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Malaysia National Automotive Policy (NAP) 2010 Review

After revealed Malaysia Budget 2010 on last Friday. Yesterday, MITI revealed it’s revised of National Automotive Policy (NAP). The revision of NAP has addressed most of its business opportunity, bumiputera privilege, protection, proton, surprises and policy that might attract to foreign investor in Automobile industry to Malaysia.

Basically, there aren’t any changes to the structure of neither import duty nor excise duty in Malaysia (except duty-free area like Langkawi and Labuan). From us, it will be a go ahead and buy whatever car that you like since everything virtually remained or even no good.

Down to the highlights of the new revision of NAP, as a chief editor of Fastmotoring.com and readers of my personal blog. I would like to pin point a few of my comments to our fellows’ automotive fans and owners.

Open AP - In this review, the current government have taken a good move and step to counter those dishonour Open AP holders that under-declare the value of the used vehicles that imported to Malaysia and making profits out from consumers. On the down side, the open AP announced to be stepped by 31st Dec 2015 and a large chunk of the RM300 million expected to be collected from the RM10,000 per Open AP fee. Which the fund will be used to develop the auto industry and further increase Bumiputra entrepreneurship participation in the auto industry.

Gradual introduction of Vehicle End of Life Policy - The current government stated that the vehicles that above 15 years will required performing inspection during renewal of road tax to ensure road worthiness. On this clause, the most important thing that addressing is road safety and emission. In the other words, the government wants the vehicles to upkeep to fit to be on the road and reducing CO2 emissions which is not a really bad thing.

Import of used parts/components - By June 2011, vehicle half-cut, second hand parts/components and reconditioned will be prohibited from importation to Malaysia. For this clause, I will this relates to the current Prime Minister move on Budget 2010 which so called 'high-income' country. Mainly, this helps to boost the sales of local parts vendors and authorised service dealer with new parts which is not good news for car owners. From what I can forecast, the business of used car parts will be sunset unless they starts to scrap local cars by turning to be the source of used parts instead of import from Japan, Singapore or Europe.

Again for the 'malaysia baby' proton - Well again, the entire revision mainly designed to preserving low-mid market segment to stick with Proton which making an illusion of automotive eco-system. From the policy of introduction of Vehicle End of Life Policy, phasing out of imported used parts and components are mainly pinned point the owners of national car. In the other hand, I can't deny that most of us may have experience of getting used car parts. Since there isn't any supplies of used parts in very near future, I will foreseeing Proton will triple on their sales forecast for minor cases with replacement parts and expect new car order for major cases from the consumers.

Reconditioned Used Car - For fellow readers that is unsure about the rules of importation of used car to Malaysia. The cars have to be less than 5 years old when the car reaches Port. For the Vehicle End of Life Policy, I foreseeing there isn't any impact since normally we won't own the same car for more than 10 years. For the new banned on imported used parts that will be introduce, it won't affect much too as for example, Toyota Vellfire owners will not go for used parts for their luxury ride and of course same goes to Ferrari, Aston Martin, Audi, Porsche, Lexus and etc... Moreover, there are many parallel new genuine parts importer in the market to supply the demand of parts of imported cars.

Imports of used cars are very common in other developed countries like Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong and United Kingdom. Mainly, car models that are dedicated for Japanese Domestic Market are very popular and demanding. With the chances of demolishment of Open AP and no conflict of interest against the National Car. From my wild opinion, I will be pleased that the current government will consider opening the market for certain car models that is not available in Malaysia automotive industry. Think! Do you want a Nissan GTR?

Pros and Cons of these policy revisions - To make things sexier, I got a very simple question, are all Malaysian ready and accept all this preservation? For the mid-high market segment, I reckon there won’t be much impact comparing to the low-mid market segment. It just matter of the limited choice of cars that they can choose from the rack. In other hand, what will happen to the low-mid market? Are they keep repairing cars with new parts, send cars for inspection every year after their cars aged 15 and above or even work harder to depreciate their car value?

Writer: Edvin Teo - 29 Oct 2009 (Chief Editor of FastMotoring.com)

Revision by Goverment on 6 November 2009 - Click here to read

Highlights of the new National Automotive Policy announced on Wednesday, Oct 28, 2009

Below are the highlights of the new National Automotive Policy announced on Wednesday, Oct 28, 2009

1) Local assembly of luxury passenger above 1,800cc and priced above RM150,000 on-the-road fully liberalised. Foreigners can own 100% of assembly operations.

2) APs to be stopped by Dec 2015.Audit on AP recipients ongoing and checks to be done. Those flouting will be removed from list.

3) Gradual introduction of Vehicle End of Life Policy. For starters vehicles above 15 yrs will have to undergo mandatory inspection during renewal of road tax.

4) Import Duty structure maintained at 0% for CKD and 5% for CBU for AFTA.

5) Excise duty structure remains. No changes.

6) All imported used vehicles prices will be gazetted to prevent under-declaration.

7) Manufacturing of critical components for cars such as brake system and transmission to get incentives such as Pioneer Status/Investment Tax Allowance.

8) The import of used parts/components will be prohibited from June 2011.

9) Proton to establish strategic partnership with global OEM.

10) The current policy on the freeze of manufacturing licence for reconditioning and reassembling (rebuilt) activities is maintained.

Written by The Edge FinancialDaily

2008 Toyota Vellfire and Alphard

For fellow readers that confuse with the new Toyota Vellfire and Alphard. Basically, the Vellfire is a re-designed Alphard which bring luxury of Toyota large-MPV to the next level. Both model can be found in Japanese Domestic Market, In other hand, both model is also widely exported to Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and Thailand as reconditioned car.

The 2008 Toyota Alphard and the 2008 Toyota Vellfire offers with 2 engine options:-

  • V6 3.5-liter Dual VVT-i (Dual Variable Valve Timing-intelligent) engine that is coupled with 6 Super ECT (Super Intelligent Electronically-controlled, Six-speed Automatic Transmission).
  • 2.4-liter VVT-i engine with an increased power output compare to previous model and also feature a Super CVT-i (Continuously Variable Transmission-intelligent) for smoother ride.

For the detailed of the features (like auto-parking, power boot, power door, premium sound system.....) and luxuriousness. Check out the video on the top.

Baby in pram hit by train in Melbourne

A mother is horrified as the pram her child is in rolls onto tracks and is hit by a train at Ashburton Station in Melbourne. Miraculously, the child survived.

The 4WD with seats made of whale penis

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A Russian armoured-car builder is boasting that its latest vehicle has seats covered with “whale-penis leather”.

The €1 million Dartz Prombron Monaco Red Diamond Edition armoured car has been developed by the same company, RussoBaltique, that built armoured vehicles for Tsar Nicholas, Vladimir Lenin and Leon Trotsky.

On its official website, the company says the whale-penis leather is the same as that used by Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis on the yacht Christina O.

Onassis is rumoured to have had some of the barstools on the yacht, the world’s most expensive at the time, covered in the controversial leather.

The leather is not the only tacky accessory on the Prombron, which Dartz claims is the world’s most expensive SUV.

The bulletproof windows are gold-plated, the exhaust is made of tungsten, the gauges are encrusted with diamonds and rubies and the exterior has a Kevlar coating.

The car also comes with three bottles of the world’s most expensive Vodka, RussoBaltique, although the website does warn prospective buyers not to drink and drive.

The vehicle is being specially prepared for the ultra-exclusive Top Marques luxury motor show in Monaco next year.

Dartz’s armoured vehicles weigh roughly 4 tonnes, are powered by V8s putting out between 300kW and 400kW and are “rocket grenade-proof” according to the website.

For those wondering just how may whales may need to be harvested to outfit the special edition, the answer is not many. The penis of the Blue Whale, for example, can grow up to 2.4 metres.

Source: drive.com.au

An interview with Janet Hsieh by TODAYonline

Yes Janet! You do have passion as Travel Host which I believe that's the reason that all your audiences likes about including myself...

Anyway guys, check out the short interview session taken by TODAYonline, Singapore.


Jamie Oliver Seeks Private Investors for Restaurants in Asia

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Jamie Oliver and his venture partner are seeking $22 million from private investors to help fund 30 of the U.K. celebrity chef’s Italian restaurants across Asia.

Oliver and partner Tranic Ltd. aim to raise $12 million by November and a further $10 million by the end of 2010, with the first six Jamie’s Italian restaurants to open in Hong Kong and Singapore, said Edward Pinshow, chairman of Tranic. The others, which may be in Japan, the Philippines, Indonesia, South Korea and Malaysia, are planned within five years.

“We’re taking a very selective approach, targeting high net worth individuals, boutique private equity firms and some large family names in Asia,” Pinshow said in an interview in Singapore today.

Jamie’s Italian International Managing Director Kevin Bacon and Hong Kong-based Pinshow have been touring the region this week meeting potential investors and scouting for restaurant locations. The neighborhood-style eateries will be based on the chain of six restaurants Oliver has in the U.K. that serve dishes such as lamb-chop lollipops, turbo penne arrabiata and posh truffle chips.

“The restaurants will all be Jamie’s Italian, but they’ll be individually styled with some local elements incorporated into the design,” Pinshow said. “We’re also considering establishing an organic farm in Hong Kong which could supply some of the produce.” Other ingredients including salami and buffalo mozzarella, sourced by Oliver’s Italian mentor, Gennaro Contaldo, will be flown in fresh from Europe, he said.

Finding Investors

The venture between Jamie’s Italian, founded in 2007, and Tranic has hired boutique advisory firm Amias Berman & Co. to help find investors, who will take an as yet undisclosed equity stake. An initial team of about 10 has been on the ground in Asia for several months, working on logistics, brand management, real estate, training and operational support.

Pinshow said he was confident the Jamie’s Italian concept would succeed in Asia.

“When it was first announced we would open a restaurant in Hong Kong, the bookshops everywhere suddenly had Jamie Oliver cookbooks, merchandise,” he said. “There’s a lot of awareness.”

Oliver, 34, became a household name after his 1999 television cooking series, “The Naked Chef.” His training of underprivileged youths into professional cooks and his campaign to improve school food in the U.K. have been made into hit television documentaries such as “Jamie’s School Dinners.”

Chefs working in Oliver’s restaurants in Asia will have the opportunity to train in London, Pinshow said. “The talent pool here in Asia is deep enough but there’ll still be a lot of mentoring, a lot of training,” he said.

The Jamie’s Italian restaurants in the U.K. are in Oxford, Kingston, Guildford, Bath, Brighton and Canary Wharf. A seventh location in Cardiff is due to open next month.

Source: Bloomberg News

Apartments selling best in realestate revolution

Melbourne Property

  • Apartments are outselling houses in 64 Melbourne suburbs
  • More apartments are selling compared to Houses in Carlton, St Kilda, East Melbourne and South Yarra
  • The apartment boom is evident within five kilometres of the CBD

APARTMENTS are outselling houses in 64 Melbourne suburbs as demand for smaller and more affordable housing transforms the real-estate market.

Annual sales data compiled for The Age shows a rapid change in the city's housing stock from just five years ago, when apartment sales outstripped houses in just 20 suburbs, according to the Real Estate Institute of Victoria.

Atop the list of suburbs where apartments reign are some of the most historic, such as Carlton, St Kilda, East Melbourne and South Yarra, which are better known for their streets of Victorian houses.

The change has been most dramatic in the former working-class suburbs of Collingwood and neighbouring Abbotsford, where the number of apartment sales has more than quadrupled in just five years.

Just 50 houses were sold in Collingwood in the past year, compared with 105 apartments or units.

Sales director Arch Staver, of Nelson Alexander, said Collingwood was historically an industrial area with a few modest houses.

''What we've seen in the last 10 years is the redevelopment of these large factories, with entire blocks of high-density real estate,'' he said. ''Warehouse conversions are a style of property that are snapped up immediately because it appeals to a buyer that likes to be close to town, surrounded by galleries and affordable cafes and restaurants.''

In Carlton, where apartments outsell houses by five to one, developer Michael Piccolo said he sold all but four of 49 luxury apartments in the proposed Garden House development opposite the Royal Exhibition Buildings in less than a fortnight.

''We knew we had a good site but we didn't expect 830 registered expression of interest,'' he said. ''How do you deal with that? We had to narrow it down to the first 100 and offer it to them first.''

They sold off-the-plan for between $450,000 to more than $2 million this month.

In South Yarra, where 80 per cent of residential sales are already apartments, thousands of extra people are expected to move into high rises in the developing Forest Hill precinct beside the train station within three years.

While the apartment boom is most evident within five kilometres of the central business district, units have become more popular than houses in many middle and outer suburbs.

Leading the charge for denser housing are suburbs such as Maribyrnong, Moonee Ponds, Preston and Pascoe Vale, where the number of units and apartment sold has more than trebled in five years.

It is a similar story in outer suburbs.

Head of the REIV Enzo Raimondo said demand for units and apartments had resulted in their capital growth outperforming that of houses over the past five years, with the median apartment price up 34 per cent, compared with 20 per cent for houses.

''For many, the advantages of medium or high-density living is clear: for the same price as a detached house 20 kilometres from the CBD you can live in the city close to work, entertainment precincts and parks,'' he said.

However, certified valuer Paul Menegazzo, of All Suburb Valuers, said real estate with a land component was a better investment in the long run.

''The golden rule is that land appreciates and buildings depreciate,'' he said.

by Marika Dobbin
The Age
September 16, 2009

http://www.theage.com.au/national/apartments-selling-best-in-realestate-revolution-20090916-fpwl.html

Spotted: Honda Civic FN2 Type R in Kuala Lumpur

Suprisingly, there is a 3rd generation of Civic FN-2 Type R imported to Malaysia. Not sure is it whether by private imported or by parallel importer and its price OTR. I am seriously curious on the price of the car.

Briefly to introduce this model to refresh, Civic FN-2 Type R is offered only as a three door hatch back and uses a different chassis and internal layout comparing to FD-2 Type R. The rear suspension formerly a double wishbone set up has been changed to a less complex torsion beam axle. The drawback is this model only offering 201 PS  at 7,500 rpm and 193 Nm of torque at 5,600rpm due to its engine tuning. It runs on 225/40 R18 Y88 Bridgestone Potenza RE050A tyres, The car has a curb weight of 1,267kg.

From the photo, there isn't any Brembo calipers fitted too.

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2009 Toyota FT-86 Concept Revealed

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The car that has been dubbed the ‘Toyobaru’ has been revealed for the first time. Toyota’s new FT-86 concept will appear at this month’s Tokyo motor show as the first half of a joint-venture rear-wheel-drive sports car with Subaru.

The affordable compact coupe will go on sale in late 2011 with a Toyota badge, followed by the Subaru version that should get its own styling. Toyota has designed the FT-86 that is both short (4160mm) and low (1260mm) and borrows styling cues from the company’s FT-HS concept. Blacked-out A-pillars create a sporty wrap-around windscreen.

Toyota says the FT-86 is a five-seater and which based on a shortened version of the Impreza small car platform also modified from all-wheel drive to rear-wheel drive. Subaru’s 2.0-litre naturally aspirated flat-four ‘boxer’ engine will add to the coupe’s low centre of gravity that will aid handling. It will be mated to a six-speed manual.

The FT-86 will be a much-needed model for Toyota, a brand that has been searching for an image boost after discontinuing its most exciting products in recent years – the Supra, MR2 and Celica.

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This article also can be found at www.fastmotoring.com

Apple trying to bites over Woolworths logo

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Woolworths Limited, the largest retail company in Australia and New Zealand insists its new logo is a stylised ''W'' or a piece of fresh produce. Apple thinks it is an apple, and the California-based technology company wants to stop Australia's largest retailer from using it.

The man who designed the logo - Hans Hulsbosch, said Apple was taking trademark protection ''to the extreme''. ''Based on this logic, they would have to take action against every fruit-seller.''

According to Trademark lawyer Trevor Choy, he comment that it was common for Apple to prevent others from using anything that resembled an apple in a logo or marketing. "They are just covering any eventualities," he said, adding that less than 5 per cent of such actions made it to court

Honda Civic Type R Mugen with 240HP Test Drive by Autocar UK

Honda shipped the car over to the UK for further development and while they were at it, they gave it to Autocar magazine for a test drive. Matt Prior, the journalist who sat behind the steering wheel of the prototype model notes that Mugen's engineers need to work more on the Civic Type R's chassis and especially the rear suspension to make it competitive with other special hot hatches from Europe like the Renault Megane R26.R.

Relevant Posts:-
Mugen Civic Type R FN2 Hatch - Sunday, June 21, 2009

2010 Mitsubishi Outlander

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Recently in Australia, Mitsubishi unveiled the 2010 Mitsubishi Outlander based on the Outlander GT Prototype that unveiled earlier this year at the 2009 New York Auto Show. The front design that inspired by the new Lancer GT which is Evolution X alike.

Earlier this year at the 2009 New York Auto Show, Mitsubishi unveiled the Outlander GT Prototype, which hinted at the next-generation Outlander SUV.

From the Press Release by Mitsubishi Motors Australia Limited (MMAL), the 2010 Outlander for Australia is available in two engine choices including a 2.4L 4-cylinder engine making 167-hp mated to a 5-speed manual or an optional CVT automatic with Sports Mode sequential style shift. The top-of-the-line model is powered by a 3.0L V6 making 226-hp and is mated to a 6-speed automatic transmission with Sports Mode sequential style shift change and INVECS Smart Logic.

WTF? We have to change our name?

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The Wisconsin Tourism Federation in the US has decided to change its name after realising its acronym matched a crude form of internet slang.

The WTF is now the Tourism Federation of Wisconsin (TFW).

'WTF' is an acronym widely used on the internet standing for 'What the f---?'.

The tourism organisation was reportedly unaware of the associations of its acronym until it became the butt of jokes on blogs and websites.

Lead lobbyist for the group, Chet Gerlach, said yesterday that the federation made the change after the meaning of the common text-message lingo was brought to their attention.

The organisation has had the same name since it was founded in 1979 – a time when it could never had predicted it would one day become crude internet slang.

Google is yet to catch up on the name change, with search results still displaying the problematic name.

Source: Traveller on Twitter