Volkswagen Canada has canceled it’s introductory campaign for the Volkswagen Eos? Now why would they do that… well, simply because it did not make sense anymore to go ahead with it!

See, even before any form of advertising was put up, the Volkswagen Eos had begun to disappear from dealer lots around the country, based on pure word of mouth alone. All of the year’s stock had nearly sold out.

But still, in my opinion if you have the budget for it, the ad campaign could serve to further build the Volkswagen brand in the country instead of just selling the car.

Source

Apparently, we will not be able to fill up at petrol stations anytime after 10pm anymore, thanks to a decision by the Petrol Dealers Association of Malaysia to go ahead with the new closing time with or without the approval of the government.

Yesterday, Association president Alang Zari Ishak said petrol stations along the highways would still remain open 24 hours, but in a report by The Star on page N3 today, acting president Major (Rtd) Wahid Bidin says the decision would also affect petrol stations along the highways.

The petrol dealers cited problems such as armed robberies, increased security costs, higher wages for workers, low night sales, soaring rentals and higher electricity tariffs as reasons for the decision. Average collection after 10pm was only about RM1,000 per station, thus it was not profitable to keep the station open as the margins earned from the RM1,000 during the night did not justify the salary and electricity costs.

They also want customers to bear the 1% commission that is payable to the banks with credit card transactions.

The new opening hours for the petrol stations is proposed to be 7am to 10pm, and the decision is likely to go into effect in 2 months time. I hope they decide not to go ahead with it in this two month’s time, or the government does something to stop them.

BTW, if you are wondering why the association had a president yesterday and today suddenly it’s spokesperson is an acting president, what happened was ex-president Alang Zari Ishak was voted out by 51 out of 65 members for allegedly failing to champion the association’s interests.

Source 1, Source 2, Source 3

Honda Malaysia Sdn Bhd has put up teaser newspaper ads (see scans above) advertising the Honda Civic Type R and the Honda Civic Hybrid today, and the teaser ads state an August 2nd 2007 launching date - that’s tomorrow!

Many have interpreted the Honda Civic Concept Mugen as a teaser to the official introduction of the new Civic Type R sedan here in Malaysia, and it looks like our suspicions have come true! Another manufacturer-backed higher performance model here in Malaysia.

We will probably be able to get more information on the car tomorrow, but for the moment if you want a recap on what the Civic Type R is all about, read the following links:

Related Posts:
2007 Honda Civic Type R Sedan Concept
2007 Honda Civic Type R Sedan Details

Above are the results of the J.D. Power Asia Pacific 2007 Malaysia Customer Satisfaction Index (CSI) StudySM published by J.D. Power Asia Pacific.

Congratulations for Edaran Tan Chong Motor for topping the list with a whopping 756 points on a 1,000 point scale, with notable performance in the areas of service quality, service advisor, service initiation, user-friendly service and service delivery factors. In second place is Honda, and for national makes, Perodua is the only national brand to perform above the industry average of 728 with an index score of 735.

Proton is second from the bottom on the list at 713 points, however it is still an improvement over the last year as they are up 36 points from the previous results - one of the greatest improvements in the industry together with Korean brand Kia. On the overall, satisfaction throughout the industry has improved with the industry average going up 19 points compared to last year.

The 2007 Malaysia Customer Satisfaction Index Study is based on evaluations gathered between February and May 2007 from more than 3,000 new-vehicle owners at 12 to 18 months of ownership, and includes those who purchased their vehicles between August 2005 and May 2006.

You will find a pie chart with the factors contributing to overall satisfaction after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of 2007 Malaysia Customer Satisfaction Index Study

Click to enlarge

Not intending to let German rival Audi have all the fun with the Audi TT, this is Peugeot’s latest body variant of the Peugeot 308 called the 308 RC Z Concept Car, which like it’s namesake, is still a concept at the moment.

On the exterior, it is 4276mm long - which is about the same as the hatchback, 1840mm wide - 25mm more than the hatchback, and 1320mm tall. The exterior design is typical trademark feline as expected from Peugeot. On the inside, the fascia panel has been taken directly from the Peugeot 308 hatchback and is trimmed in leather, with stylish usage of chrome, aluminium and black lacquer detailing helping create a sporty, upmarket impression. In the middle of the fascia panel is a Bell&Ross® clock. Such great care has been taken to ensure an upmarket feel - even the bucket seats have polished aluminium eyelet detailing.

Powering the Peugoet 308 RC Z is a 1.6 liter turbocharged inline-4 petrol engine similiar to the one found under the hood of the Peugeot 207 GTi and the MINI Cooper S, but in this stage of tune it puts out 218 horsepower, and torque output has been upped to 280Nm with a 300Nm temporarily overboost function. The engine is mated to a 6-speed manual gearbox. A very decent powertrain for a car that weighs 1,200kg (kerb weight with full tank). For stopping power, there are 4-piston 360mm ventilated discs at the front, hiding behind 19″ split rim alloy wheels wrapped with Michelin Pilot Sport PS2 245/40 R19 tyres.

This relatively low weight is achieved with aluminium components used throughout the car including the front suspension. The rear suspension is a torsion beam setup with an integral anti-roll bar. This has been developed from the hathback but has been modified to take account of the wider vehicle track (59mm wider) and tyres.

More photos after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of Peugeot 308 RC Z Concept Car