I HARDLY need waste ink in drifting off into a resume of how the automotive world has gone SUV-centric as the trend is now old hat, but it does seem a tad unusual that a company such as Honda with its sporting history should have encompassed the genre…

Merc GLA 200 and AMG 35 Unlike in the good old days when Mercedes-Benz took moons to develop a new model to standards few others could aspire to, more recent Mercs have come out of the development phase at comparatively break neck speed, and the haste has sometimes…

IT ALMOST goes without saying that Zimbabwe manages to create unique market situations when it comes to what is or isn’t available in terms of automotive brands. (more…)

HONDA'S intentions are so hard to read as far as the Southern African market is concerned. To the casual observer, the company has been keeping its head below the parapet compared with the halcyon days of the Ballade when local assembly and a union with Mercedes-Benz created so…

RECENT events around the globe have had a catastrophic effect on the motor industry (and most other things too) and we haven’t been spared on the southern tip of Africa, especially with a three-week lockdown now in force. (more…)

  BUYING patterns in southern Africa telegraph that there’s a loyal clientele for pick-ups (hereafter referred to as bakkies) and that loyalty is also brand-orientated to a remarkable degree such that market share by badge has remained incredibly consistent, year by year. (more…)

LONG-term readers of Top Gear may recall that back in the dim but not so distant past, I had a Suzuki Swift Sport in my personal wheeled armoury, having selected it as appropriate transport for my wife who had a preference for smaller vehicles. (more…)

EVERY now and again, a test car exhibits a peculiarity that demands close attention to discover its source. The Peugeot 5008 SUV/Crossover quickly caught my attention not so much for its large and extremely versatile cabin, but for the pervasive tyre drone that infiltrated that capacious cabin whenever…

HISTORY tells us that French drivers have always preferred cars with a softer disposition. The ground-breaking Renault 16 of around half a century back rolled like an overloaded fishing vessel in the Bay of Biscay when pressed into corners, and of course, the hydraulically suspended Citroen ID and…