Archive for Malaysian Makes

A pretty good Photoshop showing how the Proton Perdana replacement model based on an extended Volkswagen Passat platform could look like. This artist’s impression was done by a talented guy named Theophilus.

The grill follows the same wau concept which Proton has been using for the Gen2 and the Savvy.

The base car is a Skoda Superb which is also based on an extended Passat platform. Pleasing to the eye for people who drool over the Audi A4 but can’t afford one.

It’s not known whether the Perdana replacement model would be using a higher displacement Campro engine or a Volkswagen engine.

Looking at the way Proton is introducing their new models, Proton has been focusing on replacements instead of improvements. What does this imply? The previous model was not good so they had to junk it and replace it?

I think it’s a good idea to continue with the Proton Perdana name as the name still carries a bit of prestige unlike the other Proton model names which have been tarnished by horrible QC. However, Proton seems to want to use English names instead for the ease of exporting.

Click here to read the rest of Perdana Replacement Model Photoshop

These are shots of the Satria Replacement Models being filled up at an ESSO petrol station. This could have been a good opportunity for anyone to grab as many spy shots are they could because the cars had to be stationary for their fuel tanks to be refilled.

There were two units of the Satria Replacement Model refilling their tanks. According to blog reader comments on my previous entries, it looks like road tests are becoming more and more frequent and easy to spot. The car should be ready to launch in a while but I’ve heard that Proton is pushing it to Chinese New Year intentionally to take advantage of a sales spike.

You can click the thumbnails for an enlarged version.

Nice side profile, although a little tall. There are discs brakes front and back. I think what we’ve feared most is going to come true. Those dodgy bling bling rims are going to come stock with the car. Honestly Proton, I’d recommend you to go for a design like the Advanti Racing rims that Race Rally Research are using on their R3 cars. The ride height looks pretty low.

If you look inside the car properly, you can see that the door panel for the left-hand door is in cream, as well as the top of the dashboard in front of the car. So I think it’s safe to assume the interior of the car will have light colours like cream as the dominant look.

Too bad there are no shots of the interior. I think we’ve seen almost every angle of the car already except the interior. A few people have commented on the previous spyshot posts that the interior is identical to the Gen2’s, like the way the Satria’s interior is the same as the Wira’s and Putra’s. That would make it a bit boring wouldn’t it?

There is no third brake light on the bumper, but those are reflectors. The rear bumper design accomodates a groove for the exhaust pipe to come out through. The spoiler is something like the Satria GTi design. Overall, very nice except for the rims which I think are totally off.

I wanted to go to DreamCarsAsia to get photos of the Gen2 R3 prototype but as I did not have a camera, couldn’t do anything. Autoworld has some photos here. Looks hot.

500 units of the Proton Gen2 R3 will be built, an increase over the 150 unit availability of the Proton Satria R3. Unlike the Satria R3 which carries over the bodykit from the Satria GTi, the Proton Gen2 R3 will have a redesigned bodykit. Looks pretty good, and it comes with the trademark RaceRallyResearch Advanti Racing rims. I just love that design. Thin, five spoke rims are my favourite.

More updates on the stats once I get hold of information, but for the meantime check out Autoworld’s article here.

Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, or Ku Li bashes Proton in this unmarked video interview on 9th July 2005.

He says that Malaysia has no capacity to make cars. This is one case where dreams cannot fuel reality. He mentions UK’s failure with Rover and Australia’s supposed failure with Holden. I disagree. Holden was always part of General Motors from the very beginning. Just that it once made its own cars, but now just mostly does badge reengineering to achieve economies of scale.

He mentions Fiat is also having trouble. Huh? Fiat just celebrated it’s 106th birthday on 11th June. They look fine to me.

Ku Li attributes Proton’s failure to the car market being determined by the giant cartels of the automotive industry. The huge Japanese, American and German car companies total control of the market makes it hard for anyone new to break in.

He gives some history on how Proton came about. I am not sure if its true. Apparently Mitsubishi approached Taiwan to propose to a company be setup there, doing Mitsubishi badge re-engineering. They rejected, so they came to Dr. Mahathir and he accepted the idea.

However, “Proton tak terdaya maju“, he says.

In Rawang, Kuantan, Klang, tens of thousands of unsold Protons are left to rot in stockyards. More and more finance companies are giving 100% loans to Protons. 9 year durations. By the end of 9 years, he comments, the financed Proton would be worth nothing.

He mentioned something which he himself admits is unconfirmed though. He says in foreign markets, Protons are hard or expensive to insure because of it’s crappy safety features. Really? I thought the Waja scored a 3 in European NCAP crash tests? Hmm…

Most of his bashing is to do with the Mitsubishi era of Proton. Nothing about the new batch of cars. Hmm…

Anyway, watch the video yourselves. I have posted it up here for viewing.

Video: Ku Li: “Proton Tak Terdaya Maju”

Edit: I found that the video was posted here before me, so I assume that’s the source of the video. If otherwise, please leave a comment to correct me and I will edit my post to credit the proper source.

For those who don’t know who Tengku Razaleigh is, Google or Wikipedia is your best friend.

Here are some more spyshots of the Proton Satria Replacement Model. It’s currently undergoing road tests in Malaysia. Has anyone actually spotted it on the roads yet? The background in this photos indicate that the car is being tested in somewhat remote areas where it’s less likely for anyone to realize what it is.

A more “muscular” Proton Satria than the current M24 Satria.

The roofline indicates that rear headroom won’t be as bad as the Proton Gen2. Anyone think otherwise? It’s 2.43AM now, my brain might not be working that well

I keep seeing those rims on the Proton Satria Replacement Model spyshots. I honestly hope they won’t use this design in the final product because it looks a bit too “bling-bling” for the general public’s tastes… or my taste.

A look at the wheel arches show that the car is already pretty low in stock form.

I like what I see… but I wonder if they’ve sorted out the cylinder head shortage problem yet. The Campro has some production problems currently because suppliers in Australia can’t churn out heads fast enough.

Thanks to the reader who mailed me these photos.

A foreign partner is key to Proton’s survival when Malaysia’s sheltered auto market is opened fully by 2008.

Mahathir says:

If we want to, we can sell more than 50% to Volkswagen. They are quite willing, I think, to buy even 100%. There are many other companies which would gladly buy 100% of Proton. Our fear, of course, is if they buy 100%, they might close the production of our national car and just assemble their cars.

However, Volkswagen Group chief executive says that the company would consider taking a stake in Proton only once VW finishes its plans for the coming five to seven years.

Full story here.

Naza signed an agreement with French automobile company Peugeot S.A. yesterday (29/6/2005) for the rights to assemble and distribute the Peugeot 206 model in Malaysia and possibly South-east Asia.

Update: Naza has launched the Naza 206 Bestari. Click here for an in-depth coverage.

The Peugeot 206

Click here to read the rest of Naza to Sell Rebranded Peugeot 206

A forumer dawn at the Perodua Myvi Forums has alerted us of a problem with the Perodua Myvi rear drum brakes. Apparently something is wrong with the left rear drum brake, causing the handbrake to have not much gripping power when parked on a slope.

He recounts his experience:

VERY IMPORTANT! Please be very careful when parking your cars on hills and roads which are angled. Your hand brake does not really work. I parked my car last night, pulled my hand brake and let go of my front brakes. I didn’t realise the car was moving. At the same time, I reached out to get my cell phone from the holder, my car hit the wall.

Later, I go find my friend and we test. I pull the hand brake, but one person is still enough to push the car and the car rolls. OMG!!!

So tomorrow, I’m gonna plaster the front bumper, paint a bit and get a new number plate. Damn, gonna cost me like RM200+. Damn it. If can, I will post some pictures but I gonna finish this as soon as possible so my dad doesnt find out, but I’ll try and see whether I can borrow camera.

Forumer songfui81 also mentioned that Perodua has been alerted of this problem with the left rear drum brake. Perodua Myvi owners with chassis number PM2M301S002000001 to PM2M301S002002500 should send your cars back to the Service Center to see whether your car is affected and fix the problem.

For Perodua Myvi automatic transmission owners, please shift your gear to the P position when parking to take advantage of the gearbox parking lock in addition to your handbrake. For manual transmission owners, put your gear into first gear on uphill slopes or reverse gear on downhill slopes when parking.

Original Forum Thread at Perodua Myvi Forums

Update: Perodua Myvi owners have experience some other problems. Read this.

Other related Perodua Myvi posts:
Perodua Myvi
Perodua Myvi TRD Bodykit
Perodua Myvi Logo and Test Drive
Perodua Myvi Launch
Perodua Myvi Colours – The Myvi Rainbow
Perodua Myvi Specifications and Price
Perodua Myvi Interior
Perodua Myvi Engine Bay
Perodua Myvi Technical Datasheet
Perodua Myvi Photos From The Showroom
Perodua Myvi Forum
Converting your Perodua Myvi to a turbo?
Perodua Myvi Photo Album
Perodua Myvi Handbrake Problem
Perodua Myvi – You are not booking the price!

I was digging through my hard drive when I found these. These pictures have been circulating around the internet for quite some time already but I have no idea why I did not blog them. Anyway here are two shots of the Satria Replacement Model or codename SRM24.

Personally I don’t like the front headlamps very much. I find the way the bottom curves up in the middle a bit strange. It’s like half of the Mercedes Benz C class’s peanut headlamps at the bottom and normal headlamp design on the top. I don’t know how to explain it but you should be able to get what I mean.

Bumper design has a common theme with the Waja, Gen2, and Savvy. There seems to be diffuser-style front skirts on the bumper.

Exhaust in the middle again. Brakelights look pretty decent. However I don’t see a keyhole to open the rear tailgate to access the boot anywhere. Is it going to be operated via the remote control or only openable via a button on the dashboard somewhere?

These are better pictures compared to the other spyshots as they are undisguised, allowing you to check the fine design details without them being obscured by black tape like how Proton usually disguises their cars.

Sorry, but there’s no side profile photos at the moment though. But you can check out the disguised side profile photos in my other SRM spyshot posts below.

Rumours are going around that the launch for this car has been postponed to early 2006. It was originally planned to be launched this year.

Deputy International Trade and Industry Minister Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah said that Proton should merge with another automotive maker to remain competitive especially in the overseas market.

Mergers are everywhere. The Daimler-Chrysler, General Motors and Ford Motor Company that you see today are actually the result of a series of mergers and buyouts. Ford owns Volvo, and the new Volvo S40/V50 shares the same platform as the Mazda3 and Ford Focus. Chevrolet managed to enter the Malaysian market again with car from it’s General Motors sister company Daewoo. Volkswagen bought out Skoda.

Click here to read the rest of Proton Should Merge?