common sense was a big winner at final

THE big winner on and off the field at last night's heated football final between Indonesia and Malaysia was common sense.

The two teams squared off for the Asean Football Federation (AFF) Suzuki Cup before 10,000 policemen as well as 80,000 fans at the packed Gelora Bung Karno stadium in the Indonesian capital.

Malaysia had won the first leg of the final 3-0 in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday. Yesterday, Indonesia beat Malaysia 2-1. That meant the visitors proudly took home the Suzuki Cup with an aggregate score of 4-2.

Yet peace reigned, thanks in no small part to the tough measures taken by the Indonesian government.

Officials set up five checkpoints in East Jakarta to frisk groups of fans for weapons, laser pointers and firecrackers.

'Don't worry, no laser today, pak,' said one fan, teasing a policeman.

but in the match itself, the paks were letting their feelings known through their slaps,high and low kicks plus a variety of other low down tactics...too bad, the garudas had only their fans to be proud of yesterday..

Peugeot 308 CC set for Malaysian debut next week

Looks like Peugeot boys Nasim will have the honour of being the first to kick off new car launches in 2011 – the 308 CC is set to make its local debut on January 6, the first of three Pug models that will make their way here next year (the RCZ should be one). Folks in KL will be able to get to grips with the two-door convertible the day after the launch at a Nasim roadshow, which runs from January 7-9, in Bangsar Shopping Centre.

The car, which is indicatively priced at RM200,000, is powered by a THP 156 Prince 1.6 litre twin scroll turbo engine with direct injection. As found on the recently launched 5008 MPV, the block offers 156 hp and 240 Nm of torque, and it’s mated to a six-speed automatic transmission with Triptronic and a sport mode.

Features and kit includes a two-piece electrically retractable roof which folds up/down within 20 seconds, dynamic directional xenon headlamps, LED rear lights, 18-inch alloy wheels and a twin rear diffuser design. Safety-wise, there are six airbags, as well as the world’s first side head airbags which are housed in the seat and deployed laterally from the head restraint.

Inside, the 308 CC features a premium leather interior designed in the tradition of prestige cabriolets, a retractable high resolution 7-inch LCD screen, a JBL Hi-Fi system, dual zone air-conditioning and premium leather electric front seats with memory functionality for the driver’s seat.

urban transport renewed

When work begins next year on the proposed Mass Rapid Transit system that will serve the population of the greater KL and Klang Valley, it will mark the start of what will be the largest infrastructure project in the country.

More than 130,000 people will be employed during its construction, and the project will develop RM3-4 bil annually in terms of direct gross national income contribution from its construction and operations, and a further RM8-12 bil generated from spillover effects.

The project will kick off with the construction of the first service line beginning in July 2011, which will run through a Northwest-Southeast corridor alignment. The line will ply a 60 km route between Sungai Buloh and Kajang, and take six years to complete. When built in 2016, the Phase 1a part of the project is expected to have more than 400,000 users daily, and serve a population catchment of 1.2 mil people.

It will contain 35 stops, with four interchanges linked to existing rail services, these being the KTM Komuter lines at Sg Buloh and Kajang and in KL, the Putra KJ line at Pasar Seni and Star Ampang line at Maluri.

These were some of the details revealed about the initial phase of the project at a briefing held by the Land Public Transportation Commission earlier today, which was presented by its chairman Tan Sri Syed Hamid Albar and CEO Mohd Nur Ismal Kamal. While there’s plenty to digest, we’ll just start the journey with the facts and some figures here.

lptc men

The Sg Buloh-Kajang line that will eventually come about will be a variation of the original MMCG joint venture’s proposal. MMCG originally proposed running two lines from Sg Buloh, one to Kajang (via Kepong) and the other ending nearer to Seri Kembangan (via Kota Damansara).

The LPTC briefing revealed that the plans would now go with the Minconsult option, which has the original lines merged into a single line, using the top half of the Seri Kembangan route and the bottom half of the Kajang one (see first diagram) in what is tagged as the Prasarana Line 3. Prasarana is the appointed project and asset owner for the MRT development.

The LPTC says that the MRT shouldn’t be looked just purely as a transportation project, saying it would serve a larger cause, primarily enabling the economic generator to move, as it puts it.

It added that the reasons for starting the system with the Northwest-Southeast line was because it is integrated into things, part of the proposed Urban Rail Development Plan due out in March next year.

And, from a feasibility point of view, it has been extensively studied, having been originally proposed by Prasarana back in 2006 as well as by MMCG and Minconsult. Lastly, it would serve public needs, as the corridor is, as the LPTC puts it, underserved.

Structurally, the plan is to get Phase 1b going in 2012, and Phase 2 in 2016, with the entire three lines of the MRT project to be completed in 2020. When finished, the 141 km-long infrastructure will serve a population catchment of close to 3.4 mil people over a radius of 20 km from the city centre, with 1.17 mil users anticipated on a daily basis.

The estimated cost of the entire project, as initially scoped by Gamuda, is RM36.6 bil for all three lines, not just for the initial Sg Buloh-Kajang one, though the LPTC says that the complete eventual cost has not been finalised.

This cost will involve tunnelling, building the underground stations, elevated guideways, elevated stations, depots, track works and system works. Rolling stocks and land acquisition, where it is needed, isn’t factored in to this initial cost estimate.

From a project structure viewpoint, LPTC will be the supervising and coordinating agency, while project and asset owner Prasarana has a bit on its plate – it is to appoint RapidKL as the system operator and MMCG JV as the project delivery partner, as well as create a subsidiary to manage property and commercial developments around the MRT assets.

As for project funding, the Ministry of Finance is to set up a special purpose vehicle company as the infrastructure’s funding entity.

Next March will see the public display of the Sg Buloh-Kajang line alignment, where everyone will finally get to see which areas the MRT line will run through and how it will all shape up – the LPTC says that public must be consulted, and feedback obtained. Undoubtedly, some may find cause for complaint, but for many, the idea of this has been long-awaited, and very much a godsend.

great wall ckd asean: is malaysia in it..

Various sources on the internet point to Great Wall Motor Co having an assembly plant here in Malaysia. It seems that Malaysia has been identified as one of the countries where the Chinese carmaker wants to set up a plant, together with Vietnam and Philippines.
These three countries will make passenger cars, while separate Great Wall Motor Co plants in Indonesia and Thailand will make pick-up up trucks such as the Great Wall Wingle. Given that they want plants in so many countries, they’ll most likely be in partnership with local partners.
Earlier this year we heard news of the government receiving applications from five foreign carmakers to setup assembly plants here in Malaysia. The government did not reveal which companies these were, only saying that they were European and Asian companies, which is really quite general.
Great Wall could most likely be one of the 5 companies, and MITI had better give the green light fast because although we’ve seen Great Wall cars on test in Malaysia before, the Chinese company is already selling cars in the Philippines and has already identified that it will work with local dealer Philippine National Motor to setup a plant there with an annual capacity of 10,000 units. Great Wall also already has CKD plants in Vietnam in partnership with the locals.
Models that Great Wall Motor seem to be focusing on exporting are the Florid, the Peri, the Wingle, the Cowry, the Coolbear and the Hover SUV. They also have the Voleex C30 and Voleex C70 sedans. The Hover SUV was recently granted a 4 star score in the Australian NCAP crash test. The only model that we’ve seen on test in Malaysia before is the Wingle.

To A Much Bettta 2011..

Life is an opportunity, benefit from it.

Life is beauty, admire it.

Life is bliss, taste it.

Life is a dream, realize it.

Life is a challenge, meet it.

Life is a duty, complete it.

Life is a game, play it.

Life is costly, care for it.

Life is wealth, keep it.

Life is love, enjoy it.

Life is mystery, know it.

Life is a promise, fulfill it.

Life is sorrow, overcome it.

Life is a song, sing it.

Life is a struggle, accept it.

Life is tragedy, confront it.

Life is an adventure, dare it.

Life is luck, make it.

Life is too precious, do not destroy it.

Life is life, fight for it.

Merry Christmas to One And All...
And a Happy New Year...

Lotus unveils 5-year business plan – Lotus Cars set to go against Ferrari and Porsche?

There are some very interesting things in store ahead for Proton’s Group Lotus, and we had a preview of some of it today. Proton hopes that these list of new happenings for Lotus will be able to turn it into a profitable company within 5 years. Lotus has never made a profit in the decade that it’s been under Proton ownership.

New Management

Proton (and Lotus) Chairman Datuk Mohd Nadzmi Mohd Salleh started with bringing in new management – we saw ex-Ferrari man Dany Bahar appointed as the new CEO of Group Lotus back in October last year.

Dany then brought in a whole list of new employees including Ferrari Director of Design Donato Coco (who was also previously at Citroen before Ferrari), Andreas Schlegel from Aston Martin marketing and network development, Andreas Prillmann who was Director of Sales and Business Development at Ferrari, Robert Hentschel from EDAG USA and Frank Tuch who was Director of Quality Management at Porsche, amongst many other new team members.

We were given a full list of new management credentials and the long list was very impressive. Dany Bahar likened the new Lotus management team to the Real Madrid football team. This is the team that will spearhead Lotus into the next five years. Lotus has big ambitions. Be prepared for a shocker here – it wants to diversify from its current niche market positioning and move into the premium sportscar segment dominated by marques such as Ferrari and Porsche.

New Product Line-Up

By 2015, Lotus wants to be selling cars that cost between 100,000 to 130,000 Euro, with annual sales increased from between the current 2,000 to 2,500 cars a year to as much as 6,000 to 8,000 cars a year. Its new motto – “Tomorrow’s luxury sports car, today.” Lotus currently has presence in 30 markets worldwide, and it wants to add another 25 potential markets to this list.

New Lotus cars will move away from its current manual transmission only and bare necessity lightweight positioning. The cars will go upmarket and become more complex. New Lotus cars will have features such as 7-speed twin clutch transmissions, active aerodynamics, continuously variable dampers, hybrid and range extender systems, heads up displays, and something interesting – the option for alcohol fueling.

We were shown sketches of some upcoming Lotus cars in the presentation today but we were asked not to snap photos of the presentation so I respected that. But they looked pretty aggressive and sporty and there were various bodytypes.

There wasn’t any SUV model in sight though, so no indication of any Lotus APX production car built on the VVA architecture. I believe there will be a Lotus concept car shown at the Paris Motor Show this year, as Lotus PR UK have just sent out a PR release advising us to watch out for something unexpected at Paris.

It’s not to say that Lotus will be leaving behind its roots – I believe that the likes of the Elise will continue to be sold, but these new Lotus cars will fill niches that the company is not currently in, segments filled by products such as the Ferrari 599 and 612 for example. It won’t be easy though. The engines of cars such as Ferrari and Porsche very much influence their character and brand. Lotus do not have their own engine – most if not all are Toyota-sourced.

But I won’t say it’s a bad thing if the screaming V10 from the Lexus LF-A (even if detuned) is used by Lotus in a future Lotus Esprit successor – that wonderful howl should be experienced by more and not just limited to the small number of LF-As around! Wishful thinking aside, there are many other engines from Toyota’s Lexus stable that Lotus could use, such as the numerous front longitudinally mounted rear wheel drive V8 engines used in the IS-F, the GS and the LS.

There was also word in the past that the upcoming Esprit would be receiving a BMW engine – the twin turbocharged 4.4 liter V8 in particular. That engine’s output is able to challenge the Ferraris and Porsches that we’re talking about competing with. BMW is not closed to offering the use of its engines in other maker’s products – it supplies a 6-potter turbodiesel to Carbon Motors for their police car, Morgan uses BMW engines in its cars, and the legendary McLaren F1 also had BMW power.

Lotus Cars’ very own Aston Martin Cygnet?

There’s also something interesting in the works – apparently Lotus will also have its own version of the Proton EMAS concept by Giugiaro. At its Geneva unveiling, the EMAS already had a Lotus Range Extender engine fitted in it, or at least that’s what the spec sheet said. Proton and Lotus unveiled today a plan to jointly develop and sell the Proton EMAS.

The Proton version will be sold in Asia and the Middle East and will feature a 5-door hatchback body, while Lotus will sell a 3-door sports city car globally. Both Proton and Lotus models will feature similar combustion engine and/or hybrid powertrains and will essentially feature the same mechanical underpinnings, however there will be a high level of exterior and interior differentiation. The Proton will be a Proton and the Lotus will be a Lotus.

Lotus Engineering

Lotus is more than just cars of course. You also have Lotus Engineering, an engineering firm that competes with the likes of EDAG, LG CNS, Magna Steyr and etc. Even though Proton owns Lotus Engineering, they admit that they haven’t been working that closely with them to use their engineering expertise for Proton cars so far in the decade of ownership. The two companies plan to change this from now on. Thus far, projects awarded to Lotus by Proton has always been on an ad hoc basis only and total projects awarded to Lotus by Proton in the past decade have only totaled up to 95 million British Pounds so we can expect this to increase in the future.

Lotus Engineering is also collaborating with automotive and engine component company Fagor Ederlan to put the 1.2 liter three-cylinder Lotus Range Extender engine into production. They have just completed a joint technical and market study and have decided on the best way to start production for the engine. The engine has been designed specifically for range extender usage – it is tuned for making a certain amount of power at certain RPM thus is designed to be coupled to a Range Extender’s power generator and not to a gearbox.

This is the big picture of the Lotus 5-year plan and we were told that Proton and Lotus management would be “locking themselves up in a room” over the next 2 days to have continuous brainstorming meetings. No doubt there will be coffee and perhaps currypuffs to fuel their thoughts so here’s a toast of Ipoh White Coffee to the future of Lotus and we eagerly await to see what Lotus unveils at this year’s Paris Motorshow!

honda shows how its done..

Honda has announced that the styling direction of the next-generation Honda Civic will debut at the 2011 Detroit show in January via a concept car, and has released this official sketch as a teaser. The production version of the ninth-generation Civic based on the Detroit concept will go on sale in spring 2011.

The sketch shows a two-door hatch or coupe, but we can pick up some hints from the front fascia. It features a V-shape with elements pointing down towards the middle of the front. The headlights are slim and sharp, and the lower grille isn’t unlike the CR-Z’s snout, although unlike that coupe, there’s an upper grille here. This sketch also rules out the City’s Optimus Prime face.

Overall, the front reminds me a little of the Accord Euro R. Do you like what you see?