Interview with Teresita van Gaalen on how a - Autolive.co.za

Subscribe for free @www.autolive.co.za Page 3Editor’s NoteBuying a new car (or a secondhandone for that matter) is ahuge decision. It all comes downto what you really need, and howmuch budget you have. And mostimportantly, to gaze into the futurea bit and check out factorslike insurance costs, the likely depreciationof your chosen model,and things like servicing costs,and whether your service/maintenanceplan will cover the expenses that surely lie ahead.All this decision-making can, of course, really take the pleasurableedge off the car-buying experience, because, let’s face it,there is something intoxicatingly exciting about hopping behindthe wheel of that new cabbie.It’s much more fun to simply devour the latest road test of thecar you really want to buy, dream about cruising the café-societyboulevards or blasting the mountain back-roads, walk into a dealershipand say to the sales-person: let’s do it.More and more, though, I’m finding that outright performanceis less of a factor for me than the way a car behaves in moresubtle areas.This factor came up for me in three articles I was involved<strong>with</strong> preparing for this issue. The one was on the Toyota 86, whereI learned that the car’s chief engineer on the project, Tetsuya Tada,specified that narrow-section tyres be used on the car, becauseoutright grip was less important than steering feel.This subject came up again when on the launch of the newMercedes-Benz CLS 250 CDi. Rather than being disappointed bya four-cylinder engine, I felt it was perfectly suited to the car.The matter of “feeling” also came up when interviewing Fred<strong>van</strong> der Westhuizen, new Dealer Principal at a Suzuki outfit onthe West Rand. He commented that all his potential customerscame back from test drives in the Suzukis enthusing about “thefeel” of the car.Yes, as the planet moves ever-faster into a digital byte-relatedreality, it is that intangible aspect of “feeling” that is becomingmore and more important. Forget the numbers, go <strong>with</strong> the feeling.Oh, but make sure you have the numbers in your bank accountto make those feelings sustainable.Stuart Johnston,Editorstujohn@autolive.co.zaChevrolet’s GoldenHandshakeIt was a golden welcome back for South African Paralympic swimmer, Natalie du Toit onTuesday – first stop on her way home from Johannesburg’s O R Tambo airport was theWoodmead marketing headquarters of General Motors South Africa where the long-timeChevrolet brand ambassador was handed the keys to a Chevrolet Captiva.Gold in colour, in keeping <strong>with</strong> the performance of this swimming sensation at the2012 London Paralympic Games where she achieved a haul of three gold and one silvermedal, the Chevrolet Captiva LTZ will be du Toit’s personal transport over the comingmonths as she attends the many official sporting and business engagements – Natalie isa very much in demand motivational speaker – that follows in the wake of her success inthe 2012 Paralympic Games.“Natalie has been a Chevrolet brand ambassador for a number of years now and weare excited to be able to continue this relationship <strong>with</strong> her as she moves on from hermedal winning success in swimming competition to a new era in her career as a worldclass athlete,” says Chevrolet brand manager Tim Hendon. “She adds an element of excitementto an iconic automotive brand in South Africa which we trust will transport her instyle as a South African and international sports celebrity.” ■GM’s Tim Hendon hands over the keys for a Captiva to golden girl Nataliedu Toit.