Rawang, 12 March: Perodua expanded its car sales market share to 32.5% in February from the 32.1% a month ago, on the back of improved market sentiments.

Car sales reached 13,000 units in February or 6.5% higher than the 12,200 units recorded in the same month last year.

“We performed exceptionally well despite the many challenges that include a shorter working month and very tight stock levels. We even exceeded our target of 12,700 units for February,” Perodua managing director En Aminar Rashid Salleh said today.

“It’s a great start for the year, where we surpassed our car sales targets for both January and February. I believe that this is mainly due to the pent up demand, as consumers’ confidence improved on the back of the economic recovery,” he pointed out.

En Aminar said the Myvi with 4,900 units sold continues to be the best selling model within the Perodua line-up. Some 4,500 units of ViVA and another 3,600 units of Alza were also sold last month.

He believed that March will be another strong month for Perodua as the business sentiments improved. Bookings continued to be strong with some 15,000 units received in February.

“Perodua will ramp up production in March and April to reduce the waiting period especially for the Alza,” En Aminar said.

Perodua targets to sell 176,000 units of cars this year from the 167,700 units sold in 2009.

On after sales, Perodua recorded 124,000 service intakes in February or 9% improvement over the 114,000 intakes in February 2009.

“Not withstanding any unforeseen circumstances, we are on the road to meeting our first quarter vehicle sales target of 44,400 units,” quipped Aminar.

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The revival of Bentley in Malaysia after a period of absence has been achieved through Bentley Kuala Lumpur’s initial investment in a first-of-its-kind, 5000 sqft gallery in the heart of the capital city centre supported by a 7000 sqft service facility in Glenmarie, Shah Alam. The Gallery, Bentley Kuala Lumpur will officially open on Wednesday, 11th March 2009.

With a clear objective and a team with sound experience in the upper luxury automotive industry, Bentley Kuala Lumpur is well positioned to ensure the success of the Bentley marque in Malaysia.

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Achtung! Achtung! :   BMW and Mercedes-Benz may also be “throwin’ a shrimp on the barbi” and saying “G’day mate!” when they join the V8 Supercar series, giving Holdens and Fords in Australia a run for their money in 2012.

So far, Mercedes’ performance division, AMG have been in serious talks about entering the championship, and an announcement may be made as soon as the Melbourne Grand Prix next month, where they will also display their V8 AMG customer ride car.

Although both sides have denied the rumours, the Australian V8 Supercar franchise is actively seeking to hold their races at more upmarket venues, with more upmarket marques, thereby attracting more…well, upmarket viewers. This is helped by the race series’ overhaul on their regulations which allows for more sophisticated V8 engines.

Such activities have been triggered due to a slump in sales for Falcons and Commodores throughout Australia. Thus far, 12 of the 29 cars on the grid receive direct support from Ford and Holden.

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Michael Schumacher is raring to go racing again, and the rest of Formula One is just as keen to have him back. One of four world champions on what promises to be the most competitive starting grid in years when the action starts in Bahrain on Sunday, the 41-year-old German has come out of retirement to test himself against a new crop of talent.

It has all the makings of a classic clash but the former Red Baron will still have his work cut out to kick off his comeback with an immediate win for the ‘Silver Arrows’, the first Mercedes works team since 1955. Sunday will be his first race since 2006 and first against hot-shot compatriot Sebastian Vettel and 2008 champion Lewis Hamilton, as well as a renewal of combat with old foes Fernando Alonso and new champion Jenson Button.

It will be Germany against Britain, young guns against an old master with plenty of other subplots written in. Commercial supremo Bernie Ecclestone is already rubbing his hands in anticipation.

“When I retired from racing in 2006, my batteries were simply empty. Now they are totally recharged and I am ready for the challenge,” Schumacher said.

Schumacher won with Ferrari at Sakhir in 2004, and his lap record will stand the test of time now that the circuit has been lengthened since last year, but that will count for little now.

Button, who has joined Hamilton at McLaren in what is the sport’s first pairing of champions since Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna at the same team in 1989, has looked relaxed pre-season with his move from title-winners Brawn GP. He also faces a big challenge in a team that has appeared moulded around Hamilton but he too is up for it.

Ferrari, with Spaniard Alonso eager to assume the starring role Schumacher once had and Brazilian Felipe Massa returning from his serious head injury, have looked strong in testing. The Italian team, who had what amounts to a nightmare for them last season, have been sounding a cautious note however.

Seven of the drivers in the four top teams are race winners and all can consider themselves genuine championship contenders.Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel who came into the sport after Schumacher retired with the nickname “Baby Schumi”, is one of them after ending last year as overall runner-up. His team are also going for their fourth race win in a row.

The ban on refuelling adds an extra strategic dimension while new teams, including the revived Lotus marque, have brought new faces. Among them is Brazilian Bruno Senna, nephew of the late triple champion Ayrton, who makes his debut with the Spanish HRT team along with Indian Karun Chandhok. Both will have a baptism of fire in a car put together against a tight deadline and shipped to Bahrain without even the most basic of tests

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Since the birth of the Perodua VIVA in May of 2007, the intention of introducing this model was to become the replacement for both the  Kelisa and Kancil range. Its popularity has been strongly driven to become the choice vehicle for those on a budget.

Thanks to its popularity, Perodua decided to provide some fascia upgrades 2009. And on this day and date, Perodua has officially rolled out their 200,000th VIVA. During when global oil prices hit a record high, financial giants, markets and institutions began tumbling, those who were driving compact cars were looked upon with such greenish envy. Are we out of economic turmoil? Lets say we leave this “econo-blabber to another fella,” especially to the one attending the event.

Present, to officiate the event, was none other than our Deputy Minister of International Trade and Industry, Y.B. Dato’ Mukhriz Tun Mahatir. During a discussion, Perodua’s future endeavors are to increase localization of current vehicle contents from 80% to 90%, which means more than 130 local vendors and suppliers will be able to benefit

With RM97 million currently invested on facilities alone for more R&D to take place, and more than RM1.3 billion in the last 13 years to be able to develope new models, Perodua is now seen as a great pillar of strength for the Malaysian people, especially since they have over 10,000 people under their employment. With this, they are ever so eager and confident that they will be able to increase their capabilities from simple cosmetic changes to major facelift capabilities. At current, Perodua’s R&D division are scheduling to release 8 new models. “When” is the big question.

From the producer of small cars, their orders for an average of 6,000 units of VIVAs monthly and increasing, stands quite tall.

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With the Saga BLM and Persona taking the fight to Perodua’s Myvi and Viva, the highly anticipated Exora was certainly going to be the manufacturers wingman of sorts to help it claw back and attempt to be Malaysia’s top automaker once again. The mammoth task that was expected of it became even harder when Perodua announced the production of the Alza, which was basically an elongated version of the Myvi variant.

Proton also had a point to prove to the general public’s perception of the company’s once iconic image. Years of shoddy build quality, botched and rubbish OEM equipment as well as dated designs sent Proton on a downward spiral throughout the early parts of the new millennium. With the market now boasting the likes of Toyota, Honda, Nissan and Kia with their attractively priced cars, Proton was pushed into a corner and starting with the Saga BLM and Persona have decided on an all almighty fightback. Hence, it was fitting  that the Exora was going to be the new Gold standard in which all future Proton cars were going to be judged on.

The Exora, with all the weight on its shoulders, certainly does not flatter to deceive. It cuts it close in certain key areas, but in all is a very passionate and genuine attempt by the management and engineers of Proton in coming up with something that could have been truly brilliant. The equipment level, the spacious design, the attention to detail, the Euro Ncap safety ratings and the brilliant handling are just some of the aspects Proton has championed on this time.

With all the hype over the Exora finally reaching calming levels, Proton finally was able to let us at wemotor.com have the H-line edition for a week’s worth of thrashing around.

Ride & Handling

For a vehicle this size, the  ride quality was rather good.  The one thing Proton’s engineers tend to get right almost all the time is that oh-so-sweet handling. Its great to know that all the input by Lotus has not gone to waste and I am brave enough to say that Proton makes among the best handling cars in Asia, one that is easily comparable to other powerhouses like Honda and Nissan. The steering feels absolutely solid and has a nice balance of heft and assistance, which is also very linear and consistent, regardless of the load in question.

Another positive feature is the tight and crisp turning circle of the Exora. This is mainly due to the compactness of the engine, which means the front wheels of the Exora can be turned so much that anyone can execute a neat turn in any tight spot.

Interior

The flexibility of the cabin is also a trump card for the Exora. The 2nd and 3rd row seats can be folded down individually to offer various kinds of combinations to carry passengers, luggage or over-sized merchandise. The best feature was indeed the the simplicity of the of the mechanism that operates the 2nd row of seats. All it takes is a mere 2 or so seconds to fold and move it.

Best of all is the ease of doing it. It was basically a 1 hand 1 lever mechanism. The last row of seats are also equally easy to operate. You pull 2 straps and a lever and hey presto the seats are down or up. When fully folded, you can see the sheer size of the the Exora’s carnivorous body. The seats fold flat on the floor and thus offer great access and ease to load and unload odd-sized or heavy objects.

All three rows are comfortable, and a large sized person can easily fit into the third row comfortably. When seated in the rear, I found it quite comfortable and spacious with my knees barely touching the second row. Another point to consider is that the third row is quite wide and its not an overstatement to say that two large persons are actually able to fit without rubbing shoulders. On the negative side, there are no ISOFIX points for the seats and there was only a lap belt for the middle seat in the second row instead of a full 3-point system.

The air conditioning in the Exora, like all other Protons, was superb, thanks  mainly to the inclusion of two blowers, one for the front and the other for the rear rows. There are air conditioning vents for all 3 rows, with the vents for the 2nd and 3rd row located above the windows.

The Proton Exora H-Line comes with cruise control, a roof mounted LCD screen and a DVD player. The DVD player is a separate roof-mounted unit which is not integrated with the in-car entertainment system. It allows you to stream the audio from the DVD to the head unit installed up front via FM transmission or alternatively, the kids /passengers at the back can actually plug in headphones to the DVD player via the two 3.5mm headphone jacks.

Compared to the M-Line version, the H- Line edition Exora has slightly different trim on the outside. There is chrome for the grille and rear, as well as blacked out B and C pillars using black stickers. It’s good to know that the Bluetooth hands-free and audio streaming functionality of the 2-DIN head unit has been retained in the M-Line.

Another interesting feature were the leather seats in the H-Line version which has a combination of materials. The leather seats are also pretty adequate if not average looking. The engineers have incorporated a type of  suede-like material at the sides of the leather seats, which they say was intentionally left there so that the leather would be allowed to expand and contract in a certain way under the hot Malaysian climate and thus reduce the chances of them cracking. This, in my opinion, was an act of pure genius and hats off to the Proton engineer / interior designer who came up with the idea.

Extras

The Exora also comes equipped with a Body Control Module that was supplied by Continental Siemens AG. Some of the interesting features I found while driving were the battery saver for room lamps, luggage and key ring illumination. These automatically turn off after 30 seconds to ensure battery life is maintained, should for any reason they are left switched on for an extended period of time. The Exora also has follow-me-home headlamps, which stay on for a short period of time to help illuminate the driver’s path for a short period after parking. There is a door opened indicator on the instrument panel that indicates exactly which door, bonnet or rear hatch is not securely fastened. If that eludes you, there is also a door opened warning beep when you exceed 7km/h.

The signal indicator stalk was something quite interesting.  You just have to tap the indicator stalk  for the signal to flash 3 times, to indicate a quick lane change, which means you don’t need to fully engage the indicator stalk to turn on and reach for it again to deactivate it. The dim-in and dim-out feature for the cabin adds a slight touch of luxury to the Exora . The cabin lamps turn off automatically after you lock the car, staying on for 30 seconds and then takes 3 seconds to fade out. When unlocking the car, the cabin light fades-in in 4 seconds.

Front and rear wiper washer drip wiping is perhaps the feature i thought was so Un-Proton-ish. The wipers automatically remove excess water when you operate the front washer, it will wipe 4 times and then pause for around 5 or so seconds and then wipe one more time, to remove all the excess water effectively. This is because some of the washer liquid from the top of the windscreen will slowly drip down after the initial wiping, so the last wipe completely removes the washer water.  This is a rather neat trick that not many cars  I know have.

The doors will also lock automatically once you reach 20km/h but its long been a feature in most cars today and I am glad Proton did not forget that. The doors will also unlock automatically once you remove the key from the key barrel. If you perform any sudden braking at speeds of at least 96 ++km/h, the hazard lights will flash automatically.

Engine

I have deliberately left the engine review at the end because that probably is the Exora’s biggest flaw. The engine on the Exora has got to be the biggest disappointment in this otherwise decent package by Proton. The one dimensional 1.6 Campro CPS engine that powers the Exora as well as the Waja, Gen 2, and Satria Neo kicks out a decent 125hp with a respectable 150Nm of torque. While seemingly sufficient in a normal passenger car, the same engine on a “fat” MPV means the performance is critically affected. Proton of course couldn’t do much about this since the CPS is the only engine series it now makes. The aging Perdana’s Japanese sourced 2.0L V6’s were too old and suffered from poor fuel consumption while outsourcing the engines from a different partner would have sent costs up, which would have meant a higher retail price for the Exora. A joint-venture project with a “certain” German automaker would have at least temporarily offset the problem but unfortunately it never did take off.

Another crucial point the people considering to utilize the Exora as a full 7-seater is its fuel consumption. After covering over 400km’s of city driving, highway  cruises, hill climbs and coastal runs on the Exora, the Auto returned a figure of 11.2L/100km on average driving speeds (90km/h – 110km/h). The worst figure indicated by the trip computer was 16.2 L/100km when pushed hard with a full load along the back roads of the PD-Alor Gajah coastal route. My Mazda Lantis does the exact route with a rate of 9.7L/ 100km/h while a another trial in a rival MPV with an 1.8 engine got me around 14.8L / 100km. The 1.6L engine does require some high revving, hence the slightly high fuel burn rate, but you also take into account the characteristics of the CAMPRO CPS engine as well as the sheer weight of the Exora. On the bright side, with the 55L tank, we estimate a that a range of 550-600 km could be attained on a full tank.

Verdict

The Exora is almost certainly never going to win any standing start races, or fuel economy runs or hill-climbs. An excellent vehicle mated to a very 1 dimensional powerplant  and with a slightly unbalanced gear ratio is  never going to win many fans in any market. Proton does thou, somehow manage to pull it off thanks to its attention to other details that bring it up to mark against its other rivals. Boasting a very affordable price tag for a ton of features that comes as standard on the H-Line , the Exora certainly has to be in my opinion the best Proton yet. If you have the urge to get an MPV in the near future, we’d suggest you hold onto your horses till Proton releases its turbocharged version of the CPS engine, hopefully by the end of this year or early next year.

The Exora will always be the last kid that arrives at the party, but when it arrives it tends to be the main attraction of the party since it probably ferried half the crowd there along with all the items for the party. With a price tag of just over RM 75,000.00, Proton just may have among the best budget MPV’s for the road today. Lets all hope the guys from Quality Control are in tune with Proton’s new vision on building quality national cars for the new decade

Pros : Maxed out with features, looks good, does the job adequately, Best value for money MPV in the market now.

Cons : Doesn’t have a turbo, build quality still not perfect, did i mention it needs a turbo?

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The automaker presented their conclusions at a news conference, in order to reassure consumers that issues concerning safety are well under control as they work hard to keep their reputation afloat in their recall aftermath that has lasted seven weeks.

As pressure builds on Toyota, a Michigan judge ordered two top U.S.  executives to appear for a deposition, to which a congressional panel has told them to surrender a memo in 2006 by Japanese employees warning of quality control issues.

The purpose of the conference held by Toyota was to discredit David Gilbert’s (An auto engineer expert from Southern Illinois University) conclusions from his study of Toyota’s accelerator controls.

Toyota’s world-wide recall of  over 8 million vehicles for accelerator assembly problems, which ran the risk of “sticking” and even being trapped by car floor mats, could possibly be linked to at least five U.S. road fatalities since 2007, to which authorities are now investigating 47 other possible road deaths within the last decade.

Recent complaints have been received by the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration from drivers who have experienced abnormal throttle issues, even though they had performed warranty claims from Toyota during the recall. These new complaints could indicate that there are inherent problems at an electronic or software level, which means mechanical fixes are as good as ineffective.

However, Toyota spokesman Mike Michels mentioned that the automaker had discovered that the post-recall complaints were few and had been incorrectly performed by certain dealerships, adding “We’re confident in our electronic throttle control systems.”

Gilbert revealed in late February that he was able to simulate a a flaw in Toyota’s accelerator controls, allowing the vehicle to accelerate without being detected by an onboard computer which Toyota had designed as a fail-safe mechanism.

However, Toyota rebutted, stating that after reviewing Gilbert’s findings by Exponenet, a Standford University and engineering consultant company, the simulation described by Gilbert were unfounded and that such a simulation could not occur in real-life driving situations.

Stanford professor of mechanical engineering and director of the university’s Centre for Automotive Research, Chris Gerdes commented that Gilbert had altered the accelerator system in order to produce such results.

As Toyota faces numerous lawsuits, due to the recalls, where both litigation sides have begun aligning expert witnesses for their case. Where Gilbert has begun to receive funding from the Safety Research and Strategies, which is a safety advocacy and has also received funding from other lawyers who have pending cases against Toyota themselves.

For that, Exponent’s services have been employed and financial backing provided to Stanford’s Auto Safety Centre by Toyota.

Toyota and Exponent indicated that they were continuing to test other possibilities in order to find reasonings for unexplainable unintended accelerations, which could even uncover more inherent problems for the car maker.

As of Monday, a judge in Flint, Michigan has ordered Yoshi Inaba and Jim Lentz (Toyota’s Top 2 Executives) to appear for questioning for lawyers who represent the family of Guadalope Alberto who died in a crash when she was driving a Camry in 2008. Her 2005 Camry had surged forward, causing her to loose control of the vehicle, and causing a fatal accident for which the family is now suing Toyota.

Representative Edolphus Times of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee has asked Toyota, in a letter, to hand in a memo which had indicated that Toyota employees in japan had detailed safety concerns to the management in 2006, and had also warned that without addressing such concerns could be detrimental to the survival of the company.

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Mitsubishi Motors and PSA Peugeot Citroen, have finalized a deal to place Mitsubishi’s electric engines into Peugeot’s vehicles, even though the Japanese manufacturer announced it had decided against a capital alliance with the 2nd largest Eurpoean car manufacturer just days ago.

Last year, both companies indicated interests in working with each other to help produce and supply a new car based on Mitsubishi’s i-MiEV electric vehicle for the European Market. This accord has now been confirmed with a signed agreement.

The agreement outlines Mitsubishi’s commitment to supply about 100,000 vehicles to the French group and will be sold under its Peugeot and Citroen brands within Europe. Production will commence in October 2010.

Although, Mitsubishi and Peugeot have ended talks last week to create the 6th largest auto alliance, they have also pledged to explore and broaden their current co-operation with each other for future endeavors.

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As much as enthusiasts revel in delight of hearing such news, Mazda officials doused such claims, asking “Why go backwards?”

Our answer to that would be “Because, it was that fantastic back in the day, sans warranty issues…” Perhaps, this was also another reason as to why the RX-7 was not a particular favorite for Mazda themselves.

But, for such a comeback to be realized, Japan’s major trading partner, The United States, needs to stage an economic come back… Pronto.

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