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Malaysia all set to be Peugeot regional hub

January 7, 2010 at 9:28 pm By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, Local News, Naza, Peugeot

peugeot logoPeugeot today announced its intentions to make Malaysia its regional hub through its relationship with the Naza Group. Peugoet is currently distributed in Malaysia by Nasim Sdn Bhd, which took over the franchise from Cycle & Carriage.

Since Nasim took over, a nice European marque has been made an affordable choice for many Malaysians, undercutting its competitors both in terms of price and specifications. Turbocharging and direct injection technology in a petrol engine for the masses! Naza sold 3,766 Peugeot cars in 2009, comprising of 2,347 units of the 206 Bestari, 885 units of the 308, 491 units of the 407 and 43 units of the 207 CC. For 2010, the group is targeting to sell 2,930 Peugeots in Malaysia, which will include the “T33″ entry-level model, to be produced at Naza’s Gurun plant.

Peugeot themselves are expanding its ASEAN Regional Office in PJ, which will manage operations for the Asia-Pacific region (excluding China). Peugeot’s ASEAN Regional Office in Malaysia currently runs an ASEAN training centre and technical help desk for after-sales technicians in the Asia-Pacific region and the Middle East.

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BMW X6 M now available in Malaysia!

January 7, 2010 at 1:24 pm By Paul Tan Filed Under BMW, Cars, Local News

The BMW X6 M carries many ‘firsts’ for a BMW M car. It’s the first M car with all-wheel drive, the first M car with a torque converter automatic and also the first M car with a turbocharged engine! And it’s also happens to be the first BMW to be launched this year, so we should see a few 555 horsepower behemoths roaming Malaysian roads and giving chase to Cayenne Turbos soon.

The X6 M is of course immediately identifiable by its different looks compared to the regular X6 which happens to be quite popular in Malaysia as well. The entire bodywork is body colour, losing the little grey bits at the lower part of the body that the regular X6 has. The rear of course has the trademark M quad exhaust pipes. Wheels are huge 20 inchers wrapped with 275/40R20 at the front and 315/35R20 at the rear – this baby’s front tyres are thicker than my E39′s rear tyres!

The price to own one of these? RM1,188,800, which is significantly more than a BMW M6, the most expensive M car in Malaysia so far.

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Limited-edition Mitsubishi Lancer 2.0 GTS

January 6, 2010 at 1:58 pm By Danny Tan Filed Under Cars, Local News, Mitsubishi

Mitsubishi Motors Malaysia has just unveiled the special edition Lancer 2.0 GTS, which is limited to 100 units. The 2.0 GTS features a spruced up exterior and cabin. Cosmetic add ons include rear air dams and diffuser style bumper, faux carbon fibre trim on the rear spoiler and side skirts as well as gun metal grey rims, which are identical in design to the standard 18-inch wheels. There’s also an “S” added to the rear 2.0 GT emblem and Ralliart stickers.

Inside, the 2.0 GTS sports new leather covers for the seats, now with Ralliart style red and orange stitching, while the gear knob gets red stitching. These and the bodykit are fitted locally, except for the Ralliart stickers and S badge, which come from Thailand.

The special edition Lancer 2.0 GTS is priced at RM123,046.10 on the road without insurance. This means that you pay about RM2500 extra over a standard 2.0 GT. Buyers will get a Ralliart jacket with their new GTS.

Close up shots of the new bits after the jump!
[Read more...]

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Naza to distribute Koenigsegg in Malaysia?

January 5, 2010 at 3:41 pm By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, Koenigsegg, Local News

According to Business Times, Naza is set to take up the distributorship of the Koenigsegg brand here in Malaysia and we could see the first units going on sale in February. Naza currently already holds distributorships of Ferrari and Maserati, so this will be the group’s third high performance brand. Koenigsegg is expected to be a very niche model in Malaysia, even more niche than the Ferrari or Maserati brands, especially the latter which is able to target buyers with a budget of about a million bucks and sway their purchase decision from a 750Li or a S500 to a Quattroporte. Koeniegseggs will be a completely different price tag altogether, with the CCX expected to go for over 3 million ringgit at least. More details to come when an official announcement is made.

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CONFIRMED: Naza is new distributor of Chevrolet!

January 4, 2010 at 2:10 pm By Danny Tan Filed Under Chevrolet, Local News, Naza

The Naza Group has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with General Motors to be the official distributor of Chevrolet cars and parts in Malaysia. The MoU was signed by Naza Group joint executive chairman SM Faisal SM Nasimuddin and General Motors Southeast Asia Operations and Chevrolet Sales Thailand President Steve Carlisle.

“This is part of the group’s on-going efforts to continuously look out for viable business opportunities with foreign partners to complement and consolidate our automobile sales portfolio,” the conglomerate said.

This expected announcement confirms longstanding rumours linking the two parties which started even before GM and DRB-HICOM officially parted ways. We will deliver updates as it becomes available.

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Naza in talks with GM to handle Chevrolet

January 2, 2010 at 12:03 pm By Danny Tan Filed Under Chevrolet, Local News, Naza

It was quite an open secret that Naza was looking to take over custody of the Chevrolet brand in Malaysia, even before the official break up announcement by DRB-HICOM and GM. So a Starbiz report saying that Naza and GM are in talks for the exclusive distribution of Chevy comes as no surprise.

Although the report, which quotes an unnamed “industry source” said that GM is in talks with several parties, it didn’t mention any local company besides Naza. According to the source, Naza and GM will make an announcement by the second week of January.

In the meantime, GM is counting on dealer Cergazam Sdn Bhd to manage the franchise until a new partner comes on board.

Naza taking on Chevrolet in its stable will be quite interesting as it already handles one of Chevy’s big rivals in Kia, and we can imagine that one of the big topics on the discussion table with GM will be how Naza will manage this situation.

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Alfa Romeo 159 price revised upwards

December 31, 2009 at 4:50 pm By Danny Tan Filed Under Alfa Romeo, Local News

Sime Darby Auto ConneXion, the company behind Ford, Land Rover and Alfa Romeo, has announced a new price for the Alfa Romeo 159. Available only in 2.2 JTS spec with Selespeed gearbox, it is now priced at RM195,888 (nett selling price excluding insurance, road tax and registration fees). The previous price was RM188,888.

For your RM200,000, the 159 comes with 9 airbags (front, rear, window, driver’s knee), Vehicle Dynamic Control (VDC), auto lights and wipers, bi-xenons, three-zone climate control, sunroof and 18-inch alloys, among other kit.

The direct injection 2.2 JTS engine comes with 185 bhp and 230 Nm of torque, good for 0-100 km/h in 8.8 seconds and a top speed of 222 km/h.

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Naza to launch eight models next year!

December 31, 2009 at 4:02 pm By Danny Tan Filed Under Kia, Local News, Naza, Peugeot

The Naza Group targets to achieve sales of 25,970 units next year with major contribution coming from its Kia division. Joint executive chairman SM Nasarudin SM Nasimuddin broke down the 2010 sales target to 22,000 Kia vehicles, 2,930 Peugeot vehicles and 1,040 units of the Naza Forza.

Naza plans to launch four new Kia models which will include a “recreational vehicle” in the first half of the year. The conglomerate will also introduce four new Peugeots in 2010, including the “T33″ entry-level model that will be manufactured at its Gurun plant.

Our guess is that the “RV” in question will be the new Sorento, while the Soul and Forte Koup should also be coming. How about the facelifted Optima to make it four?

On the Peugeot front, T33 is the 207 Sedan, which despite the name is a booted 206 with the 207′s “big mouth” face. Naza will be counting on this small saloon to provide the bulk of Peugeot sales. My personal prediction for the other three is 207, 308 CC and a crossover, possibly the 3008.

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Proton discontinues car scrapping programme

December 31, 2009 at 9:08 am By Danny Tan Filed Under Cars, Local News, Proton

Proton Xchange Programme, the car scrapping scheme from Proton has been discontinued. In a media statement, Proton said only applications that reached its offices on or before Oct 31 would be processed for the rebate vouchers.

The national car manufacturer said it had received a total of 25,862 applications from March 10 to Oct 31, exhausting the funds provided by the government’s economic stimulus plan before the given year-end period. 7,539 applications were received from Nov 1-6 before Proton realised that the piggy bank was empty – however, the company has come up with a “special incentive scheme” for this group of customers. If you are among those who submitted forms in November, contact Proton for further arrangements.

Unsuccessful applicants will not need to surrender their old cars in order to enjoy the special scheme but Proton would provide the necessary assistance in making arrangements with used car dealers. “While this scheme is applicable to the purchases of any Proton cars, the cars must be registered by the Jan 31, 2010,” the statement read.

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DRB-HICOM to launch its own hybrid car by 2012

December 30, 2009 at 7:43 pm By Danny Tan Filed Under Hybrids and Alternative Fuel, Local News

DRB-HICOM has announced plans to introduce its own hybrid car by 2012. Group director of automotive, Datuk Nik Hamdan Nik Hassan said the conglomerate is currently in talks with three potential partners to manufacture the car and that they hope to finalise the deal next year.

“We want to have our own hybrid car that we can call it HICOM hybrid. It will take 18 to 24 months to have this car to come on stream,” he told a media briefing today. When pressed for details, he declined to name the parties but said that one of them was DRB-HICOM’s existing partner.

Who might that be? At present, DRB-HICOM has links with Audi, Mercedes-Benz, Honda, Suzuki, Mitsubishi, Isuzu, Mahindra as well as local brands Proton and Modenas. It has just cut off ties with GM and Chevrolet.

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