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Toyota to lose No 1 spot for 2011 – GM to return to top of the heap, while Volkswagen moves into second place

November 18, 2011 at 12:49 pm By Anthony Lim Filed Under Cars, General Motors, International News, Toyota, Volkswagen

It hasn’t been a good year for Japanese automakers, with the Japanese earthquake earlier in the year and more recently, floods in Thailand disrupting production, schedule and plans. All this has certainly lost them a fair bit of ground in terms of sales and expansion.

Toyota, the world’s number one automaker, looks set to lose the most – the company is set to cede the top spot in global new-vehicle sales in 2011 to the resurgent General Motors, according to reports. Toyota was No. 1 for the past three years, but now looks certain to drop to third place after the Asian disasters forced the company to cut production at home and abroad.

GM’s global sales for the January-September period rose 9% on the year to 6.79 million units, and with sales in Q4 on track to outpace the 2.17 million units recorded in same 2010 period, the US automaker’s full-year total is likely to exceed nine million units. This number would be 20% above the figure for 2009, when the company filed for bankruptcy.

Meanwhile, Volkswagen is expected to advance one spot to second place, with group sales surging 14% on the year to 6.17 million units in the first nine months of 2011. In 2010, Toyota and GM were the only carmakers to achieve more than eight million units sold – VW is positioned to reach that milestone for the first time this year, helped by double-digit sales growth in Europe, North America and Asia-Pacific, the reports say.

As for Toyota, its January-September sales slid 9% on the year to 5.77 million units, and with the effects of the Thai floods set to impact the October-December figures, it looks unlikely that Toyota will narrow the gap with GM and VW, which have also enjoyed a head start the world’s largest market, China.

Elsewhere, Hyundai, which surged past Ford in 2010, is on pace to consolidate its position thanks to robust sales in the US, China and other key markets – the company has already upgraded its sales forecast for the full year to at least 6.5 million units, from the 6.33 million units projected, the reports add.

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Volkswagen Jetta 1.4 TSI – first drive impressions

November 4, 2011 at 5:28 pm By Anthony Lim Filed Under Cars, Test Drive Reviews, Volkswagen

Showing all your cards at one go is a bit of a double-edged sword. It’s undoubtedly great for effect, where the blanket covers significant acreage in one swipe, and it also allows one to understand the philosophy and underlying values at work in much more complete fashion.

It can also prove to be a distraction, not so much for the person sampling the wares, but rather in how each is perceived – there’s a distinct difference in taking each on an individual basis, as opposed to when they’re all lumped together. The danger, of course, is that it ends up showing each other up in some areas, even if the products in question don’t ply their wares in the same category and class.

Such was the case with the three vehicle spread that Volkswagen Group Malaysia launched a couple of weeks ago. The Passat 1.8 TSI, Jetta 1.4 TSI and Cross Touran 1.4 TSI are markedly dissimilar in tone, even if they do share common family traits in behaviour and characteristics. By the end of a two-day drive, however, there was much to be gleaned subjectively as there was objectively.

To improve clarity, we’ve decided to separate the first impressions of the trio into three individual pieces. Granted, there’ll still be observations on each vis-a-vis, especially with regards to the Jetta and Passat, but let’s see if we can dissect and take each on their own strengths and make it easier reading than together as a collective whole.

Full report after the jump.
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Volkswagen Passat 1.8 TSI – first drive impressions

November 4, 2011 at 5:27 pm By Anthony Lim Filed Under Cars, Test Drive Reviews, Volkswagen

Next up in the three vehicle VW spread is the Passat, the changeover from the Jetta taking place in Ipoh. Jumping in from the latter, the shift in presentation with the seventh-generation B7, as its designated, was distinct.

The interior, as befits the car’s D-segment executive sedan status, is naturally the most polished of the three. The material and trim ups the luxury level a fair bit, with brushed aluminium inserts for the centre console and Iridium deco inserts on the dash and doors helping things along, but there’s no denying that it’s all accomplished in VW fashion, presented more matter of fact – and very cleanly so – than with flair and elan. Indeed, there’s nothing ostentatious about all that familiarity, which is undoubtedly in line with how the suits, which are the target market, like it.

Full story after the jump.
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Volkswagen Cross Touran 1.4 TSI – first drive impressions

November 4, 2011 at 5:27 pm By Anthony Lim Filed Under Cars, Test Drive Reviews, Volkswagen

Finally, we come to the last of the Volkswagen trio – after the previous day spent going up in the Jetta and Passat, the return trip from Penang was made in the Cross Touran. The compact MPV sits on a PQ35 platform that the Golf Mk VI wears (the Jetta does too, but in modified form), but still offers seating for seven.

The RM166,888 vehicle, which is assembled in Wolfsburg, gets wider wheel arches and longer suspension springs than the standard Touran in its Cross form here, and the last means that it has 20 mm more ground clearance than the normal Touran. The Cross package also gives it Funplay 17-inch alloys in 6.5J front and 8J rear form, to accommodate the staggered 215/50 front and 235/45 rear tyres it wears.

Full story after the jump.
[Read more...]

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Volkswagen Passat CC facelift – debut at LA Auto Show

November 3, 2011 at 3:05 pm By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, Volkswagen

Volkswagen has given its popular Volkswagen Passat CC four door coupe a mid-life facelift that revises the car’s appearance as well as adds a few new features.

We’re used to getting only one or two specs of vehicles here in Malaysia but in Europe, cars start out with very basic specs and you have to tick checkboxes to upgrade the options which increase the price of the car.

For the Passat CC, they’ve made a few options standard with the facelift, sich as bi-xenon headlamps, static cornering lights, LED tail lamps, fatigue detection. RCD 310 audio, stainless steel door sill plates, and safety head restraints with additional longitudinal adjustment for the front seats.

The facelifted Passat CC also gets new assistance systems like Side Assist Plus with integrated Lane Assist, which warns the driver of vehicles in blind spots and assists the driver in avoiding accidents by steering intervention. There’s also Dynamic Light Assist, which is automatic high beam control, and a camera-based traffic sign detection system. There’s also a new “climate seat” that has integrated massage function.

Various engines are available – we’re already familiar with the 2.0 litre TSI engine of course. In Europe, the facelifted Passat CC will come with various petrol engines ranging from a 160 PS tune up to a powerful 300 PS engine as well as a 140 PS TDI diesel engine, while in the US a different selection is available – a 200 PS TSI and a 280 PS FSI.

The new facelifted Passat CC will make its world debut at the LA Auto Show.

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Volkswagen Tiguan facelift arrives in Malaysia – RM237k

October 27, 2011 at 12:47 pm By Anthony Lim Filed Under Cars, Local News, Volkswagen

The facelifted Volkswagen Tiguan, which made its debut in Geneva earlier this year, has quietly made its way into VW showrooms in Malaysia. Reader Farhan spotted an example in a JB outlet, and duly snapped a couple of photos for us.

It’s available in a single engine variant form, this being a 2.0 litre TSI unit offering 210 PS at 5,300 to 6,200 rpm and 280 Nm of torque at 1,700-5,200 rpm, and the 4MOTION permanent all-wheel drive vehicle also wears a seven-speed DSG transmission.

Features for the SUV, as listed on the VGM website, include Vienna upholstery leather seats, six airbags (front, side and front/rear curtain), bi-xenon headlamps with integrated LED daytime running lights, cruise control, electronic parking brake with an Auto Hold function, speed sensitive electro-mechanical power steering as well as park distance control PDC, replete with ‘Rear Assist’ rear view camera, among others.

The Tiguan 2.0 TSI, which sits on 17-inch New Orleans style alloys wrapped with 235/55 series rubbers, is priced at RM236,888 on the road, without insurance. A tip of the hat to Farhan for the spot.

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Volkswagen Up! – you can squeeze 16 people into one

October 24, 2011 at 1:04 pm By Anthony Lim Filed Under Cars, International News, Volkswagen

So, how many people can you squeeze into a Volkswagen Up!? Sixteen, it seems, in what is the first try with the 3.54-metre long and 1.64-metre wide car. The folks at Volkswagen Communications recently made the attempt, partly for a giggle and partly to show how small can be big, presumably.

The feat eventually saw 16 people, in this case 15 women and a man, finding their way into the car – two in the boot, one on the dashboard, seven on the rear bench, four on the front seats, and two in the footwells, before the boot lid and doors were shut and the windows were closed.

It’s a bit short of that achieved with the original Beetle. At a car meet in Australia, 17 Beetle friends spontaneously decided to squeeze into the Volkswagen icon. Then, in 2010, 20 people – who obviously had extremely high levels of pain tolerance – raised the bar with a record in Wilmore, Kentucky, which landed them in the Guinness World Records.

Naturally, attempts were also made in the successor model. In January 2001, a record 27 students in the US squeezed their way into a New Beetle. You can expect that some adventurous lot will probably try to better the Up! numbers when it makes its market debut next year. The things people do to pass time, indeed.

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Volkswagen Jetta, Passat and Cross Touran launched – RM150k, RM185k and RM167k respectively, all CBU

October 19, 2011 at 10:59 pm By Anthony Lim Filed Under Cars, Feature Stories, Local News, Volkswagen

Volkswagen Group Malaysia today launched the Jetta, Passat and Cross Touran, following their preview debut at the Volkswagen Das Auto Show 2011 last month. All three models arrive in CBU form, though of course at some point in the near future the Passat and Jetta are set to be assembled locally, in Pekan – no details yet on that one though.

The Jetta sedan, which rolls in at RM149,888 (on the road, without insurance), is powered by a 1.4 TSI twin-charged engine, offering 160 PS at 5,800 rpm and 240 Nm from 1,500 to 4,500 rpm, mated to a seven-speed DSG tranny; this specification places the car as the most powerful sedan in its category, VGM says.

Features include Volkswagen’s Climatronic air-conditioning system, a RCD310 audio system, Park Distance Control (PDC) for the front and rear, cruise control and seats covered in ‘Sienna’ fabric.

As for the Passat, the 1.8 TSI-equipped D segment offering is priced at RM184,888, and has 160 PS at 5,000 to 6,200 rpm and 250 Nm from 1,500 to 4,200 rpm for output numbers, with a seven-speed DSG box in attendance.

Kit includes 17-inch alloys, bi-Xenon headlamps with integrated LED daytime running lights, RCD 510 touch-screen, 6-disc CD changer / eight=speaker audio system and leather seats. Other items include cruise control, electric parking brake with auto-hold function and hill-hold control, PDC for the front and rear and a tyre pressure monitoring system.

Lastly, the Cross Touran, which goes for RM166,888. The seven-seater’s ”Cross” kit includes wider wheel arches and longer suspension springs than the standard Touran, giving it 20 mm more ground clearance than the latter. It’s also equipped with a 1.4 TSI mill, though in this case in its 140 hp and 220 Nm form.

Features on this one include 17-inch alloys with staggered tyres and bi-Xenon headlamps with daytime running lights, as well as plenty of interior comfort and convenience options, including 40 storage bins and up to 1,989 litres of cargo carrying space. The MPV also comes equipped with six airbags – the Jetta and Passat also have the same number..

We’re in the midst of the media drive involving all three vehicles, and we’ll have more for you when we return from Penang! Stay tuned.

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Undisguised VW Jetta and Passat all ready for launch

October 17, 2011 at 5:55 pm By Danny Tan Filed Under Cars, Local News, Volkswagen

Here are some pics taken by reader Ching Hong. They show some new Volkswagens – Passat and Jetta – on a car transporter, not wearing any sort of disguise, and probably heading to showrooms.

This is probably the last time you’re gonna see spy shots of the two sedans – Volkswagen Group Malaysia released teasers of three cars that will be launched on 21 October last week – and the Passat, Jetta and CrossTouran were our guesses. Two of those are seen here.

There’s nothing much to learn from these pics, other than a glimpse at the colours and wheel design of the Passat. The Passat is a D-segment sedan sharing a class with the Camry, Accord and Teana, and we’re getting the European version of the car. The American Passat has a rear end that’s a lot like the Jetta’s The Jetta is a C-segment sedan version of the Mk6 Golf.

Four more days to go!

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Suzuki-Volkswagen squabble: no backing down either way

October 17, 2011 at 9:26 am By Anthony Lim Filed Under Cars, International News, Suzuki, Volkswagen

According to reports, the ongoing dispute between Suzuki and Volkswagen over the companies’ capital tie-up took a turn for the worse last Friday, and there’s a likelihood that the matter may be taken to court.

At a press conference in Tokyo, Suzuki executive VP Yasuhiti Harayama said that Suzuki was promised easy access to VW’s environmental car technologies, but it never became a reality, referring to the 2009 agreement between the firms.

The German automaker said that it has honoured its commitments all along, and expostulates that it’s prepared to provide comprehensive technological assistance, but that Suzuki is misunderstanding the situation, the reports add.

On Friday, VW said – in response to Suzuki – that every possibility will be considered in weighing its options, suggesting that it may file suit to prove that the agreement has not been violated on its side.

Volkswagen also reiterated its stand that Suzuki has done nothing about its own violation of the contract, with regards to Suzuki’s cooperation with Fiat to procure diesel engines from the latter – VW says that the engine deal violates their tie-up agreement, but Harayama stated that it was not a breach of contract.

A September 30 deadline issued by Suzuki for VW to retract what it called a defamatory accusation went by without the desired response from the German automaker; it had received a response from the German automaker, but had then stated that it was “not worth commenting on.”

Both sides are effectively refusing to budge, and so a meeting between top executives may hold the key to resolving the conflict; Harayama added that Suzuki is hoping to talk to VW’s chief executive Martin Winterkorn as soon as possible.

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