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Left-hand drive Proton Exora facelift spotted on test

October 26, 2011 at 4:47 pm By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, Malaysian Makes, Proton, Spyshots

At first glance, this Proton Exora looks just like any other Proton Exora, or at least that’s what we thought when we were driving up the highway and spotted two Exoras on the left lane. You can zoom in the photo above to spot the difference. When we passed them, we noticed that this Exora was a left-hand drive car!

Furthermore, it appears that the front of the car has no tape covering it up at all, offering us a full view of how the facelifted Exora will look like. The back still has a little tape on. Theo Chin has a rendering of the new front end.

This might mean that Proton is preparing to introduce the Exora into left-hand drive markets soon. Earlier this month, Proton announced that it signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Chinese automaker Hawtai Motor Group to explore manufacturing the Exora in China amongst other things, and we know China is a left-hand drive country.

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Proton and China’s Hawtai Motor Group sign MoU

October 21, 2011 at 6:14 pm By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, Malaysian Makes, Proton

Proton and Chinese auto company Hawtai Motor Group Ltd signed a Memorandum of Understanding today to explore collaboration in product development with the aim of expanding Proton’s presence in the Chinese market.

The MoU was signed by Proton Group MD Datuk Seri Haji Syed Zainal Abidin Syed Mohamed Tahir and the Executive President of Hawtai, Hou Haijing in Nanning, China, witnessed by the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak and Minister of International Trade and Industry, Datuk Mustapha Mohamed.

Under the MoU, Proton and Hawtai will evaluate the possible establishment of a Joint Venture Company (JV Co.) in China, to invest in joint new product development including joint design and development cost sharing. Both companies will spend the next three months finalising their study of the business case.

Proton says Hawtai are looking at manufacturing the Proton Exora MPV as well as the upcoming Proton P3-21A sedan in China, which by the way is set to debut in early 2012. The two companies will explore the development of new models together in later phase.

The joint venture company will also be responsible for vendor sourcing and component development work with local Chinese vendors. This will hopefully allow Proton to tap into low cost vendors in China and explore the potential of cross-supplying components from local Malaysian vendors to China and vice-versa.

Beijing-based Hawtai currently has the capacity to make about 200,000 vehicles, 300,000 engines and 300,000 automatic transmissions a year. Hawtai also has a joint venture with South Korea’s Hyundai Motors to manufacture the Chinese-market versions of the Hyundai Matrix, Hyundai Santa Fe and Hyundai Terracan.

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VIDEO: Part 2 of Proton Transporter’s Singapore adventure

October 19, 2011 at 4:19 pm By Harvinder Sidhu Filed Under Cars, Local News, Malaysian Makes, Proton, Videos

Proton has just released a Part 2 video of a five-part online series which puts The Transporter’s journey to Singapore on centre stage. As you would know, Proton’s ‘Transporter’ is Hanis Salleh who emerged as the winner in The Transporter contest which ended on 24th August.

Hanis walked home with a 4-day/3-night all expense-paid trip to watch the 2011 Singapore GP at the Marina Bay street circuit. Not only that, he got to travel to the night race with Yasmin Hani, Diana Danielle and Jojo Struys! Now how about that?

The first video centred around the prelude to the trip while the second video we have here shows us their experience at the event with exclusive paddock passes. The third installment will be released soon, meanwhile enjoy this ;)

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Proton introduces ‘Power Window Lifetime Warranty’

October 17, 2011 at 12:39 pm By Danny Tan Filed Under Cars, Local News, Malaysian Makes, Proton

Mention Proton, and more often than not the “power window issue” will crop up from both detractors and those who have experienced it themselves. Proton MD Datuk Seri Syed Zainal Abidin admits that he has been obsessed with the power window issue since he came in five years ago.

The man points out that Proton has long turned the corner in this, and current gen cars are no longer bugged with power window problems. Generally, Defects Per Unit (DPU) has dropped to 0.26 in August 2011 from 8.0 in 2006/07.

But one can only do so much to convince 28 million people, as Syed Zainal said, so Proton has come up with the Power Window Promise to put this issue to rest. The main component in this promise is the Power Window Lifetime Warranty. A very unique warranty for a very unique situation in a very unique market!

Here are the terms. The Power Window Lifetime Warranty (PWLW) is applicable for all new Proton models registered from 1 September 2011 onwards. The warranty is for 10 years from the date of registration, or 250,000 km, which Proton takes as “the lifetime” of a vehicle. Also included in this scheme are current Proton cars that were still under manufacturer’s warranty as at 1 Sept 2011.

For instance, if a Proton Waja is two years and 10 months into its three-year factory warranty at 1 Sept 2011, it will be eligible for PWLW. The 10 years will be counted from the car’s date of registration, and if it has already done 100,000 km, the warranty will last for 150k km more, whichever comes first. But the said Waja won’t be eligible if it has been serviced outside of Proton’s service network at any time in its life.

The same goes for new cars. To be eligible for the warranty, cars must be serviced at an official Proton service centre throughout the duration. I also found out that from now, cars brought in to Proton SCs for regular service will also undergo some “power window servicing” which involves silicone spray to reduce friction, among other measures. Previously optional, there’s no extra charge for this, and is part of Proton’s efforts to improve itself.

Applicable to both private and fleet owners, PWLW covers four main components in the power window mechanism, namely the PW regulator, PW motor, PW switches and PW run channel. If your case complies with the T&Cs, Proton will absorb all labour and parts costs. There’s no limit on how many claims can be made per car.

Eligible cars that are in the “still under warranty” category explained above need to claim their Power Window System Warranty Registration certificate from any Proton service centre. Take note that prior appointment must be made. This process is not necessary for Proton cars registered from 1 September 2011, since the Power Window Promise is already included in your car’s service booklet.

“Correcting this perception is a challenging but necessary task, and PWLW is one of the initiatives that is being undertaken to put to rest this particular stigma. It saddens us that our customers purchase Proton cars whilst questioning the quality of our power windows, to the point that they refuse to use it for fear of damaging it,” said Syed Zainal, recalling a story we shared with you before.

“Our message is simple: Should you buy a Proton car today, please know that the power windows are working, they are working well and you have our Power Window Promise to back you up,” the boss confidently added.

Need to clarify some issues or need more info? Proton i.care is waiting for you at 1300-880-888 or email them at talk2us@proton.com.

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Proton: Group Lotus sale to Genii Capital rumours untrue

October 12, 2011 at 6:01 pm By Danny Tan Filed Under Cars, Local News, Lotus, Malaysian Makes, Proton

There have been rumours circulating that Lotus Renault GP owners Genii Capital, headed by Gerard Lopez, is looking to buy into Group Lotus, the sportscar maker which is currently the title sponsor of the F1 team.

Now, Group Lotus owner Proton has come out with a statement to quash this speculation, highlighting that the relationship between parent and subsidiary is “as good as it has ever been”, and that the priority is to “ensure that the Lotus Business Turnaround Plan is executed according to schedule”.

Here’s the Proton statement in full:

We refer to the news reports that have been circulating recently over the sale (of a stake) in Group Lotus.

PROTON hereby states that the alleged moves between Group Lotus and GENII Capital are untrue and that the news are highly speculative in nature. PROTON’s relationship with Group Lotus is as good as it has ever been. Through this positive synergy, our priority now is to ensure that the Lotus Business Turnaround Plan is executed according to schedule and that both parties are committed to its success. PROTON and Lotus have reached a juncture whereby the market is eagerly waiting for Lotus’ new products and all our energy and efforts have to be channelled towards achieving this critical goal.

Furthermore, the scope of Lotus’ involvement in F1 as title sponsor to Lotus-Renault GP is to create dynamic marketing and branding synergies.

PROTON does not wish to further entertain any unsubstantiated news of speculative nature and we hope this statement will put all speculation to rest.

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VIDEO: Proton’s ‘Transporter’ and his precious cargo!

October 11, 2011 at 7:28 pm By Danny Tan Filed Under Cars, Local News, Malaysian Makes, Proton, Videos

Yours truly was in Singapore last month to watch the only night race in the F1 calendar. It was a great weekend of not only track action, but carnival fun, since the Singapore GP is more like one big party with a race running around it. Sunday’s headlining act Linkin Park was brilliant, showing great energy despite getting on in years – I enjoyed it as much as their Merdeka Stadium gig years ago. Unfortunately, I missed Shakira’s swiveling hips.

I thought that was fun, until I saw this video. It’s Part 1 of a five-part series chronicling The Transporter’s journey to Singapore. He’s no Jason Statham, but even the stone faced cool driver would have to envy Hanis Salleh’s ‘precious cargo’. It doesn’t get any better than this I think – Yasmin Hani, Diana Danielle and Jojo Struys. Damn! :)

By the way, Hanis is the winner of Proton’s The Transporter online contest, which was open to all who purchased a new Proton or serviced their Protons at an official centre. Besides the company of the three beauties, he also enjoyed an all expenses paid trip as well as money can’t buy F1 moments.

Enjoy the video, and hide those green faces!

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Rally of Scotland: Proton’s good pace ends with two DNFs

October 11, 2011 at 4:44 am By Danny Tan Filed Under Malaysian Makes, Motorsports, Proton, Proton Satria Neo

The Intercontinental Rally Challenge (IRC) Rally of Scotland has been won by Skoda’s Andreas Mikkelsen, who has waited very long for his first win in the series. Juho Hänninen came in second, also for Skoda, sealing the manufacturers’ title for the Czech brand. Frenchman Bryan Bouffier was the best placed Peugeot in third.

Mikkelsen’s win in Scotland sets up a six-way fight for the IRC drivers’ title in the next and final rally in Cyprus. The others in contention are Bouffier, Hänninen, Jan Kopecký (Skoda, Czech), Freddy Loix (Skoda, Belgium), and Thierry Neuville (Peugeot, Belgium). Of them, Kopecky leads the pack with 131 points, six ahead of teammate Hanninen. Neuville is third with 115 points.

It was another frustrating IRC outing for Proton, who had home boy Alister McRae driving in place of regular man Basso. McRae, who is leading the FIA Asia Pacific Rally Championship (APRC), retired due to a damaged oil sump.

The Satria Neo S2000 ran as high as fourth overall in the three day rally and came within 1.2 seconds of claiming its first ever stage win in IRC courtesy of former JWRC champ PG Andersson.

The Swede then met with an electrical problem, which was repaired but incurred a time penalty. PG then fought back from 12th to within the top 10 but retired with only a few more stages left. The culprit was a broken driveshaft that damaged the crank sensor, stopping the engine.

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Gerard Lopez’s Genii Capital to buy into Group Lotus?

October 10, 2011 at 4:51 pm By Danny Tan Filed Under Cars, International News, Local News, Lotus, Proton

The latest rumours surrounding Group Lotus, which is a fully owned subsidiary of Proton, is that Genii Capital will be buying into the sportscar maker. Headed by Gerard Lopez, Genii Capital is the owner of the Renault F1 Team (Lotus Renault GP), which of course has Group Lotus as title sponsor.

Autosport reports that its high level sources have revealed that Lopez/Genii Capital has held advanced talks with Proton about taking a management and financial interest in Group Lotus, which could even go as far as Genii taking a majority stake!

It’s not common knowledge, but Genii and Proton have always been talking. “We have an agreement with Proton and are working a number of things with them, including opening certain geographies in terms of platform, like Russia for instance,” Gerard Lopez told this website in an interview early this year (read the interview in full here).

In that same interview, Lopez did not rule out getting involved in GL, even back then. “I think they have a good shareholder with Proton. For sure, that is something also that we will be looking at, but it’s not anything that is urgent. No, I wouldn’t rule it out. I never rule anything out,” he said.

When asked about the latest rumours by Autocar UK, Group Lotus CEO Dany Bahar did not deny it outright. “I can only say this: When we made the announcement about our involvement in Lotus Renault GP we made it clear that this was the start of a close relationship and this journey continues.”

As a recap, Group Lotus became title sponsor of the Genii owned Renault F1 Team late last year, leading to the F1 outfit racing in black/gold livery that recalls the Team Lotus of old. They signed a seven-year sponsorship deal, with Lotus having the option to take over 50% at some point in time.

Behind the F1 scenes, LRGP is now working on renaming the team to be just called ‘Lotus’, with Tony Fernandes’ Team Lotus changing names to Caterham, which is of course owned by the AirAsia boss.

Motorsports has always been one of Group Lotus CEO Dany Bahar’s main strategies to elevate the brand to fight the likes of Ferrari and Porsche, and it was never in doubt that they wanted to be more than just a name on the wing.

“Our way of doing things means that at the end of the project we would like to control it ourselves. It’s the same route – it starts somewhere and then you slowly take control. We would not be in for the long-term just to be a sponsor on the team,” Bahar said then.

So, if all these comes true, we could be seeing a marriage between Genii and Lotus – GL takes a stake in the team, and Genii buys into the carmaker. It remains to be seen if they live happily ever after, though.

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Perodua to acquire Yayasan Melaka land for new 3S Centre

October 6, 2011 at 6:17 pm By Danny Tan Filed Under Cars, Local News, Malaysian Makes, Perodua

Earlier today, Perodua entered into an agreement with Yayasan Melaka to acquire a piece of land at Kota Hang Tuah Jaya, Ayer Keroh, Melaka. This piece of property, measuring 1.77 hectares, will be used to build a new 3S (sales, service and spare parts) centre.

The purchase price is about RM7.7 million and Perodua will design the new facility to “incorporate the culture, tradition and history of Melaka,” according to Perodua MD Datuk Aminar Rashid Salleh at the signing ceremony. Datuk Tahir Bin Haji Hassan, VP of Yayasan Melaka, signed on behalf of the foundation.

Also planned at the location are a regional office and a training centre to cater for the southern region. There will also be facilities for human capital development, a body and paint (B&P) centre and stockyard.

The 3S service centre will have 25 service bays catering to about 2,500 vehicles per month. The B&P centre will have 30 bays. Construction of this new the outlet is expected to begin in the third quarter of 2012 and completed before the end of 2013.

Perodua currently operates two branches and five dealers in Melaka employing some 220 staff.

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Perodua expects to ink agreement with Proton on strategic collaboration by year-end or early 2012

October 6, 2011 at 3:38 pm By Anthony Lim Filed Under Cars, Local News, Perodua, Proton

According to Bernama, Perodua says it expects to ink a collaboration agreement with Proton later this year or by early 2012. The company says it has had meetings with Proton at the highest level, and a strategic collaboration for both parties is well on the cards.

“There are a few areas that we are trying to collaborate. They are still at discussion stage. I think we are happy with the items. We will make the announcement on a memorandum of understanding this year or next year,” Perodua MD Datuk Aminar Rashid Salleh was quoted as saying.

Aminar added that there was no change in Perodua’s stance on the proposed merger with Proton. “We are against the merger. We have our own plans, going forward,” he said.

In other news, Perodua will be announcing details of its new electronic automatic transmission (EAT) plant in the near future. Aminar said that the company will reveal details on the equity structure of the plant as well as its exact location when the announcement is made.

“We are setting up a joint venture. It’s still in discussion. We’ll make announcement on the equity structure of both Perodua and our Japanese partner (Daihatsu), as well as the location of the plant in the next one or two months, whether it will be in Selangor or outside Selangor,” he told reporters today.

Perodua was also mulling whether the plant will be constructed at one go, or in phases, adding that at least RM200 million is to be invested on the factory, which will produce transmissions for both the domestic and export markets.

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