Honda Malaysia today unveiled the third-generation Honda City compact sedan in Kuala Lumpur.

The all-new City comes with numerous firsts in its class, combining style, performance and practicality, but more on that as you read on.

Not just the regular City car for the ladies here

There are two variants available, these being tagged Grade E and Grade S. The Grade E comes with additional paddle shifters, rear reclining seats with an underseat tray and 16-inch sport alloy wheels.  

Exterior style-wise, the City adopts what Honda calls an ‘Arrowshot Form’ design outlook from end-to-end. Strikingly, the front end resembles a transformable robot from an animated movie, whilst the tail lamps look very much like those found on the BMW 3-Series.

The i-DSI block is history, so the new City goes about its business with a single powerplant choice, this being a newly-developed four-cylinder 1.5l i-VTEC engine which pushes out 120bhp at 6,000rpm and 145Nm of torque at 4,800rpm. Compliant with Euro 4 level emission standards, the City is deemed the most powerful compact sedan in the market to date.

The advanced i-VTEC engine is now mated with a five-speed automatic transmission with Shift Hold Control and is the first in its class. Gone too is the CVT (Continuous Variable Transmission) gearbox, an omission brought about by the rougher style of driving encountered here, according to surveys carried out by Honda Japan’s R&D division.

Compensating for the absence of a manual transmission gearbox (a five-speed manual is available in both Thailand and Singapore) are the paddle shifters in the Grade E, which provides the driver with a sportier means of changing gears.

Functional minus the clutter, and it brings out a gutsy feeling in you

The steering wheel is now of the tilt and telescopic type, and the footrest is now wider as the accelerator and brake pedals have been shifted more to the right. The car comes with EPS (Electric Power Steering), and safety comes in the form of dual SRS airbags and front seatbelt pre-tensioners and load limiters.

Stopping power is reinforced with ABS (anti-lock braking system) with EBD (Electronic Brake Force Distribution), while BA (Brake Assist) amplifies the driver’s foot force with minimal pedal input.

Entertainment for the occupants inside the City is provided by an advanced audio system that is compatible with MP3 players, iPod, USB memory or a mobile hard disk drive. In the Grade E variant, you get a six-speaker system with steering wheel audio controls, while the Grade S makes do with a four-speaker arrangement.  

The all-new City does not compromise in rear passenger convenience with a fold-down armrest that also houses integrated cup holders.

Another first in its class, the City’s rear trunk is able to contain a whopping 506l of cargo, which is equivalent to being able to store four nine-inch-wide golf bags.

As mentioned, the Grade E’s rear seats can be folded in a 60:40 split configuration for extended luggage carrying capacity, and is fitted with an underseat tray to stow away wet umbrellas or footwear.

There are a total of five colours to choose from – Alabaster Silver Metallic, Bold Beige Metallic, Polished Metal Metallic, and new colours Crystal Black Pearl and Deep Lapis Blue Metallic. Unfortunately, a striking signature colour called Habanero Red Pearl, as well as a very pretty Tafetta White, is not available.

The Honda City is manufactured in Malaysia, with 30% of the parts sourced locally, including the seats and instrument panel, while the rest are from Japan.

Get into the City and it makes you happy

According to Atsushi Fujimoto, managing director of Honda Malaysia, the previous City was still doing quite well into the end of its run, having registered a total sales volume of 8,000 units from Jan to Nov this year. With the arrival of the new one, Honda Malaysia is targeting to sell about 1,500 units of the new City on a monthly basis, and pre-launch bookings have been brisk, with more than 1,500 orders to date - as of launch time, the waiting period is a month, though that is surely to change if more orders come about.

The City rolls in at RM84,980 for the Grade S and RM89,980 for the Grade E (both on the road, with insurance) and comes with a three-year warranty or 100,000km and six months free service or 10,000km, whichever comes first.

A Modulo accessories package is available to spruce up the City’s exterior, and this consists of front, side, rear and trunk spoilers, all for an additional RM4,750.

Land Rover fans up in Penang, the new boys are coming your way. That's right - Sime Darby Auto Connexion is having a public test drive event this weekend of all the new LR models at Juru Auto City.

Land Rover enthusiasts in the north will have the opportunity to view and test-drive the multiple-award winning Freelander 2 TD4, the multi-talented Discovery 3 TDV6 and two variants of the head-turning Range Rover Sport, the 2.7l V6 turbodiesel and naturally-aspirated 4.4l V8 petrol.

 
The three-day Land Rover Carnival in Penang will be held at Lot 1688, Juru Auto City, in front of the Kentucky Fried Chicken outlet from 10am-6pm daily from Dec 19-21, so if you're into your LRs, this is where you'll want to be.
 
For more info on the new Land Rover Carnival in Penang, please call Auto ConneXion Voice at 1 800 88 3181 or 04-390 2595.

General Motors, anxiously conserving cash so it can keep operating into 2009, said on Wed it would halt construction of a plant tied to one of its most important projects while the automaker awaits a Washington bailout.

GM said it is putting the brakes on the construction of a factory in Flint, Michigan, set to make 1.4l engines for the Chevrolet Cruze and the Chevy Volt plug-in electric car.

It's just have to Volt a little longer.

It's just one more effort by GM to hold on to every penny possible as it speeds closer to the day when the 100-year-old industrial giant won't be able to pay its bills.

The company has been scaling back just about everywhere - shutting down vehicle production, ending sports sponsorships, turning off escalators and even cutting back on office supplies - to stay afloat.

GM is seeking up to US$18bil in government loans as it tries to survive the worst US auto sales environment in 26 years. It says it needs US$4bil before this year runs out.

GM board member Kent Kresa told The Associated Press last week that the company might make it into the early part of the first quarter, depending on auto sales, yet GM has several billion dollars worth of supplier payments due shortly after the first of the year, and analysts have said the company probably doesn't have the cash to pay them.

GM announced plans in Sept for the new engine plant in Flint, 50 miles northwest of Detroit, and said production would begin in 2010. But the company is delaying the purchase of big-ticket items needed to build the factory, such as structural steel, spokeswoman Sharon Basel said.

The plant's engines will extend the range of the rechargeable Volt, GM's high-profile next-generation vehicle that will be able to travel 40 miles on electricity alone. They will also power the Cruze, GM's new small car that is supposed to get around 40mpg.

Ditto the ability to Cruze around in one of these.

Basel said Volt and Cruze development will continue as scheduled and the company still plans to bring them to showrooms in 2010. The construction delay, she said, may be temporary until the company figures out its cash situation.

"Everything that involves heavy cash outlays obviously is under review," Basel said. "Our intent is to still go forward with a new facility bringing that engine to Flint."

Meanwhile, GM has held off many large expenditures, such as the steel for the Flint plant, Basel said."Those are huge cash outlays, and we don't have the cash," she said.

Basel said there is plenty of time to build the factory, install equipment and get it up and running in time to produce engines for the two new cars. The company already makes the 1.4l engine at a plant in Austria, she said, giving it another option for engines.

"We have lots of options. The construction of the new plant is not going to interrupt our plans for the Volt or Cruze," Basel said.

Work will continue as scheduled on the Lordstown, Ohio, assembly plant, which will make the Cruze starting in mid-2010, said GM spokesman Chris Lee. The company has not formally announced where the Volt will be built, although the Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly Plant was identified in the 2007 contract with the United Auto Workers. Lee said Volt production remains on schedule for later in 2010.

GM said in Sept it would invest US$370mil in the new factory, which will employ 330 hourly and salaried workers and allow the company to double its global production of smaller engines by 2011. The plant will have 300 flexible work stations that will let GM build different four-cylinder engines without retooling.

The United Auto Workers union agreed that new hires for the plant would be paid US$14 per hour, about half the wages of a current UAW worker. It also agreed to a new flexible pact with GM that lets workers do multiple jobs.

The new factory brings the prospect of more jobs to an industrial city hard hit by auto job losses. GM's nearby Flint Engine North plant closed in Aug. - AP

Despite Fuji Heavy Industries’ decision to pull out of the World Rally Championship (WRC), Subaru fans in the region will still be able to see the brand contesting for honours on the Group N rally front.

That's because the Motor Image Rally Team (MIRT) will continue to compete in next season's Asia Pacific Rally Championship (APRC) 2009.

Back next year, so Mica Blue will still be around in these here parts ...

Since its debut in 2007, the Singapore-based Motor Image Rally Team has been blazing the trail with rally driver Cody Crocker winning the APRC Driver’s Championship title and MIRT-Subaru winning the Manufacturer’s Title for two consecutive years.

For the 2009  season, MIRT will be back with a brand new assembled-in-Singapore Subaru Impreza STI GRB rally car and a new driver line-up to continue its APRC journey.

Ford says it will shut down 10 of its North American assembly plants for an extra week in Jan due to the slumping US auto market.

Spokeswoman Angie Kozleski says the normal two-week holiday shutdown will be extended to Jan. 12 at all operating assembly plants except those in Claycomo, Missouri, near Kansas City and the Dearborn, Michigan truck plant.

Those two plants will return to work as normal on Jan 5. Both make the new F-150 pickup truck, while Claycomo also makes the Ford Escape and Mercury Mariner.

Ford will also extend the shutdown at some engine, transmission and parts stamping plants, or shut portions of them to match production cuts at the assembly plants. - AP

Chrysler said that it is closing all 30 of its manufacturing plants for a month starting tomorrow, as it seeks to counter the most severe downturn in US auto sales in more than two decades.

By extending the traditional two-week holiday shutdown period, the struggling Auburn Hills, Michigan-based automaker can adjust production to slowing demand and conserve cash.

Less Liberty, for sure.

In a statement on Wed, Chrysler said tighter credit markets are keeping would-be buyers away from its showrooms. The company said its dealers are unable to close sales for buyers due to a lack of financing, and estimate that 20 to 25% of their volume has been lost due to the credit situation. Sales in Nov slid 47.1%.

Chrysler and larger rival General Motors have warned they could run out of cash within weeks without financial aid from Washington. Chrysler has said its cash will drop to US$2.5bil by Dec 31, the minimum needed to meet payroll, pay suppliers and run the company. It would have trouble paying bills after the first of the year.

With the US sales slump expected to continue into Jan, traditionally one of the slowest sales months of the year, the company has little revenue coming in and must pay suppliers US$7bil every 45 days.

Operations will be idled at the end of the shift on Dec 19, and the earliest plants will reopen is Jan 19, 2009. A few plants will reopen on Jan 26.

And more difficult to wrangle outta it ...

In the case of some plants, such as the Toledo Jeep plant in Ohio, operations will resume on Jan 26, but with one less shift. More than 750 workers are being cut on the second shift at the Toledo North plant.

Chrysler's Jeep Liberty, Nitro and Wrangler are assembled at the Ohio plants. Sales of the company's Jeep-brand vehicles fell 41.8% in Nov to 20,302 units.

Henneman said 755 people worked the shift. About 550 workers took a retirement package and 200 will be indefinitely laid off. - AP

Nissan Motor Co said yesterday it would reduce production in Japan by a further 78,000 vehicles and cut 500 temporary workers there.

The cuts were being made to avoid a build up of excess inventory as car sales slow globally, Nissan said in a statement.

The No 3 Japanese carmaker said the workers will be cut from Jan to Mar next year. It will also temporarily halt production at several Japanese car and engine factories from Jan.

Nissan has cut production by a total of about 225,000 vehicles over the last year, 16% of its initial production forecast for 1.388mil vehicles in the current fiscal year through Mar. - AP

Motor Trend has voted Ford's F-150 model truck as its 2009 Truck of the Year, the third time in its production history that the half-ton pickup has taken top billing. In 2008, Toyota's Tundra pickup truck took the prize.

"The stakes were high and the field of contenders was among the best yet for this year's voting," said Angus MacKenzie, editor in chief of Motor Trend. "Despite the downturn in the economy, the pickup truck remains the automotive backbone of America, providing a tough, durable workhorse for business and recreational users alike. No matter what shape the American auto industry emerges from the current crisis, the pickup truck will remain a key part of the American automotive landscape."

Well, something to shout about, yes.

Motor Trend said the report will be published in the magazine's Feb issue, available on newsstands Jan 6.

The Ford F-150 was one of four trucks eligible for the Truck of the Year title. The other contenders were the Dodge Ram 1500, Suzuki Equator and the Hummer H3T. To be eligible, a vehicle must be totally new or redesigned, and released in the 12 months before Jan 1, 2009.

Ford claims it sells more of its half-ton pickups to work and commercial customers than its competitors, and the company predicts this segment will grow to 45% of F-150 sales. The automaker is struggling, however, amid the continued rapid deceleration in the nation's car market and as the housing downturn hurts construction activity.

The company's US sales tumbled 30% in Nov, as the iconic Detroit automaker submitted a transformation plan to Congress, cancelling 2009 bonuses for most workers and requesting a US$9bil bridge financing loan.

And why not? It's certainly better than moping around.

Ford sold 118,818 vehicles last month, down from 169,258 vehicles in the same month last year. Sales of Ford brand cars and trucks plunged 30%, with total truck sales falling 29% to 81,546 vehicles in Nov.

So far this year, Ford Motor Co. sales are down 19.2% to 1.8mil vehicles, compared with 2.2mil sold in the first 11 months of 2007. - AP

Japanese automaker Honda slashed its profit forecast for the fiscal year today and announced that managers will take a 10% pay cut amid a global downturn in the auto industry.

President Takeo Fukui blamed the revisions on declining demand set off by the US financial crisis and the nose-diving dollar, which has recently fallen to 13-year lows against the yen.

Japan's second-biggest automaker now expects 185bil yen (US$2.06bil) in group net profit for the fiscal year ending Mar 31, 2009. That's less than a third of the 600bil yen it earned last fiscal year.

Tokyo-based Honda has already twice revised its forecast, the latest in Oct when it said it expected 485 billion yen in profit.

"Every day, the hardships we face are getting worse and worse. And there are no signs of recovery," Fukui said at a news conference that was hastily moved up two days from the initial schedule.

Fukui said the automaker will focus on green technology, especially hybrids and small cars, to ride out the difficult times and prepare for recovery in the long run.

In recent years, the annual media event has usually been an occasion for Honda to announce ambitious plans for growth in key global regions and outline its strategy in green technology such as hybrids and fuel cell vehicles.

But speculation had been rife this year's news will be dismal as the industry gets hammered by the global recession set off by the US financial crisis.

Particularly damaging to Japanese automakers has been the plunging dollar, which erodes their overseas earnings. For every yen the dollar declines, Honda loses about 18bil yen (US$200mil) in operating profit.

And the recent drop in auto sales isn't helping either. In Nov, when US auto sales plunged 37% to their worst level in more than 26 years, Honda's vehicle sales sank 32% from the same month a year ago. - AP

Fuji Heavy Industries yesterday announced the withdrawal of Subaru from the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) at the end of the 2008 season, a day after Suzuki said it was pulling out from rally racing.

As with Suzuki and Honda in F1, the reasons for FHI's withdrawal are linked to the deterioration of the global economy. This leaves Ford and Citroen as the only two factory makers for the 2009 season.

No more Mica Blue next year ...

This brings to an end a proud run for the company in the WRC together with British motorsports and automotive engineering group Prodrive, in which a 19 year run has seen Subaru bagging three manufacturer’s championship titles and three driver’s championship titles.

Though it will no longer be involved directly in rally activities, FHI will continue to support teams and drivers that participate in P-WRC or the Group N category.