Archive for Malaysian Makes

Proton has appointed Claudius Meynert as its new director of International Sales and Services Division. 44 year old Meynert used to be Audi’s managing director for the Asia Pacific region (he served Audi for 14 years) before starting up a Bangkok-based automotive parts and trading company called Trade Asia in 2007. Meynert holds an MBA from the Georg August University in Goettingen, Germany.

You can actually see that in the photo on the left provided by Proton, Meynert is actually leaning on a blue Audi. Part of the large shield grille and its four rings are just barely visible in the bottom left corner of the image.

“With Meynert at the helm of PROTON’s ISSD, the company is now more equipped in its effort to focus on PROTON’s long term export strategy, concentrating on high growth regional markets namely ASEAN, China, India Middle East, including North Africa,” said Proton’s managing director Dato Syed Zainal Abidin Syed Mohamed Tahir.

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Proton is having a nationwide naming contest for the new Proton MPV from now until the 30th of September 2008. Participants can enter the contest either via an online website or SMS. I recommend you use the online form as it is free while the SMS costs RM0.80 plus your existing mobile operator charges, unless you suddenly get an idea while you are not at a PC and want to quickly enter it in case someone else thinks of it first. Proton is not profiting from it though as the RM0.80 will be donated to charity.

To join via the website, just fill in this form. For SMS entries, you need to type P (space) IC Number (comma) Your MPV name entry (comma) Rationale for name (comma) Original tagline. Send the SMS to 36677. The example given is “P 821013105150 Familia, MPV is for families to travel together with enough space on long journeys, A place to bond with your family”.

There is a maximum length limit of 1 SMS for each entry, so be sure not to type a description that is so long that it extends over 1 SMS’s length (160 characters). For online entries there is a max limit of 145 characters including spaces as you don’t have to include your IC number in the entry, but fill it in separately in another form field. You will have to be 18 and above to participate.

The grand prize winner will get to name the new Proton MPV and will win one unit of the Proton MPV. Two runner-ups will win a trip for two to Lotus UK worth RM15,000 each.

Winners will be announced at least 1 month before the Proton MPV’s official launch somewhere in end-March 2009. Winners will be contacted in October 2008, but as there are 3 prizes, I think this will be for the two runner-up who will win the trips.

It would not make sense to contact the grand prize winner until much closer to the Proton MPV’s launch date as the chosen name would then be leaked. But then again I might be wrong. Look for one more photo of the chassis after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of Win a Proton MPV in Proton’s naming contest!

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Would you be interested in a Proton Persona powered by 100% electric power for about RM80k? That could be a genuine question sometime in the future, thanks to Detroit Electric. The team from Detroit Electric is in KL this week with their fleet of prototype electric cars built on existing models. A few cars were available at the media event today including a Lotus Elise, a Proton Persona, and a Proton Savvy. All were powered by Detroit Electric’s electric powertrains with various power ratings.

We took the Lotus Elise for a spin around Proton’s oval test track at its Shah Alam plant. Read our experience as well as more on Dutch-based Detroit Electric after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of DRIVEN: Detroit Electric’s electric Lotus Elise

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The Proton MPV will begin on-road testing from the 12th of September 2008 onwards, so we’ll be able to spot it on our local roads and hopefully get some nice clear photos possibly from mid-September onwards. It will be launched to the public in March 2009.

Proton sources have confirmed that the Proton MPV will initially come with the 125 horsepower Campro CPS found in the highline GEN2 CPS facelift. The car will ride on 15 inch wheels which should be easy on the fuel consumption as well as tyre change bills as smaller tyres are cheaper. 125hp is far from sprinty on a heavy vehicle especially with all 7 seats occupied, but it is still more powerful than the 1.3, 1.5 and 1.6 liter engines that almost all B-segment Japanese MPVs have to make do with.

A turbocharged Campro engine is said to be in the works but according to inside sources if any other engine options other than the CPS engine are to be available for the Proton MPV, next in line is more likely to be a turbodiesel engine. In fact, Proton may have played a part in (successfully) lobbying for the recent drop of diesel road tax rates to the same level as petrol road tax rates.

Above is a rendered image by Theophilus Chin based on insider information including some photos of a finished Proton MPV model that have been circulating in e-mail inboxes. Some of you have definitely seen it already by now. Some details in the rendered image are correct so you can have a “preview” but others are intentionally left different to prevent any legal problems.

The actual car will have a much sharper and sportier front end which will remind you of the Lotus APX. I am also unable to post up the finished model photos as they were taken inside private properties and not public roads, thus leaving anyone publishing it open to legal problems.

Look after the jump for two more shots of Theo Chin’s rendered speculation, or click any one of the related stories before for more exclusive details on the Proton MPV.

Related Stories:
Proton MPV: exclusive initial details and specifications revealed!
Proton MPV sketches preview production model
First sighting of Proton MPV test mule on the road

Click here to read the rest of Proton MPV first batch to roll out mid-Sept 2008

Proton has launched a new duel-fuel version of the Proton GEN2 in the UK that can run on both petrol and Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG). It’s called the Proton GEN2 ecoLogic. A small meter near to the gear lever shows which fuel you are running on, and there are warning lights to tell you when you are going to run out of LPG.

According to Parker’s, a liter of LPG gets you about 80% of the mileage you can get out of a liter petrol, but LPG costs approximately 50% cheaper in the UK. There are currently about 1,400 LPG stations in the UK, and 140,000 LPG vehicles on UK roads. Autogas Ltd’s Chris Taylor says this could potentially halve a UK motorist’s bill by roughly 40%.

The car could also qualify for lower road tax because LPG combustion produces less exhaust pollutants, therefore lowering its impact on the environment. The car’s new CO2 figures have yet to be confirmed so the new road tax band is unknown but according to Proton, CO2 emissions are expected to be 15% lower.

The new GEN2 ecoLogic comes with the same 3 year or 60,000 mile (96,560km) warranty as the rest of the GEN2 range in the UK, so there’s no need to worry about your warranty unlike aftermarket conversions. Only 1.6 liter models are available and they cost exactly the same price as the petrol-only models. The only difference is there are cheaper petrol models available with 1.3 liter engines. Both the Persona and the GEN2 are called the GEN2 in the UK, so the UK-market Persona is available with this LPG conversion as well.

Don’t expect this to be coming to Malaysia anytime soon though, as our natural gas vehicles and refueling stations run on CNG (compressed natural gas) instead of LPG. Proton has mentioned before in the past that it would be introducing NGV cars soon and when that happens we will most likely get CNG models.

UPDATE: Proton has launched the Proton Persona CNG in Thailand.

National carmaker Proton Holdings Bhd announced today at its Annual General Meeting that its new MPV will be launched in March 2009. It also mentioned that it would focus more on fuel efficiency in the future, in line with the world’s energy crisis and high fuel prices.

It also revealed its financial performance for the first quarter of financial year 2008. Proton posted a profit after tax of RM52.03 million, an improvement compared to net losses of RM46.7 million in the corresponding quarter of the previous financial year.

This is thanks to the higher revenue of RM1.7 billion compared to RM1.14 billion in Q1 2007, thanks to higher sales volume of 39,888 versus 28,145. Its net cash balance has also improved from 328.6 million in Q1 2007 to 1.339 billion in Q1 2008.

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Proton launched a special edition of the Proton Persona SE today, priced at RM59,800. The Persona SE is only available in two colours - Blue Haze and Brilliant Red. Like all new units of the Persona, the new Proton Persona SE is powered by the Campro IAFM engine which offers a smoother torque curve compared to the old Campro engine. It is only available with an automatic transmission.

The following are the differences in equipment for the special edition model:

• Leather-wrapped seats, steering wheel, gear knob and trim
• Meter panel from the GEN2 CPS
• Different alloy wheel design (15 inch)
• Cruise Control
• Smoked headlamps
• Silver matte door handles and front grille
• A bodykit consisting of front, side and rear skirts and a subtle spoiler
• A Proton-rebadged windscreen-mounted GPS navigation device

The GPS device loads its maps from an SD card, so it should be easy to replace the maps whenever there are updates. I noticed there were some points of interests loaded onto the map such as local restaurants so if you’re in an area you do not know and want to grab a quick bite the GPS should be quite useful in that sense.

Look after the jump for more photos of the Persona SE.

Click here to read the rest of Proton Persona SE now on sale for RM59,800

The Perodua Myvi has received a facelift 3 years after it was launched, at a time which would appropriately be mid-point in its lifecycle. There are updates with the exterior, interior, equipment as well as price, which naturally have been revised higher.

Continue reading after the jump for full details of the updated Myvi…

RELATED: 2008 Perodua Myvi SE Facelift - Full Details, Photos and Prices

Click here to read the rest of New Perodua Myvi Facelift launched in Malaysia!

We’ve all drooled at the MEM Proton Satria Neo Super 2000 Rally Car built by Mellors Elliot Motorsport according to FIA Super 2000 rally specifications. The Satria Neo S2000 car uses a 280 horsepower 2.0 liter normally aspirated engine based on the 1.8 liter Renault engine in the Waja 1.8X.

Look after the jump to watch a video of a young driver trying the car out and listen to the 280 horses and 271Nm of torque being unleashed through the 6-speed Xtrac sequential transmission. Hopefully more videos of the S2000 Neo will make its way onto the web for our enjoyment soon. Thanks to reader IsaacVky for the pointer.

Related Story:
MEM Proton Satria Neo Super 2000 - Specifications and Photos

Click here to read the rest of VIDEO: MEM Proton Satria Neo Super 2000

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Team Proton Axle’s Faidzil Alang beat 25 other cars and took the chequered flag today at the Bira International Circuit in Thailand, ensuring a driver’s crown win for the team in the inaugural Asian Touring Car 1500Max Series race.

This is Faidzil’s fourth win in the series, chalking up another 15 points bringing his total championship points up to 96 points. The team’s other driver Syafiq Ali is in second place in overall standings with 72 points. Looking at the current standings, it is only possible for Faidzil or Syafiq to win the driver’s title.

The Asian Touring Car 1500 Max Series race is a new regional championship for normally aspirated cars below 1599cc. Example cars that can participate include the Honda Jazz, Peugeot 206, Vios, GEN2, Satria Neo, Waja, Saga, Swift, Aveo and others.

The cars raced by Team Proton Axle are Proton Satria Neo 1500 Max ATCS cars built by Proton’s Race Rally Research division in Shah Alam. The team is managed by Alex Yoong. Other than the two main drivers mentioned (Faidzil Alang and Syafiq Ali), the support driver role is filled by Sanjeev Palar.

1500Max cars are allowed to have bodykits, a 17 inch wheel size, wings, suspension tuning and engine tuning. The engines must be normally aspirated. The race has a strict power to weight ratio rule for the cars to ensure all drivers have an equal chance of winning. Also, winning cars in each race has to have a success ballast added onto the car in the next race.

The next stop for the 1500Max race is Chengdu, China. Look after the jump for more images of our 1500Max Satria Neos.

Related Story:
MEM Proton Satria Neo Super 2000 - Specifications and Photos

Click here to read the rest of Team Proton Axle set to win Asian Touring Car 1500Max Series driver’s championship