Proton Malaysia Records Strong Start To 2020
PROTON began the first month of the year with a continued strong showing after a stellar 2019 performance. The company recorded a total of 8,506 new registrations, representing a 20.2% increase over the same period last year. This also marks PROTON’s most successful January sales in 4 years. Market share was another key area of growth as the company’s position increased by 4.9% to 19.5%, compared to the same period last year.
Despite the short month due to the Chinese New Year holidays, the company performed well within expectations as it continued to hold its No. 2 position. “This is a great start to the year on the back of our performance in 2019. January is always a tough month but we still managed to have our best showing in 4 years”, said PROTON CEO, Dr. Li Chunrong.
The Proton X70 continues to hold station as the segment leader with a total of 1,367 units being registered. The Saga continues to be the mainstay representing nearly half of total sales with 3,871 units sold. This represents a 72% increase over the same period last year.
The Persona, Iriz and Exora also performed well in comparison with January 2019. The Persona in particular nearly doubled in sales with 2,109 units delivered to customers. This represents an 84% increase in comparison with the corresponding period. At the same time, the Iriz grew nearly five-fold, with 785 units finding their way to new customers. This is an increase of 465%.
“Clearly our customers see the value in our much improved product line. This is especially for the Saga, Persona, Iriz and Exora which were all launched last year. We believe that our strong emphasis on technology, safety and quality is what is driving sales” said Li. “However, we will not rest on our laurels and will continue to push the envelope on raising standards both in quality and service”, he added.
New 2021 Kia Sorento SUV Exposed Ahead of Its Debut
- These leaked images show the new 2021 Kia Sorento mid-size SUV inside and out.
- The redesigned model is expected to debut sometime soon for the Korea market.
- We don’t know about its arrival in the U.S. yet, but we expect to hear more in the next few months.
This is the best look yet we have of the redesigned Kia Sorento, thanks to some leaked images circulating on Instagram that expose the mid-size SUV’s front and rear ends and its dashboard. So far, it’s looking good, although we’ll reserve full judgment until we can see more official photos from Kia. The rumor is that the real thing will debut sometime in February in Korea.
Up front, there’s a distinctive grille treatment with a U-shaped pattern and Kia’s signature “Tiger Nose” grille shape that dips down just above the large Kia badge. The blocky headlights have a nice chrome surround. Vertical two-bar taillights make the rear end look interesting enough, and the overall shape and size look relatively similar to the current Sorento, as we saw in earlier spy photos.
The interior design looks like more of a radical departure, as there’s a large touchscreen spouting atop the dash, a digital gauge cluster screen in front of the driver, and aggressively shaped air vents flanking the climate controls. We don’t know if the Sorento will continue to offer three rows of seats or if it will transition to being Kia’s two-row entry now that the larger three-row-only Telluride is in the picture.
Kia has confirmed that there will be a plug-in-hybrid variant of the new Sorento, but we don’t know for sure if that will come to the U.S. market or not. More details should come soon as Kia prepares to debut the new SUV on its own terms, rather than at the speed of social media.
Courtesy: CarandDriver.com
Honda extends Chinese motorcycle plant closures over corona virus concerns
The corona virus scare has finally made an impact in the moto-world, with Honda announcing extended closures of two motorcycle plants due to concerns over the flu virus.
To be clear, this isn’t as if Honda has shut down an operating factory—not exactly. Asian Review reports Honda’s factories in Tianjin and Taicang were already closed, due to the Chinese Lunar New Year holiday, when many workers return home to be with their families. They were scheduled to re-open in early February, and that re-opening has been postponed until February 9 (unless the situation at that point requires otherwise, of course).
The closure could have a sizable impact on Honda’s output in China. Total annual production capacity for the Tianjin plant, situated in northern China, is 500,000 bikes a year. The Taicang plant, in eastern China, can build 350,000 bikes a year. The current coronavirus outbreak was originally centred around the city of Wuhan, but has allegedly spread throughout the rest of mainland China, although not to the same concentration. Current reports say there are about 7,000 infected in China. A few dozen cases have been reported in other countries.
Honda’s move comes as transportation manufacturers are looking carefully at all their production facilities in China. Honda’s also closed auto plants in China, as have Peugeot, Toyota and Ford. It also comes as the Chinese motorcycle industry was set to start several new partnership with high-end western brands: KTM, Harley-Davidson and MV Agusta all planned to start selling made-in-China motorcycles in the coming months. It will be interesting to see how this situation affects those plans, as well as the availability of made-in-China components that are already a key part of many new motorcycles, no matter where they’re finally assembled.
Geely eyes region with Proton brand
It revives car marque in Malaysia in two years, now aims to expand
KUALA LUMPUR • Mr Li Chunrong was hired by Chinese carmaker Geely to revive the fortunes of the Proton brand in Malaysia, and it took him two years to eclipse Japanese giants Honda and Toyota. Now he plans to take the fight across South-east Asia and beyond.
Mr Li, appointed Proton chief executive in 2017 when Geely acquired 49.9 per cent of the company, has turned around a once-celebrated Malaysian marque that had to rely on state aid after a string of losses, with his success built on an aggressive cost-cutting drive.
Geely has told the Proton boss to expand across the region, initially focusing on Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore and Brunei, Mr Li told Reuters – the first time concrete details of the brand’s expansion plans have been disclosed.
Like Malaysia, they are right-hand-drive markets, so they require fewer car modifications.
Proton also aims to drive into the Middle East and increase sales to Egypt, said the 56-year-old Chinese national.
Mr Li said Proton wanted to raise overseas sales – which stood at about 1,000 cars last year, or 1 per cent of total sales – at least fourfold this year.
The brand wants 40 per cent of its sales to come from foreign markets by 2027, he told Reuters in two interviews, identifying Thailand and Indonesia as the key markets, but declining to outline his strategy to crack them.
“We have a good foundation,” he said. “We commit that, every year, we will launch a new model.”
The Asean region of more than 500 million people is promising territory; car sales are forecast by consultancy IHS Markit to grow at a compound annual rate of 3 per cent in the period from 2016 to this year, compared with a 1 per cent drop globally.
But IHS said Proton was still a small player compared with the Japanese brands, and it could struggle to compete. Asean sales are led by Toyota with a 30 per cent market share, Honda with 13 per cent and Mitsubishi with 10 per cent, according to the consultancy.
Proton is in 11th place with about 3 per cent, mainly from Malaysia.
Proton’s goals are ambitious, and it may not have the production capacity to make inroads regionally, said Ms Mayuree Chaiyuthanaporn, a senior IHS analyst.
Proton, majority-owned by Malaysian conglomerate DRB-Hicom, has launched products at breakneck speed in its home market. It dropped many old models the first year of the joint venture, then launched six new ones within eight months, including the X70 sport utility vehicle, based on Geely’s Boyue.
Proton became the second-largest car seller with a 16.7 per cent share last year – when it made its first profit in about nine years – climbing above Honda and Toyota from fourth position.
Mr Li said Proton could beat Malaysia’s top seller Perodua, backed by Japan’s Daihatsu, by 2022 – five years ahead of the target announced after Geely’s investment.
Proton has increasingly switched to sourcing cheaper components from China, and let go of many small Malaysian local distributors, stoking some resentment.
The turnaround under Mr Li has forced Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, a car aficionado, to reverse his initial opposition to Geely’s investment in Proton.
“Now, it’s selling 100,000 cars and it’s making profit,” Tun Dr Mahathir, whose fleet of cars now includes a red X70, told reporters this month. “Why? Because of management, because of good technology.”
REUTERS
Toyota suspends four of its plant in China due to Corona-virus
Japan’s Toyota suspends four of its plants located in China. The reason for the temporary cessation of production of cars is an outbreak of the coronavirus.
Assembly areas are closed to improve the epidemiological situation in China. According to available information, the conveyor is stopped before 10 Feb. However, the second reason is the break in connection with the coming of the New year according to the lunar calendar. Companies had to continue working in early next month. In the headquarters of the Chinese mission Toyota has announced that the decision regarding the start of production will be considered later.
Japanese media edition of the Mainichi reports that will temporarily stop the factories of the company Honda. Two facilities located in Tianjin and Taicang, which produce motorcycles, will stand until February 8. Employees of these companies after the Chinese New year had to go to work February 2, but because of the epidemic of the coronavirus terms revised.
Courtesy: The Times Hub
BYD Delivers 100th All-Electric Truck In The U.S.
It’s just a small foothold, as the company already delivered more than 12,000 globally (mostly in China).
BYD in the U.S. was mostly focused on electric buses, and hundreds of those were already produced in Lancaster, California, but the electric truck branch is also expanding quite nicely.
This month, the Chinese manufacturer announced delivery of its 100th all-electric truck in the country, which happens to be a second-generation BYD 8TT Class 8 electric semi for Anheuser-Busch’s Oakland, CA distribution operations.
“The 100th truck will go to work delivering beverages for Anheuser-Busch around the San Francisco Bay area to retail accounts such as grocery and convenience stores on a daily basis. The trucks will charge at the Anheuser-Busch Oakland facility overnight. The project was grant funded by CARB.”
While it is appreciated that BYD’s latest milestone in the U.S., even more amazing is that the company has delivered more than 12,000 electric trucks across all classes, almost all in China.
Clearly, a long road is ahead for North America and Europe to catch up with China’s electric bus/truck sales numbers, but we are cautiously optimistic about the next decade. Especially if Tesla manages to make a splash with the Semi.
“Through its 2025 U.S. Sustainability Goals, Anheuser-Busch has committed to reducing carbon emissions by 25% across its entire value chain by 2025.The Oakland deployment builds on the brewer’s existing partnership with BYD including 21 additional BYD battery electric trucks at four of their distribution facilities across southern California: Sylmar, Riverside, Pomona, and Carson.”
“Anheuser-Busch put the BYD 8TT through extensive testing on range, acceleration, gradeability, charging speed, and more. The BYD 8TT exceeds the performance requirements of Anheuser-Busch and is receiving very positive feedback from drivers.”
Aaron Gillmore, BYD’s Vice President of Truck Business said:
“This is a great milestone for BYD, and it is just the beginning. Our trucks are hard at work every day proving that electric is the new standard. 2020 will be a fantastic year for battery-electric trucks.”
Joaquin Schlottmann, Vice President of Tier 2 Logistics at Anheuser-Busch said:
“We are proud to continue to build on our commitment to sustainable logistics through our partnership with BYD in California. By integrating zero-emission vehicles into our distribution fleet, we are taking another step towards reaching our sustainability goals and helping ensure our beers are delivered in the most sustainable way possible.”
Source of article: InsideEVs
EDB Delegation To Participate In Engage Africa Conference
A trade delegation from Domestic Engineering Industry is all set to participate in the “1st Africa-Pakistan Trade Development Conference scheduled from January 30 to 31 in Nairobi (Kenya).
The delegation would be led by Advisor to the Prime Minister on Industries & Production, Commerce, Textile and Investment, Abdul Razak Dawood, said an EDB press statement, adding the conference was being organized under “Engage Africa” initiative of Pakistan.
Almas Hyder, would represent Engineering Development board (EDB) in the conference, it added.
The objective of trade delegation’s visit is to explore trade enhancement opportunities in the African region which is one of the potential markets for Pakistan’s exports, being the 2nd largest continent in the world, spreading over 20% of the world landmass and a collective GDP of over 2.3 trillion.
It offers an import market of around US$ 500 billion, the statement said adding that in 2018, trade between Pakistan and Africa stood at US$ 3.6 billion which could be doubled with serious efforts.
There is a huge untapped export potential for Pakistani domestic engineering industry to cater to the needs of African market.
The government has been pursuing an export led growth strategy for economic stability which could be achieved withfocus on the export of value added products pro-actively towards perspective customers and target markets.
The statement added that EDB had been playing a vital role to strengthen the local Engineering sector and integrate it with the world market to make it the driving force for economic growth.
It is anticipated that engineering sector would become the largest exporting sector from Pakistan and�goal is to substantially increase exports from the current level of US$1.3 billion.
The statement added that EDB had been working in close coordination with the all relevant organizations in order to make this trade delegation’s visit a success.
Representatives from engineering sub-sectors like tractor manufacturers, motorcycle & rickshaw manufacturers, electric fans manufacturers, surgical instruments, pumps & motors, cutlery & utensils manufacturers and engineering services would be part of the delegation.
This conference is not only expected to enhance economic activities between Pakistan and African region but would also prove to be conducive in deepening cultural/social links.
The conference will include multiple sessions of B2B with the counter parts in order to achieve positive results.
Courtesy: Urdupoint.com
Fleet Handing Over ceremony – 45 units of Hyundai Porter H-100 Pickup Delivered to a local Distributor company
28th January, Faisalabad: animpressive handing-over ceremony of 45 units of Porter H-100 pickup to M/s. Shan Distributors & Shan Marketing Services was held at Hyundai Nishat Motor Pvt. Ltd., plant, Faisalabad.
The event was attended by the Directors of Shan Distributors and Shan Marketing who received the ceremonial keys of their brand new Hyundai Porter High-deck and Deckless variants from Mr. Tatsuya Sato-COO HNMPL & Mr. Junya Masuda – EVP Sales & Marketing HNMPL. Other senior company officials from HNMPL were also present at the occasion.
Also Read: Hyundai Nishat Motor started mass production of Hyundai Porter H-100 Pickup
The production of Porter H-100 pickup and its committed deliveries to the customers have already begun from early January 2020.
M/s HyundaiNishat Motor is committed to not only provide highly quality products and services, but also to work closely with the Pakistani clients to set the new benchmark for Pakistan’s transportation industry.
The Automotive Industry's Moment Of Truth Has Arrived
The soaring price of Tesla’s shares now makes the company the first US carmaker be valued at more than $100 billion, as much as Ford and GM combined, already above Volkswagen and now second only to Toyota.
Meanwhile, Daimler keeps unveiling prototypes that will never feel tarmac under their tires, and is learning the hard way that the technology needed to make batteries is not so simple: it has been forced to lower production expectations of its electric Mercedes-Benz EQC (previously dubbed a potential Tesla-killer because batteries are much more difficult to manufacture in large amounts than the company thought, an issue that Tesla has been tackling for a long time through its own research, its own infrastructure and a few acquisitions in its joint venture with Panasonic. The German company’s goal was to sell 25,000 Mercedes-Benz EQC by 2019, but only managed to build about 7,000: to make it worse, the German vehicle register displays that it has only sold some 55 units.
The truth is that making electric vehicles is not as simple as some people thought, and that now, after delaying the development of the technologies involved, the moment of truth has arrived: Volkswagen is desperately trying to become a technology company in order to compete with Tesla, and even claims that this will force it to sacrifice some of its sacred cows so as to focus on what is really important for the future. The company’s CEO, Herbert Diess, recently said: “we need to move faster on electric vehicles or we will follow Nokia’s fate.” If Volkswagen fails to produce and sell several hundred thousand electric vehicles by the end of this year, it will break EU rules, and will be subject to multi-million dollar fines, such as those it has been paying out worldwide for its dieselgate, having just done so in Canada.
A reality that seems to be dawning on another automotive giant, GM, which seeing the evolution of Waymo, has unveiled its Origin prototype, an electric and autonomous vehicle (no steering wheel or pedals) designed for use as a shared taxi, and that promises to save its users about $5,000 a year compared to traditional car ownership models. We don’t know yet whether this Cruise-designed vehicle (GM’s subsidiary with Honda) will ever make it onto the roads, but it shows how the big traditional manufacturers are slowly struggling to adapt to a fast-changing world.
Electric vehicles, the death of the obsolete and polluting internal combustion engine, and increasingly, transport as a service rather than a product. This is the moment of truth for the automotive industry. The traditional car-makers ignore these realities at their peril.
Source of article: Forbes.com