Archive for Local News

Due to a restructuring exercise, Malaysia Airport Holdings, the current owner of the Sepang F1 circuit is trying to sell off the circuit. The Ministry of Finance agreed in 2003 to buy the circuit for USD 103.6 million (RM 391 million) but apparently the sale is being held up by Bernie Ecclestone’s Formula One Management.

Apparently there are some legalities with a country owning a circuit being used in the Formula One series, as Malaysia as a sovereign country cannot be taken to court in case anything happens. A solution is still being worked out.

Source

An audit has revealed there may be traces of bribery between Proton and the media when it comes to reviewing Proton cars.

Apparently Proton had been very generous with the time spans it allows a journalist to keep the review car, and had handed out more than 70 cars so far - with 30 allocated to the media.

There has been cases where NSTP motoring journalists have been assigned Gen.2 and Savvy cars and were told to keep it for an unlimited period. They were told to report back on any problems over long-term use. To me, this sounds like a plausible reason. I frankly do not know what the fuss is about.

The normal review period for a car is usually between 3 days to a week. The Gen2 was returned after 8 months, and the Savvy after 2 months.

Investigations are still underway.

Source

Yet more updates on the Volkswagen-Proton parnership. The Malay Mail reports Volkswagen AG may buy 40% of Proton’s manufacturing arm, and assume management control over that unit. Proton’s board of directors had met up with Volkswagen officials last week to discuss this offer.

This deal will allow Proton to benefit from Volkswagen’s technical expertise. However Proton joint Chief Operating Officer Datuk Kisai Rahmat denied to comment on the results of the discussion.

Source

The Edge reports HLG Research expects non-national cars to make up 50% of car sales on the overall by 2007, and 47% by next year.

HLG expects industry volume for both passenger and commercial vehicles to reach 562,380 units in 2007.

HLG recommends UMW shares for investment in the auto industry, with a price target of RM6.89. Reasons given include NAP incentives and Perodua’s involvement in assembling Toyota vehicles.

As for Proton, HLG maintains it’s buy status, in view of a potential alliance with Volkswagen AG which will improve economies of scale and efficiency through technology transfer, as well as better sentiments that the Volkswagen brand will give.

HLG has a hold status on Tan Chong shares, due to sales for the successful Frontier and X-Trail models that might be affected if prices go up because of 4WD and MPV segment tax hikes. Passanger cars should be safe so far, as the margins would be able to absorb the tax hikes.

A special celebrity Champion’s Drive will be held at next week’s A1 Grand prix at the Sepang circuit. Malaysia’s A1 Team and Proton has organised a 10 lap race, which involves celebrities racing in Proton’s Satria R3 cars.

Some of the celebrities participating are former F1 champion Emmerson Fittipaldi, ex-F1 driver Jan Lammers, Alex Yoong’s sister Pippa Yoong and Malaysia’s rally king Karamjit Singh.

The Malaysian leg of the A1 Grand Prix will be held from 18-20 November 2005. Tickets are priced from RM30 to RM200.

Sources say that Proton Holdings Bhd is reviewing it’s investments in MV Agusta Motor and the Lotus Group International.

No decision made so far, but Proton might cut down on such investments that are non-core assets.

Proton had made a RM137 million provision for bad debts that contributed to a net loss of RM12.4 million last quarter, and most of that amount is suspected to linked to loss-making MV Agusta.

Proton’s cash reserves had dwindled down to RM 2.8 billion this year, from RM 6 billion in 2001.

I doubt Proton would let go of Lotus - the main subject here seems to be MV Agusta, but we cannot rule it out just yet.

Source

Those who hoped proposal to raise the highway speed limits to 120km/h are in for a disappointment, as Minister of Works Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu said the government had rejected the proposal and will not entertain anymore proposals on the speed limit as it is final.

The Cabinet had earlier agreed to the proposal to raise the speed limit, but rethought it’s decision due to high accident rates.

Earlier this month, the Transport Ministry released the list of speed-trap camera spots in effort to reduce accidents during the balik kampung season.

These speed trap cameras are installed along accident prone areas. While this move is very unorthodox, it has it’s purpose.

If the drivers know these high-risk areas have speed traps, they will slow down and thus the accident rates will go down. Excellent reason, shows that the government is focusing on lowering death tolls during the balik kampung season rather than collecting revenue from speed summons.

Source: NST, Bernama

The Edge reported on Monday that Proton Holdings Bhd is exploring partnership options with other automers including Mitsubishi Motors Corp of Japan. Talks between Proton and Volkswagen AG seems to have run into difficulty.

It’s interesting to hear that Mitsubishi has popped up among the possible partners that are Volkswagen AG and Hyundai (well, mainly through Sime Darby). Proton had a 20 year old relationship with Mitsubishi which broke down. Mitsubishi disposed it’s entire 16% stake in Proton, most of which were picked up by Khazanah Nasional, which holds 42.7% of Proton shares now.

The Mitsubishi-Proton partnership was deemed a failure because of the lack of technology transfer. What would be different about it this time? Does NAZA and Peugeot’s partnership on the Peugeot 206 involve technology transfer? It’s an outgoing model after all, due to be replaced with the Peugeot 207.

If talks with Volkswagen really break down, we may not see the proposed use of Volkswagen’s Sharan and Passat platforms for Proton’s new MPV and Perdana replacement model.

Whatever the result, everything has just been speculations so far from industry sources. We eagerly await solid outcomes with official announcements.

Source

Looks like Karamjit’s plight had reached the cabinet, thanks mostly to Malay Mail’s efforts. Our PM Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi raised the matter of Karamjit Singh’s lack of sponsorship to continue rallying at the cabinet on Wednesday. He asked, “If Karamjit is a Malaysian and has been producing results and bringing honour to the country, why has support not been accorded to him?”

Karamjit was slapped a RM46,000 (10,000 Euro) fine by FIA after he pulled out of the World Rally Championship due to lack of funds to run the races. He also needs RM57,000 to ship his car back from New Zealand. He is currently in the process of finalising the sale of his apartment to pay for the fine and the transport fees if there are no sponsors in the next few days.

Karamjit said he is touched by offers to set up funds to raise money for him to race, but he will not use public or Sports Ministry funds to race as he believes there are enough big corporations in Malaysia who can sponsor him. Otherwise, he will race for another country next year.

Sports Minister Datuk Azalina Othman Said said that the government will do whatever they can to assist. She mentioned there are several possibilities to help Karamjit continue racing and those options are being explored before a decision will be made.

Sources: Malay Mail 1, 2, 3

Related blog posts:
Why can’t Karamjit Singh secure sponsorship?
Karamjit will not be able to defend APRC title

Toyota Motor Corp Katsuaki Watanabe said Toyota may consider setting up hybrid vehicle plants somewhere in the ASEAN region if there is sufficient demand for hybrid vehicles in the region.

Although Toyota already has a big presence in the Thai automotive industry, it could also choose Malaysia as it’s hybrid manufacturing hub. Watanabe said it depends on where the demand is coming from. There are no immediately plans, and hybrid vehicle manufacturing requires sophisticated machines.

Toyota plans accumulated sales of 1 million hybrid vehicles, running on the road by 2010. It is already half way there, with sales of 470,000 so far since the introduction of the Toyota Prius in 1997.

Source: StarBiz