The Financial Gazette

Top Gear with Richard Wiley
IN the last six weeks or so, I’ve had test cars coming out of my ears which is just how life should be if your passion is writing about such things. For now, there’s something of a lull which gives me the opportunity to voice my opinion in the most cynical terms possible, about the iniquitous CO2 emissions tax which will hit new cars in South Africa from this month.
Industry insiders estimate that the cost of new cars will go up by an average of 2,5 percent just when the local industry is trying to claw its way out of a very long sales slump. As happens with most governments, the voice of reason has been cast into the nearest dustbin.  
Consider these facts: Firstly, the tax is applied to new cars which in the main, emit fewer nasties than older cars which escape the tax completely.
More importantly though, is the fact that the old spec fuels which are available in SA, prevent manufacturers from releasing their cleanest engines on the local market.  Daft as it may seem, many models made in SA do feature the latest clean engines but they’re shipped out of the country for export to markets where  more enlightened fuel policies have encouraged development of cleaner engines.  Specifically, the absence of 98 octane unleaded petrol and the scarcity of low sulphur diesel ensures that SA remains on the back foot.
But it’s not just the fact that manufacturers are not given the chance to showcase their cleanest products that irks. It’s the fact that no consideration has been given to the use to which these over-taxed new cars will be put.
In the time my opposite neighbour has clocked up 45 000km in his car, my own car has covered just 9 000km. Assuming we both bought the same cars on September 1, who will be polluting the environment more? Me or my neighbour?   Yet we’ll both pay the same “emissions tax”.
This is utter nonsense and tells you that if the government’s actions displayed the vaguest sincerity in terms of taxing genuine polluters, then the revenue should be raised by imposing a “green levy” on fuel.  The more you drive, the more you pollute, the more you contribute.  QED.
Most importantly, every car on the road would contribute to the coffers and not just those buying new cars. Now, all this tells me that the emissions tax has absolutely NOTHING to do with its stated purpose. It’s nothing more than another ill-advised way to raise revenues for the government coffers and you can be sure that the ill-gotten gains will not all go back into improving the motorists’ lot.  Sounds just like Zimbabwe’s “carbon tax”.
Inconsistent F1
Anyone who happened to watch the Belgian Grand Prix must be wondering about the inconsistency in appraising penalties for misdemeanours by the drivers.
In their wisdom, the FIA decided to add an ex F1 driver to the panel of stewards at each GP. This doubtless well-intentioned move hasn’t really helped the drivers’ cause as each ex-driver clearly (and understandably) has his own personal interpretation of what comprises a punishable offence.
In Belgium, the chosen man was Nigel Mansell, an individual well-known for his own histrionics in his F1 driving days. It therefore didn’t overly surprise me that Rubens Barrichello escaped punishment for ramming into the back of Fernando Alonso yet Sebastian Vettel was hit with a drive through penalty for a move which I thought was marginally more excusable than Barrichello’s. It’s obvious Rubens couldn’t serve the same penalty as Vettel because his own car was incapacitated, but if an offence has been committed, it must be punished in terms of the regulations.
I’m watching with interest to see if the Brazilian is hit with a grid penalty in Italy.  Vettel’s “crime”, of course, was that he hit a British driver.
News snippets
Nissan’s absurdly-named Leaf will officially go on sale in the UK early in 2011 and, to all intents and purposes, it will be the world’s first practical electric car. Thanks to the introduction of a 48-module lithium ion battery, the car will have greater endurance than anything previously seen and will not be using up excessive energy dragging its own mass around.
For the record, the battery is guaranteed for five years and is estimated to have a lifespan of 8-10 years.   The maximum range is around 160km, but first, the car must be charged for eight hours. Does ZESA stay on for this long? Performance, by the way, is surprisingly acceptable with a top speed of around 145km/h and 0-100km/h in 12 seconds.
Merc’s distinctive four-door CLS, the car that pioneered the multi-door coupe look copied so successfully in the case of the Passat CC in particular, is no longer.
A new and very slick-looking replacement (see accompanying photo) will debut at next month’s Paris Salon. The outgoing model found 170 000 buyers over its seven-year production run and with the possible exception of its tail end design which resembled that of an Australian Ford, it still looked good when the axe fell.
In its unrelenting march towards dominating the world’s luxury car market, Audi says it will have 42 separate models in production by 2015. The latest iterations are the A1 which goes on sale for the first time in Germany this week with projected production levels already ramped up, and the A7 Sportback which is rumoured to be the precursor for the new A6 due in 2011. The A7 is reportedly model 35 so there’s lots to look forward to still.
In the meantime, parent company, VW, is said to be making heavy overtures to Fiat to buy Alfa-Romeo from them. Ironically, it is VW’s current Latin division, Seat, which is simply not providing the returns expected.  
Domestic demand is quite strong, but outside of Spain, the brand’s cachet isn’t so powerful so it seems the idea is to dump Seat and introduce Alfa.
The Italian brand was once revered, but its values have been diluted in recent years by indifferent reliability and assembly standards, not to mention the fact that the public was largely aware that they were buying dressed-up Fiats at greater cost.
- must admit that the combination of Italian design flare and German engineering integrity seems decidedly appealing. You can be certain too that with VW’s exacting finishing standards, the days of rusting Alfas will be long gone.
Many of you, I’m sure, will remember the rust-heap Giulias and 1750/2000s which were locally assembled. The lower reaches of the boot lids were particularly susceptible to the orange scourge, so much so that owners often found they had less boot lid in place at 5pm as compared with when they went to work at 8am!