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Visitors to Auto Africa will be able to witness at first hand the accelerated cooperation now taking place between global motor manufacturers as a means of spreading the high costs of product development and constructing new production facilities.

An excellent example is a car that will be displayed at the Expo Centre on the stands of three different companies, with each version having subtle styling differences and varying equipment levels.

On the Citroen stand it will be the C1, on the Peugeot stand the 107 and at Toyota it is called the AYGO. If you are in the market for this type of car then it will be the brand — and possibly differential pricing — that will decide which make you choose.

This sub-B segment city car is the result of a joint venture between Toyota and PSA, the French company that makes and markets Peugeot and Citroen vehicles. The cars are made in the Czech Republic and most of the components are sourced from European suppliers, with the gearboxes and one-litre Toyota engine coming from Poland. The optional 1.4-litre turbo diesel is supplied by PSA. The car comes in both two- and four-door variants.

The initial planned volume for the project was 300 000 units a year, with each brand getting 100 000 of them. Demand in Europe has meant that South Africa has had to wait a couple of years to be allocated some of the increasing production.

Toyota says they have not yet decided whether to launch the AYGO locally and will make use of Auto Africa to research potential customers. The French manufacturers, Peugeot and Citroen, on the other hand, seem set to bring this compact car to South Africa. Only time will tell whether South African motorists will be able to choose between all three brands that have the car available to them.