Archive for International News

Proton’s Group Lotus now has a new CEO – Dany Bahar, a Swiss national. Some of you may notice his face is quite familiar, in fact he appeared most recently on this blog on one of Ferrari’s promotional videos of the new 458 Italia.

This is because Dany Bahar was the Senior VP of Commercial & Brand for Ferrari SpA where he oversaw sales, aftersales, marketing, licensing and merchandising for the prancing horse.

Now of course, he is in Group Lotus. Let’s hope he will do some good for Lotus, as ultimately their performance affects Proton.

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BMW’s chairman Dr Norbert Reithofer have confirmed today that two new MINI models will go into production at UK’s Plant Oxford, including the Frankfurt show’s MINI Coupe Concept. This ends speculation as to whether the MINI Coupe Concept will be produced or not. Previously other senior BMW officials have said that the concept will be built if public response at the motorshow was good but I think these days with the internet and social media you can already gauge such responses before the public sees a car.

The announcement today also had another surprise – apparently a second car that will be unveiled at Frankfurt will also go into production. I have a feeling this is the MINI SUV based on the MINI Crossover Concept showcased last year. This will give the MINI brand a total of 5 bodystyles – Hatch, Clubman, Convertible, Coupe and Crossover.

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This is probably an Auris/Blade with a new skin, but a C-segment premium 5-door hatchback like this Lexus LF-Ch Concept is vital for Lexus to deepen its penetration of the European market.

The concept’s name is quite easily decoded – LF for L-Finesse (Lexus design language), C is probably a reference to the production car’s CT name while h denotes a hybrid powertrain. Lexus confirms that it will have a full hybrid system which means an EV mode will be available.

More images and details will be unveiled when the concept car makes its public debut at the 2009 Frankfurt Motor Show.

Official sketches of the new Hyundai Sonata has been released by the Korean company and the car is expected to make its official debut in Korea on the 10th of September.

With a roofline that looks like it was inspired by the likes of the Passat CC and the one that started it all – the CLS, it definitely distances itself from the generic looks of the current generation Sonata with an all-new look that employs plenty of curves and ‘flame-surfacing-esque’ creases.

So okay, these are just sketches and its easy to make a sketch look good. There are actually some photos leaked of the Sonata in the metal that have made their way out onto the internet. Look after the jump for how the actual car looks like.

Source

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Porsche will be selling a special 250 unit limited edition Porsche 911 Sport Classic. The 911 Sport Classic was developed by Porsche Exclusive, a department within Porsche that develops customised versions of Porsche cars.

The 911 Sport Classic is based on the Carrera S, but has a 44mm wider rear body. Power comes from a 3.8 liter DFI engine with a new intake that increases power by 23hp from the regular Carrera S – this means it now produces 408 horses.

There is a rear spoiler in a fixed position made to look like the “ducktail” from the 1973 Carrera RS 2.7. This is probably where the word “Classic” comes into play. The exterior paintjob is only available in Sport Classic Grey while the interior is done up in Espresso Nature natural leather.

The 911 Sport Classic will go on sale January next year at a base price of 169,300 Euros. That’s quite a premium over a regular Carrera S which goes for 78,000 Euros.

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Toyota’s Frankfurt exhibits will be mostly hybrid-centric, or at least that’s what they feel comfortable letting us know in advance now. Two new hybrid concepts will be on show.

First is the Auris HSD Concept shown above. It’s essentially an Auris with Toyota’s HSD hybrid system. The Auris is the hatchback version of the Corolla so it would not be far-fetched to think that we could see a HSD Corolla in the future.

Next up is the Toyota Prius Plug-in Hybrid Concept. I think it’s quite easy to figure out what this is based on the concept’s name. A Plug-in Hybrid basically allow one to charge the hybrid’s on-board batteries from a power source rather than just through brake energy regeneration.

A true bridge between hybrids and full EVs, a plug-in Prius much like this concept will begin field trials in early 2010. About 150 units will be leased to selected fleet customers.

The Volvo C70 coupe-cabriolet has received a facelift, giving it a new front end inspired by the S60 Concept Car unveiled earlier this year. This design update brings the marque closer to consistent family-look similiar to the XC60’s face. At the rear, the C70 gets new LED lamps. Other than that, there are not much changes. Being a CBU model, it should be easy for Volvo Cars Malaysia to bring this new facelit in. It only has to wait for the current stock of C70 to finish, if any. The C70 currently goes for about RM346k for the sedate 2.4i up to RM400k for the turbocharged T5 version – prices without insurance.

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These are the initial two fully unveiled images of the new Honda Accord Crosstour, the first official images of the new crossover from the Japanese manufacturer after an initial 3 teaser images. The Accord Crosstour competes with vehicles like the Toyota Venza. The Venza itself is some sort of crossover between a Camry and a Harrier. Honda calls their Accord Crosstour a Crossover Utility Vehicle (CUV). It has a higher ride height than a regular Accord but is definitely shorter than a proper SUV. Not much details of the Crosstour yet for now but it will probably come with some form of all-wheel drive as if you look properly there is a “4WD” badge on the bootlid.

Proton will be launching a 1.6 liter IAFM variant of the Saga in Australia soon (November 2009 ETA) and has put up a teaser website for it at newsedan.com.au. It won’t be called the Saga in Australia though – a new name will be picked. Prices will begin at under AU$13,000, or under RM37,895 for the 1.6 liter manual, but an automatic option as well as a smaller engine (likely the 1.3) will be available from February 2010 onwards.

Fiat has decided to rename the Grande Punto with its mid-life facelift. It is now known as the Fiat Punto Evo (no relation to Mitsubishi) and it will be making its first public appearance at the Frankfurt Motor Show. The chassis and wheelbase remains the same but the new bodykit makes the car longer, though width and height remains the same as the outgoing Grande Punto.

Portable Tom-Tom device functions as the car’s infotainment controller when mounted in the car

Under the hood is either a 1.4 liter MultiAir petrol or a 1.3 liter MultiJet diesel but Fiat seems to be shouting the loudest about the latest version of its Blue&Me which debuts in the Punto Evo. The new system is called Blue&Me – TomTom and it is a fully integrated infotainment system that lets you manage telephony, GPS navi and other information functions on a touch-screen LCD.

Thanks to working together with car systems provider Magneti Marelli for tighter integration with the car, the display will also display information fed from Fiat’s Eco:Drive Info system for real-time information on driving style and suggestions for reducing fuel consumption by changing gears and accelerating to suit the nature of the GPS navigation route.

Look after the jump for more pix of the new Punto Evo.

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