Mercedes Benz has unveiled AMG kits for the Mercedes Benz CL-class. Other than being offered standard on the AMG-tuned CL55 and CL65, it will also be offered to buyersof the CL500 and CL600 as an optional add on. The kit comprises of a redesigned front bumper as well as front, rear and side skirts. You also get nice 19 inch AMG alloy rims, an upgrade from the 17 inches on the CL500 and the 18 inches on the CL600. The new front bumper is sportier, with large air intakes flanked by a pair of fog lamps. More photos after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of 2007 Mercedes Benz CL-class AMG - CL55, CL65

The upcoming replacement for the Toyota Corolla Altis here in Malaysia might see the introduction of a CVT transmission, thanks to a new pair of engine and transmission announced last month by Toyota as part of it’s efforts to revamp it’s gasoline engine and transmission line-up by the year 2010.

The new engine is the 1.8 liter 2ZR-FE, which replaces the 1ZZ-FE in Toyota’s line-up. The 2ZR-FE has a few enhancements over the 1ZZ-FE found in our current Toyota Corolla Altis. For one, the new 2ZR-FE has Dual VVT-i which varies valve timing optimally for various engine speeds and loads on both the intake and exhaust valves. The previous 1ZZ-FE only has variable valve timing on the exhaust valves. Maximum torque has increased from 170Nm at 4,200 rpm to 175Nm at 4,400 rpm. Horsepower has increased from 132hp at 6,000 rpm to 136hp at 6,600 rpm. Fuel efficiency is supposed to be 5% higher compared to conventional engines.

Note that our local Toyota Corolla Altis actually has abit more power and torque than the Japanese specifications thanks to differences like an increased compression ratio of 10.5:1 instead of 10.0:1. Our Toyota Corolla Altis 1ZZ-FE engine makes 136hp and 171Nm of torque, slightly higher than it’s Japanese counterpart.

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PT Toyota-Astra Motor has launched a new Toyota Avanza facelift for the Indonesian market, together with the new 2007 Toyota Camry as well as a special 50-unit limited edition of the Toyota Yaris with a Superman theme called the Yaris Superman. The new Toyota Avanza facelift gains a new front grille design, a new front bumper, as well as new side protection mouldings on the doors. The interior also gains a new ivory colour scheme, and the third row of seats gets seatbelts. It’s K3-VE 1.3 DOHC VVT-i engine also benefits from better fuel emissions, now complying with Euro II standards, but there doesn’t seem to be any gains in horsepower or torque.

I do not have any information on whether or when UMW Toyota will be launching the new Toyota Avanza facelift here in Malaysia. The Toyota Avanza currently makes up 40% of Toyota sales here in Malaysia, which translates to about 16,800 units for the first six months this year. That’s 2,800 Toyota Avanza 7-seater MPVs a month, which is very good for a Japanese make considering the Proton Waja sells about 2,500 to 3,000 units a month according to Proton Edar CEO Datuk Maruan Mohd Said.

UPDATE: Toyota Avanza 1.5 now available in Malaysia, facelifted model. Click here for details.

General Motors is looking into purchasing a 51% stake in Hicomobil, a unit of local conglomerate DRB-HICOM which distributes CBU Chevrolet cars in Malaysia. GM is relooking at Malaysia as it is closing it’s office in Singapore. It’s expected that GM wants to take control of the firm by October 2006, but the deal depends on whether GM agrees to assemble Chevrolet cars at DRB-HICOM’s plant in Pekan, Pahang. Ultimately this will give us cheaper Chevrolet cars, as current models are fully imported. Locally assembled CKD cars have lower tax as compared to fully imported CBU vehicles.

There are plans for a notchback Chevrolet Aveo Sedan in September 2006 to be priced above RM80,000, putting it into competition with other sedans based on hatches like the Honda City. I’m expecting it to be in the lower RM80,000 to RM90,000 range as the Chevrolet Optra 1.6 sedan already occupies the upper half of that price bracket at RM88,888. Two new models are also in the pipeline, due end of 2006 or early 2007.

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2007 Chevrolet Aveo Sedan

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Alado has launched the CBU Chery QQ here in Malaysia, with an on the road price of RM39,888 for the QQ model and RM41,888 for the QQR model. The Chery QQR model is basically a QQ with a sporty bodykit. The Chery QQ comes with an 812cc 12 valve 3 cylinder EFI DOHC engine, making 52hp at 6,000rpm and a max torque of 75.5 Nm between 3,500 and 4,000rpm. It comes with a 5-speed manual transmission only. Good news is the car comes with a power steering system.

Alado intends to sell only 200 units of both the Chery QQ and Chery QQR by the end of 2006. As I previously reported, Chery also intends to assemble an MPV and an SUV here in Malaysia, the Chery B14 V5 Crossover and the Chery T11 Tiggo. While previous reports suggested they might be assembled at Oriental Assembler Sdn Bhds plant in Johor Baru, Alado group executive chairman Tan Sri Cam Soh Thiam Hong said at the QQ launch that Alado is currently in talks with a few other assemblers and Proton tops it’s list of preferred assemblers. This would be in line with Proton’s alliance talks with Chery, which would result in Proton assembling it’s vehicles at Chery’s plant in China and Chery assembling it’s vehicles in Proton’s plant here.

Price comparison between similiar models available after the jump:

Click here to read the rest of Chery QQ for RM39,888

Booking figures for the Proton Satria Neo for the past month has reached over 2,000 so far, meeting it’s initial sales target of about 2,000 to 2,500 a month. These are combined booking figures from both Proton Edar and EON. Proton says the most popular colours are twilight blue, iridescent white and metal grey. I personally like the twilight blue and the brilliant red colours the most. How about you?

Proton has already handed over cars to the early buyers at a ceremony on Tuesday, so we can expect Satria Neo owners to be posting their experiences on various forums on the internet soon. My comments are always open to anyone who wants to share their Neo story, good or bad.

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Mercedes-Benz has officially revealed the new Mercedes Benz CL-class luxury coupe. The CL-class is a two-door coupe based on the Mercedes Benz S-class, and you know the world is starting to get ridiculous when I have to specifically say a coupe is two-door in order not to confuse it with “four-door coupes” like the Mercedes Benz CLS. More details after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of 2007 Mercedes Benz CL class - CL500, CL600

Brenda Priddy & Co have captured these nice spyshots of what might be the upcoming Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X, which will debut in 2008. From the spyshots on Dubspeed Driven, we can see that the concept has pretty much stayed true to the Mitsubishi Concept X shown in September 2006.

The bulge on the bonnet seems to indicate a top mounted intercooler since there is nothing visible in the bumper grilles, though I’m not sure what kind of intercooling it’s supposed to be doing covered up like that. If you peek into the interior, you can see a twin-pod type of meter design, similiar to the ones found in our Protons and Lotus cars. The Mitsubishi Concept X showed a similiar twin-pod design but the meter holder itself was not twin-pod shaped. Pictures of the Mitsubishi Concept X for your comparison are after the jump. For the full spyshots, head on to Dubspeed Driven. For more photos of the Mitsubishi Concept X, check out this post.

UPDATE: This is likely a next generation Mitsubishi Lancer being tested, due to the abscence of wide flared fenders and a wing at the back.

Click here to read the rest of 2008 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X Spyshots

BMW has developed a parking-assist technology that can park your car for you while you stand outside the car and watch as the internal robotics and gizmos park it. A prototype of the system has been completed and a demo video was recorded using a BMW 730i, which is available after the jump. BMW group research and technology managing director Raymond Freymann says the system will be available in 3 years, and will be very easy to use - just press a button and watch the car park itself.

Of course, this parking system isn’t for the car to park itself anywhere. It involves components both on the car and components to be installed in the parking spot designated, for example your garage. You have to install a reflective lense against the wall of the parking space. A video camera on the car’s front windshield measures the distance and angel of the car in relation to the lense, while other sensors ensure there is at least 8 inches of space on the left and right of the car. Through information gathered from these input devices, the gas pedal and steering wheel is controlled.

Click here to read the rest of BMW demos a self-parking BMW 730i

UPDATE: The new 2008 Toyota Corolla Altis has been launched in Malaysia! - click for more details, specifications, photos and pricing.

Toyota Motor Corp will be delaying the new Toyota Corolla until 2008, citing engineering resource constraints as the reason. Toyota says the current Corolla, available on Malaysian soils as the Toyota Corolla Altis will keep it’s current design for a sixth year in the USA, only to be replaced in 2008. The Toyota Corolla is normally kept for 5 years, with a mid-life facelift, after of which it is replaced with a new model. Photo shown above is the US market Toyota Corolla S with a Sport Plus Package. The USDM Toyota Corolla is similiar to our local Toyota Corolla Altis, different from the Singaporean Corolla which seems to be based on the European Corolla instead.

Toyota has had to focus all of it’s engineering resources to make sure the 2007 Toyota Camry launched on time, and is confident that the current Corolla will do well for another year. The Toyota Camry is Toyota’s best-selling US model, therefore it was put on a priority and most resources were allocated to it. UMW Toyota plans to launch the 2007 Toyota Camry by end-2006.

It looks like it will be some time until Toyota refreshes the Corolla here in Malaysia, so in my opinion the new 2006 Honda Civic will remain the king of the mid-sized sedan market here in Malaysia until 2008. I’ve heard that the Civic has waiting lists of 2 months for the 1.8S and up to 4 months for the 2.0S model, unconfirmed though.

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