ZA Car Show: Episode 87

Have house prices affected the way we buy cars? Should car manufacturers be offering more variants that appeal to the mass market? The ZA Car team attempts to answer these two questions while mulling over the introduction of some fast BMWs and innovative vehicle marketing campaigns – the brunt of the recession is over, but is it enough to push-start the sales cycle once again?

Fin24 reports a 300% sales increase in sub -B segment  vehicle sales. Is the motor industry coming right or are the buying patterns of the public changing a bit because sub-B segment cars are actually quite good these days? [story via Fin24 analysis from ZACS]

South Africa's current favourite car and VW's magical recipe for success

Tarted up, but down-specced Clio from Renault in the forms of the Clio S - the question is, should the company have just left the stickers and white options as an option? This would have opened up the market for a cheaper Renault Clio that’s not all boy-racer and affordable, but competitively priced, too.

Boy racer or sales failure; what about this without the white bits?

Suffering some buyers remorse, Renault’s new sales campaign where you can simply return your car for a full refund in 30 days shows confidence in its products, but could it hurt the company in the long run? [read here for T&Cs on this deal]

Frozen black like a toe with frost-bite, the SA-only BMW M3 Frozen Edition adds some extra bits  for power and style and a rather large bit on the price.

Another BMW 500kW road/track car from Rob Green Motorsport, makes for good picture opportunities, but does it make for a good car?

Take Burt Reynolds, give him a face lift, see any difference? No, well take the Mercedes-Benz C Class, give it a face lift, see any difference? Yeah we thought so, but if you gave Burt some blue tablets we’re sure you’d notice his performance increase in other areas – same with the Merc and it’s new engines.

Spot the difference...

Three weeks after ZACS scooped it on Twitter, BMW has officially revealed X3 price list and has done a good job positioning the car.

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Episode 87 hi-fi download (29MB)
Episode 87 lo-fi download (16MB)

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