The Star: June 04, 2020

26 The Star Thursday June 4 2020
CONTENT MARKETING
Each week we profile a local Christchurch business
to give them a plug and see how they’re going as the
country eases into recovery. This week we spoke to
Amanda Vale of Vynco – a privately owned distributor,
manufacturer, and designer of electrical components
Sound of thunder
from Merc V8 SUV
ADAPTABLE: The sales team at Vynco (from left
to right) – senior sales support co-ordinator Laura
Hetherington and sales support co-ordinators Lucy
Hamilton, Briana Tompkins and Ryan Cleaver.
On the up
Tell us about your business,
Amanda.
Vynco is a 100 per cent
New Zealand-owned
component business with a
diverse portfolio of locally
manufactured and imported
products, including switch gear,
lighting, conduit systems, and
circuit protection. We have
approximately 100 employees
working from facilities in
Christchurch, Wellington, and
Auckland servicing electrical
wholesalers and other providers
in New Zealand, Australia, and
the Pacific Islands.
The recent lockdown has
been tough on everyone, what
was the toughest aspect for
your business and its people?
[Vynco shut its doors and
sent staff home when the
country went into Level 4
lockdown – Ed.]
Aside from the acute
economic implications, which
I’m sure most New Zealand
businesses are experiencing,
we found communicating
from afar challenging.
Overall, I think we adapted
well to new ways of working,
though it’s good to be back
working together in an office
environment.
Now that lockdown has been
relaxed, are you expecting to
operate differently?
During lockdown we
discovered a new world of
online meeting forums. Though
by no means a complete
substitute for face-to-face
communication, we’ll continue
to use the technology to
reduce staff travel and support
the company’s sustainability
initiatives.
Supported by
What role does technology
play in your business as you
adjust to the so-called new
normal?
We’re good at using
technology to work more
efficiently. On this front, CCL
helped us to automate certain
processes. Mobile devices
ensured most employees were
working successfully from
their homes in the 48-hour
period before lockdown. After
experimenting with different
online meeting platforms, we
settled on Microsoft Teams.
Do you have a sense of what
the future looks like for your
business?
We’re positive about the
future and fortunate that
the products we supply are
essential to keeping households,
businesses, and services
running. Continuing product
development is critical to
driving new momentum.
Finally, what lessons have
you learned from this chapter
in our history?
The Canterbury earthquakes
forced us to prepare our
business for possible disasters,
so we were well prepared for
this crisis. Certainly, it has
reinforced the importance of
risk management planning.
Phone: 03 379 9283
Email: sales@vynco.co.nz
www.vynco.co.nz
THERE’S LITTLE doubt that
the way we view automobiles is
changing with a global demand
for fuel efficiency and fewer
emissions.
Most manufacturers are looking
at ways to address those issues,
and that’s showing with an everincreasing
number of hybrids
and electric vehicles reaching our
market.
I’m not rebelling against the
electric revolution, but the reality
is I’ll find it hard to give up my
desire for internal combustion
engines, and the bigger and
more powerful they are, the better.
I know Mercedes-Benz has
introduced an electric vehicle
down under that I’ll be evaluating
soon, and it’s only a matter of time
before they arrive en masse. What
I don’t know is where that leaves
its big cars, and the big engines,
but in the interim I can be very
grateful that I’ve sampled some
of the best engines to come out of
Germany, as well as some of the
most powerful.
My latest foray into the highperformance
driveline was in
the AMG GLC 63S sport utility
vehicle, a large wagon that
also comes in coupe-like form,
both sharing the 4-litre, twinturbocharged
V8.
It’s a monster in terms of power
outputs – 375kW and 700Nm –
the latter available all of the way
from 1750rpm to 4500rpm and, if
you take into account peak power
is on tap all of the way to 6250rpm,
it’s no wonder I’m hooked.
The GLC is a super-quick, high
top-speed wagon, and you’d expect
nothing less from the performance
arm of Mercedes-Benz. AMG
claims a 3.8sec standstill to
100km/h acceleration time along
with a governed 250km/h top end.
These figures are fantastic,
making the GLC one of the
quickest cars I’ve driven, and it
does so in a way that you know
you are travelling fast; even in
standard mode the engine is
quite audible, it bellows out of
the exhaust and if you want extra
sound a console-mounted pushbutton
will increase the decibels.
The 63S fairly thunders under
acceleration.
This engine is utilised in a wide
range of Mercedes-Benz product,
and in some cases it drives
through to the rear wheels
only, delivering a true sports
car feel, but the GLC has drive
to all four wheels and that adds
an element of reassurance. As a
driver, you know that delivering
that power to the ground is going
to be channelled in a fashion that
won’t catch you out with oversteer.
If you also take into account the
huge 21in wheels with massive
tyres (265/40 and 295/35) then
grip levels are high. Even so, on
my high-country evaluation drive
there were a couple of instances
when I felt traction control
complaining, such as powering out
of a corner.
Drive is channelled through
a nine-speed automatic
transmission, and there are
MERCEDES-BENZ GLC AMG 63S: Speed and acceleration
which is uncharacteristic for a sport utility vehicle.
• Price – Mercedes-Benz
AMG GLC 63S, $184,400
• Dimensions – Length,
4744mm; width,
2090mm; height,
1577mm
• Configuration – V8,
four-wheel-drive, 3982cc,
385kW, 700Nm, ninespeed
automatic
• Performance –
0-100km/h, 3.8sec
• Fuel usage – 12.2l/100km
varying drive modes that the
driver can select or individualise to
suit his/her driving style.
Even in standard mode the
engine management protocols
are structured so that the driver
can enjoy the V8 experience at all
times; it rumbles and burbles away,
tantalising with its response and
urgency.
Not that it is a handful in lowspeed
situations, the 63S
has perfect inner-city manners, the
combination of brawn and beauty
is an engineering masterpiece.
The GLC is a true SUV, it
has a cavernous rear load area, and
for five adults there is comfort in
abundance. It is
also built in the traditional
Mercedes-Benz style that is high in
luxury and specification, sharing
the look and feel with a layout that
is systematic across most of the
Mercedes-Benz range.
Column space doesn’t allow
comprehensive detailing of the
features and fitment. However, it’s
fair to say the GLC wants for little
and the interior is state-of-the-art
with all of the electronic goodies
you’d want in a car that sits
towards $200k. Yes, if you add in a
lot of the options from Mercedes-
Benz’s extensive catalogue of
extras, the base price tag of
$184,400 could be well stretched.
However, for my money the
pleasure to be had from the
fabulous bi-turbo engine would
be well worth the outlay. And
don’t go believing that it is going
to overly create havoc with the
environment, as, for all of its brute
force, the GLC 63S has respectable
fuel usage figures. AMG claims a
12.2-litre per 100km combined
cycle average, which sits well with
the trip computer’s 12.8l/100km
figure during my time in the car.
I know for certain the drive
in the GLC 63S won’t be my
last in a V8, but I do know such
opportunities will become fewer
and further between.
For those who feel like me, now
is the time to buy before they face
extinction.
FUNCTIONAL: A cavernous load area lies under the tailgate
of the GLC 63S.