The Volvo C30 by ipd

A trio of tuners will be exhibiting custom concept modifications of the new Volvo C30 hatchback at the 2006 North American International Auto Show this November 2006.

The first tuner is ipd, whose ipd Volvo C30 concept shown above is painted with a Swedish flag theme of blue and yellow. The ipd Volvo C30 concept has an intercooled supercharger which boosts power up to 400 horses, with improved handling by a fully adjustable coil-over suspension system and better braking with larger diameter disc brakes. The ipd C30’s in-car entertainment system is equipped with products by Alpine and Apple.

The other two tuners are HEICO SPORTIV and EVOLVE. Check out their renditions of the Volvo C30 after the post jump.

Click here to read the rest of Tuners prepare Volvo C30 concepts

I’m not sure where this car is from, but I’m just taking a wild guess that it’s from somewhere in the Middle East, perhaps Dubai. They’ve been known for this kind of outrageious pimped out rides. Check out what they did to a pre-facelift Honda Accord/Honda Inspire after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of Pimped out white Honda Accord

UPDATE: Perodua has announced that a new Kembara will be launched in mid-2008. It is expected that the new Perodua Kembara replacement will be based on the Daihatsu Bego/Toyota Rush. Click here for more details.

The Daihatsu Terios, also known as the Daihatsu Be-Go in other markets has won the title of Compact/Affordable Category Winner of 4X4 Magazine’s 4X4 Of The Year 2007 Award, beating rivals like the Fiat Sedici 4X4, the Fiat Panda 4X4 and bigger, more expensive all-wheel drive models like the Volkswagen Golf 4Motion.

4X4 Magazine said the Daihatsu Terios was the only one whose character stood out compared to it’s competitors, invoking the image of a cross-country adventure.

Our locally manufactured Perodua Kembara is actually based on the previous model Daihatsu Terios. If we are lucky enough, and this is actually very likely - we might get a badge-engineered version of this new Terios here as a Kembara Replacement Model. A good pointer to Perodua’s model update trends is the upcoming Kancil/Kelisa replacement, which have been sighted to be facelifted Daihatsu Miras.

You have the Audi A4, the Audi S4 and then the top of the range Audi RS4, so naturally the new 2007 Audi TT needs to have an RS edition after the baseline model and S-line model (shown above) debut. Rumours are that the powerplant for the new TT RS will be a higher powered version of the current 2.0 liter TFSI, but there have also been talks of half a Gallardo 5.0 V10 engine, which would be an 2.5 liter inline-5.

The inline-5 is a pretty odd option which seems to be picked from out the air, so most people agree that a 2.0 liter TFSI is more likely, with an extra turbo thrown into the mix arranged in a sequential fashion. Power output is expected to be in the range of 300 to 350 horsepower. Another possible engine option would be a force inducted version of Volkswagen/Audi’s 3.2 liter or 3.6 liter FSI engine.

Speculated features of the Audi TT RS are Quattro all-wheel drive and either a six-speed manual gearbox or S-Tronic, Audi’s word for BorgWarner’s excellent DSG gearbox.

Proton has clarified that it’s US$24 million Cikarang plant in Jakarta is not for sale. Proton Managing Director Syed Zainal Abidin Syed Mohamed Tahir said The Jakarta Post’s report is inaccurate, and Proton plans to ramp up it’s presence in the country in both transport and retail markets.

This requires a assembly facility to prepare for the ramp up in Indonesian Proton car sales. Achmad Safiun, Commissioner of PT Proton Edar Indonesia says PT Proton Edar Indonesia is very proud of Proton’s confidence in the Indonesian market, and will work to make Indonesia one of Proton’s best markets in the region.

Source

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Proton back in red; sells Indonesian plant

Proton has made a few announcements today, let me go through them one by one. They’re mostly to do with memorandum of understanding and intent signed with other companies.

Proton reports that the Memorandum of Intent between Proton and Petronas has ended, and both parties are now assessing alternative engine sourcing opportunities. I am not sure if I am right, but from what I can understand by “assessing alternatives”, it looks like Proton will not be using the Petronas E01-based technology for it’s larger displacement engines.

Click here to read the rest of Assorted Proton announcements

All of us have at least some reason to be glad with the new Budget 2007. The absurd idea of scrapping motor vehicles above 10/15 years of age was not implemented in the budget, not at least for this year. So we’re safe for another year. Let’s have a look at what the Budget 2007 brings, in relation to motorists/the automotive industry:

• Underdeclaration of motor vehicles will be taken very seriously. If caught, a minimum compound of 5 times total tax payable to be imposed. Enforcement capacity of Customs will be increased.
• Biodiesel fund of RM500 million to develop the bio-diesel industry.
• RM19 billion to be allocated for fuel subsidy and tax foregone, which is higher than the previous RM16 billion figure. If next year’s oil prices remain around the US$70 per barrel range, subsidies and tax foregone should remain at current levels, which means there should be no reason for any huge petrol price increases.

We’re safe for now. The government’s decision to cut corporate tax rates from 28% to 27% for 2007 and 26% for 2008 pushed Proton share prices up by 5.3% to RM5.20.

Proton Holdings Bhd is back in the red again, with a Q1 2006 loss of RM58.65 million on RM1.42 billion revenue, higher than the corresponding quarter last year, where Q1 2005 losses were RM12.35 million on RM2.05 billion revenue. RM58.65 million is almost quadruple the amount lost in Q1 2005.

Proton Holdings Bhd said the losses were due to declining car sales and a lack of fresh model line-up. Q1 2006 sales were 32,200 cars, compared to Q1 2005 sales of 44,367, a drop of 27 percent. While cost cutting measures have been implemented and have been bearing fruit, promotional and marketing costs have risen, expected since Proton introduced a new model recently, the Proton Satria Neo.

In overseas markets, The Jakarta Post reports that PT Proton Edar Indonesia is in negotiatons to sell off it’s USD24 million plant in West Java to PT Bajaj Auto Indonesia. Initially Proton planned to rent the plant to the PT Bajaj Auto, but now it is in talks for a sale. Because of AFTA, new tax rates between Proton and Indonesia has rendered the plant an ineffective asset to keep. PT Bajaj Auto Indonesia manufactures two and three-wheeled motorized vehicles from India in collaboration with Kawasaki.

Other than PT Bajaj Auto Indonesia, Indonesian Kia Carens and Kia Big Up assembler PT Kia Mobil Indonesia and a Shanghai-based automotive company had also shown interest in the USD24 million plant.

[ UPDATE: Proton says Indonesian plant not for sale! ]

[UPDATED] The first video is a Bonnie and Clyde style of Mat Rempit stunt, with a motorcyclist dude and someone presumably his girlfriend doing stunts together. Looks pretty dangerous, but this seriously looks like it needs ALOT of practice.

The second video is a solo flight. Watch how he overtakes the car towards the end of the video while still performing his little stunt. I won’t spoil it for you by telling you what he does. Videos are after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of Mat Rempit Stunt

Sime Darby Bhd unit Inokom Corp Sdn Bhd will be investing a total sum of RM 10 million on a new assembly line for the Hyundai Mighty, Hyundai’s best selling commercial vehicle. The 5 tonne truck will be produced at Inokom’s plant in Kulim, Kedah in early 2007. A technical license agreement was signed between Inokom and Hyundai on August 29 2006. The Hyundai Mighty is a mid-sized 5 tonne truck with a 3.9 liter intercooled turbodiesel engine. Inokom’s current Lorimas model is a one and a half tonne truck.

The addition of the Hyundai Mighty will bring Inokom’s vehicle count up to 4, with current models being assembled include the Inokom Lorimas pick-up, the Inokom Atos Prima based on the Hyundai Atoz and the Inokom Matrix based on the Hyundai Matrix. There is also an Inokom Getz expected to join the line-up soon, a rebadged version of the popular supermini which even got into Jeremy Clarkson’s good books, somewhat.