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Proton: Group Lotus sale to Genii Capital rumours untrue

October 12, 2011 at 6:01 pm By Danny Tan Filed Under Cars, Local News, Lotus, Malaysian Makes, Proton

There have been rumours circulating that Lotus Renault GP owners Genii Capital, headed by Gerard Lopez, is looking to buy into Group Lotus, the sportscar maker which is currently the title sponsor of the F1 team.

Now, Group Lotus owner Proton has come out with a statement to quash this speculation, highlighting that the relationship between parent and subsidiary is “as good as it has ever been”, and that the priority is to “ensure that the Lotus Business Turnaround Plan is executed according to schedule”.

Here’s the Proton statement in full:

We refer to the news reports that have been circulating recently over the sale (of a stake) in Group Lotus.

PROTON hereby states that the alleged moves between Group Lotus and GENII Capital are untrue and that the news are highly speculative in nature. PROTON’s relationship with Group Lotus is as good as it has ever been. Through this positive synergy, our priority now is to ensure that the Lotus Business Turnaround Plan is executed according to schedule and that both parties are committed to its success. PROTON and Lotus have reached a juncture whereby the market is eagerly waiting for Lotus’ new products and all our energy and efforts have to be channelled towards achieving this critical goal.

Furthermore, the scope of Lotus’ involvement in F1 as title sponsor to Lotus-Renault GP is to create dynamic marketing and branding synergies.

PROTON does not wish to further entertain any unsubstantiated news of speculative nature and we hope this statement will put all speculation to rest.

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F30 BMW 3-Series to get world debut on Facebook

October 12, 2011 at 5:59 pm By Paul Tan Filed Under BMW, Cars

The all-new F30 3-Series Sedan will be making its world premiere on BMW’s Facebook Page this weekend, from 4.00pm Central European Summer Time. We’re 6 hours ahead so that’s about 10.00pm our time this Friday.

This is pretty big news as the 3-Series is a big deal for BMW, and contributes a great amount to their market share, especially here in Malaysia. So if you have no plans this Friday night, join us in watching the live streaming of the unveil! :)

Read our previous coverage on the F30 3-Series which feature spyshots:
F30 BMW 3-Series: first clear aerial view of the car
F30 BMW 3-er with less disguise reveals some details

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UMW Toyota Integrated Quality Hub opens in Klang

October 12, 2011 at 2:07 pm By Danny Tan Filed Under Cars, Local News, Toyota

UMW Toyota Motor (UMWT) recently held an opening ceremony for the UMW Toyota Integrated Quality Hub (IQH) in Bukit Raja, Klang. This new facility is to improve delivery of Toyota vehicles to customers, at the shortest possible time. The company has allocated over RM200 million to develop the 87.5 acre hub, as part of its RM1 billion three-year investment plan till 2013.

The event was graced by Deputy Minister of International Trade and Industry Mukhriz Tun Dr. Mahathir. Also present was Shigeru Nakamura, Japanese Ambassador to Malaysia and Yukitoshi Funo, Executive VP, Toyota Motor Corporation.

“The main objective is to improve the delivery lead time so that customers can enjoy quality Toyota vehicles, fresh from the factory. The new facility creates additional job opportunities for 430 new team members who will be trained based on our Standardized Work (SW),” said Tan Sri Asmat Kamaludin, UMWT Chairman, who added that the all operations at the hub are specifically designed with the Toyota Production System in mind.

The IQH consists of a centralised vehicle stockyard, accessory centre and 2.1 km test track. The 9,500 unit capacity stockyard receives and delivers 420 vehicles per day. The accessory centre fits 142 combination accessory items such as the navigation system, audio system and aerokit. Now, customers can confirm their desired accessories five days prior to delivery of their vehicle. Final inspection is also done at the end of the line.

A new body and paint centre is also being built within the facility, to be ready by first half of 2012. To enhance after sales services, the facility will be equipped with 57 work bays and state-of-the-art equipment for central region customers. The IQH will also include an 11-acre production parts warehouse that’s expected to open by the second half of 2012.

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Goodyear Asymmetric 2 wins Auto Express Big Tyre Test

October 12, 2011 at 1:20 pm By Danny Tan Filed Under Advertorial

Goodyear’s latest entry in the Ultra High Performance (UHP) category, the Eagle F1 Asymmetric 2 (A2), has continued its predecessor’s award winning form. The A2 was selected as the number one tyre in the recent Auto Express Big Tyre Test 2011, organised by prominent UK mag Auto Express (AE). The A2 also received a “Best Buy 2011” endorsement from the rag.

In Asia, Goodyear’s latest pride and joy was officially launched three months ago in Hua Hin, Thailand. The flagship was launched together with the mid range performance tyre Eagle F1 Directional 5. We were part of this event held at the Kaeng Krachan Circuit, click here to read our report.

AE tested ten leading tyres at Bridgestone’s test facility in Aprilia, south of Rome. Each manufacturer sent 10 tyres for test, eight to be used for track testing and two for rolling resistance. Fitted on the VW Golf GTI, they tested the rubber on nine disciplines including wet and dry braking, handling and cornering, straight and curved aquaplaning, rolling resistance and noise. The mag also bought two sets of tyres at random for comparison.

The Goodyear ranked highly in the majority of tests. What impressed AE the most was the A2’s ability in the dry weather conditions – while it’s expected that Goodyear does well in the wet, its ability in the dry was a surprise. The overall verdict was that the A2, recently chosen as the OE tyre for the new Mercedes CLS, is an impressive all-rounder.

The Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 2 is available in 17-20-inch sizes and is priced from RM535 to RM1,710. Click here for a closer look at the tyre.

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Ducati Monster 795: Sneak peak available at Lot 10, KL

October 12, 2011 at 12:27 pm By Danny Tan Filed Under Bikes, Ducati, Local News

Next Bike Sdn Bhd, official distributor for Ducati in Malaysia, has been given the honour of launching Ducati’s latest model for the Asian market. The unveiling will happen on 20 October.

In the meantime, they have set up a “Ducati Sneak Peek Box” placed outside the Lot 10 Mall on Jalan Bukit Bintang, KL. As its name suggests, members of the public can take peeks at the new model placed inside the box.

“The new Monster is expected to further contribute to the growth of Ducati in Malaysia, this year alone the company has grown its sales volume by 100% where we expect to retail more than 200 units of Ducati. The introduction of Ducati Diavel in December 2010 had significantly increase our market share as we enter new market segments and with this new Monster, we expect to further capture more market share within the naked bike category,” said Naza Group Joint Executive Chairman, Datuk Wira SM Faisal Tan Sri SM Nasimuddin.

It’s more than just the box. Lot 10 is also hosting the Ducati Brand Experience Roadshow from now till 23 October. On show are Ducati bikes and merchandise. Visitors can also purchase MotoGP tickets (Malaysian GP happens on 23 October) from the Sepang Circuit booth at the roadshow. Next Bike says that roadshow visitors can earn themselves an opportunity to party with Valentino Rossi at the “Monster Party”.

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China NCAP to be upgraded, 64 km/h front impact speed

October 12, 2011 at 10:28 am By Danny Tan Filed Under Cars, China

The China New Car Assessment Program (C-NCAP) will be made more stringent, according to a report by Asia Pulse website. The new standards for C-NCAP, which awards new vehicles one to five stars, will take effect on July 2012.

The new standards by China’s Automotive Technology and Research Center are offset frontal crash tests at speeds of 64 km/h (40 mph), an upgrade from the current 56 km/h (35 mph). By the way, 40 mph is the same frontal impact speed used by Euro NCAP, so the didn’t make their own rules. The center is also adding an optional test for whiplash.

This is a good move on the part of the Chinese authorities, more so when only half a dozen of homegrown products have scored five stars under the current standards. The new standards will be like throwing them into the deep end of the pool, an effective way to teach and learn. Models developed by international automakers generally have less trouble scoring full stars.

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VIDEO: Proton’s ‘Transporter’ and his precious cargo!

October 11, 2011 at 7:28 pm By Danny Tan Filed Under Cars, Local News, Malaysian Makes, Proton, Videos

Yours truly was in Singapore last month to watch the only night race in the F1 calendar. It was a great weekend of not only track action, but carnival fun, since the Singapore GP is more like one big party with a race running around it. Sunday’s headlining act Linkin Park was brilliant, showing great energy despite getting on in years – I enjoyed it as much as their Merdeka Stadium gig years ago. Unfortunately, I missed Shakira’s swiveling hips.

I thought that was fun, until I saw this video. It’s Part 1 of a five-part series chronicling The Transporter’s journey to Singapore. He’s no Jason Statham, but even the stone faced cool driver would have to envy Hanis Salleh’s ‘precious cargo’. It doesn’t get any better than this I think – Yasmin Hani, Diana Danielle and Jojo Struys. Damn! :)

By the way, Hanis is the winner of Proton’s The Transporter online contest, which was open to all who purchased a new Proton or serviced their Protons at an official centre. Besides the company of the three beauties, he also enjoyed an all expenses paid trip as well as money can’t buy F1 moments.

Enjoy the video, and hide those green faces!

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Ex-BMW exec: Lotus must focus on short term sales, too

October 11, 2011 at 12:07 pm By Danny Tan Filed Under Cars, International News, Lotus

Lotus has the right products, great products, but is not selling enough cars as it should. This is the assessment of former top BMW exec Karl-Heinz Kalbfell, brought in late last year to mentor Lotus CEO Dany Bahar. The plan is to boost sales over the next 18 months, according to Autocar UK.

In its UK home market, Lotus is struggling. The Proton subsidiary sold just 272 cars in the first eight months of 2011, 24% less than 358 in the same period last year. The overall market is down by 6%.

“The brand is well known but the products are not. We are focusing on a new range of cars, but we must sell more cars now,” Kalbfell said, referring to Lotus’ spectacular five-year plan that will yield the new Esprit, a luxury GT and a four-door car, among other models.

“We have some great cars in our range, like the Evora. Many car companies would love to have the Evora in their range. Now the point must be to get the car on the shopping list of buyers,” he added.

To address this, Lotus has Frankfurt debutant Evora GTE. It’s the most powerful Lotus road car ever built, with a 444 PS V6, revised chassis, carbonfibre body parts, and a sticker price close to £120k. This will help pave the way and prepare customers for the new Esprit, which will surely be priced above £100k.

“We cannot just jump buyers up from the Elise to the Esprit,” said Kalbfell. Another such “bridging” model is the £40k Exige S that also debut in Frankfurt. “With 350 bhp and 1080 kg, who else has such a hot performance model at this price?” said Kalbfell.

On a different note, word is that Gerard Lopez’s Genii Capital, owners of Lotus Renault GP, is looking at buying into Group Lotus. Click here to read more.

45 Comments      

Rally of Scotland: Proton’s good pace ends with two DNFs

October 11, 2011 at 4:44 am By Danny Tan Filed Under Malaysian Makes, Motorsports, Proton, Proton Satria Neo

The Intercontinental Rally Challenge (IRC) Rally of Scotland has been won by Skoda’s Andreas Mikkelsen, who has waited very long for his first win in the series. Juho Hänninen came in second, also for Skoda, sealing the manufacturers’ title for the Czech brand. Frenchman Bryan Bouffier was the best placed Peugeot in third.

Mikkelsen’s win in Scotland sets up a six-way fight for the IRC drivers’ title in the next and final rally in Cyprus. The others in contention are Bouffier, Hänninen, Jan Kopecký (Skoda, Czech), Freddy Loix (Skoda, Belgium), and Thierry Neuville (Peugeot, Belgium). Of them, Kopecky leads the pack with 131 points, six ahead of teammate Hanninen. Neuville is third with 115 points.

It was another frustrating IRC outing for Proton, who had home boy Alister McRae driving in place of regular man Basso. McRae, who is leading the FIA Asia Pacific Rally Championship (APRC), retired due to a damaged oil sump.

The Satria Neo S2000 ran as high as fourth overall in the three day rally and came within 1.2 seconds of claiming its first ever stage win in IRC courtesy of former JWRC champ PG Andersson.

The Swede then met with an electrical problem, which was repaired but incurred a time penalty. PG then fought back from 12th to within the top 10 but retired with only a few more stages left. The culprit was a broken driveshaft that damaged the crank sensor, stopping the engine.

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Honda Insight with 1.5 liter IMA system to debut soon?

October 11, 2011 at 1:22 am By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, Honda, Hybrids and Alternative Fuel

Check out the Honda Insight section on Honda Japan’s website and you’ll be greeted by the teaser image above, which seems to indicate that an Insight with a larger 1.5 litre i-VTEC IMA engine will be available soon. So far, most Honda hybrids including the Honda Insight sold here in Malaysia use the 1.3 litre system, while the 1.5 litre system is reserved for the sporty Honda CR-Z.

A larger more powerful system in the Insight would certainly be welcome for those looking for a little more fun in their green motoring, but do not want to go for the 3-door body of the CR-Z. With the hybrid tax exemptions just recently extended by the Malaysian government, perhaps Honda Malaysia can introduce this 1.5 litre variant of the Honda Insight as well? I’m sure there’s a market!

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