Volkswagen unveiled a series of vehicles under the R GT concept line for the 2005 SEMA auto show. This is the first of the three vehicles based on a Volkswagen Jetta. Let’s have a look at the Volkswagen Jetta R GT concept. Click here to read the rest of Volkswagen Jetta R GT
The Edge reports HLG Research expects non-national cars to make up 50% of car sales on the overall by 2007, and 47% by next year.
HLG expects industry volume for both passenger and commercial vehicles to reach 562,380 units in 2007.
HLG recommends UMW shares for investment in the auto industry, with a price target of RM6.89. Reasons given include NAP incentives and Perodua’s involvement in assembling Toyota vehicles.
As for Proton, HLG maintains it’s buy status, in view of a potential alliance with Volkswagen AG which will improve economies of scale and efficiency through technology transfer, as well as better sentiments that the Volkswagen brand will give.
HLG has a hold status on Tan Chong shares, due to sales for the successful Frontier and X-Trail models that might be affected if prices go up because of 4WD and MPV segment tax hikes. Passanger cars should be safe so far, as the margins would be able to absorb the tax hikes.
A special celebrity Champion’s Drive will be held at next week’s A1 Grand prix at the Sepang circuit. Malaysia’s A1 Team and Proton has organised a 10 lap race, which involves celebrities racing in Proton’s Satria R3 cars.
Some of the celebrities participating are former F1 champion Emmerson Fittipaldi, ex-F1 driver Jan Lammers, Alex Yoong’s sister Pippa Yoong and Malaysia’s rally king Karamjit Singh.
The Malaysian leg of the A1 Grand Prix will be held from 18-20 November 2005. Tickets are priced from RM30 to RM200.
In a strange change of events, Lotus and Proton technicians are dismantling Lotus equipment here for shipping back to the UK. Production for the Lotus Esprit V8, supposed to be built here has also been moved back to Hethel where all Lotus cars have been built since the 60s.
Could this be related to the non-core asset dump previously announced?
Sources say that Proton Holdings Bhd is reviewing it’s investments in MV Agusta Motor and the Lotus Group International.
No decision made so far, but Proton might cut down on such investments that are non-core assets.
Proton had made a RM137 million provision for bad debts that contributed to a net loss of RM12.4 million last quarter, and most of that amount is suspected to linked to loss-making MV Agusta.
Proton’s cash reserves had dwindled down to RM 2.8 billion this year, from RM 6 billion in 2001.
I doubt Proton would let go of Lotus - the main subject here seems to be MV Agusta, but we cannot rule it out just yet.
BMW launched the M version of the 6-series in the UK - the BMW M6, powered by the same venerable 5 liter V10 engine found in the ultimate luxury sports sedan - the BMW M5. More details are available after the jump. Click here to read the rest of BMW M6 with 5.0 liter V10
Seeing that the post on the highway speed limit was quite hot, let’s have a look at the German Autobahn.
The Autobahns are a series of highways in Germany, though there are some Autobahn-class highways in other countries too, like Austria and Switzerland. The highways are labelled with the capital letter A, followed by a two digit number. Click here to read the rest of The Autobahn
The automotive industry and the blogosphere has been fused with GM launching it’s new FastLane blog.
GM says it’s FastLane blog is all about GM’s cars and trucks. GM also has another blog called the Smallblock engine blog, to celebrate Chevrolet’s successful small-block engine’s 50th birthday.
The blog is written by GM vice chairman Bob Lutz. You can read him ‘defend’ some decisions the GM board made which to most people don’t make sense and could be the final nail in the coffin for the company’s dwindling sales.
Let’s have a look at crash test results again shall we. These tests were done by the American Insurance Institute For Highway Safety (IIHS), an independent, nonprofit, scientific and educational organization dedicated to reducing the losses from crashes in the US.
Let’s have a look at crash test results for two very different vehicles - a 2002 designed Mini Cooper and a 1997 designed Ford F-150 large pickup, which has not been redesigned until recently last year. Click here to read the rest of Mini Cooper vs Ford F-150 Crash Test
Those who hoped proposal to raise the highway speed limits to 120km/h are in for a disappointment, as Minister of Works Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu said the government had rejected the proposal and will not entertain anymore proposals on the speed limit as it is final.
The Cabinet had earlier agreed to the proposal to raise the speed limit, but rethought it’s decision due to high accident rates.
Earlier this month, the Transport Ministry released the list of speed-trap camera spots in effort to reduce accidents during the balik kampung season.
These speed trap cameras are installed along accident prone areas. While this move is very unorthodox, it has it’s purpose.
If the drivers know these high-risk areas have speed traps, they will slow down and thus the accident rates will go down. Excellent reason, shows that the government is focusing on lowering death tolls during the balik kampung season rather than collecting revenue from speed summons.
