Contents
1 Editor’ s Letter Welcome to 2026
3. The Phoenix A challenging automotive year ahead
4. Industry Insight AIDC building a skills-first future for Gauteng’ s youth
5. Scania Proves Price Over Performance Lifecycle truck operations are about much more than upfront costs
6. Industry Insight Understanding the value of genuine parts from ZF.
8. Industry Insight The latest news on FAI Auto Parts range of trusted components
12. African Energy Chamber National Petroleum Company targets full operations by 2027
13. Community Outreach A look into Willard Batteries and its CSI community projects
14 & 15. Industry News Advanced Chemistries & Smarter 12V Batteries
16 & 17 Motorsport SA Rally-Raid Championship ready for 2026
18. Digicars Group HeyCarter becomes part of the growing Digicars Group
19. Fuchs Smart lubrication and the advantage for fleet workshops
20. Drako Tech Simplifying automotive complexity with the single-ECU revolution
22. Why Tyres Matter Most Rethinking your vehicle’ s most overengineered and underappreciated component
23. Dunlop and Isuzu Developing deeper localisation in the Eastern Cape’ s automotive heartland
24. Engen Extreme Building momentum at Zwartkops’ passion for speed
25. Hot Engines And Lubrication How turbochargers and extreme summer heat can influence engine health
26. VSL Manufacturing R750m facility opens in the Eastern Cape
27. EV Market Needs A Recharge There’ s no hiding the numbers. South African BEV sales are down.
28 & 29 New CEO Means For Toyota A finance leader takes over from an engineer to lead the Japanese giant
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30. Challengers And Conquerors In SA The local truck market hierarchy is changing
31. SA Vehicle Sales Reality Check New car market is still nowhere near 2006 levels. Why?
32. F1 Insight The fundamental reset of F1
33. VWSA turning 75 Celebrations and sobering realities for Volkswagen’ s local operations
34. F1 History From V10 glory to F1’ s much-debated hybrid engines
36 & 37 Drive Timing Belts Universal Parts Group on the importance of OEM timing belts
38. New Models Insights on the latest models from Omoda, Mini, Toyota, and VW.
40. The Dragon has landed Chinese new car market has grown enormously. Now what?
Director Richard Laskey Roxanne Martin |
Editors at Large Lance Branquinho lance @ abrbuzz. co. za |
Managing Executive Sales Judith Van Tonder judith @ abrbuzz. co. za |
Photographs All Photographs are the property of Litage Publishing |
Graphic Designer NOvate |
Photo Credits Quickpic Freepik Motorpress |
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WORDS IN ACTION 2 JANUARY | FEBRUARY 2026