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RON97 petrol up 10 sen to RM2.50 per liter tonight?

January 31, 2011 at 10:55 pm By Paul Tan Filed Under Malaysian Fuel Prices

When I first read Petrol Dealers Association of Malaysia (PDAM) president Hashim Othman saying the current situation in Egypt could disrupt the supply of oil and make the price of crude oil go up, resulting in a RON97 hike according to the government’s “formula”, I knew a fuel hike was on the way.

I did not know it would be so soon, as after I read the PDAM president quote this morning, newspieces by the online editions of major dailies started appearing in the evening saying RON97 could be hiked by 10 sen at midnight tonight, bringing it up to RM2.50 per litre. RON97 was last hiked in early January 2011 by 10 sen to RM2.40 per litre, and before that the last hike was on the 1st of December 2010, also by 10 sen. If this 10 sen per month trend continues, we could be at RM3 per litre by the middle of the year.

Interestingly, from the graph above crude oil prices today seem to be a little lower than it was during the last hike. And this WSJ story says: “Crude oil futures were steady Monday as unrest in Egypt showed no signs of easing and attention turned to operations at the Suez Canal, a key world energy hub.”

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Renault-Nissan Alliance flying, with record sales in 2010

January 31, 2011 at 6:41 pm By Anthony Lim Filed Under Cars, International News, Nissan, Renault

It’s all green and go for the 12-year-old Renault-Nissan Alliance, which reported a record year in global sales, with 7,276,398 units achieved in 2010, a 19.6% increase over 2009 in a market that expanded by 11.8%.

Renault and Nissan sold 2,625,796 and 4,080,588 vehicles respectively, making for a 14% jump for Renault and 21.5% for Nissan. Lada sales accounted for 570,014 units, a 37.6% increase compared to 2009. Dacia and Renault Samsung Motors also posted percentage increases, by 12% and 19% respectively.

In Europe, the Renault group volume increased by 7.4% with 1,642,000 units sold in a market that contracted by 3.7%, and moved up one place in the rankings to become number two in passenger car (PC) sales.

Outside Europe, South Korea was notable – with 155,697 units sold, this represented an increase of 16.5% in passenger car sales, adding up to 11.9% of the market share in the country, which is Renault’s fourth largest market globally.

Meanwhile, for Nissan, China became the company’s largest market worldwide, with 1,023,638 units sold, a 35.5% increase on 2009. Sales were led by the midsize sedan Sylphy, with 142,367 units sold and the flagship car model Teana, with sales of 140,842 units.

In the US, Nissan and Infiniti sales totalled 908,570 units, an 18% increase over the previous year, while in Japan, government subsidies and launches of five new models such as the March, Juke and Serena contributed to the 7.7% increase in sales, with 645,320 units delivered.

In Europe, total sales increased by 13% to 555,924 units, with the main market being the UK, with 96,419 units sold, followed by Russia with 84,288 units.

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Audi A4 1.8 TFSI and Audi A6 2.0 TFSI in Indonesia are now locally assembled!

January 31, 2011 at 5:49 pm By Paul Tan Filed Under Audi, Cars, International News

Audi has announced that it has setup an assembly facility in Indonesia in cooperation with INDOMOBIL/Garuda Mataram Motor, with the first vehicles to roll off the assembly line being the Audi A4 1.8 TFSI and the Audi A6 2.0 TFSI. It seems that CKD Audis will be delivered to Indonesian customers this month itself. By 2015, Audi expects to hit 2,700 units of the A4 and A6 to roll out of Indonesian assembly facilities.

No mention if Audi will be producing cars for ASEAN export in Indonesia as well. When the A5 Coupe was launched, Euromobil told us that they were talking to Audi about CKD assembly in Malaysia as well, but Malaysian sales volumes weren’t enough to justify local assembly at that point.

“After having done so in key markets like China and India, we’ve now found an outstanding partner for local assembly of our Audi models in Indonesia. As one of the most important countries in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Indonesia is one of Asia’s most dynamic growth regions. We’d like to contribute to this growth, since growth is an important component of Audi’s brand strategy,” said Frank Dreves, Member of the Board of Management for Production at Audi AG.

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Team Lotus eyeing 50 points this season, wants to challenge Lotus-Renault by the end of 2011

January 31, 2011 at 4:14 pm By Danny Tan Filed Under Formula 1, Lotus, Motorsports

Team Lotus, or “Tony’s Lotus” as the team is sometimes referred to in reference to the AirAsia boss, has launched its new T128 challenger for the 2011 Formula 1 season. And the reigning “best new team” is in bullish mood – the target is no longer to beat Virgin and HRT, but challenge the likes of Williams and Lotus-Renault, which is of course the other player in the Lotus vs Lotus saga.

“I think when you look at this car, it looks like a front-running car in every area. We’ve said very clearly that we want to start challenging the established teams, and I think that’s very achievable,” said chief technical officer Mike Gascoyne. “But that line has to continue going up, so we’ll have to target being up there with Toro Rosso, Sauber and Force India, and then end the season by targeting Williams and Renault,” he added.

Team Lotus COO Keith Saunt prefers to set the target in figures. “A lot of people might say I’m too optimistic, but I’d like to think we’ll get between 40 and 50 points this year. I think we’re targeting eighth strategically, but I doubt there’ll be a lot between sixth, seventh and eighth. Depending on how the other guys are doing, seventh could be achievable.”

That’s huge progress Team Lotus is talking about, and we’ll only know if it’s possible once the longest season in F1 history gets underway come March in Bahrain. What do you think of TL’s optimism?

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Team Lotus unveils first images of its 2011 car, the T128

January 31, 2011 at 2:22 pm By Anthony Lim Filed Under Formula 1, Lotus, Motorsports


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Team Lotus’ 2011 F1 car, the T128, was launched today exclusively in Team Lotus Notes. The special launch edition of the team’s magazine contains a number of first-see images of the 2011 car.

Also in the magazine are insights from key players within Team Lotus into the design and build process of the new car, including people from the aero, R&D and vehicle dynamics, design as well as from the senior management.


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Here’s a sampling of what they had to say about the T128.

“I think that basically this car looks like a front-running car in every area. We said very clearly that we want to start challenging the established teams and I think that’s very achievable. The 2011 challenger is almost a totally new car.” – Mike Gascoyne, chief technical officer.

“We’re definitely going to take a step forward with this car. Quite how much we’ll close the gap to the teams in front of us we’ll see, but my hope is we’ll be competing with the teams that were a second or two ahead of us last season.” – Elliot Dason-Barber, head of R&D and vehicle dynamics.

“You can just see that this car will be faster than last year’s. It’s got the right sweeps and curves on it – it’s the very latest iteration of what an F1 car should be.” – Keith Saunt, chief operating officer.


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“The biggest design challenge was trying to package everything a bit smaller. We were trying to get that area around the driver really tight so the aerodynamicists were happy with it.” – Lewis Butler, chief designer.

“I think the front half of the car is quite a big step away from the 2010 car. Last year’s car was a bit blocky in the sidepod area, but this one looks a lot racier – it’s a lot smoother and curvier around the sidepods.” – Marianne Hinson, head of aerodynamics.


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“T128 takes Team Lotus in exactly the right direction. We have said since day one of the Team Lotus dream that the plan for our second year was to take the fight to the midfield, and with this car we are all confident that is what we will be able to do.” – Riad Asmat, chief executive officer.

And of course, let’s not forget the man.

“There has been so much focus off-track, it’s a thrill to be able to get back to talking about racing. The launch of the T128 is a big step forward for Team Lotus and I want to thank the whole team for the amount of hard work that has already gone into the car, and I want to thank Renault and Red Bull Technology for their tremendous support in helping us make this step forward and for being such great team partners.” – Tony Fernandes, team principal.

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Toyota leads Indonesia vehicle sales with 37% market share, best selling Avanza still going strong

January 31, 2011 at 12:54 pm By Danny Tan Filed Under Cars, International News, Toyota

South East Asia is Toyota territory. The world’s largest carmaker is almost like a “national carmaker” in Thailand and Indonesia, and is the top selling foreign brand in Malaysia, behind national carmakers Perodua and Proton. Toyota leads vehicle sales in our neighbouring markets by far, and actually captured a commanding 37% of an Indonesian total industry volume (TIV) of 762,000 cars sold in 2010.

Toyota Astra-Motor (TAM) revealed both this and their target for 2011, which is 36% of an estimated 800,000 TIV. TAM boss Johny Darmawan said that the lowered target is due to factors like the increase in vehicle tax, the vehicle ownership transfer fee, the issuance of progressive motorised vehicle tax and the rise of (non-subsidised) fuel prices.

Avanza sales in Malaysia may be declining, but it’s still the best performing model for TAM. 141,174 units found new homes in 2010, making it half a million Avanzas sold over seven years. It was also a 39% jump over 2009 sales although the MPV isn’t getting younger.

The feat is made more impressive when one considers that Daihatsu also sells the Avanza in Indonesia badged as the Xenia, which is cheaper than the Toyota badged car (Daihatsu is majority owned by Toyota and is the second best selling brand in Indonesia).

Trailing the Avanza in TAM’s range is the Kijang Innova at 53,549 units and Rush at 18,836 units. The biggest jumps were from the Yaris and Camry, which sales rose 95% and 78% respectively from 2009 figures. This represents a trend. Malaysia has long held the title as the “largest passenger car market in ASEAN”, but that could come under threat from Indonesia – 541,475 units were sold there in 2010, only just behind Malaysia’s 543,594.

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Around the world in 125 days – fuel cell out to prove a point

January 31, 2011 at 12:12 pm By Anthony Lim Filed Under Cars, Hybrids and Alternative Fuel, International News, Mercedes Benz

Three Mercedes-Benz B-Class fuel cell vehicles have begun an epic 125-day circumnavigation of the world. The cars will travel 30,000 km across four continents and through 14 countries and will finish their world tour back in Stuttgart, where they started.

The F-CELL World Drive, as it’s called, is aimed at confirming the technical maturity of fuel cell technology, as well as its suitability for everyday use as a safe and reliable means of transport over long distances and in the widest variety of road and weather conditions.

The tour will initially head south via Paris, Barcelona and Madrid into Lisbon, continuing the journey by plane to the US east coast. From Fort Lauderdale, Florida, the route heads across North America along the Gulf of Mexico towards Los Angeles before heading up to vancouver, Canada, a distance of 7,500 km.

Next is a 5,000 km trip across Australia, beginning from Sydney towards Perth, with stopovers in Melbourne and Adelaide. The last transfer between continents takes the cars into Shanghai, and from Beijing, the cars will cover more than 10,000 km towards Moscow, before heading into Northern Europe. The cars will travel via Finland to Stockholm, then Oslo in Norway before making the journey back, via Denmark, to Germany, arriving in Stuttgart at the beginning of June.

The circumnavigation drive will also draw attention to a significant challenge, which is with the infrastructure needed for the provision of hydrogen. Mercedes says that this type of electric mobility can only be implemented on a comprehensive scale when it is backed by a network of hydrogen filling stations designed to meet demand. As such, the company is looking at motivating the advancement of filling station networks through joint development.

Now, getting more people and countries in on the act would naturally bring the cost of fuel cell technology and vehicles down, fitting in with the prediction reported earlier. Of course, based on the route taken by the world drive, you can see which countries are integral to those plans in the immediate term, and which are not.

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Blind man drives car successfully, aided by nonvisual tech

January 31, 2011 at 11:54 am By Anthony Lim Filed Under Cars, Concept Cars, International News, Technology

In the US, a blind individual has driven a street vehicle for the first time in public without the assistance of a sighted person. Over the weekend, Mark Riccobono successfully navigated 2.4 km of the road course section of the Daytona International Speedway in a Ford Escape hybrid equipped with nonvisual technology.

Riccobono, a blind executive who directs technology, research, and education programs for the National Federation of the Blind, not only successfully navigated the several turns of the road course, but also avoided obstacles, some stationary and some thrown into his path at random from a van driving in front of him. He also successfully passed the van.

The Ford Escape was equipped with laser range-finding sensors that conveyed information to a computer inside the vehicle, allowing it to create and constantly update a three-dimensional map of the road environment. The computer sent directions to vibrating gloves on the driver’s hands, indicating which way to steer, and to a vibrating strip on which he was seated, indicating when to speed up, slow down, or stop.

The demonstration is the current culmination of the NFB’s Blind Driver Challenge project, which set out to challenge universities, technology developers, and other interested innovators to establish BDC teams to build nonvisual interface technologies to empower blind people to drive a car independently.

The NFB Blind Driver Challenge was taken on by Dennis Hong and a team from Virginia Tech’s Robotics and Mechanisms Laboratory (RoMeLa), which successfully demonstrated a prototype blind-drivable dune buggy in May 2009. In June 2010, RoMeLa partnered with Torc Technologies, a leading provider of modular unmanned vehicle technologies, to take the NFB Blind Driver Challenge development further.

New and improved versions of RoMeLa’s nonvisual interfaces were integrated into a ByWire XGV – Torc’s modified Ford Escape Hybrid equipped with ByWire drive-by-wire conversion modules, SafeStop wireless emergency stop system and PowerHub power distribution modules, which was the vehicle driven by Riccobono.

Among the novel interfaces RoMeLa is developing are DriveGrip (a pair of vibrating gloves that relay steering information), SpeedStrip (a vibration-based device that relays speed information) and AirPix, a device that uses compressed airflow patterns to create tactile images.

The goal, of course, is not to develop an autonomous vehicle to drive the blind, but rather a vehicle that enables a blind person to drive. The sensing and perception data normally used to autonomously carry out appropriate driving behaviors are passed to the blind driver through several nonvisual interfaces, who can then reason about the environment, make control decisions, and directly execute these decisions from behind the wheel.

So, perhaps, one day in the not too distant future, the visually-impaired will be able to take to the roads and enjoy the freedom we who are sighted take for granted.

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Fuel cell prices expected to drop considerably, says Daimler

January 31, 2011 at 10:38 am By Anthony Lim Filed Under Cars, Hybrids and Alternative Fuel, International News, Mercedes Benz

According to a report, Mercedes-Benz maker Daimler predicts that the cost of EV batteries and fuel cell cars will drop significantly in the next few years, especially for the latter, paving the way for closer parity against conventional offerings.

The company’s e-drive and future mobility boss Herbert Kohler said that while a few years ago, the price was at about 1,500 euros per kilowatt hour for a lithium ion battery, the price should drop to around 400 euros in the midterm, according to the ANE report.

He added that the expectations are for an even bigger price decrease for fuel cells, with the belief that EVs could be more expensive than fuel cells in less than five years. By 2015, the company beleives that a fuel cell car won’t cost more than a four-cylinder diesel hybrid meeting the Euro 6 emissions standard, according to Kohler.

The company has already been doing running trials on a fleet of its B-class fuel cells cars, with the second-generation of the form based on its new MFA front-wheel drive architecture expected – along with its A-class sibling – around 2013 or 2014, and is aggressively pursuing a target of getting 1,000 fuel cell mules on the road in the next three years.

Kohler added he expected that there would be a network of 1,000 fuel-stations in Germany alone by mid-term, effectively having a fueling-station for a fuel cell vehicle within an every 30 km distance.

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Iran Khodro Runna set for mid-2011 domestic market entry

January 31, 2011 at 9:43 am By Anthony Lim Filed Under Cars, International News

Well, nearly two years after it was announced, it looks like Iranian assembler Iran Khodro, or IKCO, will have its first Runna sedans reaching domestic customers in the middle of this year.

The Runna is essentially a Peugeot 206 sedan, and is yet another of the company’s domestically-made offerings, slated as a national car. Word back then was that the car would ship with a few engine choices, all built by IKCO, and based on PSA blocks – a 95 hp 1.4 litre pot, as well as a 108 hp 1.6 litre and a 1.7 litre CNG-based unit.

IKCO does quite a bit of Pug stuff for the domestic market – there’s also the Samand, which is based on the 405 sedan, as well as the 206 hatch and the 207i hatch among the number of cars in its lineup. Strangely enough, it also has the 206 sedan – in SD guise – in its lineup. When first announced, IKCO planned to build 150,000 Runnas a year at full production – undoubtedly, that company should still be standing by those figures, unless something radical has come about.

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