In this week's automotive news you need to know: Audi sends it large with its RS range in South Africa, Mazibuko plans to make SA's first electric bakkie, MG is eyeing a return to our fineRepublic and why the Volkswagen Group chose Bentley to go "full-electric" by 2030…

Audi’s 15 performance model drop – Performance car clearance sale

In caseyou werein a coma for the past week and have just woken up, Audi hasunleashed 15 performance variants in the South African market. I must say it looks every bit a market-capitalization moment following recent news that Audi would no longer pursue developments of itsperformance variants (pour one out for my dead homie). These then, folks, are the last of their kind, the swansong of RS grunt and ostensibly the final opportunity to acquire the very last batch of performance-oriented, internal-combustion-powered machineryfrom the Ingolstadt-based brand's performance division.

Read:Audi launches 8 new RS models into SA

You may ask: "But why’s that a big thing?" Market dynamics, my friends. With the announcement that there will be no further RS-model development, current examplesare exceedingly likely to increase in value and these 15 examples shouldhold their value rather well in years to come. Audi would have been foolish not to opt in with this big-bang approach and I’m not sure about you, but this EV revolution is starting to feel a lot more real now. Who’s chopping onions in here?

Mazibuko electric vehicles – an African Renaissance story

A locally-developedelectric vehicle that catersfor South African bakkie demands? It sounds like a tall order, but like most who have a front-row seat watching this story unfold, I’m on the side of support and cheering for Mazibuko to get this ambitious endeavour over the line. The intrinsic potential is huge. What the firm's CEO, Nhlanhla Mazibuko, is going to need to do is convince those who have the right-sized wallets (and there are a numberof them in this great land) to investin the fledgeling project,just like we saw duringthe worst of the Covid-19 pandemic, whenthe likes of Patrice Motsepe, Nicky Oppenheimer and Johann Rupert each droppeda cool billion in a manner comparable to how I buy my cortado in the morning.Further investment will be key to Mazibuko's chances of success…

Read:Mazibuko M1B is a Mzansi-made battery bakkie

What better way to fast-track the electrification of South African motoring than um, driving the process from within?From bakkies, SUVs to the taxi industry, the potential is certainly there. I don't know how I feel about the taxi industry going electric just yet, as an exhaust note that announces the imminent arrival of a minibus is a safety device for pedestrians. Soon we’ll have to rely purely on the hooter, a loud-yell ofgaatjie!and aDistruction Boyz album blaring out of the back if we hope to survive!Regardless, opportunity awaits and this could well be the African Renaissance that Thabo Mbeki envisioned.

A possible MG return to South African – The colonial eclipse

South Africans love their bakkies– the monthly new-vehicle sales numbers speak for themselves.With Chinese-owned Morris Garages (MG) gaining serious traction in markets like Australia and the United Kingdom, SAIC needs to capitalise on the hard yards that GWMand Haval have already done in South Africa and relaunch its brand here.From my point of view, MG's holding companySAIC is sitting on an untapped goldmineand is poised to steal notable market share in South Africa's SUV and bakkie market (just as it has Down Under). You see, competition is healthy; it invariably benefits the consumer.

Read:MG Extender aims to be Hilux rival

"But it’s not a real MG." Well, you may be quite correct, but the world's A LOT different to what it was in MG's heyday. Brands that operatedin hokeyways died because they did not movewith the times. SAIC bought the brand,modernised production (underpinned by Chinese manufacturing might) and kept the design department based atthe firm's spiritual home inLongbridge. Rule Britannia… sort of.

Bentley – the sleeper cell in the VAG camp

With Porsche still being the clear golden child/teacher's pet/favourite offspringof the Volkswagen Group (VAG), we’ll leave theZuffenhausen-based brand well out of this conversation. Perhaps it's best to just let them get on with publicly showing Ferrari how it all should be done. Let’s shift our attention to the next-best-thing, 102-year-old Bentley Motors.

Read:New Bentley Continental GT Speed

The Crewe-based brand has played a strange game;it's flirtedwith GT racing and managed to make its cars' cruise-liner-like shapeslook not-so-ridiculous on race tracks (it even grabbeda few trophies). In short, Bentley has largelyshed its "old man’s cruiser" image. Now the GT programme is shelved (sorry, Jordan Pepper) and all brands are movinginto the hybrid/EVgameat,um, full charge, the Winged B'sevolution is setto speed up. Of the 3VAG vanity brands, Bentley is best positioned torivalAston Martin for the hearts of eco-conscious sportscar owners; the sleeper cell is about to be activated!

Late last year, Bentley said all of its products wouldbe plug-based (either hybrid or BEV) by 2026and 4years later, all Bentleys will be entirely electric. The next GT Speed will be quick – and dead quiet.