments from the MAN Force Trucks joint venture in India, and, possibly, the recently-announced MAN-Sinotruk collaboration in China, are placing this group in a very strong position to bid for local and international market leadership. While the recent power struggle between Porsche and Volkswagen for control of their combined operations in Germany has diverted attention from more fundamental issues, it should be remembered that Scania is also part of this family, and that some future structure that draws all these elements together could find itself as a dominant power in the global hierarchy of truck and bus manufacturers. September

2009

Insurance Policies on the rise UK Companies renewing their motor insurance policies in Q3 could face increases in premiums with 91% of underwriters predicting a rise, according to Aon’s Market Pulse, a quarterly index that tracks the UK underwriters’ premium predictions for property, liability and motor fleet insurance. Ron Gordon, senior executive at Aon South Africa, says these results will be very similar for the South African market place. “This is in stark contrast to the predictions for Q2 in which every underwriter stated there would be no change in rates for this type of cover. As the economic downturn has worsened globally, companies have cut back on their motor fleets, spending less on insurance and therefore pushing up rates in order for insurers to remain profitable,” he says. Aon’s Market Pulse also shows that 40% of underwriters believe rates will rise for casualty/liability insurance, while 35% believe the same for property insurance. The dramatic change in forecasts for motor insurance is symptomatic of a ‘hardening’ market, when insurers look to drive up premiums. These rises are set to continue for at least the rest of 2009 in order to return this market to profitability and prevent even more significant increases in 2010.

Answers

From p 22 September

2009

managing

the

Risks

It’s been said a million times before that when the going gets tough, the tough get going. This cliché takes on a new resonance when describing the truck industry. Times may be tough, but trucks are tougher, and truckers are the toughest. This industry is literally the wheels of the economy, so thank goodness that when the going gets tough, the toughest get going. A critical element in this dynamic is the ability to keep costs down, and to ensure that operating costs are kept under tight control. The first port of call in this endeavour is to protect against theft and misuse. The first port of call in this endeavour is to protect against theft and misuse. A close second is thinking smart and keeping costs down. ABR has commissioned Séan Jackson of TRUCKTEK to give our readers a series of tips on Managing the Risks.

Keeping it Clean

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he South African oil industry has being making the news lately, and most of the comment is about the refineries’ inability to provide (deliver to the pumps) the highest quality fuel (in accordance with the 2006 World Wide Fuel Charter protocol), and the accusation that they are behind the times and are simply not prepared to invest in much needed upgrades. The pros and cons are many and sometimes confusing, but whatever the facts, it is simply not true that with fuel matters South Africans are always behind the curve. There are many pioneers in this country, and three of them are Malcolm Walker, Roger Gemmell and Hector Saltzwedel, who are worthy of the title of “Innoventors”. Innovention is a new word coined by ABR to describe a mixture of ingenuity, innovation and inventiveness, and the diesel fuel filtration system developed by Ultra Fine Depth Filtration (Pty) Ltd. definitely fits the bill. Walker, Gemmell and Saltzwedel are the brains behind the system. UDF (Into the Future with Cleaner Fuel) filtration systems are manufactured by U.D.F. (Pty) Ltd, a privately owned South African company specialising in diesel fuel filtration systems, and these systems can be fitted to all types of diesel powered equipment and are installed as either retro-fits or by original equipment manufacturers and suppliers before delivery. The concept behind UDF filters is that no diesel fuel,

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Take this a little further, and when huge numbers of very small particles are not caught, they cause wear and stiction/ seizure. Enormous numbers of very small articles of less than four microns pass straight through conventional area filters and jam between the injector needle and barrel stopping smooth opening and closing, and also cause injector spray holes to wear open.

Séan Jackson anywhere in the world, is clean enough for engines, particularly the modern generation of diesel engines, and the belief from the three pioneers that “adequate” filtration is just not good enough in modern diesel engines. UDF explains that conventional filters are like kitchen sieves in that they catch everything above a certain particle size, but that they let everything below a certain particle size through. The end result is that too many large particles cause the primary filter to block or unplug, thus nullifying the filter’s efficiency.

We shall revisit the technical aspects of these deficiencies in upcoming articles in ABR, but for the purposes of this article Séan Jackson decided to fit a UDF filter on his Toyota Fortuner 3,0 litre D4D, to test the efficacy in a real life scenario. Before fitment, Séan was achieving a fuel consumption of 8,0l/100km, and after fitment this improved to 6,7l/100km. What Séan also noticed was that the engine was considerably quieter after fitment, which he ascribes to the cleaner fuel being delivered to the engine through the injectors. Sean explains that the UDF filter is the third line of defence against dirty fuel. Traditionally, the fuel goes through a water separator and a fuel filter, but now it also has to run the UDF gamut, and this is where the magic happens. UDF filters have a cellulose fibre and synthetic medium that has been extensively developed since 1996, and with this final polishing the fuel that is delivered is as clean as can be. Next month we shall look at the technical aspects.

September

2009

health

care

An update on Moto Health Care In last month’s edition of ABR I touched on certain challenges still facing Moto Health Care since its administration was entrusted to Momentum Medical Schemes Administrators at the beginning of this year, and indicated ways in which members and employers could assist in meeting those challenges.

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do believe, however, that it is important to convey the message that every effort is being made by MHC through its various structures to address all issues of concern. To this end a task group has been established to proactively spearhead this effort. Members of this group are drawn from Trustees and senior management of MHC and MMSA, and the group’s proposed nomenclature is the “Technical/Process Management Committee”. While its terms of reference are still in the process of being finalized, these will broadly encompass the identification of challenges, problem areas, constraints, and complaints as reported by individual members, groups, or stakeholders, and then to develop and implement corrective action. This may include system or process changes, the identification of the persons responsible for the implementation of such changes, and the setting of deadlines for the corrective measures to be implemented.

Schemes Act which precludes it from granting any form of credit. It is, therefore, essential that payment of contribu-

There are some important points to bear in mind with regard to membership. Members are members for an entire month. Thus members join from the beginning of a month, and it is suggested that staff joining a firm in the first two weeks of a month and requiring medical aid membership, should join MHC as from the beginning of that month. Conversely, any staff joining in the last two weeks of a month should join as from the beginning of the following month. Children born on or before the 15th of a month need to be registered from the beginning of that month, while those born after the 15th need to be registered at the beginning of the following month. Members leaving the fund for whatever reason during a month will remain a member until the end of the month in which they leave, and contributions will be payable for the whole month. Importantly, members intending to resign from MHC must give 30 days notice of their intention to do so.

One area that appears to continue to plague MHC is the question of correct billing. I believe that a deeper insight into the processes surrounding the billing of contributions due will assist in alleviating to some degree the unhappiness this issue causes. While the ideal scenario would be to collect contributions in advance as most other medical aid schemes do, MHC collects contributions one month in arrears. So, for example, July contributions are payable by the 3rd of August. However, in order to generate the billing statements in good time, this exercise takes place around the middle of the month so that statements reach employers and individual members before the month end to enable payment to be effected by due date. Thus, to use my example, billing statements for July contributions are automatically generated around the 15th of July to reach their recipients before the end of July, for payment by the 3rd of August. I have to stress that MHC is regulated by the Medical

36

the middle of a month will not be reflected on the billing statement for that month. In such a case, MHC would depend on the employer to reflect any changes in a reconciliation of the amount billed to the amount paid. I would urge any individual member or employers to make use of the interactive website created by MMSA to enable them to effect their own changes to their membership data. Details of this facility and how to make use of it can be obtained from MMSA.

Barry Canning, Chairman Board of Trustees - MOTO Health Care tions must be made when due. Any delay in payment for whatever reason could prejudice any member whose contribution is not received when due. It follows, therefore, that notification of changes to membership data, e.g. new members, changes in beneficiaries, resignations, and so on, received near to or after

A challenge for the administrators is the proper identification and matching of payments received, particularly via EFT’s. A circular was fairly recently sent to all in which it was explained how to correctly reference any payment made. I would appeal to any one making payments to MHC to make every effort to comply with the circular. If, for some reason, anyone has not received the circular, please contact MMSA for one to be sent.

September

2009

by Marcus Haw

Tyres

and Their Contribution to Safety in Motoring

This issue, we carry on with the next five costly common mistakes fleet operators make. Having already covered five in the last issue we need to make it clear that while the ten mistakes are the most common, we are not necessarily giving them in any order of importance or priority.

6. Tyre and rim fitment and training Wheel rims can have a very direct effect on tyre life. Equally, the way tyres are fitted to rims can have a very direct effect on tyre life. There are so many mistakes made in rim choice, rim maintenance and tyre to rim fitment that we will never be able to cover them all. What we will do, is cover the reasons for the effects that rims have on tyres. We will also look at the principles behind these effects. One of the biggest concerns affecting tyre wear is the way the tyre beads seat on the rim flange. If the seat is imperfect, the tyre will wear irregularly. Very few transporters pay wheel rims the attention they deserve. Very little training is given to fitters other than them learning from the other fitters, who are fitting incorrectly anyway. Rim maintenance is totally ignored, or very poorly carried out.

Mismatched rims

Lately a new problem has emerged in cheap imported rims. While their flanges are of the correct specifications for our tyres, their levels of manufacturing standards vary too much. Mixing of rims in a fleet is a bad move, but one that all fleet operators indulge in. Rims have different dish offsets, different strengths and carrying capacities, even different flex rates. Mixing rims, especially in dual fitment positions, not only affects the tyre life, but can be dangerous. This is the fundamental principle to bear in mind. The differences in flex rates and strengths in rims means they react differently in all dynamics and cannot work together. One will therefore be under more stress than another. Dish offsets will affect flex rates to some extent and the results can be the same. Pay attention to the rims in your fleet. Keep them clean, ensure the flanges are not damaged and are clean. Match them carefully and correctly and standardise on the type, size, dish and offset. Get information and use your knowledge when buying and maintaining your rims. Train or get your fitting staff properly trained. You will increase your safety and reduce your costs by correct rim use.

7. Workshop habits Here is a problem which sometimes seems to be on the decline. This is because so many vehicles are sold with maintenance contracts these days. This (usually) ensures professional workshop attention and obviously some recourse when things go a bit pear shaped.

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Alignment However there are still enough operators running their own workshops, and making a complete hash of it, to warrant this section. Workshop control touches the entire operation. If the workshop is poorly run, and the vehicles condition suffers, the whole company loses. Tyres are not only affected quicker and harder, but are in fact an excellent indicator of the workshops levels of service. Too many workshops run on a “manage by crisis” system. And especially when times are hard, as they currently are, too many workshops cut costs in the wrong places. Strangely, when times are hard the first thing to go is preventative maintenance. The best way to control cost in a fleet is to maintain your vehicles in a way that keeps them running reliably and consistently. This is only achieved through pedantic preventative maintenance. Surely this is logical. And tyre costs, being as high as they are, can be dramatically reduced by the way the workshop is looking after the vehicles. Wheel alignment should be regularly checked and corrected.

September

2009

Scheduling should be considered and planned, with all maintenance, as a major priority. Services, minor and major, oil changes between services, and tyre checks should take priority above that of simply arriving at the next job on time. Reliable vehicles are cheaper to run. Well maintained trucks get the best out of tyres and therefore reduce tyre costs to acceptable levels. Make sure the operations guys are informed regarding the importance of scheduling correctly, including maintenance and tyre checks.

10. Driver habits

Rim maintenance close-up

Worn suspension The same with wheel bearings, suspension and steering bushes, shock absorbers and brakes. They all have a direct influence on tyre life and wear types.

8. Loading attendant habits The way vehicles are loaded can make or break tyres. High loads result in load sway. Load distribution affects stability, which affects safety and tyre life. It also affects the loads individual axles, and therefore what individual tyres are carrying. Correct loading is paramount to good tyre life. So important, but so ignored. Study your operation and thoroughly plan your loads to be the most efficient logistically, and the most effective for vehicle and tyre longevity.

9. Scheduling habits Without exception, fleet operators consider keeping the fleet moving as their only function of importance. Of course this is true since without the fleet moving, they would not have jobs. But the way they go about keeping the fleet moving at all costs boggles the mind. Cost effective fleet movement should be their priority, not keeping it moving at any cost. But the sad and unbelievable truth is they will keep their trucks running even in a dangerous and unroadworthy condition. Tyres are neglected along with all other components, and deteriorate to the point where safety is thrown out the window, and costs escalate unrealistically.

September

2009

Who’s the most important person in a trucking fleet? The owner? The manager? The controller? No, none of the above - none other than the driver. Why then are drivers last on the list of staff consideration in all fleets? They get pushed to limits of endurance that no one can maintain, their remuneration is usually far below the responsibility they carry, and their training is the most neglected of all. Everyone gets computer training, human resources are constantly finding some seminar or other to send everyone to, but driver training has all but gone forever. Drivers are in control of all the goods the fleets carry around the country each day. More than anyone else they are responsible for the running costs of the fleets, the condition of the vehicles and of course the way the tyres get treated. They are directly responsible for hundreds of thousands of rands each day. Why does no-one recognise their importance? Train your drivers. Get them to understand the workings of the vehicles they drive. Understanding brings gentleness through consideration. Get them to understand the dangers and how to avoid them. Teach them about vehicle dynamics, road safety and how tyres are their only contact with the road surface, and therefore their only real means of control. Train them to conserve your vehicles and take care of their tyres, and reward them on a performance based approach. Reward them for road safety awareness and practices. Reward them on cost saving practices and driving habits. The habits of your drivers are manageable concerns in your fleet, and should be one of your main priorities. In so many cases we witness drivers getting blamed for tyre abuse, when in fact there is no abuse at all. Damage is done through ignorance and a lack of understanding. This is due to a lack of training, and is the direct responsibility of the fleet controller. In this regard, the whole industry needs to wake up in a big way. This is the final issue in which we concentrate on this particular market segment. We trust it will assist the fleet controllers in looking at their tyres in a new and informed way and we hope that they benefit financially from their new insight. More than anything, we trust they approach their tyres with more understanding and in a more safety minded way. Next month we start another look at the tyres on fleet cars, the new technologies, and new problems and fixes in these hard times.

www.bridgestone.co.za 39

Road

Safety

Road Safety and Driver Safety – an Oxymoron? by Dr Nick Christodoulou - Dover Systems

There is never a good time to lose your money or to have an accident. Both have a bad effect.

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oad safety is an often mentioned concept and discussed at length around the braai: “don’t use that road, it isn’t safe” or “use the highway, it’s safer” Roads are generally static and it is the user or driver that makes them unsafe or not. Other articles have highlighted the fact that safety is a factor of speed only. Speed might kill but negligence does kill. It is the mindset and body reactions of the driver that can produce safe or unsafe roads. From a psychological perspective it is obvious that the person’s interpretation or perception of the road environment plays a major role in driving. A rested, relaxed, and unstressed driver would more than likely make a better judgment call than a tired, stressed, hungry driver. Similarly, sober or drunk drivers, fatigued or fresh or even time constrained or no-rush drivers make different judgment calls. In the 1960’s these phenomena received a lot of attention from Road Safety Authorities. This led to the development of a host of driver testing programs aimed at the mind-set of the driver. Traffic Psychology joined the ranks of emerging interest fields and became an important research vehicle to identify personal strengths and weaknesses. These factors became an essential part of the understanding of traffic behaviour – not necessarily to regulate it but to develop meaningful structures. One of the largest contributors to this field was the Austrian Road Safety Council who commissioned the development of computer based testing. This was part of a wider initiative to improve driver skills and by implication, driver safety.

PSYCHOMOTOR SKILLS These have been recognised for a long time. By definition these skills include the mind and body. In more medical terminology it is the level of arousal and the central nervous system’s reaction to that arousal (message). This begs the question – did the brakes fail or did the driver fail to operate them (wrongly or at all).

WHAT IS PSYCHOMOTOR TESTING? Psychomotor testing is a means of measuring the individual’s information processing and combines it with some sort of reaction. When an individual is tested it is an evaluation of competencies which are well developed and those which are problematic, It is unfortunately true that many of the current commercial drivers are way below the required levels for safe, competent driving. This does not mean that they are not employable, but rather that they should be deployed to positions in which they would function well. Alternatively, those in employ should be earmarked for further training. Larry Vertue of Spar Supermarkets in the Western Cape achieved very good results doing just this. Drivers were tested using the Dover Test. This test measures the driver for handeye-foot coordination, visual organisation, reactions (correct and incorrect), distance estimation, and co-ordination. The results were reported as A= good, B= average and C= problematic. A subsequent follow-up indicated that the A and B candidates were safer, more reliable, and generally better employees. They also had other positive personality qualities characteristics which could be measured. These personality traits are often the make or break of an organisation in terms of time, deliveries, safety and reliability. A driver of an ordinary car is as vulnerable as the driver of a company vehicle who is repping. All driving is a mixture between skill, aptitude, and attitude. These are all measurable and can be quantified and dealt with. Business transport is the backbone of our economy and can only benefit from a bit of psychological or psychomotor insight. Dover systems is a Randburg based company which sells the equipment for in-house use (e.g. Trucksurance) or as a service provider to the Logistics, Transport, Mining, Manufacturing and similar industries.

TWO TOP MOTORING BRANDS ARE ‘tickled pink’ to join forces with the 2009 Clicks ‘Journey of Hope’…. the same path, a different road… Harley-Davidson Motor Company (MEA) and AMG Conversions are tickled pink as they announce their involvement and sponsorship of the 2009 Clicks Journey of Hope Breast Cancer Ride 2009 to promote awareness of breast cancer to urban and rural women across South Africa. As part of its commitment to supporting the fight against breast cancer, Harley-Davidson and AMG Conversions have pledged their support by offering vehicles that will be used on Clicks Journey of Hope. 15 breast cancer survivors from all walks of life will roar off from Cape Town via the West Coast on Harley-Davidson Motorcycles & vehicles from AMG Conversions as they pursue the West Coast on an eight day journey that will cover 2400km. They arrive in Johannesburg on the 24th October after leaving Cape Town on the 17th October. Well known celebrities like Janie Du Plessis and Lilian Dube; both breast cancer survivors are once again on the ride – Janie on the Harley and Lillian in the AMG. For more detailed information – please visit our website www.journeyofhope.co.za

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September

2009

Customer Theo Calitz has been working in or involved in the motor industry for the last 16 years. A Mechanical Engineer by profession, he is passionate about customer care and his company, T-R-M specialises in automotive CRM for the automotive industry and has been doing it for nine years

C.A.R.E.

CRM – new technology trends

As discussed before, CRM is about managing relationships and recognising the importance and power of relationships in order for our businesses to thrive and even survive. Since CRM has become such an accepted norm, it does feature more and more with the latest technology trends.

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got myself a brand new GPS unit last week and my, how this technology has developed! I had a built in unit in my car a few years ago and it was great because I could give it instructions by pressing a button on the steering wheel and say things like “filling station at current location” and it would bring up a list of filling stations in my vicinity in order of distance from me. Fabulous! But my new GPS unit (which is not a built in unit but stand alone) takes it to a new level. It now recognises the fact that I am part of a community that can add immeasurable value to each other and in the process give access to other to do business with me. By creating a community of users we can share useful information like road closures and other things I encounter that would be useful to everyone else. But it gets even better; I can know when friends and customers are in the vicinity and use the knowledge to meet up with them. Obviously, the system and process must be smart enough not to infringe on privacy and become a nuisance – something we all experience with modern CRM in the form of SMS, e-mail and telephone calls. Let’s call it uninvited approaches. However, used smartly and appropriately, we are entering a whole new dimension of offering relevant and appropriate interaction with our customers. I always like to think of CRM as in terms of the way I would approach my friends or would like them to approach me or even the dating process. If I want to go into a relationship, how would I approach a potential successful date and how would I like to be approached? The same principle applies, it is about managing relationships, which we know people appreciate and enjoy.

So how do we use the latest technology like a GPS unit to further our CRM programme? GPS allows us to combine position with other information. We call it spatial data, this being a particularly dynamic version thereof. An example could be that the customer loads in their preferences on a device like his or her GPS unit. This allows the device to provide you with useful information at the location where you are at or better still, remind you of shops you prefer, filling stations with lower diesel price and even when you have friends in your area. The next step would be that the technology can actually learn from your behavior, e.g. do you like to stop at certain shops, do you search for certain restaurants regularly? If there is a pattern, it can be tracked and applied. We are creatures of habit after all, and recognising this fact means that we can, once again enhance the customer experience. Soon I will not go anywhere without my trusty GPS device. It knows where I am, how to get to where I want to be in the most efficient manner, tell me about shops and things that would be of interest to me on the way, make sure I arrive on time, know about friends in the area, tell me about the weather, warn me about traffic and speed cameras – even read me stories from audiobooks. Soon I will be able to go nowhere without my GPS – just like my cell phone! Isn’t this amazing? This was science fiction a few years ago! Now the trick is, how do I use this latest trend to improve the relationships with my customers?

www.t-r-m.co.za T 0861 TRM TRM F 086 686 8382

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September

2009

Customer C.A.R.E. Programme – sponsored by Federal-Mogul

Module Four - COMMITMENT RE-VISITED In module three, we answered some questions which should have highlighted our commitment to ourselves, our companies and our customers. Let us re-visit these answers, and try to expand on the philosophy behind those questions. I know that some of us cannot even remember our last birthday, so we are only looking at our behaviour over the past 3 months:

COMMITMENT TO YOURSELF • How many times have you improved yourself, at your own expense, and in your own time? What I am really asking, is do you realise that you have been allocated 3 score years and ten for your time on earth? Take off the first 20 years, which is really your apprenticeship, and that leaves you with just 50 years. What are you doing with this time - watching TV, or playing video games, or watching life go by? You cannot waste this time, it is too precious. Like water being the lifeblood of this planet, time is the lifeblood of your being. DON’T WASTE IT. IMPROVE YOURSELF, every day, every hour, every minute, every second of your precious life. And don’t wait for your company to send you on a course, in their time, and at their expense. This is in many cases unfocussed and unproductive. Choose what you want to do, and do it, in your own time, and at your own expense - now you are really investing in YOU - be your own unit trust; that keeps growing and growing, with amazing dividends. And no stock exchange crashes. • Have you looked after your body through diet, exercise and moderation in other activities? The same philosophy applies here. You were only given one body, and there are

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no spare parts available, or more accurately, easily obtainable. So maintain this body, and don’t abuse it. Look after it, to enable you to fully enjoy your stay on this earth. This will give you the ability and the desire to thank God that you are alive, every day of your life, and to appreciate nature and the wonderful machine that has been given to you - your body. • How many times have you complimented yourself, and how many times have you added value to other people’s lives? Once again, the same philosophy applies, like a golden thread. Enriching your intellectual mind, and strengthening your physical body, are important factors in your being able to enjoy life, but there is one vital ingredient necessary to complete your life experience. This ingredient can be called psychological balance. You cannot enjoy life if you can only laugh, and not cry, or can only express joy, and not experience sorrow. We need to understand the good and the bad, to experience things emotionally, but tempered with an over-riding psychological control. We have to accept that we are not machines, and that being human we have to compliment ourselves frequently, to obtain psychological and emotional balance. We need to exercise self discipline, but balanced with frequent bouts of self gratification. A good indicator of this balance is the ability to add value to other people’s lives. A simple example is

how we react to an act of discourtesy on the highway. Do we display sign language, or do we give way graciously? By giving way graciously, we are not only adding value to the other person’s life, we are also complimenting ourselves. If this example is difficult for you to swallow, then you need to re-examine where you are coming from. The bottom line is that you can IMPROVE yourself.

COMMITMENT TO YOUR COMPANY • How many times have you gone beyond your job description, to enhance your company? I have debated this question many times with many people, and the tragedy is that the majority of them somehow see this as a victory for the company. “Why do something that you are not being paid for?” is the general theme. Whilst this is an indictment of the culture of the company, it is also an indictment of the person, because we get back to the principle of making the most of life - you get out of life what you put into life. And logically, if you have chosen to work for that company ( it is your choice, by the way ), then your commitment to yourself demands that you commit to your company of choice. Continued on p48

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2009

Customer C.A.R.E Programme Continued from p46 • How many times have you RUN DOWN your company, or its management, or your fellow employees.

means CUSTOMERS ARE REALLY EVERYTHING.

Sounds familiar, doesn’t it! Don’t worry, this is a perfectly normal human trait, which is the ability to find fault with everyone, bar yourself. Maybe you should worry, because you are indulging in something the psychologists call projection. You are actually blaming yourself, because you are seeing your own faults in everyone around you. The solution? Start working positively with everyone, and the results will be sensational, because you may not change the person you are working with, but you will sure as nuts improve yourself, which is really the aim of the game. And voila, you will be committed to your company.

• When staff training is done, is it done at the employees’ expense, or the customers’ expense?

• How many negative things did you do, merely to protect your own turf? We all know that the territorial imperative is a powerful force with all mammals, but the problem is that when you protect your own turf in a company environment, you damage the company. So, rather look for positive ways you can enhance your company, and hence yourself.

COMMITMENT TO YOUR CUSTOMER • Who gets the prime parking positions at your company - management or customers? Have you noticed that whenever parking is at a premium, management always hogs the best spots. They are making a major sub-conscious statement to both their employees and their customers - I AM MORE IMPORTANT THAN YOU! This is a disturbing state of affairs, and yet it is totally prevalent in this country, with absolutely no exceptions in my experience. Have they forgotten that C.A.R.E.

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This is another quite weird situation that seems to be common practice. At many post offices, clothing stores, and commercial banks, they open late on certain days of the week for, guess what? - customer care training! Inconveniencing the customer is one thing, but to brazenly state that they are opening late for the benefit of the customer, is in the Monty Python league. I know that South Africa is renowned for its high quality marijuana, but should management be allowed to smoke it on the job? • Are commission structures based on sales or service?

most people in management positions are very aware of the shortcoming in their organisation, but do very little about it, and even worse, some argue that it is not terribly important in the big scheme of things. But there are some people out there who are concerned about the situation, and they do understand intellectually and emotionally that C.A.R.E. means CUSTOMERS ARE REALLY EVERYTHING, and they do have the vision to know that the striving for superb customer care eventually reaps substantial returns. These are the people I want to speak to. From the next module, we shall be addressing these visionaries.

DISCUSSION POINTS

In the mad, lemming-like rush for ever increasing sales volumes, most companies design their commission structures around the altar of TURNOVER. This does achieve the desired results in the short term, but at a terrible price - the practically non-existent thing called service, particularly after-sales service. The long term negatives are incalculable, and as the long suffering South African consumer becomes more aware, could be fatal. The insurance industry has been a classic case study for decades, and in the contemporary milieu, the cell phone industry is fast becoming another classic. There are many other examples of this, but space constraints force me to holster my pen.

1. Compile a list of things that you can do, cost effectively, to invest in yourself.

WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?

5. I have mentioned the insurance and cell phone industries as classic examples of Jekyll and Hyde customer service behaviour. In your experience, which other industries deserve a mention.

The situation is very bad, and in many cases terminal, but the true tragedy is that

2. Explain, in your own words, how you can add value to your life, by not reacting to bad driving on the highway. There is one exception - you must use the word “affirmation” in your answer. 3. Give three reasons why you should not commit to your company. Analyse these reasons. 4. There is a logical explanation why staff training is done during working hours discuss the philosophy behind this explanation.

September

2009

Intelli-Driving

Defensive Driving Tips by Eugene Herbert

Defensive Driving Key #1. Pay Attention and Focus on the Task of Driving Yes, this one seems the most obvious! But how often have you been on your cell phone while driving? Or fiddled with a handbag, papers, a map, or kept digging for something in your pockets? Splitting your attention from the process of driving immediately puts your driving on auto pilot. You are no longer consciously involved in operating your two ton box of metal - you find you can't remember what you saw, or that you changed lanes a km back. Most importantly, your response rate is reduced and impaired. You cannot react quickly to new stimuli because your conscious brain is not involved in the active reception of such information. So how can you increase your ability to pay active attention while driving? Never use your cell phone illegally - in some Companies, it is policy that drivers are not allowed to use a mobile phone at all. Try not to daydream, and if someone else is in the car with you, do not look at them while talking - keep your eyes and attention on the road. Averting your eyes, for even two seconds, while talking to a passenger, could put both your lives in serious danger. Also form good driving habits. For instance, if you're making a trip to a new destination, get familiar with your map or directions before getting into your car. Make sure that you can recall most of them from memory so that you are not forced to finger through, or constantly look at your papers while driving. In addition, pace yourself - if you're hungry, stop and eat at the restaurant. Don't drive through and eat while driving. If you're

Q&A

Defensive Driving Key #2. Maintain Your Distance this is particularly difficult for those of us driving on the highways around the main centres. We're practically raised on tailgating! But nevertheless, following too closely behind another vehicle accounts for a significant number of vehicle accidents. Plus, in the event of a rear-end collision, the fault automatically falls on the rear vehicle - even if the driver honestly believes the front vehicle stopped too suddenly. If you maintain the proper distance, it's almost impossible to hit the vehicle in front of you - because you've allowed yourself enough reaction time to stop. So what is the proper following distance? A good rule of thumb is the "three to four second" rule. You want to always remain a four -second count behind the vehicle in front of you. However, the faster your speeds are, the more space you must allow. At freeway speeds, maintain a good 4 to 5 second leeway.

Further tips next month

INTERVIEW WITH DR. GEORGE NYABADZA Continued from p12

Africa. I also “forced” Paddy to become my mentor and he has been for over 10 years now. Paddy made a great impression on my life and wanted me to join him. At one stage he even had me an offer of employment from WesBank but I wasn’t keen to leave Zimbabwe at that stage. This wasn’t to happen for a few years because I started studying for my Masters Business Leadership Degree at Unisa and was offered a job also as MD of a Milling Company in Harare with over 400 employees and 20 branches across the country. I did that for a couple of years until the bottom really fell out of Zimbabwe. Then I joined Crown Agents Southern Africa with a branch in Johannesburg. All the time I kept in touch with Paddy, who still wanted me to work for Sewells. In 2003 I moved to Johannesburg to join Sewells as a consultant where one of the things I did was develop a leadership programme for Ford Motor Company under the Ford Academy umbrella under Kyle Dickie. My last role at Sewells was as the partner in charge of the Nissan account. Paddy then introduced me to Ronnie Watson and Brian Riley, the top men at WesBank. Due

September

tired, pull over and rest. Don't gamble your life and another's just because you're in a hurry or you believe you won't fall asleep. Driving is hypnotic - eventually you will fall asleep if you are not well rested. If a your company does not have a Policy governing the use of mobile phones you may request a sample copy from us by mailing your contact details to [email protected].

2009

to the good association Sewells had with WesBank I joined WesBank as their Research and Development Manager. After a year or two of this I was appointed General Manager of Marketing, where I have been for the last four years to get the most exposure for WesBank and where we have formed great partnerships. Q: Other interests? A: My week days usually start at 3.45 a.m. when I spend time doing my own thing until 6.00 a.m. Sleep? I can do with four hours a day after years and years of studying, culminating in receiving my doctorate degree. Then WesBank has my time from 6.30 in the morning till 6.30 at night. I allow myself time at weekends to go hiking along with members of the Joburg Hiking Club. I have a pilot’s licence and fly a Cessna and am also a Second Dan Taekwondo which is a Korean Martial Art. I am a certified Master Practitioner in Neuro Linguistic Programming and Neuro Semantics, the models of how humans achieve personal success and the use and mastery of language. I am a part-time

member of the faculty of Haggai Institute of Leadership based in Hawaii. I absolutely love reading and studying success and excellence in human behaviour. I have written a couple of books. “Black Book of Leadership” was published in Germany. I got my Doctorate from Unisa in Business Leadership in May 2005. My thesis for this degree was the Lived Experience of the Strategic Leader, what a CEO should do and Exploration. I love motivational speaking and leadership development and every opportunity that I get I talk and sharing with leaders, young and old, about the principles of personal and leadership success. I love working and inspiring leaders because that way I believe I can influence a greater number of people during my own life time. My life changed dramatically when I immersed myself in understanding and mastering the principles of success and leadership development. I want as manyt people as I can reach to be exposed to these same principles.

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Robert

Bosch

Invented for Life The Bosch slogan invented for life was created to denote many things, primarily centring on the inventiveness, ingenuity and longevity of Bosch products. Its creators may have not have been aware of the uncanny precision this slogan assumes when considering that more vital aspect of human existence, life itself. Irrespective of the motive, this description is indeed apt, and an accurate example of reality following science and art.

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n the previous two issues of ABR, we discussed the pioneering role of Bosch in the development of antilock braking systems, which are now old hat, but wouldn’t James Dean have loved to have had ABS in his Porsche Spyder in September 1955, as this would most probably have allowed him to avoid the accident that took his life. Many a company would have rested on their laurels after inventing ABS, but Bosch was far from satisfied, as they realised that whilst ABS was a revolutionary step forward in better and safer braking, there was also a need for further assistance to the driver. This was the driver, excuse the pun, for Bosch’s next revolutionary, and evolutionary step, of ESP®. Worldwide accident studies prove that skidding and the often resulting lateral impact is one of the main causes of severe and fatal road accidents. The Electronic Stability Programme ESP® counteracts skidding: it stabilises your vehicle and reduces the risk of skidding. ESP® makes a significant contribution towards road safety. International studies by wellknown automobile manufacturers and safety authorities that have assessed its effectiveness confirm the great life-saving potential of ESP®. The world's first ESP® was introduced in 1995 by Bosch, and this “invented for life” product, in more ways than one, made an immediate impact on road accident statistics. This was recognised by the highest accolade for Bosch in December 2007, when the FIA (Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile) awarded the company the internationally acclaimed “FIA World Prize for Road Safety, the Environment and Mobility”. With this award, presented by FIA President Max Mosly to the CEO of Robert Bosch GmbH, Franz Fehrenbach at the FIA Gala in Monaco, the FIA expressed its recognition of the great contribution Robert Bosch had made to the worldwide road safety through the development and consistent marketing of the ESP® safety system. Mosly put it as such “Bosch has played a pivotal role in the development and promotion of the most effective car safety system since

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the invention of the safety belt!” Fehrenbach accepted the award graciously and modestly, replying that “this prize is a distinction for all our associates: for the engineers who developed the system, for the associates in our plants and who have been producing this system to the highest quality standards for many years now, and not least for the marketing experts who have never tired of communicating the benefits of this system.” In 2007, a socio-economic study by the University of Cologne showed that 4 000 traffic deaths and 100 000 injuries could be prevented in Europe alone if ESP® was installed in all vehicles, whilst the U.S. road traffic agency NHTSA estimates that 10 000 traffic deaths on American roads could be prevented with ESP®. Just imagine how many lives ESP® has already saved worldwide, and how many more lives will be saved when ESP® becomes mandatory as standard equipment for all vehicles in the not too distant future? Truly a product that earns the title “Invented for Life”. Next month ABR shall look at the technical aspects behind ESP®. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Hydraulic modulator with attached control unit Wheel-speed sensor Steering-angle sensor Yaw-rate and lateral acceleration sensor Communication with engine management

September

2009

Robert

Bosch

A series of articles on the versatile FSA 720/740/754 series

The Golden Triangle Carlo du Plessis of Cencar Centurion is an avid Bosch fan, which makes him the perfect role model for aspiring Bosch Service entrepreneurs, and a shoe in as a technical guide and demonstrator for this series of articles on the versatility of the Bosch FSA series of vehicle system analysers.

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encar is shorthand for Centurion Cars, the business that Carlo du Plessis started in 1995, a while before he became a Bosch Service outlet. Carlo always dreamed of owning his own business, and he wasted no time in setting up Cencar after completing his diesel technician apprenticeship at Iscor’s iron ore mine at Sishen, Northern Cape from 1992 to 1994. Carlo had already developed his taste for repairing motor cars when he was a school kid, spending most of his spare time at his Father’s Trek filling station and workshop in The Reeds. Cencar initially served its purpose, but Carlo realised that for him to stand out from the rest and to stay abreast of the accelerating trends in automotive technology, he would need to always have the latest workshop and diagnostic equipment, and to have access to cutting edge technical knowledge and training. And Carlo wanted to be associated with a big brand name. A chance meeting in 2000 on the golf course (not a VW Golf course, but that place where Tiger Woods does rather well) with Ewald Faulstich, Director Automotive Aftermarket Division, Robert Bosch South Africa, changed Carlo’s life forever, as he had found what he was looking for. Ewald Faulstich told Carlo that Bosch was the answer to his prayers, and that Bosch was the path to success, and the only way to get where he wanted to go. Prophetic words indeed, but things did not fall into place straight away. Carlo’s workshop at that stage did not meet the Bosch requirements, so Carlo, being a single minded individual, put a five year plan into action, and in 2005 Cencar, after meticulous preparation, assumed the Bosch Service mantle. Now, four years later, Carlo says that it was “the best thing that I could have done. I will stick with Bosch for life.” Quite an appropriate statement, considering that Bosch is “invented for life”. Carlo says that the investment to meet the requirements has paid off handsomely, with turnover increasing every year, and with his up to date equipment, he is servicing the latest models of all the vehicle brands, and that customers with abnormal problems now seek him out, knowing that he has the wherewithal to solve these problems. Carlo credits what he refers to as “the golden triangle” for his fast growing fame as a solver of vehicle problems. With 14 workshops in the immediate vicinity, Cencar has to stay on its toes, and the golden triangle keeps Cencar on top. It is the golden triangle of the KTS Compact Control Unit Diagnostic Tester which isolates the problem via trouble codes, the ESI[tronic] service information system which gives step by step instructions to allow for troubleshooting, and the FSA engine analysing system which rigorously follows procedures and does the necessary testing right through the car, and pinpointing the corrective procedures. Add to this the necessary knowledge and training, as Carlo modestly points out, and there is nothing that will stump the well equipped Bosch technician. This three in one solution avoids costly trial and error, and avoids the expensive swopping of components, from a Maybach to a Mini.

A certificate of confidence, certifying Carlo du Plessis as a Bosch Systems Technician

The FSA even has its uses on very old cars

In the next issue of ABR, Carlo will begin with a series of real life examples of how this golden triangle helps him. Carlo with his beloved FSA September

2009

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Quick Brake manufacture a full range of brake pipe joiners, T-pieces, mounting clamps and adaptors in their range of brake pipe fittings.

Picture 3: M10x1, T-Piece, double flare (convex)

Picture 6: Male brake pipe joiner: M10x1 & 3/8x24

Picture 1: M10x1, 4 way connecter, single flare (concave)

Picture 4: M10x1, T-Piece, single flare (concave)

Picture 7: Pipe mounting clamp: 6mm,8mm,10mm,12mm,18mm

Picture 2: M12x1, T-Piece, double flare (convex)

Picture 5: Female brake pipe joiner: M10x1 & 3/8x24

Picture 8: Female brake pipe joiner: M12x1 double flare (convex)

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September

2009

e-car

Pennies from Heaven Chris Swale of Chris Swale Motors, 55 Alexander Road, Westmead, Pinetown, describes his membership of e-CAR as “Pennies from Heaven”. And he says that these pennies have been falling ever since he signed up as the very first e-CAR member in May 2004.

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hris Swale is always prepared to take a chance, but he says that hitching his star to the e-CAR workshop concept, even as the first member, was more like a calculated risk. The taking of calculated risks is what Chris is always prepared to do, as ever since he left school, his dream was to start his own business, and his first plunge into the entrepreneurial unknown was in 1984 when he cancelled all his insurance policies and put the funds into Chris Swale Motors, and this nerve-racking move soon bore fruit. He took a few more calculated risks since then, but he describes the e-CAR decision as the best of the lot. A man of few words, he puts it succinctly, “the eCAR investment has brought far more returns than if I had put the money into the bank!” Chris’ mechanical engineering background sets him slightly apart from the average e-CAR member, who traditionally comes from an auto electrical environment. Chris gravitated to automotive repairs through his love for MG motor cars, and with his penchant for a hands on approach it wasn’t too long before he earned the nickname in the Pinetown area as the “Spanner Mechanic”. Thus Chris Swale Motors is now part of Pinetown folklore, but Chris realised some five years ago that with his sons not intending to follow in their father’s footsteps, that he had to convert the image of his business to a more identifiable establishment.

His propensity of calculating the risks made him see the sense of e-CAR membership, and to put his hand up to be the pioneer of this well thought out concept. Today’s motorist is not looking for a spanner mechanic, they are looking for certainty, continuity, and technological assurance. The e-CAR image provides this in spades – an image of top class automotive repairs carried out by highly qualified technicians, who use the latest diagnostic equipment, and provide a national warranty with the requisite back-up. This image, Chris assures us, is not just because of e-CAR’s national and regional advertising, it is based on the strong foundation of Bosch diagnostic equipment and tech- Chris Swale with one of his beloved MG’s. Chris nical training, combined with the provi- Swale Motors is the only commercial repairer of sion of quality branded parts at compet- MG motor cars left in KwaZulu Natal. His fasciitive prices from Diesel-Electric. nation with MG cars leads him to quip that if you drew blood from him it would be MG positive. Combine this with the proud record of innovation and responsibility that e-CAR has built up in the short space of five years, and no wonder that Chris speaks so highly of the fastest growing workshop network in South Africa. Nothing scares Chris Swale – he is the official Lada repairer in Pinetown Two certificates take pride of place on the walls of Chris Swale Motors – one certifying e-CAR membership (and the first in South Africa), and the other proudly signifying that Chris Swale Motors was the AA Business of the Year in KwaZulu Natal

To join the fastest growing workshop network in South Africa and to add a new dimension to your business, contact Wilfried Langenbach at 0860 003 227 (0860 00 ECAR)

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2009

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AutoZoneʼs Call Centre, which was a first of its kind in the aftermarket parts industry when it was launched when AutoZone bought its Siemens Hymax Call Centre for Denver in the late nineties, has again been elevated to yet another first in the motor trade with its 24-7 Call Centre! The Call Centre was previously available to AutoZone Customers between Monday and Friday during the week and 8-5 during the day... Now our customers can have access to our brand and assistance all 7 days of the week, 24 hours a day, making AutoZone by far the most accessible brand in the industry. The AutoZone Call Centre offers our customers and teams a wealth of services and advantages, some of which are listed below!

• Call Centre Primary Functionality -

Customer Service Efficient information gathering in a short period by conducting various campaigns Sales from this centralised environment Efficient real-time communication channels Communication in a multimedia environment Provide a framework, which will lead to the ongoing retention and growth of customers.

• Additional Great Services offered to the AutoZone Family Members: -

Database development and maintenance thereof Opposition Pricing and Shop-outs Tailored campaigns to suit exact specifications Outbound calls to customers assessing satisfaction levels regarding: • Pricing • Stock Availability • Team attitude in the stores • Deliveries

- Marketing, Market Research and Event Co-ordination: • • • •

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SMS Telephone Fax Direct Mailing to specified customer bases

September

2009

Lubrication

Update

A Blue Chip Investment When Gary and Kathleen Marais, owners of Blue Chip Lubricants, looked to expand their fast growing business which manufactures, markets and distributes a wide variety of high quality lubricants for the mining, automotive, engineering and industrial markets, they looked to what is without doubt the most successful business format of our times - franchising.

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ranchising was the last option on Gary and Kathleen’s minds, until a chance meeting with franchising guru Eric Parker, one of the founders of the successful Nando’s brand and the country’s leading expert on franchising gave them the idea to go the franchise route. Says Gary, “Our initial reaction was typical of most people – that franchising was really only suited to some sectors such as fast food but we were surprised to learn that franchising can be adapted to suit any business sector. Our concern was in being able to offer our expanded client base the same product and level of service that our current clients enjoy.” Eric Parker of franchise consultants Franchising Plus, convinced the Marais’ that by replicating the franchise business format through owner-operator franchisees throughout the country, Blue Chip Lubricants had the potential to become a leader in its industry sector. “The franchise model is quite simple and fool-proof ” says Parker. “By having a premium product, providing exceptional service and exceeding customer expectations through a strict mechanism of duplication and with the commitment of owner-operator franchisees, any business can thrive and grow and become a recognised brand.” Franchising still has a long way to go in South Africa, with franchising being represented in only 17 business sectors compared to close to 100 in other countries, as in the USA for example. Blue Chip Lubricants is breaking new ground in being the first in its industry sector to expand via the franchise route. This is exactly what South Africa needs – dynamic and forward thinking entrepreneurs who are able to ‘think big’ - by offering a myriad of ‘small business opportunities’ to other entrepreneurs. It’s really a win-win situation - the customer gets a premium product with consistent service, opportunities abound for budding entrepreneurs and the economy is boosted by skills transfer and more importantly job cre-

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Presenters at the Launch on the 31st July 2009, with the owners of Blue Chip Lubricants: left to right; Alex Hime; Chairperson, ILBA; Kathleen Marais; Ranjith Ramkissoon, Manager Sales & Technical Support, Umongo Petroleum Additives; Gary Marais; Eric Parker, Franchising Plus. ation. Growing from humble beginnings, Blue Chip Lubricants established themselves in 1983 and have become experts in lubrication and cutting fluid technology manufacturing, marketing and distributing specialised, high performance and general lubricants nationally and to neighbouring countries. As one of the founder members of ILBA (Independent Lubricant Blenders Association) they have played a crucial role in making sure that they adhere to a high standard in blending, packaging, promoting and marketing whilst meeting the applicable industry standards, test specifications and operating procedures as prescribed by ILBA, SAE, API, SANS and other standard setting organisations recognised in the industry. They also play their part in promoting and encouraging the environmentally responsible collection and recycling of used oil and related waste towards the preservation of the environment as members of the Rose Foundation (Recycled Oil Saves the Environment).Blue Chip Lubricants’ goal and their expansion plans include gaining national market share through franchising their brand and tapping into the largely untapped agricultural and retail markets in addition to their existing mining, industrial, engineering and automotive markets. Taking the leadership position through franchising and building a strong brand will open up

From the Old to the New opportunities to create alliances and synergies with both competitors and majors, convert independents and partner with retailers to create a ‘store within a store’ concept that would tap into the retail market and build both market share and their brand. More on Blue Chips Lubrication in future issues of ABR. To find out more about Blue Chip Lubricants franchising opportunities, contact Chrissie Froneman, Franchise Manager at [email protected] or 011 462 1829 or 082 319 1955

September

2009

P&A

News

Floods Hit Katima Mulilo In the August 2009 issue of ABR, in our Life Goes On series of articles, we mentioned Toyota SA’s stellar P&A sales, and we promised to revisit the question of whether South Africans are starting to look after their vehicles during these tough times. To get a definitive answer, ABR visited the source of the P&A river of knowledge, Terry O’Donoghue, Vice President Customer Service Division. With 28 years under his belt at Toyota SA, Terry has seen it all and his views are indeed pertinent.

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las, our supposition, and hope, is not true. In actual fact, Terry O’Donoghue says that if it was not for Toyota’s and the industry’s introduction of service and maintenance plans on new vehicles, and more significantly, the extended warranty plans offered on older vehicles, many South Africans would most probably be letting their cars go to the dogs. Times are tough, and whilst consumers are aware of the need to maintain their vehicles, they are

of 2005, 2006, 2007, and the profile of parts usage at Toyota Service Centres indicates that the peak period tends to be three to four years after the vehicle sale, i.e. we are now in the peak period. The surging waters have reached Katima Mulilo and next year it will hit Victoria Falls, and by 2010 the Kariba Dam wall will take the hit. And the sales of Toyotas were particularly high from 2005 to 2007, averaging 150 000 units per annum, compared to a 70 000 units average for the

This 2005 Yaris is well looked after by the Toyota guys also trying to eke out every drop from their well earned Rands, and vehicle maintenance is unfortunately not one of the priorities. This begs the question; if motorists are not upping their maintenance budgets, why the stellar P&A sales at Toyota SA, from just over R1 billion in 2006 to an expected R3 billion in 2009? To explain this, Terry uses a metaphor that goes well with our introduction, and may bring back memories for those of us who donned khaki uniforms in the 1970’s and 1980’s. He puts it thus; “If it rains heavily in Angola, when you get the floods depends on whether you’re at Katima Mulilo or Victoria Falls” What he is saying is that the mighty Zambezi of cars on the road was fed by the record breaking years

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first few years of the new millennium. Thus the raging waters will continue for quite a while, and the fishermen waiting downstream comprise that part of the automotive aftermarket that looks after vehicles out of their maintenance plans. Based on this scenario, Terry O’Donoghue sees his challenge in maintaining the high performance levels of this year in 18 to 24 months time, when the Toyota car parc moves to a slightly older profile. Not that the car parc will diminish, it will actually grow. It is already touching one million vehicles, and it will definitely be beyond this seven figure threshold by 2011 – it will just have a slightly greyer beard. Terry is a statistician in “murg en been” (he can even recite

Toyota’s new vehicle sales for 1981 down to the final digit!), so it is no surprise to hear that he has been tracking the behaviour of Toyota motorists and their service patterns over the years, and that he can confirm that based on their 2009 service intervals they are driving on average 15% less than previous years. Since so many cars are now on service and maintenance plans, he attributes this reduced driving to the tough times and the higher fuel prices. To counteract this, Toyota SA is extending

Terry O’Donoghue, Vice President Customer Service Division, Toyota South Africa its service plans, and putting emphasis on getting people to sign up upfront. Unfortunately, the exchange rate deterioration over the past year has kyboshed Toyota’s ability to absorb some of these costs in their selling prices, so Toyota is now offering monthly payment plans for extended warranties, which is a Godsend for conservative motorists with three year old cars, but still with the albatross of two years financing to surmount. These moves are bearing fruit, with more and more Toyotas being cared for by the guys that built them, and Toyota has also implemented other measures to improve sales and to keep the Toyota car parc in better condition. More on this in the next issue of ABR. September

2009

Lubrication

Update

Castrol launches new formulation

GTX Anti-Sludge August 4th saw an impressive launch at the Sandton Convention Centre, when Castrol unveiled its new formulation GTX Anti-Sludge.

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he launch consisted of an historical overview presented by “Boet ‘n Swaer”, with some assistance from the nephew of “Mogae Kung Fu”, from a very well reconstructed set of their Horingboom Oasis, and done in their inimitable style. Each decade was celebrated by a musical interlude from that era, and this was a great introduction to the latest “Can of the Best”. The original GTX was introduced in the UK in 1968 as a successor to New Formula Castrol, in a period when new lubricants had to keep pace with massive advances in engine and transmission technologies, primarily driven by the need for improved fuel economy and emission concerns. GTX arrived in South Africa in 1972 and was an overnight success and to this day it remains South Africa’s top selling engine oil, as well as many other countries. Over the years, the GTX brand has evolved with continuous improvements to the formulation and the introduction of packaging innovations, and it is estimated that more than 12 billion litres of Castrol GTX have been sold worldwide since its introduction, and that globally sales are now in excess of 400 million litres annually. The three big markets are the USA, Canada and South Africa, with Mexico, Brazil, Australia, India, Germany, China, the UK and Saudi Arabia also being no slouches in the turnover stakes. The slogans have also evolved, with “Can of the Best” having moved aside for the current international slogan “It’s more than just oil – it’s liquid engineering”. The latest formulation is testimony to this slogan, with BP Lubricants

September

2009

Africa’s technology manager, Rob Bowen, enthusing, “The formulation of the latest Castrol GTX Anti-Sludge engine lubricating oil is the most important technological development of this popular brand in the last 15 years. Importantly it provides added value to the consumer that will be welcomed in these tough economic times. The oil’s specification has been improved to lift it from the API SG level on the lubricant grading system of the American Petroleum Institute (API) to the higher performance API SL level. In addition, the Castrol development team at BP Lubricants’ Centre of Excellence at Pangbourne, in England, have produced a lubricant that exceeds the API SL industry standard requirements by 25% and this is where we get the additional anti-sludge benefit.” Sludge is a thick, dark substance that can build up in sumps and oil galleries, leading to high rates of wear, increased fuel consumption, reduced oil pressure and, in extreme cases, engine seizure. Independent research into engine failure has ascribed a high percentage of these incidents to high levels of sludge in the lubrication system. Once sludge builds up in an engine it is difficult, if not impossible, to remove without dismantling and cleaning it thoroughly. Bowen adds, “The ageing vehicle parc, together with the varying fuel quality found in South Africa and the rest of Africa and the stop-start driving and lengthy periods of idling prevalent today in many cities in South Africa, due to road construction and heavy traffic flow patterns are the ideal ‘breeding ground’ for

2009 marks the 24th consecutive year of support for the John Force in the Funny Car category of the NRA in the US, making it one of the longest running sponsorships in global motor sport. This drag racing sponsorship is also one of the biggest GTX promotions in the world. the formation of sludge. It not only shortens engine life, but also increases fuel and oil consumption. Similar driving and high temperature weather conditions prevail in many other mega-cities in the world, such as those found in Brazil, the United States and Asia, so Castrol is introducing GTX Anti-Sludge to these markets as well as those in Africa, where dust and harsh road conditions exacerbate the sludge build up situation.” BP Lubricants Africa’s retail offer development manager, Charlette Roetz, equates the fight against sludge formation in engine lubricating oil to the battle against the formation of cholesterol in the arteries and veins of human beings, “We are using the taglines ‘Sludge is engine cholesterol’ and ‘Boost your engine’s immune system’ in our promotional leaflets and advertising to underline this similarity. Our sign-off line is ‘Superior sludge protection with Castrol GTX’”. Supplies of the latest Castrol GTX are already available in automotive parts outlets and many supermarkets. They are easily identified with the words “Fight sludge, the engine cholesterol” at the top of the label on the container. The label also highlights Castrol’s six-year commitment to world soccer as a sponsor of the FIFA World Cup in 2010 and 2014; an involvement that the company says is proving very beneficial in its ongoing brand building strategy and as a way of reaching new markets.

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Insights

Cooperatives – it’s time has come The official definition of a cooperative is “An autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically controlled enterprise.” Cooperatives have tended to fly under the radar, but things are changing, and the international significance of cooperatives is underlined by the fact that the United Nations has designated the 4th July as the International Day of Cooperatives.

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imply put, a cooperative is a group of people working towards a common goal, and it is easy to identify a cooperative, through its characteristics. A cooperative is based on democracy – every member participates in making decisions that control the business, and everyone has one vote. A cooperative is generally not run for a profit, but must be financially viable. All members benefit from any surpluses, and the essence of a cooperative is its “moral incentive”. The sound fundamentals underpinning cooperatives is borne out by the fact that worldwide 800 million people are members of cooperatives, and that over 100 million people are employed by these cooperatives. Many successful cooperatives grew from humble beginnings, and one such shining example is Capricorn Society Limited, which was founded in 1975 in Western Australia to assist automotive repair and service businesses. Now, more than 30 years on, it is an Australian corporation trading internationally. Still operating under the 7 International Principles of Co-operation, Capricorn has grown to over 12,000 automotive businesses as members ... paint & panel shops, mechanical workshops, auto electrical, auto transmission workshops, mobile mechanical services, tyre and suspension stores and more, that purchase the equivalent of around 5.3 billion Rand in parts and services every year from more than 1,300 preferred suppliers in Australia, New Zealand and the Republic of South Africa. Capricorn Society Limited is a member of the International Cooperative Alliance (ICA), which was founded in 1895, and has 233 member organisations from 87 countries. The next ICA General Assembly takes place in

Geneva, Switzerland from the 16th to the 20th November, 2009, and the theme for this assembly shall be “Global Crisis – Cooperative Opportunity”, and more details on this assembly may be obtained at ww.ica.coop/al-ica/.

To gain further perspective on the global phenomenon of cooperatives, ABR gives our readers the message from Ban Kimoon, Secretary-General of the United Nations, issued on 4th July 2009 to commemorate the International Day of Cooperatives.

To join Capricorn Society Limited call Rob Mildenhall on 083 654 2094 or e-mail him at [email protected] or visit their website on www.capricorn.com.au 60

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2009

Industry

Update

Staying Alive Dr Frank Lewis of Bruma, Johannesburg, has a PhD in Political Philosophy, which must make him a fascinating dinner companion. Born and bred in South Africa, he has also studied and worked in the United States, and thus he has first hand experience and some firm opinions on both American and South African politics. For the purpose of this article, it is not Dr. Lewis’ political observations that interested ABR, but rather what sits under the bonnet of his 1990 BMW 318i – an Exide battery that could one day take pride of place in First National Battery’s museum located at its factory in Benoni, Gauteng.

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rank Lewis’ depth of study around political philosophy has been broad, and the branch of philosophy that has particularly intrigued him is that of Epistemology. Initially, ABR thought that epistemology was the study of heavy drinking, but it actually concerns the nature and scope of knowledge – what knowledge is, how knowledge is acquired, what do we know, how do we know what we know, and why do we know what we know. All very esoteric for the layman, but something that keeps Frank awake at night as he ponders the pis in epistemology. It reminds ABR of the dyslexic agnostic insomniac who stayed awake all night wondering if there was a dog. But back to the enlightening and electrifying subject of batteries. Knowledge of batteries is not high on Frank’s priority list, but what he does know is that in 1997 he purchased an Exide battery from a Battery Centre in Fordsburg, and that this self same battery is still going strong in his 1990 BMW 318i, a vehicle that is now used primarily by his wife. His epistemological background does not help him know why the battery is still going strong, because the general consensus amongst battery experts is that if a battery gives you anything more than five to six years, you should be very happy, as you’ve beaten the average by a healthy margin. What Frank didn’t know, but now knows, is that the longevity record for a car battery in South Africa is currently held by a six volt Beetle battery that did its manufacturer proud by lasting for some 17 years. The manufacturer in question is, yes, you’ve guessed Dr. Frank Lewis is happy to discover that the Smart Test battery tester still it, First National Battery. Louis Laubscher, Managing Director gives his 12 year old Exide battery the thumbs up for performance. of First National Battery (FNB), the company that manufactures Exide batteries in its East London plant, says that FNB has a distinctive record, having begun its life in the self same East London in 1931 under the guiding wing of Mr. J F Jackson, and that FNB is now the leading manufacturer and distributor of lead acid batteries for use in automotive and industrial applications in South Africa. Louis has promised Dr. Lewis that whenever his beloved and dutiful battery eventually gives up the ghost that a new Exide battery will be waiting for him, gratis. But Louis hopes that this will take at least another five years, so that this battery can find a welcoming resting place at FNB’s museum in Benoni. Louis Laubscher shares his name with King Louis XIV, the Sun King, who is widely credited as keeping the French monarchy alive during the tumultuous late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, which is entirely appropriate and epistemologically fascinating, as he has feverishly cranked up his hopes that the battery keeps on going and “staying alive”. This Exide battery has been happily doing its thing under the bonnet of a BMW 318i for 12 years, and is going for the South African record. September

2009

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Diamond

Dialogues

Editorial Partnership Giel Steyn In this series of articles ABR discusses with Giel Steyn of Grandmark International the four significant factors that should be taken into account when purchasing automotive parts - Technology, Quality, Safety and Value for Money. These four characteristics are inter-related, and each 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 distributor of automotive parts, is keenly aware of the need to source only the best in Technology, Quality, Safety and Value for Money, and therefore it is appropriate that this series of articles is titled Diamond Dialogues.

The Heroes of the Automotive Aftermarket # 2 In the August 2009 issue of ABR, we discussed the massive role that the independent aftermarket plays in keeping cars on the road, and more importantly, the role it plays in keeping those cars on the road in a roadworthy condition. This function is particularly significant for vehicles getting on in years, as the majority of South Africa’s car parc consists of vehicles in the five years and older bracket, and these vehicles are no longer under warranty and/or manufacturers’ maintenance plans. The younger cars (those under five years of age) are almost exclusively the preserve of franchise dealerships.

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s mentioned in our previous articles, franchise dealerships are controlled through franchise agreements by the OEMs, but legally they fall under the terms and conditions of the Motor Industry Bargaining Council legislation. They thus have a schizophrenic existence, in more ways than one. They are required through their franchise agreements to observe infrastructural requirements, and to uphold stringent standards in many areas, which is not unique to the motor industry. Franchise agreements are by their very nature restrictive and stifling, and additional costs have to be borne, mainly to meet the laudable goal of upholding standards. This is imperative when the good name of a manufacturer’s brand is at stake, but it does tend to clip a dealership’s wings, and must cause frustration for a dealer who would love to do more for the consumer, and even more frustration when the consumer is driving an older car and cannot afford the higher prices of proprietary branded parts. The irony of this situation is that dealers do make use of suppliers out of the “approval” net, such as sub-contract work on tyres, exhausts, tow bars, windscreens, etc., but are not allowed to purchase non-approved

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parts. They would love to be aftermarket heroes to all and sundry, but are simply not able to fulfil this role, because of their franchise commitments. In Europe and other parts of the developed world, this situation does not pertain to such an extent, because anti-competitive practises are more constrained due to strong legislation and the enforcement thereof. The unfortunate consequence in South Africa is that the consumer who wishes to maintain his vehicle at the dealership of his choice, pays a high price to keep his/her vehicle on the road, and this may be a contributing reason for such a high percentage of unroadworthy vehicles on our roads. This is an unintended consequence from the understandable desire to protect one’s turf. When the Consumer Protection Bill comes into effect, the situation may change somewhat, but it still too early to say to what extent this will happen.

vast range of parts required to be stocked, many times a vehicle under warranty is off the road for weeks (and even months) on end. The customer in frustration, and dare we say it, even the franchise dealer, is forced to seek alternatives. These alternatives are nine times out of ten perfectly acceptable replacement parts, and as good as the original, but do not fit the bill under the fine print stipulations. Once again, hats off to the companies such as Grandmark International, who are playing the critical role of keeping our economy moving – and meeting the four important criteria of technology, quality, safety, and value for money. A diamond dialogue, indeed.

To fill this vacuum, the independent aftermarket has stepped into the breech, with quality parts, warranty support, technical back-up, and vitally, value for money. This is even happening with cars that are still in their maintenance plan periods, because with the proliferation of models and the September

2009

Q&A

by Roger McCleery

Roger McCleery asks the questions See how many of these 20 Questions you can answer. 1. Who presents the TV Motoring Programme “Ignition” on DSTV 265? 2. In which year was the South African Motoring magazine “Car” first published? 3. Name two South African made sports cars that used the Ford Prefect 1172 side valve engine. 4. Who invented the rev counter and odometer? 5. Who first broke the sound barrier on land for the first time and in what year? 6. What other motor car company did Rolls Royce acquire in the 30’s? 7. What country hosted the first car Grand Prix? 8. Who is the Sales and Marketing Director of Mercedes Benz in South Africa? 9. Which Rhodesian (Zimbabwean) won six South African Formula 1 titles? 10. Who lost his leg driving in the ‘Le Mans’ film with Steve McQueen? 11. Which British motor man was England’s equivalent of Henry Ford and Ferdinand Porsche making “cars for the people”? 12. What was the first Aston Martin called? 13. Eight top managers including Formula 1 fundi, Carlo Chiti, all left Ferrari at the same time - November 1961. Why? 14. What led to the 70 kmh speed limit being imposed on the roads in the UK? 15. What car was famous on the cover of Harry Potter books and in the movies? 16. Name three companies that made up American Motors. 17. Which famous former GM Director was caught brokering a $24m cocaine deal? 18. What famous hill in KZN was used for a motor sport hill climb? 19. What Toyota model took over from the Camry in 2006? 20. Why was the 22 km Nurburgring built in 1925?

Answers on page 82 66

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2009

Wilde

Things

Let Them Ride Bicycles

by Fingal Wilde

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y gut feel, later to be confirmed by observation, was kindled early on, when I realised that I was living in an imperfect democracy, with only the minority allowed the vote. It was during my high school years, when I was press ganged into forming a guard of honour for Sir de Villiers Graaff, that I starting to develop a distaste for all things political, and when full blown democracy finally arrived in 1994, I had gone beyond the point of no return, and whilst I did participate in the process, it was not with the enthusiasm that I thought it would generate.

I have thought long and hard as to why this was so, and I have come to the conclusion that subconsciously I had already decided that you get good and bad on both sides and that the bad tend to gravitate to higher office, primarily because of what and who they are. And the worse they are, the more they seem to love the trappings of power, with bodyguards, official motor vehicles, and grand parties, parades, blue light brigades and ceremonial balderdash the order of the day, and what should be a glaring beacon of warning to the hoi polloi. Take Adolf Hitler, for example. I used to watch news reels of him strutting his stuff, and his vitriolic and animated tirades at huge rallies should have switched off all but the most base of people, but it didn’t. They followed him in droves and look where it got them. A gentler and weirder version is the monarchy in Britain. The first time I visited the UK in June 1988, I had the misfortune to have a host who was a royal nut,

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in both senses. He forced me to stand in a light drizzle for three hours, just so that we could watch the Queen and her sidekicks go past in all their ceremonial glory, in gilded horse drawn carriages and waving haughtily at the silly peasants who got drenched in the process. Since it was the Queen’s official birthday, we were “treated” to the whole line of interbred sponges, from the Queen Mother, to the Queen and Prince Philip, Princess Anne, Prince Charles, Princess Diana, and the whole gamut of trough feeders, and not one of them ever having done a decent day’s work. A special cheer went up for Princess Diana, and little did the cheering throngs know what drama was still to unfold in the royal bedroom. I’ve also realised that if Princess Diana had stuck to horse drawn transport, she would be alive today. But no, she had to go for that big black powerful beast – not Dodi; the Mercedes which took her into the Alma tunnel one night and never emerged from the other side, thanks to a well sozzled chauffeur. Getting back to the point, on that miserable day in London, I apparently offended my host by showing more interest in the prodigious amount of horse droppings than the goofy teethed parade. Do not for once imagine that this is a European disease. We at the southern point of Africa behave similarly, I’m afraid. I recall the official opening of the Constitutional Court, and the level of adulation showered onto ex President Mbeki (remember him?). I also recall a BMW function when Africa’s and the world’s favourite son Nelson Mandela signed some special edition BMW’s, and I saw a woman journalist from Germany being manhandled by some thugs masquerading as bodyguards, just because she got too close to the Messiah. My gallantry took over, and I came within a whisker of being arrested for merely defending a maiden’s honour. I also recall sitting in the business class lounge at the PE airport (named after H.F. Verwoerd at the time, a nasty little habit that the new regime has borrowed with gusto) in the 1980’s and wondering why Jeremy Cronin

was sitting there sipping his first class whisky and reading a bourgeoisie newspaper, whilst the peasants thought he was slumming it in economy class and reading the Communist Manifesto. I think that the least ostentatious politician southern Africa has ever had was Ian Smith. Yes, I know that he presided over a “fascist and racist” government, but I have also realised that he was a product of his time and a victim of circumstance, and he followed what he naively thought was his destiny. But I have been told that he drove a small car and that when he walked down the streets of Salisbury or Bulawayo, that he did not need or did not want bodyguards. That delightful fellow Mugabe should try this – I don’t think he’ll get one hundred yards in one piece. It would be nice if our politicians could follow Ian Smith’s example, and to serve the people rather than themselves, but alas, it appears that when the latest lot was sworn in, their first thought was not the people, but what big black BMW or MercedesBenz they could buy, and what sound system upgrade was available. I have a serious problem with this, and so should the electorate. I know that my article will not change the situation, but at least I have got it off my chest. And now you can understand why I respect Borat and Brüno far more than our politicians.

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2009

Burford

by Adrian Burford

on

Brands

The Yin and the Yang of Chevrolet

Chevrolet probably has one of the most interesting histories and in 99 years it has gone from being a quintessentially American brand (albeit named after a Swiss of French descent) to being a largely Korean-based company making affordable cars for General Motors’s world market.

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ow did it happen? We’re about to tell you, but the bottom line is that Chevrolet’s future – and in a way that of the new General Motors – was unknowingly secured thanks to them taking a majority share in Daewoo Motors from the giant Korean conglomerate at the beginning of this decade in the wake of the late 1990s financial meltdown which saw Daewoo collapse under huge debt. In less than 10 years it has all come full circle and GM’s 50.9 percent stake in GM Daewoo looks likely to be a key factor in the future of the holding company. Race driver Louis-Joseph Chevrolet and early motor industry entrepreneur Billy Durant were co-founders of the Chevrolet Motor Car Company in 1911. Durant had founded GM via Buick and Oldsmobile three years earlier but was forced out of the company. Undettered, he set up Chevrolet and their 490 - introduced in the middle of 1915 as an alternative to Ford’s Model T - put Chevrolet on the map and eventually led Durant back to the GM fold. It became part of GM in 1917 and was soon the corporation’s bestselling brand.

In the early 1960s, Chevrolet broke some kind of production record almost on a weekly basis and talking of records, while Chevrolet wasn’t first with a V8 engine, they arguably perfected it. The smallblock Chevy bent eight was introduced in 1955 and continued to evolve into the last decade of the century. It is deservedly considered to be one of the greatest powerplants of all time and more than 65-million have been built in 10 displacements. Chevrolet was first seen on SA’s roads in

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2009

1919 and in those early years there was a good chance that every sixth car coming the other way would be wearing a bowtie (and every third one would be a GM product). Because Chevrolet was American and therefore left-hand-drive, it came to pass in the 1960s that most of the cars so branded in South Africa were sourced from either Europe or Australia. The larger cars – Kommando and Constantia – were Auzzie Holdens in disguise while the Firenza was based on the Vauxhall Viva. The ultimate Firenza was the home-grown Can-Am, powered by a 5,7-litre Chevrolet V8 and born almost exclusively out of a need to build a production-based race car. And of course those with long memories will remember the Nomad - not to be confused with the Bel Air station wagon of the same name - which makes a strong case for itself as SA’s first ever SUV. And then there was the Ranger, a brand which was neither fish nor fowl but briefly cashed in on our patriotism by being sold as ‘South Africa’s own car’. The 1970s was the era of "braaivleis, rugby, sunny skies and Chevrolet", which was a local twist of an American advertising jingle. It helped to make the Chevrolet

2500/3800/4100 range a best-seller in an era where car marketing targeted white males almost exclusively. A mix of Opel Rekord and locally-made Chevrolet engines, the range was significant in that it sounded the death-knell of the latter brand and the rise of the former. By 1982 Chevrolet was no longer officially available and Commodores and Senators became Opels briefly before disappearing completely, and you couldn’t buy a car with a bowtie here until 2002, when the Lumina was launched. This was ultimately the result of the GM/Daewoo connection which goes back to 1972, when The General started assembling vehicles in South Korea as part of a joint venture with Shinjin Motor, a relationship which has ultimately evolved into GM Daewoo – from where the majority of our Chevrolets are now sourced. Today South Africans still buy Chevrolet Sparks which can trace their lineage directly to the Daewoo Matiz while the likes of Aveo and Optra are very much the product of Eastern rather than Western thinking. It would seem the new Chevrolet is bedding itself down quite well in the psyche of 21st century South Africans though. While other brands in the local GM stable are clearly downsizing (there’s not much left of Opel, truth be told) the thrust is very clearly behind Chevvy’s mix of affordability, reliability, and space. The acid test will come in the form of the Cruze, which is currently being launched into the highly-competitive C-segment, with the Corolla buyer firmly in its sights. Spiritually at any rate, it could represent the start of a new era of "braaivleis, rugby, sunny skies and Chevrolet".

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Corporate

Conscience

I am Me

Saturday 8th August 2009 was an auspicious day for the women of South Hills, as Sparepro consolidated its Outreach Programme, utilising National Women’s Day as the fulcrum to make a difference in people’s lives. The 2008 function focused on “Change from Within”, and the 2009 function took it one step further with the theme “I am Me”

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atrick Latouche, General Manager Sparepro, the driving force and guiding light behind Sparepro’s corporate conscience ventures, used the function to recommit the company to assisting the surrounding community, and defined the previous year’s efforts as “seeds on the ground” which, despite some setbacks, are now bearing fruit. Speaking from the heart, he appealed to the 12 Sparepro sophomores to use this opportunity to change their lives for the better, but to never forget where they came from, as one day they will also have the opportunity to help others, and in so doing, to make the world a better place. He also told the sophomores that whilst Sparepro can take them to the water, it was up to them to drink. The term sophomore was chosen because this is Sparepro’s second year of helping young women. Jennifer van Wyk, HR/Client Liaison Sparepro, echoed Patrick’s sentiments, saying that whilst last year’s endeavours were not 100% successful, there were successes, and that Sparepro was not giving up on their community and will continue to help. She appealed to the young women to ask themselves five life questions:

1. Where do I come from? 2. Who am I? 3. Why am I here? 4. What is my potential? 5. Where am I going? She also passed on some advice from Vani Chetty, Director of Sparepro and the women’s mentor, to focus on the three C’s: Concentration, Consistency, and Cooperation. Pastor Gloria, the guest speaker, spoke of the choices one has in life, and the very important choice of not letting life’s circumstances affect your future. She pointed out that to be happy is hard work, and that nothing of value

comes easily. She also reminded everyone that to struggle develops character, and that the important thing is to respect yourself, respect others, and to always remember that you reap what you sow. She ended by encouraging the young women to make a difference – if one helps two, and those two help another two, and so on, the world will be a great place. It was with this inspiring advice that twelve young women went on their ways, to school, jobs, life skills training, and on the path to making a difference.

this gift had an uplifting sentiment

Pastor Gloria

the 12 sophomores and the Sparepro Outreach Committee Rajan Govinden of Brago Logistics. Brago Logistics is one of the companies that will be taking on a sophomore for on the job training

the Dinokaneng Singers

Dinokaneng was established to help HIV positive sufferers, and knocked on many doors for help. The door that opened was Sparepro. Sparepro assisted Dinokaneng with access to the Department of Welfare, and provided offices and equipment. Jackie of Dinokaneng acknowledged this help with a certificate presented to Patrick Latouche, General Manager, and Vani Chetty, Director. September

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2009

Hogg’s

Wash

-

by Gilbert Hogg

South Africa’s Prime Exports If Andrew Strauss was a mincing cricketer from Australia, he would be called a Waltzing Matilda, but he is ours. Born in South Africa, so we are laying claim to him. He may be playing for England, in fact leading them, but I still consider him as on loan to one of the less talented cricketing nations. We’ve doing this for years, you know. John Vorster started the rot, by letting Basil d’Oliviera slip through our fingers.

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his was the start of the exodus, and most left because of that most unwanted of interference by those without the talent or ability to actually play cricket at a high level – politicians and administrators. Just look at the unedifying behaviour of the CSA top brass because the Gauteng guys wanted a peek at a contract (which sounds like a reasonable request to me). This will create a further exodus, just mark my words. But back to our prime exports, mainly to England. We lent Kepler Wessels to Australia, but the majority of our exports have gone to England. The list is long, and without much thought many come to mind; Tony Greig, Ian Greig, Alan Lamb, Chris Smith, Kevin Pietersen, and of course, our captain, our captain Andrew Strauss. Now it is Jonathon Trott’s turn. We do trot them out. The one thing these fellows with toffees in their mouths can do, is talk. It is thus, as a celebration of cricket and our prime exports, that I give you a speech sent to me on the internet. The speech is by one Stephen Fry, at a benefit dinner for Andrew Strauss on the 16th July 2009. Here it is, in all its glory, totally unedited. I think that any cricket lover will enjoy this.

“Thank you ladies and gentlemen, thank you very much indeed. It is an honour to stand before so many cricketing heroes from England and from Australia and at this, my favourite time of year. The time when that magical summer sound comes to our ears and gladdens our old hearts, the welcome sound of leather on Graham Swann. I have been asked to say a few words - well more than a few. "You've twenty minutes to fill," I was firmly told by the organisers. 20 minutes. Not sure how I'll use all that time up. Perhaps in about ten minutes or so Andrew Strauss would be kind enough to send on a physio, that should kill a bit of time.

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Now, many of you will be wondering by what right I presume to stand and speak in front of this assembly of all that is high and fine and grand and noble and talented in the world of cricket, and to speak too in this very temple of all that is historic, majestic and ever so slightly preposterous and silly in that world? I certainly can't lay claim to any great cricketing achievements. I can't bat, I can't field, I bowl off the wrong foot. That sounds like a euphemism for something else, doesn't it? "They say he bowls off the wrong foot, know what I mean? He enters stage left. Let me put it this way, he poles from the Cambridge end of the punt." Actually as a matter of fact, although it is true in every sense that I have always bowled off the wrong foot. I have decided, since Sunday, to go into the heterosexual breeding business. My first three sons will be called Collingwood Fry, Anderson Fry and Monty Fry. That's if their mother can ever get them out, of course. But back to the original question you so intelligently, if rhetorically, asked. If I can't play, what can I do? I can umpire, I suppose, after a fashion. A fashion that went out years ago around the time of those two peerless umpires, perhaps some of you are old enough to remember them, Jack Crapp and Arthur Fagg. I remember them. I remember them every morning, as a matter of fact: Crapp and Fagg. Though now, sadly, the law says we can no longer do it in public places. And I believe that may even apply to smoking too. Anyway. We were on the subject of why I'm speaking to you. I don't play. I'm not even a cricketing commentator, journalist or writer. I suppose the only right I have to be amongst you, the cricketing élite, might derive from my being said to represent, here in the Long Room, all those who have spent their lives loving the game at a safe distance from the square. It is love for the game that brings me here. In the forty-five years that I have followed cricket, I have seen it threatened from all sides by the horrors of modern life.

The game has been an old-fashioned blushing maiden laid siege by coarse and vulgar suitors. A courtship pattern of defence, acceptance, capitulation and finally absorption has followed. When I started watching, A. R. Lewis played for and captained England as an amateur. The game could never recover surely, from being forced, against the will of many of those who ran this place, being forced to become solely a professional sport? I am just old enough to remember too the Basil D'Oliveira affair in all its unsavoury nastiness: the filth of racism and international politics was beginning to stain the pure white of the flannels. The one-day-game appeared, shyly at first. The balance of bat and ball, essential for cricket to make any sense as a sporting spectacle, became threatened, everyone agreed, by the covering of wickets which would privilege batsman, and then that necessary equipoise was threatened the other way by the arrival of extreme pace and the pitiless bouncer. The look and style of cricketers was apparently forever compromised by helmets and elastic waisted trouserings hideous to behold. Cane and canvas pads were replaced by wipe clean nylon fastened by Velcro. Kerry Packer arrived and sowed his own blend of discord. The continuing rise and mutation of one day cricket caused panic from Windermere to Woking as white balls and coloured pyjamas threatened the sanity of Telegraph readers everywhere. Rogue South African tours caused alarm and frenzy. Pitch invasions marked an end of the days when schoolboys could lie on their tummies by the boundary-rope filling in a green scoring book, until they got bored which they inevitably did, all except the speccy swatty ones who were laughed at and are now running the world. The rest of us were too busy asking the man in the Public Announcement tent to put out a message for our lost friends Ivor Harden, Hugh Janus, Seymour Cox and Mike Hunt. One turbulent decade began with John Snow September

2009

Hogg’s getting barracked and bombarded with tinnies and ended with batsmen getting bounced and sledged. Cameras and microphones got closer and closer to the action to overhear the insults and demystify the bowling actions. The art of spin had disappeared, for ever, some believed. Cricketers’ wives wrote books about the overseas tours. Reverse swing seemed to arrive out of nowhere: "Not only does he bowl off the wrong foot. They say he swings it the other way." Ball tampering became a matter of dinner party chat from Keswick to Canterbury. Clever 3-D images were painted on the grass round about the long stop area advertising power generation companies no one had ever heard of. Advertising was not only to be seen on the grass, but on the clothes, Vodafone and Castlemaine were stitched bigger and brighter on the shirts than the three lions and the wallabies and that mysterious silver feather that Kiwis seem so unaccountably fond of. The county game was rent asunder into leagues and divisions that no one really understands; the politics and governance of cricket, with its contracts and coaches, its bloated fixture lists and auctions of broadcasting rights caused hand-wringing too, though many would rather it were neck-wringing. Meanwhile, drugs, drinking binges, embarrassing text messages and other scandals continued to erupt like acne on a teenager. South Africa returned to the fold as other countries entered the club of test playing nations. Kenya, Zimbabwe and Bangladesh. Two of those speccy boys who used to score at the sidelines got their revenge; their names were Mr Lewis and Mr Duckworth. To the dictionary of acronyms and initials were added ODI, T-20 and IPL. Power plays and baseball style pinch-hitters were swept in. The old lady of cricket was getting a right duffing up. Yet, amazingly, none of these changes, professionalism, the covered wickets, helmets, day-night games, confirmed the dire prognostications of those who believed each one might hammer a stump into cricket's fragile heart. For this same period of my cricket watching life saw some of the greatest matches in the game's history. The 1981 and 2005 Ashes series, the Tied Test; a new aggression and boldness of stroke play that no one could disapprove of. Scoring rates went up and great batsmen emerged: Lara, Tendulkar and Ponting amongst many others. And miraculously, to keep the game September

2009

balanced, Warne and Murali showed that far from being dead, spin bowling was supremely alive; even providing a new ball in the form of the doozra. Huge crowds and rising popularity in fresh territories confirmed cricket's health. Levels of fitness and standards of fielding rocketed. And all the while, the game's greatest expression, the 5 Day Test Match, led the way, providing the greatest entertainment, the most excitement and the deepest commitment from the players. All those mournful predictions had come to nothing. The greatest of games had triumphed again. But now, now, in the age of the internet, just as the great, great players of the past ten years have one by one started to play their farewell matches and leave the field for ever, hideous new forces have been at work. The newly emerged South Africa became mired in scandal, intrigue and misery as the new disease of spread-betting lived up to its name and spread, spread like cholera through a slum. Grotesque emails from professional umpires hit the headlines; allegations of systematic cheating and match-fixing have become commonplace, a dismal and lamentably organised Shop Window for international cricket, its 2007 World Cup seemed to lay the game low: an incomprehensible and dreadful tragedy in the death of Bob Woolmer its ghastly and unforgettable legacy. As if that weren't enough we were more recently treated to the embarrassing spectacle of cricket's governors cosying up to a Texan fraudster with a helicopter and a bigger mouth than wallet. A new kind of bitterness has entered some quarters of the game as ex-players become commentators, columnists and journalists and begin to turn on their erstwhile teammates, dispraising the current players, pouring scorn on their technique and deprecating their tactical nous. We have video of course and can see that these pundits know what they were talking about: historical archive reveals that Boycott, Botham, Gower, Atherton, Willis, and Hussein were never out playing a false shot, never shuffled across, never missed a captaincy trick, never dropped a catch, never posted a fielder in the wrong place and never bowled off line or off length in the entire course of their careers. The benefits and the drawbacks of broadcast technology bewilder us. Hotspots and Hawkeye, referrals and replays, umpires have never been more pressured and exposed and greater more seismically structural questions have never been asked about the meaning and spirit of the game.

Wash The rewards are greater, the stakes are higher, the price of failure more public and humiliating. So a hundred years on from cricket's Golden Age of C. B. Fry here is another Fry, searching for a way to toast a game that appears to have become, well, toast. We could choose to believe that and retreat into memories of an apparently innocent and gilded past. We could wash our hands of it all, or we could choose to continue to believe in the game. Not necessarily in its administrators, nor even its players, though most of them in all divisions of the game are proud and gifted. We could choose to have faith in cricket. I for one do truly believe that the game itself, as first played by shepherds in the south of England, the game that spread to every corner of the world, the supreme bat and ball competition, the greatest game ever devised, will continue to provide unimagined pleasures, that true drama will once more come centre stage, booting into the wings the tragedy and farce we have witnessed over the past decade in particular. There will be new scandals of course: that you can depend upon. Undreamt of debacles, imbroglios, furores, brouhahas, crimes, rows, walk-outs and embarrassments are waiting around the corner, quietly slipping the horseshoe into the boxing-glove and preparing to give the goddess Cricketina a sock in the jaw. But new geniuses, new historic last ball climaxes, new unimaginable heights of athletic, tactical and aesthetic pleasure await us too. It is up to the players to believe in the game and the cricketing administrators to believe in the players. But most of all it is up to us to keep the faith and be unashamed, be proud of our love of cricket. Here, in the very place that is so often called cricket's Mecca , cathedral and temple, is the place for us all to pledge that faith. I do so happily as I raise a glass in toast, on behalf of cricket lovers everywhere to Andrew Strauss in his Benefit Year and his wonderful Team, to Ricky Ponting and his fine tourists and to cricket itself. For, to misappropriate Benjamin Franklin, Cricket is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy. So then: raise your glasses, to Strauss , England , Australia and cricket.” Editor’s note: He could have added South Africa.

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LIFE

GOES

ON

a Reality Check Life goes on, and so do these articles. At the Ford media breakfast on Tuesday, 4th August, 2009, it was Tony Twine, Senior Economist and Director of Econometrix, in his review of the South Africa automotive industry and its prospects, who gave us a reality check. by Austin Gamble

I

ronically, or hopefully more accurately, a harbinger of better things to come, I heard on the radio half an hour before the breakfast that Ford America’s July 2009 unit sales were 0,2% up on July 2008 – the first monthly year on year uptick for 19 months. Who cares whether the “cash for clunkers” programme had a big influence, it was still good news, and I’m taking it as such. And so should everyone, just to give us the boost and momentum to take this further, both in word and deed. Now for Tony Twine’s reality check, which explains why we are where we’re at, and why we still have a way to go before we can burst into song. Tony began his presentation by saying that many economists are like magicians, in that they deal in illusion. They do not change reality, they simply conceal it. This is why the current recession came so suddenly on us; not because it just happened, but because it was a long time coming, and we were merely not ready for it, because reality had been concealed by the vast majority of economic illusionists. The current financial crisis has long, deep roots, which we should have taken note of. The Asian Tiger collapse eleven years ago, the Y2K smoke and mirrors act at the turn of the millennium, the consequences of 9/11 all should have been factored into our crystal balls. It was how we reacted to these crises that really did us in. Governments promoted easy credit, asset price rises kept the inflation impact out of CPI and PPI measurements, and the bankers did their Houdini act (temporarily, before reality kicked in) by bundling high risk clients with the better stuff. The illusion continued, through 2005, 2006, 2007, until in 2008 the house of cards came crashing down. This precipitated the liquidity crisis, as the banks, based on their discredited behaviour, reacted predictably and threw the baby out with the bath water. They saw risk everywhere and promptly stopped lending. This closing of the taps with an oversized wrench saw the credit driven

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markets come to a grinding halt, and precipitated a recession in the G7 countries, and the consequences continued, as the dominoes began to fall. The declining demand for commodities meant negative growth in developing countries, and unlike other recessions, which at least had some semblance of cyclical order, everyone fell into the hole at once. The good news is that the medicine has been taken, and whilst the patient is still groggy and largely comatose, 2010 should see it coming out of the coma and to rise unsteadily to its feet. From a global perspective, China and India appear to have shrugged off the big hits, and even little old South Africa has held its own in construction, finance and services, with mining and manufacture taking the strain. The unfortunate side effect is that these two key areas are major employers of unskilled labour, which has meant rising unemployment. But things are looking up, with the big bogey man being the household bank debt: disposable income ratio still at an all time high. We had similar scenarios on 1985 and 1998, but this time the amortization burden is acute. Thus Tony Twine says that lowering interest rates is not the

solution, and that we basically have to accept that any improvement will be gradual. But improvement is around the corner, with Tony seeing the second quarter of 2009 as the bottoming out of the cycle, and he predicts that the third quarter of 2009 will be the start of a slow and gradual recovery. Not a V shaped recovery, more like a U shaped recovery, but still a recovery, albeit with a few false starts and a bumpy ride with bad shock absorbers. One of these bumps will actually be created by the motor manufacturers themselves. Whilst vehicle sales in the first half of 2009 were adversely affected by the scrooge like behaviour of the banks, the second half will not see demand met primarily because of the reduction of inventories. Thus, whilst the Econometrix model forecasts NAAMSA unit sales at 380 000 units, the actual figure will be more like 350 000 units. A sort of self-fulfilling prophecy! Lets’ put all this behind us, as we feverishly await 2010, 2011 and beyond. The good times are just around the corner, and who knows what surprises are in store. As Tony Twine says, 2010 will make a mockery of all forecasts – we haven’t been there before. September

2009

What’s the Buzz?

MISA LAUNCHES WOMEN’S FORUM The Motor Industry Staff Association (MISA), a registered trade union organising in the retail motor sector, has launched a Women’s’ Forum to advance the interests of the female members in the retail motor sector. The Forum was launched at a breakfast session on 4 August 2009 in partnership with Glenrand MIB and FEDUSA. Ruda Landman was the keynote speaker and entertained and informed the delegates with her presentation and the key message that within the work environment everyone basically only needs to be treated with respect. The Women’s Forum will not be a trade union within a trade union and neither will it be an activist grouping at the cost of the other MISA members. The focus of the Forum is aligned with the MISA objectives as set out in the Constitution, as approved by the Registrar of Labour Relations. The Women’s Forum will focus on empowerment of women through training, development and information sharing regarding preventative healthcare, financial planning, raising awareness for a better understanding of gender equality, obtaining a balance between work and family life and aspects in the bargaining council main agreement impacting on female members. As a trade union, MISA will obviously take the needs of their female members into account when preparing for the industry wide collective bargaining process scheduled to commence early in 2010 and in future negotiations. The ultimate goal of the Women’s Forum, through planned initiatives and programmes, is to ensure that women in the retail motor sector are empowered to be assertive, developed and trained to take charge of promotion opportunities and also understand that they are responsible and in control of their own destiny within a more just and decent society.

September

2009

All Work and No Play………… This issue of ABR is a little bit wordy, so we have decided to give our readers a montage of the Bosch Golf Day, held at the Centurion Country Club on Friday, 7th August 2009. The proceeds of the day went to charity, so all the fun was for a good cause. A picture tells a thousand words, so here are many thousands of words, in vibrant technicolour:

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Industry

Update

Gabriel Wings Takes to the Skies

T

Grant Fraser from CI Auto stands in front of the award winning photographs that he took himself

he Gabriel Wings Aerobatic Team are once again in harness, and as part of the incentives offered by Control Instruments Automotive, their distributors are now hosting Gerhard Braun, National their own Gabriel Wings Displays for Sales Executive, Midas their valued customers. It was Parts Group, rallies his troops Incorporated Africa’s turn on 14th August 2009, and on 21st August 2009 Imperial Auto Parts played host.

draw whereby an elite handful got the chance to experience aerobatics up close and personal, with a private and “hands-on” one on one demonstration of aerial ballet, at the feet as it were of aerial masters. Cold but glorious weather greeted the guests on the 14th and 21st of August, which allowed for an enthralling spectacle, and for a few brief moments time stood still, as the skies were cleared by the control tower, and the experience of a lifetime took centre stage.

Rand Airport was the scene of the exploits, as the guests toasted the action dished out by Team Leader Scully Levin, and his intrepid band of fellow travellers with their flying machines, comprising Arnie Meneghelli, Stu Lithgow and Ells Arnold Muller of the appropriately named Aero City Levin. The champagne and orange Tyres; Chad Tucker from Supa Quick Greenstone; pilot juice flowed, followed by a hearty Stu Lithgow; and Paul Schadler of Hi-Q Wynberg, breakfast, and culminated in a lucky before the flight Imperial’s lucky guests were Rajen Nundlal of the equally appropriate name of 727 Motor Spares; Gerald Bezuidenhout of Replacement Parts; and Willie van Rensburg of Supa Motor Spares. Here they are briefed by Brian Emmenis of Capital Sounds, and the Voice of South Africa’s Air Shows Pieter van Deventer, Sales & Marketing Executive, Imperial Auto Parts, spoke of when he earned his Gabriel Wings Pilot Arnie Meneghelli helps Johan Visser of De Graaf Under-Car with his harness, as Christopher G. Middelwick looks on anxiously

Gabriel have added a stunning black liveried Pitts Special to their flying troupe September

2009

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From

the

Cockpit

Team Timken Back to Form Hennie Groenewald turns it on with his smooth driving style

The omens were there during practice, and confirmed during qualifying. Practice makes perfect, and this maxim was once again proved at the Sasol Race Day 2009 at the Zwartkops Racing Circuit on Saturday, 15th August 2009, when during Round Six of the WesBank Super Series V8 Championship, Team Timken came out tops.

Richard Pinard displaying his never say die approach

Hennie Groenewald and Richard Pinard happy after a one three in the second race

T

he Timken team was dominant in 2008, but 2009 was proving a challenge, with the other teams having upped their game from the previous season, and just turning up for the race was no longer an option. Team Timken were no longer the kings of the hill, so they decided to really go for it at Zwartkops, and prepared and practiced extremely hard for four days in the week before the event. Hennie Groenewald told ABR that the team was very happy with the preparation, and knew that they were going to be competitive, but that the proof of the pudding would be on race day. Qualifying confirmed Hennie’s gut feel, with Team Timken taking pole position and third spot on the grid with some blistering times around the tight track, and Hennie cracking the one minute barrier with a lap time of 59.918 seconds, and Richard Pinard just being pipped to the post for second position by Marc Auby, the championship leader. The weather was perfect for some great racing, and that is what the crowd got. The team was hoping for a one two in the first race, but unfortunately Richard was taken out by Jaco Correira who was attempting “an ambitious overtaking manoeuvre” through the

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hairpin, which forced Richard to retire from the race. But Hennie kept the Timken flag flying with a close to flawless run from start to finish, apart from some hairy moments caused by oil on the track at the self same hairpin, and having to slow down when the safety car was deployed. With only half the job done, the team was determined to do even better in the second race, and having banked tyres during the season, they had the benefit of new tyres and thus came out smoking. This was confirmed by the Timken cars doing the two fastest laps (1.02.024 for Hennie and 1.02.037 for Richard), and if not for a yellow flag on the first corner, and Richard being gently nudged off the track on lap seven, it could have been a one two. When Richard was pushed off on lap seven and had to drop back to sixth place, he had to gather his composure and utilise the remaining eight laps to make up, which he did superbly, pushing Deon Auby all the way on the final two laps, coming in a credible third. This time, Hennie had to win the hard way, starting seventh on the grid (the inversion rule being cut from 5% to 2,5% because of the tight track) and working his way through the field to second spot and then chasing leader Franco di

Matteo for a good few laps before Lady Luck intervened with di Matteo suffering a broken side shaft. With the championship position extremely tenuous, Hennie said that all his passing manoeuvres had to be “careful and cautious”, as the Zwartkops track is tight and does not take prisoners, especially when it comes to cowboy driving. At the end of the day, it was not totally mission achieved, but two wins for Hennie and third for Richard in the second race is nothing to be sneezed at. The guys are now looking forward to Phakisa on the 5th September, and are hoping to take the Zwartkops momentum with them, and though Hennie realises that it is almost an impossible task to win the championship, he is not going to die wondering. Both Hennie and Richard agree that once again preparation will be the key, and they assure ABR that they will not be found wanting in that department. Richard Pinard, in his role as team spokesman, congratulated the support staff on a job well done, and thanked Timken for their generous support to the team, and their tremendous commitment to motorsport in South Africa. September

2009

Fast

Wheels

UNPREDICTABLE FORMULA 1 IN 2009 Who could have ever forecast the unpredictability we have seen in Formula 1 this year? At the start of the season it was going to be a repeat of the McLaren versus Ferrari slugging match. That is what we all said. How wrong we were.

A

long came some new boys in the form of the Brawn GP Team and thanks to the masses of their Formula 1 experience they cleaned up. Red Bull did the same with the German, Sebastian Vettel, the new young face of Formula 1, starting to win as well after a few races. Then his team-mate Mark Weber from Australia after 8 years of trying, won at the Nurburgring despite a drive-through penalty imposed by the stewards. Comes another no-passing circuit in Hungary, and guess what? McLaren and Ferrari with Lewis Hamilton and Kimi Raikkonen, get stuck into each other and finish 1 / 2 with Weber and the German, Nico Rosberg, in tow. A little bit late maybe for Hamilton to defend the title he won in 2008 but evidence that some teams have started to catch up. Some teams meaning McLaren and Ferrari, Toyota who started the year well faded, and have now started to score points again. Renault is getting better thanks to the brilliance of Alonso. Force India even showed signs of getting their act together. Toro Rosso haven’t shone anything like their sister team Red Bull pair in their Adrian Newey designed cars. Williams are always fast. Surprising is that after setting up good times in practice, they haven’t won a race yet. BMW after a good start as well in Aus have - even with their two super quick drivers - fallen apart for some unknown reason. That is what has been happening on the track. What about off it? Renault have been penalised to miss Valencia after they lost a wheel at the Hungaro Ring. They have appealed this decision. BMW is departing the scene at the end of the year citing the current state of the motor industry and lack of profits their reason for pulling out. They will however still be involved in touring cars and superbike world championship competition. Massa after his horrific accident and miraculous recovery, wants back in the driving seat of his Ferrari but looks unlikely to return until much later or maybe only at the beginning of 2010. In the meantime Ferrari, who pay seven times World Champion, Michael Schumacher to act as a consultant to the team, have asked him to drive their car for the next three meetings – if his neck muscles can take the G-Forces of a Formula 1 car. He hurt his neck in a superbike race accident.

Yes, he can practice in a 2007 Ferrari with GT2 slick tyres (different for Formula 1) said the teams, who voted this decision. The main reason is that it could put some life back into the racing and bring fading TV audiences up to acceptable numbers and swell the gates. ‘No’ – says Frank Williams - who couldn’t give a toss about the extra entertainment value Schumacher will bring to the sport. ‘It is unfair.’ Red Bull and Toro Rosso have also said ‘No practicing in the current vehicle with the latest slicks’. Schumacher hasn’t raced on slicks for years. In the meantime the greatest driver in history is shedding weight and training to be race fit if his current fitness is not enough. He is now racing karts. Who cares if Schumacher finishes in front or down the pack? Just his very presence with his red helmet poking out of the cockpit of this red car will be enough to bring the fans back just to see him drive. Bernie Ecclestone’s Concord Agreement through to 2012 has been signed after a few years of bartering. This means peace has started to reign in Formula 1, thank goodness, amongst the teams, Fota and the FIA. Max Mosley leaving his presidency of the FIA in October, has also helped this decision as a “Revised Expenses Capping” programme has been proposed. Driver-wise, rumour says it looks like Kimi Raikkonen will depart the F1 scene for world championship rallying. He was 16th in the rally in Finland when he rolled his S2000 Fiat Abarth rally car. Makes sense. I remember when the Fiat Group’s policy used to be Fiats for Rallying, Alfa Romeo for saloon car racing and Ferrari for Formula 1. Maserati also now race their GT cars in a series. The BMW driving duo of Heidfeld and Kubica would be great in saloon car racing but the talk is that they will also try their hand at rallying. Kubica is easier to accommodate for this decision as he owns a powerful Mitsubishi EVO rally car. Vettel, they say, wouldn’t mind rallying as well in a Works Citroën at top level. The final point this month is - please FIA – lock up all the Formula 1 Race Stewards in a dark room without a TV set when a Formula 1 GP is on the go. This will stop them handing out penalties which can’t be reversed during the Grand Prix. They have spoilt so many events over the years.

Answers 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Marius Roberts. 1957. The GSM Dart and Protea. Curtis Veeder. Stan Barrett in 1979 at 739.6 mph or 1182 kmh in a Rocket Car. Did only one run, which didn’t count as a world record. 6. Bentley. 7. France. 8. Kostas Tsiknas. 9. John Love of Bulawayo. 10. David Piper.

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by Roger McCleery

From page 66 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20.

Herbert Austin. Martin Aston. Ferrari’s wife used to walk around the factory abusing the managers. A hundred car pile up which killed 3 people and injured 120. Ford Anglia 105E. Nash, Hudson and Kelvinator. John de Lorean. Polly Shorts in 1966. Toyota Avensis. To provide employment for the impoverished people in the Eiffel Mountain region of Germany.

September

2009

The

Last

Writes

by Baron Claude Borlz

MY READERS HAVE DELIVERED

Kids Are Quick TEACHER:

Maria, go to the map and find North America . Here it is. Correct. Now class, who discovered America ? Maria.

MARIA: TEACHER: CLASS: TEACHER:

John, why are you doing your math multiplication on the floor? You told me to do it without using tables.

JOHN:

TEACHER:

Glenn, how do you spell 'crocodile?' GLENN: K-R-O-K-O-D-I-A-L' TEACHER: No, that's wrong GLENN: Maybe it is wrong, but you asked me how I spell it. (I Love this kid)

How to save on toilet paper

Hoe legendes begin In Engeland - Once upon a time...

TEACHER: DONALD: TEACHER: DONALD:

Donald, what is the chemical formula for water? H I J K L M N O. What are you talking about? Yesterday you said it's H to O.

In Amerika - Long, long ago... In Suid Afrika - Onthou jy daai aand toe ons so gesuip was..

Koos

TEACHER: Winnie, name one important thing we have today that we didn't have ten years ago. WINNIE: Me!

Koos en Mike sit in die kroeg. Dit is alombekend dat Koos die beste bedeeld is op die dorp.

TEACHER: Glen, why do you always get so dirty? GLEN: Well, I'm a lot closer to the ground than you are.

Koos: Mike, jy moet nie alles glo wat jou vrou jou vertel nie.

TEACHER: MILLIE: TEACHER: MILLIE:

Die dokter ondersoek Koos se toekomstige vrou. Toe hy klaar is, roep hy Koos eenkant.

Millie, give me a sentence starting with ' I. ' I is.. No, Millie........ Always say, 'I am.' All right... 'I am the ninth letter of the alphabet.'

Mike: Koos, ek hoor jy het die grootste meneer op die dorp.

Dokter: Kyk, dit is 'n lelike ding waaroor ons ongelukkig nou moet praat. Koos: Ek weet dokter, maar sy het baie geld.

TEACHER: George Washington not only chopped down his father's cherry tree, but also admitted it. Now, Louie, do you know why his father didn't punish him? LOUIS: Because George still had the axe in his hand. TEACHER: Now, Simon, tell me frankly, do you say prayers before eating? SIMON: No sir, I don't have to, my Mom is a good cook. TEACHER: Clyde , your composition on 'My Dog' is exactly the same as your brother's. Did you copy his? CLYDE: No, sir. It's the same dog. TEACHER: Harold, what do you call a person who keeps on talking when people are no longer interested? HAROLD: A teacher September

2009

Vraag: Hoekom neem Kubaanse atlete nie aan roei-items deel nie? Antwoord: Alle Kubane wat kan roei woon reeds in Amerika.

Mans Gee 'n man 'n vis, en hy het iets om te eet vir die dag. Leer 'n man om vis te vang, en hy sit heeldag in 'n boot en suip.

Mans Wat noem jy 'n vrou wat 24 uur per dag weet waar haar man is? 'n Weduwee.

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