Proton is not the only car company in the world producing a quasi-modernised 1980s car and selling it in the current times! This other company is making something alot more iconic though… for Volkswagen Golf Mk1 lovers, you can actually buy a brand new Volkswagen Golf Mk1 in South Africa! It’s not completely the same as the original though, recent facelifts have given it slightly different bumpers and a more sloping grille, as well as a completely modernized interior that looks like something pulled from a Volkswagen Fox or Skoda Fabia. It’s called the Volkswagen CitiGolf.

Volkswagen South Africa has sold about 341,000 Volkswagen CitiGolfs since 1984, and it sold 29,000 units in 2006! There is even an upcoming Volkswagen CitiGolf 1.8iR in the works, powered by a 120 horsepower 1.8 liter fuel injected engine. The current fuel injected Volkswagen CitiGolf 1.6i “VeloCiTi” already outperforms the old Golf GTI Mk1. There was previously a Volkswagen CitiGolf CTi with a 1.8 liter carburetted engine too.

So yeah, seriously, if you really have the money and you’re a huge fan of the Volkswagen Golf GTI Mk1, it might be worthwhile to try to get one of these imported in. They’re made in right hand drive configuration only so they are perfect for our local usage. Of course, with the chassis being of such an old design, do not expect it to be safe or conform to modern crash test standards. It won’t exactly be safe… what it will be, is fun.

More photos and videos after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of Volkswagen Golf GTI Mk1 reincarnated - presenting the Volkswagen CitiGolf 1.8iR!

Toyota has always said that Scion cars are for the youth, and the youth generally like modifying their cars. So Scion’s designs have always been designed to be very modder friendly, like a piece of blank canvas that anyone can transform into a customised work of art. Scion wanted to demonstrate this “feature” of the Scion xD’s design concept with a sample customisation - and this is Scion’s customised Scion xD Concept.

Basically, more of an aesthetic modification - custom bodykit, huge 19 inch wheels, and a lowered ride height. No changes to the engine bay - a supercharger would have been very welcome. 128 horsepower from the new Dual VVT-i 1.8 liter isn’t a whole lot, as competitor Honda’s R18 SOHC makes 140 horses.

More photos after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of Pimped out Scion xD Concept

Tbe Scion xD is the latest addition to Toyota’s Scion marque in the US, aimed at the younger crowd. The Scion xD replaces the Scion xA in the Scion line-up, and just like it’s namesake looks like a little happy smiley, it’s looks are sure to make you smile. The Scion xD is based on the same platform as the Toyota Yaris, but looks alot less like an oddly shaped bubble with wheels, taking on more boxy lines instead, which seems to suit the small car better.

Powering the Scion xD is the same new generation Dual VVT-i 1.8 liter that’s also in the Toyota Yaris TS for the UK market. The 128 horsepower engine is mated to either a 5-speed manual or a 4-speed auto. A single spec will be offered, with the only customisable options to be the gearbox as well as stability control.

More photos after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of Scion xD: 5-door urban subcompact

Saab will be unveiling it’s Saab 9-5 BioPower 100 Concept at Geneva next week. As you could guess, the 100 means it is optimised for E100 fuel - pure bioethanol. The result is a car powered by a high compression 2.0 liter turbocharged engine making 300hp and 400Nm of torque, pulling it from 0 to 100km/h in 6.6 seconds. E100 has a higher octane than most petrol, so a higher compression ratio despite turbocharging as well as more aggressive ignition is possible.

A German car magazine reported that Volkswagen will be ditching it’s retro looks of the Volkswagen New Beetle to something a little more modern and sporty, as can be seen from these sketches. The New New Beetle will be competing directly with the BMW MINI, thus has to share most of it’s attributes - invoking in it’s drivers a warm, friendly and familiar feeling, yet exciting because of it’s sporty potential.

Two more sketches after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of Future Volkswagen New Beetle design sketches

Proton has posted it’s third straight quarterly loss, losing RM 281.5 million in the third quarter ending December 31 2006, compared to the previous quarter’s profit of RM 86.5 million. Proton’s nine-month pre-tax loss ended up a huge sum of RM 608.028 million compared with the previous year’s pre-tax loss of RM 72.888 million during the same period.

Revenue for the period fell to RM 3.655 billion from RM 6.012 billion the year before… nearly half! Perhaps this is understandable, as sales towards the end of the year generally dwindles for everyone, as people hold back their automobile purchases for the beginning of the next year so that the car they buy would not devalue instantly as the clock strikes midnight on January 1st. Proton cites poor car sales, higher fuel prices and a one-off cost of RM 27 million to restructure Lotus as the main contributors to this loss.

Proton is due to partner up with a foreign automaker soon, which might be either Volkswagen, Peugeot or GM, however analysts say it might take at least eight quarters - or two full years for the business to turn around. Second Finance Minister Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakcop says the partnership will be announced before the end of March 2007. Business Times reported that Khazanah Nasional officials met up with top officials of Volkswagen and General Motors early this week.

Apparently, Khazanah was surprised at the comprehensiveness of Volkswagen’s proposal. Initially, it was thought that Volkswagen only wanted a stake in Proton’s manufacturing, but apparently the proposal includes stakes in Proton’s distribution unit (but of course… you should know why!) plus its research and development arm.

For a small shimmering light of hope in the midst of these black clouds, we can have a look at how Volkswagen has managed to turn two ailing European manufacturers around - Seat and Skoda. Seat recently posted a net loss of 226.6 million ringgit in 2006, less than its 288.5 million ringgit loss the previous year - while still a loss, it is an improvement. Note that Seat had a decade of positive results which ended in 2005 which is when the losses began.

Skoda however, has been profitable and 2006 was a year of record sales for Skoda, this is despite market stagnation in Europe. 2006 sales went up 11.7 percent, while production went up 12.6 percent. Correspondingly, sales revenue went up 8.7% to US$9.5 billion (33 billion ringgit), pushing operational profit up 34% to US$ 677.2 million or 2.36 billion ringgit. Amazing huh? Volkswagen took Skoda’s reins in 1991 with an initial stake, and later upped it to full ownership.