Silky competitor to Proton and Perodua

Another new competitor enters the small car market and it is locally made.

The Naza Sutera, which means 'silk' in Bahasa Malaysia, was launched by the Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi on the 22th of April during the ground-breaking ceremony for Naza's new automotive plant on a 103ha site in Bertam, Kepala Batas. The plant is estimated to cost around RM1.3 billion to build.

Styled by Pininfarina of Italy, the concept model was first unveiled in 2002. The platform which orginates in China was further tuned by Lotus Engineering (owned by Proton) to improve ride and handling. The chassis conversion to right-hand-drive and body styling were then carried out by Naza's R&D. people. I think that they have done a much better job than Proton.

The 5-Door hatchback is powered by a 4 cylinder 1.1 litre DOHC 16-valve EFI engine and it has about 75% local content.

The Sutera comes in two models, the Sutera GS and the Sutera GSi. The only difference is that the GSi model comes with reverse parking sensor, silver interior finishing and square chromed exhaust pipe finish. It also has 2 more exclusive colours (Onyx Black and Citrine Yelow). The prices (on-the-road with insurance) are RM35,998 and RM36,998 for the GS and GSi models respectively. At present both models come with a five-speed manual gearbox.

What I found amazing is that dual airbags (driver and passenger) is a standard safety feature. Also standard is the audio system (radio, CD and MP3) with six speakers.

Watch out Savvy, Kelisa, Kenari, MyVi, Swift, etc. etc.

Paul's post has a lot more pictures.

Related News:
- PM challenges Naza to do better than Proton
- Pak Lah: Compete like brothers
- Asean The Initial Market For Naza Sutera
- Naza Sutera To Become Main Rival Of Tata Indicar In South African Market

Tags: Naza Proton Savvy Sutera

Proton Savvy worst Car of the year

Proton Savvy was voted worst Car of the year 2006 on the Autozine homepage. Click link here.

Last year it was the Proton Gen2. I don't know whether this guy Mark Wan has something against Proton.

Tags: Autozine Proton Savvy

Car Brand Names

Another forwarded mail.

AUDI : Another Ugly Deutsche Invention

BMW : Brings Me Women but Broke My Wallet

FIAT : Failure in Italian Automotive Technology

FORD : Fast Only Rolling Downhill

HYUNDAI : Hope You Understand Nothing's Driveable and Inexpensive

SAAB : Shape Appears Ass-Backwards

SUBARU : Screwed Up Beyond All Repair Usually

VOLVO : Very Odd Looking Vehicular Object

PORSCHE : Proof Of Rich Spoiled Children Having Everything

Cheaper Petrol

In case you are not aware, you can still get cheaper petrol.

Where?

Just go to any Caltex petrol station.

Me and my wife have been loyal Catex (a ChevronTexaco company) customers for a long, long time and we don't use any other brand of fuel unless we are in an emegency.

Caltex offers 3 different grades of petrol, namely, Silver, Gold and Platinum. However, I have yet to come across any Caltex petrol station selling the Platinum brand.

I normally put the "Gold" brand which is tagged the normal price (RM1.92). However, I was surprised to see that the "Silver" brand was priced lower (RM1.88). That's 0.04 sen cheaper.

A lot of people have asked me why I only use Caltex. My answer to them is to try out the different fuels and feel the difference themselves.

As the Caltex website says:

Caltex VortexTM fuels (Silver, Gold and Platinum) contain a proprietary, advanced technology additive system that cleans up dirty intake and fuel systems with as little as a single tank, and keeps them clean to ensure engines operate at peak performance and efficiency.

BTW, Caltex didn't pay me a sen to write this.

According to their website:

Silver with Techron® is the value offering in the Caltex petrol product slate, aimed at less demanding motorists. It delivers unbeatable cleaning power of vital engine parts.

Tags: Caltex Fuel Petrol Vortex

Lotus News

Several websites (here, here) reported that Lotus Cars’ had launched its first light commercial vehicle, an Elise-derived flatbed composite-bodied pickup, named the 'Load Lugga' on April 1st 2006.

Of course it was a prank. Read here.

It was also reported that the Lotus Group lost £7.4m in the year 2005.
The Group’s plans to develop its engineering services business in pursuit of profitability. Read full report here.

Part of the plan involves raising output at the Hethel Lotus Cars plant by assembling niche vehicles for third parties.

Lotus also presented concept vehicle the APX which stands for Aluminium Performance Crossover, at the recent Geneva Show.

The APX is a 7-seater (in reality a 5 + 2 with the two rear seats being occasional) four-wheel drive “Crossover” vehicle.



Engine: A 300 hp supercharged 3 litre (2996 cc, Bore: 88 mm, stroke: 82.1 mm) V6 DOHC engine, mounted longitudinally in the front of the vehicle.

The body predominantly aluminium manufactured in the form of high-pressure die-cast corner nodes, stampings and extrusions and assembled by various techniques, including adhesive bonding, self-piercing rivets and flow-drill screws for construction – joining techniques that Lotus calls Riv-Bonding

According to their pressrelease:

APX is not just a Lotus Engineering concept, but a feasible prototype close to production; it is not a concept indicating a strategic direction of Lotus Cars;

Its latest own-brand model, the Europa S, is to start production in July this year, with a target of 500 units a year.

TAGS: APX Lotus Prank

Alex on the go

Congratulations Alex.

Alex Yoong and the A1 Team Malaysia won their first victory in the A1 Grand Prix of nations in Shanghai Ciruit, China yesterday. He came first in the Sprint race (15 laps) and second in the Feature race (30 laps).

With this victory, Malaysia climbed up the rankings (74 points) to finish fifth behind France, Switzerland, Great Britain and New Zealand.

Alex will also be driving in the prestigious Le Mans Series. He will be teaming up with with former Le Mans 24 Hr. winner, Jan Lammers.

Read more here.

The five-race series starts in Istanbul on April 9.

TAGS: Alex Yoong A1 Le Mans racing

Price Cuts - I am not happy

"Up to RM40,000 cut in prices for imported cars" the NST reports today.

Am I happy?

DO I LOOK HAPPY?


I am furious becuse I had seen this coming. I had predicted that prices would fall. I had argued with my friends who had insisted that the prices would not go down.

I am angry because I was planning to sell my not so old Wira (about to turn 4 this year) and prices of second hand cars have fallen down the roof. Now I am too late.

Just wondering how much my Wira can fetch now on the used car market.

NOTE: Just learnt through Paul Tan's blog that Proton has posted the new prices for its car on their website .

TAGS: policy NAP used cars