Looks like even though a draft response had been written, Proton will not be doing any additional explanation regarding the sale of MV Agusta to Gevi SpA to the public as requested by the joint letter by Tun Dr. M and Tengku Mahaleel.

Proton says all the necessary details had already been provided in it’s announcement to Bursa Malaysia, therefore Proton will not be making any additional statements on the matter despite the request by the TM duo.

Looks like there will not be any additional drama for the time being until the next salvo is shot by the TM duo.

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Abt Sportsline GmbH is a German tuning house which tunes cars mainly from the Volkswagen Group – Volkswagen, Audi, Skoda, Lamborghini and Seat. This is their latest rendition of the Volkswagen Golf GTI. Let’s have a look at the Abt Sportsline Volkswagen Golf GTI VS4-R.

Click here to read the rest of Abt Volkswagen Golf GTI VS4-R

Proton’s management has prepared a draft response to the joint letter by Tengku Tan Sri Mahaleel Ariff (ex-CEO of Proton) and Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamed questioning the rationale of the sale of Proton’s 57.75% stake in MV Agusta for 1 Euro (RM4.50).

The response has been forwarded to the board for approval, but Proton head of group corporate communications Yusri Yusuf did not say if Proton would issue the statement today.

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This is a pretty cool Modulo bodykit concept for the Honda Civic Hybrid. I’m falling in love with the 2006 Honda Civic more and more. Probably because it’s such a big improvement over the previous generation Civic with the strange back lights. The EK and EG were real sexy too. But let’s not talk about that. Let’s have a look at this Civic Hybrid Modulo Concept

Click here to read the rest of Honda Civic Hybrid Modulo Concept

This press release was forwarded to me not too long ago. It’s a joint release letter by Tun Dr. M and Tengku Mahaleel on the matter of Proton’s sale of MV Agusta.

Among questions asked are who made the decision to sell MV Agusta, and why was an entity bought at a price of 70 million Euros sold at such a low price of 1 Euro, when even though MV Agusta was making a loss, the 3 brands it carried (M.V. Agusta, Cagiva and Husqvarna) held a high value.

You should find this interesting.

Click here to read the rest of Joint letter by Tun Dr. M and Tengku Mahaleel

Supposedly in the filming of the blockbuster movie King Kong, Volkswagen Touaregs were used to ferry around the film crew. In commemoration of this, Volkswagen has released a limited run of vehicles called the Volkswagen Touareg Kong.

Click here to read the rest of Volkswagen Touareg Kong

I’d like to wish all my readers a happy new year. 2005 has been an interesting year for the automotive industry. Pretty exciting. We had new launches from both our largest national car manufacturers, the Perodua Myvi and the Proton Savvy. We had the controversial AP Saga involving Rafidah Aziz, Tun Dr. M and the AP Kings. A new National Automotive Policy. We saw Proton undergo a major management change, and the possibility of a take-over by Volkswagen AG.

Let’s hope 2006 will bring us more exciting developments. I’m sure everyone is eagerly awaiting the new Proton Satria Replacement Model. Sightings of a K-car being test driven which might be a Perodua have also been spotted, though these are all just speculations.

Petrol prices have gone up multiple times this year and currently stands at 1.62 a liter for RON97. There are speculations of another hike REAL soon, so be sure to adjust your finances in preparation for it.

As for imported makes, I think a replacement for the current Honda Civic is also due very soon since if I recall correctly, they’ve stopped production of the older 1.7 VTEC and 2.0 i-VTEC models to clear out the stock. No immediate indications of an update for the Altis or Camry yet. The Accord has been facelifted in Japan and the US but not in Malaysia, fine by me as I don’t like the new facelift anyway. The Sentra has been facelifted again. Nissan has to do alot better than this for their sedans. They seem to be focusing on the X-Trail and the Frontier for the moment. They still don’t have a proper competitor for the City and the Vios. Both the City and Vios have been facelifted in 2005.

Happy trails and enjoy 2005’s last night, wherever you may be spending it. I’m likely going to spend it at home. Already partied enough last night at the Malaysian Press Club’s pre-New Year party. Remember, don’t drink and drive. I’ve had my fair share of that experience.

Mail Money reports that sources have indicated petrol diesel prices might be raised as much as 20 sen and 10 sen a liter respectively next month, which is only 1 day away!

Currently RON97 petrol goes for about RM1.62 a litre, so after the increase it should be about RM1.82 a litre. My Satria’s (RIP -_-”) full tank should cost about RM81.90 to fill up if the price increases.

The increase if put into effect would save the government RM1 billion in subsidies.

Volkswagen and Proton tie-up talks have made some progress, after a meeting between Proton Holdings Bhd and Volkswagen AG in Bangkok recently.

Apparently Volkswagen has dropped it’s insistence to have a controlling stake in Proton, and details of the proposed partnership has been revised. The issue of the controlling stake has been a main stumbling block in the talks so far. But Proton officials has not confirmed this matter.

Bernama also reports Proton is exploring multi-party strategy involving relationships with General Motors and Mitsubishi.

In other news, Proton shares went up 15 sen to RM6.30 after the announcement of it’s MV Agusta share disposal. Mayban Research has set a target price and fair value of RM7 for Proton shares. Shares should go up again after this tie-up progress announcement.

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Proton Holdings has sold it’s 57.57 percent stake in MV Agusta Spa to an Italian company Gevi Spa. Gevi Spa will assume MV Agusta’s debts and working capital requirements totalling 139.44 million euros, as announced today to Bursa Malaysia by Proton Holdings as part of it’s non-core asset divesting exercise.

Interesting to note that Proton originally acquired MV Agusta Spa last year on July 7 2004 for 70 million Euro, and finally sold it for a token sum of 1 Euro (RM4.48).

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