New Exhibit/Tour at the Land Rover Solihull Factory - 50 YEARS OF VELAR: THE STORY OF RANGE ROVER

 Land Rover launches a new visitor attraction at its Solihull home over in the UK. The new exhibit was created to celebrate 50 years of the world's most revered luxury SUV - the original Range Rover prototype which was actually codenamed 'Velar'. The tour takes visitors on a journey from the 1967 Velar prototype to the new Velar. The interactive exhibit showcases British design and engineering story behind the world’s greatest luxury SUV. 

Industry News: Continental’s tire plant in Alor Setar gets a new Plant Manager

The international tyre company Continental has announced the appointment of Carlos Bernabe as Plant Manager for its Passenger & Light Truck Tyres and Two Wheel Tyres manufacturing facility in Alor Setar, Malaysia. He joined the Continental Malaysia team in Alor Setar on January 1, 2017, succeeding Juergen Jacobs Dowling, who has been leading the plant for the past three years and is currently pursuing his career within Continental in South Africa.

I attended the International Automotive Aftermarket Conference by MAI and here are my thoughts about that as well as the industry as a whole

I was privileged to attend the second International Automotive Aftermarket Conference organised by the Malaysia Automotive Institute (MAI) earlier today. “Spearheading Technology, Enhancing Automotive Aftermarket Industry” This one-day international conference attracted 100 participants, consisting of local and international industry stakeholders, academia, automotive recycling associations, and Government agencies. 

Truck News: Volvo Trucks grows its market share in Malaysia’s premium heavy-duty commercial vehicle segment

Volvo Malaysia announced today that it had recorded an increase of 4.8% in sales for its Volvo truck brand for financial year 2016, compared to the previous year. The growth was achieved through the sale of 370 units of trucks. This has led to the brand capturing 45% of the market share in the European heavy-duty prime mover segment in Malaysia, making it the top truck brand for the year.

Classic cars: Back when Hino made cars - the Hino Contessa 1300 Coupe

HINO is known in these parts as a reliable truck maker. It has been like that since the 1970s when the first set foot into Malaysia and slowly grew their brand into what it is today. Of course, it wasn't like that in the mid-1960s. The company made cars then.

Hyundai Motor Advances its ‘Future Mobility’ Vision at the 2017 Seoul Motor Show

Hyundai has revealed its latest hyper-connected car and autonomous driving technologies at the 2017 Seoul Motor Show which runs from today to the 9th of April 2017. The ‘Home to Car’ and ‘Car to Home’ services with Hyundai's self-developed ccSP platform introduced together with the FE Fuel Cell Concept car’s Asian debut (above) demonstrates Hyundai’s overall tech integration as well as eco-vehicle commitment. 

Happenings: BMW Group Malaysia Awards Best Performing Dealerships and Individuals in the Country at the BMW Dealer Awards Night 2016.

Yesterday I wrote about BMW Group Global rewarding their best dealers globally with Sime Darby's Auto Bavaria coming up as one of the finalists. Not too shabby eh? Anyway, now, BMW Group Malaysia held its annual BMW Dealer Awards Night, recognizing the best of its 39 strong dealer network in celebration of the premium automaker’s successful 2016 financial year. The accolades were handed out to the best performing dealers and individuals for their contribution in achieving steady business growth for the premium automaker’s BMW, MINI and BMW Motorrad brands.

TRUCK NEWS: 300th FUSO Truck Delivered To Biforst Logistics & MoU entered for intent to purchase FUSO electric truck in the near future

Today was the official hand-over and delivery of the 300th FUSO truck to Biforst Logistics. This occasion marks as a historic milestone in the long-standing relationship and trust between Mercedes-Benz Malaysia Commercial Vehicles (which owns the FUSO brand) and Biforst Logistics.

Sime Darby Auto Bavaria is one of BMW Group's 36 Best Dealers in the World

BMW honoured its 36 best dealers worldwide during the Excellence in Sales awards ceremony in Munich. The awards were presented by the programme’s patron, Ian Robertson, BMW AG Management Board member for Sales and Brand BMW, Aftersales BMW Group. 2016 was a record year for BMW Group sales and these awards recognise the outstanding contribution made by the company’s dealers. 

Ford Donates Vehicles and Equipment to Montfort Boys Town

Ford Motor Company, together with its local partner Sime Darby Auto Connexion (SDAC), today named the Montfort Boys Town in Selangor as the latest recipient of its Ford Conservation and Environmental Grants Programme in Malaysia. 

BMW Group Malaysia Launches the All-new BMW 5 Series

The seventh generation BMW 5 Series has officially been launched in Malaysia. Internally codenamed the G30, this is BMW's take on how a premium business should be. At this moment only one, fully imported variant is available - the BMW 530i M Sport. The official retail price (on the road, without insurance, and with BMW Group Malaysia’s latest 5 Years Unlimited Mileage Warranty, Free Scheduled Service Program and BMW Tyre Warranty Programme) is RM 398,800.

Truck News: New UD Trucks dealership opens in Kuantan

Tan Chong Industrial Equipment (TCIE), the sole distributor of UD Trucks in Malaysia together with their official dealer, Edaran Setia Auto Sdn Bhd has officially opened its latest  UD Trucks dealership in Kuantan, Pahang. With over 25 years of experience in the commercial vehicle industry, Edaran Setia Auto aims to cover the East Coast region focusing on delivering the best sales experience to a wide range of industries that are ongoing on the East Coast of Peninsular Malaysia.

DRB-HICOM REAFFIRMS NEED TO BE DETAILED IN PROTON FSP SEARCH

"There have been news reports stating that we are left with only one bidder. I can confirm that all parties that submitted bids for PROTON are still in the running and DRB-HICOM is still evaluating these bids. We are going through the tail-end of this meticulous process, and we are looking forward to completing this search by the end of the first half of this year," said DRB-HICOM Berhad (DRB-HICOM) Group Managing Director, Dato' Sri Syed Faisal Albar. With this he basically reaffirmed the Group's statement last week that all bidders are still in the running to be selected as PROTON's FSP.

Offers: MINI Malaysia Introduces New Added Features and New Full Circle Programme for the MINI 3 Door and MINI 5 Door

MINI Malaysia today introduced the Full Circle Programme by MINI Financing This is the compact premium automaker’s newest financing program courtesy of BMW Credit Malaysia which offers enhanced flexibility and future value peace of mind assurance for the MINI 3 Door and MINI 5 Door. 

Spotted for Sale: Another God Car

FULL SPEC EDITION 1 GOD. I wonder if there is a second edition God around also.

I know the A45 is fast. You may think you are a driving God whilst driving one. 

Is is so hard to check before clicking ENTER for one's advertisement? 

Opinion: Thoughts on car prices & labour costs elsewhere and the soon to be replaced Honda CRV

I haven't had the time to really rave and rant in recent times. So today I think I should share more car related stuff with you folks out there as it's a sunday night as I type this and my mind is at ease. Well, maybe not so much at ease because tomorrow is the start of another week where a lot of things will be happening. 

Volvo launches the S90 and V90 in T5 And T6 R design variants in Malaysia

L to R - H.E Ambassador Dag Juhlin-Dannfelt, Ambassador of Sweden to Malaysia and Mr Lennart Stegland, MD Volvo Car Malaysia

Friday, the 24th of March 2017 marked another milestone for Volvo here in Malaysia. The brand has now launched their newest flagship models, the Volvo S90 sedan and the Volvo V90 estate. Both, like the recently launched XC90 make up Volvo's renaissance and basically a comeback into the premium vehicle arena after some time lost in the Scandinavian wilderness. Well, according to Yours Truly that is. 

Driver's Education: Volkswagen “Polo P” Project Driver's Skills programme for new drivers - First one is currently ongoing at UTAR Sg Long

Volkswagen Passenger Cars Malaysia (VPCM) today launched its inaugural “Polo P” project, dedicated to educating and empowering new licensed drivers with the skills and knowledge to stay safe on the roads. So now you can go from newbie licensed driver to Professional with the Volkswagen “Polo P” Project.

DRB-HICOM says that all Foreign Strategic Partner Bidders are still in the running - Move along folks, let's just wait till mid-2017.

There have been news recently that Geely, the China auto maker, who is purportedly in the running to become Proton's foreign strategic partner has dropped out of contention. Geely and the French PSA group have been seen as the fore-runners in this exercise and such a news is indeed worrying to some. 

HAPPENINGS: Naza Kia Malaysia provides Polis Di Raja Malaysia (PDRM) with a Kia Sorento

Naza Kia Malaysia has handed over a brand new Kia Sorento to our boys in blue. The Kia Sorento that was presented to the PDRM is a diesel variant is equipped with an R 2.2 CRDi engine which produces 200 PS and 441.3 Nm of torque and is mated to a six-speed automatic transmission. I suppose this MPV could be used in many ways by the PDRM actually.