RUMOUR HAS IT…
FUEL PRICE TO DROP
Rand resilience and a declining oil price have set the scene for a further fuel price drop, says the Automobile Association (AA). It says road users could be looking at a decline of between 60c and 64c a litre at month end, with diesel showing a 60c reduction and illuminating paraffin 57c.
“The rand remained mostly stable against the US dollar in the first half of June, with strength in the currency contributing 3c a litre to the drop,” the AA says. “The big move was from oil, which shrugged off Opec’s [Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries’] production quotas to drop by about 8% since the start of the month.”
The association says the fuel price will come under pressure if the three major ratings agencies downgrade randdenominated debt to junk status in future reviews of SA’s sovereign credit ratings.
“That could trigger substantial capital outflow, almost certainly leading to rand weakness which will be heavily negative for the fuel price. Barring unexpected political or economic shocks in the leadup to the next ratings reviews, we expect fuel price movements to depend on international petroleum prices.”
DESIGNER BACK IN GEAR
German engineering firm EDAG has tempted Italian Walter de Silva out of retirement to design eight new models for a new all-electric Chinese brand.
Sources confirmed the former head of Volkswagen Group design will head the engineering outfit’s 560-strong Barcelona design studio to create a range of new models.
De Silva has been tasked with designing an eight-model line-up for BAIC Group’s all-electric startup brand, Arcfox, which will include at least two SUVs. Sources insist the brand’s entire range will come from De Silva’s pen and will range from a small city car to a sports car and a fully fledged limousine.
De Silva retired after a 43-year career, then changed tack completely designing women’s shoes via his own Walter de Silva Shoes operation. The 66-year-old has designed for Alfa Romeo, Fiat, Volkswagen’s Spanish subsidiary Seat and Audi.
He worked closely with then-Audi boss Martin Winterkorn, and when Winterkorn became CEO of the Volkswagen Group in 2007, De Silva became head of design for the group.
He is most famous for his work with Audi, where he pushed the direction change towards more emotional design with the 2005 A6, the original Q7, the 2006 TT and the car he felt most proud of, the original 2007 A5 coupe.
WORLD RECORD ADRIFT
Toyota has a new world record holder, although the results are yet to be ratified by the Guinness Book of World Records. Motoring journalist Jesse Adams recently beat the world record for the longest continuous drift in a car. The attempt was conducted at the Gerotek test facility and Adams spent nearly six hours drifting around its skid pan in a Toyota 86. After five hours and 46 minutes, the lap counters rolled over from “999” to “000”, indicating 1,000 laps had been completed.
Adams completed a total of 168.502 official kilometres, with each lap comprising an average of 177m. A mere 48 laps were disallowed, bringing the tally of officially completed laps to 952.
The existing record was broken by 24.376km.
FOCUSED FUTURE
Ford has been producing the current-generation Focus for more than seven years. In that time it has given it one facelift but 2018 will see the arrival of a major update, although our sources say it will stop short of being an all-new generation.
However, it will get a new and longer chassis which will translate into a longer wheelbase providing more interior space. We also expect the car to be slightly wider while having a lower roofline to give it a more sporty look.
Generally the design will be familiar but there will be major changes to the interior. Our sources have advised that this will include a move to a new dashboard layout similar to that in the Fusion sedan. Not surprisingly there will be a focus on connectivity and infotainment, which will include the various digital screens necessary to manage it all.
Engine options are not likely to differ too much from the current line-up, but there could be more small-capacity EcoBoost power plants designed to match stricter emissions laws coming into force in the US and Europe in the next few years.