Archive for International News

Recession? What recession? The special 50 unit limited run Neiman Marcus edition Jaguar XJL Supercharged listed in their Christmas book for US$10,000 more than its regular price of US$90,500 were all sold out in just 4 hours and 4 minutes once phone lines opened for booking. Beyond the 50 bookings, Jaguar continued taking bookings and putting them on a waiting list in case a phone booking did not translate into a sale.

The Neiman Marcus XJL comes in an exclusive Celestial Black metallic paint exterior and a custom butter-soft navy and ivory leather interior. It is also equipped with 20-inch double-10 spoke polished alloy wheels, illuminated tread plates and trunk finisher as well as the nameplate inside that reads: “Neiman Marcus 1 of 50.”

BMW has just made available two mobile phone hands-free Bluetooth headsets – one with a BMW design and one with a MINI design. The headsets are aimed at those who own BMW or MINI cars that did not come with Bluetooth handsfree systems from the factory. In Malaysia, it’s safe to say that all iDrive-equipped BMWs have Bluetooth handsfree systems installed.

The Bluetooth headset by BMW weighs 8 grams and the rechargeable battery offers a talktime of 5 hours and a standby time of 7 days. You can charge them via a charger that you hook up to your car’s cigarette lighter. It can be paired and used with two different mobile phones at the same time.

We all know that the Chinese automotive industry is booming and we are also familiar with some Chinese cars with designs that we have seen elsewhere. Here is an interesting piece of news regarding the topic. It has been reported that a former Ford engineer is being charged for selling company secrets to Chinese auto makers.

The person in question is Xiang Dong Yu who served for Ford between 1997 and 2007. Yu was recently arrested at the Chicago O’Hare International Airport after returning from an overseas trip. Apparently, Yu made copies of nearly 4,000 documents before leaving the Mustang maker. A year later in 2008, he tried to secure a job with the Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation by offering vital information from Ford. Yu eventually found a job in Beijing Automotive Corporation but it is unclear if he leaked out any information to the company.

He now faces five counts of theft of trade secrets, attempted theft of trade secrets and unauthorized access to a protected computer. The damage? Well, Mr Yu could be sentenced to 5-10 years in prison as well as a $250,000 fine for each charge.

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A new limited edition Lotus Exige has just been announced – the new Lotus Exige Scura. Scura means ‘dark’ in Italian and the pillar of the whole ‘indulge your dark side’ theme used as the launch theme is a soft-feel matte black paint finish with contrasting high-gloss Phantom Black triple stripes that run the length of the car. A carbon fibre front splitter, oil cooler intakes, side airscoops and a rear spoiler complete the looks.

The ‘Scura’ theme continues on the inside, with vast use of carbon fiber to both complement the exterior theme as well as reduce weight. The seats and center console are also made from carbon fiber and finished in high-gloss clear lacquer. The handbrake and gearknob have a special anodized treatment which leaves the metal with an anthracite colour finish.

The engine makes 260 PS at 8,000rpm from its supercharged intercooled 1.8 liter Toyota VVTL-i engine and thanks to its light weight of 925kg it takes the car from 0 to 100km/h in a blazing 4.1 seconds. The engine is sourced from the Exige Cup 260 and makes use of the Cup’s lightweight flywheel and lightweight supercharger piping. The dampers are Ohlins 2-way dampers mated to Eibach variable height springs. The wheels are matte black lgihtweight forged wheels wrapped with Yokohama A048 LTS tyres. The car also has variable slip traction control.

Only 35 units of the new Lotus Exige Scura are available. It is offered in Europe, South Korea, Australia, South Africa, Thailand, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, New Zealand, Indonesia and Malaysia. It will also be made available in Japan but the car will be called the Lotus Exige Stealth instead. It will be sold in the UK for £45,000 with an additional £950 to be charged for OTR costs such as delivery, PDI, first service, number plates, first registration fee, valet, 12 months Road Fund Licence and a full tank of fuel.

Look after the jump for a full photo gallery of the Scura.

Click here to read the rest of Lotus Exige Scura: 35 unit limited edition with matte black paint goes 0-100km/h in 4.1s

Toyota Motor Corporation has unveiled the redesigned Mark X luxury sedan. The rear wheel drive Mark X is motivated by a new 314 horsepower 2GR-FSE 3.5 liter V6 powerplant that joins the 200 horsepower 4GR-FSE 2.5 liter V6. For the latter, buyers can also opt for an all wheel drive option. Both engines are offered with a 6-speed Super ECT automatic transmission. Fuel consumption is rated at 13.0km/l (10-15 test cycle) for the 2.5 liter V6 (two wheel drive) and 10.2km/l for the 3.5 liter V6.

The new Mark X is 1,435 mm high and both the width and track figures have been increased by 20 mm to help give the car a lower centre of gravity. It is treated to a three-lamp linear layout for the headlights while the rear also features a three-lamp layout with lights built into the trunk lid.

Inside, there is a leather-covered steering wheel, improved seat comfort, driver’s seat with motorized lumbar support function that shifts the seatback forward or back to improve back comfort during driving, a multi-information display, fully automatic independent temperature controls for the driver and passenger sides as well as a Plasmacluster Ions technology that helps combat bacteria.

Furthermore there is a HDD navigation system, Intelligent Parking Assist system and a terrestrial digital TV tuner and gear-shifting functions that are built into the navigation system (for range topping models). According to Toyota, the gear-shifting functions support the driver “in merging and exiting and at intersections.” Also as standard is an Eco Driving Indicator that lights up to signify fuel-efficient operation and an Eco Zone Indicator that shows throttle use.

The auto maker also revealed that the shoulder portion of the door trim for the front and rear seats has been pushed outward by 25 mm (total for left and right) while the distance between the front seats has been increased by 20 mm. The Mark X also has Sport, Snow and Eco driving modes, Variable Gear Ratio Steering system (with electric power steering) which controls the angle of the front wheels according to vehicle speed, Vehicle Dynamics Integrated Management and an Adaptive Variable Suspension for models kitted with the sports package.

The Japanese auto maker also improved the safety features of the Mark X. All models come with seven airbags including SRS side airbags, SRS curtain shield airbags and a driver’s seat knee airbag, VSC (Vehicle Stability Control), TRC (Traction Control) and Active Headrests up front to reduce stress on the neck in a rear-end collision.

The sedan is also offered with a Pre-Crash Brake Assist system, a Pre-Crash Brake system and Pre-Crash Seatbelts, Intelligent AFS (Adaptive Front-lighting System), Radar Cruise Control system equipped with a brake-control function and a Hill-start Assist Control function.

The Sports type Mark X (250G S package, 250G S package Relax Selection, 350S) features tinting for the headlights and combination taillights, spoilers on front and rear bumpers and trunk lid, black-themed interior and steering-mounted paddle shifters.

The Premium type Mark X on the other hand comes with special plating on the front grille, rocker moldings and its own front bumper design, steering wheel and shift knob ornamentation with wood-grain finish, heated front seats, Power Easy Access System (slides driver’s seat back and tilts steering wheel upward and forward) as well as velour-moquette seat covers that are treated with mite-suppressing agent that also prevents static electricity – for those of you who tend to get static electricity. In Japan, pricing for the Mark X starts from 2,380,000 yen (just under RM89,000) and tops out at 3,800,000 yen (about RM142,000).

Look for more images after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of New Toyota Mark X: official details and photos

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

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.

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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.

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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

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A larger Forte with softer lines to match its more stately demeanor can’t be a bad thing. And Kia agrees – here’s the new Kia VG.

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That is just a codename. It’s official name is not known yet, but it’s large sedan that’s bigger than the Optima, with a wheelbase pegged at 2,845mm, which is shorter than the Hyundai Genesis’s 2,936mm but much longer than the Optima’s 2,700mm Euro D-segment wheelbase.

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For now all we have are these pre-announcement leaked production photos, but Kia previously unveiled a concept version of this new large sedan to us as the Kia KND-5 Concept so you can check out the previous post covering that for some extra details.