Archive for August, 2009

Behind every Legend… Nissan NHPCs geared for imminent launch of GT-R

Already the first shipment of Nissan’s world-beater, the legendary GT-R, has landed in SA. Menacing, brooding, but with the reputation to back it up. Anywhere, any time, and against pretty much anything. And soon, the Nissan GT-R will be released to become one of the most indomitable performance cars on SA roads!

Laying the groundwork

First, however, Nissan SA had to establish a specialised Nissan Dealership, called a Nissan High Performance Centre (NHPC), to sell and service this extreme machine. Two were chosen and appointed, Melrose Nissan (Johannesburg) and Global GT-R (Hatfield), and trained, equipped, and 100% prepared for their new charges to arrive. These NHPCs recently opened their doors just as the vehicle itself launches in SA, and are in every way responsible for the tending of this legendary beast in our market.

“We already had a highly specialised workshop with state of the art equipment and one of the largest and well-appointed showrooms. This combination is ideally matched to a product as special as the GT-R.” comments Ryan Holmner of Melrose Nissan.

Wilhelm Baard of Global GT-R takes up the explanation; “The GT-R is a highly specialised machine and as such requires highly specialised people and equipment to sell, service and maintain. The car may have a price tag similar to high-end coupes but its performance and capabilities are on the same (and in most cases higher) level than the best super cars. Whilst it is a super car for anyone, anywhere at any time, it still requires the very best level of service and maintenance to ensure continued satisfaction and performance – this in turn will also ensure that residual values are kept at the highest level possible.”

The best made even better

Nissan requires that all staff teams working in the NHPCs go through exacting specialised training to ensure that they can handle with aplomb both the enthusiast nature of the customers and the specific technical needs of the highly advanced R35 GT-R. After all this incredible vehicle features a unique, individually-assembled engine which in turn is specifically matched to the gearbox and software controlling the seamless shifts of the exceptional dual-clutch transmission, so service representatives working on these machines in these special centres established wherever GT-R is to be sold need to be masters of their crafts. Nissan validates and then continues to audit these skills on a regular basis so customers can expect service performance as exceptional as that of the vehicle itself.

“Due to the highly technical nature of GT-R, it is essential that every person in the dedicated GT-R teams from Sales to Aftersales, is highly skilled and fully trained. Every person in the process is a specialist in their field and every person involved with GT-R has been assessed and tested by Nissan to ensure the highest levels of service throughout the experience of this Japanese super car,” adds Holmner.

Bespoke car, bespoke equipment

The GT-R is a vehicle of such detailed and high-tech engineering that the NHPCs had to invest in an entire line of R35-specific tools and diagnostic equipment, which is why only NHPCs are allowed to maintain these vehicles. The sparkling new workshops house state-of-the-art 4-wheel alignment bays for instance, custom diagnostic systems for interrogating and maintaining not only the primary ECU but the raft of other digital systems which form a part of the GT-R genetic code, a full set of specialist tools, even specifically-designed vehicle lifts!

Holmner enthuses; “Although we have got a highly specialised service centre, we had to acquire additional equipment specific to GT-R. We have a state of the art wheel alignment machine and a nitrogen tyre filler. This equipment is needed just for proper wheel care. The extreme nature of the vehicle and its tyres means that calibrations have to remain within extremely tight ranges so as to allow the driver to tap into the performance envelope knowing that the vehicle beneath them can handle the forces being uncorked.”

Realising this performance potential and maintaining these crushing capabilities while upholding the brands reputation for reliability is no mean feat. The ruthlessly focussed design, precision engineering mixed in with advanced construction concepts and a bewildering array of sheer high-tech combine to create this 21st-century yardstick of super car performance, and therefore requires precise calibration and meticulous attention to detail, approaching the engineering fetishism of motorsport operations. It therefore will be reassuring to customers, particularly when enjoying the GT-R to its full performance potential, to know that maintenance has been carried out by the best at what they do, with the bespoke equipment to match this car exclusively.

Leading-edge technology

Maintaining the potent twin-turbo V6 engine for instance requires that at each service, each bank of cylinders is individually emissions-tested and balanced to maintain optimum performance, while the highly advanced dual-clutch transmission system requires electronic optimisation to ensure that it lasts given the forces it must cope with.

In addition to being driver-adjustable electronically, the advanced suspension system is further -tweakable to suit specific customer requirements. The NHPCs can tailor the car’s wheel alignment settings to a more track-biased setting, a fast-road oriented package, or a mostly-city dynamic setting which affects every element of the cars on-road performance but requires intimate knowledge of the unique and complex components and absolute precision measurement.

Johan Kleynhans, Director of Marketing, Sales and Planning at Nissan SA, inserts; “There really is nothing like the GT-R in the world, period. It is an extraordinary machine, and we’re just thrilled to be able to proudly make the legend real for SA enthusiasts, secure in the knowledge that they are being cared for by the extraordinary teams which form the NHPCs. Without their dedication to this cause, Nissan Japan could not have in good conscience officially released the GT-R to our market, so red-blooded performance people all over the country can know that they’re out there, enrichening our motoring landscape.”

Both NHPCs have opened their doors to deliver and support this ultimate street fighter, Nissan’s R35 GT-R, now on local roads. At a capital outlay of, to quote Baard once again; “I can but I’d really rather not say. I will say it was more than merely buying new equipment and training up staff, there are also those raft of value-added extra touches that customers in this league do expect to be taken care of that had to be in place. But then that’s why, in addition to all the empirical qualities, the NHPCs also had to prove an absolute passion for this purpose-built product to make the grade!”

Drivers still trading in old bangers for new as scrappage scheme boosts production

The Government’s scrappage scheme has helped to slow the fall in car production.

The Society of Motor Manufacturers said new cars topped 107,635 in July, down 17.9 per cent on last year’s numbers – the smallest month-on-month decline of the year so far.

The scrappage scheme has seen 155,000 out of a possible 300,000 cars bought up.

SMMT chief executive Paul Everitt said: ‘The slowdown in the rate of decline of UK car production reflects the impact of the scrappage incentive schemes in place across Europe.

‘The UK motor industry is starting to stabilise – but remains fragile.’

Colleague Nikki Rooke agrees: ‘It probably won’t be until the very end of this year, possibly into 2010, that we start to see growth.

‘Over the year to date we are still down nearly 50 per cent and that’s a considerable amount that needs to be made up’, she said.

Car sales have been a major bugbear for retailers as the recession shoved many manufacturers into a financial crisis.

Indudstry chiefs have asked Lord Mandelson to extend the cash-for-bangers scheme to help them continue to stem the decline.

Sourced via dailymail.co.uk

Mini Cooper Stunts

Nedbank to buy rest of Imperial Bank

NEDBANK Group announced on Friday it had entered into an agreement to buy the shares in Imperial Bank that it does not own, Imperial Holdings ’ 49,9% stake, for R1,76bn.

The acquisition will be financed 60% in the form of Nedbank ordinary shares, which are being held as treasury shares, and the balance in cash.

Imperial Bank consists of four asset-based finance divisions: vehicle finance, supplier asset finance, property finance and professional finance. The bank was formed by Imperial Holdings to focus on motor vehicle finance for Imperial Group and other motor dealerships.

Imperial Bank branded its vehicle finance business Motor Finance Corporation (MFC) in 2001 and is an independent brand. The division holds total assets of about R30,3bn and reported a net profit of R68,6m in the six months to the end of June.

The property finance division, which focuses on medium-sized commercial mortgages and developments, holds assets of R8,4bn, and it generated a net profit of R41,4m in the six months to June. The supplier asset finance division, which focuses on niche capital goods such as vehicles and equipment used in the construction and mining industries, held assets of R3,5bn and had made a net profit of R9,6m by the end of the six-month period.

The professional finance division provides finance to about 8000 medical and dental professionals. The division held assets of R5,1bn and reported a net profit of R10,5m in the six months to June. Nedbank said the acquisition of Imperial Bank would allow the creation of a more efficient structure within which to conduct the combined operations. Nedbank would benefit from the skills housed separately in two operations as well as improve the scale and profitability of its vehicle asset financing business.

The acquisition would allow it to compete better in the motor dealership channel through the MFC brand and enable the cross- selling of a broad range of products to the Imperial Bank client base.

The “inefficient capital and funding arrangements” of the bank would also be eliminated.

Separately, Nedbank on Friday announced it intended to raise R1bn through the issue of preference shares this month.

Imperial Group’s share price gained 1,7% on Friday to R71,2 0. Nedbank’s share price fell 1,6 % to R107,5 0.

Sourced by businessday.co.za