Archive for Cars

The European Commission is threathening legal action against China for discrimination against European car companies, with their latest decision to revise tax tariffs for car parts which indirectly forces companies to source components from Chinese producers.

China has reclassified car parts as ‘fully finished cars’, something like CBU, which carries a 34% tax, double from the previous rate. Because parts are expensive to bring in now, in order to be economically competitive manufacturers have to source parts from Chinese producers to avoid the high tax.

The problem is foreign car manufacturers are not allowed to setup their own businesses in China. They must partner up with an existing Chinese company, forced to accept minority shareholding. Allowing a Chinese company access to all your designs would only result in one thing, vehicle piracy!

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China Pirates

I’m officially in love… with this hot new concept from Mugen Power. This is their Mugen Honda Civic Dominator concept, to be shown at the Tokyo Auto Salon 2006. I wish I could be there, anyone want to buy me a ticket to Tokyo?

Click here to read the rest of Mugen Honda Civic Dominator Concept

Let’s have a look at the designs Proton has registered with the UK Patent Office. I think it will give us an indicator on the SRM’s interior looks, of which no one has been able to get a good interior shot so far.

Click here to read the rest of Proton’s Design Patents with the UK Patent Office

Hartge is a company that tunes BMW vehicles, much like AC Schitzer. They’ve come up with a tuning package for the BMW M6 that modifies the speed limiter, a new front bumper and grille, 20-inch sports rims, a lowered suspension, a three spoke leather steering wheel and carbon fibre trims for the interior.

With the speed limiter modification, the BMW M6 tuned by Hartge goes up to 320km/h.

The only downside is it’s ugly… really ugly. They’ve totally mutilated the grille. It looks like a boar’s snout now.

Dr. M has spoken up again on the issue of his brainchild Proton’s recent two quarterly losses in a row.

“I am surprised that a company which was doing well suddenly reports losses (RM158 million pre-tax loss). It is difficult to believe that it was because they purchased (motorcycle manufacturer) Agusta. If Agusta had debts, then the purchase price would have been lower. Why did Proton buy it for a higher price? There must be a mystery here and we have to get to the bottom of it. But as I have said before, be prepared for more bad news from Proton.”

I’m not sure if Dr. M really knows what goes on in the directors meeting room at Proton, and he himself has said as an Advisor he is usually only consulted after making management decisions and not before. So we don’t really know if his statements carry any weight. Let’s wait and see.

Source: Bernama

Billionaire investor Kirk Kerkorian was the person who orchestrated Chrysler’s sale to DaimlerBenz a decade ago. Now he’s trying to do it again with troubled GM, but this time he’s trying to sell it to a Japanese company instead.

NY Post reports a Japanese buyer could be a giant like Toyota or Honda but nothing is comfirmed yet. 88-year old Kerkorian made USD3 billion with the Chrysler sale in the early 90s. Now he has to convince an Asian buyer to take the ailing American automobile manufacturer off his hands. Can he do it? This would be interesting.

Source

Nissan Motor Co has decided the new R35 Skyline GT-R will be sold in the US under the Infiniti brand, as the Infiniti GT-R.

Nissan executives have been battling for the Skyline to debut with a Nissan badge instead of an Infiniti badge because the Skyline is known to be a Nissan globally, and in games such as Gran Turismo. But studies have shown that sales might suffer if a premium sports car has a Nissan badge on it. The Nissan badge generally commands a lower price tag than Infiniti’s.

The Volkswagen Phaeton suffere the same fate, though it’s a great luxury car people preferred spending money on the Audi A8 to get the more prestigious Audi badge.

The ability to command premium pricing is important as the car will have a sticker price of USD$65,000. It will have all-wheel drive and horsepower figures upwards of 400.

More photos of the GT-R PROTO available here.

Proton Managing Director Syed Zainal Abidin Syed Mohd Tahir gave some insights on his first steps to turn around loss-making Proton when his appointment as Proton MD takes effect on January 1 2006 for a 3-year period contract.

Syed Zainal had this to say:

“I believe in Proton with a passion and it is this passion that will drive us to make a greater push into selected export markets, while at home we will work doubly hard to defend Protons standing in the domestic market as Malaysias number one brand. We cannot be complacent like what we have done before. We really have to rejuvenate and go forward, and that means a lot of hard work. The basic housekeeping must be done. We have to have teamwork and be transparent.”

Click here to read the rest of Team Proton mindset overhaul

BMW’s Group Research and Engineering division has come up with something new to squeeze out every ounce of performance from a combustion engine. Let’s have a look at BMW’s Turbosteamer.

Click here to read the rest of BMW TurboSteamer

Some spyshots of the Proton SRM Satria Replacement Model on the PLUS highway taken by Fariz Abdullah. Thanks Fariz for the photos! There are some front shots this time, but the infamous cardboard intercooler is missing this time

Click here to read the rest of Satria Replacement Model - PLUS Highway