End of the road for Audi’s cheapest car, and warning ahead of record diesel prices in South Africa

The City of Cape Town (COCT) has confirmed it has plans to finally address the unfinished Foreshore Freeway bridge, one of the metro’s most iconic landmarks.

Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis confirmed that the City plans to redevelop the Foreshore Precinct to reclaim valuable land in Cape Town’s central business district (CBD).

“With our city centre wedged into this relatively small piece of land between mountain and ocean, the geography that makes Cape Town so beautiful and so memorable is also one of our greatest constraints. There is very little room for the CBD to expand,” he said.

Hill-Lewis added that the restriction is partly man-made, as the city’s elevated highways, including the N1, N2, and the unfinished Foreshore bridge, have cut the city centre off from the ocean.

“This road infrastructure has sterilised the last available inner-city land and left Cape Town with a physical barrier between city and sea, effectively separating us from our maritime identity. “

The city is now planning to redevelop the area and reclaim 15 hectares of inner-city land that hasn’t been used for over 50 years.

This morning, global Brent crude oil prices are still over $100 per barrel, despite G7 countries agreeing to release 100 million barrels of diesel and crude from emergency reserves.

The release will add to Middle East crude exports, which rose above pre-war levels in four of the seven days of the final week of September.

In the meantime, the South African rand fell 1.5% last week and edged closer to R17 against the US dollar. This morning, the South African currency is trading at R16.73 to the greenback.

5 important things

Say goodbye to Audi’s most affordable car: Anyone hoping to buy Audi’s most affordable car is running out of time to do so, as the A1 is set to disappear from showrooms in the near future. Back in March 2026, the German carmaker confirmed that it would end the production of its two most affordable models, the A1 and Q2, and that they would not be replaced [TopAuto].

Warning over criminal tactics ahead of record diesel prices in South Africa: South African motorists are being warned of a rise in adulterated fuel as the country heads towards record-high diesel prices at the pumps. The warning follows the discovery of a suspected illicit fuel operation on a farm outside Potchefstroom in the North West [BusinessTech].

Plug-in Chinese cars are flooding into South Africa: Chinese vehicle export data tracked by energy research body Ember showed a radical increase in electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids shipped to South Africa in 2026 [MyBroadband].

Mercedes is cutting three models in 2027: Mercedes-Benz is making major cuts to its lineup. The German automaker wants to slim down its offerings, particularly on the EV side, with at least three models scheduled to meet their maker for the 2027 model year [Motor1].

UK expected to follow EU with China EV tariffs: The UK is preparing to impose import levies on Chinese electric vehicles to meet a key demand from the European Union, the Times of London reported, in a blow to a group that now accounts for nearly one in four cars sold in the country [Bloomberg].