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MAA Report: 2009 wasn’t that bad after all!

January 20, 2010 at 5:09 pm By Danny Tan Filed Under Local News

Malaysia’s total industry volume (TIV) of new motor vehicles for 2009 was down fractionally by two per cent to 536,905 units, compared to 548,115 units registered in 2008, the Malaysian Automotive Association (MAA) said.

This is great news for the auto industry, which was tipped for doom and gloom at the start of 2009, when the world’s economy was in poor health. Taking that into account, MAA’s initial forecast was a pessimistic 480,000 units, revised to half a million when things started to pick up by mid year. 2009 ended on a high as year-on-year sales volume in December surged by 20 per cent.

The momentum is expected to carry through, so MAA predicts a 550,000 TIV for 2010.

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Perodua finishes 2009 on top of the sales chart

January 20, 2010 at 4:28 pm By Danny Tan Filed Under Cars, Local News, Perodua

Perodua has released its sales figures for 2009, and it comes as no surprise that the Rawang based company ended the year in top spot. Perodua sold 166,700 units to top Malaysia’s sales charts for the fourth consecutive year. The 2009 total is also the second highest in the company’s history.

With that, Perodua’s market share is 31.3 per cent, which is an improvement over 30.5 per cent in 2008, when it sold 176,400 units. “We did considerably well in 2009 with a minimal contraction of 0.4 per cent despite the global economic downturn,” said Perodua’s new managing director Aminar Rashid Salleh at a meeting with the media this afternoon.

Aminar, previously from UMW Toyota, attributed some of Perodua’s success to the Government’s scrapping scheme, which brought 20,000 new sales to Perodua. Perodua’s top seller continues to be the Myvi, which contibuted over 90,000 of the total figure. He also revealed Perodua’s target for 2010, which is to sell 176,000 units.

Here are some updates on the Alza. We haven’t seen that many of Perodua’s small MPV on the road, and it’s been confirmed that our eyes are not problematic. 18,000 bookings have been received to date, but so far less than 3,000 units have been delivered. Perodua promises to reach 3,000 by the end of this month and to produce/deliver about 4,000 units per month beginning March (February is a short month with the Chinese New Year break).

Currently, the waiting period for the Alza is from three and a half to four months; Perodua aims to cut this to 2-2.5 months. There won’t be a repeat of the epic waiting list that Myvi buyers had to endure; Perodua admits that they underestimated demand for the Myvi when it was launched.

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What women want? A pink Fiat 500, it seems!

January 20, 2010 at 11:04 am By Danny Tan Filed Under Fiat, International News

This is the limited edition Fiat 500 that customers have been asking for ever since the popular city car was launched, says Fiat UK, which also states the obvious by saying that it’s “appealing mainly to young women” because it’s a “must-have’ motoring fashion item”.

The first of several Fiat 500 limited editions that will be introduced in 2010, the Fiat 500 Pink comes with Start&Stop, sunroof, black interior (suprisingly!), special pink key cover and unique carpet mats. Based on the 1.2 Lounge, it’s priced at £11,700, £1,000 more than the standard car but with £1,500 worth of extra kit. Only 500 examples will be available through Fiat’s UK website.

Don’t let your daughters/girlfriends see this, or else…

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Mitsubishi-PSA Peugeot Citroen taking their relationship to the next level?

January 20, 2010 at 10:43 am By Danny Tan Filed Under International News, Mitsubishi, Peugeot

PSA Peugeot Citroen and Mitsubishi met this week in Tokyo to negotiate a deal that may give the French carmaker a controlling stake in the Japanese company, two people familiar with the matter said to Bloomberg. Both currently work together in sharing vehicles, but this development looks set to create an alliance in the Renault-Nissan mould.

A transaction would involve share swaps. At least four scenarios are being discussed, with one proposal of Peugeot taking 51 per cent of Mitsubishi in exchange for $1.8 billion in cash and 18 per cent of Peugeot, although that plan didn’t win support, the sources added.

PSA may be suffering from peer pressure. VW recently bought into Suzuki, while Renault has a significant holding in Nissan. Mitsubishi may not be the perfect Asia bride though. Nissan is a much bigger company than the Lancer’s maker, with a bigger global footprint. Renault and it are jointly investing in India and Russia, markets with huge growth potential. Suzuki meanwhile, is the market leader in India and has annouced plans to add small-car production in emerging markets including Pakistan, Indonesia and Vietnam.

If the deal falls through, PSA will be the second European partner for Mitsubishi. Germany-based Daimler AG bought 37 per cent of MMC in 2000 and 2001, before exiting in 2004 after refusing to pour in more aid money.

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MINI Countryman leaked official images!

January 20, 2010 at 10:01 am By Danny Tan Filed Under BMW, Cars, International News

Here are leaked official images of the MINI crossover called the Countryman, which will be shown off at Geneva. But like most motor show exhibits these days, we get to preview it first on the Net.

No surprises on the looks; we’ve already seen the MINI Beachcomber Concept and this is an evolution of it. Unlike the concept, the Countryman has doors and a roof, but otherwise retains much of the Beachcomber’s looks. You can see it in the oddly shaped headlights and the “link” between A-pillar and wheelarch. What’s slightly different are the bumper, grille (broken into two pieces here) and the lack of the “spare wheel carrier” which wasn’t for a spare wheel anyway. Look closely and you’ll see “Cooper S” as well as “All4″ badges, the latter denoting the Countryman’s four-wheel drive.

The cabin is standard MINI, with an oversized speedo taking centrestage. Is it me or the air vents have grown much larger as well? Two more pictures after the jump!
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Mitsubishi ASX previewed ahead of Geneva

January 20, 2010 at 1:02 am By Danny Tan Filed Under 2010 Geneva Motor Show, Cars, Mitsubishi

Mitsubishi will premiere its ASX compact crossover at the 80th Geneva Motor Show in March. The ASX is the European version of the Japanese market RVR, which will go on sale next month. MMC’s small SUV seats five and will slot below the recently redesigned Outlander, now with Lancer style shark nose.

The Euro-spec ASX will come with an all-new Euro 5 ready 1.8-litre turbocharged direct-injection diesel engine, jointly developed by MMC and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. Featuring “Automatic Stop & Go” technology with a 6-speed manual transmission, the ASX is said to be very good for economy and emissions.

Not much details available for now, so take a look at the ASX’s rear after the jump.
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Petronas Syntium Team starts 2010 with class win and second overall in 24 hours of Dubai

January 19, 2010 at 12:16 pm By Danny Tan Filed Under BMW, Motorsports

The Petronas Syntium Team started 2010 with a memorable result at the team’s first ever outing at the 24 hours of Dubai. Emerging triumphant over the weekend with a win in the A5 petrol class (3,000-3,500cc) and an impressive overall second place were the quartet of Malaysian Fariqe Hairuman, Japanese duo Masataka Yanagida and Nobuteru Taniguchi and guest driver Johannes Stuck of Liechtenstein. They were driving the #40 BMW Z4M Coupé, which completed 605 laps of the 5.39 km Dubai Autodrome circuit in 24 hours.

The team’s other Z4M Coupé (#41) driven by Tatsuya Kataoka, Manabu Orido, Kosuke Matsuura, Hiroki Yoshida and Malaysian youngster Johan Adzmi had to overcome a host of problems throughout the gruelling endurance race to finish third in the A5 petrol class. They did 555 laps and finished in 14th place overall.

Despite tough competition from the A6 petrol class (3,500-4,000cc) factory-backed 997 GT3 RSRs, PST’s inaugural outing at the 24 hours of Dubai got off to a strong start on with both cars qualifying in the top-ten. #40 was consistant throughout the race, eventually losing out to the winning Porsche by three laps, but #41 was saddled with mechanical problems, which reared its head with 40 minutes remaining in the race to force a long stop. They weren’t able to return to the race but were classified as third in class.

Good job guys and girls, congratulations!

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Suzuki Swift with 1.2-litre engine launched in India

January 19, 2010 at 11:15 am By Danny Tan Filed Under Cars, India, Suzuki

Maruti Suzuki has launched a new Swift variant with a 1.2-litre petrol engine which complies to the stricter Bharat Stage IV standard. BS-IV, which is India’s equivalent to Euro 4, will come into force this April.

The new K-series engine, with a power output of 84 bhp and 113 Nm replaces the old 1.3-litre engine with 87 bhp and 111 Nm. Maruti Suzuki claims better refinement and fuel consumption of 17.9 km/l, 2 km/l better than the old 1.3. As a comparison, the M15A 1.5-litre Swift sold in Malaysia has 101 bhp and 133 Nm.

But many Swift buyers are turning to diesel. Maruti introduced the Swift with Fiat’s 1.3-litre Multijet diesel engine (common rail turbo with 75 bhp and 190 Nm) back in 2007 and it has been selling well ever since. Despite increased competition, Maruti sold 10,900 Swifts in December 2009, the model’s highest monthly sales since its debut back in May 2005.

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Vauxhall/Opel Meriva interior unveiled!

January 19, 2010 at 9:51 am By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, Opel, Vauxhall

GM’s European unit have unveiled the interior for its new Vauxhall/Opel Meriva compact MPV! The Meriva is an MPV in the B-segment, built on GM’s Gamma/SCCS platform so I don’t think its a Zafira replacement, which is a C-segment vehicle.

A key feature of the Meriva being touted extensively in press releases (and probably soon ad campaigns) are the vehicle’s FlexDoors, which are basically rear-hinged suicide doors for the rear doors. GM says this provides easier access into the interior, and it’s probably one of the very few examples of suicide doors on a concept car making it to production. But since the B-pillar remains, I don’t see how it being rear-hinged changes anything.

The Meriva will also have a ‘FlexRail’ system which is basically a storage zone for random items like handbags, books, iPods, sunglasses, etc. FlexRail’s floor module comprises two cup holders, Aux-in/USB connections and a 12-volt socket.

Above this area, there are two polished aluminum rails, and on the top of the line SE model, there is a flip-top armrest module attached with a smaller cupholder tray below it. Both can be shifted into a variety of fixed positions along the rails, while rear seat passengers benefit from the option of a rear armrest module, which can be fitted to the centre seat back section when it’s folded down between them.

And finally the final ‘Flex’ feature is FlexSpace, which allows various cabin configs without having to remove any seats. Both outer rear seats can be moved fore and aft individually, and can also slide inwards o provide more shoulder width and leg room in a spacious four-seat layout. Additionally, rear seat backs can be fully lowered without having to remove their head restraints. The Meriva’s boot capacity grows from 400 litres up to 920 litres with the seatbacks folded. If you use all the space up to the roof, 1500 litres of capacity is available.

The Meriva strikes an uncanny resemblance to the Suzuki MPV concept shown in India this month but that could be due to the fact that GM used to have some kind of stake in Suzuki. But Suzuki is in bed with Volkswagen now.

Look after the jump for hi-res images of the new Meriva.
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Super GT Honda HSV-010 official pics released!

January 19, 2010 at 9:38 am By Danny Tan Filed Under Honda, Motorsports

Here are pics of the Honda HSV-010 GT race car which will make its competitive debut in this season’s Super GT series. Previously, Honda only released one single picture, while the rest you saw on this site were from eager snappers camping at Suzuka for a closer look while Honda Super GT drivers were having an early feel of the car.

As a recap, the front engine, rear-wheel drive HSV-010 GT competes in the GT500 class and will be powered by a 3.4-litre V8 engine, as per Super GT regulations. HSV stands for Honda Sports Velocity. Super GT is meant for production cars, but Honda has managed to find a loophole in rulebook that permits cars that are production ready (which this prototype NSX is), though not necessarily in production.

The 2010 Super GT season starts on March 20-21 at Suzuka.

More pictures after the jump.
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