SA Auto Week to take place in Eastern Cape during October
Despite potential headwinds, South Africa’s automotive industry remains committed to long-term growth and resilience.
- Industry News
- 2 April 2025
Co-founder of Red Bull energy drinks, Dietrich Mateschitz, died this past Saturday (22 October) at the age of 78, after a long-term illness.
Austrian Mateschitz founded the company in 1987 with Thai national, Chaleo Yoovidhya. The company quickly became and remained the leader in the energy-drinks market.
Red Bull became associated with extreme sports owing to its sponsorship of, among other sports, big wave surfing, cliff diving, mountain biking and trail ultra-running.
But one of the brand’s biggest success stories remains its venture into Formula 1 when it bought the then-Jaguar team in 2004. Over two decades, the team was built into a champion team with Sebastian Vettel at the steering wheel.
On local soil, Red Bull has been a sponsor of motorsport champions such as Giniel de Villiers, a Dakar champion.
Last October Mateschitz’s net worth was valued at around $25 billion.
Red Bull currently employs 13 000 people in 172 countries and sells and estimated 10 billion cans of the energy drink annually.
Despite potential headwinds, South Africa’s automotive industry remains committed to long-term growth and resilience.
South African consumers demonstrated a strong appetite for new passenger vehicles in March, according to figures released by the Automotive Business Council (naamsa).
Just a few days after its official introduction to the South African market, the TopGear SA team, in a convoy of Nissan Navara Warriors, has embarked on a record-breaking expedition into South Africa’s most extreme hinterland.
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I always do like seeing other people dance in their cars. It's one of the things that makes me happy.
Ariel Gore
Despite potential headwinds, South Africa’s automotive industry remains committed to long-term growth and resilience.
South African consumers demonstrated a strong appetite for new passenger vehicles in March, according to figures released by the Automotive Business Council (naamsa).
Just a few days after its official introduction to the South African market, the TopGear SA team, in a convoy of Nissan Navara Warriors, has embarked on a record-breaking expedition into South Africa’s most extreme hinterland.