Read this.

I am beginning to be afraid of reading the newspapers, you never know what other threats against the freedom of the internet they might come up with next.

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 production of the new Toyota Rush and Daihatsu Terios will start soon in Indonesia, and both will be produced in Daihatsu’s assembly plant. Selling the same model under two different badges in the same country seems to work well in Indonesia, where the Toyota Avanza/Daihatsu Xenia have achieved sales of 200,000 units since 2003.

Now that Indonesia has the new Terios, when will Perodua update it’s aging Kembara model? The new Terios was recently awarded 4X4 Magazines 4X4 Of The Year 2007 Award. I already have a few friends holding back their car purchases in eager anticipation of the new Kembara, if it ever happens. With it’s mini RAV4 looks, I’m sure it will be a runaway success like the Myvi.

Source

Volkswagen Group Malaysia handed over it’s first car sold through the group on Friday, at a ceremony in Wisma UOA Bangsar. Naturally, the first car was the cult Volkswagen Golf GTI in Tornado Red, handed over to a lucky Khong Shad Foon.

The car was sold through Wearnes Automotive Sdn Bhd, who has a showroom in Wisma UOA Bangsar and a 3S center in Sungei Besi. If you want to view the latest Volkswagen models, to book a test drive or for further information, call the Wearnes VW hotline at 03 2295 9977 (9am to 7pm, Mon to Fri and 10.30am to 5pm Sat to Sun).

Volkswagen’s Neeza concept car is a concept car for the Chinese market - looking somewhat like a coupe and station wagon crossover, it was designed with the tastes of Chinese customers in mind. At first glance, it looks like a stretched Touareg - well, that would make it an Audi Q7 actually - equipped with a more concept-like futuristic front and rear end, as well as back-hinged rear doors for easier access to the interior.

The name Neeza is based on a character in Chinese folklore - Ne-Zha. Ne-Zha was a young boy who fought evil spirits with magical spirits, and had incomparible willpower and a youthful and anticipatory spirit. The red band in the interior is a reference to the red silk scarf that Ne-Zha wore.

Volkswagen says the Volkswagen Neeza concept was design based on Chinese cultural motifs - the philosophy of “round heavens and the rectangular earth.” Uh, whatever that means.

More photos including a cartoon depiction of Ne-Zha after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of Volkswagen Neeza Concept

Another car manufacturer has developed a model specially for the Chinese market. Introducing the Volkswagen Magotan. Despite sounding like a strange hybrid fusion between a Mango and a Rambutan, Volkswagen’s joint venture in China - FAW-Volkswagen - this is actually a Passat specially developed for the Chinese market.

Static torsional stiffness is up 57% over the standard Chinese Passat sold by Shanghai-Volkswagen (not FAW-Volkswagen), which is actually a long wheel base VW/Audi B5 platform car, as opposed to the this Magotan Passat’s PQ46 platform. The trunk is gigantic - 565 liters! The suspension consists of a MacPherson strut front as well as a four-link trapezoidal system for the rear. The Volkswagen Magotan is also the first sedan of it’s class in China to have an electronic parking brake, simply press a button to activate the brake, saving space in the car that would have otherwised been used for the mechanical connections.

There is also a Keyless entry start and exit system, which lets you enter the car as long as the transmitter is in your pocket - turning on the engine also works the same way with a push start button.

The press kit for the Magotan made me realise something about the mentality of FAW-Volkswagen though, but I am not sure if it’s the Germans or the Chinese who were responsible for this. The photos in the press kit show a normal Volkswagen Passat, but the Passat logos and German numberplate were erased, and new Magotan logo and Chinese numberplates pasted on. Don’t tell me you have to cut costs to the extent that you can’t re-do a photoshoot of the proper car?!

This is the exact reason why I will not try Chinese-made cars for the time being… who knows where else they have slashed on costs? But anyway, more photos after the jump, though if you’ve seen press photos of the Volkswagen Passat you really don’t have to bother. Same thing.

[UPDATE: Added video.]

Click here to read the rest of Volkswagen Magotan for China

There is this junior race series organised by ADAC called the Volkswagen Polo Cup, where young and talented drivers race using a single model - the Volkswagen Polo GTI. Boatsing a 1.8 liter turbocharged engine, it makes 150 PS in stock form. This is a special edition of the Volkswagen Polo GTI named after ADAC’s race - the Volkswagen Polo GTI Cup Edition. It has it’s 1.8 liter 20 valve inline-4 engine boosted up to 180 PS, with a max torque figure of 235Nm from a very low 2000rpm. 0-100km/h takes 7.5 seconds, up to a top speed of 225km/h.

While this is all very nice, I’m wondering when the Polo will get the TSI 1.4 liter engine, or the recently announced new 1.8 liter FSI Turbo engine which makes 160 horses in stock form as opposed to this non-FSI engine’s 150 horses. It’s platform sharing sibling the Skoda Fabia will receive a new facelift soon, so perhaps the Polo will receive an update later as well. I wish I had the opportunity to test a more powerful Polo/Fabia one day, as the car has a pretty solid chassis and I envision 150 horses in that thing could be very fun.

More photos after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of Volkswagen Polo GTI Cup Edition

Proton’s Quarter 2 2006 financial results have just been posted on the Bursa Malaysia announcement page, and the figures are still in red. Losses before tax for Quarter 2 2006 is RM 240,480,000, compared to RM 161,785,000 in Quarter 2 2005. This brings the total losses for the first half of this year to RM 336,016,000, compared to RM 169,146,000 for the same half year period of 2005. Reasons for this loss was reported to be a sluggish and competitive market which resulted in a lower sales volume. The market has certainly been sluggish, with October 2006 sales dropping by a huge 37 percent as compared to the same time period last year!

Click for enlarged version.

Source: BTimes, Bursa Malaysia