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Caterham to enter Chinese market

July 21, 2011 at 10:55 am By Anthony Lim Filed Under Cars, Caterham, International News

British sportscar maker Caterham Cars is expanding its presence globally – it’s now set to enter into the Chinese market, with the entire range of Sevens making their way in.

The company has signed an exclusive deal with a new importer, Courtenay Trading International; the latter is looking to appoint six retailers in key provinces of China over the next year and is targeting initial sales of between 30 and 50 Sevens in its first year of operation.

All of Caterham’s current EU5-compliant cars will be sold – the Roadsport 120, Superlight 120, Roadsport 175, Superlight R300 and CSR 175 – with the first Sevens scheduled to arrive in China in January 2012.

Although Caterham has had a long-standing presence in the Far East, notably in Japan, the move into China represents the next big step into new growth markets. Looks like the purchase by Team Lotus Enterprise in April is taking the brand places!

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Mitsubishi Lancer Sportback RA Edition – only 100 units

July 21, 2011 at 10:07 am By Anthony Lim Filed Under Cars, Local News, Mitsubishi

Mitsubishi Motors Malaysia has announced the introduction of the Lancer Sportback RA Edition. Based on the Lancer Sportback 2.4, the edition features a slew of Ralliart enhancements and will be a limited run of 100 units.

The accessory package for the five-door hatchback includes full Nappa leather seats, a rear diffuser, body art stickers and a reverse camera.

Also on are a Ralliart front bumper foil, front grille badge, fog lamp rings, scuff plates and Ralliart emblem. Meanwhile, the multi-spoke 18-inch wheels are now painted in a gun metal shade.

No changes mechanically to the 2.4 litre four-cylinder MIVEC block, which of course offers 170 PS and 226 Nm for output figures. Available in three colours, these being Lightning Blue, White Solid and Black Mica, the Lancer Sportback RA Edition goes for RM137,980, on-the-road inclusive of insurance.

Gallery after the jump.
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Nasim launches its 19th Peugeot showroom in Balakong

July 20, 2011 at 6:55 pm By Anthony Lim Filed Under Cars, Local News, Peugeot

There’s a new Peugeot showroom, and it’s in Balakong – the new outlet will cater to the demand for Peugeot in Balakong, South Cheras, Kajang, Semenyih, Seri Kembangan, Serdang and Bangi.

With the launch of Peugeot Balakong, there are now 19 Peugeot sales outlets in the country, 10 of which are in the Klang Valley. Following the latest opening, the company plans to open three more outlets throughout the country this year, at which point it will be represented in all major markets in Malaysia.

“We are also looking at launching a 2S centre in Balakong this year to cater to existing and prospective Peugeot owners. This new 2S centre will be located not too far away from the sales showroom and will be one of the largest Peugeot aftersales centres in the country,” said Nasim’s COO Datuk Samson Anand George.

Nasim also previewed the 207 SV at Peugeot Balakong today, which we wrote about earlier. If you’re interested in catching the car in the metal, head on over to the Motion and Emotion Tour 2011 at One Utama, which runs July 27-31.

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Saab and Youngman to form joint venture to develop three new models: the 9-1, 9-6 and 9-7

July 20, 2011 at 2:35 pm By Anthony Lim Filed Under Cars, International News, Saab, Youngman

Saab, through its owner Swedish Automobile, has signed an agreement with Zhejiang Youngman to form a joint venture in Sweden to develop three Saab models. The company issued a statement which said that the 50:50 JV, called the New Product Joint Venture, will be responsible for coming out with three vehicles, these being the 9-1, 9-6 and 9-7.

Saab will be responsible for controlling and managing the design, the development and testing of the new vehicles, utilising its existing capabilities and know-how from Trollhättan, with Youngman pitching in with financial support.

The 9-1 is likely to be based on the 9-X BioHybrid, while the 9-6 will see the resurrection of a SUV project from six years ago that never saw the light – a Subaru B9-based prototype was built, and has now sits on display at the Saab Museum.

The venture is aiming to build the prestige of the Saab brand to an even larger group of customers in China and the US with the 9-6 and 9-7, while the entry level 9-1 is being targeted as a global offering. The agreement between Swedish Automobile and Youngman has yet to be approved by regulators in Sweden and China, reports say.

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Peugeot 207SV with bodykit and leather – RM76,888

July 20, 2011 at 1:03 pm By Danny Tan Filed Under Cars, Local News, Peugeot


UPDATE: Nasim has confirmed the 207SV’s price of RM76,888 OTR

Here are some pictures of a “special edition” Peugeot 207, posted by Peugeot Malaysia on their Facebook page. The captions for the pics reveal its name, which is Peugeot 207SV.

As you can see, the white example here wears a full bodykit, comprising add ons to the front and rear bumpers and side skirts. There’s also a boot spoiler to complete the five-piece set. The 207SV’s seats and door trim are covered with a mix of leather and suede, with a special logo (207 plus lion) on the two front seats.

We looked up “207SV” on Mudah and found it featured in a few ads. The specs listed by the sales personnel behind the ads are consistent with the above, with the addition of “door visor” that’s not present on this white car. It was also mentioned that the three available colours are black, white and red. There’s also a “chrome tail pipe”.

Both 207SV ads, including one from Nasim TTDI, listed the car’s price as RM76,888, which is RM4,000 costlier than the standard car.

The locally assembled 207 is powered by a 1.6-litre engine with 110 bhp/147 Nm, paired to a four-speed automatic with Tiptronic. The B-segment sedan was officially launched in November 2010, view our post on it here.

More pics of the 207SV after the jump.
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PSA Peugeot Citroen-Changan JV gets govt green light

July 20, 2011 at 10:59 am By Danny Tan Filed Under Cars, ChangAn, China, Citroën, Peugeot

There’s plenty of car money to be made in China, and everyone is either striking deals, building plants or increasing output. Now, French automaker PSA Peugeot Citroen revealed that it has attained Chinese government approval for a production joint venture with China Changan Automobile Group. The approval comes exactly a year after both parties signed the JV agreement.

Located in Shenzhen, the 50:50 JV will have initial annual production capacity of 200,000 vehicles and a similar amount of engines. Production is expected to start in the second half of 2012, comprising passenger cars and light commercial vehicles. Citroen’s DS line will be launched in China and a proprietary car brand is in the works. Initial investment in the JV will amount to 8.4 billion yuan, according to PSA.

This is actually PSA’s second production JV in China, after a similar setup with Dongfeng Motor Corp. That partnership sold 194,566 Citroens and Peugeots in the first six months of 2011, up 10.2% year-on-year. Buoyed by strong 408 sales, the Peugeot brand saw a 19% increase to 80,893 units, while Citroen sales jumped 6% to 113,673 units.

Closer to home, production of the Peugeot 408 (name not confirmed for our region yet) is scheduled to start by the end of 2011 at Naza’s Gurun plant.

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Team Lotus’ Kovalainen: Our expectations were too high

July 20, 2011 at 9:51 am By Danny Tan Filed Under Formula 1, Motorsports

After launching the T128 back in January this year, Team Lotus COO Keith Saunt said: “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.”

It must pain Mr Saunt every time he’s reminded of that statement, as we’re now at the half way point of the season, and Team Lotus still has not scored its first point in F1. Their best placing was 13th in Australia and Monaco, both courtesy of Jarno Trulli. Teammate Heikki Kovalainen now admits that they’ve aimed too high.

“I would say that our expectations were too high. Though we have closed the gap compared to last year, where we were five seconds behind, now we are 2.5-3s behind, so we have taken a lot of steps forward,” he told Autosport

“But now, looking into year two and into the midfield if you like, many teams are stuck there. The reason for this is because it is very, very tough – and at the moment we are still missing the facilities. We don’t have a good enough factory. I don’t think our wind tunnel is good enough.

“We have a lot of good people in the team but, at the moment, I don’t think you can judge them, because the tools that they have are not good enough yet.

“So we need to give the people better tools to actually show what everyone can do – including myself. I have no single doubts about my own ability and, at the moment, I am very happy about the situation and my position in Team Lotus,” the Finn added.

What’s your view on this?

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Mercedes-Benz C-Class W204 facelift arrives in Malaysia – C200 CGI and C250 CGI BlueEfficiency driven

July 20, 2011 at 8:10 am By Anthony Lim Filed Under Cars, Mercedes Benz, Test Drive Reviews

How time does fly. It has been four years since the third-generation Mercedes-Benz C-Class was introduced, and the compact executive car has certainly done very well for itself, with more than a million units sold worldwide. The announcement of the mid-life facelift came in December last year, a little more than halfway through the typical seven-year life cycle for a model like it.

In Malaysia, since arriving in the second half of 2007, more than 6,000 examples have found owners, not a staggering figure, but impressive nonetheless. The C200 K and C230 that paved the way were replaced by the C200 CGI and C250 CGI, with the primary changes being in terms of powertrain.

Seven months on after the facelift’s announcement, the car has arrived on these shores. For its introduction here, the lineup retains the similar feel to the outgoing pre-facelift version in terms of model variants – the locally-assembled C200 CGI and C250 CGI BlueEfficiency roll in, at RM258,888 and RM290,888 respectively, looking to continue the successful run their predecessors had. There’s quite a fair bit of new in the car, even if it isn’t noticeable at first glance.

Full story after the jump.
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Rosberg to drive Fangio’s 1954 Mercedes at Nurburgring

July 19, 2011 at 11:04 pm By Danny Tan Filed Under Formula 1, Mercedes Benz, Motorsports


Fangio en route to victory at the Argentinean GP in January 1955. Click to enlarge

Mercedes GP Petronas driver Nico Rosberg will have the honour of driving Juan Manuel Fangio’s 1954 Mercedes on the Nurburging’s old Nordschleife layout this weekend at the German GP.

It will be a great moment for the crowd and the young driver. 57 years ago, Fangio won the German GP at the wheel of his Mercedes W196 race car, the second of his four triumphs that year for Mercedes, en route to the title.

Back in 1954, the Argentinean won the race in a time of just over 3 hours 45 minutes around the famous 22.8 km track. Throughout his racing career, Fangio won five F1 world titles in cars from four different manufacturers, and is one of the sport’s greats. He passed away in 1995, and would have turned 100 this year.

“Coming to the Nurburgring for the German Grand Prix always feels very special to me. There is so much history around this amazing track, especially for Mercedes-Benz with great drivers from the past having had such successful times on the Nurburgring and the legendary Nordschleife,” Rosberg said.

Will stepping into the legend’s car around the legendary track give Nico a boost in the race? The magic worked at the previous race for Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso, who got to sample the 375 F1 which Jose Froilan Gonzalez drove to the Scuderia’s first championship victory in the 1951 British GP. He then went on to win at Silverstone. Rosberg’s best showing so far at his home race was a fourth place for Williams in 2009.

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JPJ mulling over using one’s birthday as the expiry date for a driving licence

July 19, 2011 at 5:05 pm By Anthony Lim Filed Under Local News

Hands up, those of you who’ve forgotten to renew your driving licence when it has expired. I’m guessing there must be great many who have done just that, driven around for days, weeks, months even without realising that said licence is pretty much useless. The record I know of is four months, accomplished by the other half last year before she took it out one day and went oops.

Which isn’t a surprise, really. Chances are you only whip out the licence when asked to, usually by the police and at some roadblock, at which point it’s a little bit late to say oops. According to a report, Transport Minister Datuk Seri Kong Cho Ha said this was the excuse many drivers used, that they had forgotten to renew their licence, when they were caught driving with an expired one.

So, the Road Transport Department is mulling over whether to use one’s birthday as the expiry date for their driving licence. If such a system is implemented, there’s no change to the maximum duration a licence can be renewed, which is five years.

“If the holder’s next birthday is less than six months after the expiry date of their licence, the fee for the period will be free of charge,” Kong told reporters at a press conference today, adding that if the period between the holder’s next birthday and the expiry date of the licence was more than six months, the rate will be 50% of the annual renewal fee.

Wonder if that really will change things and make people remember any better. Speaking of which, have you checked your driving licence lately?

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