New kid on the block is priced to sell
THERE’S no denying that SUVs are taking the motoring world by storm, and these days many buyers simply can’t resist the allure of a vehicle that towers above traffic, although their rugged looks and family-friendly practicality are no doubt also attracting buyers to the high-riding realm.
The trouble is, most SUVs are quite expensive and even many of the compact ones are breaching the R300 000 mark, while some of the higher-spec examples are even testing the R500 000 mark.
But, thankfully, for those seeking an SUV on a budget, there are plenty of new offerings coming to South Africa this year, and the first of these to arrive is the Suzuki Vitara Brezza, which starts at just R244 900 – and that’s with a fair amount of equipment. It will be joined soon by a re-branded Toyota version called the Urban Cruiser, created as part of a collaboration between the two Japanese carmakers and, speaking of twins, the Nissan Magnite and Renault Kiger are also due to hit our shores this year (see below).
WHAT EXACTLY IS A VITARA BREZZA?
This new offering hails from Maruti Suzuki in India and while it shares its 2500mm wheelbase with the regular Vitara, it’s a good 180mm shorter and 15mm wider, and with a ground clearance of 198mm. It’s also 13mm higher off the ground. The regular Vitara, incidentally, will soldier on as a “flagship” model, and it’s currently priced from R310 900.
All Brezza variants are powered by Suzuki’s familiar 1.5-litre petrol engine, codenamed K15B and also found in the Jimny, Ertiga and Ciaz. The normally aspirated motor produces 77kW at 6 000rpm and 138Nm from 4 400rpm and, unlike the more upmarket Vitara, which offers an allwheel drive option, the Brezza is only available in front-wheel drive format. Buyers do, however, get to choose between a five-speed manual and fourspeed automatic gearbox.
HOW DOES IT DRIVE?
We recently spent a week with one of the manual models and the little SUV impressed with its overall driveability.
The driving controls operate smoothly and the ride is comfortable. With just 77kW, however, this is not a speed machine and while it happily
keeps up with fast-paced urban traffic, you will have to play with the gears and work it a bit harder when faced with steep hills or overtaking manoeuvres.
As for consumption, Suzuki claims a combined fuel consumption of 6.2 litres per 100km.
IS THE BREZZA PRACTICAL?
We think this vehicle is going to do well on the market because it strikes a good balance between size and price.
It’s not a tiny SUV, but it’s not enormous either. The boot swallows 328 litres worth of luggage and this should meet most needs, but a family holiday might require some clever boxing.
The rear legroom is decent, not the best in the compact SUV segment but not the worst either, and unless the driver is really tall, a teen or adult should fit quite comfortably in the back.
WHAT FEATURES DOES IT HAVE?
Customers get to choose between GL and GLX spec grades, but even the base model is relatively well stocked, with standard features such as automatic climate control, an SLDA touchscreen infotainment system with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay connectivity, reverse camera, multi-function steering wheel and electric fold-in mirrors. The safety kit includes driver and passenger airbags, ISOFIX mountings and ABS brakes but, sadly, there is no mention of any kind of stability control.
The GLX adds cruise control to the standard features mix, along with keyless entry and a push-to-start-button, auto-dimming rearview mirror, cooled glovebox, auto windscreen wipers and a leather-covered steering wheel.
On the visual front, the GL’s 16-inch steel wheels make way for alloy wheels in the GLX and the latter is also available with a trio of two-tone roof colour options for those that want to stand out a bit more. Buyers can, for instance, pair the Sizzling Red and Torque Blue exterior colours with a Midnight Black roof, or the Granite Grey option with an Autumn Orange roof.
As for aftersales, both models are sold with a five-year/200 000km warranty and four-year/60 000km service plan.
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HOMEOWNERS who turned their properties into uber-luxury private villas with bespoke amenities like spa facilities, home cinemas and infinity pools are now reaping the benefits.
Travel experts say that bookings for private villas in South Africa have skyrocketed during the pandemic with some private villas fully booked for the next year. While travel bans and Covid-19 restrictions are some reasons for travellers’ scepticism to venture abroad, travel experts believe that privacy and unique offerings also play a factor in the private villa resurgence.
Helen Untiedt, the co-founder and curator of Perfect Hideaways, a private villa rental company, said that since South Africa had lifted travel lockdown restrictions for domestic and international travellers, demand had soared.
“Travellers are yearning for an escape where they can enjoy privacy and soak in some of the best views and experiences the destination has to offer. Some prefer private homes overlooking the beach while others enjoy the countryside or any secluded place away from people,” she said.
As the majority of people are working remotely, many travellers, some from the US, UK, Germany and Sweden, are opting to spend their days in a luxury villa.
“We’ve seen an uptick in long-term rentals where guests stay for a month or two. As most of them are working remotely, a strong wifi connection is one of their requirements.
“We’ve seen a rise in our Christmas 2021 bookings with guests opting to stay in a few villas across South Africa to immerse themselves in the bush, beach, city and country lifestyle,” she said.
Therese Botha, the owner of Icon Villas, said the villa market had been buoyant for the past 20 years, especially in the Western Cape and at safari lodges.
The perks of private villas
She said privacy was one of the factors that influenced people: “They want to be secluded during the pandemic. Our guests often request that
there should be little or no interaction with staff. If they require staff, they want all Covid regulations observed.”
Untiedt said travellers were wary of Covid-19 and prefered to travel with their family.
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“Travellers are craving their own space away from the hustle and bustle at other accommodation. They do not want to share spaces with a large group of people. Their own villa offers privacy and they get to travel with people who they know and feel safe with,” she said.
Affordability
Untiedt said that a private villa cost anything from R3000 to R60 000 a day.
She said that private villas work out cheaper for large groups (it usually sleeps 6 to 8 people) as rates are charged for the villa and not on a per-person basis like most accommodation rates.
“All bookings are performed on a case-by-case basis. We work according to the client’s budget,” she said.
Botha shared the same sentiments. She said booking a private villa worked out cheaper for couples or small groups.
“Many assume a villa stay costs a fortune, but this is far from the truth. Some villas start from as little as R1 850 per night for a private pad for 2. On the other end of the scale, some guests pay up to R110000 per night for up to 12 guests, which equates to R9 167 per person. The price is inclusive of breakfast, a private chef, a full staff, laundry, a driver, a vehicle, spa treatments and more,” she said.
Post pandemic
Untiedt foresaw a further boom in villa rentals. She said beach houses were going to rise in demand. Botha said the private rentals market were likely to rebound faster than traditional hotels due to the privacy and safety benefits it offers travellers during Covid-19.
“The demand for private experiences, including private accommodation options, will likely increase. Pricing is likely not going to be as much of a consideration compared to booking privacy and flexibility. The demand for family time will only increase. The trend of flexible work locations due to the value of the rand will also see more international visitors working remotely from SA,” she said.
DISRUPTIVE online stockbroker platforms, such as Robinhood in the US and EasyEquities in South Africa, have made the stock market accessible to everyone with a smartphone. Now you can virtually put your spare change into shares, and be charged very little – or nothing, in the case of Robinhood – for doing so
Although the same may not be true of Robinhood, EasyEquities (in line with Personal Finance’s ethos), encourages a long-term approach to stock market investing: you build a solid portfolio of shares of well-run businesses with good prospects. This “buy and hold” strategy is the one generally used by unit trust fund managers. Trading, or speculating, on the other hand – taking short-term bets on price movements – involves trying to time the market, which largely boils down to luck.
Whether they are long-term portfolio builders or short-term speculators, there is a new generation of online share investors who hold considerable power in the markets. This was made apparent recently in the Reddit/ GameStop saga.
Briefly, some hedge funds began shorting the stock of GameStop, a US-based video game retailer – in other words, they were betting on a fall in the share price. They reasoned that the company was on the decline: that it would go the same way as Musica, sadly, has gone in South Africa.
A large group of retail investors on a Reddit community called WallStreetBets began to buy GameStop shares in order to drive up GameStop’s share price.
This forced the short-sellers to buy back shares to cover their losses – an action which, ironically, further boosted the share price; a condition known as a short squeeze. GameStop jumped from $20 at the beginning of January to $347 by January 27.
A number of brokerages, including Robinhood, then suspended trading of GameStop, to which there was an immediate outcry and furious social media backlash.
Paul Marais, the managing director at NFB Asset Management, explains
that Robinhood was forced to suspend trading given that it had run out of liquidity.
He says lay traders have identified other stocks targeted by short-sellers, including Blackberry, AMC and Nokia, and even Steinhoff in South Africa.
“The irony of the WallStreetBets investors is that they are essentially propping up firms that are likely to see their demise in the not too distant future.”
By February 8, the bubble had burst, and the GameStop share price had fallen to $60. “As history has shown, bubbles never last. If investors choose to push the limits, then they need to bear the consequences,”
Marais said.
POWER OF THE RETAIL INVESTOR
Charles Savage, the chief executive of EasyEquities, says that a similar scenario is unlikely in the South African market at present. He said the US stock-market ecosystem was very different to that of South Africa. It is not only the world’s biggest market, but it contains a far higher degree of leveraged capital (shares and derivatives traded with borrowed money), which means that even relatively small-cap
shares are influenced by speculation and leveraged trading, which is not the case here.
However, he says the GameStop saga has highlighted the growing power of retail investors against institutional investors (hedge funds, unit trust funds and retirement funds).
“The future of investing is going to be more about retail than it ever has been. That means there will be a resetting of the balance of power and the rules that support investing. And that transition will happen faster than anyone is expecting. In South Africa, retail investors, who five years ago accounted for less than half-a-percent of the volumes on the
JSE, account now for three to five percent, and over the next 10 years that number will grow easily to 25%. In the US, retail is already at 25%, from below 10% about five years ago. I believe retail investors will breach 50% of volumes in the US within the next five years.
“That’s a much fairer playing field. This Reddit/Gamestop example has hinted at a future that is disruptive. Chief executives, institutional investors and hedge funds – in fact, the entire ecosystem – when they think about how they run their businesses, how they manage liquidity, will have to consider the retail investor first and foremost.
Savage says that what is interesting about the “Reddit army” is that it was neither speculative nor investor-driven.
“They went into it with their eyes wide open – they weren’t expecting to make money. They were wanting to teach the shorters a lesson. It was about them standing up to institutions and saying ‘this is ‘wrong’.
“Until now, institutional investors have controlled the value dialogue. What is a certain company worth? And it has been hard to argue with them, as there has been no counterbalance.
“Retail investors don’t value a company just through the lines of an income statement. They have a different valuation metric – they fall in love with the brand and [a company’s moral values] and a whole lot of other things that are not considered in an institutional view.”
IS MORE REGULATION NEEDED?
The saga has raised the question of whether there should be more regulation of the markets. Non-executive director of the Purple Group, Mark Barnes, in his capacity as previous chairman of the South African Futures Exchange, opposes this idea.
“No matter how much a non-player might step in to regulate a market, the market finds a way. I think the best form of regulation is lessons learnt. And so I would leave the market to make its mistakes, and sooner or later people will realise ‘you shouldn’t go there’. Those of us who have been around for a while don’t go there.”
LOVE and marriage might go together like a “horse and carriage” but if your finances are not aligned, disappointment on Valentine’s Day is the least of your concerns.
Disagreements over financial decision-making are among the main reasons that married couples end up divorcing, warn financial planners. Addiction, adultery and abuse might be some of the biggest marriage fails, but disagreements about money or avoiding the topic altogether can have a devastating impact on a relationship and individual partners.
It’s the reason engagement with an independent third party can ensure a better understanding about money relationships, help partners reach a compromise and protect the couple – both as individuals and a unit. Starting off on the right financial footing helps to build a strong foundation for a healthy relationship.
Janine Horn, financial adviser at Momentum Financial Planning, says she believes in financial planning before marriage, because couples need to understand how each one works with money, how much debt the other has and what their goals are before signing a marital contract.
“We need to speak about our background, whether there’s depression or privileged behaviour around money, about where you come from and what behaviours you were taught as a child. In many families, there’s the expectation of black tax. Are you a spender and do you attract debt?”
Speaking about money over Valentine’s Day is not a cliché – Horn
believes it should be spoken about much more. “Date your partner financially – if I speed-dated you and asked you questions about your family life, whether your dad a spender or an alcoholic, were you taught about investment or saving? And then there’s the question of how do we compromise?”
“It’s easy for couples to end up in a power struggle over money,” said Sharon Moller, a lifestyle financial
planning coach at Old Mutual Wealth. And if one partner falls into the “bad cop” role, the other becomes defensive, causing resentment on both sides.
Because finances are so critical to a relationship, Moller says most of her planners won’t engage with clients if their partners are not with them in the room. “If your spouse is not part of it, then it won’t work. But it’s always assumed that the spouse knows what
you want out of life.”
Old Mutual Wealth has 12 “integrated wealth” coaches around the country, looking after about 400 lifestyle financial planners.
“It’s a specific skill and philosophy. Typically, financial planning is about products and best funds. That conversation exists but planners are now stepping into a world where they are coaching their clients, looking at the triggers – it’s not all about the financial performance of an investment, whether you have enough insurances or savings, and other products.”
In the most recent Momentum/ Unisa Household Financial Wellness Index, only 38% of financially well households were found to have a financial plan.
Horn says she has seen too many couples enter financial planning too late. “Having a shared financial plan doesn’t mean losing your financial freedom but it means identifying where your financial goals align and co-creating a shared roadmap to get there. There is no substitute for the right advice, especially in such precarious times.”
Communication is key and not everybody has a perfect relationship, says Rita Cool, a financial adviser with Alexander Forbes. “Money can be a big problem in a relationship – if your partner hides excessive purchases or has debt that you weren’t aware of, that’s a huge issue. It shouldn’t be a fight – talk about it as a couple.
It takes two to plan for your future, Cool says, which is she recommends finance date night, so couples can step out of their routine. “There’s so much going on otherwise, but you don’t think about debt, what if someone loses their job, or if you die? People have strange ideas but it needs to work for your relationship and family.”
If your relationship is new, Cool warns never to jump into combined finances too early on because trust doesn’t work with money, but if you envisage a long-term future – even if it does not entail the traditional white picket fence and Tupperware collection – sort out your finances.
I WOULD like to begin by welcoming the United States of America to the ACT Accelerator. We’re glad to have your support and involvement, and we look forward to your partnership in ensuring that all countries enjoy equitable access to vaccines, diagnostics and therapeutics against Covid-19.
We are at a critical juncture in our fight against the pandemic.
Through a monumental global effort, we now have an array of vaccines, diagnostics and therapeutics that can help us bring this virus under control. But we face significant challenges.
International collaboration is increasingly fragmented, and inequities are increasing. More than 90% of countries now rolling out vaccines are wealthy. Seventy-five percent of the 130 million deployed doses have been in only 10 countries. Meanwhile, almost 130 countries, with 2.5billion people, have yet to administer a single dose.
Many of these countries are also struggling to secure the resources for testing, personal protective equipment, oxygen, and medicines. The ACT Accelerator and Covax Facility were created to increase equity. But with every passing day, that goal is at risk.
Countries are ready to go; Covax is ready to go, but adequate supplies of vaccines aren’t there early enough.
The longer the Covid-19 virus circulates, the more it can mutate, potentially making current tests, treatments and vaccines less effective.
We have already seen several variants emerge that appear to be significantly more transmissible. And as long as the pandemic drags on, so will the economic impacts. Until we end the pandemic everywhere, we will not end it anywhere. This is not an empty
slogan – it is a hard reality.
WHO and our partners in the ACT Accelerator have laid the groundwork. We have created a dose-sharing mechanism, set up rapid processes for the emergency use listing, set up indemnification and no-fault compensation
mechanisms and completed readiness assessments in almost all AMC countries.
But, I see three major threats to the success of the ACT Accelerator and Covax, which need our urgent attention.
First, we must ensure the full financing of the ACT Accelerator and Covax. We are grateful for the generous contributions to date, but we still have a long way to go. The financing gap for the ACT Accelerator stands at more than $27 billion ( about R398 billion) for 2021.
The longer this gap goes unmet, the harder it becomes to understand why, given this is a tiny fraction of the trillions of dollars that have been mobilised for stimulus packages in G20 countries.
We call on OECD and DAC countries to commit a proportion of stimulus financing to close the funding gap, and to take measures to unlock capital in multilateral development banks.
Second, we call on all countries to respect Covax contracts and not compete with them. Some countries continue to sign bilateral deals, while other countries have nothing. We have issued a challenge to ensure that vaccination of health workers is underway in all countries within the first 100 days of the year.
We have 60 days left. We call on countries to support the global rollout of vaccines with dose-sharing and donations of vaccines, rather than to vaccinate lower-risk groups at home.
We have made the moral argument. We have made the economic argument. Now, emerging evidence that variants could make vaccines less effective is showing that unless we suppress this virus everywhere, we could end up back at square one.
And third, we need an urgent scale-up in manufacturing to increase the volume of vaccines.
That means innovative partnerships including tech transfer, licensing and other mechanisms to address production bottlenecks.
The success of this effort ultimately comes down to political decisions.
Dr Tedros Adhanom is Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO). This is an edited version of his opening statement at the Access to Covid-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator 4th Facilitation Council