Namibia's content-driven motoring portal
Around the 1990’s, Mercedes-Benz jumped on the band-wagon of extending their product range. Where before the E-Class, S-Class, SL and Geländewagen were all the cars you could ever need, showrooms were suddenly cluttered with the likes of C-Class, CLK, SLK, ML and A-Class.
Ever wondered what all those fun, colourful lights on your dashboard mean? While we couldn’t explain all of them, here is our top 5 list of helpful driver aids. You know, the magic pixie stuff that makes your car behave when you may or may not have over-driven it.
We’ve also included descriptions of how this magic actually works so that you won’t get a fright when the brake pedal aggressively massages you during an emergency stop…
The cheerful combo
Cars can be so boring. White and silver boxes stuck in a slow and endless march to work, seas of grey metal in a dark multi-story office car park with the odd red or yellow specimen parked under a sign proclaiming “Reserved for Marketing”. Suzuki certainly recognized this with the launch of their brand-new Vitara.
The serious contender
As one of the largest vehicle manufacturers in the world, Chevrolet took a bit of strain after the recent recession yet the American giant was blessed with perfect timing as that coincided with the launch of their new world beater – a passenger car for markets around the globe – the Chevrolet Cruze.
Die Mokka is Opel se eerste sub-kompakte SNV (sportnutsvoertuig) en sal vanaf die einde van Maart 2015 in die vertoonkamers wees. In Europa is hy nie meer nuut nie, en is al aan die einde van 2012 te koop waar hy goeie sukses gehad het met verkope van meer as 24 0000 eenhede in 2014.
The new jam
The Opel Adam is an important little car. With the German manufacturer reeling from internal struggles and slumping sales, Adam represents the spearhead of their new market onslaught. Named after Opel’s founder Adam Opel, it’s akin to Ford calling their new car “Henry”. It’s a big deal.
Volkswagen het onlangs twee van hulle meer semi-handelsvoertuie meer gesinsvriendelik gemaak met ‘n paar veranderings aan ratkaste, enjins en afwerking.
Volkswagen van Suid-Afrika het so-pas sy nuwe Amarok dubbelkajuit, met ‘n nuwe 8-gang outomatiese ratkas, in die Namibwoestyn aan motorjoernaliste bekendgestel. Dit was letterlik en figuurlik ‘n WARM geleentheid met temperature wat by 55 grade Celsius gaan draai het; verder is die nuwe Volkswagen bakkie, met sy outomatiese ratkas en permanente vierwielaandrywing,‘n warm opponent in hierdie marksegment waar hy sommige van sy mededingers ore gaan aansit.
Mercedes-Benz is one of the most innovative automotive brands on the planet, never mind the oldest, so it’s rather surprising that they have a monster lurking in their pricelist. A rugged, uncompromising, almost backwards machine called (insert sounds of thunder) Der Geländewagen.
Today I bring you news of the freshly face-lifted Hyundai i20 which, for most people, probably bears the same significance as a kitchen appliance sale at your local mall. So – for those of you in need of a new dishwasher, err car, you may want to read on.