In conjunction with the Chinese New Year festive season, BHPetrol had a celebration today to welcome the Year of the Rat. The celebration, attended by customers, business partners and staff of Boustead Petroleum Marketing Sdn Bhd which distributes and markets BHPetrol, was held at the BHPetrol station in Cheras, Kuala Lumpur.
As in previous years, the company took the opportunity to use the occasion to also send safety messages, particularly important during this period when Malaysians will be driving long distances on highways. In this connection, BHPetrol invited Wong Yau Duenn, Deputy Director-General of the Road Safety Department (JKJR), to offer advice on road safety.
Wong Yau Duenn, Deputy Director-General of the Road Safety Department (JKJR), checking on a childseat to ensure it is properly installed. Since January 1, the law requiring compulsory use of childseats has come into effect.
“To all our customers, especially those who are celebrating, we wish you a prosperous Chinese New Year. Be safe in whatever you do and enjoy the festive season with your loved ones. Remember to stop at any BHPetrol station to refuel your vehicle with Infiniti petrol or diesel for extra mileage or pick up snacks and refreshments at the BHPetromart during your journey,” said Ir. Azizul Azily Ahmad, Acting CEO of Boustead Petroleum Marketing.
Ir. Azizul Azily Ahmad, Acting CEO of Boustead Petroleum Marketing, invites motorists to drop by at BHPetrol stations.
Also following past tradition, Ir. Azizul and his colleagues handed out complimentary goodie bags of snacks, drinks and mandarin oranges to customers visiting the petrol station. The customers also received angpow packets with BHPetrol vouchers inside. Food and beverage suppliers to the BHPetromarts also joined in with free offerings as well.
The BHPetrol brand has been continuously strengthened since being established in February 2006. Its fuels are available through a retail network of around 400 stations located throughout Peninsular Malaysia. Besides the high quality Infiniti fuels, BHPetrol also offers LPG (BHPetrogas) for household and commercial purposes as well as Syngard automotive lubricants.
Many BHPetrol stations also have BHPetromart stores which provide food, drinks and snacks as well as other services for the convenience of motorists. These services include reloading of Touch ‘n Go tollcards, cash dispensation from ATMs and even recharging stations for electric vehicles at certain stations.
To know more about BHPetrol products and services or to locate a station, visit www.bhpetrol.com.my.
Perodua has issued a statement to warn the public that it has not made any announcement of 28 units of the Perodua Aruz being given away free on its 28th anniversary. Referring to a message that is circulating on several mobile messaging and social media platforms, the carmaker said it did not originate from Perodua and it appears to be a scam.
“We are now taking all the necessary actions to combat further spread of this scam message,” said Dato’ Zainal Abidin Ahmad, President & CEO of Perodua. Noting that the message has a link inviting the public to register interest, he advised everyone to always be wary and cautious of any suspicious claims.
“Please deal only with staff at our authorized sales and service outlets, and refer to information on our official social media channels and official website at www.perodua.com.my,” he added.
With the upcoming Chinese New Year holiday period this month, long-distance travel likely to be done by many people. In conjunction with this, Goodyear Malaysia is reminding road-users to be safe on the roads by encouraging the replacement of worn-out tyres through a campaign in January and February.
Up to RM1,688 of petrol
The campaign will allow customers who purchase a pair of tyres that are part of Goodyear’s Worry-Free Assurance (WFA) programme to win petrol giftcards worth up to RM1,688. All customers need to do is register their newly purchased tyres and complete a slogan. Every entry ending with the numbers 8, 88 and 888 will stand a chance to win RM68, RM168 and RM1,688 worth of petrol giftcards, respectively.
Goodyear Efficientgrip Performance SUV
The Goodyear WFA programme covers the following tyres – Eagle F1 Asymmetric 5, Eagle F1 Asymmetric 3, Eagle F1 Asymmetric 2, Eagle F1 Asymmetric 3 SUV, Eagle F1 Asymmetric SUV AT, Eagle Asymmetric 2 SUV, Eagle EfficientGrip, EfficientGrip Performance, EfficientGrip Performance SUV, EfficientGrip SUV, Assurance TripleMax 2, Wrangler TripleMax, and Optilife.
Alex Ng, Managing Director of Goodyear Malaysia said: “We have always been strong advocates of road safety and every festive period, we encourage consumers to make the necessary preparation for the long drive. Tyres are the most important aspect because it is the only thing that separates the road and the car. With good tyres, the chances of being affected by hazards become significantly lower, which is why Goodyear is once again encouraging drivers to opt for tyres covered under our Worry-Free Assurance programme to ensure peace of mind while driving. Through this Chinese New Year campaign, we are able to minimise road safety risks and, at the same time, give them an opportunity to win some great prizes.”
The WFA Programme
Goodyear’s WFA programme was developed and implemented to advocate tyre health and road safety while driving. Through WFA, Goodyear offers free replacement tyres within 6 months if there is damage to the tyres as a result of road hazards such as punctures, cuts, bulges and other impacts during the course of normal driving. In addition to that, WFA also provides a 5-year limited warranty on tyres for any manufacturing defects.
♦ The Total Industry Volume (TIV) in 2019 was 604,287 units, the first time that the volume of sales crossed the 600,000 level since 2015. The achievement was helped by a boost in December with total sales of 54,842 units, the second highest monthly volume in 2019.
♦ While sales of passenger vehicles rose by 3.2% compared to the year before, the opposite was the case for the commercial vehicle segment (which includes pick-up trucks) as it saw a decline of 17.4%. The uncertainty of the fate of major projects in the first half of the year as well as a general slowdown of the economy had companies holding back on capital expenditures.
♦ Sales of 4WDs and SUVs grew noticeably (8.4%) at the expense of passenger car and MPV segments, the former contracting by 3.9% and the latter by 4.5%. Nevertheless, passenger cars (sedans and hatchbacks) still accounted for the largest share of passenger vehicle sales (69.4%), while 4WDs/SUVs had a 22.6% share.
♦ Sales of pick-ups, once a popular segment, fell significantly from 44,443 units in 2018 to 35,121 units in 2019, a reduction of 21%. Nevertheless, these vehicles – which are used for personal transport as well as for business purposes – accounted for almost 65% of commercial vehicle sales.
♦ Local production of vehicles totaled 571,632 units in 2019, a modest 1.2% increase over the output in 2018. While more passenger vehicles were produced (+2.6%), the plants cut back on production of commercial vehicles by 15.6% in the light of uncertain demand.
From 2020 to 2024
♦ Looking ahead, the Malaysian Automotive Association (MAA) does not expect the market to grow substantially in 2020 and has forecast a TIV of 607,000 units, just 0.5% more than the 2019 figure. As in the past, this will be reviewed after the first 6 months of sales.
♦ Looking further ahead for the period from 2021 to 2024, the MAA sees the market improving a bit and forecasts annual TIV growth of 2% to 2.3%, reaching 660,920 units by the end of 2024. With sales in Indonesia and Thailand currently around 300,000 units greater, Malaysia will remain at No.3 position in ASEAN.
In the past couple of weeks, there has been speculation that a new tax structure will result in new vehicle prices increasing after the Chinese New Year period. The matter (which related to excise duties) was even documented in the Government Gazette at the end of last year, catching the car companies by surprise.
Needless to say, the public was not happy, especially when it concerned increases in car prices. It’s a sensitive issue because the view is that our car prices are too high and that’s of course due to the taxes imposed. Rather than look at higher sales generating more taxes, the government prefers to just impose heavy taxes to get its revenue which is around RM7 billion a year from the auto industry.
Anyway, you can breathe easy now as the Finance Ministry has confirmed that there will be no increase in new vehicle prices, for the whole of 2020 at least. The good news was conveyed by Datuk Aishah Ahmad, President of the Malaysian Automotive Association (MAA), during the association’s annual press conference to review the market in 2019.
Good news for car companies and consumers
Datuk Aishah said she had actually been informed of a meeting to get the news but she said she was already committed to the press conference so the ministry officials thought it would be a timely announcement she could make when the media was gathered. It was a piece of good news for the industry – something rare as, more often than not, there are new policies which increase the challenges. This time, many people will be able to go off for their holidays relieved that they won’t be coming back to a more difficult situation.
“The Finance Ministry informed me this morning that there will be no increase in the on-the-road price of vehicles due to the transparent reporting of the Open Market Value (OMV). If there is any vehicle affected by this reporting, there will be 100% exemption on the increase incurred until December 31, 2020,” she said.
She was made to understand that any increase in prices as a result of the transparent methodology would be fully absorbed/exempted by the Finance Ministry during 2020, and the difference in duties for past years would also be exempted.
“This is effective immediately and our member companies have been asked to submit the OMV based on the transparent calculation to the Customs Department for those vehicles which are affected by applying the methodology,” Datuk Aishah said.
She explained that the methodology was not actually new and had been applied for years. However, with the transparent calculation, there should be no more disputes over the OMV and this will speed up things. It is understood that the actions of the ministry are related to its obligations as a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO).
Prices of CBU imported vehicles could change from the second half of this year with ‘real-time’ valuations for computing duties.
After 2020?
And what happens in 2021? “Well, we have been informed that there will be further consultations by the industry players with the Finance Ministry and Customs during the year,” she said, adding that the prices of CBU (completely built-up) imports would likely change after May 31, 2020. This is due to a revised method of computation which will be more ‘real-time’ with respect to the value of the vehicles.
So if you were worried that you might have to pay more if you buy after Chinese New Year, that’s not going to be the case. The announcement does not mean that prices won’t change as there are other factors that influence pricing, eg exchange rates, production costs, etc but those are beyond the control of the industry and the government. But as has also been the case for years, the companies will try their best to absorb increases for as long as they can so that their prices remain attractive and competitive.
Barrett-Jackson, which bills itself as ‘The World’s Greatest Collector Car Auctions’, recently kicked off its ‘Road to 50’ – a year-long celebration toward the company’s 50th Anniversary. The event was its largest and most successful auction in its 49-year history with a record number of bidders vying for over 1,900 vehicles that sold for more than US$129.7 million (about RM528 million).
Over 1,200 pieces of automobilia brought in more than US$3.7 million (RM15 million) and US$7.625 million (RM31 million) was raised through the sale of nine charity vehicles, bringing the total amount sold on the Barrett-Jackson auction block to more than US$141 million (RM574 million).
Among the nine collections auctioned – the most ever offered by Barrett-Jackson – was the Paul Walker Collection with 18 cars and 3 motorcycles. This collection was one of the most anticipated and set several auction records. The most notable was the 1995 BMW M3 Lightweight model – not one but five – that he owned. Walker, who passed away in November 2013, was an avid fan of BMW and had a total of seven M3s in his collection (including the 5 Lightweights).
Barrett-Jackson collected a total of US$1.32 million (RM5.37 million) for the 5 cars which were auctioned at prices varying between US$220,000 (RM895,500) and US$385,000 (RM1.57 million). The highest price was paid for the unit which had 7,500 kms on the clock (the lowest mileage of all the cars).
The M3 Lightweight was a very rare variant and while BMW never said how many were produced, between 120 and 130 were believed to have been built. The ’Lightweight’ refers to the focus on reducing weight for improved performance. Power came from a BMW S50 3.0-litre inline-6 engine and its output of 240 bhp/305 Nm passed through a 5-speed manual gearbox before reaching the rear wheels.
Intended for customers who wanted to go racing, the M3 Lightweight was pretty bare as many regular items – radio, air-conditioner, sunroof… even the toolkit – were omitted to save weight. As it is, the M3 of that era was not exactly luxurious with Teutonic obsession for functionality and along with aluminium doors, it was about 90 kgs lighter than the standard E36 M3.
Other celebrity-owned cars that were auctioned included Simon Cowell’s 1977 Ford Bronco and 2009 Bentley Azure, Mariano Rivera’s 2020 Toyota Supra Launch Edition and John Elway’s 1992 Dodge Viper. Two VIN 001 vehicles were also sold, one of them being the first retail production unit of the first-ever mid-engine Corvette. Powered by a 6.2-litre LT2 V8 engine with an 8-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission, it brought US$3 million (RM12.211 million), all of which went to the Detroit Children’s Fund.
According to Craig Jackson, son of co-founder Russ Jackson, the auction experienced a surge in new buyers who are snatching up high-quality, drivable customs and Resto-Mods. “New buyers want cars that offer all the modern luxuries and technology with the classic body styles, which continues to drive the demand for Resto-Mods. As their passion, knowledge and experience with collector cars mature, their focus shifts to collecting professionally restored, matching-numbers cars, which is a trend that is keeping this hobby alive and strong.”
2019 was a great year for Perodua as it surpassed all previous sales volumes with a total number of 240,341 vehicles delivered. The volume was 5.8% higher than the figure for 2018 which had been the prior record. The Malaysian Automotive Association (MAA) will be releasing the full year’s sales data tomorrow but by Perodua’s own estimates that the Total Industry Volume (TIV) for 2019 was 604,775 units, the Malaysian carmaker’s share would have been 40%, an increase of 2% from 2018.
Announcing the achievement, Perodua’s President & CEO, Dato’ Zainal Abidin Ahmad, said that all five models in its range – the Alza, Aruz, Bezza, Axia and Myvi – were segment leaders, with the Aruz notable for being Malaysia’s best-selling SUV with 30,115 units sold.
Export growth to get more attention
Continuing with its efforts on exports, the total volume sold in other countries last year was around 2,825 units, of which 1,800 units of the Myvi were purchased by Daihatsu and sold under its brand in Indonesia. To date, Perodua exports to 7 countries and Sri Lanka is its second largest overseas market where the Bezza was the bestselling sedan in the sub-1.0 litre segment.
The latest Myvi introduced in Mauritius attracted a lot of attention.
“While our exports remained modest, we are making good progress in establishing our brand overseas and are looking at further improving the numbers this year,” said Dato’ Zainal. He said that the government has urged Perodua to export more of its vehicles. However, there needs to be proper market studies to ensure that the products are the right ones (at the right price levels) and the marketing done properly. Since 2018, Perodua has stepped up its attention to exports after having been busy on its transformation and cost-competitiveness activities earlier.
Healthy aftersales business continues
Given the position at the lowest end of the market with the most affordable vehicles, it would seem that Perodua customers are probably going to buy one or two and then move upwards to other brands as their personal financial circumstances improve. They would also be less likely to continue using the aftersales services available from Perodua, believing that it’s cheaper to go to the smaller independent workshops.
However, Perodua’s figures show that there is a fairly high rate of retention in the aftersales business. Since 2015, service intake has grown by some 20% and while this would also be in tandem with the rising annual sales volume, there are still many owners who continue to return to Perodua’s service centres even after many years. Last year, the service centres nationwide handled over 2.35 million vehicles.
“We have the largest vehicle sales and service network in Malaysia. Our intention is not so much to expand further but to enhance the facilities we already have by working closely with our dealers for the benefit of our valued customers,” said Dato’ Zainal. “In this respect, the company is working with its dealers, which currently make up 75% of its sales and service network, to invest and upgrade facilities.”
Supporting local suppliers
Both Perodua and Proton have had the obligation of helping to develop the domestic automotive industry, particularly the suppliers so that parts and systems can be obtained locally. Perodua has been diligent at this and has consistently helped its suppliers to grow and remain ‘healthy’. Even in difficult market conditions when sales have slowed down, Perodua has stepped in to assist in various ways so that the vendors do not have serious financial problems that impact their ability to deliver on time and maintain quality.
Transmission production at a factory in Negeri Sembilan.
Last year, Perodua purchased around RM5.4 billion worth of parts from suppliers and at least 90% of the parts in its vehicles are local content. The suppliers themselves not only enjoy steady business from Perodua but a few are also supplying to Daihatsu factories overseas, an indication that Malaysian suppliers can also produce world-class products that meet the stringent quality demands of Japanese manufacturers.
Dato’ Zainal said he welcomed the healthy competition from Proton as it will only serve to motivate and strengthen Perodua. Furthermore, as Proton’s volumes rise, the suppliers will also prosper and be able to achieve better economies of scale with bigger orders from both carmakers. This will also help them lower their prices, a win-win situation for manufacturer and supplier.
Looking ahead
While the government expects GDP growth to be 4.8% in 2020, Perodua is cautious about its sales performance at this time until some issues – like the new National Automotive Policy – are clearer. So for now, the forecast for numbers remains at 240,000 with a market share target of 40%. Production volume is planned to rise by 4.1% or 10,000 units in anticipation of increased exports as well as fulfilling the backlog of orders for certain models.
Providing affordable cars for Malaysians has been one of Perodua’s constant objectives from the time it started.
With regard to price increases predicted in the near future (due to a revision of taxation for vehicles), Dato’ Zainal gave assurance that this won’t happen for Perodua products right away. “Our mission has always been to provide affordable vehicles and we would not just pass on any increases to customers. We will address the situation by ‘counter-measures’ to try to keep prices stable for as long as possible,” he explained.
On new models to be launched, he did not elaborate on specific models although the market is buzzing with rumours of a new compact SUV designated the D55L. This is said to be based on the Daihatsu Rocky launched in Japan last year and sits on the DNGA (Daihatsu New Generation Architecture) platform.
New Daihatsu Rocky launched in Japan last year is expected to be the basis of a new compact SUV model. How close will the Perodua version look to this?
However, Dato’ Zainal did share with us the product direction of the company which takes into account industry trends which could give clues to what the future product will have. In the slide, there were four subjects – Connected, Autonomous, Shared Services and Electric. These hint at features like cruise control which is a form of autonomous operation and might even be advanced cruise control with adaptive speeds. As it is, the A.S.A. driver assistance system already has autonomous capability such as automatic braking so Perodua may be able to get more advanced systems at a cost which allows them to be offered without raising the price.
‘Electric’ doesn’t necessarily mean an electric powertrain and Dato’ Zainal mentioned ‘downsizing’, the industry trend of reducing engine sizes but maintaining or improving performance through using direct fuel injection or turbocharging. Well, as it is, Perodua engines started off with an 850 cc engine in the Kancil and its range has had the smallest engines all this while. So they can’t get any smaller but adding an electric motor as a hybrid powertrain or using an electric compressor could be under study now.
Much of the advanced technology development would be done either by Daihatsu, its technical partner, or the suppliers. But where design and upper body development are concerned, Perodua R&D aims to further increase its capabilities. Since the development of the first Myvi, when Perodua was a ‘junior partner’ in the project which also involved Daihatsu and Toyota, the Malaysian carmaker’s capabilities have grown steadily. It reached a point where Malaysians could develop the Bezza sedan which is a model that you will not find in the Daihatsu range. Bear in mind that even adding a boot to the Axia involved engineering competence and it was not just a ‘cut-and-weld’ exercise.
Dato’ Zainal revealed that Daihatsu Indonesia has also called on Perodua R&D to assist in product development for models sold in Indonesia. He said that it is hoped that Perodua can become the ASEAN hub for Daihatsu where R&D is concerned. While Daihatsu’s operations in Indonesia are larger, they are more focused on production whereas Perodua has made bigger investments on R&D facilities.
Aerial view of the Perodua complex
“We have invested RM1.4 billion to date, which is higher than what Indonesia has spent on R&D, and we plan to continue investments in this area. Some of the money will go into extending the test track to 5 kms so that testing can be more comprehensive. Therefore, we hope that Daihatsu will consider making Perodua its R&D hub for ASEAN while Indonesia could be a production hub,” he said.
Perodua has a strong position as market leader, which it certainly deserves. But it is not going to take this dominance for granted and ‘relax’ and even though Proton, its closest rival, is intent on regaining its No.1 position, Perodua will stay focused with its own strategic plans for the coming years.
Going into a new year and new decade, Proton is gearing up for a stronger push in 2020 to become No.1 in the Malaysian market and No.3 in ASEAN. Last year’s performance was impressive as the carmaker sold more than 100,000 units again (100,821 units, including exports), a volume not achieved since 2015. By its internal estimates, Proton believes it achieved the strongest sales growth among the top 5 brands in Malaysia in 2019, with overall market share likely to be 16.7%.
In the past, the achievements would have put everyone in a celebratory mood, lulled into complacence again and relaxing. The company is back in a good position so pressure on the accelerator pedal can be eased. But for Dr. Li Chunrong, the company’s CEO, what was achieved in 2019 is now history and backing off is the furthest thing from his mind. He’s not going to allow the company to fall into the trap where everyone starts to become complacent and suddenly, other brands zip past because they didn’t take their foot of the throttle.
For 2020, Dr. Li has given everyone in the Proton family a new set of challenges – sell 32% more vehicles and reach 132,000 units (he thinks a higher number is possible) with more attention on exports as well. The target is 4,000 units for this year but there are challenges in going into other markets where Japanese brands have dominance and volume to price their products competitively. So Dr. Li hopes the government will give Proton help in its export efforts, mainly to make its prices competitive enough which is difficult as the production cost is still high.
Two new products in 2020
The Proton range for 2020 will remain the same and there will be two product launches during the year – the locally-assembled X70 and the smaller X50 later in the year. Assembly of the X70 at the Tg. Malim plant in Perak started late last year and stocks are building up so it shouldn’t be long before Malaysian-made units arrive in showrooms. Rumours are that it will have enhancements which increase its appeal and value for money compared to the ones which have been imported in CBU (completely built-up) form from Geely’s factory in China.
The Geely Binyue will be the basis for the new X50 which will be launched in Malaysia later this year.
As for the X50, it is no secret that this will be adapted from a Geely model known as the Binyue, just as the X70 was adapted from the Geely Boyue. And like the Boyue, it’s not just a matter of changing the badge on the grille and getting Proton Design to add a Malaysian touch to the styling. To develop the X50 will require an engineering program that is almost like developing a new model, more so because there is no righthand drive version. The advantage of using the Binyue platform is that it has been fully engineered so time and money can be saved, an approach used by other carmakers which share platforms.
Dr. Li revealed that, unlike the X70, the X50 won’t be made in China and shipped to Malaysia initially. The factory in China is probably not very happy to have to do the ‘small’ volume of X70s when it needs all the capacity it has for producing Geely vehicles so the first X50 will come from the Tg. Malim plant. Perhaps Geely is confident that enough experience has been gained in the X70 project that the X50 can be born in Malaysia instead of China.
The future of the other legacy models remains unknown but with the Saga doing extremely well, Proton has even started a second shift to produce it. It is clear that quality was something which matters a lot to Malaysians and neglecting it in the past was one of the reasons for Proton’s sales decline. With Geely providing guidance and assistance, build quality has risen and the cars are now very much in demand, topping their segments as well.
More 3S outlets to be opened
One of the things which Dr. Li felt needed a major transformation was the retail network. He saw that the experience Proton customers were getting, whether in the showroom or service centre, was not good enough. So one of his early efforts focused on upgrading the outlets and insisting that the dealers must invest in 3S facilities that provide sales, service and spare parts (and more, if possible) in one location. He met with resistance initially, but he did not give up and slowly convinced the dealers that it was in their interest to provide facilities that made the experience of owning a Proton a very good one.
Proton showrooms today are very different from before and customers have an experience that can make them want to own a Proton and be proud owning one.
Today, while there are still 1S (showroom only) outlets which are old ones, the majority are 3S and 4S outlets. During 2020, the number will be raised to at least 150 and that is considered optimum for the projected volumes to be sold. Dr. Li understands that dealers must make good money and the sales per outlet must be reasonable. He won’t make the previous mistake when Proton acquired USPD and together with EON, doubled the size of its network, with the assumption that its sales volume would also be doubled. Instead, dealers suffered and not surprisingly, motivation was poor which impacted the brand.
As the Proton CEO said, 2019’s achievements are history and 2020 is a new challenge, so expect to read more news about Proton as it speeds upwards and forward to regain its dominance in the Malaysian market.
5G – the next generation of mobile network technology – will become commercially available from 2020 onwards (third quarter in Malaysia) and users will benefit from significantly more advanced connectivity. Carmakers are also using 5G technology for communication between cars and infrastructure. For example, Volvo Cars and China Unicom are joining forces to work together in researching, developing and testing automotive applications of 5G and emerging vehicle-to-everything (V2X) technology.
As the fifth generation of mobile network technology, 5G is many times faster, has a higher data capacity and offers lower response times than its 4G predecessor. As more data can be transferred to and from cars more quickly and with less latency, more applications for cars become possible.
The two companies are exploring a range of different applications of 5G technology for automotive use in China, identifying potential improvements in areas such as safety, sustainability, customer convenience and autonomous driving.
Using 5G technology, cars may also communicate with traffic lights in order to establish an optimal speed and create a so-called ‘green wave’ for smoother flow.
For example, when a car is aware of upcoming traffic issues such as roadworks, congestion or accidents, it can take pre-emptive action such as slowing down or suggesting a different route. This can help traffic safety for people inside the car as well as around it, while avoiding start-and-stop traffic improves efficient energy use.
Other examples include the possibility for cars to find open parking spots more easily with the help of traffic cameras. Cars may also communicate with traffic lights in order to establish an optimal speed and create a so-called ‘green wave’, and with each other to optimise safe exits and entries from and onto highways.
”Volvo has been a leader in realising the potential of connecting our cars to enable new features and services such as detecting and sharing locations of slippery roads between vehicles,” said Henrik Green, Chief Technology Officer at Volvo Cars. “With 5G, the network performance is improving to allow for many more real-time critical services that can help the driver be safer and get a smoother and more enjoyable ride. We look forward to collaborating with China Unicom on developing those services for the Chinese market.”
Traffic safety can improve as more cars are equipped with 5G technology that allows vehicle-to-everything (V2X) connectivity.
China is currently rolling out 5G across its major cities and like most regions, it is also widely expected to implement its own regional standards for V2X technologies. Volvo Cars’ collaboration with China Unicom helps it to be suitably prepared for local requirements and create a strong presence in V2X in its biggest market. 5G connectivity will be a part of the next generation of Volvos, based on the next generation SPA2 modular vehicle architecture.
“5G will fully enable the development of automatic driving, improve the safety of driving and bring a new experience by building a collaborative service system of ’people, vehicles, roadway, network and cloud‘. China Unicom and Volvo Cars will sincerely cooperate with each other, jointly develop a business deployment route under China’s national conditions, which is believed to become an industry model in China,” said Liang Baojun, Vice-President of China Unicom Group.
Hyundai Motor India Limited (HMIL) has gained the brand a listing in the Guinness World Records with an altitude achievement by the Hyundai Kona Electric. The first fully Made-in-India electric SUV was driven to an altitude of 5,731 metres at the Sawula Pass in Tibet, breaking the previous record of 5,715.28 metres set by any electric car.
During the entire drive, the Kona Electric was charged every night using portable chargers that are provided as standard with the e-SUV. The crew reported that there were no performance issues while climbing the peaks. When descending on the steep gradients, the smart power regeneration system in the vehicle helped to improve the driving range.
Electric powerplant of Kona Electric produces 136 ps/395 Nm. The range on a full charge is certified at 452 kms.
With this achievement, the Kona Electric has proven its reliability, even in extreme operating conditions. During the journey, it performed as a true SUV and coped with harsh weather conditions like low temperatures, continuous snowfall and icy terrain. The Electronic Stability Control (ESC) system helped the driver to maintain control as it ensured the stability of the vehicle in all road conditions.
‘Emission Impossible Mission’
Commenting on this achievement, S.S. Kim, MD & CEO of Hyundai Motor India said: “Hyundai KONA Electric making to the prestigious Guinness World Records feat is a very proud moment for everyone and remarkable feat for HMIL. KONA Electric has brought Electric Revolution by demolishing various myths about electric vehicles and is a true expression of Hyundai’s spirit of staying ahead of the curve. Under the ‘Emission Impossible Mission’, KONA Electric has proved its mettle in the world’s toughest terrains without compromising its performance.”
The Kona Electric, priced at Rs 23.71 lakh (around RM135,500) is the First Long Range Green SUV in India with a certified range of 452 kms on a fully charged battery pack. To avoid any range anxiety, customers are provided with two chargers along with the car – a portable charger and an AC Wall Box Charger.
Additionally, in certain Indian cities such as Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Chennai, a Special Kona Electric fleet (KONA Electric to KONA Electric) fitted with power converter will provide emergency charging support to owners. All Hyundai dealerships which sell the Kona Electric have 7.2 kW AC Charger stations which are available to customers.
