Motoring-Malaysia

Thursday, June 09, 2016

All New Honda Civic officially launched - Normally aspirated 1.8 and a turbocharged 1.5.

Honda has launched the tenth generation Honda Civic here in Malaysia. The Civic1.8L, 1.5L Turbo and 1.5L Turbo Premium are priced at RM110,726, RM124,376 and RM132,155. I think the prices are competitive, the 1.8 is priced very right and imagine that with only RM14,000 more you can go Turbo.

The new W213 series Mercedes Benz E-Class has just been launched in Malaysia. The variants are the E 200 Avantgarde, E 250 Avantgarde, E 250 Exclusive and E 300 AMG Line. All have the current Mercedes Benz 1991cc, (2.0liter) 4 cylinder turbocharged petrol engine first seen in the facelifted W212 E-class. The engine makes 184ps, 211ps and 245ps respectively.

Syed Ahmad Muzri Syed Faiz (left), managing director, Sime Darby Auto Connexion presents the all-new Ford Mustang to Mr. Ganesan A/L Selvaraj (right),

And there you have it. The chap who bought the first officially sold RHD Ford Mustang to be registered in Malaysia had bought the 5.0liter V8. Now we're talking. A big thumbs up. Then again, if the price of the car is already over RM450,000 for the entry level 2.3liter version, and the 5.0liter V8 is only a mere RM100,000 more.....the choice is quite easy actually. Congratulations is in order.

Now its time for Volkswagen Malaysia to announce their Hari Raya promotion. All Volkswagen models currently in stock get a RM2,000 'Duit Raya' rebate from now till 31st July 2016. And I think Volkswagen wants me to order kuih raya also, going by the background of the pics they provided. Or 'buka puasa' early. If you know what i mean.

SPOTTED FOR SALE: Citroen ZX 2.0 16Valve with a 6 speed manual gearbox upgrade

The Citroen ZX 2.0 16Valve 3 door hatchback was somewhat of a cult favourite among those of us who lived, breathed and dreamt cars in the 1990s. In those days the 152/167hp 2.0 16valve was one of the few European cars that had quite a good reputation against the numerous Honda Civic, Proton Wira (with a lot of Lancer Mods), GC8 Impreza and other cars from te Japanese brigade. Even the 1.9 and later 2.0 8 valve 5 door hatchbacks were also considered as the Euro to drive fast in.

The 2016 International Engine of the Year Awards saw the Prancing Horse taking overall engine of the year. But that is something most of us peasants could only dream of having. So if you're a down to earth sort of guy and like your engines small, tiny and still able to impress that geek in you then you need to know that Ford's 1.0liter EcoBoost engine won Best Small Engine of the year for the fifth year running.

The darker parts are the area in which a truck driver CANNOT see you.

A lot of people take driving around trucks, lorries or buses for granted. I think that since I have driven (and also ridden) almost everything there is to drive on Malaysian roads and the fact that the festive season is now upon us (again), I believe it is my duty to tell you a bit more about taking some precaution when you are around these large commercial vehicles. The first thing you must always remember is that these vehicles have A LOT OF BLIND SPOTS.

PROTON BALIK KAMPUNG RAYA PROMOTION HAS STARTED - REBATES, DISCOUNTS AND FREE SAFETY CHECKS

Alright folks, Proton has officially joined the Hari Raya promotions for this year. Customers interested to purchase new Protons during this Hari Raya Puasa festive season will get to enjoy savings of up to RM3,000 on selected 2016 Proton models. You can drive a new Proton Saga home and pay monthly instalments from as low as RM367.

Latest Sales Campaign by Renault in Malaysia - Promotions, exclusive Renault Sport Formula One prizes and more

TC Euro Cars (TCEC), the official franchise holder of Renault cars in Malaysia, has announced the ‘Renault – Motorsports Is in Our DNA’ campaign. This is to celebrate the brand’s over 115 years in motorsports and their return to Formula 1 as a full works team this year. So until 31 August 2016, this new promotional campaign offers attractive deals on selected Renault vehicles as well as the chance to win exclusive Renault Sport Formula One™ Team prizes including Grandstand passes and a Renault Garage Visit at the 2016 Malaysian Grand Prix.

I was recently given a few days with the 2016 Malaysian Specced Audi A 1.8TFSI. This A6 is the updated A6 launched here sometime in August 2015 together with its larger engined sibling the A6 3.0TFSI. This A6 is the seventh generation (also called the C7 A6) of a long line of mid-sized premium Audi cars (this falls close to the D segment size of cars). It has been updated with better levels of equipment inside and has slightly refreshed bits and pieces for the exterior.

Shell V-Power (the Shell petrol brand) recently launched a new television commercial produced with state-of-the-art CGI and a car chase scene could entertain you readers out there for at least...err.. sixty seconds. Well, it IS an advertisement and not a two hour long action movie or melodrama. I just watched this advertisement and it is action packed. You have a BMW and a Transformers-like evil sentient robotic junk-like being. Very apt.

Hari Raya Aidilfitri is just right around the corner and this usually means a long journey back to our hometown for a lot of us. . It’s just natural that everyone is excited during this time but this excitement usually gives them the tendency to rush back to their hometown before the big day. However it is an undeniable fact that accident rates rise during these periods as there are more people on the roads during this time. The risk of someone having an accident is higher with the extra amount of vehicles on the roads

Ferrari’s turbo-charged V8 is the overall winner of the 2016 International Engine of the Year Awards

The 2016 International Engine of the Year Awards was held recently and the overall International Engine of the Year Award had gone to Ferrari for their 3.9liter bi-turbo V8 engine. This is the engine that you'll find inside the Ferrari 488 GTB, 488 Spider and the Ferrari California T (in a slightly different configuration).

Industry News (Regional): TUV sets up Independent Tyre Testing Lab in Indonesia - Progress in Indonesia's automotive sector

TUV Rheinland has opened the first independent tire testing laboratory in Indonesia . Located in Taman Tekno BSD, South Tangerang , the new 530 sq.m lab is fully certified by the Indonesia National Accreditation Body (KAN) and qualified to test passenger car, truck, bus and motorcycle tires to the latest national and international standards.

The Fasting Month is closing in and the Hari Raya will come soon enough. In conjunction with the ‘balik kampung’ season this Hari Raya, Hyundai-Sime Darby Motors (HSDM) is organising its first road safety awareness campaign offering a free 12-point inspection for all cars regardless of brands at selected Shell petrol stations from 29 May to 17 July 2016.

(From left) Mercedes-Benz Malaysia Vice President, Sales And Marketing, Passenger Cars, Mark Raine; with Hap Seng Consolidated Berhad Group Chief Operating Officer and Hap Seng Star Chief Executive, Harald Behrend; with at the official launch.

Mercedes Benz Malaysia and dealer Hap Seng Star have launched the Hap Seng Star Balakong Proven Exclusivity Centre yesterday. The Proven Exclusivity programme basically offers Malaysians a chance to to own a pre-owned Mercedes-Benz Passenger car in a nearly new condition and at an attractive price compete with a proper Mercedes Benz quality assurances and the same level of customer-sales service that has no difference to that of buying brand new.

Shell Malaysia has decided to enter into a collaboration with Loob Holding, the Food & Beverage company that markets and sells Chatime, llaollao and Gindaco in Malaysia. The products mentioned will be introduced at various Shell Select Fuel Stations soon.

Ford Mustang quietly launched in Malaysia

This had actually sneaked pass most of our radars. Ford Malaysia via local distributor Sime Darby Auto Connexion launched the Ford Mustang earlier today. The launch was done without much fanfare.

A few months ago when Tun Dr Mahathir was still Chairman of Proton he and the then CEO flagged off a cargo of Proton Preve cars that were destined for Chile. I was there at that historic (for Proton) event. Now, months later we now receive news of the official launch (and re-launch) of Proton Cars in Chile and the Proton Preve being the first model to be sold over there since 1998.

This is another reason why we need lots of money. Ferrari has revealed to us another of its one-off special order cars - the Ferrari 458 MM Speciale. Truly speciale. Especially when viewed from the side as it looks like no other 458 out there.

Mercedes-Benz Malaysia recently celebrated the graduation of the 11th batch of the Apprentice Training Centre (ATC)‘s Automotive Mechatronic training programme. Following three years of training, the ATC graduates are now qualified to provide world-class after sales services for Mercedes-Benz valued customers, and will be assigned to Mercedes-Benz Malaysia’s nationwide dealer network.

(L to R) H.E. Mr Bengt G Carlsson, Ambassador of Sweden to Malaysia and Mr Lennart Stegland, MD Volvo Car Malaysia

Volvo Car Malaysia today launched the locally-assembled Volvo XC90 T8 Twin Engine – the first ever Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV) assembled in Malaysia. In addition to that, Malaysia will be the first country outside of Sweden to produce the XC90 T8 Twin Engine, thanks to huge investments made by the company to improve current infrastructure and capabilities of the local plant to handle Volvo’s SPA (Scalable Product Architecture) platform. This special SUV will also be exported to Thailand, and Volvo is also looking to do the same to other countries in the ASEAN region

Nasim Sdn Bhd, the official distributor of Peugeot in Malaysia has finally launched the all-new Peugeot 408 e-THP here in Kuala Lumpur. The 408 is the 4 door sedan variant of the Peugeot 308 hatchback which was launched sometime last year here in Malaysia. There will be only one variant equipped with the 1.6liter direct injection turbocharged 4 cylinder engine with a 6 speed automatic transmission. It will be priced at RM143,888 on the road with GST.

ASEAN NCAP Q2 2016 results - Nissan X-Trail, Nissan Navara, Suzuki Ertiga, Suzuki Ciaz, Kia Morning, Hyundai EON and Isuzu MU-X

ASEAN NCAP has released the results for another batch of vehicles sold in the ASEAN region. The New Car Assessment Program for Southeast Asian Countries (ASEAN NCAP) announced the test results of seven car models that had been assessed in the second quarter of 2016. The models were Nissan X-Trail, Nissan Navara, Suzuki Ertiga, Suzuki Ciaz, Kia Morning, Hyundai EON and Isuzu MU-X. In the Adult Occupant Protection (AOP) category, two received 0-Star rating, four received 4- Star and one model received 5 Stars.

The Renault Clio RS 16 - Renault has come up with a Concept car as part of its Renault Sport’s 40th anniversary and their return to Formula 1. The Renault Sport Clio R.S.16 Concept grafts the Renault passenger car range’s highest-performing engine (found in the Renault Megane R.S 275) into a Renault Clio R.S.

(Standing from L-R) Mr. Satish Sharma, President, Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa (APMEA), Apollo Tyres and Mr. Shubhro Ghosh, Group Head - ASEAN, Middle East & Africa, Apollo Tyres

(front middle) Mr. Victor Siew, Divisional Head - Malaysia, Apollo Tyres

Apollo Tyres have officially set up shop in Malaysia. The tyre maker, Apollo Tyres Ltd is an international tyre manufacturer with manufacturing units in India and the Netherlands where it is more famous for the Vredestein brand. The company markets its products under its two global brands – Apollo and Vredestein. Apollo would be known to those who have bought the Volkswagen Polo 1.6 hatch and sedan (now Vento). Most of the Polo 1.6's had Apollo tyres fitted on them. This is because we basically received our CKD kits from Volkswagen's plants in India.

Hari Raya has already begun at Ford. From a promotion point of view that is. Ford and local distributor Sime Darby Auto Connexion has announced attractive cash rebates and monthly repayments for selected models nationwide. The monthly repayments after the rebates for new Fords are from as low as RM588 for Fiesta, RM908 for EcoSport and RM1,258 for Kuga.

Jaguar Land Rover Malaysia has launched the facelifted Jaguar XJ series luxury sedan in Malaysia. This latest model gets most of the latest tech upgrades like we have seen in the recently launched XF mid-sized luxury sedan.

Editorial: When you buy a car, ensure you can afford to maintain it out of warranty regardless of anything

These days, nothing much surprises me in terms of car maintenance and repair costs. The figures I once thought to be reasonable for spare parts are actual figures that may have existed in the year 1975. In the days of GST, expensive tax and excise duties, high shipping costs and very high technology utilised in the parts (whether in the construction or in the materials used) have made spares cost a bomb. Which is why these days many owners end up maintaining their cars at the authorised service centers to ensure that their warranty is intact.

MOTORSPORT: BMW Motorsport and Akrapovič expand their long term commitment

Well known European performance exhaust manufacturer Akrapovič will continue to support BMW Motorsport as Official Partner, and will significantly expand its long-term commitment over the coming years. The company has been involved in BMW Motorsport’s DTM project since 2012 and will also be a prominent feature as Official Partner in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship (IWSC), in which BMW Team RLL competes with two BMW M6 GTLMs, and at the iconic 24-hour race at the Nürburgring.

The first of the upcoming Kuala Lumpur City Grand Prix 2016 events have begun. OD Racing held their official launch party for the year 2016 at the Zouk Club Kuala Lumpur on the evening of 25th May 2016 where the guest of honour was Yang Amat Mulia Tunku Dato’ Seri Utama Naquiyuddin Tuanku Ja’afar (below).

You buy some Shell lube for your motorcycle and you win something memorable. This was what happened to seven lucky Shell Advance customers who won an all expenses paid road trip to Langkawi recently.

INDUSTRY NEWS: MY AUTO FEST 2016 nets about RM20 million worth of bookings.

The recent My Auto Fest 2016 which was held over the weekend of 20th to the 22nd May 2016 was quite a success according to its organisers, the Malaysian Automotive Association. The sales driven auto show actually netted about RM20 million worth of bookings which I hope translates into actual sales after this. It was also the platform for various car manufacturers to preview their products.

(From left) Driven Communications representative, En Hafriz Shah; Monfort Boys Town Chief Administration Officer, Mr Arulanandam S.; Teach For Malaysia External Relations Director, Madam Prabha Sundram; Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre founders, Dato’ Faridah Merican and Joseph Hasham; with Moki, Mercedes-Benz's MobileKids mascot.

Today Mercedes Benz Malaysia announced their 2016 Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) campaign. Their CSR campaign is guided by four core subject matters - road safety, the arts and culture, investing in knowledge and corporate volunteering. And at a special event earlier this morning, Mercedes-Benz Malaysia today announced contributions of over RM200,000 for initiatives that support the growth and development of Malaysian society. Recipients of Mercedes-Benz Malaysia 2016 sponsorship are, Driven Communications, for its initiative of promoting safe road travels; the Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre (KLPac); as well as education NGO and institution, Teach for Malaysia; and Monfort Boys Town.

Industry News: Lotus Elise wins Readers' Champion Award

The Lotus Elise has been announced as the Readers' Champion at the Autocar Awards. Most of you are aware that Autocar magazine UK is world renowned and is the benchmark in automobile test reviews. Heck. I grew up reading Autocar ever since I could read and picked up my father's Autocar magazine in the 1970s.

Go Auto, the distributor for Haval cars in Malaysia has launched the Haval H2 SUV. The larger, C segment sized H2 now complements the surprisingly popular B segment sized M4 crossover SUV in the Haval line-up here in Malaysia. Haval now have a better two car lineup and now caters to a slightly wider audience than the single vehicle in its lineup. Prior to this, the Haval brand was called Great Wall Motors and they also sold the Wingle pick-up truck as well as a turbo diesel power SUV.

INDUSTRY NEWS: Hyundai recruits former design head of Bentley Motors

Hyundai Motor announced that the world-renowned designer SangYup Lee, former Head of Exterior and Advanced Design at Bentley, will become the Vice President of Styling at Hyundai Design Center starting from this June 2016. I believe this shows Hyundai's commitment to build better looking cars. And maybe add more pizzazz to the Hyundai design.

The other day I was invited with a the new Proton Perdana 2.0 and 2.4liter variants at the Proton semi-high speed oval track. This was another one of those hush-hush sessions where we were not allowed to take any photos. So there are no photos here. Just the drive report. But anyway, most of you who are on social media would have already seen leaked photos of the car floating around here and there. So it basically looks like what you have already seen in the photographs.

PROTON ANNOUNCES RECALLS FOR THE INSPIRA AND SELECTED EXORA CPS 1.6 MODELS

Proton has announced recalls for the Proton Inspira and selected Proton Exora CPS 1.6 models. The Inspira, a rebadged Mitsubishi Lancer is part of a global Mitsubishi vehicle recall and the Proton Exora CPS, a Proton in-house design is also recalled.

We have here two Mercedes Benz SLK roadsters for your viewing pleasure folks. The older one is a Mercedes Benz SLK230 Kompressor with a full AMG Line bodykit and wheels. The almost new SLK200 AMG Line shows off the marked differences a few decades have done in terms of car design. But honestly, both are actually as desirable as one another.

HAVAL H2 Scheduled for Launch on the 25th of May - We've been in one already actually.

The HAVAL H2 is about to be officially launched in Malaysia. It will be launched on the 25th of May 2016 at their One Utama roadshow scheduled for this 25th to the 29th of May 2016 (as stated above). This are the photos of the preview done at the Great Wall / HAVAL display sometime November 2015 at the MAI-MST Autoshow. As a recap, or to those that missed the earlier article which was part of the show highlights, I had sat inside the white one you see in the photo below and got the friendly guy from GO AUTO Malaysia to start up this new SUV that will be launched very soon.

The My Auto Fest 2016 is on from the 20th to the 22nd of May 2016. There you will find many deals, food, merchandise and test drive of many models outside the event hall (photo below). No. This isn't some huge, mega motor show. At least we have quite a proper one with new car previews - the new Honda Civic was properly previewed, Peugeot had a 408 e-THP, Proton teased the Perdana, Hyundai brought out the IONIQ Hybrid. Something different. There even was a Tesla outside courtesy of GreenTech. And you can win a Nissan Almera if you book a car there. It is on till tomorrow.

TRUCK NEWS: TATA Trucks at My Auto Fest 2016

One of the surprises at the Malaysian Automotive Association's My Auto Fest 2016 is the appearance of TATA. It was surprising as they mainly sell commercial vehicles and it wasn't actually a Truck and Bus show. But I was glad there was something more than just cars, MPVs and SUVs there. TATA showcased their fairly new to Malaysia Prima 4038.S 4X2 Prime Mover truck and the smaller TATA 512 short wheelbase.

Toyota, Volkswagen & Jeep at the My Auto Fest 2016

Toyota

Toyota had decided to set up quite a display with the newly launched Hilux (above) and Fortuner (below) at My Auto Fest 2016. You can see that this time Toyota spent a little bit more money in differentiating the two models. The dashboard of the Hilux, whilst so much more improved than the previous model is similar to the Fortuner but lacks more premium touches like the real stitched leather covering the top of the instrument binnacle and it also lacks the digital air conditioning controls. There is more effort spent on the vehicles.

The title says it all. There is a copyright infringement of the contents of MOTORING-MALAYSIA.BLOGSPOT. I have not given any permission to the blog called http://jcarreview.blogspot.my/ who have decided to take the content of this blogspot site and posted it on their site without prior approval or any sort of permission from me. The photos, articles over there are all mine and this crook has decided to make a profit from plagiarizing my work.

It is frustrating to see when others infringe and just take someone else's efforts and use it for their own.

Hyundai at the My Auto Fest 2016: The IONIQ Hybrid is displayed and promo details

Hyundai Sime Darby Motors had decided that My Auto Fest 2016 would be an appropriate time to preview their latest hybrid car in Malaysia. The Hyundai IONIQ is the company's first full hybrid plaftorm that comes in three forms - the IONIQ Hybrid, Plug-In Hybrid and the Full Electric. They had the IONIQ Plug-in Hybrid on display for all to see.

Naza Group had a strong presence at MY Auto Fest 2016. They brought Peugeot, Kia and Citroen this time around with the soon to be launched all-new Peugeot 408 e-THP sedan (above) sitting quietly in the middle of the cars that were displayed.

Proton has displayed something new at the My Auto Fest 2016 auto show at Mines International Exhibition and Convention Center. It is a Proton Suprima Active crossover concept car. Like the Proton Iriz Crossover concept before this (also displayed), the Suprima Crossover gets slightly taller profile tyres and a slightly raised ride height (it looks taller from the front and rear instead of from the side). There are also roof rails and more plastic cladding front, side and rear.

Honda Malaysia has decided to preview the all new tenth generation Honda Civic. This cannot happen sooner actually as I cannot wait for Honda to stop selling the current model and start selling this new one. This new Civic was swarmed with people when they lifted the black cloth covering the car. Everyone was super excited and wanted to view the car and had their camera and camera phones out.

In case you were wondering on the ASEAN NCAP results for the newly launched Volkswagen Vento we now present to you the official press release from ASEAN NCAP. You can see the test results and also what the people who tested the car thought about it.

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Thursday, June 09, 2016

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