The great Mitsubishi SUV survival story is close to its end.
Although many Mitsubishi fans gravitated to the brand through the gaming console performance of its Lancer Evos, the reality for South Africans has always been Pajero. For three decades the Pajero has been a proven adventure SUV, capable of touring all across southern Africa, without bother.
Mitsubishi’s future product development can no longer afford to carry the outdated ladder-frame SUV. In production since 2006, time is finally being called on the Pajero.
With its ageing platform and cabin architecture, not to mention relatively underpowered and inefficient engines, the Pajero is unable to compete with a surge of newer seven-seat SUVs.
It was only a few months ago, in March 2020, where Mitsubishi proposed an all-new Pajero would be coming in late 2021 or 2022. It seems, however, that idea has been canned as the brand focusses on small to medium-sized SUVs going forward.
News from the Japanese industrial media is that Mitsubishi is keen to close the Pajero production facility, which has fallen below its profit threshold. At one stage the Pajero was a profit anchor for Mitsubishi, but with sales trickling to half, especially in crucial markets such as Australia, the costing logic for its production has disappeared.
Respected by Toyota and Land Rover owners for its blend of on-road comfort and off-road touring ability, the Pajero simply finds itself without a feature of excellence in 2020. It does not have the ground clearance or traction to be a true grade 5 off-roader, nor is it comfortable or agile enough to compete with Ford’s Everest.
A small number of committed Pajero followers will still be in the market for one, appreciating the mechanical cleverness of its Super-Select transfers case and the proven durability of Mitsubishi’s 3.2-litre turbodiesel engine. But with global demand vanishing, the end is near, for Pajero.
Both the short- and long-wheelbase Pajeros are still listed for sale on Mitsubishi’s South African website, retailing for R729 995 and R819 995.
GWM is working on a new bakkie that will be larger than anything its ever offered. Here's what we know so far.
First spotted by ChinaCarNews, the renderings you see here come from GWM and the new product will be underpinned by the Tank platform. Currently, the Haval H9 is assembled on this platform, which gives you some indication of potential size.
ChinaCarNews goes on to say the new bakkie will be almost 6 metres long and will be 2.1 metres wide. Hopefully we won't have a scenario where customers will need a Code 10 licence to drive one, an issue that plagued Ford F-250 sales.
The Tank platform is what GWM calls its 'globalized intelligent professional off-road platform' and products using this architecture feature ultimate offroad ability. The new GWM bakkie will have an active lifting suspension that raises the ground clearance and there's a wading depth claim of 965 mm.
When it comes to powertrain, it's expected the new GWM bakkie will feature a 3.0-litre turbocharged 6-cylinder motor with a 48V mild hybrid setup. Outputs are claimed at 260 kW and 500 Nm, and the vehicle will feature a 9-speed automatic transmissions as well as a 4-wheel-drive setup with a central differential lock.
Given our market's love for bakkies and just how eager we are to receive the overdue GWM P-Series, we'll be watching the gestation of this newcomer closely.
BMW, Mercedes-Benz or Audi? Who’s winning the design war?
The premium market is a battlefield – one in which car brands wontly counter each other's products in whichever segments and niches they choose to compete. Cape Town contributor Calvin Fisher picks a winner out of the Teutonic Big Three – but it wasn't easy.
There once was a time when picking a German premium saloon ahead of its competitor products (also from the land of autobahnen) came down to personal preference –it was a simple matter of which badge held the most gravitas in the buyer's mind. Each of the mighty Teutons produced empirically comparable metal, with direct rivals in virtually every category: for the Benz C-Class, BMW had the 3 Series and Audi the A4; the Audi A6 had to contend with the Mercedes E-Class and BMW 5 Series and so on.
Even when each esteemed marque branched their wares out into the hatchback segments, the results were on par. Well, one of them – the A-Class – had a shaky debut as a rollerskate-shaped shopping trolley until its reinvention (around 2013) came along at precisely the moment Audi refined its A3 Sportback offering and BMW blessed the motoring realm with the 2nd generation of its rear-wheel-drive hot hatchback. Fast forward to 2020, however, and the vision has become frustratingly muddied.
What went wrong? It's hard to say but I reckon the introduction of a wild array of SUVs were the first to dilute the design philosophies. Then came the niche segments, the in-between badges like the A5, CLS and Gran Coupe – essentially the coupe-fication of everything, including SUVs, which explains the even-numbered Q and X models (Audi and BMW) and Benz adding the Coupe suffix to its kerb-hoppers. You can't please everyone all the time – that was the brief given to the stylists, much to the dismay of purists.
The BMW perspective
BMW 4 Series face has stirred much opinion about BMW design and its direction.
It used to be that BMWs were like their Mercedes-Benz counterparts, but for young(er) people. And indeed, there was a time that this youthful appeal seemed to work in the Bavarian brand's favour, making it the sexier, sportier brand of the two. With it came dynamic handling and compelling performance; it took about a decade for the Stuttgart firm to catch up in terms of those carnal aspects. Still, BMW powered forth all the same producing attractive sedans, with handsome visages, wide stances and rorty exhaust notes.
The Munich-based brand's metal was like a fine pressed business suit that concealed bulging muscles and an enviable tautness. Then came the (former designer) Chris Bangle era in the Noughties and for all the criticism levelled at the man, his cars were adventurous and bold and deserve to be more than a weird footnote in the firm's design lore. A knee-jerk reaction later and BMW reverted to a cookie-cutter format with 3, 5 and 7 (and later even 1 sedan) Series models all looking strikingly similar, just varying in size.
But there was no bigger "Ctrl+C Ctrl+V" offender than Audi. But first, we need to talk about the new BMW 4 Series. You've seen the coupe with that divisive grille that's so gaping that it swallows the number-plate whole. Will we get used to it? Eventually, but it's handsome in a Bugs Bunny kind of way (take that whichever way you like). This docks so many style points for BMW because now that the tall grille's been minted, I can guarantee it's here to stay and will, alas, be propagated to everything in Bimmer's portfolio.
The Mercedes-Benz perspective
Mercedes-Benz continues to evolve its 4-door coupe design wherever it can.
The Sindelfingen-based firm has done all in its power to ditch the stuffy, stoic image of its 20th-century models by adopting a more youthful and exciting posture in the past 20 years. And, it's worked well – Benz has produced styled, muscled contenders in every category. As an aside, you can't deny that fast Benzes' throaty soundtracks have netted them many fans too. To counter BMW's M Division, Benz has deployed AMG and with it, a barrage of aero and addenda, wings and things to spice up its hottest models.
For everything else, Mercedes-Benz still knows how to build a 4-wheeled whip that looks like it was hewn from granite. But there's a newfound delicateness to the Three-pointed Star's design language thanks to soft accents, finely-pressed curves and creases, as well as an overall-more-organic flow to their exterior executions. I recently spent a week with the smallest "4-door coupe" the company makes. It was a turbodiesel-powered CLA (ultimately a swooshy A-Class, but with the addition of a boot) and yours for R660k. When quizzed, most onlookers assumed the car was worth at least twice that, when judged only by its notable on-road presence and premium appearance. Good job, Benz.
The Audi perspective
The 2008 Audi A5, a car so beautiful it moved its designer to tears.
I chose to look at the Ingolstadt-based company last because, in truth, 3 decades ago the Four-ringed Brand was barely a blip on the radar when it came to classy German whips. Now, there are several stories about designers and their creations, but few so famous as how Walter Da Silva cried the first time he gazed upon his slippery creation.
The car in question was the 1st-generation Audi A5. I mean, this was the man who designed the original TT (in conjunction with Peter Schreyer, who later became Kia's design chief) for heaven's sake, who was overcome with emotion for creating – in his own words, "the most beautiful car I ever designed". But I get it, the stoic 3-box sedan had died at his hand that day, and the rest of the world saw that it was good.
Dominated by a massive grille, that perfectly proportioned and graceful A5 cemented Audi's position as a style leader, especially among (let's be honest, longer-revered) premium brands in its home country. Since then, Audi has copied those magnificent design cues onto virtually everything it produces, but that monolithic A5 was a decade ago and, while Audis are still beautiful machines, from the feisty A1 to the monolithic Q7, the brand's cookie-cutting has run rampant. Not that boring mind you, just a bit samey.
My perspective
Mercedes-Benz has taken a huge step from unbreakable boxes to swooping sedans.
Here are a couple of things I can tell you about styling. Firstly, it's all subjective, so you don't have to agree with me – in fact, you shouldn't. Secondly, it costs about the same to produce a beautiful car as it does to hatch an ugly one. Thankfully there are no ugly cars listed here – not even the gawping Bangle BMWs – even if some of them are, shall we say, challenging to look at. And, I can think of few cars that arrest my attention like an Audi RS6 Avant tearing past at full chat, swollen and blistered with purpose and intent.
But if there's a marque with a near-perfect range of cars (from a design point of view) in 2020, it must surely be Mercedes-Benz. The Stuttgart-based firm seems to have found their rhythm and identity. The Three-pointed Star's style department (headed by the charismatic Gorden Wagener) is churning out hit after hit, a successful blend of macho lines and sensual curves – balanced, well-proportioned instruments of speed and comfort. Which is precisely what you want from your premium German sedan, don't you?
New Rolls-Royce Ghost Teased
Rolls-Royce has teased the next-generation Ghost, which will be revealed towards the end of 2020. Here's what we know so far.
When the Ghost launched back in 2009, few could predict just how well it would do. With the banking crisis of 2008 still fresh, you'd think that an extremely high-end luxury vehicle would garner precious few sales and yet, the Rolls-Royce Ghost became the most successful vehicle in the brand's history.
The next-generation Rolls-Royce Ghost is due for a reveal towards the end of the year and the brand's CEO Torsten Müller-Ötvös shared a few nuggets of info via an open letter to the media, a very different way of doing things. The brand claims it has listened to its current clientele and the common theme is, "we’d like the new Ghost to be opulent but minimalistic in terms of design, and to remain a car that can be driven or to be driven in."
The all-new Rolls-Royce Ghost has been 'designed, engineered, and crafted from the ground up.' In terms of design, we're expecting something with design elements from the recent concepts such as the Vision Next 100. Rolls-Royce said it would be releasing teasers in the run up to the vehicle's reveal and given the prestige and allure of the Rolls-Royce brand, we're expecting something on another level.
Hyundai has shown what can be achieved by offering N Performance Parts for its new Santa Fe SUV. Take a look…
Yes, you read that correctly, much like how BMW offers M Performance Parts for its vehicles, Hyundai’s N division is offering N Performance Parts for some of its vehicles, including the refreshed Santa Fe, which might have you asking the question, is N the new M?
Anyway, the bad news is that it’s only offered to customers in Hyundai’s home market of South Korea at this stage.
Some of the bits on offer include sportier front and rear bumpers, a striking N performance grille, carbon fibre bonnet trim, carbon fibre diffuser, carbon fibre side mirror housings, 21-inch N wheels shod with N Performance brakes, rear spoiler, fender flares and side steps. Moving inside, quilted Alcantara N sport seats can be had along with carbon fibre accents.
In standard form, the newly facelifted Santa Fe’s design is far from boring and many might argue that the N Performance Parts are not necessary, which is a fair view to hold.
The facelifted Santa Fe’s exact arrival in South Africa has yet to be confirmed but 2021 seems likely. Stay tuned for updates!
German tuner Manhart has cranked up the already crazy John Cooper Works GP to a new level of wicked.
What you see here is the Manhart GP3 F350, the result of a collaboration between Manhart Performance and MINISpeed.eu. The John Cooper Works GP is not a subtle offering and is the most hardcore iteration of the Mini. In terms of performance upgrades, Manhart has tweaked the B48 2.0-litre turbo motor and giving it quite a few more horses.
In standard form, this motor delivers 225 kW and 450 Nm, but after Manhart's work, these figures climb to 261 kW and 530 Nm. There's an ECU remap, custom intercooler, and a cat-back exhaust system with 4-stages of control.
The Manhart-tuned John Cooper Works GP has also been given a custom body kit, with gold detailing and Manhart branding. The car has been lowered by 20 mm at the front and 15 mm at the rear, giving it a menacing stance, and the Manhart wheels replace the stock items.
This is just the beginning of Manhart's work with the John Cooper Works GP and even more tuning is set to take place, with a carbon intake, and a further enhanced exhaust system setup is on the cards.
The John Cooper Works GP is scheduled to make landfall in South Africa before the end of 2020.
Retro style and a rugged platform for Chinese bakkie brand.
Influential Chinese automotive company, GWM, is going angular in its pursuit of adventure vehicle customers.
One of GWM’s sub-brands is Wey, and its latest product is the very indiscreetly named Tank 300. Although it does not ride on roller tracks, the Tank 300 is GWM’s idea of what a Chinese adventure 4×4 should be.
No doubt inspired by the revival of Land Rover’s Defender, and the Ineos Grenadier, Wey’s Tank 300 shapes a very boxy five-door bodyshell. Like the Ineos Grenadier and Land Rover’s original Defender, the Tank 300 has round headlights, with LED illumination.
The styling proportions and design details are all intentional, with a flat grille and angular bonnet juncture, dramatically extended wheel arches and a full-size spare wheel mounted on the Tank 300’s tailgate.
The interior looks an awful lot like anything you would encounter in a late model Mercedes-Benz crossover or A-Class. Those adjoining digital screens and vents are almost identical to Mercedes-Benz’s current cabin architecture.
Wey has not revealed the exact off-road capabilities of its new Tank 300, but we do know that it is should borrow engines from the Haval H9. That could mean the 2-litre turbocharged four-cylinder, boosting 180 kW and a 142 kW turbodiesel.
Like the Haval H9, this Wey Tank 300 will also ride on a traditional ladder-frame chassis, which should increase its appeal to hardcore off-road enthusiasts. It is unclear what the suspension configuration or collection of traction aids are, in terms of electronic wheelspin control and mechanical axle lockers.
The H9 is a proven platform, so it would make this Wey Tank 300 quite capable. GWM has not confirmed the global launch schedule or regional availability for its Tank 300, but there would definitely be some interest in its amongst South African off-roader seeking features at a fair price.
Now that Volkswagen’s revealed its facelifted Tiguan and new R flagship, the Wolfsburg-based brand’s readying a SUV-coupe variant of its family car for China… and the newcomer could be rolled out worldwide thereafter. Could this newcomer succeed in our market?
It seems Volkswagen has not yet exhausted the number of compact SUVs/crossovers that can be hatched from its MQB architecture… Next year, the facelifted Tiguan and its 235-kW R flagship derivative will be launched in South Africa and, although it remains to be seen whether the Nivus (underpinned by the MQB A0 platform of the Polo) will ultimately be made more widely available than South America and Europe, Volkswagen is clearly keen to exploit the popular compact family-car segment to the fullest.
The Car News China Facebook page recently published these images (reportedly taken from the Chinese patent office) of the Tiguan X coupe-SUV derivative, which is expected to be launched in China in a few months’ time. The newcomer, which will be built by the FAW-Volkswagen joint venture in the People's Republic, is the 3rd variant of the Tiguan (after the 5-seater and 7-seat Allspace) and the 3rd “X model” in Volkswagen’s line-up; it will effectively sit in between the smaller Tayron X and larger Teramont X.
The newcomer's profile is very distinctive, but will Volkswagen faithful warm to attention-grabbing the coupe-SUV packaging?
The Tiguan X, which shares its 2 791 mm wheelbase with its Allspace sibling (the former #CarsAwards – powered by WesBank category winner, which was recently discontinued in the local market), will be exclusive to China, although several sites suggest that it could be sold globally later. According to the figures published by Car News China, the newcomer is 63 mm longer and marginally wider (by 20 mm) than the Allspace variant, but its striking sloping, coupé-like roofline is notably 37 mm lower.
The front-end styling takes cues from the updated Tiguan, with more distinctive headlights and a sporty, elaborately-detailed bumper, but when viewed from the side, the differences become much more apparent: the A-pillar is less steeply-raked and the side-glass area tapers elegantly to the rear, where it ends in a triangular rear quarter light.
Note the new-generation VW badge on the tailgate and the subtle trim above the top edges of the Tiguan X's tail lights.
The Tiguan X’s rear end, meanwhile, is the most eye-catching and, arguably, the most divisive aspect of the design. A subtle spoiler lip bisects the tailgate and the full-width lighting element comprises 3-pointed accents in the rear-light clusters. The chunky bumper, for its part, features a bold reflector strip and trapezoidal (faux) exhaust outlets.
As for as Volkswagen SA's compact family car line-up is concerned for the immediate future, the next addition will be the T-Roc, which will arrive shortly to slot in between the (recently expanded) T-Cross and the 5-seat Tiguan ranges. Could there be room for a Tiguan X in a market where its cousin, the evocatively styled Audi Q3 Sportback is already offered? Well, the closely-related Audi Q2 and T-Roc will both be sold in Mzansi, plus we'd think there'd be plenty of interest in an R version of the Tiguan X, not so?
All-New Audi S6 Review: The Limo with an RS4 Engine
Join Ciro De Siena for a cruise in Audi's S6…
The new Audi A6 range has just gone on sale in South Africa and the first one we've got our hands on is this, the current flagship, the Audi S6. Sporting more aggressive styling, the S6 has been fitted with the 2.9-Litre V6 from the Audi RS4 and Audi RS5, however in this application it features an all new electric compressor, plumbed into the turbocharging system.
Our video journalist Ciro De Siena takes the Audi S6 out to a beautiful part of the Cape peninsula of South Africa, near Cape Point, which is usually buzzing with tourists. Hopefully the tourists will return soon, but in the meantime there are some blissfully quiet country roads to enjoy. Watch the video now!
We have photos of a new Audi SUV that will be joining the portfolio. Here are the details regarding the Audi Q5 Sportback.
Picture credit: S. Baldauf/SB-Medien. We have paid for these photos and at the photographer's request, have watermarked them.?
With the likes of the BMW X4 and Mercedes-Benz GLC Coupe gaining a handful of sales, it should come as no surprise that Audi will be offering a Q5 Sportback version soon. Essentially, it's a coupe version of the Q5, in the same way as the Q3 Sportback is a coupe version of the smaller Q3.
Dominated by that sloping rear, the Audi Q5 Sportback is expected to boast the same powertrains as the normal Q5 and we predict petrol, diesel and electrified versions to be hitting the road in 2021.There's likely to be a performance-focused SQ5 Sportback, powered by the same 3.0-litre V6 turbo motor found in the SQ5. It has 260 kW and 500 Nm, and should be a match for the equivalent BMW X4 M40i.
