Golden Arrow losing 12 buses per year to arson, and Honda plans to build a new factory

South Africa’s favourite Chinese carmaker, Chery, will unveil two new cars under the iCAUR badge at the Festival of Motoring at Kyalami later this week.

The new entry is arguably the most unique of all the Chery brands to hit our market in recent years, as it specialises in retro-styled boxy SUVs with new-energy-vehicle (NEV) powertrains.

Both of the vehicles it is unveiling – the V27 and the 03T REEV – are fully electric and feature one or two electric motors, depending on the specification.

The V23 is the Chinese carmaker’s entry-level model, while the 03T is a mid-range option.

There is also good news about global Brent crude oil prices, which fell nearly 3% overnight and are now well below the $90 per barrel mark.

This comes after Iran resumed talks with Oman to manage the Strait of Hormuz as it faces heightened economic pressure from US President Donald Trump.

The US announced new restrictions on around 60 entities, including Iran’s oil‑revenue generation networks and vessels moving petroleum products.

Iran and Oman have been in talks for weeks about controlling traffic flow through the critical waterway, which carried 20% of the world’s petroleum product shipments before the conflict began in February.

The two countries confirmed that they had discussed a temporary navigational corridor through the strait.

While all of this was ongoing, the South African rand strengthened against the US dollar and is now trading below R16 against the greenback. One US dollar costs R15.93 this morning.

5 important things

The famous unfinished bridge in one of South Africa’s biggest cities: Over the years, the incomplete Foreshore Freeway Bridge in Cape Town has become an iconic part of the city’s skyline; however, the city is planning to announce its plans for the bridge in October [TopAuto].

116-year-old private company looks to expand onto South Africa’s rail systems: Grindrod has seen its earnings grow with its ports and terminals leading the way, and is eyeing expansion into South Africa’s railways. The private company operates several terminals at ports across South Africa and around the world, including the Ports of Durban and Richards Bay [BusinessTech].

It has become normal for Golden Arrow to lose 12 buses a year to arson: A businessman and former trade unionist said it has become normal for buses in South Africa to be burned when people are unhappy. He cited Golden Arrow Bus Services, which loses an average of 12 buses a year to arson, which is now part of their operating expenses [Newsday].

China’s Geely used 800 engineers and AI to create a modular EV manufacturing system; Ford is now applying it in Spain: Ford is integrating Geely’s Global Energy Architecture into its Almussafes facility in Valencia, fundamentally altering its structural engineering methodology. The Chinese company is offering parts of the system that helped it develop vehicles at remarkable speed [Economic Times].

Honda eyes US to build newest factory, top executive says: Honda is considering building a new plant in the US as it seeks to expand its lineup of petrol-electric hybrid models from 2030, a senior executive at the Japanese carmaker said [Bloomberg].