#carindustry

For decades, South Africa’s car story was defined by accessibility. VW’s Beetle and Polo, Toyota’s Tazz and Corolla, dependable, affordable cars that ordinary people could buy. They were not glamorous, but they were the backbone of mobility.

Now, as the EV era dawns, the question is sharper than ever: who will step up to build the next “people’s car” for South Africa?

The Old Guard

BMW: quietly improving EV range, but pricing keeps them niche.

VW: milking ICE exports, selling Polo GTIs with paint stripes for R100K more, and refusing to offer hybrids here.

Toyota: once the master of tiered trims and affordability, now selling the BZ4X for over R1 million. Locally built Corolla Cross hybrids are a bright spot, but Indian imported models (Starlet, Rumion, Urban Cruiser) arrive with stripped down safety spec.

The Fading Players

Nissan and Honda: once pioneers, now irrelevant outside Japan.

Renault and Dacia: the Dacia Spring is exactly the kind of affordable EV South Africa needs, but Renault has not brought it here.

The New Wave

Chinese brands (BYD, Chery, Geely, MG): delivering affordable EVs at scale. They have proven that if you sell the cars, infrastructure will follow. But affordability often comes with compromises, fewer airbags, weaker safety spec compared to European versions.

The Missing Piece

South Africa does not just need cheap EVs. It needs affordable EVs with full safety spec. That is the balance nobody has cracked yet. VW and Toyota abandoned their “people’s car” DNA. BMW is too premium. Renault hesitated. China is filling the affordability gap, but cutting corners.

The Future

The next “people’s car” for South Africa will come from whoever solves this equation:

Price low enough for mass adoption.

Safety high enough to earn trust.

Availability broad enough to spark infrastructure growth.

Back in the day, European manufacturers lived and died by top‑speed bragging rights. A car wasn’t truly “premium” unless it could hit 250 km/h or more. BMW, Audi, and Mercedes built reputations on autobahn dominance, and VW’s GTI badge became a cultural icon.

Fast forward to today, and the landscape looks very different. Most electric cars are capped below 200 km/h, because speed drains batteries fast and isn’t practical outside Germany. Instead, EVs win headlines with 0–100 times and torque figures. The obsession with max speed has faded, but the pricing madness hasn’t.

Take the VW ID. Polo GTI: a hot hatch for the EV era, with 226 hp, 175 km/h top speed, and a 6.8‑second sprint to 100. Impressive numbers, sure. But in South Africa, if it lands here, it’ll likely cost R900K or more, easily R100K above the MINI Cooper SE, which offers almost identical performance and better range.

And that’s the problem. VW still leans on heritage, the GTI badge, the red fascia strip, the nostalgia of hot hatches past, but the value equation is broken. South Africans are being asked to choose between a GTI and their kids’ education, because the sticker price is higher than a house.

Meanwhile, the Chinese brands have shown what’s possible: cars with more features, faster iteration cycles, and far lower prices. BYD, Chery, and MG are proving you don’t need to gouge buyers to deliver performance and tech.

VW’s recent moves like selling the Taigo and T‑Cross at inflated “premium” prices despite being ordinary Polo derivatives, only highlight the disconnect. They’re not premium, they’re just expensive. And when they pulled genuinely affordable models like the UP!, they abandoned the very segment that built their reputation here.

So the question is: are heritage brands still relevant?

They offer badge prestige, driving refinement, and established dealer networks.

But they also bring high prices, slow innovation, and headaches when things go wrong.

If they don’t adapt, they risk becoming nostalgia brands, loved for their past, but irrelevant in the showroom. In South Africa, where affordability is everything, that could be their undoing.

The Trump regime is rolling back regulation designed to protect public health and limit the warming of the planetary atmosphere. America was slow to take action around climate change in the first place and this reversal is a dangerous and irresponsible action. This backward thinking by Donald Trump is further evidence of his unsuitability for leadership in the 21C. Scientific consensus regarding climate change is unanimous and has been for decades. This wilful disregard for the reality is a crime against humanity. To do this in a bid to prolong a US car industry which has been outmanoeuvred by China tells the world a lot about America.

“US President Donald Trump has reversed a key Obama-era scientific ruling that underpins all federal actions on curbing planet-warming gases. The so-called 2009 "endangerment finding" concluded that a range of greenhouse gases were a threat to public health. It's become the legal bedrock of federal efforts to rein in emissions, especially in vehicles. The White House called the reversal the "largest deregulation in American history", saying it would make cars cheaper, bringing down costs for automakers by $2,400 per vehicle.”

- (https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn0zdd7yl4vo)

Trump Is Trashing The Planet & Poisoning America

Trashing the planet and the United States to save a failing automobile industry is a desperate act. This administration of incompetents and extremists is trying to turn back time to maintain US hegemony. The health of American children will suffer, as air pollution in cities returns. The irresponsible Trump regime is on a fool’s errand. Chinese manufacturing is so far ahead of America that they are no longer in the conversation. The octogenarian President is stuck in a time warp and incapable of meeting the challenges of 21C life on planet Earth. My advice to you, the reader, is to watch the video below to get up to speed on what is actually happening in this space.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLnxzkiB-GI America Has Selfishly Dragged The Chain On Climate Change

Americans have been putting their own interests first for a very long time. The power elite in the US have been profiting at the expense of everyone else. The Epstein class have been revealed. Now, the US hegemony is over and no amount of Trumpism will bring it back. No one wants to buy US debt anymore. The good times are over folks. There is a universal law, what comes around goes around. The global order can despise Donald Trump but 76 million Americans voted Trump back into power. Americans have been putting themselves first over saving the planet for a very long time. America was slow to take action around climate change.

“ Climate change has led to the United States warming up by 2.6 °F (1.4 °C) since 1970. In 2023, the global average near-surface temperature reached 1.45 °C above pre-industrial levels, making it the warmest year on record.”

- (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climate_change_in_the_United_States#) Petrostates & Living In The Past

Trump is attempting to reduce the United States to a petrostate like Russia. Donald Trump admires Vladimir Putin, the murderous ruler of Russia. Invading Venezuela and seizing its oil is the act of a criminal state. Trump wants to see Americans blithely polluting their country and the world. The truth is he will be dead soon and will not live to see stuff either way. Authoritarians want to impose their kleptocracies upon the nation state. Every dictator that has lived has stolen billions from the people. Look at the Trump family grift happening right now via cyber currencies.

“Days before Donald Trump returned to office in January 2025, an investment firm controlled by a senior member of the United Arab Emirates royal family secretly signed a deal to pay $500m to buy almost half of a cryptocurrency startup founded by the Trump family. Under any other president, such an arrangement, which was revealed this past weekend by the Wall Street Journal, would cause a political earthquake in Washington. There would be demands for an investigation by Congress, televised hearings and months of damage control.”

- (https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/feb/06/trump-family-uae-crypto-deal)

America was slow to take action around climate change. The Trump regime is now reversing regulation by prior administrations in this regard. Stupid is as stupid does. The billionaires will be able to keep their families safe in ivory towers and palatial bunkers, when climate disasters from global warming rain down on the schmucks who voted for Trump 2.0. Did you drink the kool aid and vote for Trump?

The ICE Threat To Democracy

“If you have ICE, already, targeting brown skinned Americans in Democrat cities, then the next obvious step for the Trump regime will be to do this during elections. American citizens have been beaten up and detained illegally by ICE. If you don’t realise that this will be a huge deterrent to voting for these Americans you are a fool. How would you feel about the possibility of being grabbed off the street and taken away to be locked up in some concentration camp facility wherever? The United States is in the grip of an authoritarian regime committing lawless acts every day. ICE is a paramilitary force targeting brown skinned Americans and progressives. Trump’s ICE a threat to democracy.”

- (https://www.midasword.com.au/trumps-ice-a-threat-to-democracy/)

Robert Sudha Hamilton is the author of What Price Life?; America Matters: Pre-apocalyptic Posts & Essays in the Shadow of Trump; and other titles. NOW AVAILABLE AT APPLE BOOKS & GOOGLE PLAY BOOKS. Google Play Books AUDIOBOOK

©MidasWord

Mazda Delays New EV to 2029, Shifts Focus to Hybrids

Mazda has officially confirmed that its first fully in-house developed electric vehicle (EV) will not arrive until 2029 at the earliest.

Instead of rushing into full electrification, the Japanese automaker is choosing a different path — doubling down on hybrid technology as global EV demand continues to shift.

Let’s break down what this really means

What Changed?

Originally, Mazda planned to introduce its own dedicated EV platform by 2027.

That timeline has now been extended by at least two years, pushing the launch to 2029 or later.

The reason? Changing global market conditions.

Slowing Global EV Demand

Over the past two years:

EV sales growth has slowed in North America and Europe

High battery costs continue to pressure prices

Charging infrastructure remains inconsistent

Consumer demand is shifting toward hybrids and plug-in hybrids

According to industry data:

Hybrids now account for over 30% of electrified vehicle sales in Japan

In the U.S., hybrid sales grew 30–40% year-over-year, outpacing EV growth

Mazda is responding directly to these trends.

Mazda’s New Strategy

Rather than going all-in on EVs, Mazda will focus on a multi-solution approach, including:

Mild hybrids

Full hybrids

Plug-in hybrids (PHEVs)

Internal combustion engines with improved efficiency

This allows Mazda to reduce emissions while maintaining affordability.

Hybrid Expansion Plan

Mazda plans to introduce:

Next-generation Skyactiv hybrid systems

New hybrid versions of popular models including:

Mazda CX-5

Mazda CX-50

Mazda CX-60 / CX-90

The company is also developing a new gasoline engine optimized for hybrid use, expected to improve fuel efficiency by up to 30% compared to older designs.

EV Development Continues — Just Slower

Mazda is not canceling EVs.

Instead, it is:

Reducing EV development investment by nearly 40%

Partnering with Toyota and Panasonic on battery research

Developing scalable EV platforms for future use

This approach lowers risk while keeping long-term electrification plans intact.

Why Hybrids Make Financial Sense

Mazda’s leadership states that:

Hybrid vehicles cost 30–40% less to develop than EVs

They require no charging infrastructure investment from buyers

They provide immediate CO₂ reduction

For many markets, hybrids are currently the most realistic solution.

Regional Market Reality

Mazda’s decision reflects global differences:

🇯🇵 Japan → strong hybrid demand

🇺🇸 North America → hybrids growing faster than EVs

🇪🇺 Europe → EV incentives declining

Developing markets → charging still limited

One technology simply doesn’t fit every country.

What Happens in 2029?

By 2029, Mazda expects:

Lower battery costs

Improved charging infrastructure

More stable EV demand

Profitable EV production

Only then will Mazda launch its true next-generation electric vehicle.

Final Thoughts

Mazda isn’t abandoning electrification — it’s choosing patience.

While many automakers rushed toward EVs, Mazda is betting on:

Hybrids today

EVs tomorrow

Sustainability without sacrificing affordability