Page 5 - Motoring Autumn 2022

TOYOTA INDUSTRY NEWS

He added that the local market is not
yet ready for the full adoption of BEVs, citing
infrastructural shortcomings related to energy
generation as well as high import duties.
Last year, the Department of Trade, Industry
and Competition published a Green Paper
on incentivising the local manufacture and
purchase of new energy vehicles. It is hoped
that the policy will kick off soon after the white
paper has been adopted – which is expected to
happen in due course.
According to Kirby, total vehicle sales
for 2022 will see a continuation of the post-
lockdown recovery and settle at 540 000 units
by the end of the year. “The breakdown for
this year’s forecast includes 334 800 passenger
models, 178 198 light commercial vehicles
(LCV), as well as a total of 27 002 medium and Andrew Kirby Leon Theron
heavy vehicles.”
“The extrapolation (540 000 units) is based
on a variety of socio-economic factors that
do not bode well for the local motor industry.
They include the rising interest rate cycle, the
strain taken by the agricultural sector due to
heavy rainfall, and the muted tourism recovery,
as well as possible market instability owing
to ANC leadership elections and NBF wage
negotiations,” he said.
He concluded that his forecast was
‘constrained’ and that the industry could sell
more vehicles if the economy performed better
than expected, or if issues in the automotive
supply chain can be resolved.
The last segment of SOMI 2022 featured a
number of new vehicle reveals, including the
Lexus LX, NX, and LS 500 Hybrid; and the Toyota
Hilux GR-S, Corolla Cross GR and RAV4 VX Hybrid.
These were followed by a couple of motorsport
announcements made by Senior Vice President
of Sales and Marketing at TSAM, Leon Theron.

GR Cup Yaris Challenge: This initiative has
six local journalists battling it out on various
racetracks in SA, all piloting the fabled Toyota
GR Yaris. They are Jeanette Kok-Kritzinger,
Mark Jones, Thomas Falkiner, Lerato Matebese,
Sean Nurse and Ashley Oldfield. GR Cup Contenders
“The GR Yaris really set the motoring
press alight in 2021 and we felt that this is GR Junior Academy: Here, TSAM, together with motorsport veteran Leeroy Poulter, have
the perfect car to use for a media challenge handpicked some of the best junior drivers in motorsport to be groomed for future success.
race series – to show just what the GR Yaris is Their ages range between nine and 15 years.
capable of in its ‘out-of-the-box’ state. Thank “I’m really proud that we get a chance to invest in the future of motorsport in the form of
you to our six journos for coming to play with the GR Academy. The Gazoo Racing brand is really going from strength to strength and, with
us – we know you’re going to have a ball in this in mind, we thought it the perfect opportunity to start the GR Academy to foster young
this car,” said Theron. racing talent,” concluded Theron. n

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