I’ve been reviewing cars for almost a decade and in that time, only two cars have ever broken down on me. The freaky thing is that both were completely unexpected faults and the vehicles in question share a nationality. Take a deep breath, everyone. They weren’t British or Indian. They were both Japanese.
Japanese
Launch Report: Suzuki Vitara
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.
Launched: Honda Brio
The speedy decision
Today I bring you news of a very, very important car. Obviously it’s important enough for the manufacturer to launch this new model in our market but more importantly, it slots into our market’s most popular segment, around R120,000. So everyone, please say hello to the new Honda Brio.
Launched: Toyota Innova
The big badge
Toyota is on the rebound after a few reliability niggles landed them on the wrong end of a witch hunt. Old foes and new competitors are clawing at market share so the Japanese giant had to think fast and aims to fight back with increased quality and quantity of products.
Bekendstelling: Suzuki Kizashi
Nuwe vlagskip van Suzuki
Suzuki is in Suid-Afrika bekend vir hulle klein 4×4 voertuie, die Jimny en Vitara asook klein luikrug modelle, die Alto en Swift en dan hulle natuurlik ‘n lang geskiedenis as vervaardigers van motorfietse.