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Gerard Lopez’s Genii Capital to buy into Group Lotus?

October 10, 2011 at 4:51 pm By Danny Tan Filed Under Cars, International News, Local News, Lotus, Proton

The latest rumours surrounding Group Lotus, which is a fully owned subsidiary of Proton, is that Genii Capital will be buying into the sportscar maker. Headed by Gerard Lopez, Genii Capital is the owner of the Renault F1 Team (Lotus Renault GP), which of course has Group Lotus as title sponsor.

Autosport reports that its high level sources have revealed that Lopez/Genii Capital has held advanced talks with Proton about taking a management and financial interest in Group Lotus, which could even go as far as Genii taking a majority stake!

It’s not common knowledge, but Genii and Proton have always been talking. “We have an agreement with Proton and are working a number of things with them, including opening certain geographies in terms of platform, like Russia for instance,” Gerard Lopez told this website in an interview early this year (read the interview in full here).

In that same interview, Lopez did not rule out getting involved in GL, even back then. “I think they have a good shareholder with Proton. For sure, that is something also that we will be looking at, but it’s not anything that is urgent. No, I wouldn’t rule it out. I never rule anything out,” he said.

When asked about the latest rumours by Autocar UK, Group Lotus CEO Dany Bahar did not deny it outright. “I can only say this: When we made the announcement about our involvement in Lotus Renault GP we made it clear that this was the start of a close relationship and this journey continues.”

As a recap, Group Lotus became title sponsor of the Genii owned Renault F1 Team late last year, leading to the F1 outfit racing in black/gold livery that recalls the Team Lotus of old. They signed a seven-year sponsorship deal, with Lotus having the option to take over 50% at some point in time.

Behind the F1 scenes, LRGP is now working on renaming the team to be just called ‘Lotus’, with Tony Fernandes’ Team Lotus changing names to Caterham, which is of course owned by the AirAsia boss.

Motorsports has always been one of Group Lotus CEO Dany Bahar’s main strategies to elevate the brand to fight the likes of Ferrari and Porsche, and it was never in doubt that they wanted to be more than just a name on the wing.

“Our way of doing things means that at the end of the project we would like to control it ourselves. It’s the same route – it starts somewhere and then you slowly take control. We would not be in for the long-term just to be a sponsor on the team,” Bahar said then.

So, if all these comes true, we could be seeing a marriage between Genii and Lotus – GL takes a stake in the team, and Genii buys into the carmaker. It remains to be seen if they live happily ever after, though.

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Citroen DS4 at Brooklands Sungai Besi – launching soon?

October 10, 2011 at 3:40 pm By Danny Tan Filed Under Cars, Citroën, Local News, Spyshots

Reader Theyson snapped some pics of this Citroen DS4 at Brooklands Motors’ Sungai Besi HQ in KL. We can’t confirm, but according to him, this sole unit is brought in for JPJ testing purposes, which could mean that Brooklands is looking to introduce this model in Malaysia soon?

Unveiled at Paris 2010, the DS4 is the second model in Citroen’s DS range after the DS3. It is based on the Citroen C4, but with difference is styling as well as a higher grade interior. It’s available with a choice of five engines in Europe – two HDi diesels and three petrol engines. The most powerful of the latter is a 200 hp THP, joined by a THP 155 and a VTi 120. All three are variants of the 1.6-litre BMW-PSA Prince engine that also feature in Peugeots and MINIs.

But while sister brand Peugeot mates the engines with a six-speed automatic, Citroen prefers its EGS transmission, which is an AMT-style automated clutch manual. The good old stick shift is the preferred choice in Europe.

With the path opened by Peugeot and VW, there has never been a better time than now to bring in European hatchbacks. The DS4 won’t have the backing of a huge support network, but the few who buy it will surely stand out in a sea of 308s and Golfs.

Read all about the DS4 and view the official gallery here.

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Double world champion Vettel: It’s more than fantastic!

October 10, 2011 at 12:40 pm By Danny Tan Filed Under Formula 1, Motorsports

Yesterday was the day that 24-year old Sebastian Vettel created history by becoming the youngest ever double world champion, finishing on the podium in Suzuka when all he needed was just one point. You would have thought that he’d be happy with third but no, the man was disappointed he didn’t win!

“I was as hungry as I ever have been and going for victory, throwing the car around and trying everything to get close to the guys again. I would have loved the race to continue a little bit longer but that’s why it was a bit shocking when I crossed the line; that’s it, full of adrenaline, charged to get back to them and then all of a sudden, chequered flag.

“Then it was time to realise that we had won the championship and we can take a little bit of time, which I think we will have tonight together,” Vettel said.

“Obviously a lot of people have been quite confident on that but I think one of the important things was that we didn’t allow ourselves to drift away on it too much. Everything we did this year, everything we achieved, we achieved as a team. It’s not just us on the track it’s the guys in the factory pushing very hard as well.

“We set ourselves the target to win the championship this year, to achieve it by Japan already with more races to go is difficult to put in words. It will take time, it’s as confusing as the first one. I’m sure we have a little bit more time tonight within the team and the rest of the season,” the German added.

On what went through his mind after seeing the chequered flag, Vettel said: “I tell you what I never imagined that I would win my second world championship and Michael (Schumacher) drives past me doing this (makes a gesture with his hand). That’s really weird because when I was a little boy he was already F1 world champion.

“So that imagination was far out of sight. It’s those small things that make it really, really special. I have a lot of good memories back then and today. I feel in a way quite fortunate and blessed to be able to experience all that.

“We had so many fans today, I saw so many excited people during the drivers’ parade, to see the grandstands were full. That’s really one of the last thoughts that I have before I put my helmet on.

“Life for me and I think all the drivers doesn’t get much better than this. Sunny days, a lot fans, everyone excited to see what you do. I think that is what life is about. To wrap up the championship here, which has been the ultimate target this year, is difficult to put in words. It’s more than fantastic,” he exclaimed.

Well done! Now, to be the youngest triple world champion, back-to-back!

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Nissan Almera launched in Thailand – it’s the Sunny!

October 10, 2011 at 1:54 am By Danny Tan Filed Under Cars, International News, Nissan

Nissan has launched its second eco-car in Thailand after the March, which is also the first sedan bodied eco-car in the market. Named Almera, it revives a name used by Nissan in Europe for its family cars. If it looks familiar, the Thai Almera is what we know as the new Sunny, the big B-segment sedan that made its world debut in Guangzhou last year.

Built on the V-platform also used by the March hatchback, the Almera is big bodied for a car aimed at the Vios/City segment, a similar approach chosen for the Latio sedan, although the Almera/Sunny is sleeker in shape (0.29 Cd). It is 4,425 mm long, 1,695 mm wide and 1,500 mm tall, while wheelbase is a class leading 2,600 mm. Nissan says that rear knee room is at D-segment levels, and having sat in it before, I agree. Boot space is a large 490 litres.

The Almera comes with a rear spoiler (with LED brake light), fog lamps and chrome on the grille and door handles. Available kit includes Fine Vision instruments, MID, steering buttons, climate control and Intelligent Key with push start button.

The Almera, like the March, is powered by the HR12DE 1.2-litre 3-cylinder petrol engine. This 12-valve CVTC equipped unit makes 79 PS and 106 Nm at 4,400 rpm, and is mated to Nissan’s Xtronic CVT gearbox or a five-speed manual in basic grades. This efficient and lightweight (Almera weighs between 962 and 1,027 kg) package is boosted by Start-Stop tech to deliver claimed fuel consumption of 20 km/l and low CO2 emissions of 120 g/km.

Note that this drivetrain is different from the China spec Sunny, which comes with a larger HR15DE engine. A more efficient package is needed to comply with Thai eco-car rules. The Almera also sports a black cabin, instead of beige.

The Almera/Sunny is part of Tan Chong’s future plans, although no one knows what it will be called here. Click here to read our world debut coverage from Guangzhou, and to view a comprehensive hi res gallery.

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Japanese GP: Sebastian Vettel is the 2011 F1 champion!

October 9, 2011 at 9:57 pm By Danny Tan Filed Under Formula 1, Motorsports

He only needed one point from the Japanese GP, but Sebastian Vettel scored 15 with a third placed finish, making him the 2011 Formula 1 champion and the youngest ever double world champion. He now has an unassailable 324 points over closest challenger Jenson Button’s 210, with four races remaining. The McLaren man on form won at Suzuka, his third win this season. Fernando Alonso came in second for Ferrari.

Vettel’s ability to wrap up his title in Japan was never in doubt – he started from pole and was the winner in Suzuka for the past two years. The 24-year old German has won nine times this season out of 15 races so far, and his lowest finish was fourth place in his home race. The fact that he needed only one more point with four races to go underlines his dominance this season – no one can catch the man!

He wasn’t just lying around to do the bare minimum, that’s for certain. Jenson, who was beaten to pole by just 0.009 sec yesterday, made a good start, but Vettel defended the lead strongly, pushing the Brit to the grass. It warranted an investigation, but no penalty was given by the stewards. Meanwhile, Lewis Hamilton jumped into second, a position he held until lap 7, when he pitted due to a puncture.

After the first round of stops, Hamilton was fourth behind Alonso. The fast charging Button got closer to Vettel, but only jumped the champ after the second round of stops. Later, a clash between Massa and Hamilton (again!) forced the safety car out of the paddock, but that didn’t affect Button. The next round of stops saw Alonso jump Vettel after the former stayed out longer. After some initial challenge, Vettel wisely settled for third.

Behind them, Mark Webber was fourth, followed by Hamilton and Michael Schumacher, the Mercedes GP Petronas man beating ex teammate Massa, who for some, doesn’t really have what it takes to be a Ferrari driver. Eighth and ninth went to Sauber’s Sergio Perez and Lotus Renault GP’s Vitaly Petrov, making the two-stop strategy work. Nico Rosberg did a good job to take the final point from the last row.

Further back, Team Lotus’ Heikki Kovalainen and Jarno Trulli finished in their usual 18th and 19th positions ahead of the Virgins and HRTs.

Double world champion Vettel is sometimes called “The New Schumacher”. Maybe he isn’t, maybe he’ll be better than Schumi and break the older man’s records. He has time on his side, after all. Congrats Seb!

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GALLERY: Regular F10 5-Series next to BMW M5

October 9, 2011 at 7:15 pm By Paul Tan Filed Under BMW, Cars

We’re still working on our F10 BMW M5 test drive review, but in the meanwhile let me share with you some side by side photos comparing a regular 5-Series and flagship M-tuned version that we just had the chance to sample in Sevilla and on the Ascari racetrack.

I like how the F10 looks like – it looks much better in real life compared to photos, but the M5 takes it to a whole new level. Visually, the F10 M5 looks much sleeker than the normal 5-er. Looking at the normal 5-er from the side profile, it looks kinda bulky and tall and the front doors tend to look longer than the rear doors giving it a slight unbalanced look.

The new front fender design of the M5 puts a big side grille with an integrated turn signal right smack in the area that has the most bare body surface on the regular 5-er, so this helps to visually slim the perception of height for the front end. The new side skirt design also helps with slimming the whole side profile, and the result is a really really fast 5-Series that looks lower, slimmer and somehow even longer than the normal 5-Series!

Other than the new front and rear bumpers, the BMW M5 also gets its own front grille design – chrome outlines with full gloss black slats. The normal 5-Series uses a grille with chrome outlines and slats with chrome at the front and black on the sides, while the 550i gets a grille with chrome outlines and slats with chrome at the front and matte silver on the sides. There’s also an optional BMW Performance full gloss black grille for the F10.

Stay tuned for our test drive review.

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F10 BMW M5 showcased in Frozen Black matte paintjob

October 9, 2011 at 3:18 am By Paul Tan Filed Under BMW, Cars

At our session of the the F10 BMW M5 press launch last night, BMW rolled out an M5 in a special matte black paint job. The F10 M5 will be available in this colour as an expensive BMW Individual option.

BMW has been dabbling with all sorts of matte paints these days. Their range of matte paint jobs are available as BMW Individual colours, and they’re prefixed with the word “Frozen”, so we’ve got Frozen Gray, Frozen Silver and of course Frozen Black, which is this colour.

It’s not the first time we’ve seen Frozen Black on a BMW, as the E92 M3 Coupe was available earlier this year as a limited edition 20 unit Frozen Black Edition in the US.

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4 lucky winners heading to Ferrari World, Abu Dhabi in the Shell Helix Ferrari World Challenge

October 8, 2011 at 10:03 pm By Harvinder Sidhu Filed Under Local News

Earlier today the finals for this year’s Shell Helix Ferrari World Challenge was held at Berjaya Times Square where fifteen finalist went head to head through a series of eight challenges at the shopping mall’s theme park which included deciphering flag signals outdoor, a roller coaster ride, a treasure hunt, a food taste test and more.

Today’s finals came after the first round of the Shell Helix Win the Fastest 48 Hours of Your Life in Abu Dhabi contest where up to 6,000 participants took part. All they had to do was to purchase a four litre Shell Helix Ultra or Helix HX7 engine lube, fill up the entry form and submit at participating Shell outlets.

The four lucky winners, Ghazali Ahmad, 31 and Rahiza Mastar, 33 from Selangor, Kok Chee Seng, 35 from Johor and Seah Sin Jiun, 34 from Kuala Lumpur will head to Ferrari World, Abu Dhabi which is part of an all-expense paid VIP trip worth RM15,000 each.

At the impressing-looking Ferrari World, they will get to watch Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa in action at the 2011 Abu Dhabi GP around the gorgeous Yas Marina Circuit, try out their racing skills in the Formula 1 and Gran Turismo driving simulators, visit Shell’s track-side laboratory to experience what Shell engineers do during a GP weekend and yes, they will also get to ride the world famous 240 km/h roller coaster :)

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Toyota Fortuner facelift launched – from RM168k to RM182k

October 7, 2011 at 11:50 pm By Anthony Lim Filed Under Cars, Local News, Toyota

UMW Toyota today introduced its facelifted Fortuner – the four-wheel drive SUV, which made its debut at the Indonesian International Motor Show in July, features exterior and interior cosmetic enhancements as well as additional features.

The vehicle continues on with the two engine options as found previously, these being the 160 PS and 241 Nm 2.7 litre petrol and 102 PS and 260 Nm 2.5 D-4D turbodiesel units, mated to a four-speed auto transmission.

Available in four grade versions (the 2.7V and 2.7V TRD Sportivo, and 2.5G and 2.5G TRD Sportivo), the exterior gets a new reverse-trapezoid chrome front grille and newly-styled headlamps, which feature a protruding outer lens shape, as well as subtle changes in the character lines on the overfenders around the wheel arches.

Other new features include revised body-coloured wing mirrors with embedded signal lights and restyled rear combination lamps, with new graphics providing a more clear- cut impression. Meanwhile, going the TRD Sportivo route with the vehicle bags an aerokit that includes new polypropylene front and rear bumper spoilers and TRD Sportivo stripes that are specially designed and approved by Toyota.

Inside, the cabin now features a darker colour scheme, in response to customer feedback. The central area of the dashboard has been restyled, with a horizontally-based design to give a wider feel to the cabin. For the Fortuner 2.7V grade, black woodgrain/chrome plating is used for the trim, while the 2.5G gets silver finishing. The instrument panel’s three-meter design has also undergone some changes and no longer has cylindrical walls separating each meter, which are now of the Optitron variety – at night, turquoise blue illumination provides for fatigue-free viewing.

Also new, a redesigned, four-spoke steering wheel – on the 2.7V, there are audio controls on the upper left spoke, with black wood-grain trim for the upper quadrant of the rim. The shift lever knob on the 2.7V also gets a black wood-grain finish to match the dashboard, steering wheel and door trim as well as leather trim for the three rows of seats. As for the 2.5G, a gear position indicator has now been added to the meter.

Elsewhere, the control dials for the 2.5G’s air-conditioning system have been revised for easier operation. And the two-DIN head-unit/six-speaker audio system has been upgraded to now interface with portable music players (including iPod) – via an AUX-Jack or USB port.

A new colour – Dark Steel Mica – has been added to the exterior colour palette, which includes Silver Metallic, Medium Silver Metallic and Solid White. The new shade takes over from a previously available shade, Coal Black, which goes off the list.

The new Fortuner is priced at RM178,990 for the 2.7V and RM182,488 for the 2.7V TRD Sportivo, while the 2.5G diesel goes for RM167,990 and the TRD Sportivo version, RM171,448, all on-the-road with insurance. Optional items include a Premium Solar Film, priced at RM1,900 and a DVD-AVN DVD/navigation system with a 6.1-inch screen, which adds RM2,990 to the equation.

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Budget 2012: Other motoring and transport-related news

October 7, 2011 at 8:22 pm By Anthony Lim Filed Under Local News, Malaysia Budget 2012, Public Transport

It has certainly been a rather comprehensive budget. Aside from the announcements regarding the assistance for individual budget taxi owners and the continuation of incentives for hybrid cars until December 31, 2013, there were other items in Budget 2012 related to transport.

Among these are the projects of the Second Rolling Plan (RP2) under the Tenth Malaysia Plan; 2012 will see the first year of implementation of these. The RP2 will be allocated RM98.4 billion, with RM49.2 billion each for 2012 and 2013.

Under the RP2, the main projects to be implemented are the Gemas-Johor Bahru double tracking rail project, as well as a number of new expressways, these being the Lebuhraya Pantai Timur Jabor-Kuala Terengganu, Lebuhraya Pantai Barat Banting-Taiping, Lebuhraya Segamat-Tangkak and Lebuhraya Central Spine. Other core projects include the construction of the Kota Marudu-Ranau road and the redevelopment of the Sungai Besi KL air base.

On the Rural Transformation Programme front, an allocation of RM5 billion will be provided in 2012 to strengthen the development of rural basic infrastructure – of this, RM1.8 billion is set to be spent on the Rural Road Programme and Village-Link Road Project, which will build a 2,479 km-long road network which will benefit 1.76 million people in rural areas.

Meanwhile, the Pudu Raya Terminal, which is used by 80,000 people at any one time, has been renamed Pudu Sentral, following its complete facelift, which was carried out at a cost of RM40 million.

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