Before this, there were rumours about Proton’s collaboration with Chery Automobiles Co Ltd and Jinhua Youngman Automobile Group Co Ltd, both Chinese automotive companies. Today, we find out that Proton is actually collaborating with both companies as strategic partners.

Proton signed a pact yesterday with Chery and it’s Malaysian distributor Alado Corp Sdn Bhd to do a feasibility study that will last until 28th August 2006 on the assembly and distribution of Chery vehicles here, as well as the assembly and distribution of Proton vehicles in China.

Proton’s collaboration with Jinhua Youngman is of a different type. Jinhua wants to sell CKD vehicles in China. Associated Press reports that this partnership is actually between Jinhua Youngman and Proton’s child company Lotus Engineering, and will involve jointly designing, developing selling completely knocked down (CKD) vehicles in China. This feasibility study will last 120 days starting yesterday.

Proton targets 100,000 cars for the export market by 2008. Partnerships with Chinese and Indian companies will allow it access to more markets and hopefully help it achieve it’s 100,000 cars target.

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Proton and Perodua has been at each other’s heels since December last year when Perodua outsold Proton in monthly sales by 99 cars. Perodua’s lead was shortlived when Proton outsold Perodua the following month by 550 cars. In February, Perodua outsold Proton again, beating Proton monthly sales figures by 763 units.

This time however, the Malaysian Automotive Association reports that Perodua’s monthly sales have topped Proton by a massive 4,284 units, making it have a market share of 44% (13,574 units) as opposed to proton’s 30.35% (9,290 units). For every Proton Savvy sold by Proton, Perodua sold 6 Perodua Myvis. The Myvi has proven to be a stunning success.

Hopefully the Proton Satria Replacement Model due to be launched before the end of this month will help with Proton’s downward sliding sales figures.

The Porsche Panamera, which was confirmed to go into production July last year will be built in Porsche’s plant in Leipzig, Germany. The Leipzig plant also builds the Porsche Cayenne and the Porsche Carrera GT. Engines for the 4-door Porsche Panamera will come from Porsche’s main plant in Stuttgart, while bodies will be manufactured and painted by Volkswagen AG at Volkswagen’s Hanover plant.

Click here to read the rest of 2009 Porsche Panamera to be built at Leipzig

Audi has launched a new series of Audi A3 and Audi A4 cars with a new turbodiesel powerplant. The new 2.0 liter TDI powerplant makes 170ps, which is 30 extra horses over the previous 2.0 TDI engine which makes 140ps. This extra power is achieved through the use of pieze injector technology.

Click here to read the rest of New Audi 2.0 TDI with Piezo Injection

The 2008 Audi Q5 has been confirmed and production will take place in Ingolstadt, Germany. Before this, the group was deciding where to build the Audi Q5, as there are some qualms about production in Germany due to high labour costs. After all, many manufacturers have turned to China to cut costs as labour there is cheap. However, Audi decided the dedication, experience and ability of it’s German workforce are invaluable assets and they contribute to the final quality of the car.

Audi cars are currently built either in it’s plant in Ingolstadt (A3, A3 Sportback, A4, A4 Avant, TT Coupe, TT Roadster) or another plant in Neckarsulm (A6, A8 and soon the Audi R8), with a total production of 510,416 and 241,710 respectively last year.

The Audi Q5 is a cross-over SUV type of vehicle, much like the Mitsubishi Airtrek and the Subaru Forester built from a car platform instead of an SUV platform. It will use the Audi A4 platform. Engine offerings are likely the 2.0 FSI, 3.2 liter V6, and 2.0 liter TDI turbodiesel units.

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Utusan Malaysia reports that the Proton Satria Replacement Model will be launched before the end of this month, and both 1.3 liter and 1.6 liter versions will be launched. Utusan also reports that the 1.3 liter model will be priced below RM45,000 and the 1.6 liter version will be priced below RM55,000. That’s about the same range as the Proton Gen2.

Industry sources say that the Proton Satria Replacement Model will be given a name that will reflect it’s target market - young professionals who enjoy a spirited drive.

Passanger car sales for April 2006 fell 7% from 32,926 units the same time period last year to 30,610 units this year. The Malaysian Automotive Association (MAA) said this was due to rising interest rates for hire purchase loans, uncertainty on the direction of new car prices and postponement of new car purchases due to low used car value.

Out of the total amount, national car sales were 23,326 units, a 5.4% drop from last year and non-national car sales were 7,284 units, a 10.37% drop. The new cars launched this month should boost sales a bit for June 2006.

This should be the last in the series of spyshots for the Proton SRM (Satria Replacement Model). Spyshots for this car have been around since early 2005, with my earliest post containing spyshots dating back to March 29 2005. This was before the Proton Savvy was even launched, so it’s really been quite a while. Hopefully with the extensive testing that seems to have been done, Proton will make a killer with this 2-door hatchback designed to replace the Proton Satria. I am hoping that this time Proton will have some continuity in it’s model names and call it a Satria again. There’s no bad vibes associated with the Satria name, and the Satria GTI was an excellent car. The Proton Satria R3 did the Satria name good as well. So I don’t see why a new model name should be used.

The car in these spyshots seem to be a lower spec model. Notice the lack of a rear windscreen wiper and the usage of normal steel rims with bling bling style rim covers. I guess this should confirm that the Satria Replacement Model will come with the bling bling rims design instead of the black 5-spoke ones we saw on MPH’s spyshots of a Satria Replacement Model with a cardboard intercooler at the bumper. I am guessing this is a 1.3 liter model, which should mean the Satria Replacement Model will be launched with both 1.3 and 1.6 variations at once. The middle exhaust pipe location is still there, and I really like the rear lights. It’s of the crystal reflector variety but doesn’t look horribly Brothers-like like the ones used on the silver special edition Iswara. Pretty nice actually. The whole car looks muscular and sporty. The shape reminds me of the Seat Ibiza. Fortunately this time there are no quirky design elements like the Proton Waja look on the Savvy’s rear hatch, except for the bling bling rims. Of course, that is a matter of personal taste really. And rims can be changed easily. You can’t really see the dashboard properly from these spy pics, but I think they look grey to me.

Rumours are that the SRM will be launched very very soon, it could be even next week. Price range should be around the Gen2’s prices, perhaps slightly less. We’ll see how the car really looks like when it is launched. Especially the interior, since uncamoflaged photos of the SRM exterior were available for quite some time. One thing I can say for sure, it surely looks alot better than the BMW 1-series.

As with the Naza Sutera, Naza also showcased a Naza Sportivo version of the Naza 206 Bestari. The car was painted a very nice black, fitted with huge multi-spoke rims, signal lamps on the wing mirrors, and a full bodykit. The interior had a red and black theme to it, and had similiarly colour coded Recaro buckets seats for the front and colour coded seats at the rear. The center dashboard area looks like it had some carbon fibre trim. The rear lamps design was also different, and the car had twin exhaust tailpipes. My favourite part of the car was the new headlamps, which had a design similiar to BMW’s angel eyes. Check out more photos after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of Naza 206 Bestari Sport Concept

[ LATEST UPDATE: Naza has updated the Naza 206 Bestari for the 2008 model year. Click the link for more information! ]

I remember falling in love with the Peugeot 206 a few years ago when I was in college. There was this blue one parked in the college parking lot belonging to some lucky girl with generous parents, and every time I walked up to the college entrance I would take the opportunity to admire it. It’s a sporty little hatchback, and the addition of the air vents on the hoods did wonders to add to it’s sporty look. Although Peugeot has released the 207 recently, the 206 still remains in it’s portfolio, serving a different market segment. Now Malaysians have the opportunity to experience the Peugeot 206 in CKD form, with the launch of Naza’s latest car, the Naza 206 Bestari, previously known by it’s codename the Naza NX-02.

[ Click here for Naza 206 Bestari Test Drive Review ]

Click here to read the rest of Naza 206 Bestari In-depth Review