Archive for Malaysian Makes

Apparently there is an internal naming contest being held where Proton and Proton subsidiary employees can take part to name a new Proton sedan. The main prize winner will get RM10,000 cash, a GPS navigation unit, a special invite to the new Proton Sedan launch and 2 passes to the KLIMS 2010.

The two passes to this year’s KLIMS motorshow (3rd to 12th December 2010) may indicate that this is a model that’ll be launched this year – are we looking at the new Waja replacement which is rumoured to be based on a Mitsubishi Lancer, or something else? The contest will run from the 10th and ends on the 25th this month. You can click the thumbnail image on the left to view the full contest poster.

A little bird has indicated that Proton will probably take a small media group to the Geneva show (end February to March) this year, so there could be something of importance being unveiled there. Remember Azlan Othman’s tweet about Proton unveiling a new design direction this year?

Source: funtasticko & Ad

Back in late 2008, Proton had engaged in a legal tussle with its ex-partner for the Chinese market. Before Proton went to bed with Youngman for the Europestar range of cars, they actually had a JV with Goldstar Heavy Industrial Co Ltd to sell Proton cars there. Unfortunately there were hiccups along the way and Goldstar could not obtain the necessary manufacturing licenses.

Proton terminated the JV and naturally Goldstar was not happy. They went to court and the suit ended up being in arbitration in Singapore.

The result of the arbitration process is out:

Proton Edar, the marketing arm of Proton Holdings Berhad, held a prize giving ceremony this morning at the Proton Centre of Excellence. Proton Edar CEO Mohamad Shukor Ibrahim was present to give away cash and holiday packages to the winners of the Proton Drive for Holidays campaign, which ran from 1 November to 31 December 2009.

In that period, those who purchased and registered a new Exora or Persona were instantly rewarded with a three-day/two-night hotel stay within Malaysia, while all new customers were eligible to join an SMS contest with seven mobile phones to be won per day. After answering three random questions in the quickest time, the mobile phone winners were entitled to join a MMS contest. This stage required participants to send an image of a favourite part of their Proton, accompanied by a creative caption. Seven winners walked away with 3D2N stays at plush resorts and cash prizes. They are:

7th prize: Yeoh Chian Hui from Kangar
6th prize: Loo Chun Pin from KL
5th prize: Noridah bt Ab Rahman from Rantau Panjang
4th prize: Kee Ming How from Johor Bharu
3rd prize: Lee Yit Ting from Melaka
2nd prize: Mohamad Hadi b Ramli from Seri Kembangan
1st prize: Mohd. Raznan b Johari from Klang

Shukor revealed that registrations was up by 24% year-on-year during the two contest months, proving the effectiveness of the campaign. More “creative campaigns” are being planned, he added. The momentum looks to have been carried to 2010 as well, since Proton’s January figures show an increase of 40% compared to the same month in 2009.

Peugeot has big plans to increase its presence in Asia, and Malaysia – via its partner Naza – plays a major role in this programme. At a press conference this afternoon, Peugeot deputy managing director Nicolas Wertans unveiled the company’s new identity for the first time outside of France (simultaneous with the launch of the 408 in China) and laid out what’s in store for us in the near future.

Peugeot plans to make Naza’s Gurun plant its right-hand drive manufacturing hub that will not only serve the ASEAN region, but possibly Australia, New Zealand and even South Africa. Exports will start this year, where the T33 compact sedan will be shipped to Thailand and Indonesia.

Peugeot has started the expansion of its ASEAN regional office in Petaling Jaya and Mr. Wertans said that a new team is being sent from France to study the market. This team will be based here to better understand the taste and expectations of Malaysian carbuyers.

Five new models will be launched in 2010, the 3008, 5008, 308 CC, RCZ and T33 sedan. The 3008 is a crossover while the 5008 is Peugeot’s version of the Citroen Grand C4 Picasso. Moving on, the 308 CC is a metal folding roof coupe-convertible while the RCZ is a compact sports coupe that follows the Audi TT’s template, shown in the metal at last year’s Frankfurt show.

These cars are all fresh offerings, even in Europe, and the RCZ isn’t even on sale yet in the UK, so this blitz reflects our market’s newfound importance. No chance of these cars coming in with Peugeot’s excellent HDi diesels however; we’ll have to make do with petrol engines from the Prince family.

The T33’s impending launch has been covered on this blog before. It’s essentially a 206 Sedan with an updated nose, but Wertans won’t confirm the 207 Sedan name. To be launched by the end of the third quarter this year, it will come with a Peugeot badge (not Naza) and a 1.6-litre engine paired to a “Porsche” Tiptronic gearbox, likely to be the same drivetrain as the 308 VTi. With a sales target of 500 units per month, the T33 is set to be Naza’s bulk seller, taking over from the phased out 206 Bestari.

Meanwhile, the 408 that was launched hours ago in China, codenamed T73, could come in the near future. Wertans said that Peugeot “is seriously thinking about it, but it’s too early to tell”. The booted 308 is not a replacement for the 407, and isn’t likely to carry the “408″ name in every market it’s sold in – besides China, it will go to Brazil, Russia, India and other developing markets.

These plans will further boost Peugeot’s Asia sales, which grew by 45% in 2009. The French company hopes to expand in emerging markets, as its core market becomes highly saturated (currently 60% of total sales are from Western Europe, where it holds a 7.2% market share).

The new lion logo, “Motion & Emotion” tagline, and design language previewed by the gorgeous SR1 concept forms part of a “major repositioning for the next decade” said Wertans. The SR1 features styling cues that will be on Peugeot’s next generation of cars (no more “big mouth” grille) while the part car, part scooter BB1 concept is confirmed for production. “It’s not if, but when it’s coming to Malaysia,” said Wertans of the four-seat BB1, although he must have looked very, very far ahead when saying that.

Perodua has released its sales figures for 2009, and it comes as no surprise that the Rawang based company ended the year in top spot. Perodua sold 166,700 units to top Malaysia’s sales charts for the fourth consecutive year. The 2009 total is also the second highest in the company’s history.

With that, Perodua’s market share is 31.3 per cent, which is an improvement over 30.5 per cent in 2008, when it sold 176,400 units. “We did considerably well in 2009 with a minimal contraction of 0.4 per cent despite the global economic downturn,” said Perodua’s new managing director Aminar Rashid Salleh at a meeting with the media this afternoon.

Aminar, previously from UMW Toyota, attributed some of Perodua’s success to the Government’s scrapping scheme, which brought 20,000 new sales to Perodua. Perodua’s top seller continues to be the Myvi, which contibuted over 90,000 of the total figure. He also revealed Perodua’s target for 2010, which is to sell 176,000 units.

Here are some updates on the Alza. We haven’t seen that many of Perodua’s small MPV on the road, and it’s been confirmed that our eyes are not problematic. 18,000 bookings have been received to date, but so far less than 3,000 units have been delivered. Perodua promises to reach 3,000 by the end of this month and to produce/deliver about 4,000 units per month beginning March (February is a short month with the Chinese New Year break).

Currently, the waiting period for the Alza is from three and a half to four months; Perodua aims to cut this to 2-2.5 months. There won’t be a repeat of the epic waiting list that Myvi buyers had to endure; Perodua admits that they underestimated demand for the Myvi when it was launched.

We’ve so far posted up pictures of the Proton Persona facelift on test, but here’s a video of the soon to be launched model in motion.

Reader Ned Aznir was cruising on the Federal Highway when he spotted two lightly taped up Personas – one in grey, another in a dark colour. He then whipped out his mobile phone, let the two mules pass and caught up with them again.

No suprises in store, but here we can see the Persona’s rear LEDs light up for the first time towards the end. View the video after the jump!

Click here to read the rest of VIDEO: Proton Persona facelift captured in motion!

The 1.6 liter Campro CPS engine used in the Proton Exora has been the subject of much criticism, whether called for or not. Yes, having a relatively small engine in a large vehicle is bound to require a little more pedal to the metal but everytime there is a story about the Exora or the Alza on this site there is bound to be those who pop up and say that they’ve tried the Exora in so and so situations and the MPV failed to deliver.

I think other than Proton themselves, the next group of people who are likely to be infuriated by such allegations are the Proton Exora owners themselves. After all, they’ve committed to years of monthly repayments to the Proton family vehicle of their choice and having a personal connection with their car, insulting the Exora is almost like insulting their logic or choice of picking the Exora over its competitors.

Quite interestingly, the Exora owners over at protonexora.com.my (Exora Owners Club Malaysia) have decided to take the matter into their own hands. They’ve actually organised a convoy together up to the Genting Highlands Resort. The EOCM 2010 Genting Highlands Road Tour convoy began last Saturday at the Genting Sempah Rest Area. The Exora went up and down (with no sweat) and the members had a great time. The “Jom Ronda Bersama Proton” crew from TV3 also joined in to feature the convoy in an upcoming segment.

It’s nice to see how much passion these guys have for their Proton Exoras. It’s one vehicle that Proton has managed to tick all the right boxes for its intended target customer – space, comfort and price. It just shows that although you could say Proton has failed us in the past with products that don’t quite right hit the sweet spot, when Proton delivers something good, Malaysians will reciprocate.

Check out the EOCM.

It was an early start for a Saturday morning, but I dragged myself out of bed to Proton’s Shah Alam factory to join in the national carmaker’s annual Family Day event; yesterday’s 2010 edition also kick off Proton’s silver jubilee 25th anniversary celebrations. They erected a seriously huge tent (more like an airplane hangar!) to house 18,000 staff and their families who packed the venue. The guest of honour was none other than the man who’s vision created Proton: Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamed accompanied by wife Tun Dr Siti Hasmah.

No, there weren’t any sneak preview of the Persona facelift or new Waja that I had hoped to catch, but the event was anything but boring, thanks to the participants of Proton’s Invention and Innovation competition, an in-house inter-department contest where staff came up with “concept cars” using units that were destined for scrapping. It was very entertaining to say the least; there was a supercar, a shoe car, a caravan, a wooden sportscar, a Donald Duck inspired gullwing Saga and a space ship!

Check the gallery after the jump, but before firing the poison arrows, please do not take them too seriously – this is just a fun contest open to all Proton staff, not a prototype design shootout for the next production model. Enjoy!

Click here to read the rest of Proton employees show off “creative concepts” at its 2010 Family Day celebration

In the last few days of the 2009, Proton styling department chief Azlan Othman revealed that an announcement would be made soon on the showcase of a new design direction and language for Proton Design. He mentioned that it would be a ‘worldwide announcement’, and I think Proton MD Datuk Syed Zainal has just given us a clue as to when this announcement is going to happen!

He revealed at Proton’s 2010 Family Day celebrations that Proton would be participating in the 2010 Geneva Motor Show in March this year. Geneva is probably one of the most important non-American market motorshows out there along with the Frankfurt show, which is just a wee bit strange considering there are no Swiss automotive manufacturers.

A Geneva exhibit usually warrants something big to showcase to make it worth it so maybe… just maybe… perhaps what Azlan meant was that Proton could be showing an interesting concept car featuring future design language elements in it? Peugeot is also taking the same route, showcasing its Peugeot SR1 Concept there.

Other than that, DSZ also said that the Exora is due for a Middle Eastern market debut soon, and a consolidation process of its Shah Alam and Tanjung Malim plants are underway and scheduled to complete by the end of this year. No details have been revealed but in Proton’s current overcapacity state we might see Proton consolidate all manufacturing in one plant?

Until March then!

The lightly taped up facelifted white Proton Persona with the B2641A trade plate has been snapped again, this time by reader Rai. He has 5 photos to share with us, including a close up of the taped up wing mirror with an integrated turn signal. Alot are expecting the new updated Persona to be launched this year. Apparently we’ll be able to look forward to better driveability from the engine as the ECU has been updated to a newer model. For the rest of the photos, look after the jump.

Related Posts:
Proton Persona facelift snapped at Petronas Sepang
2010 Proton Persona facelift sighted on test!

Click here to read the rest of White Proton Persona facelift sighted again!

Peugeot 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.