RUMOUR HAS IT...
AU REVOIR, CITROEN
After years of speculation, Citroen is finally leaving SA. Peugeot Citroen SA MD Francis Harnie has confirmed to Motor News that the famous chevron-wearing marque would no longer be available in the country.
“Although we will concentrate on the Peugeot brand, both Citroen and DS customers will be looked after,” Harnie told us. “Each dealership will retail Peugeot models, but will all offer the entire aftersales service to customers of all three brands. Citroen parts will be handled as Peugeot parts in the future.”
The decision comes as no surprise. This year, Citroen has sold just 440 vehicles in the country and had already stated it would not be bringing its vital new C3 model to our shores.
Its withdrawal comes at a time when the brand is actually enjoying a resurgence elsewhere in the world.
Citroen is the most recent brand to leave the country after the departure of Daihatsu and Dodge and Chrysler.
SHARING THE RIDE
Volkswagen is going electric, going autonomous and going after start-up success stories like Uber and Lyft. The German car maker this week announced its new ride-sharing brand, Moia, specifically to become one of the world’s top three mobility service providers within 10 years.
As the 13th brand of the Volkswagen Group, Moia will leverage Volkswagen’s May 2016 investment in ride-hailing app Gett. Like BMW’s move to rebrand itself as a tech company that happens to make cars (see the full story on page 9), the VW announcement is effectively a way to cover in case start-ups such as Uber and Lyft begin to threaten its core business or cash flow.
CEO Ole Harms claims the goal for Moia is to look for and implement ways to change the way people move in cities. “We need to offer new forms of transportation and really improve the traffic situation.”
It will start with an agile shuttle service that is aimed to work somewhere between the level of Uber’s ride-hailing service and a scheduled bus route, and which can be hailed by using a smartphone app. It is planned to make Moia rides roughly the same price as typical city bus fares by sharing rides with multiple users.
To be built off the Volkswagen Group’s MEB battery-electric vehicle architecture, the first Moia car is being developed by VW’s commercial vehicle division and could be shown as early as the Los Angeles motor show in November 2017.
POLISHING THE CULLINAN
Rolls-Royce has released more details and images of its upcoming Cullinan sports utility vehicle (SUV). The details reminded us that it is working on the super-luxury SUV as it continues to develop the new platform that will underpin all new Rolls-Royce models from 2018 onwards. “This is an exciting moment in Project Cullinan both for Rolls-Royce and for patrons of luxury who follow us around the world,” says Torsten Müller-Ötvös, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars CEO.
REVVED UP RENAULT
Renault has been on a charge lately with a host of new models and it has more to come in 2017. One of its most important models and probably the one that best marks its turnaround is the Clio, which has now received a facelift.
The new model gets small styling changes, including new front and rear lights and upgrades to its interior. Engines remain the same, although the entry-level Authentique gets the 66kW turbocharged motor.