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Today, the 26th of September 2022 is quite a memorable day. A national car is going hybrid. Peroduais starting on its first-of-its-kind electric vehicle 'real time' study which also incorporates a long-term mobility as a service market study involving 300 subscribers of its limited Ativa Hybrid model. From this we will see the Ativa Hybrid compact SUV on Malaysian roads and Perodua's study on how Malaysian consumers take to the subscription method of car 'ownership'.
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Ford Motor Company's Malaysian official distributor Sime Darby Auto Connexion has launched the 2022 Next-generation Ford Everest. The very chunky, tough looking SUV is available in three versions – the 2WD Sport and the 4WD Trend and Titanium. Taking after its Ford Ranger pickup truck sibling, the new Everest is rugged yet sleek on the outside and all cozy and comfortable, safe, high-tech on the inside with seating for 7 people too.
Good news to those that like Audi. The flagship 2022 Audi RS Q8 SUV has been officially made available here by Audi's authorised distributor here, PHS Automotive Malaysia and it will be priced from RM1,699,990 inclusive of duties and sales tax.
Hino Motors Sales (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd. (HINO) had appointed two new HASOs (Hino Approved Service Outlet) up north in Georgetown, Penang and in Sungai Petani, Kedah. This strengthens its service network and provide easy access for after-sales support to customers, for the northern region, improving its customer support network. UP Service Centre Sdn Bhd (UP Service) located in Georgetown, Pulau Pinang, and Hong Yee Car Computer Service Sdn Bhd (Hong Yee Car) located in Sungai Petani, Kedah operate these two new centres.
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.
