Latest news with #Polos
The Herald
22-04-2025
- Automotive
- The Herald
Round two of championship set to thrill at Aldo Scribante Raceway
In what is set to be another bumper weekend of action in the Bay, the Algoa Motorsport Club will host the second round of the regional and club championship at Aldo Scribante Raceway, situated in the Coega Industrial Development Zone. The modified saloon class will be the class to watch, with the arrival of yet another VW Super-Polo in the championship — in the hands of upcoming racing star Elan Buchan. He joins club chairperson Ian Riddle, Nick Davidson, and Deon Slabbert in their similar Polos as they take on Ian Oberholzer's giant-killing turbocharged Volvo 850. A couple of out-of-town drivers will be in the mix in the modified saloons, with rally star Lloyd Brady taking part in a BMW E90 and Stutterheim's Tiaan Coetzer in his super quick Opel Tigra joining the series. Some of the entrants in the motorcycle classes will use this event as a practice run for the upcoming ZX10 Masters Cup that is part of the national Extreme Festival at Aldo Scribante Raceway on May 10. Pierre le Roux, Darryl Barrington, and Dave Enticott, on their Kawasakis, are all already in the starting line-up, where they will be challenged by Dyllan Anderson on his Honda CBR Fireblade RRR. Ivor Vermaak makes a welcome return to competitive racing after a short sabbatical, and he'll be riding a 750cc Suzuki SRAD and will be up against Ronnie Doyle, Wesley Hendricks, Dyllan Anderson and young Craig Benn. Syd Lippstreu returns to the Stu Davidson and Sons Coastal Challenge for historic, classic and retro cars in his immaculate Toyota Celica, after a lengthy illness. He will rejoin the ranks of the Ford Escorts of Barry Spriggs, Ron Scott, Tiaan Kleinhans and Anton Ehlers, the Ford Anglia of Johan Marais, as well as the Datsun Skyline of Rane Berry, the Maxima of Pat Fourie, the Lotus 7 of Alwyn Kretzmann and the Alfa Romeo of Angelique Griffin. The on-track action starts with qualifying for all classes from 8am, with the first race at 10.15am and the last race of the day being the Ingco 45 Minute Endurance challenge for cars, set to start at 4.15pm. Tickets are available at the gate at R70, with free entry for children under 12. The Herald
Reuters
05-02-2025
- Automotive
- Reuters
Volkswagen's African unit makes record Polo exports to Europe, Asia
CAPE TOWN, Feb 5 (Reuters) - Volkswagen's (VOWG_p.DE), opens new tab African unit exported a record 131,485 Polos to European and Asia-Pacific markets in 2024, Europe's biggest carmaker said on Wednesday. That was a big increase from the previous export record of 108,422 vehicles in 2019 from its manufacturing plant in Kariega in South Africa's Eastern Cape province, Volkswagen Group Africa said in a statement, without giving figures for 2023. As of July 2024, Volkswagen Africa is the sole exporter of the Polo for European and Asia-Pacific markets, delivering the model to 38 countries. Overall, these Polos accounted for 88% of exported vehicles from South Africa last year, the company said. The Polo hatchback also performed strongly in the local market last year, selling 12,253 units and taking fourth place in the segment, it added. The locally-built Polo Vivo claimed the top spot in the segment, with 25,914 units sold. Speaking to Reuters on the sidelines of the annual Africa Mining Indaba, Martina Biene, the chairperson and managing director at VGA, said the auto industry had been benefiting from lowering interest rates, availability of constant power supply and improvement at South Africa's ports and rail network. "There is a positive movement, although it's not like sky-rocketing, I would say," she said, referring to the performance of the industry. Power cuts have been a drag on South Africa's economic growth for more than a decade, impacting businesses including manufacturers. Until Jan. 30, there had been none since March last year after a sudden turnaround in the performance of power utility Eskom's generation fleet.
