Industry News: Lotus Elise wins Readers' Champion Award

The Lotus Elise has been announced as the Readers' Champion at the Autocar Awards. Most of you are aware that Autocar magazine UK is world renowned and is the benchmark in automobile test reviews. Heck. I grew up reading Autocar ever since I could read and picked up my father's Autocar magazine in the 1970s.

HAVAL MALAYSIA LAUNCHES THE HAVAL H2 SUV - 1.5L Turbocharged SUV from RM89,950 onwards

Go Auto, the distributor for Haval cars in Malaysia has launched the Haval H2 SUV. The larger, C segment sized H2 now complements the surprisingly popular B segment sized M4 crossover SUV in the Haval line-up here in Malaysia. Haval now have a better two car lineup and now caters to a slightly wider audience than the single vehicle in its lineup. Prior to this, the Haval brand was called Great Wall Motors and they also sold the Wingle pick-up truck as well as a turbo diesel power SUV. 

INDUSTRY NEWS: Hyundai recruits former design head of Bentley Motors

Hyundai Motor announced that the world-renowned designer SangYup Lee, former Head of Exterior and Advanced Design at Bentley, will become the Vice President of Styling at Hyundai Design Center starting from this June 2016. I believe this shows Hyundai's commitment to build better looking cars. And maybe add more pizzazz to the Hyundai design. 

Driven: Pre-production Proton Perdana 2.0 & 2.4 driven at the Proton Test Track - No Photos yet, but opinions and more details.

The other day I was invited with a the new Proton Perdana 2.0 and 2.4liter variants at the Proton semi-high speed oval track. This was another one of those hush-hush sessions where we were not allowed to take any photos. So there are no photos here. Just the drive report. But anyway, most of you who are on social media would have already seen leaked photos of the car floating around here and there. So it basically looks like what you have already seen in the photographs.

PROTON ANNOUNCES RECALLS FOR THE INSPIRA AND SELECTED EXORA CPS 1.6 MODELS

Proton has announced recalls for the Proton Inspira and selected Proton Exora CPS 1.6 models. The Inspira, a rebadged Mitsubishi Lancer is part of a global Mitsubishi vehicle recall and the Proton Exora CPS, a Proton in-house design is also recalled.

Old and New: Mercedes Benz SLK230K R170 & SLK200 R172

We have here two Mercedes Benz SLK roadsters for your viewing pleasure folks. The older one is a Mercedes Benz SLK230 Kompressor with a full AMG Line bodykit and wheels. The almost new SLK200 AMG Line shows off the marked differences a few decades have done in terms of car design. But honestly, both are actually as desirable as one another.

HAVAL H2 Scheduled for Launch on the 25th of May - We've been in one already actually.

The HAVAL H2 is about to be officially launched in Malaysia. It will be launched on the 25th of May 2016 at their One Utama roadshow scheduled for this 25th to the 29th of May 2016 (as stated above).  This are the photos of the preview done at the Great Wall / HAVAL display sometime November 2015 at the MAI-MST Autoshow. As a recap, or to those that missed the earlier article which was part of the show highlights, I had sat inside the white one you see in the photo below and got the friendly guy from GO AUTO Malaysia to start up this new SUV that will be launched very soon. 

More MY Auto Fest 2016 deals: BMW, FORD, DAIHATSU, PERODUA, NISSAN, JAGUAR LAND ROVER, SUBARU VOLVO, MERCEDES BENZ

The My Auto Fest 2016 is on from the 20th to the 22nd of May 2016. There you will find many deals, food, merchandise and test drive of many models outside the event hall (photo below). No. This isn't some huge, mega motor show. At least we have quite a proper one with new car previews - the new Honda Civic was properly previewed, Peugeot had a 408 e-THP, Proton teased the Perdana, Hyundai brought out the IONIQ Hybrid. Something different. There even was a Tesla outside courtesy of GreenTech. And you can win a Nissan Almera if you book a car there. It is on till tomorrow. 

TRUCK NEWS: TATA Trucks at My Auto Fest 2016

One of the surprises at the Malaysian Automotive Association's My Auto Fest 2016 is the appearance of TATA. It was surprising as they mainly sell commercial vehicles and it wasn't actually a Truck and Bus show. But I was glad there was something more than just cars, MPVs and SUVs there. TATA showcased their fairly new to Malaysia Prima 4038.S 4X2 Prime Mover truck and the smaller TATA 512 short wheelbase.