Archive for International News

Honda is set to unveil a minor model change for the Honda CR-V SUV in Japan on the 17th of September 2009. One lone teaser image which basically reveals the whole front end of the car has been posted on the CR-V product page of Honda Japan’s website.

It shows us the CR-V’s new front grille (a much slimmer chrome bar going across it) and bumper (more body colour, less of the bumper guard kind of look). The gaping lower grille that gave the CR-V a two-mouthed look also seems to have been minimized. The changes give the CR-V a more urban runabout look as it removes some typically offroader styling from the vehicle.

Look after the jump for a photo of the pre-facelift CR-V so you can compare easily.

Click here to read the rest of Honda CR-V to get mid-life facelift in September

The “original” Korean market facelift

Kia changed their mind pretty quick about how they wanted their Korean market facelifted Optima (called Lotze Innovation in Korea) to look like. Sometime in mid-2008 they updated the Korean market Optima’s front and rear end to a younger and more dynamic look featuring sharper headlamps, the new Schreyer grille, and new LED tail lamps. They also updated the interior with new red backlighting and a new three-gauge meter cluster.

Chrome grille abandoned for sportier mesh look

For this latest minor facelift the front grille has lost its horizontal chrome slats and this is replaced with a mesh grille from the export market model. A comparison is shown above. For more details on the facelift check out our story from when the facelifted Optima was first unveiled last year in the related posts below:

Related Posts:
Kia Lotze Innovation: facelifted Optima in Korea
2009 Kia Optima facelift unveiled at NYIAS 2008

The Hilux is the choice of nany contractors and people who actually need pickup trucks for their utility and not as a lifestyle vehicles. Alot of people who just want to experience a 4WD truck for the occasional light offroad trek and the frugal diesel engine tend to dismiss the Hilux because of its weak engine – only 100 horsepower and 260Nm of torque. This is thanks to the mild tuning of the engine, so mild that it does not even require an intercooler.

This could change. A more powerful version of the Hilux has just been launched in Thailand and its called the Toyota Hilux Vigo VN Turbo. The biggest change is highlighted in the name – it has a Variable Nozzle Turbo, also known as a Variable Geometry Turbocharger, similiar to the unit you can find in the Ford Ranger TDCi.

Two engines are available – a larger 3.0 VN Turbo (1KD-FTV) putting out 163 horses and 343Nm of torque between 1,400 to 3,200rpm, and a smaller 2.5 liter unit (2KD-FTV) making 144 horses and the same 343Nm of torque, this time over a narrower peak torque band between 1,600 to 2,800rpm. All engines are intercooled. These engines are Euro III engines (okay, so they may not end up being available here) and are B5 diesel capable.

This is the new Chevrolet Agile, a product that GM designed for the South American market. The Agile’s development was done by GM Mercosur located in Sao Paulo, Brazil at a cost of US$400 million. Target markets include Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay so I don’t think we can expect the Agile to reach our country anytime soon, at least not in this form. There’s some word that a variation of this car will end up launched as the new Aveo though. The Agile is based on the same platform as the Opel/Vauxhall Corsa D and has a wheelbase of 2,510mm, putting it in competition with cars such as the Fiesta and the Polo. A few engines will be available ranging from a 105hp 1.4 liter up to a 129hp 1.8 liter engine.

Here’s another anticipated production car that disappointingly looks like its lost some of its edge on the way from concept to production. The car you see above is the new GM Daewoo Matiz Creative, which under the Chevrolet badge will be known as the Chevrolet Spark. It will go on sale internationally at various different launch dates beginning September. Three equipment level will be available – the Pop, the Jazz and the Groove, and the price tag goes up from US$7,260 up to US$8,035 in that order.

Under the hood is a new 1.0 liter S-TEC II inline-4 engine mated to a 4-speed auto making 69 horses and 92Nm of torque. Despite being a small car, GM gave the car 4 mounts for the engine to improve smoothness instead of some car manufacturers which only supply 3 mounts. A three-cylinder turbodiesel engine will come later.

The petrol engine is rated at being able to travel 17 km per liter, or about 5.9 liters per 100km. GM says the S-TEC II engine features something called Port De-Activation which sounds like the number of valves used are variable – less valves at low revs and all valves used at high revs, though I’m not 100% sure as the press release is not really very technical. The chassis is monocoque and is expected to score 4-stars in Euro NCAP tests.

Look after the jump for two more shots of the new Matiz Creative.

Click here to read the rest of New 1,000cc Daewoo Matiz Creative unveiled: Korean-badged production Chevrolet Spark

BMW is making its EfficientDynamics brand have a bigger role than before. Earlier it was just a word to describe a set of fuel saving technologies such as Brake Energy Regeneration and Auto Start-Stop, but now it’s being used as a suffix for cars that are particularly ‘green’. Other car manufacturers also have similiar brands such as Volkswagen’s use of BlueMotion.

The new BMW 320d EfficientDynamics has CO2 emissions of 109g/km and a combined consumption figure of 68.9mpg, which translates to 24.4 km per liter of diesel. The 2.0 liter engine puts out 163hp at 3,500rpm upt o 4,200rpm and 360Nm of torque spread between 1,750rpm to 3,000rpm.

Modification over a regular non-EfficientDynamics 320d include a longer final drive, lowered suspension for better aerodynamics, and special aerodynamics alloy wheels with Michelin EnergySaver tyres. The usual set of EfficientDynamics features are also there – Auto Start Stop, Brake Energy Regeneration and Electric Power Steering.

There have also been some modifications to the engine. A dual mass flywheel with springs and new Centrifugal Pendulum Absorbers is fitted between the engine and transmission. The whole point of these modifications that make the engine ’smoother’ is to allow the diesel engine to spin more smoothly at the lower RPMs that the new final drive provides.

We might see BMWs like this car and the 118d in Malaysia if the new Euro 2M diesel that is supposed to be introduced in September this year is deemed good enough by the car company’s homologation engineers.

Click here to read the rest of New BMW 320d EfficientDynamics: a greener 320d

Auto components supplier Honeywell (famous for Garrett turbos) have signed an MoU with ChangAn Automotive for the two companies to jointly develop micro-turbochargers. Honeywell’s definition of micro-turbochargers are small turbochargers designed for use with two-cylinder or three-cylinder engines, especially diesel engines, designed to make those engines more driveable when installed in low cost and fuel efficient compact cars.

The Chinese government have called for car manufacturers to produce more energy-efficent vehicles and equipping cars with downsized force inducted engines are one way to increase a car’s efficiency. China has recently announced a government subsidy scheme where the government will subsidise up to 50,000 yuan (RM25.8k) for hybrid cars and up to 60,000 yuan (RM31k) for electric cars.

There are currently only 5 vehicles on this list with more being evaluated and added soon – the IVECO electric service vehicle, JAC’s electricity engineering electric vehicle for city electricity system maintenance and repairing, Zotye’s electric light bus, BYD’s F3DM hybrid car and JMC Transit’s electric service vehicle. 4 out of 5 are commercial vehicles, and with the huge manufacturing/industrial sectors in China perhaps its for the best that these vehicles get plenty of attention.

BYD is really quite happy about this as they’re the only consumer passenger sedan that qualifies for the subsidy so far. BYD confirms that their F3DM qualifies for the full 50,000 yuan subsidy, and the car will officially go on sale beginning September. The F3DM is a plug-in hybrid which means that even though it is a hybrid, it can be recharged through a wall plug, thus you may never really need to start up its combustion engine if you use it for short trips.

BYD is becoming a big brand when it comes to green tech in China. It recently won a contract to supply fellow chinese automaker SAIC with lithium ion batteries. Its li-ion batteries are based on iron phosphate and are self-developed. BYD claims they can be recharged over 2,000 times and have an estimated lifespan of over 600,000km. Warren Buffet should definitely be happy about all of this – analysts estimate his Berkshire Hathaway’s investment in BYD has already made 430% in just under a year.

In Malaysia all that we have to encourage more efficient vehicles are the prospect of saving on road tax costs and a temporary rebate on hybrid vehicles under 2.0 liters in displacement. When the new NAP review is announced by the end of September this year, we will see if there is anything regarding green technology. There are currently only two hybrid cars on sale in Malaysia through official channels – the Honda Civic Hybrid and the Toyota Prius.

Most of you will be waiting for any indication of lower car prices but while MITI says import duties for ASEAN countries would be removed from January 1st 2010, it has hinted that we could potentially not see any kind of reduction in car prices that can make an impact in our buying experiences as vehicle prices are “subject to market forces which are influenced by factors such as the price of local and imported (CKD) components, forex, transportation cost, insurance and interest rates.”

The Malay Mail has an insider scoop that Air Asia is considering expanding their involvement in F1 by “having their own team”. If this is true, it will probably happen only later as Air Asia is currently still in a 3-year sponsorship deal with the AT&T Williams F1 team as one of their sponsors as parts of their international brand-building efforts.

An overseas F1 news syndicator have linked Air Asia to the BMW Sauber F1 team as a potential purchaser, however Air Asia has stated that their interest in F1 is still AT&T Williams for now and they will continue sponsoring them. If Air Asia expands its role in F1 with a deeper involvement with BMW Sauber F1 it would mean a Malaysian sponsorship “tagteam” of sorts as as the team currently already has a Malaysian sponsor – Petronas.

Source

Peugeot has unveiled full details on the new Peugeot RCZ 2+2 Coupe. Most people refer to this as a French take on the Audi TT, as it emulates the TT’s shape. If you notice the roof of the RCZ actually has some kind of recession in it in the middle, and Peugeot calls this a “double bubble” design.

Under the hood (at the front) is a version of the 1.6 liter BMW-PSA Prince engine, this time producing 200 horsepower at 5,800rpm, taking the car from 0 to 100km/h in 7.6 seconds thanks to its 255Nm of torque from 1,700rpm. That’s not a whole load of torque and 7.6 seconds isn’t exactly blistering speed, but because the RCZ is small with an interior thats designed to “wrap around” the driver cozily, the speeds might seem faster than they really are, so this will help add to the fun factor.

Of course less powerful engines are also available. A 156hp version of the 1.6 liter Prince engine is also available, and like the 200hp version it is mated to a 6-speed manual. But there will be a 6-speed auto coming soon in summer 2010 – a welcome addition to the Peugeot family as they’ve been making do with 4-speed automatics for a long time now, while BMW has been mating the Prince engine to 6-speed autos for a long time.

Of course there must be a diesel option – a 2.0 liter HDi FAP engine with 163hp, also mated to a 6-speed manual. This is the torqueiest engine option with 340Nm available at 2,000rpm. The diesel engine fuel consumption is rated at 52.3 mpg on the combined cycle.

The Peugoet RCZ rides on the same platform as the 308 and uses MacPherson struts at the front and a torsion beam at the rear. The platform has been modified to suit the RCZ’s sporty intentions – ride height has been lowered by 20mm, center of gravity lower by 40mm, front track widened by 54mm and rear track widened by 72mm. The 200hp engine version has an additional lower anti-roll bar to help with the handling. Peugeot did not use an electric power steering system on the RCZ – it sticks to a hydraulic system which usually offers better response.

The RCZ will go on sale in Spring 2010. You can probably expect Nasim to bring it in sometime in the future as a CBU model and in classic Nasim style, it will probably undercut the 2.0 TFSI Audi TT in terms of pricing, offering a nice alternative.

Click here to read the rest of Peugeot RCZ sports car on sale in Spring 2010

The Kia No3 Concept has been translated into a production car. Presenting: the Kia Venga, a new B-segment MPV (not exactly an MPV in the three-row 7 seater sense but more of a tall hatchback) designed and built in Europe. The name Venga is derived from the Spanish verb “to come”, which in the language sounds like invitation to move from one spot to another. For some reason I find this amusing as it is similiar to the Tamil word “vange” which also means “come”

It looks small but the Kia Venga is actually bigger than a Hyundai i20 – its got a wheelbase of 2,615mm thats a whole lot longer compared to the i20’s 2,525mm wheelbase. The previous generation Kia Carens/Rondo had a wheelbase of 2560mm but with the latest generation (called the Citra II Rondo in Malaysia) it used the Optima’s platform and grew to a massive 2,700mm.

This definitely makes some space for a smaller MPV to be slotted in under the new Rondo. The Kia Venga is 4,068mm long and 1,600mm tall. Like most new Kia designs it looks pretty alright, nothing to hate about it, though I think that Schreyer grille isn’t really working that great on that Fiat Bravo-like nose. But the rest of the car is quite cute.

Kia claims the Kia Venga offers C-segment space in a B-segment footprint, and hopefully price. It will feature a 1.4 liter gasoline engine or a 1.6 liter turbodiesel engine at launch, putting out 75 PS and 115 PS respectively.

Both engines will be fitted standard with ISG (Idle Stop & Go) technology which auto-stops your car engine when your car stops, and restarts it automatically when it is time to move again, useful during traffic jams or stop lights. Optional is a tilt-and-slide all-glass panoramic roof.

The production Kia Venga will be shown to the public at the Frankfurt show in September, and more photos will probably be released then. For now, check out 4 initial photos released by Kia after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of New Kia Venga set to debut at Frankfurt 2009