Golf 7 coming to South Africa

The new Volkswagen Golf 7 is coming to South Africa! Received with mixed feelings in the country, many people feel that it is "more of the same", while others are desperately looking forward to its arrival. The VW Golf is somewhat of an icon in South Africa, so regardless of the hot and cold initial reactions, I am certain that the product will be another hit for the German manufacturer.

Full article: The new VW Golf now in South Africa

A visit to Mercedes-Benz in Stuttgart, Germany

Visiting Germany was always going to result in a brush with a motoring giant. Today I took the time to travel to Neckerpark in Stuttgart, a place synonymous with Mercedes-Benz, literally - the train station is called Neckarpark (Mercedes-Benz).

Mercedes Benz Museum

Upon alighting from the train, I was confronted with a myriad of options - Mercedez Benz arena, Porsce arena or Merc museum. I headed straight for the Mercedez-Benz museum to familiarise myself with the history of the motoring brand. This was easy enough to find, as there are signposts from the train station right the way to the museum. 

Mercedez-Benz museum in Stuttgart Germany

Unfortunately, the museum is closed on Mondays, the very day I had chosen for my visit. The friendly lady who informed me of this gave my a brochure with some Mercedes facts and pointed me in the direction of the adjacent dealership. Here I would be able to view all the latest Mercedes-Benz cars for sale. 

Mercedes Benz fact timeline

1. In June 1967, Hans Werner Aufrecht and Erhard Melcher founded the company AMG.
2. The first major motor sports success - 1971: Hans Heyer and Clemens Schickentanz piloted the AMG 300 SEL 6.8 to a class victory at the 24 hour race in Spa
3. In 1986 the AMG 300 E 5.6 - affectionately known as "The Hammer" became the fastest production four-door saloon car in the world
4. In 1988 AMG and Mercedes-Benz join forces in the DTM racing series. Two years later, the collaboration would be extended to road vehicles.
5. In 1993 the first vehicles of the official co-operation, the Mercedes Benz C 36 AMG is introducted to the market and becomes a top seller.
6. AMG wins the 1997/98 FIA GT World Championship with the CLK-GTR. The team achieves even greater success in 1998 winning all the races in the series.
7. Success on the racetrack and in the showroom is undeniable. In 1999, Mercedes takes a controlling stake and AMG becomes Mercedes-AMG GmbH.
8. The first vehicle devised, designed and developed independently by AMG: the SLS AMG 'Gullwing' sees the light of day in 2009.
9. In 2011, the C 63 AMG Coupe Black Series - pushing road-legal performance to extremes with the latest in the line of super-exclusive Black series models.

Mercedes Benz showroom

With not much else to do, I headed down to the rather impressive Mercedes showroom. The showroom spans 3 floors and has just about everything one could possible need - plenty of the latest Mercedes cars to view, an exclusive coffee shop, a cinema, a kids playground... and did I mention the cars? Everything from the A-Class to the exclusive S-Class. Stationwagons and sports cars. This was certainly the most impressive car showroom I have ever entered.

 Mercedes Benz cars inside the showroom

 Here are some of the photos of the cars / stands within the Mercedes-Benz showroom in Stuttgart.

The impressive new BMW Zagato Roadster

BMW have once more teamed up with Zagato to create the all new BMW Zagato Roadster. The car was on display at the 20120 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance in the United States last week.

“This car is not designed only as an elegant convertible, but also as a masculine and extremely dynamic sports car which evokes a powerful driving experience” says Norihiko Harado, the chief designer.

I think the car looks brilliant, like an upgraded BMW Z4. How the car drivers will remain to be seen.

For full information read Cars.co.za article on the BMW Zagato Roadster

The Volkswagen Cross Coupe concept

German car manufacturing giant Volkswagen has debuted  its new concept car the  VW Cross Coupe, which is a compact hybrid crossover SUV, at the Tokyo Motor Show.

The electric car is said to be able to cover 40km on electricity alone, powered by 2 electric motors. Typical of hybrid cars, there is also a 148hp / 110 kW petrol engine.

From the images, the car looks very unique, and I am unsure as to whether I love it or hate it. The dimensions seem all wrong, and at times I am not sure if I am looking at a SUV or a compact car, which I assume is the point. The car almost looks squashed at times. Though I must say, the longer I have looked at the pictures, the more the VW Cross Coupe has grown on me. It certainly looks sleek and powerful. Personally, though  unlikely that you will see this Volkswagen for sale any time soon, I think that by blending many different styles of cars together, both aesthetically and functionally, VW have stumbled onto what may in the future be a winner.

To read the full article, including images, of this new concept car, visit the following link: Volkswagen Cross Coupe Concept