The government has opened a Request for Proposal to all quarters for suggestions on how to implement a more suitable diesel subsidy scheme that is more effective in preventing abuse and wastage, according to Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Datuk Shahrir Abdul Samad.

The government will then announce the new subsidy plan in about 6 weeks time, with implementation to take effect in 6 months time. It seems that if the newly implemented diesel subsidy plan is found to work well, a similiar one will be cooked up for petrol subsidies as well, so both users of petrol and diesel vehicles should brace for some big changes in the next few months up to the next 2 years.

Any good ideas?

Related Posts:
Diesel at pump may have subsidy removed!
Proposal for new fuel structure: subsidised RON95 and unsubsidised RON99

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There are some updates on the compulsory rear safety belt issue that came up sometime earlier this month. Rear seat passengers will have to buckle up from June 2008 onwards, but it will begin with a three-month adjustment period with only warnings issued by the police instead of summons. Summons will start being issued for offenders of this new ruling in August onwards (3 months later).

This ruling only applies to cars manufactured from January 1995 onwards. Older cars such as my 1992 Ford Telstar will not be affected by this rule. A problem would be my Proton Perdana, which I bought second hand with the rear seatbelts intact but the buckles are somehow missing. I will have to get them fitted again somehow.

The Perodua Kenari and Perodua Kancil models made between 1998 and 2004 are also exempted from the ruling. These cars not only do not have rear seat belts, they do not have anchorage points for rear seat belts to be retrofitted.

According to Road Safety Department director-general Datuk Suret Singh, Perodua models between 1995 to 1998 and 2004 to 2005 did have anchorage points, but no seat belts. Datuk Suret says the department has proposed to Perodua for these cars to have their rear seatbelts fitted for free, but it is up to the Perodua management for a positive response to the proposal. Owners of these cars will have until 2011 (3 years) to have them retrofitted.

Source 1, Source 2

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We may soon see the death of the trend of private registration consumer diesel cars and trucks in Malaysia! This is because if everything goes as intended, diesel at the pump will soon be unsubsidised, with the government looking at alternative ways to deliver subsidies to those that they deem needy. Diesel at the petrol pump is now RM1.581 per liter. With the subsidies taken off, it is expected to cost more than RM2 per liter. This may kill the sales of popular lifestyle trucks which are driven by consumer purchases, while the business workhorses will probably not be affected as much.

At this point it is not clear which exactly parties the government will continue to subsidise, but according to Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Datuk Shahrir Samad it would include school buses, the transport sector like buses and taxis, and other economic activities which the government deems require diesel subsidy.

“We are looking at various ways to restructure the mechanism in providing the diesel subsidy as our first area of focus on subsidies. We will look at how to raise the price of diesel at the pumps to a non-subsidised price, and the subsidy to reach the target group instead. If the price is raised at the pumps, then there will be no smuggling of the commodity or abuse of the diesel subsidy,” said Datuk Shahrir.

A salaryman who bought a 2.5 liter turbodiesel pickup truck in efforts to save on his monthly fuel bill by trying to make up for the more expensive road tax with the monthly savings in fuel expenditure could end up being on the losing end in this deal. Together with the recently reported bad crash test results with pick-up trucks in general, we may see the popularity of pickups diminish significantly.

But with the ability of diesel engines to usually extract more kilometers out of each liter of fuel, it may continue to be popular, just not as wallet-friendly as before. We will just have to wait and see what the market price is if this proposed plan is put in place.

Source, Source 2

Proton Holdings Berhad and Edaran Otomobil Nasional Berhad is said to be in talks for a merger between EON and Proton’s own Proton Edar distribution arm.

This would create a single Proton distributor, which would reduce competition for Proton car sales as there would not be any competition between Edar and EON anymore.

EON does not just sell Proton cars in Malaysia. It also owns 48% of Mitsubishi Motors Malaysia Sdn Bhd, and sells Mitsubishi cars as well. EON subsidiaries also sell Volkswagen and Audi cars.

Late last month, there was a proposed voluntary withdrawal of EON from the Bursa Malaysia main board. HICOM Holdings Berhad which held 79.05% of EON at that time made a general offer to acquire the approximately 52 million shares it did not own at RM2.10 each. Delisting is expected to be completed by Q3 2008.

Source

UPDATE: Perodua Nautica 4WD – Click the link for launch images and specifications of the Perodua Nautica 4WD!

Perodua has officially unveiled the name of the new Perodua SUV: the Perodua Nautica 4WD. Shown above is Theophilus Chin’s artist impression of the little SUV which is based on the short wheelbase Daihatsu Terios. The long wheelbase version is also on sale in our local market in the form of the Toyota Rush.

The new Perodua Nautica 4WD will be a CBU import from Japan with Perodua badging and styling, though since the car will be a low volume unit there should not be any major changes with the design other than a minor grille change, as it would not be cost effective to do any major restyling with so little units expected to be sold.

Bookings are open from May 10th 2008 onwards. Also released are some official minor specs on the car – a 1.5 liter DVVT engine (likely the 3SZ-VE in the Avanza and Rush) and a 4WD drivetrain, unlike the Toyota Rush’s 2WD drivetrain. It comes in automatic transmission only and has two colour variant – Medallion Grey or Majestic Black.

Perodua will definitely get some flack for bringing in a fully imported CBU unit instead of doing the normal “national car manufacturer” thing and making it here.

Related Posts:
Covered up Perodua Nautica 4WD spotted being transported on trailers
New Perodua MPV coming in September 2009

Honda’s joint venture company in China Guangzhou Honda Automobile Co., Ltd. has announced a new car brand called Li Nian, which is positioned much alike to what Toyota is doing with its Scion brand in the United States. A rough translation or meaning to Li Nian is “idea”, according to Guangzhou Honda.

The company displayed the Li Nian Concept at the 2008 Beijing International Automobile Exhibition, which is set to be one of the Li Nian brand’s first cars. The Li Nian Concept is a compact SUV-like vehicle based on the Honda Jazz / Honda Fit platform.

Unlike the Jazz/Fit’s L-series engines, the Li Nian Concept is powered by a 1.8 liter engine, most likely the R18A1 SOHC i-VTEC engine. It’s styling is decidedly European, with obvious cues taken from the Volkswagen iroc Concept and Ford’s new Kinetic design Fiesta and Kuga SUV.

Li Nian’s first production car will be based on this concept design, and will make its debut in 2010. The Li Nian Concept was designed entirely by Guangzhou Honda Automobile R&D, and while Honda Japan will support the company, most R&D, marketing and sales efforts will be initiated by the Chinese company.

Source

The Porsche Cayenne Turbo S has been revived for this new facelifted model and puts out 550 horsepower from its 4.8 liter twin turbocharged V8 gasoline engine, compared to the 520 horsepower of the pre-facelift Turbo S and the 450 horsepower of the regular Cayenne Turbo. Torque is up to 750Nm now, and the speedometer needle passes the 100km/h mark in 4.8 seconds.

Other unique Turbo S equipment include 21 inch SportPlus alloy wheels, and an exclusive “lava gray metallic” paint. Also, Porsche is offering for the first time ceramic composite brakes on the Cayenne model.

This could prompt the appearance of a new Mercedes-Benz ML65 AMG soon. The ML SUV range is currently topped by the ML63 AMG, powered by a normally aspirated 6.2 liter V8. Like other ?65 AMG models, the ML65 AMG will be powered by a twin turbocharged 6.0 liter SOHC V12 with 612 horsepower and 1000Nm of torque.

Continue reading to view more photos of the Cayenne Turbo S.

Click here to read the rest of Porsche launches Porsche Cayenne Turbo S

Click to enlarge

For owners and soon to be owners of the recently launched 2008 Honda Accord who want to customise their car, Honda Malaysia Sdn Bhd has a few Modulo accessories for owners to pick from. Continue reading this post after the jump for a list of Honda Modulo accessories for the 2008 Honda Accord.

Click here to read the rest of 2008 Honda Accord Modulo Bodykit and Accessories

Click to enlarge

Honda has unveiled the new Honda Accord here in Malaysia, the 8th in its generation, and it is the biggest Honda Accord ever. Like its previous model it is available in 3 variants at launch, with 2 locally assembled 2.0 liter and 2.4 liter variants, and a Thai-imported 3.5 liter V6 model.

Read more about the new Honda Accord after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of 8th Generation 2008 Honda Accord launched!

Chery Alado Holdings Sdn Bhd will assemble 5,000 Chery vehicles at Oriental Assembler Sdn Bhd’s assembly plant in Johor in the next 12 months beginning July 2008, with 60% intended for ASEAN export and the remainder for the local market. Chery Alado Holdings Sdn Bhd is a 50:50 joint venture between Alado Corp Sdn Bhd and China’s Chery Automobile Co Ltd.

Chery intends to make Malaysia its right hand drive production hub for the ASEAN market, and this first stage investment includes a total amount of US$12 million (RM38.5 million). According to Alado president Tan Sri Cam Soh Thiam Hong, the second phase is for export to Commonwealth countries and European right hand drive countries.

Oriental Assemblers Sdn Bhd also assembles CKD Hyundai vehicles in Malaysia. Chery vehicles to be assembled are 2 variants of the Chery B14 MPV (B200 2.0 liter and B240 2.4 liter), as well as the 2.0 liter Chery Tiggo T11 SUV (shown above). The Chery B240 and Chery Tiggo launched in Malaysia last year priced at RM132,972.20 and RM80,292 respectively are CBU units, so the new CKD units will most probably be cheaper.

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Chery T11 Tiggo SUV on sale in Malaysia

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