New Sonata Coupe In The Works of Hyundai

Hyundai is seriously considering of producing the Hyundai Sonata Coupe. We have heard that KIA is in a making of Optima Coupe, Hyundai; the parent company of KIA Motors would also jump in to the wagon of producing a coupe version of its D segment sedan. This makes sense since Honda is making good money selling the Honda Accord Coupe in the US and Nissan with its Altima Coupe which has rolled to production in 2008. The design mostly like won’t change much from the sedan form of the Sonata. Look at the artist rendering from our in famous, Theophilus Chin’s of the possible design of the Hyundai Sonata Coupe. Looks like we have to wait patiently before this Coupe would arrive here in Malaysia since the Sonata YF sedan still waiting to be launched here in Malaysia

Hyundai Tucson To Be Price From RM126, 888 OTR. Available For Booking Now!!!

Hyundai Sime Darby Motors has recently announced that the new Hyundai Tucson or Hyundai IX35 will be launch here next month with the indicative price from RM126, 888 OTR for the base line spec 2.0 Liter. Hyundai also will bring in the 2.0 Liter High Spec for RM 136,888 OTR and the top range model the 2.4 Liter High Spec for RM 152,888 OTR.

Both 2.0Liter models will feature a petrol Theta II engine with DVVT (Dual Continuous Variable Valve Timing) that produce a healthy 164bhp. The standard features for both 2.0Liter Low Line and High Line Spec includes of 17-inch alloy wheels, front fog lamp, dual airbags, roof rack and also iPod connectivity head unit system. The high line models have an extra feature of ESP with HAC (Hillstart Assist Control) and DBC (Downhill Brake Control), semi leather seats, panoramic sunroof as well as engine start stop capability button.

The range topper 2.4 Liter High Line will feature petrol 2.4Liter with 175bhp Theta II engine with an addition of power front seat (driver side only), automatic air-conditioning with Cluster Ionizer and luggage net as compared to the 2.0Liter High Live Specs.

All variant will use the 6 speed automatic transmission developed by Hyundai that according to them is a maintenance free automatic transmission. There will be 6 colours available for your choices which are including Vanilla White, Sleek Silver, Hyper Metallic, Grey Titanium, Phantom Black and Blue Ice.

For a peace of mind of owning the Hyundai Tucson, Hyundai Sime Darby Motors will throw in a 5 years warranty or 300,000 kilometers which ever comes first and these models are available for booking now.

As for the Hyundai Sonata YF, my previous sources says that it will be launched after the Hyundai Tucson but I’m not so sure what is new plan from Hyundai Sime Darby as the product launched has been delayed by 1 month. Previously the plan was to launch the Tucson in April and Sonata YF in May, but its seems that there is a possibility that Hyundai will do a double launch this May. I will update soon I’ve got the confirmation about this matter.

Lotus Engineering Showcases The Future of Light Weight Vehicle.

Lotus Engineering, a subsidiary under Lotus Group Plc recently demonstrates the lightweight future of the passenger car. This study was released by International Council on Clean Transportation concludes that a vehicle mass improvement of 38% can be achieved as compared to the conventional mainstream vehicle at only 3% increase of the cost.

This reduction in weight does not include the power train though and this was achieved by Lotus as they compared the new technology car to the bench mark car of Toyota Venza. This efficient design and lightweight materials significantly reduce the CO2 emissions which what the car manufacturer is going for a green car status nowadays. This new technology uses engineering technique and technologies viable for mainstream production by the year 2020. This vehicle uses a mix of stronger and lighter weight materials with a high degree of component integration and advance joining and assembly methodologies. We all know that Lotus is a company well known to build lightweight car using aluminum and epoxy bonding technology previously.

According to Dr Robert Hentschel, Director of Lotus Engineering said: "Lighter vehicles are cleaner and more efficient. That philosophy has always been core to Lotus' approach to vehicle engineering and is now more relevant than ever. Lightweight Architectures and Efficient Performance are just two of our core competencies and we are delighted to have completed this study with input from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to provide direction for future CO2 reductions. We believe that this approach will be commonplace in the industry for the future design of vehicles."

I am really excited in reading this article. I do hope this piece of technology and knowledge can be transferred to Proton which is the parent company of Group Lotus Plc and hopefully someday we can have a light weight Proton cars, with a low fuel consumption and great design for the masses.

Head of the jump to read the full press release of this new Lotus Engineering Future Lightweight Passenger Car.

Chinese Women Fancy A Ferrari!!!

Fancy for a drive in a Ferrari. There are 20% of chances that when you hitch hike for a ride in a Ferrari in China, most likely you will be a passenger of a woman’s driver. Yes, according to the report, Ferrari has sold 200 units of its cars in China last year, and 20% of the buyers are women, yet in the rest of the world women represent less than five per cent of Ferrari buyers.

These women are well to do women who have earned their money from the booming economy in China and there’s nothing can stop them. According to Ferrari, there are around 400~500 millionaires in China and the average age of a Chinese Ferrari buyer is 10 years younger than in Europe or in North America. Well I hope my dream may comes true one day of becoming the proud owner of a Ferrari. Let’s work for it yeah!!

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Volkswagen Is Looking For You!!

Volkswagen AG has recently announced a competition to create a new software application to be part of a multi media platform in VW cars. The competition is call “App My Ride” and according to VW Group Research Chief Prof. Dr Jürgen Leohold “Our aim is to invite the international developer community to take part in designing a future system,"

Basically the aim of this competition is to produce the best infotainment system in the car industry and he sought the best ideas from programmers around the world. I personally think this is a win-win situation as this is the best platform for developers to shine in the automotive industry and also VW takes the credit of having the best infotainment around without too much headache and resources to develop one.

The "App My Ride" project takes it inspiration from the boom in smart phones and the applications that come with them that drive consumer trends such as social networking and viewing Internet content on hand-held devices.

Read more for the details of this competition

Meet the Chief Designer of Toyota Motors Corporation

(Pictures credit to HANS GREIMEL)

Meet the chief designer of Toyota Mr. Simon Humphries. Well we’ve heard of Peter Schreyer of KIA previously with Audi AG and Adrian van Hooydonk BMW chief designer who replace Chris Bangle but seldom had we heard about Mr. Humphries. Mr. Simon Humphries was a soft spoken Englishman that joined Toyota way back in 1994. Prior to joining Toyota, he has no experience of designing a car and Mr Humphries worked for Sony Corp. and various consumer goods studios, styling everything from video cameras and train interiors to golf clubs and toilets.

Mr. Humphries came into the limelight of Toyota design team after a semi retirement of design chief Wahei Hirai san in June 2009 and currently Simon Humphries is the highest ranking foreigner at Toyota City in Japan and he speak Japanese fluently. His latest design that came out to production was is the latest Prius and the upcoming Lexus CT 200h. Current President of Toyota, Akio Toyoda san wants Humphries to forge a new look that embodies the chief executive's personal ambition to make cars that are more visually interesting and fun to drive and Mr. Humphries “quote” about the company president , "He comes to every single step of the design evaluation process and talks to us directly on every car. He's very, very involved."

Among the project under Mr. Humphries supervision was concept of Pod concept car in 2001 and the Scion CCX, precursor to the first Scion model, Toyota FunCargo and Toyota bB.

About Simon Humphries:

Title: General manager, Lexus-Toyota

Joined Toyota: 1994

Age: 43

Nationality: British

Family: Married, 3 children

University: De Montfort University in the United Kingdom (industrial design)

Hobbies: Black belt in Aikido (Japanese martial art), gardening

Noted work: Pod concept, Scion CCX

In his garage: Dark-gray Land Cruiser, blue Toyota MRS

Most coveted car: Triumph TR5

Favorite vacation spot: Thailand

Favorite food: Curry with beer

Last movie seen: Avatar

Source of inspiration: Drinking with friends

Advice to young designers: Be yourself

Head to the source if you want to read more about Mr. Simon Humphries.

Alfa Romeo TZ3 Zagato Live Pictures

We have uncovered on the previous post about the Alfa Romeo TZ3 Zagato. Now enjoy the full glory of the car on live pictures. It looks way better in live compare to the studio shots. But the rear end of the car does give some like it or hate it looks either in studio shot or in live pictures.

Enjoy the pictures after the jump

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