Archive for International News

The second wave of Toyota’s problems – this time focused on the Prius – began when Steve Wozniak claimed his 2010 Toyota Prius could unintentionally accelerate to about 97mph (156km/h) whenever he uses cruise control to increase his speed. He claims that he knows exactly what to do to duplicate the problem and can do it anytime.

And since in cruise control you don’t touch the pedal, it seems doubtful that it is a pedal issue. But thankfully for Steve, braking to cancel the cruise control system continues to work so it’s easy to stop. Toyota has offered to take Wozniak’s car in for a week to diagnose the problem.

Soon after that, it was reported that over 100 Prius drivers in the US and Japan have reported problems with brakes on the model. The numbers come to about 100 in US and 14 in Japan. The brakes on the Prius is a rather complicated thing – the car has to manage between actual braking using the disc brakes and braking with brake energy regeneration used to charge the batteries. 3 drivers even claim that brake issues have resulted in crashes.

The response to the Prius issues have been far quicker than the accelerator pedal issue. Toyota has announced a recall and pinpointed a problem in the software that controls the ABS system in the Prius. Apparently reprogramming the ABS system will solve the problem. But there still hasn’t been anything so far about the cruise control issue that Steve Wozniak brought up.

UMW Toyota Motor just announced yesterday that it will be calling in the Prius to perform the necessary corrective measures. There are currently 60 of the affected third generation Toyota Prius in Malaysia right now roaming our roads. UMW Toyota Motor president Kuah Kock Heng says UMW Toyota technicians are currently undergoing training on how to carry out the necessary corrective measures, and they will contact Prius owners beginning this Friday – the 12th of February.

He also added that undelivered new units of the Toyota Prius will also roll out of the showrooms with the fix already applied. Look after the jump for UMW Toyota’s press release republished in verbatim.

Click here to read the rest of UMW Toyota to fix Prius ABS software issue

It looks like GM is not the only company that has decided that for mainstream electric cars to be a viable business in the future, it has to build its motors on its own. Volkswagen has also announced similiar intentions – its components group will be the system supplier for electric drive technology for the whole group. The aim is so that it can build up a competitive advantage as well as safeguard expertise. Right now, Volkswagen has joint R&D projects with Sanyo, Toshiba and BYD. Volkswagen’s electric powertrains will be built at the group’s Salzgitter plant in Germany, which currently employs over 6,000 workers. The Salzgitter plant currently manufactures engines. Volkswagen’s components arm also intends to be the supplier for an EV version of the Volkswagen up! from 2013. The first Up! will be launched next year, but will be powered by a regular combustion engine.

Source

Renault Fluence – a sedan version of the Megane

New entries in the price sensitive and Suzuki-dominated Indian market more often meet failure than success but it doesn’t mean if you fail once you must give up. Renault will go solo in in its second attempt to make some good headway in the Indian market, after a JV with Mahindra to sell its sole offering the Renault Logan failed to make any significant headway. Earlier this year, the 51:49 Mahindra Renault JV announced that it would be restructuring its operations, after reporting a loss of 4.9 billion Rupees in the 08/09 financial year.

“Today we would like to reaffirm our intention to be a long term player in India, by announcing our plans to set up an exclusive Distribution Network for Renault cars that will be introduced in the Indian market. We will create an extensive nationwide distribution network in the next 30 months, to ensure our customers are assured of seamless service,” said Marc Nassif, Country GM and MD of Renault India.

Renault will be launching a few new cars in India in the next 2 years, and is set to offer a “full range” within 4 years. The Logan will probably continue to be sold by the Mahindra JV. The first “Mahindra-free” cars to be launched are the Renault Fluence (lowered-cost Megane sedan shown above) and the Renault Koleos, both of which will be available in 2011. They will be produced at a Chennai facility shared with Nissan. Naturally, a small car to compete with the likes of the Hyundai i10 is in the works.

If you want something more than a 911 Turbo, insist on turbocharged power and don’t want to go the full way to get the expensive and hardcore GT2, here’s somewhat of a middle ground for you – the Porsche 911 Turbo S.

Power for the 911 Turbo S is up by 30 horses compared to the Turbo, so it now puts out 530 horses and a peak torque of 700Nm. There’s only one transmission available – the 7-speed Porsche PDK twin clutch transmission, which puts down power to all four wheels via the Porsche Traction Management all-wheel drive system.

The Turbo S comes standard with fade-resistant Porsche Ceramic Composite Brakes (PCCB), Dynamic Bending Lights, 19-inch wheels in RS Spyder design with central locking, a three-spoke sports steering wheel with gearshift paddles, adaptive sports seats, cruise control, a CD-DVD changer and an exclusive twin-tone leather upholstery in Black with Crema or Black with Titanium Blue.

Yours for Euro 173,241 including 19 per cent VAT in Germany for the coupe and 184,546 Euro including VAT for the cabrio. Look after the jump for a few very hi-res photos – they’re a few MB each! There’s also a video if you’re interested.

Click here to read the rest of Porsche 911 Turbo S to debut at Geneva

UMW Toyota has put up a teaser announcing the coming launch of the facelifted Toyota Vios with the updated grille, tail lamps and etc that we saw earlier.

As expected, UMW Toyota has jacked up the prices of all models. Even the cheapest manual 1.5J has had a price hike, bringing the price now to over RM70k when previously it was priced just under RM70k. Of course, these price hikes could be accompanied with equipment list changes.

The price hike brings the top of the range Vios extremely close to the top of the range Kia Forte 2.0 SX – there’s a price difference of only RM1,000 and the Forte is a C-segment 2.0 liter sedan with a GEMA engine similiar to the one used in the Lancer, while the Vios is a 1.5 liter B-segment. On paper, the only thing the Vios has up on the Forte is a 3-year warranty (and double mileage) versus 2-years for the Kia.

The Ford Focus RS is one hot looking hot hatch and Ford of Switzerland has raised the temperature further with this special version called “WRC Edition”. It will be produced in a limited run of 50 units to commemorate the 40th anniversary of Ford’s RS division.

The WRC Edition, which pays tribute to the legendary Escort RS1600 that was launched in 1970, was designed with the help of Swiss fans who participated in a design competition. The winning design’s base is a “Frozen White” paint finish contrasted by black and green stickers and stripes as well as the 19-inch OZ Superturismo GT multispoke alloys in black. As with all special editions, there’s a plaque and this one bears the signatures of Ford WRC drivers Mikko Hirvonen and Jarmo Lehtinen.

No changes under the bonnet, so the 305 bhp 2.5-litre turbocharged inline-five sprints to 100 km/h in under 6 seconds and on to a top speed of 263 km/h. It is priced at 55,900 francs or about 37,950 euros. Check out some of the proposals that didn’t make it after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of Ford Focus WRC Edition – 50 units in Switzerland

Honda seems to be very into video as a promotional tool. First they had Drive Every Drop, which was pretty much like a travel show. When a host landed in each country or state, he checked the local scene around in a Honda of course.

Now comes Live Every Litre – even the name sounds quite alike to Drive Every Drop. It’s also a show, but the concept is completely different. With Live Every Litre, Honda will put real participants behind the wheel of a Honda CR-Z, and cameras mounted around the car will record the participants’ journey and/or challenges across Europe.

VIDEO: Live Every Litre ‘Trailer’

Participants can do whatever they want. Honda gave a few examples in their press release – “propose to their girlfriend in Paris, take their band to play a charity gig, trace their ancestry to find a long lost relative, drive on a road they’ve always dreamed off.” Reactions, emotions, and experiences will be captured by the cameras.

All the footage will then be edited into a documentary-like film by Swiss filmmaker Claudio Von Planta and his team.

If you want to participate, you can logon to Live Every Litre’s website. I think it’s only fair to assume that you have to actually be in Europe to enter. As of today, you have 43 days left to apply, and they will begin filming in May.

Carlsson calls this a ’self-developed’ automobile, but one look and you’ll know it still has a lot of Mercedes-Benz underpinnings. It’s probably a rebodied SL, which Carlsson calls the new Carlsson C25, which will debut at Geneva 2010 this March.

The 6.0 liter twin-turbocharged V12 under the hood of the C25 makes 753 horsepower and an insane 1,150Nm of torque, which will take it from 0 to 100km/h in 3.7 seconds. And 1,150Nm is just the limited figure (likely to preserve the mechanical sanity of drivetrain components) – fully unlocked it has a 1,320Nm peak at 3,750rpm.

Seriously, even in normally aspirated form a 6.0 liter engine would be putting out something close to 600Nm which is already going to give you a huge kick in the butt when you put the pedal to the metal. It’s one of my dreams (and probably any motorheads dreams) to experience acceleration from torque in excess of 1,000Nm one day!

The C25 was designed as a ‘Super GT’. It will go into production, but only 25 units will be made. There’s actually something very interesting about how these 25 units will be distributed. Each owner is promised that he’ll be the only C25 owner in his country! Once you buy a C25 in the USA, no one else can order a C25 and register it in that country. This means it will be offered in a maximum of 25 countries.

Not sure what’s preventing some rich guy from ordering one in some weird country somewhere and importing it to his original country though. Anyone wanna bet if there’ll be one in Malaysia?

Click here to read the rest of Carlsson C25 ‘Super GT’ set for Geneva debut

We’ve just saw the 20th Anniversary Limited Edition Mazda MX-5 and here’s another “edition” car, this time it’s Nissan with the 370Z Black Edition that marks the 40th anniversary of the Z-car. Available from April as a coupé only, and in a limited run of just 370 units in Europe, it comes in two metallic shades: black and quartz. Both paints use Nissan’s pioneering Scratch Shield technology which “heals” the finish in the case of stone chip damage.

You can spot a Black Edition by its dark grey 19” aluminium forged RAYS wheels, red brake callipers and 40th Anniversary emblem at the rear. Inside, there’s red leather and suede on the seats and door trim, with embossed 40th Anniversary logo on the chairs. To match that, the leather steering, centre console and knee pads come withe red stitching. Nissan’s Connect Premium combined touch-screen satellite navigation and audio system with USB connectivity (9.3GB hard disk) tops it all off.

No change under the skin. The 370Z is powered by a 324 bhp 3.7-litre V6 capable of 0-100 km/h in 5.3 seconds (5.6 seconds for the automatic version) and is Euro 5 compliant. Edaran Tan Chong sells the standard 370Z in Malaysia at RM370,000. Interestingly, our car is quoted to have 328 bhp – perhaps Nissan had to sacrifice a few horses to meet Euro 5 standards.

More pictures after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of Nissan 370Z Black Edition – only cosmetics

Although not all of us own iPhones, it’s still somewhat more accesible than the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG, otherwise known as “the new Gullwing”. Why do we put these two cool products together? Because moving an iPhone around will be the closest most of us will get to driving the SLS AMG, as Stuttgart has launched a new iPhone application called SLS AMG (a highly creative name we must add).

The SLS AMG app has been “designed to give players a taste of the new super sports car via 360° gameplay featuring the iPhone’s innovative accelerometer technology” says Mercedes. Players can either play alone or pit their skills in races against other players from all over the world. The app is free.

Proving that Mercedes is taking games very seriously, the three-pointed star has also managed to place their hero car on the cover of the upcoming Gran Turismo 5 for PlayStation 3. The gullwing will create history as the first German car to star on a cover of the hit racing simulator series.

The 599XX is one of of the most extreme cars Ferrari makes, along with fellow XX model FXX. Making its debut at last year’s Geneva show, the 599XX is made for track but not official competition use, which means it’s unrestricted either by homologation limitations or regulatory restrictions. This 700 bhp Prancing Horse is, in Ferrari’s own words “a genuine technological laboratory” which “incorporates the very best of Ferrari technology”.

The 599XX has finally made its track debut, driven by none other than the Scuderia’s F1 driver Felipe Massa. The Brazilian driver met 599XX customers and members of Ferrari’s Corse Clienti programme (private owners who race Ferraris) at the Ricardo Tormo track in Valencia , leading seven cars around the circuit. After several laps Felipe said: “I really enjoyed testing this car, I think it’s extremely powerful and has an exceptional stability. Considering that it has been planned for the track it’s really easy to drive.”

Ferrari will organise customer events on race tracks in America, Europe and Asia featuring the 599XX. My guess is that the Asia leg will be in Shanghai to coincide with the F1 race. I was at an A1GP race in Shanghai when Ferrari held such an event featuring the FXX, which sounded absolutely ballistic! More pictures after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of Felipe Massa stars in Ferrari 599XX shakedown

Peugeot has dominated the Intercontinental Rally Challenge for the past three years with its 207 S2000 rally car, and most recently British driver Kris Meeke wrapped up the 2009 season in style, taking for himself the 2009 IRC drivers’ title. To commemorate the victory (and to sell more cars) Peugeot UK has created the Special Edition 207 S16, which is limited to 250 examples.

Based on the three-door 207 Sport 1.6 VTi, the S16 adds on full 207 RC Cup bodykit comprising front and rear spoilers, side skirts and a “pseudo rear diffuser”, 17″ Hockenheim alloys, SP Sports mesh grille, dark tinted rear windows from the 207 GTi, a special interior badge signed by Kris Meeke and of course – vinyl rally graphics which mimic Meeke’s IRC winning 207 S2000. The decals blends elements from the Union Jack and Peugeot’s lion; thankfully they did not cover the bonnet with the flag as well, as the race car does. Not all will like it, so they can have their S16 in pure Bianca White.

Top speed of 200 km/h and 0-100 km/h in 10.7 seconds isn’t really SS winning speed but hey, at least you’ll feel like a champ behind the wheel!

One more image after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of Peugeot 207 S16 celebrates IRC domination

We already saw how the new Kia Sportage looks like in clear view thanks to EU patent applications mid last month, but here are the first official teaser photos from Kia, which they posted on their Kia Buzz blog.

Both an orange and a silver car is pictured. The teaser actually includes both the North American spec and the Europe spec. The North American spec is the one with amber signal lamps as required by their laws (pictured above) while the Europe spec has fully clear lenses. Looks pretty good, like a smaller and stouter version of the Sorento!

The new Sportage will be longer, lower and wider than the previous generation model. It will also have a longer wheelbase which will likely translate to a roomier interior and a plusher ride. It will premiere at the Geneva show in March.

Look after the jump for the full pix.

Click here to read the rest of First official pix of new Kia Sportage

What does Spyker see in Saab? What does it plan to do with the brand from now? How different will the new Saab be? New models? There are tons of questions we can throw at Spyker, the small volume Dutch sportscar maker who succeeded in buying Saab from GM. Well, Spyker has now shed some light on the matter.

Under the new masterplan, Spyker will now be called Saab Spyker Automobiles NV and this entity will operate Spyker and Saab as two separate companies. Saab will be repositioned as an “independent performance-oriented niche car company with an industry-leading environmental strategy”. The Saab Business Plan, drawn up by Saab management over the past ten months, will be executed and enhanced upon.

Saab will have three main model lines: 9-3, 9-5 and 9-4X. There’s a possibility of adding a smaller car line should the “positive development of the smaller car segment continues”. However, the “9-1″ is not included in the Business Plan and will need additional financing for development. Upcoming launches will be the new 9-5 this year, the 9-4X in early 2011 and the new 9-3 in 2012. Saab cars will use their “strong and unique brand heritage” to rival Audi and BMW.

Saab’s Trollhättan facility has full capability in developing complete vehicles and will continue to do so. Calling it one of the most efficient mid-size car plants in Europe, Saab Spyker aims for production and sales volumes to be rebuilt to “recent pre-crisis levels of about 100,000 to 125,000 vehicles”. This figure will include the 9-4X, which will be built in Mexico alongside stablemate Cadillac SRX. Beyond that, on-going collaborations with GM in parts sourcing will continue, but Saab Spyker will gradually reduce dependency on GM in this aspect.

How about Spyker, the car brand? It can benefit from Saab’s extensive global network of 1,100 dealers, its engineering know how and technologies. The two brands will share parts in the future.

It’s a good idea to hold a design shootout; the car company is question gets more options to choose from and is exposed to differing intepretations of “how the brand should look”, much like how advertising agencies pitch againts each other for the job. Top Italian design houses Bertone and Pininfarina will each produce an Alfa concept for the upcoming Geneva show, and here are the teasers – Pininfarina’s take is above and Bertone’s is below. Giugiaro’s Italdesign will come up with one as well, according to Inside Line.

“Each of the Turin design houses — Stile Bertone, Pininfarina and Italdesign Giugiaro — will create a version of the new midsize model (the next 159 family) to be shown at their respective stands. The expected breakdown will see Bertone creating the two-door coupe body, Pininfarina the convertible, and Italdesign Giugiaro the four-door sedan breadwinner,” IL’s source was quoted as saying. The design renditions were reportedly commissioned to coincide with Alfa Romeo’s centenary celebrations.