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New Mitsubishi 3S Centre in Miri, Sarawak

March 31, 2009 at 1:50 pm By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, Local News, Mitsubishi

Mitsubishi Motors Sarawak

Mitsubishi Motors Malaysia now has its first 3S center in Sarawak, located at Lot 2527, Boulevard Commercial Centre, 98000 Miri, Sarawak. The new 3S center by Auto Pacifica spans over 20,000 square feet and was built at an investment of over RM 1 million. The 3S center will house a sales showroom, discussion area, customer lounge, meeting rooms, delivery bay, service reception area and a service workshop with seven dedicated working bays.

A dedicated service center is important for the Mitsubishi Triton to increase its popularity in East Malaysia, especially Sarawak. The Triton holds a market share of 19.1% in the segment, making it the second most popular pick-up in Malaysia, but alot of that is in West Malaysia.

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Prodis-T Sdn Bhd to spearhead electric car charging infrastructure setup in Malaysia

March 31, 2009 at 11:02 am By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, Detroit Electric, Local News

Detroit Electric LogoDetroit Electric signed two agreements yesterday actually – we already know of the one with Proton. The other was a Memorandum of Understanding with a local company – Prodis-T Sdn Bhd.

Prodis-T is said to be entrusted with leading the implementation of electric car charging infrastructure in Malaysia. Detroit Electric will provide technical expertise to support R&D activities. They aim to raise USD 50 million in capital through both private investments and financial loans over the next 2 to 5 years.

But who is Prodis-T exactly? While Prodis-T calls itself a homegrown automotive technology supplier, it is quite young looking at their SSM registration number and a quick check on the net reveals another Prodis-T Sdn Bhd which is a distributor for IBM and Lenovo products for SIs that do work for the government and GLCs. That website was dated 2008. They must have changed direction sometime this year.

Anyway, the quicker Prodis-T and Detroit Electric sort this out the faster we will be able to enjoy the electric cars that are going to be assembled here and exported!

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Detroit Electric to sell electric Persona and GEN2

March 30, 2009 at 9:29 pm By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, Detroit Electric, Hybrids and Alternative Fuel, International News, Local News, Malaysian Makes, Proton, Videos

Detroit Electric

Detroit Electric and Proton Holdings Berhad signed an agreement today for a supply and manufacturing agreement related to Detroit Electric’s upcoming range of electric vehicles. Detroit Electric is manned by ex-Lotus Engineering CEO Albert Lam and used to have a joint venture with ZAP and Youngman which didn’t happen.

Interestingly Detroit Electric’s ex-partner Youngman is Proton’s customer in China, where it buys the Proton Persona and GEN2 to rebadge as its own cars. Detroit Electric’s deal with Proton is similiar. It will buy the Proton Persona and Proton GEN2 from Proton to fit with an electric motor instead of the CamPro engine, and rebadge them as the Detroit Electric e63 and the Detroit Electric e46 respectively.

The deal is expected to take in RM 2 billion of revenue for Proton over the next 4 to 5 years, with expected volume to be 40,000 cars a year, potentially to grow up to 100,000 cars a year, if Detroit Electric does well in marketing its EVs. They will work with Proton engineers and assemblers to optimise the assembly line. The cars will be built alongside the regular Persona and GEN2 at Proton’s Tanjung Malim plant. The installation of the electric motor and battery and etc will be done off line.

Detroit Electric e63

Detroit Electric said it picked Proton as its partner after discussing with a few others because it allowed Proton an easy entry into the market. Given that Lotus Engineering, the company that Albert used to work for, had a part to play in the development of the GEN2 and Persona should clear up any doubts that Detroit has with the capability of the car’s chassis.

More details on the cars to come in a post following this, but the specifications for the cars seem impressive at first sight but because of an extended teh tarik session between the VIPs there, the press conference was extremely delayed and we ended up having less than half an hour to ask questions, so we’re not sure if these specs are finalised or not. If they are finalised, looks good.

The first production cars will hit the road in Q1 or Q2 2010, and target markets are UK, Europe and China. No mention of Malaysia, apparently that is still under study :( Detroit Electric are targetting markets with incentives for zero emission vehicles or at least fines and taxes for polluting vehicles.

Detroit Electric e46

A US market entry is expected towards end-Q3 2010 or beginning Q4 2010 because of the additional work needed to get the Persona and GEN2 homologated in the US. Apparently Detroit Electric will be paying for this, so no expenditure from Proton in that sense.

Detroit Electric is also exploring the possibilities of locating its battery and electric motor plant here. Albert Lam says Malaysia is an attractive place for them because of the availability of engineers as well as the relatively low labour costs.

Coming up next – some specs of the cars. In the meanwhile look after the jump to watch some videos that Detroit Electric gave us.
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Detroit Electric to sign RM 1.2 billion agreement with Proton for electric car development

March 27, 2009 at 3:07 pm By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, Detroit Electric, Hybrids and Alternative Fuel, Local News, Malaysian Makes, Proton

Detroit Electric

It appears that Detroit Electric has finally settled on Proton for its partner in producing its electric cars. According to a release by Detroit Electric, the company is set to sign a RM 1.2 billion (US$331 million) agreement with Proton to produce pure electric cars based on protons, beginning with the Proton Persona.

When we attended Detroit Electric’s press preview back in September 2008, we got to sample some electric cars converted by the company, such as an electric Lotus Elise. There were also various prototype electric cars there such as a Persona and a Savvy.

According to Detroit Electric head Albert Lam, a 100% electric powered Persona could be available in the regions of RM 80,000. Detroit Electric will use a production line at Proton’s Shah Alam manufacturing plant to produce the electric Protons.

Read our previous write-ups on Detroit Electric for more info.

Related Posts:
Detroit Electric’s emissions-free Lotus Elise driven!
Detroit Electric to base electric cars on Proton cars?

113 Comments      

PDRM’s Lancer Evolution: Helang Lebuhraya Polis

March 26, 2009 at 2:30 pm By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, Local News, Mitsubishi

PDRM Helang Evo
PDRM Helang Evo

Buletin Utama featured the Royal Malaysian Police’s new Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X cars yesterday night. PDRM says the Evos will be used in high-speed car chases, particularly in cases of carjacking, kidnapping and highjacking.

Police personnel assigned to the vehicles have undergone intensive driving classes to ensure they are able to drive the Lancers effectively, said a PDRM source. The cars are equipped with 5-speed manual transmissions instead of the twin clutch version that we are able to buy from Mitsubishi Malaysia. We first saw the cars without decals, but now they have decals and are called “Helang Lebuhraya Polis”.

Check out a clip of the feature after the jump which features the current PM in his last days check out the ride and giving it his thumbs up. Perhaps we may see a unit or a mock-up unit featured in Yusof Haslam’s Gerak Khas eh? ;)
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New Shell Ferrari 1:38 model cars with Touch Steering feature!

March 26, 2009 at 11:50 am By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, Ferrari, Local News

Shell Cars

The Shell Ferrari model cars are back again! Shell releases these cars with a new feature every year and last year was the engine sounds of course. This year the cars have abit more intelligence in them.

See the thing is these are Ferraris which are supposed to be able to scream through corners like they’re on rails but the previous cars only go straight like American dragsters! So Shell has solved this – this year the 1:38 scale cars can actually turn!

Shell calls this feature “Touch Steering”. There is a directional button underneath which you can press to store up to 15 different directions. A microchip inside reads these commands and stores them, and controls the front wheels to steer.

Watch how it works:

I think this is quite a good feature, because after all alot of kids are going to play with these cars. A kid can set up his own little race circuit in his living room hall or playroom and then program the car to race through the circuit. This extends the lifespan of the toy before the kid gets bored with it as it opens up a whole new world other than just a toy car going straight into the wall.

Shell also did a TVC featuring Michael Schumacher:

5 cars are offered, which are the 430 Scuderia, FXX Evoluzione, 599 GTB Fiorano, 612 Scaglietti and the 360 GTC. The cars are RM6.90 with a minimum purchase of RM40 of Shell V-Power Racing, or RM8.90 with a minimum purchase of RM40 of Shell Super or Shell Diesel.

The yellow 599 GTB Fiorano and red 430 Scuderia re only available at RM6.90 with the purchase of 4L Shell Helix Ultra or Shell Helix Diesel HX7 or RM8.90 with every purchase of 3L/4L Shell Helix HX5.

There is also a play mat and a display garage set for RM15 and RM60 respectively.

39 Comments      

Naza Italia 4S Centre for Ferrari and Maserati

March 23, 2009 at 11:14 am By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, Ferrari, Local News, Maserati

Naza Italia
Click to enlarge

Naza Italia Sdn Bhd, sole distributor and importer for Ferrari & Maserati will be opening the largest lifestyle centre for both these marques on 31 March 2009 in Petaling Jaya.

It consists of a state-of-the-art 4S (sales, service, systems & spare-parts) centre, including two-level Ferrari and Maserati showroom which houses the latest and most current models, as well as a contemporary lounge with full facilities for Ferrari Owners Club members and Maserati owners to enjoy.

The Naza Italia Lifestyle Centre is open to all and offers an extensive array of brand merchandise to both Ferrari & Maserati fans, owners & enthusiasts, as well as providing the owners the assurance that their Italian luxury marques will well cared for and maintained in pristine condition.

The showroom will be officiated by His Royal Majesty The King of Malaysia Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin.
[Read more...]

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BMW Malaysia introduces BMW TeleServices!

March 20, 2009 at 2:15 am By Paul Tan Filed Under BMW, Cars, Local News

BMW LogoBMW Malaysia is taking its customer ownership experience to the next level with the introduction of BMW TeleServices, now available with any BMW vehicle from BMW Malaysia that is equipped with Bluetooth and the BMW Navigation Professional System.

TeleServices is part of the BMW ConnectedDrive suite of services, and is related to the maintenance of your car. When a service is due as determined by BMW’s Condition Based Server on-board system, the car will communicate with the BMW TeleServices server via the mobile phone network and relay this service information. Your dealer/service center will then call you up to arrange an appointment for you to bring your car in for service at your convenience.

It’s not just oil changes – CBS sensors can detect worn parts such as brake discs and pads and etc. The service job – if not something complicated like some major part broken – should be quick and fast as the CBS system will also inform BMW of what parts needs to be ready at the service center, so everything will be ready for service work to begin with minimal diagnostic and logistics delay.

Other parts of ConnectedDrive including BMW Assist and BMW Online internet access are currently under discussion/development with some local partners in Malaysia and will be rolled out when the infrastructure is ready. These are just some of the perks of buying your BMW from BMW Malaysia instead of a grey importer.

As it is, only half of the BMWs registered in Malaysia every month are from official dealers, the rest are grey imports. So BMW Malaysia is quite aggressive in trying to convert these grey import lovers, even if they are converted to BMW approved used car customers instead of brand new car customers. Services such as this are one way, and their Service Inclusive packages and attractive BMW Credit and Leasing plans are another. My advice is don’t look at the initial car price when you are considering which is the better deal, look at the bigger picture.

Look after the jump for some videos about BMW TeleServices.
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Fiat Bravo GT Automatic 6-speed Duologic AMT

March 20, 2009 at 1:20 am By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, Fiat, Local News

Fiat Bravo GT

A 2nd variant of the Bravo GT has been unveiled for the Malaysian market. Yes, we’re talking about the Fiat Bravo GT, not the other Bravo GT back from the 1990s.

This version comes with an automated manual version of the 6-speed gearbox called the Duologic gearbox instead of a proper slushbox, which means its a regular manual but with a robotised clutch to do all the shifting for you. For this, the Bravo GT manual’s RM 135,000 OTR without insurance price tag gets bumped up to RM 145,000.

The original Bravo GT manual (with 150 PS at 5,500rpm and 206Nm of torque at 2,250rpm) used to look attractive before the 308 Turbo came about, now it actually feels a little pricey considering another European turbocharged C-segment hatch is only pegged at RM 111,000 (though its CBU versus CKD), though this is expected to increase in price soon slightly, but will come with an upgraded equipment level as well.

Each has its own charms of course, but I say, it would be terrific if that extra equipment that’s coming with the 308 Turbo is the glass roof from the 308 GT as it does wonders to the cabin ambiance. Read our very short first impressions of the Bravo GT 1.4 T-JET manual from 2007 in the related link listed below.

Related Posts:
Fiat Bravo GT 1.4 T-JET 150hp Short Test Drive

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Honda Civic Modulo kit for the 2009 facelift

March 19, 2009 at 4:52 pm By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, Honda, Local News

Honda Civic Modulo Facelift

With the update of the Civic to the latest facelifted generation in Malaysia, Honda has introduced a matching Modulo kit to go with it. Above is how the new Civic facelift with the bigger grille and Type R-ish bumper looks like with the Modulo bits slapped on.

The whole package consists of a front lip, a rear lip and side skirts with a trunk spoiler to finish it off, costing a total of RM 5,000 which you can package into your hire purchase loan. In addition, other than the package there are some other separate bits like an illuminated side step for RM 690 and a trunk tray for RM 330.

With the Modulo kit added, the OTR prices become RM 119,980 and RM 134,980 for the Civic 1.8S and Civic 2.0S respectively. Look after the jump for the individual bits including individual pricing.
[Read more...]

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