Archive for Malaysian Makes

Phase 2 of the Proton GEN2 export and rebadging deal with China’s Youngman group under the Europestar brand is well underway and this is the new styling that Europestar will be applying on their locally assembled GEN2, called the Europestar RCR.

The changes are mostly on the front end with new headlamps, bumper and grille and the rear gets lots of badges including a Lotus Europestar badge, a new rear bumper and a new tail lamp design. The first phase involved CBU cars and styling was identical to the GEN2 other than different badges. The Europestar RCR is also called the Europestar Jingsu.

Source

Now that we’ve covered the initial driving experience with the upcoming 7-seater Proton Exora MPV, let’s get down to some technical details such as the chassis, dimensions, specifications and equipment level of the people mover.

Have a look after the jump for the juicy details.

Click here to read the rest of Proton Exora MPV: BCM and a few more juicy details from the prototype test drive

It was a day of many firsts for me, the day Proton corporate communications invited some of us to test drive a prototype of the new Proton Exora MPV. Yup, we got to drive a pair of Exoras, both the same colour but taped up in the typical black disguise that you’ve seen countless of times on the spyshots featured on this site.

We drove 2 prototype units, one with a manual transmission and one with an automatic transmission, from Proton’s plant in Shah Alam along the KESAS highway, then onto the MRR2, Karak Highway, and then the East Coast Expressway, where we made a U-turn at the Lanchang exit and on back to the Proton plant (we stopped at Karak town for awhile). The first half of my journey was in the manual model while the 2nd half was in the automatic model.

Look after the jump for my experiencing with the Proton Exora, as well as some other information gathered from our session with the engineers.

Click here to read the rest of Proton Exora Prototype Test Drive Experience!

The Proton Satria Neo Super 2000 rally car will be entering the Intercontinental Rally Challenge full-time after its first competition debut late last year. Proton will be the 7th manufacturer in the IRC series, joining the likes of Abarth, Honda, Mitsubishi, Peugeot, Skoda and Volkswagen.

“We are absolutely delighted to welcome Proton into the IRC family. The new Satria Neo S2000 has already attracted a lot of praise in its short career to date. I have no doubt that Proton will quickly find success with competitive rally customers on IRC events, as well as on national and regional championships that are based on S2000 technical regulations,” said IRC GM Marcello Lotti.

“The IRC provides the ideal format for manufacturers to showcase their products around the world. We are very excited to register for the IRC this year, alongside many of the leading manufacturers in motorsport. Although we are still developing the Proton, the IRC will provide the perfect opportunity to gauge the competitiveness of the car, and ultimately to take the project forward,” said Proton’s MD Datuk Syed Zainal.

The Satria Neo S2000 made its first rally debut piloted by Bryan Bouffier and co-driver Xavier Panseri in the Rallye Antibes Cote d’Azur leg of the 2008 European Rally Championship in the South of France. In full rally trim, the hatch has the smallest front and the lowest roof height (heh I am not surprised really) of any homologated S2000 car. It’s 2.0 liter engine is derived from Renault’s 1.8 liter unit from the Waja 1.8X and puts out 278 horsepower at 7,600rpm.

The Neo is no doubt one of the most “visible” Proton cars internationally, at least in terms of how much appearances it makes here and there. The Neo is even used in Top Gear Australia as the car used in the “Star in a Bog Standard Car” segment.

Related Stories:
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VIDEO: MEM Proton Satria Neo Super 2000

Today’s new Mini Budget stimulus package announced by Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak totaled to RM60 billion and as expected, it includes the proposed voluntary scrap scheme.

Anyone who scraps their cars which are older than 10 years will receive a RM5,000 discount to buy a new car, but only a new Proton or Perodua. Those who are looking at Nazas, Kias, Hyundais, Toyota, Honda or even a Chinese vehicle despite being CKD and have invested in Malaysia will not qualify. There is also zero incentive for those looking at a newer 2nd hand car, even if it is a Perodua or Proton.

No further details were announced – it’s best to go to your Proton or Perodua dealer to find out how you can scrap your car for the discount and whether all you’re going to get is RM 5,000 or you’ll get to keep the scrap value amount plus the RM 5,000. Scrapping your car could earn you perhaps RM 1,000 or more so that would be an extra bonus to the RM 5,000, but my guess it you won’t get any extra cash.

Proton already has a scrapping scheme running since the year 2007 called Proton XChange where old cars over 10 years old and owned by the owner for at least 6 months, registered and roadworthy can be traded in for RM 5,000 and so far up to 2,700 of such discounts have been issued. Once a car has been surrendered to Proton under the scheme it will be de-registered from the Road Transport Department and scrapped. As of now, Proton will still run its Proton XChange scheme, so essentially it will be the same thing as the government’s scrapping scheme. When I say the same, it truly is almost the same as part of the RM5k will be born by Proton and Perodua and the rest by the government, as with the Proton XChange program.

Other than the scrapping incentive scheme, the govt will also be pumping in an additional RM 200 million into the Automotive Industry Development Fund.

The Malaysian Reserve reports on its front page today that Naza and PSA Peugeot-Citroen are looking at introducing a 1.6 liter entry level car that will be sold in Malaysia and also assembled and exported from here to other ASEAN regions. This solidifies plans for Naza to turn Malaysia into Peugeot’s assembly hub for the region.

Naza currently already exports the 206 to various countries including Nepal. It is in line with Peugeot’s international entry level car strategy for this to be some variation of the 206 and since we already have the 206 in 1.4 liter variety, perhaps the new compact car will be the 207 Sedan which is essentially a 206 sedan with 207 aesthetics. A 1.6 liter engine will be good news. Ideally it should be priced around the new Hyundai Accent’s level, but who knows. There is also a 307 Sedan that exists.

Look after the jump for more shots of the 207 Sedan.

Click here to read the rest of New 1.6L entry-level Peugeot for M’sia in 2010?

Click to view enlarged image

These shots are courtesy of reader H+Z who spotted these two Proton Exora MPVs in the new Pyrite Brown colour at the Medan Selera Tanjung Malim near the Padang MDTM parking lot, thanks man! The Exora will be built at Proton’s plant in Shah Alam but I suppose these test units went up for Tanjung Malim for some purpose or another.

There are a few shots after the jump with one that is particularly interesting – while it was hard to snap photos of the interior because of the window’s reflections, there is one clear shot of the automatic transmission gear shifter area. Looks like there’s a gate-shift but no manual override function, which isn’t really important as it’s mostly a novelty on such a car. There are actually 2 Exoras there, and according to H+Z the one with the B461A has a manual transmission while the B462A was automatic.

Look after the jump for more of H+Z’s shots!

Click here to read the rest of Proton Exora in Pyrite Brown spotted in Tg Malim

The Naza Group’s SM Nasarudin SM Nasimuddin has revealed that Naza Kia, Naza Corporation and Nasim Peugeot will be unveiling a few new models this year, in addition to the CKD Peugeot 308 VTi and 308 Turbo and the CKD facelifted Peugeot 407 already launched this year.

There will be 2 new Naza-badged models, one new Kia-badged model and 3 new Peugeot models launched. The Kia-badged car is very likely to be the new Kia Forte (shown above, gallery after jump), which is said to be launched in Q2 this year. The two Naza-badged models will also be based on Kia models, they could be a new facelifted Naza Suria and an all-new monocoque Naza Sorento, based on the new facelifted Suria and the upcoming Kia XM Sorento.

A report by StarBiz claims 2 of the 3 new Peugeot models to be the Peugeot 3008 and the Peugeot 207. The 207 could be the real 207 or it could also be the 207 Compact (206+), a facelifted 206 with 207 looks, which would be a repalcement for the Naza 206 Bestari. The third model could be the Peugeot 308 CC 4-seater coupe-convertible unveiled recently, which would complete the current 308 VTi, 308 Turbo and 308 GT offerings.

Read the related links below to read our past coverage on all of these cars that are expected to hit our shores by the end of the year.

Related Posts:
Peugeot 3008 Crossover: details and photos
New Peugeot 206+ entry-level car for Europe (207 Compact)
Kia unveils Kia Picanto facelift
New Kia Sorento snapped without disguise
First photos of new Kia Forte sedan

Click here to read the rest of More new models from Naza’s Kia and Peugeot distributors this year

Click for high resolution image

Here is the latest Proton Exora teaser ad insertion scanned from today’s The Star. There are loads of more details about the MPV, so let me just list them here for those who are kinda lazy to load the full-resolution version of the photo to read the details.

• Campro CPS Engine – Proton claims enough power to transport 7 adults with a full load of luggage while maintaining fuel efficiency. The first part of believable but I’m doubtful about the second part, you can’t have the best of both worlds, not with a regular twincam normally aspirated engine like the Campro CPS. Power output is quoted at 125hp and 150Nm of torque which is equivalent to the output in the Waja CPS, GEN2 CPS and Satria Neo CPS, but some parameters such as CPS and VIM activation points may have been changed, we’ll only find out at the launch.
• Quiet Cabin – Proton claims a quiet cabin because of sound absorption material (they use the word technology).
• Ride & Handling – As usual, the Lotus brand name and their involvement in tuning the suspension settings for Proton cars are being pushed as a selling point for the Exora MPV.
• Small Turning Radius – Proton says the Exora has a turning radius of 5.3 meters. A turning radius is essentially the radius of a small circular turn, or a U-turn that the vehicle is capable of making. The smaller the number, the less space required by a vehicle to U-turn. Note that there are two types of turning radius that can be specified – curb-to-curb or wall-to-wall which is measured either by the distance travelled by the wheels or including the whole car including body overhangs and etc, with the latter being more accurate of course. Let’s compare to some other MPVs – 5.2 meters for the Toyota Passo Sette (this could be the upcoming Perodua MPV), Toyota Wish – 5.3 meters, Nissan Grand Livina – 5.2 meters, Honda Stream – 5.4 meters, Mazda 5 – 5.3 meters, Toyota Alphard – 5.7 to 5.9 meters, Toyota Rush – 5.2 meters.
• Intelligent Electronic Body Control Programme – I’m not sure what this is. Proton calls this an integrated module which allows you to recalibrate electronic components to suit your driving needs such as wipers and signal lights. I am told that this is a central control module which communicates with various components of the car including the examples given. My source tells me this is more of something that works behind the scenes at the moment and there is not much of a user interface to control but I suspect this will allow some form of user controllability in the future such as programmable follow-me home lights and etc just by adding a user interface to it.
• LED tail lamps and brake lights – We already know this from the spyshots.

Read our past coverage of the Proton Exora while we patiently count down to its launch, expected to be in April 2009.

Related Posts:
Proton Exora MPV meter panel and dashboard texture in high resolution
Proton Exora MPV teaser scans: flat-folding seats
Proton teases the Proton Exora MPV dashboard
Proton Exora 7-seater MPV Interior Details Revealed!
Proton Exora – the MPV Proton will launch!
HOT: Proton MPV 100% fully uncovered
Proton MPV exclusive initial details revealed!
SPYSHOT: 2009 Proton MPV sheds some of its disguise
Proton MPV design registered with UK patent office
SPYSHOT: Proton MPV next to a Nissan Grand Livina

Click for an enlarged hi-res image

I have managed to source a very high resolution version of the first Proton Exora dashboard instrument panel and steering wheel teaser that Proton put up in the daily papers for you guys, thanks to a source that wishes to remain anonymous. This is probably the original image file for the ad sent to the newspapers and it reveals the full high resolution glory of the textures that Proton have put on the Proton Exora’s dashboard.

The instrumentation panel hood and upper dash seems to have a different texture from the rest of the dashboard and the center dash area where the 2-DIN head unit and air condition controls are also seem to have a sort of brushed look to it. The meter panel can also be seen in full high resolution glory, so check it out!

For other details please read our previous coverage of the Proton Exora MPV, the national carmaker’s first 7-seater 3-row MPV set for an April 2009 launch.

Related Posts:
Proton Exora MPV teaser scans: flat-folding seats
Proton teases the Proton Exora MPV dashboard
Proton Exora 7-seater MPV Interior Details Revealed!
Proton Exora – the MPV Proton will launch!
HOT: Proton MPV 100% fully uncovered
Proton MPV exclusive initial details revealed!
SPYSHOT: 2009 Proton MPV sheds some of its disguise
Proton MPV design registered with UK patent office
SPYSHOT: Proton MPV next to a Nissan Grand Livina