It seems that the talks between Khazanah Nasional and Volkswagen officials in New York last week on a Proton-Volkswagen partnership ended in a positive tone, and a follow-up meeting has been scheduled to be held somewhere in Bangkok, though there was no specific date reported anywhere in the press.

Anyway on a sidenote, I am beginning to wonder why most press insists on saying the talks are between Proton and Volkswagen when it is actually in fact between Khazanah Nasional and Volkswagen. That is a big difference.

Now this is some really strange stuff. Contrary to what everyone is saying about how 4X4s and SUVs should be banned because of the excess fuel they consume, apparently Jesus wants you to drive a 4X4. A Nissan Navara to be exact.

At least, according to a branch of the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God (UCKG) in Soweto, South Africa. “God doesn’t want you to be poor and ashamed - he wants you to drive a new car. A brand new Nissan Navarra people. God wants to show his power in your life too,” said a South African preacher of the church.

Why a Nissan Navara? Apparently a couple gave a testimony about how they gave alot of money to the church, and in return God blessed them with a prospering business - which they used the proceeds to buy a Nissan Navara, among other things.

Talk about product placement to the max. That prospering business might have been a Nissan dealership. Anyway, interesting to note that the Brazil-originated UCKG is considered to be a cult that manipulates it’s followers for financial gain.

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If you watched the Canadian GP during the weekend, I’m sure you’ll be talking about Robert Kubica’s crash during the race, when he made contact with Toyota’s Jarno Trulli on the approach to the hairpin. The impact basically destroyed the car’s nose cone and exposed Kubica’s legs to some possible major damage. However, I guess an angel was watching over him as he ended up unhurt and has been released from the hospital.

For those who did not see the crash, video after jump.

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Joey Hand’s BMW M3 Crash
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Click here to read the rest of Robert Kubica Crash at 2007 Canadian GP

The Honda StepWGN’s design could give us a preview of how we should expect the next Honda Jazz (called the Honda Fit in the JDM market) to look like.

Previous artist’s impressions by both a Japanese magazine and Auto Express indicate a similiar trapezoidal grille to the one found on the new Stream and Odyssey, as well as notoriously on the new CR-V, and similiar Peugeot-like headlamps to the one on the StepWGN. The StepWGN has a peculiar name indeed, spelled like it was thought up by a generation of vowel-ommitting Flickr users. It is an MPV powered by Honda’s K20A 2.0 liter DOHC i-VTEC engine.

Anyway, read the two related posts to find out both a Japanese and British take on how the new Jazz will look like. Also, look after the jump for more photos of the Honda StepWGN, as well as two more artist impressions of the new Honda Jazz.

The new 2008 Honda Jazz will make it’s debut at the 2007 Tokyo Motor Show in October, and go on sale the next year.

Related Posts:
2007 Honda Fit/Honda Jazz
New 2008 Honda Jazz

Click here to read the rest of Honda StepWGN - pointer to new Jazz front design?

Ikea UK has decided it’s entire company fleet cars will be Honda Civic Hybrids. This decision is part of Ikea’s commitment to reduce it’s environmental impact. 50 Civic Hybrids will be supplied this year, and more orders will be delivered in 2008.

“Civic Hybrid is really taking off in the corporate sector where businesses want to be seen to be green. KEAs commitment to replace its entire fleet with Civic Hybrids is a real-life endorsement of the car and the excellent benefits it offers. In terms of cost, fuel efficiency and low emission driving the Civic Hybrid really stacks up,” says John Kingston, Environment Manager at Honda (UK).

So, is the new Civic Hybrid going to be offered in Malaysia? Perhaps Honda Malaysia could do a limited run or something. After all, there are a few units of the previous generation Civic Hybrid in Malaysia, and the latest Civic Hybrid is available in Singapore.

Saab has unveiled it’s new facelifted C-segment premium sedan - the Saab 9-3, and it comes in Sedan, SportCombi and Convertible models! The boys at Trollhattan (what an amusing name for a place) have added all-wheel-drive to the car (called Saab XWD) as well as a line of engine with three different options of fuels - petrol, diesel, or bioethanol.

The top of the line petrol engine is the 2.8 liter V6 all-aluminium engine putting out either 255 horsepower or 280 horsepower in different status of tune. Unlike most V6 engines which use twin-turbos, this engine uses a single twin-scroll turbo, with the twin in twin-scroll being fed by 2 banks of 3 cylinders each. There is also an all-aluminium 2.0 liter turbo engine, in 150hp, 175hp, and 210hp form.

For diesel fans, the 1.9TTiD engine uses a two turbochargers to make 180 horsepower and a massive 400Nm of torque. A single-turbo 1.9 liter is also available, using a variable geometry turbocharger in two different tunes - 150hp using 16 valves and 120hp using 8 valves. The option for bioethanol-powered Saab BioPower engines use E85 fuel. The baseline engine is a normally aspirated 1.8 liter putting out 122 horsepower. Kind of bland, considering how amazing all the other engines sound.

The Saab 9-3 Sport Sedan and SportCombi has high torsional rigidity of 22,000Nm/degree, and almost 60% of the body weight uses high strength or ultra high strength steel. The 9-3 Convertible has lower torsional rigidity as expected due to the lack of a roof- 11,500Nm/degree. For the SportCombi station wagon model, there are structural rings around the C and D-pillars, and transverse beams in the floor and roof to compensate for the lack of sedan cross-bracing.

For the convertible, the tonneau cover has a unique two-stage operation cycle for quicker roof deployment. The soft-top cover (were you hoping for a hard top convertible?) comes up in 20 seconds, and uses a weight-saving design, with the frame, swivelling braces, and front header rail all made of magnesium. The seat upholstery also uses “Hydroblox” water repellent textile, just in case you get caught in the rain and your top doesn’t come up in time. It also has DynaCage rollover protection which uses pop-up rear roll bars, strengthened A-pillars, sills, and automatic seat-belt pre-tensioning.

No news of whether this new Saab 9-3 will be available for the Malaysian market for not, but it may make an appearance if there is a demand for it.

More photos after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of 2008 Saab 9-3 Sedan, SportCombi and Convertible

Nanjing Automobile, who owns the MG brand now, will be purchasing diesel engines from an European engine supplier to slot into its’ MG 7 for the European market. What Nanjing has right now is a BMW diesel that makes 113hp, and that would definitely not work in a modern European market.

Nanjing director Paul Stowe says the new engine for the MG 7 will be purchased from a manufacturer that already supplies engines to other companies, though he declined to name which one. We will have to look at an European manufacturer that has an engine plant in China, where the MG 7 is currently being built. Automotive News reports that the supplier might be Fiat or VM Motori.

VM Motori is a turbodiesel specialist of sorts, and it’s turbodiesels have found it’s way into many vehicles, including Cadillacs, and even the recently launched Weststar series of rebadged LDV Maxus vans use VM Motori turbodiesels.

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BMW’s sales and marketing chief Michael Ganal says BMW wants to increase cooperation with rival Mercedes-Benz, as it would allow both carmakers entrepreneurial freedom. Both companies are dependant on cutting edge automotive technology, and could do with each other’s help which ultimately would reduce costs.

BMW and Mercedes-Benz are already working together with GM on hybrid-related technologies, which include a special compact motor which can be integrated into rear-wheel drive configurations. This hybrid system is expected to debut on a future hybrid 7-Series, and the upcoming S-Class Bluetec-Hybrid.

There is also another technology partnership which BMW is involved in - it’s MINI’s engines are a joint effort by BMW and PSA Peugeot Citroen, and the same MINI Cooper and Cooper S engines in various tune levels are also used in Peugeot cars.

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Remember the Caparo T1 I posted about last month? It’s commonly tauted as the closest thing one can get to an F1 car for the roadcar, and it’s T1 moniker is apt indeed. This production variant undergoing track tests is powered by a 3.5 liter V8 engine, revving all the way up to nearly F1-like speeds of 10,500rpm. Video after jump.

Related Posts:
Caparo T1 - an F1 car for the streets

Click here to read the rest of Caparo T1 Video

Mercedes Benz is planning a new supercar, but this time it will not have anything to do with McLaren. A new step-sibling for the McLaren-Mercedes SLR (photo above) will be built by HWA AG, a spin-off of Mercedes Benz’s AMG performance arm.

The new car will compete with Audi’s R8 as well as BMW’s upcoming competitor for the R8. It will be powered by an existing 6.2 liter V8 from AMG’s stables, and will carry the Mercedes AMG badge.

HWA AG is mainly a race and sports car manufacturer for now, and it’s race-built cars, naturally based on Mercedes Benz models, have been particularly successful in the DTM (Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters, or German Touring Car Championship).

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