Archive for Koreans

Malaysian Chevrolet distributor Hicomobil has plans to launch the new Chevrolet Aveo Sedan here in Malaysia in September 2006, so I thought I’d give you guys a little preview of the car based on the version they are selling in India. The Chevrolet Aveo Sedan was launched in the Indian market in February and is assembled in GM’s plant in Halol. GM hopes to sell 14,000 Chevrolet Aveo Sedans this year, with future targets of about 20,000 units a year.

Our Chevrolet Aveo Sedan will likely come in CBU form from Thailand until Hicomobil can get their CKD operations up and running. The Chevrolet Aveo Sedan was designed by Italdesign Giugiaro Design Studio and GM’s global engineering team using their Virtual Reality Design Center. It will be manufactured for this region at GM’s plant in Thailand’s Rayong Province.

More details on the car after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of Chevrolet Aveo Sedan Thai CBU

Kia has unveiled it’s Kia ED, a future C-segment car for the European market. The ED is just a codename for now which stands for European Design as it’s targetted at the European market. The hatchback has a relatively long wheelbase, which will allow it to offer top notch interior space. The C-segment in Europe means small family car which include cars like the Ford Focus and the Honda Civic hatch. As a comparison, the Civic has a wheelbase of 2635mm while the Kia ED is longer at 2650mm.

Once it’s launched, it will offer the usual Kia range of engines, petrol engines in the 1.4, 1.6 and 2.0 range with CVVT variable valve timing as well as a new 1.6 liter turbodiesel equipped with variable geometry turbo. The Kia ED will go on sale in December this year exclusively in the European market. It will be offered first in 5-door hatch form, with station wagon and 3-door hatch versions to come in September and December 2007 respectively.

Click here to read the rest of Kia ED exclusively for Europe

Malaysia’s Ssangyong importers Competitive Supreme Sdn Bhd will be launching an updated version to it’s flagship SUV, the Ssangyong Rexton II on the 15th of August this year. I previously blogged about the Ssangyong Rexton II after it made it’s South Korean debut earlier this year in March. The Ssangyong Rexton II still has much of it’s Mercedes Benz DNA, sporting a 2.7 liter common-rail turbodiesel engine developed together with Mercedes Benz mated with gearboxes from the German marque as well.

The Rexton II will be assembled by Automotive Manufacturers (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd, a unit of DRB-Hicom Berhad. Ssangyong will be switching to CKD only for the Rexton after it’s fully imported CBU models are sold out. There are only a few left, so you know what to do if you want a CBU Rexton. No prices yet, but we’ll know later this month.

Related Posts:
Ssangyong Rexton II

The 2006 Kia Rio/Rio5 clinched the top position for the US market J.D. Power and Associates 2006 Initial Quality Study SM (IQS) in the sub-compact category. The Rio/Rio5 tied together with the Suzuki Aerio for the top position of the survey which measures 217 vehicle attributes over 8 categories including driving experience, engine and transmission as well as QC problems reported by buyers. The Kia Rio/Rio5 scored 137 problems per 100 vehicles, the same as the Suzuki Aerio.

Other winners of the award include the Lexus LS430 in the large premium car category, the Toyota Corolla in the compact car category, the Lexus SC430 for premium sporty car, the Mazda MX-5 Miata for compact sporty car, the Toyota Solara for midsize sporty car, the Porsche Cayman for compact premium sporty car, the Toyota Camry for midsize car, the Lexus IS250/350 for entry premium car, the Pontiac Grand prix for large car and the Lexus ES330 for midsize premium car. Looks like Toyota and it’s luxury brand Lexus managed to clinch top position in 7 out of the 11 categories in the car segment.

Click here to read the rest of Kia Rio tops US compact car J.D. Power IQS

If you’ve watched The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, you would remember this scene where someone said he wouldn’t want his machai to be seen going around in a Hyundai. Well, I don’t think he’d mind this particular Hyundai. This Hyundai Tiburon (known on our market as the Hyundai Coupe) has two engines, both 2.0 liter turbocharged engines. You have one at the front making 309hp, and one at the back making 317hp, resulting in a total of over 600 horses and a technically an all wheel drive system. It does the quarter mile in 10.95 seconds on street tyres.

The car uses two independently controlled automatic transmissions, giving it the ability to operate in both drive and reverse at the same time! The smoke caused by the wheelspin as both engines threathen to tear the chassis apart in opposite directions guarantees a win in burnout contests effortlessly. Video after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of Twin engine turbocharged Hyundai Coupe

There were reports of General Motors doing a due diligence audit last week on local Chevrolet distributor Hicomobil as a precursor to GM potentially acquiring a 51% equity stake by October. However DRB-HICOM Bhd’s management says it has not received any official proposal from General Motors Corp (GM) to acquire a 51 pct equity stake in Hicomobil Sdn Bhd. As far as I know, for a due diligence audit to be done it requires cooperation from the company being audited. For more details please refer to the Bursa Malaysia announcement linked below.

Source: Bursa Malaysia Announcement

Tomato Auto & Product Design, or Tomato ANP provides third party upgrades mostly for Korean vehicles like the Kia Sorento, Kia Sportage, Kia Cerato, Hyundai Coupé, Hyundai SantaFe, Hyundai Elantra, and SsangYong Musso. While boasting “I have a Tomato kit” doesn’t sound as cool as saying “I have a Brabus kit”, some of the designs are not too bad at all. It is popular these days to kit up SUVs for that bling factor like the tricked out Hummers in the states. If you own a Kia Sorento or Naza Sorento, you might want to look into Tomato ANP’s kit for the Sorento. I particularly like the exhaust tips integrated into the rear bumper. More photos after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of Tomato ANP Kia Sorento

General Motors is looking into purchasing a 51% stake in Hicomobil, a unit of local conglomerate DRB-HICOM which distributes CBU Chevrolet cars in Malaysia. GM is relooking at Malaysia as it is closing it’s office in Singapore. It’s expected that GM wants to take control of the firm by October 2006, but the deal depends on whether GM agrees to assemble Chevrolet cars at DRB-HICOM’s plant in Pekan, Pahang. Ultimately this will give us cheaper Chevrolet cars, as current models are fully imported. Locally assembled CKD cars have lower tax as compared to fully imported CBU vehicles.

There are plans for a notchback Chevrolet Aveo Sedan in September 2006 to be priced above RM80,000, putting it into competition with other sedans based on hatches like the Honda City. I’m expecting it to be in the lower RM80,000 to RM90,000 range as the Chevrolet Optra 1.6 sedan already occupies the upper half of that price bracket at RM88,888. Two new models are also in the pipeline, due end of 2006 or early 2007.

Related Posts:
2007 Chevrolet Aveo Sedan

Source

GM Daewoo has launched it’s first Sports Utility Vehicle, the Daewoo Winstorm. Most of you may recognise this beautiful SUV as the Chevrolet Captiva. The 7-seater small SUV comes with a 2-liter 150 horsepower turbodiesel engine. The Daewoo Winstorm’s development took 2.5 years, and will be manufactured in Korea. It was first shown as the Chevrolet S3X Concept.

Analysts say this is a bad move for Daewoo as surging gasoline prices have dented SUV sales around the world. The Korean government is also moving to increase taxes for SUVs, which are currently not as high as passanger cars because SUVs were classified as commercial vehicles. On the other hand, some other analysts are of the opinion that the model will achieve success because the rising oil prices have hurt medium and large sized SUVs, not small ones.

The Daewoo Winstorm will also be available under the Chevrolet badge as the Chevrolet Captiva. Models under the Opel, Vauxhall and Saturn badges are also planned. All will be built in Korea. Other than the 150hp 2.0 turbodiesel, there are also news of a 133hp 2.4 liter and a 225hp 3.2 V6 petrol models.

DRB-HICOM’s unit Hicomobil distributes Chevrolet vehicles in Malaysia, and does not have an SUV in it’s line-up. It is possible that the Chevrolet Captiva might end up on our local shores.

DRB-HICOM’s unit Hicomobil Sdn Bhd which distributes Chevrolet cars here in Malaysia has launched a new variant of the Chevrolet Optra. The new variant is the Chevrolet Optra Estate, a station wagon version of the Chevrolet Optra sedan and the Optra 5 hatchback. The Chevrolet Optra Estate will be offered with a 1.6 liter Daewoo E-TEC II DOHC engine (107bhp@5800rpm, 150Nm@4000rpm) mated to a 4-speed automatic transmission. No manual or 1.8 liter models yet.

The Chevrolet Optra Estate will cost RM92,888 on the road without insurance, making it the only station wagon in Malaysia under the RM100,000 range. We used to have the Nissan AD Resort in the past. For more details on the Chevrolet Optra Estate, click here.