Paul Tan on the Automotive Industry
Honda has added the new Taffeta White colour that first debuted on the Honda Accord to the 3rd generation Honda CR-V. This will increase the amount of colours offered on the CR-V to 5, with the other 4 being Alabaster Silver Metallic, Crystal Black Pearl, Sparkle Gray Pearl and Polished Metal Metallic.
The new Taffeta White colour is doing quite well on the Accord, accounting for a total of 30% of Accord sales since its launch in mid-July 2009.
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I was just talking with some fellow motoring hacks about the fact that there are only four-door Civic Type Rs in Japan yesterday and today we have this piece of news – the 3-door Civic Type R sold in Europe will soon be sold in Japan next year. The 3-door Civic hatchback with the FN chassis (instead of Japan’s FD Civic 4-door sedan) is built at Honda’s Swindon plant in England and will be exported to Japan from there. It will be called the Honda Civic Type R EURO in Japan. The European FN Civic features a completely different body built on a different chassis that uses a torsion beam at the rear instead of an independent setup. It also uses a different interior design although the general double-decked space ship interior theme is similiar.
Smart Wheels is a microportal that will provide relevant tips and information for potential car buyers that aim to help them to make informed decisions. Smart Wheels will feature a series of stories that will guide you through a car purchase process and what to look out for when you purchase a car. It is an initiative by Honda but remains an independent portal that does not endorse any car brand in specific. It’s been running for a month now, so here’s a recap on what’s been published on the microsite.
Online Articles
Print Articles from various publications
The Honda Accord Showcase starts today at Highstreet One Utama PJ until the 2nd of August 2009. It will then be held at the Queensbay Mall Penang concourse on the 21st to 23rd August 2009 and then the next and final stop will be JB’s Sutera Mall on the 2nd of October 2009 to the 4th of October 2009.
The new Accord 2.0 VTi-L will be on display in Taffeta White along with a photography exhibition of the Accord. The exhibition combines the Accord and various successful Malaysian personas. A commemorative book with the best photographs of the Accord, the personas and their success stories will be launched there.
Definitely interesting for those who are into vehicle photography.
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They really should make more amusing ads like this. Check out this Volkswagen Touran TV commercial after the jump. They’re promoting the car’s Park Assist system, which by the way is available locally on the Volkswagen Tiguan. The dude in the video can’t dance though but he kinda looks like Schumacher. The Touran is a Golf-based MPV that isn’t available in Malaysia, though there were a number of pre-owned ones (CrossTouran) sold off by Volkswagen Malaysia recently. Volkswagen recently announced that they will start assembly of the Touran in Indonesia.
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Honda’s Malacca plant shipped off its 2 millionth Constant Velocity Joint this month. The plant is also the largest CV joint exporter in the region. A CV joint is also known as a driveshaft and it is what transfers the power from the gearbox to the wheels of a car. The Malacca plant started making CV joints for the City and the CR-V back in 2002. Subsequently this was expanded to include the Jazz, the Accord, the Civic and even the new Honda Freed MPV, which is currently being assembled in Indonesia. Other than Indonesia, our CV joints are also exported to the UK, Turkey, Pakistan, India, Vietnam and Philippines.
Here’s more info on the Connex Stolen Vehicle Recovery system that is currently an option with the Accord.
The system is actually by the Cobra vehicle security company, and is pretty reknown. For example, the Italian company’s Connex systems are being used by alot of companies such as Audi France where they use Connex as the standard alarm and recovery solution for the Q7, A8, S, RS and V8-engined cars.
When you buy the package from Honda at RM3,660 inclusive of installation, first year annual service fee (RM360) and a compensation guarantee (optional and worth RM140), it will be installed at the Honda dealer. This package is currently for Peninsular Malaysia cars only, and comes with a 3 year warranty.
Now what is the compensation guarantee? Basically if your car is recovered within 72 hours of theft management notification, you get cash of up to RM5,000 and bills of up to RM5,000. This covers bills for repair and replacement of damaged parts.
If the stolen vehicle is not recovered within 72 hours, you get a cash compensation of RM15,000 and a RM15,000 subsidy at Honda dealers for a new car if the car is not recovered at all. If recovered after 72 hours, you get a RM5,000 compensation for repair and replacement of parts related to the theft.
The system operates based on GPS to track the vehicle location and a GSM-based communication device that runs on the cellular networks to communicate with the Cobra Connex operation center. The annual fee of RM360 (first year free) covers the GSM device charges, you will not have to pay any extra cash to maintain the Connex system’s GSM SIM card.
Those who have always wanted an Accord with more equipment but didn’t want to splurge for a 2.4 litre version can now opt for the new Honda Accord 2.0 VTi-L, which adds a leather interior, cruise control, a fully electrically-adjustable 8-way driver’s seat with power lumbar support, leather door lining and door mirrors with turn signals.
Honda expects 40% of Accord buyers to opt for the new Accord 2.0 VTi-L, which means it will account for about 200 units a month. The new 2.0 VTi-L will be priced at RM149,800 OTR with insurance. That’s a RM8k premium over the regular 2.0 VTi, but it is much cheaper than the 2.4 litre model which goes for RM171,800.
Another change to the Accord line-up is the addition of a nice new colour called Taffeta White. When this edition of the Accord was first unveiled in 2007 as an American model, the press photography for the sedan was presented in white and it looked pretty good, so it was a little disappointing that when the Accord was launched in Malaysia in April last year there was no white.
Honda is also offering a new optional accessory called the Connex’ Stolen Vehicle Recovery (SVR) system, which will go for RM3,660 inclusive of installation. It is a GPS and GSM based security system which can communicate the car’s GPS coordinates to a central operating center via the mobile network. The system comes with free first year service fee and a compensation guarantee.
In conjunction with the new Accord launch, Honda is also doing something quite interesting. It will be holding a photography presentation called “The Perfectionist – Presented Exclusively by Accord” for 5 days at the One Utama Shopping Center beginning the 29th of July 2009, and later at venues in JB and Penang. The exhibition combines the Accord and various successful Malaysian personas. A commemorative book with the best photographs of the Accord, the personas and their success stories will be launched there. It should be very interesting for those who are into vehicle photography.
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Honda has announced that the Honda CR-Z hybrid sports car will go on sale in February 2010 and the Honda Fit Hybrid will go on sale before the end of 2010. Both cars will use Honda’s current Integrated Motor Assist system which currently combines a 1.3 litre engine with an electric motor.
They’ve also revealed that a new hybrid system for mid to large vehicles is also under development. This is definitely important especially for the Acura brand, as its competitors have line-ups full of hybrids now, and Lexus even has a dedicated hybrid model called the HS250h.
The last hybrid system with a large engine that Honda had was found in the previous generation Honda Accord in the US. It combined a 14kW brushless electric motor and a 3.0 litre V6 with Variable Cylinder Management that allowed it to run on 3 cylinders out of 6. Like the smaller IMA system, it was a parallel hybrid system which means it could not run on electric motor only.
The Honda FR-V (or Honda Edix as it is also sometimes known by) will cease production by August, ending a typical 5 year Japanese model run. It will not be replaced as Honda says other models are able to serve its customer base well, but the FR-V is really quite unique in the Honda range.
It’s a 3+3 seater (likely inspired by the Fiat Multipla), which means two rows but the ability to seat 6 as you can fit three in the front thanks to a seat in the middle. This seat can also be folded down to create a tray or arm rest. There are 32 different seating combinations, three ISOFIX points, lots of storage areas, so it makes quite a nice family vehicle.
In Malaysia, there are alot of people who buy the FR-V and pimp it up like it was a larger Honda Jazz. Looking rather sporty to begin with, it’s a good base for aesthetic mods.
