The Honda Civic is now available in Tafetta White, making it the third model in the Honda Malaysia line-up to offer the new colour. Both the 1.8 liter and 2.0 liter models will get the new colour. Tafetta White Civics are expected to be quite high in demand, accounting for 30% of projected 600 units sales per month.

“After conducting research and analyzing customer feedback, coupled with the positive response from the introduction of the colour for Honda Accord and Honda CR-V, we decided to incorporate the Taffeta White in the Honda Civic 1.8L and 2.0L as well,” said Honda Malaysia’s new CEO Toru Takahashi.

Mr Takahashi also revealed that the two CBU Civic models – the Honda Civic Hybrid and the Honda Civic Type R – have surpassed over 200 units each in Malaysia. The Type R is currently sold out for the moment and it’s not known when the next batch will come in. The last unit was sold by Honda Global Amity in Seri Kembangan.

Naza will be holding its Naza Cars and Bikes Carnival this weekend from the 23rd to 25th of October 2009 10am to 7pm at the Naza Automall by the Federal Highway in PJ. The event is open to public and there will be some good deals on Naza Automall cars during the carnival, other than the usual carnival fare of food and drinks.

Part of the deals include 100% financing for Naza Bikes, special financing package for Ducati and Japanese CBU bikes, and a 90% financing package for Harley-Davidson bikes at attractive interest rates, with immediate approval for financing.

The carnival is held in conjunction with the Malaysian MotoGP 2009 and Harley Davidson of Kuala Lumpur’s first anniversary celebrations. In conjunction with the MotoGP, a convoy of between 500 and 600 bikes of Ducati, Harley-Davidson and Naza bikes will be riding from the Naza Automall SIC on Sunday for the race. The convoy is open to all motorcycles, not just the mentioned brands. The convoy is expected to leave at 9.30am.

Other than the good deals on cars and bikes, there will be a number of interesting exhibits there that you might be interested in – the new Ducati Streetfighter, the new Porsche Panamera, and the new C207 Mercedes-Benz E-Class Coupe.

The E-Class Coupe replaces the CLK in the Mercedes-Benz range so if you want to get a glimpse of the new coupe even before Mercedes-Benz Malaysia officially launches even the sedan body – this is your chance. Basically since Naza deals with all kinds of cars and brands, you can even consider this a “PJ Motorshow”. A charity activity has also been lined-up, with part of the proceeds going to several charities and children’s homes.

Click here to read the rest of Naza Cars and Bikes Carnival this weekend

The business of selling cars is not so much of just selling cars but also by selling the parts required to maintain or enhance them. The aftermarket business is a lucrative one and more and more car manufacturers are starting to cash in. As more people start to keep their cars longer, the money lost in new car sales will be made up in the aftermarket parts sales. But aftermarket performance parts can only go so far with a product range that’s mostly focused on cars that are designed to go A to B while consuming the least amount of fuel as possible. There’s just not much excitement in it.

Which is what I think the production car based on the Toyota FT-86 Concept is designed to do – make some money off you once when you buy the car, and then continue to make money while you pimp up your car with various performance and aesthetics parts, which Toyota probably hopes you’ll buy from them or one of their associate companies. A normally aspirated 2.0 liter engine – boxer or not – will only go so far when it comes to the amount of power it can put out while remaining refined. There will surely be many that will be looking for turbocharger or supercharger kits for the engine.

In addition, when the FT-86 Concept was first announced, they specifically said it had Advics brakes. It was just announced earlier this month that Toyota-owned Advics was acquiring two brake units from Aisin to expand its brake businesses. I have a feeling Advics may be looking to build upon its brand name as one provider of high-performance brakes like Brembo.

Related Posts:
Toyota FT-86 Concept – AE86 spiritual successor finally previewed!
VIDEO: Toyota FT-86 Concept in Gran Turismo
Toyota FT-86 to feature D-4S Boxer Engine

I have for your viewing pleasure a total of six videos on the new Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG. The new AMG-only sportscar is powered by a 6.2 liter V8 putting out 571 PS at 6,800rpm and 792Nm of torque at 4,750rpm. The engine is similiar to the bread and butter normally aspirated 6.2 liter V8 AMG engine designated M156, but in the SLS AMG it is called the M159 and has a few changes including a new intake system, revised valves and cams, and a dry sump instead of a wet sump. It’s a modern take on the 300SL Gullwing, but still retains its old school looks in a nice blend of retro-futurism.

Watch the videos after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of 6 videos on the new Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG!

Nikkei reports that Toyota and Daihatsu are working on a new small car that can be sold for less than US$11,000 (RM37,268) in emerging economies like India and Brazil. I’m really not sure what the big fuss is considering we have the baseline Perodua Viva BX sold here for RM25,300, but perhaps this new car will be something bigger yet cheaper. The cheapest Perodua Myvi here is the 1.0 liter SR at RM38,924.10.

This new car will be designed for developing country export markets. Right now, Toyota’s Daihatsu-sourced compact cars have been mostly export versions of its Japanese market cars with more Westernised names. For example, the Japanese market Daihatsu Coo is called the Materia in some other markets.

Toyota’s new president Akio Toyoda’s vision is for Toyota to start tailor-making products for individual regions rather than just offering the same vehicle line-up across the world market. This goes the other direction compared to the World Car projects that other automakers are embarking on. GM’s American Cobalt and Korean Optra are basically in the same segment and have been replaced by a single model – the Cruze.

But if Toyota can tailor-make different products for cheap, they may do better in terms of sales. I have a feeling making small cars for developing countries and selling them at the same price as their existing Japan market small cars have more to do with boosting profit margins rather than anything else, as customers in those regions do not really expect the kind of refinement that JDM customers do.

Source

Volkswagen E-Up! Concept – an EV based on the Up! NSF platform

A small storm is brewing within the Volkswagen group, not something we can see on the outside, but enough that a very important car has its launch delayed by a few months. Volkswagen group production head Joachem Heizmann told German publication Automobilwoche that the Volkswagen Up will only start production after March 2011, which is later than his boss Martin Winterkorn had hoped.

The reason? Time-consuming petty jealousies between various departments and brands. Right now, Volkswagen group brands that are confirmed to be selling a version of Volkswagen Up! are the Volkswagen brand and the more value-oriented Skoda brand. These two brands are represented in Malaysia respectively by the principal themselves (VW Malaysia), and a unit of the Berjaya Group (Skoda – Quasar Carriage).

While the Up! is expected to satisfy the market of consumers that are looking for smaller and more fuel efficient transportation, bear in mind that when such cars come to Malaysia, unless things change with the policies and taxation system here it may not necessarily gel with the whole affordable transportation anymore.

Countries that are designated as “developing countries” such as ours are usually offered special models low-cost models – just look at what is sold in South America and Eastern Europe and you will get an idea.

Source

According to a recent report by Malaysian news agency Bernama, Lotus F1 has shortlisted six drivers where two will be officially announced sometime next month. Team principal Tony Fernandes further revealed that Malaysian Fairuz Fauzy is one of them.

“What I can say is, Fairuz Fauzy is on the list. We will announce the line-up in November. I hope the Malaysian driver will be selected as either the second driver or third driver for the team,” Fernandes said.

Jarno Trulli who is racing for Toyota is also rumored to be selected, although when asked about the Italian, the man behind AirAsia remained tight-lipped. There is a high possibility that the Malaysian-owned team will select a fresh face like Fauzy and a more experienced Formula 1 driver. Looks like we have got wait for the official announcement!

Source

Brit Jenson Button from Brawn GP picked up his first Driver’s Championship earlier today in Brazil. 29-year old Button arrived at Interlagos with a comfortable lead but if he failed to score a single point in the two remaining races (Brazil and Abu Dhabi) the crown could go to his team mate Rubens Barrichello or Sebastian Vettel from Red Bull.

With his fifth place finish at the Brazilian Grand Prix, the Brit sealed the championship. Even if the Button fails to finish the season-ending race in Abu Dhabi he will still walk away as the 2009 Champion. During yesterday’s qualifying Button only managed 14th place. His team mate who was also contending for the title grabbed pole position. Vettel on the other hand started the race right behind Button following Vitantonio Liuzzi’s 5-place grid penalty.

As the race progressed the three championship rivals managed to have a clean race despite what happened around them. On the first lap itself two major incidents took place. Heikki Kovalainen (McLaren) spun his car at Turn 2 and nearly collected Giancarlo Fisichella (Ferrari). A couple of corners later Jarno Trulli (Toyota) put a wheel on the grass and spun into Adrian Sutil (Force India). The latter also took Fernando Alonso (Renault) out of the race. Both Trulli and and Sutil were seen arguing after the incident.

Kovalainen made a pit stop for repairs and a re-fuel. Unfortunately the Finn drove off with the fuel rig intact. Fuel was then sprayed on Kimi Raikkonen’s Ferrari which came in for a new front wing. A dramatic fireball developed at the back of the Ferrari. Raikkonen nearly ended his race and was complaining about burning eyes (sensation felt after getting in contact with petrol) even after the race.

After 71 laps, Mark Webber from Red Bull emerged victorious. BMW’s Robert Kubica and McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton joined the podium as well. Vettel managed fourth place while Button settled with fifth. Rubens Barrichello who started from pole only managed to finish in eight place following a puncture that forced the Brazilian to pit with just a couple of laps remaining.

Along with the Driver’s Championship, Button’s British-based Brawn GP team that took over operations from Honda at the beginning of year also secured the Constructor’s Championship. The Formula 1 circus now heads to the United Arab Emirates for the season finale on November 1st.

Goodyear’s Duraplus giveaway which was held before the Raya holidays this year had received tremendous response from blog readers. In fact, there were so many entries that Goodyear had felt deserving that they decided to increase the prizes from one set of tyres to four sets.

Now Goodyear has decided to open up the giveaway again. Here is how you can win one out of four sets of Goodyear Duraplus tyres that are to be given away:

1. Snap photos of your current tyres to show that you need a change of new tyres.
2. Give your best reason to change to a set of Goodyear Duraplus tyres!

Send me the photos, your required tyre size and reason to my email at paul@paultan.org. Send your entries in by the 18th of November 2009. Goodyear will pick the winners. You can have a look at the previous round of winners to have an idea of what kind of entries are likely to be picked. Here’s a table of all available sizes as well as their recommended retail price per tyre:

Related Posts:
Goodyear Duraplus lasts up to 100,000km?

It’s official – no matter whether you’ve been calling it the Kia VG or the Kia KND-5 Concept, you’ll now have a new and official to refer to it by – the Kia Cadenza. But Kia noted that the name Cadenza would be one used outside of Korea. In Korea it might be called the K7.

The name Cadenza was derived from an Italian musical term used to describe an elaborate, ornamental flourish for a concerto or aria. In line with its upmarket sedan status, there will be a number of creature comforts introduced in the Cadenza that are not common in a Kia – heated steering wheel, powered extendable seat cushions (for thigh support), windshield automatic defogging, and ventilated front seats.

The Kia Cadenza production car will make public debuts at the Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Dubai international motorshows towards the end of 2009. Look after the jump for an initial set of 4 hi-res images released officially by Kia.

Click here to read the rest of Kia Cadenza – the official name for the VG sedan