Hyundai Sime Darby Motors (HSDM) has informed that they will be launching the 10 seater variant for the spaceship inspired Hyundai Staria. While they like to call it a spaceship, I think that it is more akin to the head of a Shinkansen high speed train. But what ever the case, it looks very futuristic and now you can order one with more seats by the fourth quarter of 2022.
BMW Malaysia had on the 13th of September 2022 unveiled the newly enhanced BMW M850i xDrive Coupé MY Edition. This is a special Malaysia only version of the potent M850i and it features added enhancements for the luxury M Performance sports coupé, a refreshed front end and a suite of upgraded standard equipment. The price before insurance of this range topping coupe is RM 1,102,800.00 before you factor in insurance.
Volvo Car Malaysia is stepping up the game in providing better customer aftersales by introducing its first dedicated body repair and paint service facilities through the launch of the Volvo Certified Damage Repair Centre (VCDR). The VCDR service is now available at Federal Auto Cars, Glenmarie and Sime Darby Swedish Auto, Ara Damansara, So customers will get to enjoy an end-to-end high quality body repair and paint service from the authorised aftersales dealerships for customers who have gotten accident damage to their Volvo cars.
Mercedes-Benz Malaysia presents their future of electric mobility with three new models from the Mercedes-EQ family and their official prices for the Malaysian market. The Mercedes-EQ is their fully electric range of premium, luxury cars tops out with the EQS, the S-Class full electric luxury car and now we have two SUVs, the EQB, which is the B-Class equivalent. Aside from that, there is also an EQC, if you want that C-Class type of SUV (aka the GLC). All were previewed, or launched in July 2022 but official prices have only been confirmed today.
BMW Group Malaysia and the M Owners Malaysia Community intends to celebrate 50 years of M performance cars with the Largest BMW M Gathering on ///Malaysia Day 2022. If you forgot, 16th of September is Malaysia day and this gathering will be held at LaLaPort Bukit Bintang City Centre in Kuala Lumpur.
Official Press Release is here....
The Aston Martin DBX is Aston Martin's SUV. Now, in its latest revised for 2022 form, it makes its ASEAN appearance here in Kuala Lumpur in its latest form, the DBX707. This range-topping hand-built DBX has been made better according to Aston Martin and adds more driving pleasure as well as performance to the mix. The DBX707 gets the AMG derived 4.0-litre twin-turbocharged V8 which generates 707PS and 900Nm of torque but what's new from this upgraded DBX are notably some chassis improvements, a 9 speed DCT transmission and carbon brakes.
MAN Truck & Bus (M) Sdn Bhd (MAN Malaysia), to be the first vehicle manufacturer in Malaysia to offer Euro V engines as standard across its entire Truck range, will now aim to become the first company to offer Euro V for its bus range too. This piece of environmentally friendly news was first announced at MAN BAGUS, an annual gathering for key players from the bus industry at its Serendah CKD assembly plant. There, MAN Malaysia Managing Director Andrew O’Brooks announced that the company plans to introduce a low-emission Euro V engine as an option in 2023 to help bus operators reduce their carbon footprint.
PROTON partners with Malaysia Speed Festival (MSF), the organiser of the MSF Saga Cup racing
series, to create the PROTON – MSF Merdeka Race Carnival 2022 on 27th and 28th August 2022 at
Sepang International Circuit which harks back to the halcyon days of the original PROTON 300km
Merdeka Race of the late-90s which was the first ever race to be held at Sepang Circuit on 11-13
December 1998.
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This has been awhile. Scania Malayia recently held the Malaysian leg of the Scania Top Teams competiton for their technicians. I managed to find some time during my busy post-lockdown schedule to attend this event. This could have been the first competition of sorts for technicians assembled at one place since the country went thought lockdown after lockdown to combat the recent Covid-19 pandemic. Five teams managed to compete in the finals from a total number of twelve (which are from the 12 branches throughout Malaysia) and Team B100 from Scania Malaysia's Ipoh workshop secured the win.
Ford, together with Malaysian authorised distributors Sime Darby Auto Connexion has launched the next generation Ford Ranger pickup truck. This ever popular pickup was engineered with valuable input from customers, Ford engineers and designers created a bold, purposeful exterior design and sleek, inviting, high-tech interior. Still familiar in its overall styling but improved all over according to the folks at Ford. I managed to attend the launch event even though I had quite a busy schedule. Maybe since it was Friday and most of my errands were done for the week (trying to get things back on track after all lockdowns over the past two years).
As usual, a new Perodua gets a ton of bookings prior to the official launch. So we now see the all-new Alza MPV having 30,000 and by now, more than that bookings by Malaysians. It does look like Malaysians love their Perodua and the new Alza, totally all-new is being welcomed extremely well. Now, it is based on the latest generation of Toyota/Daihatsu compact MPV chassis which is will know as the Avanza (in its most basic form).
PROTON earlier today unveiled their latest engine assembly line at their Tanjung Malim plant at an exclusive event for invited media guests. The hi-tech assembly line has been in operation since April this year and produces the company’s 1.5 TGDI (Turbo Gasoline Direct Injection) engine, the first time it has been assembled outside of China and is one of the most advanced automotive engine assembly lines in the country. This means that even more local content is in Proton's SUVs after this.
On 1st July 2022, Tan Chong Industrial Equipment Sdn Bhd (TCIE), the sole distributor of UD Trucks delivered a UD Quester CGE390 8x4 rigid truck platform equipped with a vacuum loader worth 2.4 million ringgit to the Duromac Group today. The UD Quester is UD Trucks' heavy-duty truck that has been designed with fuel efficiency and durability as well as being a platform designed to fit into different customers’ expectations. Like this unique vac-blower truck you see here right now. The handover ceremony was held at Duromac headquarters located in Puchong and witnessed by senior management of Duromac, UD Trucks and TCIE.
Managing Directors, Erik Winter and Kurt Leitner
PHS Automotive Malaysia (PHSAM) is now the official distributor of Audi cars in Malaysia. Finally after being in somewhat of a limbo, Audi has a proper distributor again. Previously, Audi Malaysia was the official distributors but since 2018 or so, they have pulled out with the principal handling things via their Singapore office. Now, PHSAM is handling things. I believe that they will do a better job that what has been done previously and actually bring Audi back into the premium car game here in Malaysia.
Perodua is officially taking orders for the All-New Perodua Alza compact MPV. According to them, the all-new Alza will come with" significant improvements in terms of driving comfort and versatility.: It will be based on the current Daihatsu Xenia/Toyota Veloz, which is already on sale over in Indonesia, rather than based on the Daihatsu Boon Luminas. Tentative pricing for the all-new Alza is between RM62,000 and RM75,000 (in West Malaysia, without insurance and pre-sales tax),
During the official opening event of the Mercedes-Benz Setia Alam Autohaus, Mercedes-Benz Malaysia also announced the availability of two model updates in its SUV line; the new locally-assembled (CKD) Mercedes-Benz GLC 300 e 4MATIC Coupé as well as the Mercedes-AMG GLB 35 4MATIC (below), now enhanced with new vehicle equipment upgrades.
Mercedes-Benz Malaysia and Hap Seng Star earlier today, have together officially launched its newly relocated Mercedes-Benz Autohaus in Setia Alam. It features a new luxury brand presence and exclusive luxury lifestyle boutique for the folks and Mercedes-Benz customers in and around Setia Alam, Selangor. This new, very much larger, Hap Seng Star Setia Alam Autohaus outlet features new enhancements and upgrades that embodies a luxurious retail experience concept for customers, showcasing the brand’s commitment to be a leader in the luxury retail experience while strengthening its customer touchpoints throughout Malaysia.
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