Several major car manufacturers are using the Durban Motor Show which opened to the South African public yesterday to unveil or preview new models. Particular emphasis at the Durban Exhibition Centre is on environmentally-friendly solutions, and at the centre of attention is the Fiat Uno "Flex".

Unveiled at the show by Fiat Auto South Africa (FASA) the Fiat Uno Flex, is able to run on either petrol or alcohol fuel. Dual-fuel cars have taken the South American markets by storm in the last few years and are now the dominant sellers. The 1.0-litre Uno (which is known as the Mille in South America), was previously made in South Africa for many years, but will in future be imported from Brazil, hence the addition of the bio-fuel model in the upcoming range. FASA decided to preview the Flex in Durban even though the “reborn Uno” will only arrive in South Africa in the middle of year. The Fiat Group will also unveil another addition to their Alfa Romeo line-up in the form of the turbocharged diesel 159 2,4 JTD.

Unveiling the Uno Flex in Durban this week follows a tradition from Fiat Auto South Africa of using this important regional show to unveil new models. They took the opportunity to launch no less than five new cars during the last edition of the Durban Motor Show, which was held in 2005. Amongst them was the 2004 European Car of the Year winning Fiat Panda, in 4X4 guise, the Fiat Palio turbodiesel derivative, the Fiat Siena II turbodiesel, the Fiat Punto automatic and a preview of their commercial pick-up the Fiat Strada.

The Durban Motor Show is South Africa's longest running and most successful regional motor show. A group of enthusiasts from the Early Ford Car Club started organising an event to be known as "Wheels at Westridge" during 1991. The first event held in 1992 was an outdoor inter-club get together. The event was later organised by the Durban Early Car Club (previously the Early Ford Car Club) and the Veteran Car Club of South Africa and grew in size and stature. The show was moved to an indoor venue at the Durban Exhibition Centre and was for a period sponsored by Bankfin and known as the Bankfin Motor Show.
 

The show was acquired by Kagiso Exhibitions, Johannesburg, during early 2005 with the previous owners the Durban Early Car Club and the Veteran Car Club of South Africa remaining on board as endorsing bodies for a period of ten years.

The innovative Fiat Uno Flex taps straight into the theme of the Durban Motor Show this year, which is firmly on "green" cars. The world motor industry’s responsibility to cut greenhouse gas emissions, one of the causes of global warming, was stressed by Spiro Georgopoulous, director of Standard Bank Vehicle and Asset Finance, in his opening address at the launch of the Standard Bank Durban Motor Show. Georgopoulos said the challenge facing the global motor industry was to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 20 percent by 2012. However, he had confidence in an industry that had made massive strides in recent years to face up to this challenge, not only in terms of the emissions from vehicles themselves, but also those emanating from the various manufacturing processes Georgopoulos said that much of the new technologies were available already, but in the words of William Gibson, “The future is here, but its just not widely distributed yet."

“Durban is now arguably, the most important city in South Africa in terms of the automotive industry,” commented Philip Otto, manager of the Durban Motor Show. “Not only is Durban the home of the country’s biggest manufacturing operation – Toyota SA’s facilities in Prospecton, on the outskirts of the city – but it also hosts more than 50 automotive component suppliers as well as having the busiest port in terms of vehicle imports and exports. More than 400,000 units were either loaded or discharged at the Durban Car Terminal in 2006 and that number is expected to increase this year. Last month one ship alone discharged more than 5,000 units on its first visit to the terminal.