Koenigsegg, the little-known Swedish supercar manufacturer is now available in South Africa through the Daytona Group. The hypercar brand recently made its debut in the Southern Hemisphere with the CCX – right in the City of Gold.
The low-slung CCX is a breath of fresh air for local enthusiasts (make that wealthy local enthusiasts) in that it offers a very exclusive alternative to the Italian and German supercar offerings locally available.
The CCX is powered by a twin-supercharged 4,7-litre V8 engine that produces 601 kW at 7 000 r/min and 920 N.m of torque at 5 500 r/min. Mated with a six-speed manual gearbox, Koenigsegg claims the CCX will sprint from zero to 100 km/h in 3,3 seconds and goes on to a top speed in excess of 395 km/h.
Justin Divaris, CEO of the Daytona Group (who already import the likes of Pagani, Aston Martin, Rolls-Royce, Spyker, Ducati and Rossion – the new-age Noble) is pretty confident about the launch of such niche automobiles in South Africa. “We are not nervous about the market at the top end. We have felt quite a bit of a slow-down in the bottom end (well relatively speaking, as bottom end for us is BMW and Mini), and this is largely due to customers struggling to get finance for these cars. But in the top-end supercar business, these clients buy for cash, and finance is not an issue,” says Divaris.
According to Divaris, the Daytona Group plans to sell 3 or 4 Koenigsegg CCXs this year (mind you, the asking price is over R10 million per unit), as well as several Spykers. In the region of 200 Aston Martins are expected for retail between Sandton and Cape Town, and 20 Roll-Royces between the Phantom, Drophead and the new Coupé.
Don’t miss Hannes Oosthuizen’s exclusive drive in the CCX, only in the May 2008 issue of CAR Magazine – on sale Monday April 21.
Download a selection of Koenigsegg wallpapers.