First Proton X70 to suffer an Accident??? [Updated with another Pic]

What we have here could be the first Proton X70 to get into an accident. Sad but true. 

Volkswagen Malaysia is Having its 2019 Chinese New Year offers - Both for New Cars as well as Replacement Tyre and Battery Campaigns for Current Customers

Volkswagen Passenger Cars Malaysia (VPCM) is having its 2019 Chinese New Year celebration by offering some extra value rebates on all of its current models with its upside down CNY campaign. There is this sales promotion for new Volkswagen cars as well as tyre deals and battery deals for current Volkswagen owners too. 

Photos of the 2019 Proton Iriz Facelift - Unverified but quite plausible

These two photos are making its way on my watsapp chat groups. They are presumed to be the facelift for the upcoming 2019 Proton Iriz facelift. I cannot verify or confirm its authenticity but it looks plausible and production ready. They seem to be showing the car exiting the rain/water proofing testing facility.

TEST DRIVE- First Impressions of the 2019 Perodua Aruz at the Perodua Test Track - Updated with Product Photographs & Launch Video Review ..

I was one of the few lucky motoring media who was invited to try out the 2019 Perodua Aruz prior to its announcement and teaser photos you see in this other article. The 7 seater SUV is production ready and we managed a go with it at the Perodua Test Track near Rawang, Selangor. No photographs were taken by any of us and they even gave us a locker each to store our camera taking gear. I felt naked without my smartphone. Finger also itchy without it. Anyway, just take a look at the Toyota Rush photos and imagine slightly different trim with a Perodua badge and logo instead. Here I have updated this article with product photographs as the Aruz has been launched.

Perodua Aruz Open For Booking - Seems like Super Value at RM72,200 Onwards!

It's been an extremely busy end of 2018 and early 2019 for me folks! First, there was the usual year end holidays to get through. I ended up in Phuket, Thailand for some R&R (if you follow Motoring Malaysia on YouTube and on our Facebook page, you know we've been quite active with a couple of posts). Then there was the first week of school to get through. I have a 14 year old daughter to deal with and I need some time to get things settled. Of course, Perodua had to deal with trigger happy dealers who leaked details of the new Perodua Aruz 7 Seater SUV until they had to announce details on it mid-last week! 

[Update - link to the test drive article is here - no photographs though..as it still hasn't been officially launched]

TEST DRIVE - First Impressions of the New 2019 Toyota Rush 1.5 S

Sometime during the 4th quarter of 2018 I had a chance to participate in a short media drive of the all-new 2019 Toyota Rush 7 Seater compact SUV. This happened during the recent preview of the car recently. Three of us motoring media folks shared a Rush and we drove from MAEPS in Serdang to Cyberjaya, Putrajaya and back. It was a short couple of hours but if you watched the video on YouTube, we did manage to try it out on the highways, city streets and also some dirt roads around the Cyberjaya/Putrajaya area. 

Daihatsu Malaysia Invests in a New One Stop 3S Centre in Ipoh for Their HINO Truck and Bus Sales & Servicing Needs

Daihatsu (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd or Daihatsu Malaysia has been quite busy in the commercial vehicle sector here. With its passenger vehicle investment here in Malaysia essentially run through its shareholding in Perodua, they have focused more on the commercial vehicle sector, concentrating on their small commercial vehicle - the Daihatsu Hijet and also as an authorised dealer for Hino Motors Sales (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd (HMSM). It recently  announced its new 3S Centre which comprises of Sales, Aftersales Service and Spare Parts, in Ipoh. As both are Toyota Group companies, this is the synergy they share.

Video Test Drive: 2018 Mazda CX-5 SKYACTIV 2.0G 2WD GLS - Mazda's Mid-Priced SUV Offers a Lot

Here is another video review / test drive folks! I squeezed this in just before going on a short vacation. Even I would like to take advantage of this year end you know. So we have the video review of the 2018 Mazda CX-5 SKYACTIV 2.0G 2WD GLS, folks. This is a nice mid-priced SUV which offers a lot.

Goodyear Tyres Launches the Assurance TripleMax 2 Tyre in Malaysia - A New Mid-Passenger Car Tyre Which Officially Replaces the Long Running NCT5

So recently a few of us motoring media fellas met up with the folks from Goodyear Malaysia. Aside from meeting the people now in charge of marketing and having the usual small talk, chit chat and stuff, they also informed us on the arrival of the Goodyear Assurance TripleMax 2 tyre. This is a tyre designed for the mid-range passenger car segment and it actually replaces the long running Goodyear NCT5 tyre here in Malaysia. When I say long running, the NCT5 is super long running as I remember actually using this tyre sometime in the early 2000s or even earlier!

Konsortium E-Mutiara Berhad Adopts The Scania Ecolution Program to Help Reduce CO2 Emissions & Fuel Consumption For The Well Being of the Environment

Konsortium E-Mutiara Berhad (E-Mutiara), one of the more notable express bus operators in Malaysia has become the first company in the whole of Asia to adopt the Scania Ecolution program. According to the folks at Scania Malaysia, Scania Ecolution is more than just a product or service. They call it a tailor-made partnership between Scania and operators of Scania vehicles that is designed to reduce CO 2 emissions and reduce fuel consumption for the well being of the environment.

HINO Total Support (TS) Contest 2018 - HINO Malaysia's 5th Annual Sales, Service & Parts Personnel Competition Was Held Recently

Hino Motors Sales (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd. (HMSM) recently held the HINO Total Support (TS) Contest 2018, the 5th time this annual contest has been held. This sales and aftersales personnel contest was held at HMSM'S Head Office located in Petaling Jaya. The competition is aimed towards fostering greater skills and knowledge among the dealers and their personnel so that they get to spend some time meeting others and at the same time ensure that the Hino brand stays at the top of the Malaysian commercial vehicle industry in terms of sales and aftersales.

VIDEO TEST DRIVE: The 2018 Volvo S90 T8 Twin Engine Inscription Plus - Volvo's Best Sedan.

I finally managed to put this video together after quite a while. This is the video about me testing the 2018 Volvo S90 T8 Twin Engine Inscription Plus. This is Volvo's flagship sedan here in Malaysia and it shares the same drivetrain and powertrain as the XC90 T8 SUV. This is the sedan variant of what I think has the best hybrid drivetrain to be fitted to a vehicle (circa 2018). 

Malaysia Automotive Institute (MAI) is Now Malaysia Automotive, Robotics and IoT Institute (MARii) - Expanding Their Scope Towards Enhancing The Malaysian Automotive Industry

The Malaysia Automotive Institute (MAI), has been rebranded as the Malaysia Automotive, Robotics and IoT Institute (MARii). The announcement was made by the Minister of International Trade and Industry (MITI), Datuk Darell Leiking at the Car of the Year 2018 (COTY2018) awards on the 4th of December 2018 and sometime last week, MARii Chief Executive Officer Dato' Madani Sahari spoke to members of the automotive fraternity which comprised of industry players, academics, government bodies and members of the media on the scope expansion of MARii. This included the opportunities created for all stakeholders in expediting the adoption of robotics within the automotive sector in a briefing, titled “An Introduction to the Malaysia Automotive, Robotics and IoT Institute”, in MARii’s headquarters in Cyberjaya, Malaysia. 

Trucks: Konsortium PD Sdn Bhd Adds 17 New Volvo Trucks to Their Fleet With Another 11 More Coming in 2019

Volvo Trucks Malaysia recently handed over 17 new Volvo trucks of various models to Konsortium PD Sdn Bhd. The handover was held at their Konsortium PD's headquarters in Lukut, Port Dickson. Of the seventeen trucks, two of them were the Volvo FH440, seven were Volvo FM370 and eight were Volvo FM440. Both the senior management of Volvo Trucks Malaysia and Konsortium PD were present at the small ceremony.

Volkswagen Dealer Wearnes Automotive Launches Their Service 2.0 Customer Aftersales Programme

Wearnes Automotive recently introduced and launched the Service 2.0 Program for their Volkswagen Dealership in Sg Besi, Kuala Lumpur. According to them, Service 2.0 will try to ensure a new customer experience exclusively to Wearnes Volkswagen customers and will enable Wearnes to be positioned at the top leading in automotive service industry, second to none. The new customer experience which was launched at Wearnes Automotive's flagship 4S centre in Kuala Lumpur.

DS Automobiles Opens its Flagship DS Store in Petaling Jaya - Premium French Chic For Those That Want Individuality

The PSA Group brand DS now has a new DS Store in Petaling Jaya. Located at the Naza Automall the brand new DS Store is the first of its kind in Malaysia and Southeast Asia. Naza Euro Motors Sdn Bhd, the sole distributor for DS cars in Malaysia officially launched the new flagship showroom last Friday where the event was inaugurated in the presence of Yves Bonnefont, CEO of DS Automobiles and Dato’ Samson Anand George, Group CEO, Automotive Group, Naza Corporation Holdings.

Upcoming Events - BMW Shorties Film Festival 2018 This 15th December 2018 at Tiffin Food Court, Petaling Jaya - Something To Do This Weekend!

If you have nothing to do this weekend, there will activities, film and music awaits you folks out there at the BMW Shorties Film Festival. It will be held this 15th December  at the Tiffin Food Court, Petaling Jaya. The event, whilst not a motoring event per se is what BMW Group does as part of how they give back to a society where they are based at. So here, BMW gives back by inculcating filmmaking here in Malaysia.

Dato' Zainal Abidin Ahmad to Succeed Datuk Dr Aminar Rashid as President and CEO of Perodua Come 1st January 2019

Malaysian compact car manufacturer Perodua has announced earlier today that their longest-serving President and Chief Executive Officer, Datuk (Dr) Aminar Rashid Salleh, 58 is set to retire after nine years of running what can be said as the most successful car company in Malaysia today. It is under his leadership that Perodua not only expanded its market share from 31.2% in 2010 to above 37% share as of year-to-date 2018. As CEO, he also  also started the company's transformation programme within the Perodua Group which has made the company what it is today.

PROTON Officially Launches the Long, Long, Long Awaited X70 SUV - Prices Start From RM99,800 Onwards

PROTON has finally did it. They've officially launched the Proton X70 SUV. Their first SUV and their first Proton-Geely collaboration car. While most of us already know the details of the new SUV, Proton has made available to most important detail of them all - the prices for all the variants. We now know that the prices start at RM99,800 without insurance for the base 2wd model and it goes up to a reasonable EM123,800 for the full specced premium variant. The good news is that there is one price for the X70 throughout Malaysia. Those in Sabah and Sarawak need not pay any extra like they used to pay with all the cars sold over there! Great initiative by Proton here folks. You folks in Sabah and Sarawak can finally get a price similar to the people of Peninsular Malaysia.

Site Update and the Perodua Nautica - Did You Know Perodua Only Sold 200of These in Malaysia?

I'm back. I was basically hit with a very bad case of influenza right after the KL International Motor Show 2018 and was basically sick as heck. A round of antibiotics and a lot io rest was needed for me to recover. Furthermore, it is the end of the year. I think I deserve a break after running my business affairs, this blog and making videos for the blog without a break throughout 2018.