Paul Tan on the Automotive Industry
I checked out Auto Bavaria Sg Besi for the CNY@BMW event today and came back with more details on the various ‘Edition’ models that BMW are selling right now. There aren’t much details about these online or from the PR agency so I took it to task myself. Find out more about the cars after the jump.
[Read more...]
Any discussion about the Mercedes-Benz E-Class will without fail include a mention of its eternal rival, the BMW 5-Series. Never mind the Audi A6 or Lexus GS, the folks at Stuttgart must have long accepted the inevitable E versus 5 comparison people will make. But actually, it need not be that way, for both German execs are different cars for different folks, as we find out in this report.
Continue reading after the jump!
[Read more...]
Rolls-Royce has re-established an official presence in Malaysia, appointing Quill Motorcars Sdn Bhd as its authorised dealer. Quill Motorcars will set up a showroom and service facility that will be called Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Kuala Lumpur. It will share the same building as Quill’s BMW dealership in Section 14, Petaling Jaya.
“The new dealership re-establishes an official Rolls-Royce retail and aftersales presence in Malaysia, signifying the company’s confidence in the market. With both the Rolls Royce Phantom family and the new Ghost, we are able to offer the pinnacle in luxury motoring to Malaysians,” said Rolls-Royce Motor Cars regional director for Asia Pacific, Colin Kelly.
Quill Motorcars aims to sell between eight and 10 units a year, which shouldn’t be too hard if you count in the royal families. Rolls Royce, which has 18 dealerships in Asia including Malaysia, forecasts Asian sales to triple this year to 450 vehicles with the introduction of the more affordable Ghost, if any Roller can be described as affordable.
[Read more...]
The Volkswagen Passat CC is a pretty darn good looking vehicle and over here in Malaysia you can have one for about the price of a Volkswagen Scirocco. But I think Volkswagen was trying to be too true to the whole concept of a ‘coupe’ – they only gave the Passat CC two individual seats at the rear! A lot of manufacturers do this when they debut four doors with ‘coupe’-like rooflines, even the CLS and the X6 is like that.
The Passat CC is definitely wide enough to fit 3 at the rear so it seems to be a waste to dedicate the center area of the rear to a storage compartment. It looks like many others think so as well – requests by potential customers all over the world to offer a 5-seater has been so strong that Volkswagen has actually gone ahead and decided to offer a 5-seater version of the Passat CC!
The new 3-seat rear bench is optional, and the individual seat option will continue to be the ‘de facto’ configuration for the Passat CC. This option will cost the customer 100 Euros, which I feel is pittance for an additional seat when you’re already spending so much on the car.
If Volkswagen Malaysia offers this option (and I think they will – they have been quite friendly towards options in the past such as the funky optional Golf R tail lamps for the Golf GTI), you’ll finally be able to go ahead with your Passat CC purchase without having your relatives and in laws whisper about how you spent over 200 grand on a car that can only seat two at the rear!
This is a teaser image of the Kia Ray concept, which will make its debut at the Chicago motor show next month. Not much is known about the Ray, but the Korean carmaker says that it is a plug-in hybrid that also shows off “Kia’s evolving design direction”.
Styled at the Kia Design Centre in the US, the Ray looks to have four-doors wrapped in a low-roof coupe style bodyshell. It’s obvious from the picture that the Ray has a glass roof and prominent wheel arches. We reckon that it should be quite a looker in the metal.
On another note, Kia says that real-life testing of its hybrid vehicles (both petrol and diesel variants) will start this year in the UK.
Brands that provide good value for money thrive in a weak economy where buyers want to stretch their money, which is why companies like Hyundai had a great 2009 at the expense of more established brands. Joining the Korean marque is Škoda, which sold 684,226 cars in 2009 to better its previous sales record. The figure represents a 1.4% growth over 2008.
Western Europe continues to be Škoda’s strongest market, with both sales and market share increased throughout the continent. Volkswagen’s Czech subsidiary sold over 190,000 cars in Germany, up 57.3% year-on-year. However, the Chinese market saw Škoda’s biggest jump with over 122,000 cars registered – an increase of 107%.
Worldwide, the best-selling Škoda in 2009 was the Octavia, with more than 270,000 cars sold, followed by the Fabia, of which over 260,000 were registered. The much-praised Superb recorded 45,000 units. Customers also showed plenty of interest in the new Škoda Yeti crossover which, despite only being launched in September, found over 11,000 new owners last year. The company also sold over 47,000 Roomsters worldwide.
We can understand the appeal of Škoda cars. Solidly built with VW technology and standards at a lower price, it’s a pity that they don’t have much a of presence in Malaysia.
The 2010 Formula 1 season opener in Bahrain is coming up fast, and there are just four race seats remaining after Sauber announced Pedro de la Rosa as its second signing. The Sauber team will be a mix of experience and youth, as 38-year old de la Rosa’s teammate will be impressive Japanese youngster Kamui Kobayashi, 23.
Spaniard de la Rosa started his F1 career as a test driver for Jordan in 1998. He then drove for Arrows and Jaguar before going to McLaren, with whom he stayed as a test driver from 2003 through 2009, filling in for Juan Pablo Montoya in 2005 and 2006. He has 71 Grands Prix under his belt. “Pedro has spent many years working for a top team at the highest technical level. We as a team stand to gain from his experience, and the same goes for young Kamui,” pointed out Team Principal Peter Sauber.
As mentioned, four seats remain empty: two at USF1, one at Campos (teammate to Bruno Senna) and one at Renault (racing with Robert Kubica). Some of you must be wondering why our title spelled “BMW Sauber” when Munich had already pulled out of F1. The team’s 2010 entry was submitted last season with BMW in the title, and it cannot amend the name without the approval of the Formula 1 Commission. Plenty of red tape involved.
No, 9ff isn’t a typo error, but a tuner from Dortmund, Germany specialising in Porsches. While names like Gemballa and Ruf are more famous, 9ff’s GTurbo packages for the Porsche 997 GT3 and GT3 RS are bound to get a few headlines.
Let’s take the case of the 997 GT3 RS for dramatic effect. 9ff put a Bi-Turbo conversion to the standard 450 bhp engine with upgrades such as titanium connecting rods and extra strong forged pistons. Three packages are available: GTurbo750 with 750 bhp/850 Nm, GTurbo850 with 850 bhp/910 Nm and the GTurbo1000 with 1000 bhp/940 Nm of torque.
Choose the 1000 bhp option and your Porsche will accelerate from 0-100 km/h in a scant 2.9 seconds. 0-200 km/h is done in 8.2 seconds and 9ff claims that you can technically go on to 392 km/h. To do that, mods like rear fenders with air intakes (for the intercooler) and air outlets in the front fender to reduce the pressure in the wheel wells at high speed are made.
Not many actually want, or can handle, that sort of performance, so 9ff sells an aerodynamic kit for Euro 8,900, and light alloys (fits regular tyres) at Euro 4,890. There are also rims with a central lock system at Euro 5,950.
BMW is offering a total of 7 limited edition models for the upcoming Chinese New Year Celebrations. Four are from the 3-Series range and three are from the 5-Series range. You can check them out this weekend at the CNY@BMW dealership event at all BMW dealerships. I’ll be going to the one closest to my home – Auto Bavaria Sg Besi, to snap some live photos.
The E90 range consists of the BMW 320i Lifestyle Edition, the BMW 320i Performance Edition, the BMW 320d Performance Edition and the BMW 325i Performance Edition. Each Performance Edition variant of limited to 48 units each. I don’t really have much info on the Lifestyle Edition at this point.
You basically get BMW Performance accent strips and a black front grille for a sportier look. On the inside, you get BMW Performance gear levers which are wrapped with Alcantara and Walkanappa leather with a chrome strip on top, and a BMW Performance handbrake grip in Alcantara leather. Finally, there’s a set of aluminium pedals and footrest.
BMW 320i Performance Edition – RM 250,800
BMW 320d Performance Edition – RM 257,800
BMW 325i Performance Edition – RM 311,800
The ‘basic’ 320i goes for RM236,800 while the ‘basic’ 320i Sports goes for RM248,800, so that’s about a RM2,000 premium for the 320i ‘Performance Edition’ over the regular Sports. A regular 320d Sports goes for RM255,800 and a regular 325i Sports goes for RM309,800. Both represent a RM2,000 premium.
The E60 5-Series will be available as either a 523i Executive Edition, a 523i Exclusive Edition, or a 525i Sports Edition. The 523i Executive Edition features the Neptune Blue metallic paintwork and 17 inch 278 double-spoe alloy wheels. On the interior you get Poplar Grain Brown wood trim and Natural Brown “Dakota’ leather upholstery.
The 523i Exclusive Edition is done up in a Platinum Bronze paintwork with Chrome-plated trimming around its side windows and windscreen washer jets. This car comes with 17 inch style 277 V-spoke alloys. On the inside, you get Anthracite Variegated Bamboo trim with side sill strips with the ‘Edition’ lettering. You also get a glass roof with anthracite rooflining and a sports leather steering wheel.
The most expensive ‘limited edition’ car here is of course the 525i Sports Edition. This is available either in Carbon Black metallic or Alpine White with the M aerodynamics package. You also get the BMW M Sports Suspension with 19-inch alloy wheels in 172 M double spoke design. On the inside, you get sports seats done in a bi-colour Black/ Grey “Dakota” leather combination, Aluminium Pentane interior trim, rooflining done in anthracite, and the same ‘Edition’ side sill strips.
BMW 523i Executive Edition – RM 343,800
BMW 523i Exclusive Edition – RM 383,800
BMW 525i Sports Edition – RM 415,800
The normal 523i goes for RM343,800 – the same price as the 523i Executive while the 523i SE goes for RM383,800, the same price as the 523i Exclusive. The 525i Sports also normally goes for RM415,800, so basically with the E60 there is no premium for these ‘Edition’ models over the regular cars.
These are probably the last few batches of the E60 before the new F10 hits our streets. If you’re in the market for a new car you may wanna check out the event this weekend – 23rd and 24th January, except for Auto Bavaria Kuantan which will be having theirs on the 22nd-23rd instead. All the ‘mods’ seem pretty much aesthetic for both the E90 and E60.
[Read more...]
Suzuki CEO Osamu Suzuki reinforced his stand today that he does not want Suzuki to become a Volkswagen brand and prefers to continue as the two companies are right now, which he describes as one between ‘equal partners’.
Volkswagen currently holds 19.9 percent of Suzuki stake and that makes them the company’s largest single shareholder. This new stake purchase is a relatively new thing to happen and we haven’t exactly seen any new fruits of the partnership yet. In fact, Suzuki’s most recent concept car unveiled in India earlier this month still reeked of the company’s past association with Government Motors.
