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A reader who wishes only to be identified as “The Stik” has sent in these photos of what is obviously the new Perodua SUV to be launched sometime in May 2008, replacing the Perodua Kembara. This trailer carrying a few covered up cars was spotted on Sunday on the Federal Highway. The new Perodua will have a 1.5 liter engine and 4WD.

The new SUV will likely get a new name even though it replaces the Kembara in its product range, and will also be the vehicle that launches Perodua’s new branding, as mentioned by Perodua MD Syed Hafiz in an interview with The Edge earlier.

From these photos, we can confirm that the new Kembara replacement Perodua SUV will be based on the Toyota Rush/Daihatsu Terios. No other detail is revealed other than the alloy wheel design which looks like a 5-spoke design as opposed to the Toyota Rush’s 6-spoke design.

Unlike all of Perodua’s current vehicles which are locally assembled, the new Perodua SUV will be fully imported from Japan and will positioned higher than its Indonesian-import Toyota Rush sibling in terms of pricing.

View a few more snaps after the jump.

Related Posts:
New Perodua MPV coming in September 2009

Click here to read the rest of New Kembara Replacement Perodua SUV spotted!

Proton is recalling a total of 34,000 Proton Savvys due to potential water entry into the rear wheel-bearing which could lead to a malfunction of the affected components. Proton say this recall is purely a precautionary measure for the safety of its customers.

“The safety and satisfaction of our customers is a primary concern. As a precautionary measure, we are recalling all Savvy’s for inspection and repair. We do apologise to all the Savvy owners for any inconvenience,” said Proton managing director Dato Syed Zainal Abidin Syed Mohamed Tahir.

Customers should immediately contact the nearest Proton Edar or EON service branch for an appointment to have their cars inspected, or call Proton i-Care at 1300880888.

An interview with Perodua managing director Datuk Hafiz Syed Abu Bakar in The Edge Weekly has revealed some plans about Perodua this year. For one, Perodua will be undergoing a rebranding sometime in the middle of the year, which will coincide with the launch of the new Perodua Kembara. The rebranding exercise will also give Perodua a new logo, which will be more of a restyled evolution of the current one rather than something new.

The new Perodua Kembara will come with a 1.5 liter engine (likely the 3SZ-VE) and will have four-wheel drive. It will not be assembled locally by Perodua but will be a CBU import from Japan. It will be a low volume product, and the expected price tag is likely to be more than the Toyota Rush because of its higher specs (the 4WD drivetrain) and Japan sourcing. It will be targetted at the urban, upper-middle income group. Expect the new Perodua Kembara to be based on the short wheel base Daihatsu Terios with a May 2008 launch date.

Another surprise revealed in the article is Perodua’s plans for 2009. Perodua will launch a new three row 6-seater MPV in September 2009. Datuk Hafiz likened it to a Toyota Wish, but a smaller version. I wonder what could this be based on. Can’t really think of any compact 6-seaters from Daihatsu/Toyota other than the Daihatsu Gran Max, but that’s more of a Rusa-like van.

If you read this article by Xinhua News Agency posted on the 5th of March 2008. it is revealed that Toyota and Daihatsu is developing a new MPV in Indonesia. The MPV is set to be launched in 2009. This model is could be the one that the new 2009 Perodua MPV will be based on.

Anyway whatever it is, it’s something to look forward to next year. 2009 seems to be the year of the MPVs.

AV Ventures Sdn Bhd has received a Letter of Intent from Proton to develop and supply components such as steering, wiper and washer and window regulator systems for Proton’s new MPV.

According to the report by The Edge, supply for these components would commence sometime in Q1 2009, so I think we can expect the new Proton MPV to arrive on schedule. On a side note, we now know who to curse if the new MPV’s power windows fail

Source

Related Links:
First sighting of new Proton MPV-related test mule
Proton MPV due in early 2009

This photo has been circulating around the internet and many have been posting it up claiming that these are leaked promotional images of the new Proton MPV. It does look very good. But no, this is not the new Proton MPV. This is actually an unknown person’s Photoshop job of the Mazda 8, which Naza World started selling in Malaysia recently. If you look closely, the alloy wheels still have the Mazda logo on them.

But still, response to this design as a “Proton” in the many forums around the internet so far has been very good, and alot of people seem to believe it is Proton. Kudos to Mazda’s designers for designing a nice looking MPV, and congratulations to the creator for producing a Photoshop job that many believed.

Have a look at more shots of the Mazda 8 MPV after the jump.

Related Links:
Mazda Hong Kong’s Mazda 8 page
Mazda Japan’s Mazda MPV page
First sighting of new Proton MPV-related test mule
Proton MPV due in early 2009

Click here to read the rest of Is this the new Proton MPV?

Reader Kevin Lee has produced these artist impressions of a sleeker, sportier Proton Waja, with a rear light treatment that is an evolution of the current crop circle design, but missing the circles themselves.

It looks much better than what the Waja is now but development of new fenders to match the new Mazda-ish front lamps would probably be too costly for Proton to have done something like this instead of the Waja MC3 that we have now.

View an image of the rear after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of Kevin Lee’s version of the Proton Waja MC3

Proton Edar Sdn Bhd has a new CEO - Encik Mohamad Shukor bin Ibrahim, who will also serve as Proton Holdings Berhad’s new Director of Domestic Sales. He has a long history in the Malaysian automotive industry, serving 14 years at Perodua Sales Sdn Bhd before moving on to a short stint as Honda Malaysia Sdn Bhd’s President and COO.

Before Perodua, Encik Shukor was in sales engineering at Petronas Dagangan Sdn Bhd. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering from University of Missouri-Rolla in the USA.

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Naza Corporation Sdn Bhd is organizing a contest for buyers of the 2007 stock Naza Sutera where the buyers can win a Naza Sutera Sportivo.

As there will only be one winner for the car, those who buy a Sutera during the promotion period will also be able to bring home a 29 inch “Slim Fit” television set upon successful registration of their new car. This means all Sutera buyers will go home with a gift.

The promotion will be on from 14 March 2008 to 23 March 2008. 23 Naza Corporation dealers are participating in this promotion and interested buyers are advised to check out the nearest Naza Corporation dealer. Alternatively, interested customers may also call the Customer Careline at 03-2617 7777 for more information pertaining to this offer and the whereabouts of the participating dealers.

The selected dealers will also be having open houses for customers on the 14th to 16th March and 21st to 23rd March 2008 at their premises. All customers are invited to the open house.

The Proton Persona be on sale in Proton UK dealerships from the end of March 2008 onwards, and it will be called the Proton GEN-2 Persona in the UK market. There is only one variant sold there, which comes with front and rear power windows, a MP3/CD integrated head unit with 4 speakers, dual SRS airbags, and antilock brakes.

The 5-speed manual version goes for £10,795, while the 4-speed automatic goes for £11,595. The GEN2 hatchback goes for exactly £200 more expensive for both the manual and auto models. There is currently a promotion offering £1,000 off the list price for the GEN-2 Persona.

The UK-bound Persona is likely to come with the new 1.6 liter Campro IAFM engine which made its Malaysian debut in the mid-line GEN2 facelift. Word is that the Malaysian market Persona is also available with IAFM now, evident from Proton taking up advertising in major newspapers, but the PR department has not released an official announcement yet, so let’s wait for that as it would be better for us to have confirmed details on exact pricing, and availability.

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As expected with all Proton model launches in the past year, graphic artist Theophilus Chin has whipped up a virtually kitted up version of the facelifted 2008 Proton GEN2. This concept art is rather conservative. I think the integrated dual exhaust tailpipes into the rear diffuser is a good look for the car. Two more images after the jump.

Related Posts:
2008 Proton GEN2 Facelift with CPS launched!

Click here to read the rest of 2008 Proton GEN2 Facelift Bodykit Artwork