Utusan Malaysia reports that Proton will introduce a new model developed together with Mitsubishi Motors Corporation in April 2007. MMC president Osamu Masuko says that Proton and MMC are in the final stages of partnership talks, with details to be written down in black and white soon.

The new Mitsubishi-based Proton model will most likely be a replacement for the aging Proton Perdana which was based on a 1990s Mitsubishi Galant Eterna. The new Perdana Replacement model is said to be based on the Australian Mitsubishi Galant known as the Mitsubishi 380. The Galant/380 comes with a huge award winning 3.8 liter V6 engine, but this will likely be replaced by a 2.0 or 2.4 liter unit for Malaysian usage.

Click here to read the rest of Perdana Replacement Model in April 2007

The Volkswagen Group intends to phase out the use of traditional automatic gearboxes in their product range entirely, replacing them with it’s advanced Direct Shift Gearbox, or DSG. It will begin the phasing out with Volkswagen cars that have their engines mounted transversely. Research is currently being conducted to adapt the use of the DSG transmission for longitudinal-mounted engines.

Click here to read the rest of VW phases out automatics; makes way for DSG

A video of an accident between a Toyota Yaris and a very lucky motorcyclist. Apparently the motorcyclist had a green light while the lady in the Toyota Yaris had a red light. The accident purportedly happened in Greece.

Click here to read the rest of Luckiest Biker Ever Crash Video

Ford Malaysia seems to be on an aggresive marketing campaign for the Ford Escape, perhaps in preparation to clear off it’s existing CBU stock for this. Ford has launched a new facelifted Ford Escape in Japan.

The Ford Escape’s current honeycomb mesh grille nose has been refreshed to the same chrome bar style of grille as the new Ford Ranger and Ford Everest, with a few other exterior design enhancements like new bumper, head lamp and tail lamp design. From some of these photos it seems you also get the obligatory signal lamp on wing mirror feature which every car manufacturer seems to be implementing these days, though if Ford Malaysia refreshes it I don’t know if we’ll get that level of trim.

Other than aesthetic enhancements, the 2.3 liter inline-4 in the Escape 2.3L VICS has also been equipped with variable valve timing, and the SUV’s overall NVH has been improved. More photos and two videos after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of 2006 Ford Escape Facelift launched in Japan

Edaran Tan Chong Motor Sdn Bhd plans to unveil a sports concept car aimed at the younger buyer market segment in the first quarter of 2007. The car is said to be based on the Nissan Sports Concept which was recently shown at the 2006 KL International Motor Show and first unveiled at the 2005 New York International Auto Show.

Click here to read the rest of New sporty Nissan for Malaysians in Q1 2007

Previously I blogged about Thailand’s refusal to lower import taxes on vehicles from Malaysia down to an AFTA agreed rate of 5%. It wants to maintain it’s 20% current rate as it considers Malaysia’s non-tax barriers non-compliant under the ASEAN Free Trade Agreement (AFTA).

Examples of these non-tax barriers are import regulations like quotas, which allow Thailand to bring in only 50,000 cars annually despite the Malaysian market supporting the sales of 100,000 cars annually.

Of course in the spirit of the AFTA agreement, the two governments are still trying to sort this mess out. Thailand wants Malaysia to relax it’s regulations before it will lower it’s tax rates for incoming Malaysian vehicles. Thailand is of the opinion that there should not be export quotas and strict import regulations in a fair playing ground. 10% of the vehicles imported by Thailand annually comes from Malaysia.

Our Malaysian government is still waiting for full details on the Thai’s auto policy to be submitted for them before taking any further action. Minister of International Trade and Industry Datuk Seri Rafidah Aziz says there has not been any official communication on the details yet, and so far she has only read what she knows from the newspapers.

Thailand - which does not have any national carmakers of it’s own - has achieved immense success in carving out an automotive industry for itself through foreign investments. It is currently Toyota’s 2nd largest export production center after Japan itself, and is the world’s 2nd largest manufacturer of pick-up trucks after the United States. There are currently 15 auto assembly plants in Thailand, mostly Japanese, with a 16th (a larger facility owned by Toyota) due for completion in January 2007.

Total investment from Toyota alone amounts up to USD$900 million. Toyota’s total production is predicted to reach 550,000 vehicles by next year. It’s facilities there can currently churn out a maximum 650,000 vehicles a year. 90% of parts and materials are sourced locally, creating a lucrative supplier business for the locals there.

Let’s hope Malaysia can move forward the same way with the NAP!

Mazda will be unveiling it’s hard top roof Mazda MX-5 at the 2006 British International Motor Show. The Motor Show will be held from the 18th of July 2006 to the 30th of July 2006. Mazda’s most successful cult roadster the MX-5 Miata originally came with a canvas soft top. The addition of a powered retractable hard top model will give the Mazda an edge in it’s battle against it’s roadster wars competitor the Pontiac Solstice which does not feature an automatic powered hard top… yet!

Do check out my previously posted video on the Mazda MX-5 in Top Gear, where the Top Gear crew pitches the Mazda MX-5 against a greyhound on the dog’s home turf.

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2006 Pontiac Solstice trashes Miata sales

I had the opportunity to test drive the 2006 Honda Civic 1.8S and the 2006 Honda Civic 2.0S on a nice Saturday morning thanks to Jeremy and Shannon from the New Straits Times lifestyle section. This is part three of a three part series. Click here to read part 1 and here to read part 2.

Click here to read the rest of 2006 Honda Civic Test Drive - Part 3

These videos demonstrating the handling capabilities of the Proton Satria Neo are thanks to “Wajakuat” who originally hosted them on Youtube. I’ve put them on my server for faster loading speeds. There are three videos, one with the Proton Satria Neo 1.6, one with the Proton Satria Neo 1.3, and the last one is a Proton Waja with a turbocharged Lancer Evolution engine complete with a 4WD drivetrain.

Click here to read the rest of Proton Satria Neo Handling Demonstration

Here are some photos of the Satria Neo on the Sepang International Circuit track. We took the Satria Neo for a few spins around a half-track and it was a pretty enjoyable drive. The photos are taken by Shukor Janis using a Canon EOS-1D Mark II, and photos are courtesy of Proton Corporate Communications.

More photos for your viewing pleasure after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of Proton Satria Neo Track Gallery