Nobody has heard of Proton

I was quite surprised to find out that among all my PhD friends here at the Warwick Business School, there's only one guy who has heard about Proton, Malaysia's national car company.

A friend who's quite knowledgeable about cars told me that at one time there were a number of Proton cars on UK streets - mainly the Proton Persona (the Proton Wira). We do see some of them around in Coventry but I have never seen any of the newer models including the Gen 2, Savvy, Satria Neo or even the Impian. From my friends' reactions when I tell them about the company and the fact that it owns Lotus, Proton cars UK is obviously not doing a good job with it's marketing. From what I learnt from my sources in Proton, they want to concentrate on the domestic market which is what they should have been doing. I guess that strategy comes at a price. I am not sure about other foreign markets but when it comes to branding, Proton has a lot of work to do in the UK.

Peugeot Citroën and Mitsubishi to collaborate in in Russia

According to a news release, PSA Peugeot Citroën and Mitsubishi Motors Corporation will set up a joint venture in Russia. The JV will produce vehicles for 3 brands, namely, Peugeot, Citroën and Mitsubishi in aassembly plant which will be located in Kaluga, 180 kmd South-West of Moscow.

The plant will have a capacity of 160,000 vehicles and the the foundation stone of this future plant will be laid on June 10th 2008. Production is planned to start in 2011.

This JV follows the sucessful launch of the an SUV - the Peugeot 4007, which was jointly launched in 2007, for the European market. Read Paul Tan's post about the Peugeot 4007 here.

Flying cars

Was stuck in a jam back from the University yesterday and how I wished I had a car that could take off vertically and just fly back home. Well the idea is nothing new and countless sci--fi movies feature flying cars.

In fact there are several prototypes of flying cars in existence right now. Check out this feature about flying cars on Yahoo! news.



Check out the test flight of the Moller Skycar.

Get auto insurance quotes

One of my friends was planning to buy a used car and asked me if I had some tips. He was so surprised when he learnt about the road tax, the MOT tests and of course the cost of insurance. If you are buying from a dealer, they will usually try to convince you to get the insurance from one of the companies they partner with. Naturally these are not necessarily the cheapest or the best.

In the US, if you are buying your first car, you need to buy the insurance even before you can drive away from the dealership with your new car. I think it's unethical for some dealers to force down their insurance policies on some unsuspecting customer. I mean not all customers will want a full coverage and would rather go for the legal minimum required. You have to note that different American states have different rules and most require you to have an insurance if you drive.

There are several sites where you can obtain and compare quotes and all you have to do is enter your Zip code. Getting a auto insurance code has never been easier. And of course you get to save some money.