End-2019 & Upcoming Festivities Promotion From SDAC-Ford - Rebates and Free Maintenance for Ranger WildTrak & Ranger Raptor and Service Promotions

The official distributors of Ford in Malaysia, Sime Darby Auto ConneXion (SDAC) have announced its year-end sales and service promotion. This is also in conjunction with upcoming festivities like Christmas and Chinese New Year early 2020. The promotion will run from 1 December 2019 to 31 January 2020 and covers a sales promotion for the Ford Ranger WildTrak and Ranger Raptor as well as a Service Promotion for selected Ford models.

BMW Malaysia, Safe ‘n Sound and Childline Foundation Open Registration for Subsidised Infant Carrier Car Seats - Register and Be Eligible To Buy The Seat At RM100 - Limited to 150 Units Only

Good news! BMW Malaysia is promoting the quick adoption of child car seats through a subsidy programme that is part of the BMW Safety 360° initiative. This time the initiative is held together with Childline Foundation and Safe ‘n Sound where 150 Units of infant carrier car seats will be available at a subsidised price of RM100 each only. The move is in line with the Malaysian Transport Ministry's move to enforce the use of child seats starting January 2020 (with warnings given out for the first six months for any one caught doing so).This is less than a month down the road. 

Trucks: LTS Group Takes Delivery of 38 units of Volvo FM Prime Mover Heavy Duty Trucks

Volvo Trucks recently delivered 38 units of the Volvo FM370 4x2T RAS prime mover to the Lee Ting San Group of Companies (LTS Group),  who are one of the largest logistics companies that provides transportation, container haulage, warehousing and maintenance services here in Peninsular Malaysia.  The LTS Group supports nationwide and cross- border transportation services and have been around since 1974.

Trucks: Khairul Nafsha Ishak Wins the Malaysian Edition of the UD Trucks Extra Mile Challenge 4th Edition

The 4 th edition of the Malaysian UD Trucks Extra Mile Challenge (UDEMC) concluded recently and Khairul Nafsha Bin Ishak, a truck driver with Setia Maju Jaya Logistik Sdn Bhd. has won the competition. This is the second year in a row that a driver from Setia Maju Jaya Logistik Sdn Bhd has managed to win the UDEMC competition here. Khairul will now represent Malaysia at the UDEMC Global Final competition in Japan next year.

Buses: Perdana Express Buys 31 New Scania K410 Buses & Enters into New Maintenance Contracts For Their Scania Buses

The folks who use Perdana Express buses will be riding in some brand new Scania express buses after this. Perdana Express has received 31 new Scania buses to bolster its services between the East Coast to the Central Region of Peninsular Malaysia. The bus company and Scania Malaysia held a handover ceremony as well as a service and maintenance agreement signing at the  Terminal Bersepadu Selatan, Bandar Tasik Selatan in Kuala Lumpur.

Hyundai Sime Darby Motors Finally Launches the Hyundai i30N - Limited to Only 20 Units Via Lazada Chup Dulu and Only in the 275HP N Performance Variant

Finally, Hyundai-Sime Darby Motors (HSDM) has launched the Hyundai i30 N 5-door hot hatch here after previewing it late last year at the KL Motor Show. It has taken them a WHOLE year to finally offer it for sale. Unfortunately, or fortunately since it is finally on sale here, it will be offered for sale exclusively on Lazada Malaysia during its 12.12 Grand Year End Sale. Only 20 units of the i30 N will be available for pre-order from 2 December 2019, through Lazada’s Chup Dulu pre-order feature. 

Happenings: Ekin Kee Charles.Wins The BMW Shorties 2019 Grand Prize With His Short Film 'PACE'

The BMW Shorties has named the short film, ‘PACE’ by Ekin Kee Charles as its its Grand Prize winner for the 2019 BMW Shorties. This is the thirteenth edition of what is the most prestigious and longest running short film contest for Malaysian filmmakers and videographers. The Grand Prize worth RM80,000 in production grant was presented at the BMW Shorties Awards Night 2019, held in conjunction with Urbanscapes 2019 recently.

Hankook Ventus Prime 3 (K125) Ultra High Performance Tyre Launched in Malaysia

Hankook Tire has launched their latest ultra high performance (UHP) tyre, the Ventus Prime 3 (K125) in Malaysia. Hankook says that the new Ventus Prime 3 tyre is an ultra high-performance tire for passenger cars and it has been designed to have as close to as perfect a balance between performance, comfort and safety. 

Motorsport: Team PROTON R3 Finishes 1st and 2nd at the Sepang 1000KM Race

Team Proton R3 (R3) has won the Sepang 1000km (S1K) race for a third consecutive time. The 2019 Proton Iriz driven by Mitchell Cheah and Fariqe Hairuman took the first place and the 2019 Proton Saga driven by Syafiq Ali and Admi Shahrul came second making it a memorable one-two finish. It was a challenging race as there was a safety car period and then some bad weather making the 1000km race of 181 laps cut short to around 9 hours worth of racing instead of much longer.

Arus Jaya, MARii and Perodua Will Establish a Digital Showroom and Co-Develop Smart Sales & Service Solutions

The Malaysia Automotive, Robotics and IoT Institute (MARii), Arus Jaya Automotive Sdn. Bhd. and Perodua will develop Smart Sales and Service solutions together with a focus towards the state of Sabah. This was announced at a ground breaking ceremony recently held at the Kota Kinabalu Marriott Hotel for the establishment of the first ever Digital Showroom. The Digital Showroom will be the first of its kind here and developed in order to transition towards enhancing digitalisation of the aftermarket sector.

Maserati Development Prototype Hits The Streets of Modena - Expect an All-New, Most Likely, Mid-Engined Maserati by May 2020

Maserati has previewed photos of the first “mule” for the development of the new Maserati engine. The prototype mule was driven out of Maserati's Viale Ciro Menotti gates, in Modena on the 20th of November 2019. The test cars, or mules of an all new Maserati have special livery that echoes the 'Save the Date' teaser sent out ahead of the event scheduled for May 2020, which could be the first unveiling of what could be a new chapter in Maserati's saga - a return to mid-engine performance coupes by the luxury brand or the replacement of the outgoing Gran Turismo.

Jun Hong Trading Receives the First Ever UD Kuzer Delivered in Malaysia

Recently, the folks at UD Trucks and their sole distributor partner Tan Chong Industrial Equipment Sdn Bhd (TCIE) delivered the first ever unit of the all-new light-duty UD Kuzer to Jun Hong Trading Sdn Bhd. While it may only be a sole unit, the event is significant as it can been seen as a start for UD Trucks' return into the light duty truck segment here in Malaysia.

Volvo Buses host Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Conference together with Technology Depository Agency (TDA) and Prasarana / Some Thoughts After Listening to the Conference

Volvo Buses hosted the very first Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Conference in Putrajaya, Malaysia on November 19 th 2019. The event was held together with the Technology Depository Agency (TDA) and Prasarana government agencies related to technology and public transport. It was also supported by the Malaysian Government, The Swedish Embassy and Business Sweden with the intention to  bring together key stakeholders from across Malaysia to build a shared vision that will make Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) work successfully in Malaysia.

Mitsubishi Triton 4x4 Adventure Event in Linear Park, Johor Bahru This Weekend - 23 & 24 November 2019 with Lots of Prizes to be Won

If you are in and around Johor Bahru, you can go experience a 4x4 adventure of sorts courtesy of Mitsubishi Motors Malaysia (MMM). They are organising the Mitsubishi Triton 4x4 Adventure over at Linear Park, Desa Tebrau, Johor Bahru from 10.00am to 8.00pm this weekend, the 23 & 24 November 2019. Admission is FREE so if you have no plans, you could go try out a 4x4 test circuit with the Triton pickup truck.

Off-Roading: The Newly Launched Isuzu D-Max 1.9 Turbodiesel Completes the 2019 Borneo Safari

The newly launched (for the Malaysian market) 2019 Isuzu D-Max 1.9liter pickup truck has managed to conquer one of the toughest off-road events in the region, the Borneo Safari. Nicknamed the 'Blue Monster', the latest Isuzu D-Max with its Blue Power 1.9liter turbodiesel engine managed to complete the seven day event which started and ended in the jungles near Kota Kinabalu, Sabah.

The Scania XT is Now Used by Sara Transport and Logistic Services (STLS) Group to Tackle Tougher Than Usual Conditions

Scania XT heavy duty prime mover trucks are part of Scania's newly launched New Truck Generation range of trucks here. The Scania XT variant has a more robust design than the usual Scania NTG trucks where all cabs and engines have been designed to take on harsh working conditions in particular, the construction and mining industries. Now, the XT makes an appearance in the Malaysian construction industry with Sara Transport and Logistic Services Group (STLS Group) receiving their first Scania XT trucks.

Editorial: New 2020 Nissan Almera Launches in Thailand - This Will Make Buying Compact Nissan Cars Good Again

The all-new Nissan Almera has been recently launched in Thailand. This is also called the Nissan Versa and Nissan Sunny over in the United States of America and in the Middle East respectively. This is one car which Nissan Malaysia must be itching their hand on as the current Almera (shown below), while still netting some sales is a distant third (or fourth) in terms of Japanese B-segment here. 

Volvo Car Malaysia introduces refreshed Volvo XC90 SUV - Improving On Something Which Is Already So Good

Volvo Car Malaysia has announced that the refreshed 2019 onwards Volvo XC90 full-sized SUV is now available in Malaysia for viewing at all Volvo showrooms.The Volvo XC90 is the Swedish carmaker's top-of-the-line flagship, that marks the company's foray into an electrification strategy. The refreshed XC90 features subtle upgrades to the exterior for the T5 variant, additional performance for the T8 and some with more equipment inside.

New Mitsubishi Triton Quest Launched - More Equipment for the Base Spec Triton

The New Mitsubishi Triton Quest has been launched by Mitsubishi Motors Malaysia (MMM). According to MMM, the new Triton Quest is a reliable yet powerful pickup truc, packed with features and that uniquely aggressive and stylish design with a ‘sedan’ outlook. It's the 'sedan' outlook which is different here. Most likely to cater for the on-road only crowd that also loves buying pickup trucks.

The 11.11.19 Booking Through Lazada Malaysia Only Ford Ranger Splash Limited Edition Has Sold Out Ahead of The 11.11.19 Date

People seem to really like the Ford Ranger. Sime Darby Auto ConneXion (SDAC), the sole distributor for Ford in Malaysia, had announced that all 19 units of the Limited Edition Ford Ranger Splash had been pre-booked ahead of the Lazada 11.11 Shopping Festival on the Ford Official store on LazMall. It also shows that people are willing to book their new cars through an online portal too.