USHERING IN A NEW AUTOMOTIVE DECADE

Compliments of the New Season to you, dear reader. Welcome to our first edition of 2020, and we hope you look forward to the rest of the year with much vigour and enthusiasm as we do. The past may have brought stumbling blocks along the way, but South Africans, in general, have a tenacious spirit embedded in every individual, and we have managed to circumnavigate these with enthusiasm. As we enter a new decade, may our focus too, be as deliberately clear as, well, an ideal 20/20 vision – yes, pun intended.

Hard to believe then that, just under six months to date a decade ago, we hosted... we hosted the FIFA Soccer World Cup on our shores, and our beloved Madiba was there to witness this watershed moment. Three years later, we lost our National icon, yet his legacy will continue to live on and shine like a beacon many, many years to come.

That said, the automotive sector is gearing up for the next decade with joint ventures, collaborations, and even mergers becoming more prevalent among manufacturers. The most recent announcement is that of PSA Group (Peugeot Citroën) merging with FCA (Fiat Chrysler), which on a global scale, will make the conglomerate quite a sizeable automotive entity.

The former represents Peugeot, Citroën, DS, Opel and Vauxhall brands, while the latter brings to the table: Alfa Romeo, Dodge, Fiat, Jeep, Lancia, Maserati, RAM and SRT. As economies of scale become an even more critical objective, we can expect many more companies to follow suit.

Naturally, the Driven team will continue its chosen trajectory to bring you the latest automotive news and reviews, and we have quite a raft of new premium models coming to our shores this year (read more on page 16). We also bring you our road impressions of some high-performance models; including the Mercedes-AMG GT 63S 4 Door (read more on page 40), Range Rover Velar SVAutobiography (read more on page 48) and Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk (read more on page 44). We also take a nostalgic drive in the 1992 Opel Kadett GSI 16V Superboss in our Heritage section of the magazine (read more on 78).

So, sit back, buckle up and enjoy the read!

Let’s be Driven!

Lerato Matebese lerato@drivenmag.co.za