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This study sought to ascertain the general perceptions regarding the significance attributed to various passenger motor vehicle brands among Generation X, a demographic group that constitutes most car purchasers. The research was carried out in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, where data was gathered from four higher education institutions. A study was conducted utilising a quantitative, descriptive, and cross-sectional research design. The survey method was employed to collect data from a sample of 400 individuals affiliated with a university as either staff or students belonging to the Generation X cohort. The data was analysed using descriptive statistics by means of the SPSS version 23. The research examined distinct brand dimensions, specifically focusing on factors associated with quality, value, personal and group identity, status, and family traditions. The results of this study indicate that a significant proportion of the participants expressed agreement with the notion that their selection of a vehicle brand was influenced by factors such as perceived quality, value, individual and collective identity, social status, and family traditions This study could provide valuable insights to scholars, professionals in the industry, and motor vehicle brand manufacturers, enabling them to develop a comprehensive comprehension of the challenges faced within the industry, academia, and consumer domain pertaining to the perceptions surrounding various motor vehicle brands. Moreover, the results of this research can serve as a valuable tool for identifying a more suitable marketing approach to enhance consumer attitudes towards automotive brands.

Purpose. The work is aimed to analyze the components of the target function of reducing costs for the operation and maintenance of motor vehicles (buses) and determine the optimal periodicity of planned repairs. Methodology. The research was carried out using general scientific methods: analysis and synthesis, abstraction and concretization, induction and deduction, system analysis. Findings. In order to estimate reserves for improving the efficiency of rolling stock, the target function of minimizing costs (losses) during the operation of motor vehicles using the example of buses is given, which includes two aggregated component costs for planned activities after maintenance of motor vehicles and resources used to eliminate the consequences of unplanned repairs, including losses caused by them. Exponential dependencies of the number of unplanned repairs per calendar year of operation of motor vehicles obtained as a result of processing an array of statistical data on the enterprise are presented. It was found that one of the ways to improve the efficiency of the rolling stock of the motor vehicle enterprise is to reduce downtime due to current unplanned repairs. For this purpose, it is proposed to carry out planned repairs of each moving unit of motor vehicles. The graphical dependence of the number of unscheduled repairs on the amount of bus mileage between repairs is shown for a specific motor vehicle enterprise. Calculations of the components of the target function of increasing the use efficiency of buses were performed, and the optimal inter-repair mileage for carrying out planned repairs during the calendar year was determined graphically. The economic component of increasing the efficiency of use of the rolling stock of the automobile enterprise is substantiated – the lack of income from unfulfilled transport work, which is characterized by the average load of motor vehicles. Using the example of buses, it was found that the average load is directly proportional to the number of transported passengers and inversely proportional to the mileage along the route. Originality. All components of the target function of minimizing the total costs of planned activities after technical maintenance and resources of unplanned repairs, including losses (damages) from downtime, are thoroughly considered. Practical value. The results of the performed research can be used by motor transport companies to determine the optimal intervals between repairs. Carrying out planned repairs of each motor vehicle will make it possible to reduce losses from idle time and increase the use efficiency of rolling stock as a whole.

Purpose. The basic aim of the work is to analyze and substantiate the criteria for selection and evaluation of rolling stock – trucks of motor transport enterprises, based on scientific research on this issue. Methodology. The research was performed using general methods: abstraction and concretization, analysis, synthesis, induction, deduction. Findings. It is established that the main features of the classification of criteria for selection and evaluation of rolling stock are the number of factors (there are single and complex criteria); level of dependence (it is possible to single out completely dependent on external operating conditions, partially dependent and independent criteria); nature (quantitative and qualitative criteria); quantitative value (absolute and relative criteria). The practical approach at a choice of rolling stock fleet for the motor transport enterprise, proceeding from such factors, as character and structure of cargo flow; volumetric weight and batch of cargo; road conditions; ensuring maximum speed and traffic safety; ensuring the minimum costs associated with goods transportation. The scheme of criteria for the selection of rolling stock is presented and five stages are clarified, which establish the sequence of evaluation and selection of vehicles: 1) analysis of transportation conditions and cargo characteristics; 2) the choice of car capacity; 3) structure suitability analysis to the road conditions; 4) analysis of technical and operational properties of cars; 5) technical and economic evaluation of cars selected in the first four stages, which can be performed according to different criteria. The expediency of bringing different criteria into one complex quality indicator is performed in a graphical interpretation. It was found that the technical and economic evaluation of cars is based on the following criteria: car performance; the complexity of using the car; energy consumption of transportation; metal consumption of transportations. Originality. The analysis of the criteria for selection and evaluation of rolling stock allowed to form a method of selection and evaluation of vehicles and the criteria used in the form of a structured scheme that takes into account the main goal – to maximize profits from transport work and minimize operating costs. Practical value. The results of the study can be used by motor transport enterprises in the selection of rolling stock at the stages of purchase of new trucks, based on the practical experience of transportation of various types of goods.

Problem. The causes of accidents can be different – they include a human factor and the state of the road, and meteorological conditions, it is necessary to anticipate the full range of potentially dangerous situations, in which, theoretically, can a car get. According to statistics, cars account for about 85% of all road accidents. That is why car makers, when designing a car, pay maximum attention to safety, as on the safety of an individual car the general safety for other traffic participants depends directly. Goal. The research on active road safety systems aiming at improving the safety of the driver, passengers and other road users. Methodology. Methods of analysis and simulation of complex electrical and information systems were used. Methods of using active and passive safety in road transport were also used. Results. In the passive safety system, various elements were considered to improve the safety of people in the car and other people, there are drawbacks of passive safety is the state of the car that has been driven a lot, as well as the condition of roads. Different bumps and bad roads affect the car body, with some time the condition of the body does not become as tough as it was from the beginning of its operation. Originality. The door opening system in the blind zone was investigated. The system keeps track of approaching cars. When the car is in place, the system activates automatically. The sensors lo-cated behind are activated and begin to probe the space behind the car. If the speed of a road user is detected, all car doors are locked automatically. Practical value. It allows you to get away from emergency situations, to protect the driver and pas-sengers and other participants in the road traffic. It also expand the capabilities of car security systems.

The materials of the article consider the thermal stabilization state of the drum rim, which is supported by the contact ionized gaseous medium and moisture desorption products (from the surface layer of the lining) between the double electric layers (polished working surface of the drum the surface of the rim of the drum of the vehicle) - the lower level of the near-surface layer of the overlays). The resulting saturation currents contribute to the inversion of heat fluxes from the polished working surface of the rim of the drum of the vehicle in the near-surface layers of the pads, contributing to its thermal stabilization state. In highly diluted electrolyte solutions, the boundary of the diffusion layer can be displaced beyond the boundary of the so-called slip layer, ie the plane beyond which the movement of the liquid along the interfacial boundary becomes possible. Thus, as the fluid flows along the solid / liquid boundary, the bulk charge moves and, accordingly, a potential difference appears along the fluid flow. The phenomenon associated with the appearance of a bulk charge in the electrolyte solution outside the sliding plane is called electrokinetic. The sliding plane potential is called the electrokinetic potential. Double electric layers in friction pairs play an important role in amplifying the tribo effect in friction pairs of brake devices. The existence of a double electric layer on the interfacial boundary of two media (working surface of the brake drum - the working surface of the polymer friction element), as well as on hot and cold surfaces of the nearsurface friction lining plays an important role not only in ion exchange between friction surfaces. and in the processes of adsorption of ions of the surfaces of brake friction pairs. The presence of a double electric layer significantly affects the electrosurface processes: conductivity, polarization of dispersed particles, mass and energy displacement through charged dispersed systems, electrostatic interaction between charged particles, and so on. In this case, electrosurface processes are components of electrokinetic phenomena that occur in the near-surface layers of friction pads. It is important to note that the basic data on the structure of the electric double layer are obtained from capacitive measurements in the absence of charge transfer through the interfacial boundary. In real operating conditions of molecular electronics devices, the process is complicated: it becomes possible to transfer charges due to electrochemical reaction, ionization of adsorbed particles or change the charge of the electric double layer when the potential is shifted. In this case, the measured capacitance represents not only the capacitance of the double layer, which reflects changes in the charge of the electrode, but also the course of electrochemical reactions on it. The capacitance measured in such conditions can be called polarization capacitance or simply pseudocapacitance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current problematic aspects pertaining to the practical implementation of the provisions of the Ukrainian legislation on the State customs, and also the lack of proper regulation of certain issues, particularly, those related to importation and use of motor vehicles with foreign registration in the customs territory of Ukraine, have become significant obstacles to the innovative development of the State customs. However, positive changes do exist, they have occurred after numerous debates about importation and use of motor vehicles with foreign registration in the customs territory of Ukraine, which were joined by politicians, scientists and the public. At the same time, modernization of the Ukrainian legislation on the State customs highlighted the need for an in-depth analysis of the efficiency of legal regulation of Ukraine's customs border crossing by motor vehicles with foreign registration. The purpose of this article is to make a transparent monitoring of the Ukrainian legislation applicable to the movement of motor vehicles having foreign registration across the customs border of Ukraine, and also to determine its efficiency, identify problematic aspects and study the ways of resolving them. Based on the analysis of the national legislation, the author studies the issue of legal regulation of Ukraine's customs border crossing by motor vehicles which are registered in the relevant registration authorities of a foreign state. The author emphasizes that according to the provisions of the Ukrainian legislation on the State customs, motor vehicles meant for personal use are regarded as merchandize for customs purposes, while motor vehicles intended for commercial use are defined as a means of transportation. It is established that, despite a rather detailed legal regulation of the issue of movement of motor vehicles intended for personal use across Ukraine's customs border, until recently there was no success of the attempts at significantly limiting the extent of violations of the customs rules relating to their use in the customs territory of Ukraine. At the same time, it is suggested that the problematic aspects which arise when citizens move the motor vehicles which are meant for personal use and registered by the authorized bodies of foreign states across the customs border of Ukraine may be resolved by introduction of a temporary procedure prescribing that the customs formalities in respect of certain motor vehicles covered by the customs regimes of temporary import or transit are made during 180 days, and also by enhancing the responsibility of citizens for violation of the rules of temporary import/transit of motor vehicles imported to the customs territory of Ukraine, and by introduction of the requirement that the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine should inform the State Fiscal Service of Ukraine (Ukraine's SFS) about the facts when persons who breached the customs rules according to the information discovered by the bodies of the Ukraine's SFS have the intention of crossing the State border of Ukraine, and by establishing of interaction of the bodies of Ukraine's SFS with the National Police with the aim of monitoring the compliance by drivers of the procedure regulating the use of such motor vehicles in the customs territory of Ukraine, and by prevention of non-compliance with the restrictions established by the Customs Code of Ukraine, and also by improving the procedure governing the registration and accounting of motor vehicles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article is devoted to the issues of customs control and customs clearance of goods, commodity items 8701–8707, 8711, and 8716 according to the UKT ZED, which are imported by citizens into the customs territory of Ukraine for free circulation. Based on the Ukrainian current state customs affairs legislation analysis the author discloses the main positive developments regarding customs control and customs clearance of goods, commodity items 8701–8707, 8711 and 8716 according to the UKT ZED. It is established that according to the Customs Code of Ukraine the concept of «vehicle» and «automobile transport» are united by one term – «goods» (with some exceptions). The attention is focused on the fact that the term «motor vehicle» is solely used in the comments to UKT ZED. It is also ascertained that the legislation of Ukraine regarding state customs affairs uses the terms «motor vehicle» or «road vehicle» including their numbered units (bodies including cabs and chassis) quite appropriately, but only in the context of goods, commodity items 8701–8707, 8711, and 8716 according to UKT ZED. It is proved that in the practice of the state customs business there exists an acute problem of the conflict of law formats for deciding the matters of the Ukrainian SFS customs staff performing their functions when implementing the customs inspection and customs clearance of goods, commodity items 8701–8707, 8711, and 8716 according to the UKT ZED. The author comes to the conclusion that the matters regulating the procedure of customs control and customs clearance of motor vehicles entering the customs territory of Ukraine for the citizens-consignees carrying unaccompanied baggage or freight shipments intended for free circulation, remain outside the purview of the Ukrainian state customs business legislation provisions. The author focuses on the fact that since almost all normative–legal acts referred to in the existing Order of the State Customs Service of Ukraine «On Approval of Rules of Customs Control and Customs Clearance of the Vehicles Moved by Citizens through the Customs Border of Ukraine» have been repealed, there is an urgent need for the adoption of the order issued by the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine, which would become a follower of that of the State Customs Service of Ukraine «On Approval of Rules of Customs Control and Customs Clearance of the Vehicles Moved by Citizens through the Customs Border of Ukraine» as amended.