The Porsche Panamera will be on exhibit at the Frankfurt Motor Show this September 2005. This coupe and sedan crossover fusion will have space for four adults and it will have four doors. Click here to read the rest of Porsche Panamera
Italian supercar company Lamborghini is currently testing a diesel-powered version of the Lamborghini Gallardo.
Rafidah says there were 66,277 units of approved AP last year (2004). [Source, Source]
Mahathir says there were 67,000 APs released last year (2004). [Source]
The Prime Minister’s Office released a list accounting for 67,158 APs and claimed it was a list from 1970 to 2005. This is a period of 35 years. [Source]
Can anyone spot any problem with the figures?
The recipients of APs have been revealed by the government despite the leaders insistence that it is not the government’s policy for the recipient list to be exposed.
The list was released this evening by the Prime Minister’s office.
The AP scheme was introduced by the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) as a method to help Bumiputra entrepreneurs in the automotive sector.
Naza boss Nasimuddin Amin, also known as “AP King” first appeared on the list in 1988 when he was given 3112 APs under his company Naza Konsortium Sdn Bhd.
There are also names of former MITI officers on the list and the two officers are some of the biggest recipients.
Click more for the list of the top 10 AP recipients Click here to read the rest of List of AP Recipients Revealed
The Perodua Myvi is selling like hotcakes! Sales figures are at a mind-blowing average of 10,188 units a month, exceeding the original monthly target of 4800 units.
Myvi sales have hit 40,751 units on July 6th, a number achieved in only about 3 months since April.
This is despite of several problems with the car such as the dent on the bonnet and the problem with the rear drum brake. Despite the problem, Perodua was wise to notify Myvi owners to come in for a check-up right away.
Such is the power of having the platform based on a Toyota/Daihatsu platform. The reliability reputation rubs off a bit onto the Myvi.
You can see it on the comments of my own blog. Even when I posted about the brake defect, hordes of Myvi lovers came and defended Perodua, and praising it for acting so quickly. If a Proton had such problems, I think it would be normal for Proton service center personnel to shrug it off with a “Biasalah… Proton!”
Proton, please learn from your brothers at Perodua. This is what you can achieve if you give the rakyat what it wants. A reliable, economical car with the latest safety features and equipment.
The rakyat does not want state of the art clutchless manual gearboxes. It wants a comfortable car to drive to work daily, and at the same time fit the whole family comfortably for weekend trips. And the car has to be affordable. Buckle up Proton!
Source: The Edge Daily
Volkswagen says it will take at least 7 years of working with Proton before it will consider a more permanent partnership such as taking up equity in the company.
Currently cooperation between the two companies is expected to be in the form of a joint venture company operating in two phases. The first phase will involve component sales, manufacturing and distributing and this will lead to the second phase which involves collaborative design and development.
The Volkswagen Fox
Phase one will kick off in Q1 2006 with the assembly of a localized Volkswagen Passat. Localized version of the Fox MPV is due in Q3 2006 and Fox hatchback in Q1 2007.
In the end, whether VW decides to buy an equity in Proton or not depends on the success of this joint venture partnership.
Most of Volkswagen’s objectives which are increasing presence in the region, and joint development could be achieved using the joint-venture company so there is no hurry for them to purchase equity in Proton.
The details on the arrangement is expected to be finalised by the year-end 2005.
It seems that the new sports car we’ve been seeing around is not a Proton but a Lotus Europa. Click here to read the rest of Proton Ultimate - Lotus Europa?
Talks between Proton and Volkswagen AG have been stalled due to a disagreement between Volkswagen and Proton top management on the amount of equity which Volkswagen wished to take in the company.
Volkswagen’s stake in Proton would offer tremendous benefit to Proton as Volkswagen would be able to offer Proton technical expertise and global market reach.
However some technical details could not be ironed out so details on how much equity Volkswagen is going to take remains hanging at the moment.
Volkswagen was reported to be interested in a significant interest, not taking over the whole Proton group altogether. Even though Khazanah Nasional which has a 42.7 percent stake in Proton agreed to the idea, Proton management, led by Tengku Mahaleel Ariff opposed to the amount of equity Volkswagen wished to take. They agreed to Volkswagen taking up the equity but they wanted it to be significantly less than proposed.
Even as it is, the proposal would not result in Volkswagen becoming a majority shareholder or taking over control of Proton. I don’t know why Mahaleel and his team would oppose to this.
How ironic, when Proton’s advisor Tun Dr. Mahathir was reported to say this to the press in a report by The Edge.
‘We have no problem in Volkwagen buying shares in Proton. If we want to, we can sell more than 50% to Volkswagen. They are quite willing, I think, to buy even 100%.
I suppose the keyword here is “if we want to”, which in this case Proton does not want to.
Sources: AFX via Forbes, Associated Press via Forbes
Proton has a small R&D team working on how to adapt the Campro engine for marine usage in jet boats. They are currently marinising the engine and matching impeller sizes.
The engines have also been mated to jet turbines for usage in small boats.
Supposedly this exercise is not aimed at increasing sales revenue but mainly to increase Proton’s knowledge on engine design.
This project could give Proton some knowledge on waterproofing an engine properly. Campro for offroad 4WD trucks anyone?
Source: Mail Money
A pretty good Photoshop showing how the Proton Perdana replacement model based on an extended Volkswagen Passat platform could look like. This artist’s impression was done by a talented guy named Theophilus.
The grill follows the same wau concept which Proton has been using for the Gen2 and the Savvy.
The base car is a Skoda Superb which is also based on an extended Passat platform. Pleasing to the eye for people who drool over the Audi A4 but can’t afford one.
It’s not known whether the Perdana replacement model would be using a higher displacement Campro engine or a Volkswagen engine.
Looking at the way Proton is introducing their new models, Proton has been focusing on replacements instead of improvements. What does this imply? The previous model was not good so they had to junk it and replace it?
I think it’s a good idea to continue with the Proton Perdana name as the name still carries a bit of prestige unlike the other Proton model names which have been tarnished by horrible QC. However, Proton seems to want to use English names instead for the ease of exporting. Click here to read the rest of Perdana Replacement Model Photoshop
