Latest news with #FordSouthAfrica
The Citizen
27-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Citizen
Brandcliff House gears up for esports tournament
Brandcliff House Private School learners battled it out for the grand prize in their annual Gladiator LAN Esports Tournament 2025 edition. Read more: Ford South Africa has launched its next Esports sim-racing competition A series of final matches saw a dominant performance by Bohlale Makgoo, who has been a consistent player for several years, showing that hard work does pay off in the long run. Joshua Van Rooyen claimed the second spot, with a tremendous performance that narrowly beat TJ Fraser, who placed third. Other finalists: Ashton Encarnacao, Zachary Pretorius, and Matthew Anderson, also managed to put up strong scores in the tournament. Although the 'veteran' contenders dominated the early rounds of the competition, many newcomers made their mark in the tournament with strong performances. Aside from the accolades and bragging rights, players were competing for fantastic prizes from ComicConAfrica, with the top three gladiators attending the expo in August. Also read: Gaming. It's bigger. It's better. And the show's on now! Every contender also received a commemorative tactical patch, from Cerberus Tactical Outfitters, as a reminder of their brave participation. Although this annual esport event has inflamed old rivalries and inspired new ones, the Gladiator LAN was a fun atmosphere that will no doubt draw many new participants next year. Follow us on our Whatsapp channel, Facebook, X, Instagram and TikTok for the latest updates and inspiration! Have a story idea? We'd love to hear from you – join our WhatsApp group and share your thoughts! Related article: Brandcliff's gaming gladiators
The Citizen
24-05-2025
- Automotive
- The Citizen
Ford Territory gets the feminine vote as a comfortable daily ride
At a price point of over R700 000, the Titanium has its hands full with Chinese rivals. There is no denying that Ford South Africa have been short on model derivatives, especially in the most popular segment of the lot, the SUV space. It has been mostly up to the Everest to fly the flag with Puma not quite hitting the mark. The arrival of new Ford Territory, however, last year could not have come at a better time. And to offer us a little reminder of what their mid-size SUV offers, Ford dropped off a top-of-the-range Titanium spec Territory with strict instructions that it is for my wife to drive and for her to offer a lifestyle opinion of what it is like living with their new SUV on a daily basis. My wife thought it looked pretty good, but she did comment that it looked a lot like the other Chinese SUVs. Which it does, so I had to tell her that despite the Ford Territory wearing a 'true blue' badge, it is in fact very much a Chinese produced and sourced vehicle. This didn't bother her one bit, and I don't think it will many other potential buyers either. ALSO READ: Ford Territory perfect companion to escape from Jozi for a weekend Electric tailgate works wonders Jumping to the interior, she immediately commented on what she felt was a decent amount of space for the humans and her seemingly endless amount of cargo she drags to work every day. We will get to the all the largely unnoticed tech, but her highlight was that the tailgate operates remotely via the push of a button. I think this had a lot to do with her being in and out the boot all the time, and while it might seem to be a trivial point, for her, it would have been near the top of her list of reasons to scratch a car off her shopping list if a car didn't offer this. For what it is worth, the Ford Territory Titanium offers a panoramic roof, LED ambient lighting, wireless smartphone charging, three USB ports up front and one in the rear and an eight-speaker Bluetooth audio system integrated into the centre touchscreen with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity, complemented by convenient steering wheel-mounted audio controls. The electric tailgate came in very handy. Picture: Ford Marital squabbles Right in front of you is a panoramic display that integrates a 12.3-inch high-definition digital instrument cluster, and a 12.3-inch landscape infotainment touchscreen which you can operate using your finger or a rotary controller on the centre console. This leads me into the final part of this review, and that is the drive. I am just going to say that my wife and I drive somewhat differently. Where she says everything is nice, I get on my high horse about technical things like throttle calibration. And I have to say, I do not like the throttle calibration on the Ford Territory. It's slow to react and when it does, it wants to take off like a race car, which is typical of almost all Chinese cars. But, and this is a big but, my wife did not see things this way and was quite happy to trundle around the suburbs without a care in the world. Obviously, once on the boil, the 138kW of power and 318Nm of torque was more than enough for her and me for everyday driving. ALSO READ: Intentions clear: All-new Ford Territory stakes its claim Ford Territory in tough segment The seven-speed dual clutch transmission was smooth enough too, with the only pain being the auto start/stop that was also slow to wake up when you wanted to pull away. But again, this was something that my wife was more than okay with. She also had no real interest in playing with the four selectable drive modes. There are Normal, Eco, Sport and Mountain. The latter was lost in translation I guess. The Ford Territory features two 12.3-inch screens. Picture: Ford She did think the fuel consumption figure we achieved of 9.1 litres per 100km was more than acceptable for medium-sized SUV and I agree with her. ALSO READ: Ford Territory takes the sting out of the daily traffic grind Despite some little niggles with the Ford Territory my wife was prepared to live with, the biggest hurdle this vehicle faces is the sales race. At a price point of R725 500 in the SUV segment, it's absolute war against the Chinese like Chery, Jaecoo, GWM, Haval, GAC and Jetour. All of them offer similar product at a similar, or better price.
Zawya
07-05-2025
- Automotive
- Zawya
Ford South Africa jumps 9.4% in Q1 2025 buoying vehicle sales recovery
South Africa's new vehicle market is showing signs of recovery in 2025 after a tough two years, and Ford Motor Company of Southern Africa is keeping pace with the rebound, posting a 9.4% increase in sales for the first quarter of 2025 compared to the same period last year. Ford sold a total of 8 274 vehicles in South Africa during the first three months of 2025, an increase of 713 units relative to the first quarter of 2024. This was based on a sustained upward trajectory carried through from last year, with 2,467 vehicles sold in January 2025, followed by 2,900 units in February and 2,907 in March. Ford South Africa achieved a 6% share of the all-important dealer sales channel in Q1 2025. 'New vehicle sales have definitely gained momentum during the first quarter of this year, and this recovery after a couple of challenging years is a positive sign of consumer and business confidence,' says Ryan Searle, director of sales operations, Ford South Africa. 'It is encouraging that the positive results Ford achieved last year have been maintained through the first quarter of 2025, despite the continued influx of new competitor brands and models. Ranger tops double cab charts The Ranger continues as Ford's best-selling vehicle, accounting for 6,205 units sold during the first quarter of this year – 150 vehicles or 2.5% higher than the same period in 2024. In the monthly sales charts, Ranger followed the same positive trend as Ford's overall volumes, climbing from 1,858 units in January to 2,168 in February and 2,179 in March. Reinforcing its status as the country's favourite double cab bakkie that is suited to a wide variety of work, leisure and adventure lifestyles, the Ranger claimed a leading 31.7% of the double cab segment with 5 193 units sold and an increase of 1.5% compared to Q1 2024. This placed it 534 units ahead of its nearest competitor for the year to date. In addition to its popularity amongst new vehicle buyers, the Ranger continues to lead in the used vehicle segment too. According to AutoTrader's latest statistics from March 2025, the Ranger was the top-selling used vehicle on the platform, with 1,753 vehicles sold for the month. Ford ranked third overall in March on this used car platform, achieving a 12% year-on-year growth. The family-oriented Territory recorded a 3.8% share with 822 vehicles sold in the highly competitive compact sport utility vehicle (SUV) segment. Following the launch of the thrilling seventh-generation Mustang late last year, it's no surprise that demand for this iconic model continues to far exceed supply. A total of 68 Mustang GT and Mustang Dark Horse models were sold during the first quarter of 2025. This year's full allocation for the Mustang Dark Horse is completely sold out and new orders are being allocated to 2026 production. Exports Ranger exports from South Africa to more than 100 global markets remained flat for the first quarter of 2025 with 10,878 units shipped to customers around the world compared to 10,964 for the same period last year. Ford accounted for 11.2% of total industry exports from January to March 2025, along with a 34.5% share of the light commercial export volume. Production of the Ranger PHEV is pegged at approximately 200 vehicles per day, further bolstering the company's export business – especially with the new PHEV models representing the first-ever Ranger exports from South Africa to Australia and New Zealand. The South African-built Ranger has been Europe's best-selling pickup for the past 10 years with 43.6% market share, and the new Ranger PHEV is set to play a significant role in Ford's LCV line-up in the region. All rights reserved. © 2022. Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (
