The Bugatti Veyron is the current benchmark of exotic raw supercar performance, surpassing the 1000hp mark and has been the talk of town long before it was actually launched. That might end soon. Porsche is planning a Bugatti Veyron killer called the Porsche GT1. The announcement of the new GT1 comes shortly after Porsche announced the end of production for the Porsche Carrera GT. The Carrera GT (shown above) was only in production for 3 years and there are only 1,111 in the world, with more than half of it in North America.

The new Porsche GT1 will offer roughly 950 horsepower and will likely be based on the same chassis as the Porsche Carrera GT, except that it will have a solid roof coupe body instead of being a roadster. Despite having “only” 950 horses, the GT1 is expected to be lighter than the Veyron for better power to weight ratio. The Porsche Carrera GT weighs only 1380kg while the Veyron weighs 1887kg. The GT1 is expected to be around the same weight as the Carrera GT. Of course, it will likely have all wheel drive to put all those horses down to the ground so they can be usable for some good acceleration times. Top speed is expected to be 254mph (408 km/h), 2mph over the Veyron’s top speed of 252mph.

And of course, it’s not that hard to beat the Veyron’s looks.

EON has been in talks with DaimlerChrysler and some of it’s unit companies for a distributorship here in Malaysia. The talks are centered on distributing cars with engine capacities of more than 2 liters. DaimlerChrysler currently has the following marques under their umbrella: Mercedes Benz, Maybach, smart, Chrysler, Dodge, and Jeep. They used to own a stake in Mitsubishi as well but disposed of it not too long ago.

DRB-HICOM who is leading the distributorship talks already assembles and distributes Mercedes cars here in Malaysia, and smart’s engine capacities are below 2 liters. That leaves Chrysler, Dodge, and Jeep. Perhaps we might be able to see a 2.4 liter Dodge Stratus or new Jeeps being officially brought in. The new Jeep Compass looks good. Or this could be a new Mercedes distributorship.

Source

Perodua has attributed their quick rise to success after only 13 years in business to a win-win alliance with it’s Japanese partner Daihatsu. Perodua Managing Director Syed Hafiz Syed Abu Bakar says “Picking the right partner and picking the right way to move forward together is the key.”

The key is Perodua’s manufacturing unit. Perodua has a subsidiary called Perodua Auto Corporation Sdn Bhd which handles the operations of Perodua Manufacturing Sdn Bhd (PMSB) and Perodua Engine Manufacturing Sdn Bhd (PEMSB). Daihatsu Motor Co Ltd and Mitsui & Co own 51% of Perodua Auto Corporation. This restructuring exercise was done back in 2001, and manufacturing operations are under joint-venture partner control.

This strong strategic alliance has resulted in a win-win situation, bringing Perodua closer towards it’s goal of becoming the king of compact cars in not only Malaysia but the region. It plans to ramp up production at it’s 2 billion ringgit Rawang plant by 25% in preparation for new models and increased export. In times of rising oil prices, compact cars are gaining popularity because of the perception that they are more fuel efficient, though this is not always the case.

Perodua’s manufacturing facilities have improved through the injection of Japanese DNA in the company, like the practice of the Toyota Production System (TPS) and “jishuken” which are self-improvement activities like study groups held together with vendors. It’s vendors are audited by it’s own QRE (quality resident engineers) team. Toyota’s association with Perodua has resulted in a positive halo effect in both reputation and manufacturing processes.

In line with it’s ambitions to be the best compact car manufacturer in the region, Perodua currently has no plans to produce a sedan model although there are such rumors being passed around, but there are plans for compact cars with larger engine capacities of up to 1.5 liter engines. Perodua’s largest compact car engine capacity is currently 1.3 liters, found in the Perodua Myvi and the Perodua Kembara. The Perodua Myvi and Kembara would definitely benefit from a 1.5 liter engine as the current 1.3 liter feels underpowered to me. The engine revs have to be kept higher for sufficient power and this in turn defeats the purpose of a smaller engine so it can be more fuel efficient.

[ UPDATE: The Perodua Viva has been launched! Click here for full details on specifications and pricing, as well as many clear photos of both exterior and interior! ]

New spyshots of the new Kancil/Kelisa Replacement Model are in! These shots are thanks to reader Nicholas Gan who snapped these photos at a top secret location somewhere in town. Nah, it’s actually somewhere up Genting. You know all those jokes about how Kancils don’t have enough power to go up the hill? Well, this just proves the new replacement can! There are two cars here. The blue one is the original Daihatsu Mira design straight from Japan. The other one is somewhat different, it looks like the Perodua XX06 Concept shown at the KL International Motor Show. So it’s likely that they will be using this facelift for the final product or they’re just borrowing the body panels. It’s likely to be the first one though. Let’s have a look at this new model by Perodua due to be launched sometime next year. More photos after the jump.

Related Posts:
Perodua Viva to launch in May 2007
Perodua Viva Photos on Forum
Perodua Viva to be unveiled mid-2007
New Daihatsu Mira launched in Japan
Kancil Replacement Model (Perodua Viva) sighted in Mines
Kancil Replacement Model (Perodua Viva) spotted!
Kancil and Kelisa Replacements in first half 2007 (Perodua Viva)
Upcoming Perodua Kelisa replacement?
Could this be a Kancil Replacement Model?
New Perodua Kancil / Kelisa coming down our alley?

Click here to read the rest of Kancil Replacement Model (Perodua Viva) spotted!

I’m sure most of you have heard of the saying “breed like rabbits”, or another variation of it using crude alternatives to the word breed that I do not think is very appropriate to say here. The Volkswagen Golf that we all know and love is marketed as the Volkswagen Rabbit in the US. Here is an ad campaign for the 2006 Volkswagen Rabbit (Golf Mk5) which plays on the “breed like rabbits” saying. There’s even dogs chasing after the car, like how dogs chase after rabbits in real life. Video is after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of Volkswagen Rabbit (USDM Golf) Advertisement

Alado Corp Sdn Bhd will be launching 3 new Chery models over the next few months beginning with the Chery QQ, due to be launched this month. The Chery QQ, a little town run-about with an 800cc engine has been the subject of controversy, with claims of it being a blatant copy of Daewoo’s Matiz. The Daewoo Matiz is sold here by Hicomobil as the Chevrolet Spark.

The rip-off is so bad that a General Motors (which owns Daewoo and Chevrolet) spokesperson said, “If you didnt have the name tags on the car, you couldnt tell them apart. Its such a knockoff that you can pull a door off of the Chevy Spark and it fits on the QQ - and it fits so well that the seals on the door hold.“

Hicomobil ran an ad campaign when the Spark was first introduced trying to inform Malaysian consumers of the carbon copy situation between the Spark and the QQ. It went along the lines of “This is the real Chevrolet Spark” or something like that, I can’t really recall exactly how it went. The campaign ran alongside a promotion with KFC where you could win a Chevrolet Spark in a competition.

Click here to read the rest of Chery QQ coming to town this month

The Chery B14 MPV be a nice competitor to the Naza Ria and Toyota Innova if it is priced below RM100,000. It’s also known as the Chery V5 Crossover. The MPV is a 7-seater powered by 2.0 petrol, 2.4 petrol or 1.9 turbodiesel engine options. I’m guessing the petrol engine options are the same as the Chery Tiggo’s and we’ll get the 2.0 liter unit. It was first unveiled as a concept vehicle at the 2004 Beijing Motor Show.

Click here to read the rest of Chery V5 Crossover (Chery B14) MPV

[UPDATE: The Chery Tiggo has been launched in Malaysia. Click here for more details.]

The Chery T11 or known as the Chery Tiggo is what you would get if you throw a horny male Toyota RAV4 and a horny female Honda CR-V into a closed parking lot and lock them up. Their offspring would look exactly like the Chery Tiggo. It features the second generation Toyota RAV4’s rear and the second generation Honda CR-V’s front design.

Click here to read the rest of Chery Tiggo (Chery T11) coming to Malaysia

Photo: Jussi Koskinen

The Lotus Carlton was born during the days where General Motors owned Lotus, before Proton bought them. It was based on the 1986 Vauxhall Carlton/Opel Omega Mark 2 3.0GSi, a family saloon sold in the US as a Vauxhall and in Europe as an Opel. The Carlton earned the European Car Of The Year award in it’s year of launching.

Lotus basically took the Carlton, added a rear boot spoiler, air intakes on the bonnet, Lotus badges, and souped up the engine. It turned the 3.0 inline-6 into a monster twin turbocharged 3.6 liter inline-6 making 377 hp at 5,200 rpm. The car came in only one colour; Imperial Green - a colour which looked like black except under very bright lights.

General Motors originally had a sales target of 1,100 units, but only managed 950 (320 Vauxhalls and 630 Opels). This was due to the early 1990s recession, not many could afford a £48,000 car.

Look after the jump to watch Tiff Needell review the Lotus Carlton.

Click here to read the rest of 1990 Lotus Carlton (Lotus Omega)