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Volvo C30 Electric production begins – first deliveries to leasing customers start in August

June 9, 2011 at 7:26 pm By Anthony Lim Filed Under Cars, Hybrids and Alternative Fuel, International News, Volvo

Volvo has begun production of its C30 Electric, and initial deliveries to leasing customers, mainly companies, authorities and governmental bodies is expected to begin from August.

The car, which will be delivered to leasing customers throughout Europe including those in Sweden, Belgium, the Netherlands and Norway – is built on the regular assembly line in the Ghent factory and then transported to Goteborg for installation of the motor, batteries and other model specific electronics.

The C30 Electric has an operating range of up to 150 kilometres per full charge – charging can be done via a regular household power socket, with a full recharge taking about seven hours. The car has a 130 kph top speed and does the 0-100 kph sprint in 10.9 seconds.

Tests on a fleet of about 50 cars have been conducted since September 2010, mainly internally at the Volvo Car Corporation. In terms of production, about 250 cars will be built by end 2012, possibly more if market interest takes off, the company says.

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Honda and Nissan bringing green race cars to Le Mans

June 9, 2011 at 4:52 pm By Danny Tan Filed Under Honda, Motorsports, Nissan


Not green coloured race cars, but eco friendly ones. Nissan will bring its LEAF NISMO RC to Le Mans while Honda will campaign its CR-Z hybrid race car. They won’t be challenging Audi and Peugeot for the win though; the eco racers will do their thing in a support event called Le Mans Vers Le Futur or Le Mans of the Future, which is reserved for EVs and hybrids.

The LEAF RC (RC stands for Racing Competition) is a 2011 New York show car that’s fully battery powered. Its full carbon fibre monocoque bodywork contains a battery pack, electric motor and inverter located in a mid-ship position. The 80kW AC synchronous motor generates 107 hp and 280 Nm, good for 0-100 km/h in 6.85 seconds and a top speed of 150 km/h. Nissan says that it can run for 20 minutes under racing conditions.


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Honda’s entry is less green, but more evocative. Developed by Honda Performance Development (HPD), the racing arm of American Honda, it was first seen at last year’s SEMA show in Las Vegas. While still an IMA hybrid, the 1.5L internal combustion engine has been turbocharged to make 200 hp and 237 Nm. It’s paired to a six-speed manual gearbox.

Other expected entries are the Peugeot EX1 (see Nurburgring video here) and the Audi e-tron Spyder.

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Nasim opens Peugeot Blue Box in Malacca, seven more 3S outlets planned for this year

June 9, 2011 at 2:14 pm By Danny Tan Filed Under Cars, Local News, Peugeot

Nasim, the official distributor of Peugeot in Malaysia, has launched a Peugeot Blue Box in Malacca. The new outlet is operated and owned by Sin Kwung Premium and is located in Kawasan Perindustrian Malim Jaya.

Among the services offered are basic servicing such as oil change, wheel alignment and balancing, body and paint services as well as windscreen replacement and vehicle inspection. Like all Blue Boxes, it is equipped with Peugeot’s Planet System Diagnostic tool, and has three service bays with the capacity to handle up to 10 cars a day.

Nasim has big plans for the brand, and will launch seven more new 3S centres this year after Malacca. They will be in Kota Kinabalu, Kota Bahru, Balakong, Sungai Petani, Kuantan, Kepong and Seremban. Once all are on board, Nasim will have 26 outlets nationwide.

In addition, Datuk Samson Anand George, COO of Nasim revealed that the company will relocate its flagship Blue Box in Glenmarie to a new 82,000 sq ft facility, also in Glenmarie. This is to cater to the increasing after sales volume.

Nasim is targeting sales of 7,000 Peugeots this year. For the first five months of 2011 (Jan-May) the Naza Group company sold 2,615 units, a huge 152% jump from sales in the same period last year.

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Impul does its usual thing on the unusual looking Juke

June 9, 2011 at 12:13 pm By Danny Tan Filed Under Cars, International News, Nissan


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We are all familiar with the Nissan tuner Impul, as Tan Chong sells Impul kitted Nissan cars in Malaysia. The Impul racing team also comes to Malaysia every year for the Super GT race in Sepang, and their blue Calsonic GT-R is one of the most recognisable cars on the grid. Here, we see the Japanese tuner doing their usual thing on a unusual looking Nissan, the Juke.

The front end gets some silver treatment on the full length grille strip and also the front lip, which comes in a unique wave design. It’s matched with side skirts in the same colour. For the white Juke, Impul recommends its Racing Aura SR-08 19-inch rims in black. The huge wheels are paired with 245/40 rubber. Another side addition are the aero visors.


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The rear end features a prominent diffuser style bumper and of course, Impul’s trademark big spoiler. The elaborate spoiler sits on the bottom edge of the glass, instead of the top, an unusual layout for vehicles with a hatch.

Performance parts such as an tweaked ECU, extra power kit with throttle valves, shocks and springs are in the works. Should the Juke reach our shores, which is likely, this dressed up version could probably make it here later, since Tan Chong is no stranger to selling Impul cars.

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New Chinese-Vietnamese JV to build low-cost EVs

June 9, 2011 at 11:56 am By Anthony Lim Filed Under Cars, Hybrids and Alternative Fuel, International News

With electric vehicles being the next big thing, seems that everyone and their uncle wants in on the genre, and the idea of making them mucho affordable in a region like Southeast Asia promises the sound of a cash register going off continuously, big time.

It looks like the Chinese can clearly hear those bells – the Nikkei reports that Chinese business owners are set to form a joint venture with a Vietnamese trading firm to make low-cost electric vehicles in northern Vietnam, at an estimated initial cost of US$50 million. Chinese businessman Zeng Fanyu and other company owners will have a 90% stake in the venture, with a Vietnamese trading company holding the remaining 10%.

The new company, which would be the first electric vehicle maker in Southeast Asia, recently started laying the groundwork for a factory in a special economic zone in Lang Son province in the country – the plant is slated for completion by the end of this year, with a view to being operational in 2012. In the meantime, the JV has started building a distribution network in southern China and northern Vietnam, and plans to procure components, materials, assembly line facilities and machine tools from electric vehicle ventures in China.

The report adds that the company will take advantage of cheap local labour to build two- to seven-seaters that will sell for an average price of 200 million dong (RM30,000), and supply these low-cost EVs to China and three countries in Southeast Asia. The countries were unnamed in the report.

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New Volvo app allows remote checking and commands

June 9, 2011 at 11:25 am By Danny Tan Filed Under Cars, International News, Volvo

Volvo has released a mobile app for iOS and Android that allows the driver to “stay in touch” with a parked car via his/her smart phone. The free app is an extension of Volvo On Call, which originally focused on SoS calls in an emergency. It’s for owners of all new Volvo models (from MY 2012) with Volvo On Call.

Functions include a car locator (with digital compass, car horn/indicators can be used to help search), remote door lock, vehicle dashboard (with info such as fuel level, range, average fuel consumption, etc), car health check and driving journal. The latter includes data of each trip during the last 40 days can be downloaded and stored.

Besides the above, vehicle information such as model, registration number and VIN number can be displayed on the phone. If the car alarm is triggered, the driver is alerted via the mobile app as well. These are all in addition to the original Volvo On Call features.

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Proton Exora prototypes used to test Campro CFE engine and CVT transmission

June 9, 2011 at 1:41 am By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, Malaysian Makes, Proton, Spyshots

These days when a Proton test prototype goes out for a drive, sometimes it’ll have a piece of paper on its front or rear windshield that identifies what exactly is being tested.

For example, last month we saw a white pre-FL Proton Saga with a label that describes it as an IAFM+ CVT test vehicle, which we’re assuming means a 1.3 litre IAFM+ engine paired to a CVT gearbox.

This white and black Proton Exora’s label reveals that it is used for general durability testing of a certain powertrain combination. The figures seem to suggest they’re testing what they’re calling a Campro CFE engine paired to a CVT gearbox.

If you recall, we’ve seen the letters CFE used before. At last year’s KLIMS 2010, Proton exhibited an engine called the Campro CFE which was a 1.6 litre inline-4 cylinder engine with a light boost turbocharger that provides a power output equivalent to a 2.0 litre normally aspirated engine. Power figures cited was 138hp at 5,000rpm and 205Nm between 2000rpm to 4,000rpm.

An upgrade in power from a Campro Turbo would explain why the other black and white Exora prototype we saw had rear disc brakes.

We also saw a Proton prototype being tested in a snowy country earlier this year bearing the same “CFE” lettering on a dashboard sticker. The full words on the dashboard in that snow prototype was P3 – CFE TURBO CVT3 ESP.

Look after the jump for all related spyshots. Hat tip to reader Ahmad Afifi for snapping a close-up of the paper on the windscreen and sending this in to us! :)
[Read more...]

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Aston to move Rapide production from Graz to Gaydon

June 9, 2011 at 1:38 am By Danny Tan Filed Under Aston Martin, Cars, International News

Aston Martin has announced that production of its Rapide will move to the company’s Gaydon headquarters in Warwickshire, UK. The four-door sports car is now built by Magna Steyr (MS) in Graz, Austria. The shift will happen in the second half of 2012 and preparation work is underway.

The V12 powered Rapide is the first Aston not to be build in England. In 2008, due to constraints at Gaydon and after conclusion of a six-month feasibility study, Aston Martin appointed MS to hand build the £140,000 car. A dedicated facility at MS’ plant was then set up with pre-production of the Rapide starting in Q4 2009. Full production started in 2010.

“In 2008 we had facility restrictions at Gaydon which indicated that production of Rapide at Gaydon would likely compromise production of our other cars. We were not prepared to do this. Now, three years on things are very different – Gaydon is more established, more flexible and more efficient,” Aston Martin CEO Dr Ulrich Bez explained.

“While our overall volume has not changed significantly, we now produce a far richer model mix – eight model lines (plus five variants) compared to three model lines (plus two variants) in 2008 – so Rapide production is now possible,” Bez added.

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Toyota Hilux facelift leaked image makes its way onto the net – July debut at IIMS 2011

June 9, 2011 at 1:22 am By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, Toyota

Toyota will be simultaneously unveiling facelifted versions of all three of its IMV models at the Indonesian International Motor Show next month.

Just for some background – Toyota’s IMV (Innovative International Multi-purpose Vehicle) project vehicles are aimed at emerging markets and have spawned a total of 5 bodystyles which consist of three pick-up variants of the Toyota Hilux, an SUV which is the Toyota Fortuner and an MPV which is the Toyota Innova.

The picture you see above is the first leaked image of the new Toyota Hilux facelift, which is spreading like wildfire around the internet right now. As you can see the front end has been revised and now features a stronger face inspired by the high end Toyota Landcruiser J200.

The IMV project is actually something unprecedented for Toyota, as it is conducted almost entirely outside Japan, including purchasing, manufacturing and logistics. As emerging market vehicles, they are not designed or sold in Japan, and in fact most if not all of the parts are not sourced from Japan, instead supplied by various ASEAN countries such as Thailand and Indonesia. They are also designed to suit the “hardship” that the suspension system has to endure because of the general road conditions in emerging markets.

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Nissan Qashqai – next-gen to be completely designed, engineered and built in the UK

June 9, 2011 at 12:03 am By Anthony Lim Filed Under Cars, International News, Nissan

Nissan has announced that its next-generation Qashqai crossover – also known as the Dualis – will be designed, engineered and built in the UK. A £192 million investment, which will be funded entirely by Nissan, has been targeted for the development of the new vehicle.

The first stage of development will see the new Qashqai being styled at the company’s European Design Centre in Paddington, London. Once the design is finalised, engineers from the Nissan Technical Centre Europe in Cranfield, Bedfordshire will take hold of the project, and the completed car will be built in the company’s Sunderland manufacturing facility.

Nissan is looking at the next-gen model building on the success of the current one, which was launched in December 2006, and was facelifted in early 2010. The vehicle is currently the highest-volume car produced in the UK, with export levels of around 80% to 97 markets worldwide. The Sunderland plant, which produces an average of 1,200 Qashqais a day, will produce its one millionth Qashqai later this month.

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