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These photos of three of the latest 8th generation 2008 model Honda Accords in Malaysia was snapped by Tony Yew as he was driving along the North South Highway.

The new 2008 Honda Accord will be in showrooms sometime this year to give the Camry a good fight. It will also be joined by the new locally assembled Peugeot 407 in the 2.0 liter range, so the battle for D-segment executive sedan sales should be an interesting one this year. Expect the Accord to be offered with 2.0 liter and 2.4 liter engines, with the latter having its power upped to 177 horses from the current 170.

The new 3.5 liter V6 model may be offered but probably as a halo model only, as exceeding the RM200k price bracket for the top of the line model puts it head to head with luxury C-segment cars and the Volvos.

I’ve driven the 2.4 liter and 3.5 liter V6 versions of the Accord in Japan last year, so visit the related links listed below to find out what my initial impression of the new Accord was. Look after the jump for three more photos.

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Click here to read the rest of New 2008 Honda Accord spotted in Malaysia!

Toyota has unveiled the Toyota Urban Cruiser at the 2008 Geneva Motor Show. The Toyota Urban Cruiser is essentially the Japanese market Toyota ist, which is in turn a restyled version of the American market Scion xD.

So we have the Urban Cruiser for Europe, the ist for Japan and the xD for the USA. Toyota says the Toyota Urban Cruiser was developed to fill up the void that the discontinued three-door version of the Toyota RAV4 left behind.

More angles after the jump.

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Click here to read the rest of New Toyota Urban Cruiser unveiled at Geneva

UPDATE: The new 2008 Toyota Corolla Altis has been launched in Malaysia! - click for more details, specifications, photos and pricing.

UMW Toyota Motor Sdn Bhd has revealed that the new Toyota Corolla Altis will be launched this Friday, the 14th of March 2008. The company did not reveal expected prices or specifications, so we will have to wait until Friday to know.

More after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of New Toyota Corolla Altis due this Friday!

BMW is currently making available a special edition BMW Sauber F1 Team Edition of the BMW 320i, which goes for RM236,800.00 OTR without insurance. The special edition has a unique interior trim which will be personally autographed by BMW Sauber F1 Team drivers Nick Heidfeld and Robert Kubica as well as BMW Motorsport Director Dr. Mario Theissen.

Other goodies packaged with the car include a special edition also includes a BMW iPod interface, 17 inch wheels, and two tickets to the BMW Sauber F1 Team Pit Lounge event on the 19th of March 2008. Heidfeld, Kubica and Dr Theissen will personally autograph the special edition 3-Series cars at this event, so if you’re an owner you’ll be able to see your car autographed in person!

BMW is also currently having a promotion where the 320i and other selected models where you can get financing from BMW Credit & Lease with a 1.58% interest rate, or extend your BMW Service + Repair Inclusive package to 5 years or 100,000km. Customers will also get a 20% discount promotion on all original BMW accessories.

This video shows Chris Bangle speaking on his love of designing cars, as well as “Bangle-bashing” - the criticism of the design cues that he has inserted into the current generation of BMW cars, the most famous being the Bangle Butt.

According to him, it was necessary for product lines to follow a cycle of a revolutionary generation followed by an evolutionary generation followed by another revolutionary generation and so on. The current way BMWs look started with the E65 BMW 7-Series - that was considered a revolution, and the evolution could start with the upcoming production version of the BMW Concept CS.

He also talks about the 2006 Geneva Motor Show where he was accused of being racist when he used the term “Axis of White Power”, and offers his explanation on the matter: apparently he was actually referring to the cars’ paintjobs.

Both videos are viewable after the jump, the interview and the video where he mentioned the Axis of White Power.

Click here to read the rest of VIDEO: Chris Bangle on Bangle-ism

BMW’s new Director of Design Adrian van Hooydonk (he replaces Chris Bangle who has been promoted to BMW Group’s Chief of Design, responsible for MINI and Rolls Royce) talks about the new BMW X6 at the 2008 Geneva Motor Show.

Watch the video after the jump.

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BMW’s Project Manager Thomas Muderlak talks about the new BMW 1-Series Convertible at the 2008 Geneva Motor Show. The 1-Series Convertible is the 4th body type of the new 1-Series, joined by the 5-door, the 3-door, and the coupe.

Watch the video after the jump.

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BMW exhibited the BMW M3 Convertible at the 2008 Geneva Motor Show. Carsten Pries, Head of Product Management, M Automobiles and BMW Individual seemed to dodge around the question by the interviewer on whether the M3 family is now complete, which could indicate something else coming our way.

The M3 family currently consists of the M3 Sedan, the M3 Coupe, and the M3 Convertible, all of which come in either 6-speed manual or 7-speed M DCT dual clutch transmission variants. There could be a station wagon version coming along, since there is an M5 Touring. Anyway, watch the video after the jump.

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BMW’s new EfficientDynamics brand was the most obvious thing they were pushing at the 2008 Geneva Motor Show. This is an interview with Jan-Christiaan Koenders, BMW’s Director of Brand Communication about what EfficientDynamics is and why it is important for BMW. The gist of it is that BMW wants to incorporate little features that can save energy in all of its cars rather than just lump everything into one flagship hybrid. This is evident with the inclusion of start-stop and brake energy regeneration features across the product range. Watch the video after the jump.

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The Proton Persona be on sale in Proton UK dealerships from the end of March 2008 onwards, and it will be called the Proton GEN-2 Persona in the UK market. There is only one variant sold there, which comes with front and rear power windows, a MP3/CD integrated head unit with 4 speakers, dual SRS airbags, and antilock brakes.

The 5-speed manual version goes for £10,795, while the 4-speed automatic goes for £11,595. The GEN2 hatchback goes for exactly £200 more expensive for both the manual and auto models. There is currently a promotion offering £1,000 off the list price for the GEN-2 Persona.

The UK-bound Persona is likely to come with the new 1.6 liter Campro IAFM engine which made its Malaysian debut in the mid-line GEN2 facelift. Word is that the Malaysian market Persona is also available with IAFM now, evident from Proton taking up advertising in major newspapers, but the PR department has not released an official announcement yet, so let’s wait for that as it would be better for us to have confirmed details on exact pricing, and availability.