Paul Tan on the Automotive Industry
Italian-based Alfa Romeo has released an official promo video of the Alfa Romeo MiTo GTA Concept, which was unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show. The 2 minute 48 second-long video showcases the MiTo GTA being driven in Valencia. You can also hear the roaring exhaust note delivered by its 240HP 1.75 litre turbocharged power plant. Continue reading to watch the video.
[Read more...]
Japanese-based Motor Magazine has released a speculative rendering that depicts a 2-seater convertible with a set of roll-over bars that is based on the iQ and that features Daihatsu Copen-like looks. Apparently, according to the magazine, Toyota is planning to unveil a new roadster version of its Toyota iQ super mini in a concept form at the Tokyo Motor Show which is set to kick start on October 23rd till November 8th this year.
Power plant options which are expected to be used include the same ones found in the iQ, which was recently awarded a 5-star Euro NCAP rating. These include a 1.0 litre and a 1.33 litre petrol powered units as well as a 1.4 litre diesel. Nothing is confirmed so far, but hopefully we can get more information regarding this mini roadster before the motor show.
A number of new products will soon roll off the assembly plants in Munich and we have some information regarding these new products. According to BMW Blog, at least three new products are in the works, including the BMW GT 6, BMW Z2 and the BMW 3 Series Supersports.
The BMW GT 6, or F14 as its code name, is basically a project to build a 4-door coupe, to rival Stuttgart’s Mercedes Benz CLS and the Porsche Panamera. This GT 6 would be based on the BMW 6 Series and is expected to be smaller than the CS Concept and to feature a rear-door opening like the Mazda RX8, with no B-pillar.
Another upcoming project is the BMW 3 Series Supersports which would be positioned as another “driver’s car” that will attract purists or enthusiasts, like the rumored BMW 1 Series Supersports which was supposed to revive the M1 sports car. Lastly, as previously reported, there would be a BMW Z2 baby roadster, which is expected to hit the market in 2011. This BMW Z2 would be based on the BMW Z4’s platform, and a concept version dubbed as the BMW Z Vision Concept is expected to be previewed at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September this year.
Maserati has released promotional on the road footage of a beautiful white Maserati GranTurismo S Automatic cruising down a countryside. Despite its Ferrari-derived 4.7 litre V8, the driver in the promo video never found the need to trash the car down a straight road, he just cruised along enjoying the scenery of the countryside and coastal roads and the deep bassy rumble that V8s make at low revs (that we unfortunately cannot hear – the video has some background music instead). Maybe because he didn’t feel like he had to, I dunno about you but to me Maseratis invoke entirely different feelings compared to the rawness of a Ferrari, a Maserati is more Aston Martin-like but with more Italian flair. I wish there was a higher resolution version but couldn’t find one – watch it after the jump. I’ll update the copy if I find a hi-res version.
[Read more...]
Calling for anyone with a Mass Communications or Journalism degree, or any related field! An established foreign automaker in Petaling Jaya is looking for a PR executive with between 1 to 2 years PR experience. Anyone who is interested can shoot me an email at paul@paultan.org with your resume attached. You’ll have the opportunity to work and learn with some young and dynamic people. This is a favour for a car company that’s been a long time paultan.org supporter 
Today’s new Mini Budget stimulus package announced by Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak totaled to RM60 billion and as expected, it includes the proposed voluntary scrap scheme.
Anyone who scraps their cars which are older than 10 years will receive a RM5,000 discount to buy a new car, but only a new Proton or Perodua. Those who are looking at Nazas, Kias, Hyundais, Toyota, Honda or even a Chinese vehicle despite being CKD and have invested in Malaysia will not qualify. There is also zero incentive for those looking at a newer 2nd hand car, even if it is a Perodua or Proton.
No further details were announced – it’s best to go to your Proton or Perodua dealer to find out how you can scrap your car for the discount and whether all you’re going to get is RM 5,000 or you’ll get to keep the scrap value amount plus the RM 5,000. Scrapping your car could earn you perhaps RM 1,000 or more so that would be an extra bonus to the RM 5,000, but my guess it you won’t get any extra cash.
Proton already has a scrapping scheme running since the year 2007 called Proton XChange where old cars over 10 years old and owned by the owner for at least 6 months, registered and roadworthy can be traded in for RM 5,000 and so far up to 2,700 of such discounts have been issued. Once a car has been surrendered to Proton under the scheme it will be de-registered from the Road Transport Department and scrapped. As of now, Proton will still run its Proton XChange scheme, so essentially it will be the same thing as the government’s scrapping scheme. When I say the same, it truly is almost the same as part of the RM5k will be born by Proton and Perodua and the rest by the government, as with the Proton XChange program.
Other than the scrapping incentive scheme, the govt will also be pumping in an additional RM 200 million into the Automotive Industry Development Fund.
After much speculation, Honda has finally sold their F1 team to someone quite close to home – Ross Brawn. Brawn has been in F1 for quite some time now, having worked in various F1 teams including Benetton and Ferrari.
After a 1 year break in 2007 he returned as the Team Principal of the Honda F1 team for the 2008 race year, and now owns the team, which has been renamed Brawn GP. From milling machine operator in 1976 to F1 team owner in 2009, that’s really quite a long way to have gone. The new Brawn GP team will use Mercedes-Benz engines and will be piloted by Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello. The team’s new colours are white, fluorescent yellow and black, and its BGP 001 conducted its first test at the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona recently.
The car was pretty fast, in fact piloted by Button it was one of the fastest cars in the pre-season group test, despite being what Ed Gorman called “a Honda chassis and suspension bolted together with a Mercedes-Benz engine it was not designed for.”
So I guess we’ll see Brawn GP here in Malaysia then!
Click for enlarged image
The first generation Volkswagen Polo had a sedan variant called the Derby and this tradition has continued even until the version before the recently unveiled new model, where the sedan version was called the Volkswagen Polo Classic. The Polo Classic is sold in countries like Brazil, South Africa, China and even Australia. Thus it would only make sense for the Polo Classic sedan to be updated following the release of the new Polo hatchback. Anyway the point of this post is the image above, Theophilus Chin‘s artist’s impression of what a new Polo Classic sedan could look like. Not hard to make it look decent since the base car was already such a looker!
The Malaysian Reserve reports on its front page today that Naza and PSA Peugeot-Citroen are looking at introducing a 1.6 litre entry level car that will be sold in Malaysia and also assembled and exported from here to other ASEAN regions. This solidifies plans for Naza to turn Malaysia into Peugeot’s assembly hub for the region.
Naza currently already exports the 206 to various countries including Nepal. It is in line with Peugeot’s international entry level car strategy for this to be some variation of the 206 and since we already have the 206 in 1.4 litre variety, perhaps the new compact car will be the 207 Sedan which is essentially a 206 sedan with 207 aesthetics. A 1.6 litre engine will be good news. Ideally it should be priced around the new Hyundai Accent’s level, but who knows. There is also a 307 Sedan that exists.
Look after the jump for more shots of the 207 Sedan.
[Read more...]
Fiat has revealed a new engine technology called the MultiAir technology which significantly reduces emissions, while improving fuel economy and power delivery. This rather complicated electro-hydraulic variable valve actuation technology is implemented to the intake system. A piston is connected to the intake valve via a hydraulic chamber, which is controlled by a solenoid valve. The movement of this piston is controlled by a mechanical intake camshaft.
When the solenoid valve is closed, the oil in the hydraulic chamber behaves like a solid body and transmits the lift schedule to the intake valves. The lift schedule is imposed by the mechanical intake camshaft. When the solenoid valve is open on the other hand, the hydraulic chamber and the intake valves are de-coupled; the intake valves do not follow the intake camshaft anymore and close under the valve spring action.
The final part of the valve closing stroke is controlled by a dedicated hydraulic brake, to ensure a soft and regular landing phase in any engine operating conditions. Through solenoid valve opening and closing time control, a wide range of optimum intake valve opening schedules can be easily obtained. Continue reading to view more images and to watch a video.
[Read more...]
