Kia has given their Kia Picanto A-segment product a mid-life facelift in efforts to keep it fresh until the next generation Picanto is released. The new facelifted Kia Picanto takes on many design cues from the new Kia Cee’d range of cars on both the inside and outside. The new Kia front look combined with the Picanto’s height makes it look like a miniature Kia Rondo now. The new facelifted Picanto is 40 mm longer, with an overall length of 3535 mm, featuring an extended, rounded nose and deeper, larger rear bumper. Wheel design seems to have been ripped off from the Alfa Romeo dial design or the Golf GTI’s design, something that Proton recently abandoned with the new slightly updated Proton GEN2 sold in the UK.

Now that the Kia Picanto has been facelifted, will we be able to get this new facelift here, or will we have to make due with a slightly aftermarketish-look-modified Kia Picanto badged as the Naza Suria?

More photos after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of Kia unveils Kia Picanto Facelift

Just in case you’re wondering how the undercarriage of the Proton Savvy looks like, here’s a photo on the left. Now, why did this Proton Savvy turtle? This accident happened in Singapore on Lornie Road off Andrew Road. A Proton Savvy driven by Lim Hwee Joo came down the road, somersaulted, and landed upside down in a garden of a house, about 5 meters lower than the street level.

The owner of the house Daniel Lee said this is not the first time a car has crashed into his house in this manner, and the accident caused a fair amount of damages to his garden. Ms. Lim emerged from the car unhurt, which is pretty amazing. It looks like the Proton Savvy is really built tough after all!

Source

A high performance version of the latest modern incarnation of a retro classic has been spotted by Car Online making rounds on the Nurburgring, one of the few places that every car under testing has to grace it seems. The camo is minimal, only serving to hide a little minor trim level details that might be exclusive to the Abarth tuned up version. The wheels are much bigger and sportier, and are complete with low profile tyres.

They say under the hood of this Fiat 500 Abarth lies a 1.4 liter turbocharged engine putting out more than 150 horsepower, and thus the front air intakes on the bumper have been redesigned to be larger so that they can accommodate the larger airflow needed for the high performance engine.

Motor vehicle sales for April 2007 registered a drop again compared to the same month in 2006 - this time a 17% drop from 40,482 to 33,679. MAA blamed the decline on lack of consumer confidence, difficulty in obtaining hire purchase loans and poor resale value of used cars. In line with lower sales, production for April 2007 was also lower by 26% compared to the same period last year - 33,829 units from 45,718 units.

For the year so far - January to April 2007 compared to the same period in 2006, car sales were lower by 16 percent - 138,629 units this year compared to 164,434 units the previous year. As for April 2007 compared to March 2007 the month before in the same year, the number is also a drop - 12.8 percent or lower by 4,940 units.

The Geely CK1, who used to sport a W203 Mercedes Benz C-Class front end but has been recently revised has just made it’s debut in Indonesia last week. It is sold by PT Gaya Motor, an associate of Information Gateway Corp Sdn Bhd owned by Tan Sri Cam Soh Thiam Hong.

The car, available in 1.3 liter and 1.5 liter form, will be assembled in Indonesia, and 2,000 units is expected to be sold over the next 12 months. PT Gaya Motor has an agreement with Geely Holding Group for the manufacturing, assembly and international marketing of Geely vehicles in Indonesia. PT Gaya Motor will initially assemble CKD packs of the car in Indonesia, but later will start using more local components as volume picks up.

Geely originally wanted to establish a manufacturing base in Malaysia with an investment of RM100 million together with it’s partner Information Gateway Corp Sdn Bhd, but decided to pull out and choose Indonesia instead because of the discouraging National Automotive Policy.

You can read more about the history of how the NAP chased away a potential investor in the related posts below:

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Geely moves assembly plant plans to Indonesia
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Geely investment plans on hold again
Geely Freedom Cruiser to be assembled in Malaysia

Autocar managed to get a glimpse of Kia’s high performance label to be called the XR range, in Korea near Kia’s headquarters last week. It’s still a concept though - just a standard Kia Cee’d with an XR bodykit, but Kia says both turbo and supercharged engines are under development for use in the XR range. Check out Autocar’s gallery for photos of the Kia Cee’d they snapped in Korea at the preview.

Kia is addressing the different customer demands of it’s two biggest markets - the American and European markets with this dual performance engine strategy. The supercharged engines would be aimed at the US market, while the turbocharged engines will be aimed at the European market.

Spyshots of the Kia Cee’d XR have previously been spotted. Check out spyshots in the related posts below:

Related Posts:
Kia Cee’d XR

The long awaited new Nissan model that we’ve been expecting after looking at spyshots this year will be available at the end of next month. Nissan’s new Latio comes in two variants, a 5-door hatch called Latio Sport and a 4-door sedan called the Latio.

The Latio sedan will be available in 1.6 liter and 1.8 liter form. The 1.6 liter variant uses a HR16DE engine that makes 110hp at 6,000rpm, and 153Nm at 4,000rpm. Fuel consumption is estimated at 13.9km per liter. The 1.8 liter variant uses the MR18DE engine, which is rated at 127hp at 5,200rpm and 174Nm of torque at 4,800rpm. Fuel consumption is rated at 13km per liter. These two engines are new engine families developed after the Nissan-Renault alliance, and are used in Renault cars as well.

The Latio hatchback only has the 1.6 liter version, which is kind of disappointing as a 1.8 liter “warm” hatch would be fun indeed. All variants are available in auto, except the sedan will have one 1.6 liter manual option. Not sure how many speeds for the manual, likely 5-speeds since it is a 1.6 liter, but in overseas markets manual variants of the MR18DE 1.8 liter is paired with a 6-speed manual gearbox, which would have been fun if available in a Latio Sport hatchback.

Edaran Tan Chong Motor has taken a different approach to B-segment offerings here in Malaysia, with competitors choosing to offer 1.5 and perhaps soon 1.3 liter versions of their B-segment offerings, ETCM has decided to offer 1.6 and 1.8 liter variants, making them somewhat like Sentra replacements, though the Sentra is actually from a larger C-segment category.

Some other known specs: it is CKD, McPherson struts at the front and a torsion beam at the rear, as well as a keyless entry system which Nissan seems to be pushing all around the world, with the new Maxima in the US having a big marketing campaign for it. The key for the Latio is simply a transponder you carry with you - starting the car is the matter of twisting a little tab at the steering column where you would typically insert your key. A push button start would be much cooler though.

Full specs of the Latio and Latio hatch will be available once it is launched and available for sale towards the end of next month. Nissan has started a teaser site for the Nissan Latio at www.latio.com.my so go check it out.

Also, check out the related post links below for some spyshots, as well as some previous posts with details of the Latio sold in our neighbouring country Singapore. You will be able to find alot more photos of the exterior and interior there.

Related Posts:
Nissan Latio sedan and the Nissan Latio Sport hatchback spotted in Genting
Nissan Latio Sedan spotted on Jalan Kepong

Chery wants to re-examine it’s deal with Chrysler to develop Chrysler-branded small cars for numerous markets, said Zhang Li, Chery Automobile Co Ltd’s general manager. The project has been halted for the moment and awaits renegotiation of the agreement.

This is because Chrysler has recently changed hands, now belonging to private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management LP thanks to last week’s US$7.45 billion deal. Chrysler spokesperson Mary Gauthier said Chrysler’s global growth plans remains the same, and the new owners Cerberus has not changed any of those goals.

I suppose Chery just wants to play it safe and make sure Cerberus is fully aware of all details of the plan.

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Chrysler goes to Cerberus for US7.45 billion
Chrysler and Chery sign small car letter of intent

The first of the new Mazda2, or Mazda Demio as it is called in Japan has rolled off it’s production line in its Ujina Plant No.1 (U1) near Mazdas headquarters in Hiroshima, Japan. The first car to come off the line is a Demio bound for the Japanese market.

“The all-new Mazda2 is the first of Mazdas new generation products to evolve to the next stage. While the current model was intended for the domestic market, the new model has been developed into a globally competitive car. I wish to congratulate you all on your hard work, which has now successfully brought us to the start of full mass production. I am convinced that the all-new Mazda2 will capture the hearts of our customers and demonstrate to drivers the world over that, ‘Mazda vehicles look inviting to drive, are fun to drive, and make you want to drive them again. The new Mazda2 offers an exhilarating driving experience that is the soul of Zoom-Zoom and we will continue to build cars with the strong understanding that safety and environmental friendliness are a vital part of making cars fun-to-drive,” said Mazdas Executive Vice President, Robert J. Graziano.

Seriously, it might do Cycle and Carriage Bintang good to setup a CKD assembly for the Mazda2 here in Malaysia. Most of the young buyers here who typically buy a Mazda are unfamiliar with the marque, and are unsure of things like maintenance costs, build quality, and second hand value. Spending so much on the premiumly priced CBU models like the Mazda3 and Mazda6 might seem like a big risk not many want to take. Offering a cheap entry-level CKD-assembled car like the Mazda2 will offer an affordable entry into the whole Mazda experience. From there, granted that the person gets a good experience, he will move up the segments and buy another Mazda again, going to a 3, then a 6, and perhaps a CX-7.

Related Posts:
2008 Mazda 2 Preview
More photos of the Mazda 2 1.3 and 1.5

Click here to read the rest of First of new Mazda 2 rolls off production line

If you’re from the UK and decide to purchase a Proton GEN2, and you’re not a fan of cream interiors especially, you’ll be glad to know that the UK market Proton GEN2 has been mildly revised to offer a new alloy wheel design as well as a black interior. Click on the image to enlarge it. A photo of the new alloy wheels are available after the jump, but the photo is not very useful because it is a panning shot showing the wheels spinning. What you can tell is it is a 5-spoke design, probably the one spotted on the GEN2 facelift spyshot recently.

Click here to read the rest of UK market Proton GEN2 now with black interior