With competition in the market so intense these days. Car companies have a bigger challenge maintaining interest in their older model lines. There are new offerings virtually every month and car-buyers typically get drawn to the latest in the showrooms.
While the Nissan X-Trail line from Edaran Tan Chong Motor (ETCM) continues to be popular, the company has added special editions to freshen the SUV offering. These are the X-Tremer and X-Trail Aero Editions, each with a distinctive character,
X-Trail X-Tremer
The X-Trail X-Tremer has an aggressive appearance and comes with new two-tone exterior colour options; new Imperial Red, Brilliant White or Tungsten Silver body colours, with new Black Silhouette Roof, Roof Rails and Rear Spoiler.
It also has Gloss Black componentry which includes a new V-motion Grille Cladding, TOMEI Front and Rear Aero Bumpers, Side Under-Spoilers, Door Mirror Casings as well as Gloss Black 10-spoke 17-inch alloy wheels. Inside, there’s luxurious brown Nappa Leather Seats, a leatherette-covered dashboard, kneepad and armrest.
X-Trail Aero Edition
As for the X-Trail Aero Edition, this comes with silver TOMEI Front and Rear Aero Bumpers and Side Under-Spoilers, Gloss Black 10-spoke 17-inch Alloy Wheels as well as the same brown Nappa Leather interior of the X-Tremer. The Aero Edition is available in 3 exterior colour options – Diamond Black, Imperial Umber and Titanium Olive.
“The new Nissan X-Trail X-Tremer is specially tailored for customers who desire a bold and avant-garde design, while the Aero Edition is for those who prefer a sporty and elegant appearance in their SUV. We believe that these new enhancements in the Nissan X-Trail together with its Nissan Intelligent Mobility advanced safety technologies are able to cater to customers who seek both driving dynamics and distinctive styling appearance,” said Christopher Tan, Sales and Marketing Director of ETCM.
The special editions are available for 4 variants of the current X-Trail range – the 2.0L Hybrid, 2.5L 4WD, 2.0L 2WD MID and 2.0L 2WD. All of the come with a standard 5-year unlimited mileage warranty while the package accessories (which are fitted at the factory) come with a 3-year or 100,000-km warranty (whichever comes first). The lithium-ion battery pack and hybrid powertrain-related components of the X-Trail Hybrid are also covered under the 5-year unlimited mileage warranty.
Try the special editions this weekend
The new X-Trail X-Tremer and Aero Edition can be viewed at Nissan showrooms nationwide from tomorrow (November 2), with test-drives available upon request. Those who are interested in experiencing the future of motoring can also attend the Nissan Electrifying Drive Carnival on November 9/10 at selected ETCM showrooms (click here for the list of showrooms). They can have a test-drive of the second-generation Nissan LEAF, the world best-selling electric vehicle, which is also available for purchase.
For information on Nissan products and services in Malaysia, visit www.nissan.com.my.
With just 2 months left to 2019, MINI Malaysia is giving customers a chance to benefit from the brand’s 60th anniversary year celebrations. Commenting on the latest promotions, Harald Hoelzl, MD of BMW Group Malaysia said: “2019 marks yet another milestone for us at MINI as we celebrate our 60th year anniversary, and we want to extend that celebration to MINIacs across Malaysia who have helped grow our brand to where we are today. Taking the premium ownership experience to yet another level, we are introducing a limited-time offering for new owners of vehicles from the MINI portfolio.”
With The Great British Deal offered at all MINI dealerships, customers who purchase a new MINI can enjoy significantly lower monthly instalments, starting from RM2,388 with MINI Balloon Financing, at a lowered interest rate starting from 0.77% for MINI vehicles purchased from now to December 31, 2019. New owners will also enjoy insurance rebate of RM2,000 off MINI vehicles with the MINI Financing plan.
All newly-registered MINI vehicles come with a 4-Year Unlimited Mileage Warranty with Free Scheduled Service; 24-Hour Roadside Assistance and MINI Black Card membership.
And every customer who purchases any MINI model during the campaign period, an automatic contest entry will be entered for one lucky owner to win an all-expense-paid trip to Great Britain for two.
The people at PLUS Malaysia Berhad, the North-South Expressway (and other highways), must feel very ‘wanted’ these days as their company is the subject of a potential takeover. Various parties have made proposals to the government but the latest from Khazanah Berhad, the majority shareholder of PLUS, is that they are not planning to sell it. “We are not in the mood of selling the asset and we actually haven’t got any kind of bidding process going on,” its MD, Datuk Shahril Ridza Ridzuan, revealed.
Nevertheless, to support a proposal from one group led by Tan Sri Halim Saad (who was actually involved in the original company that built the North-South Highway), some information on the debt and operational efficiency of PLUS has been made public. However, it seems that this information is not only inaccurate but also misleading, according to PLUS, which has issued a detailed clarification.
There are three points which PLUS considers inaccurate and misleading:
Here’s what Datuk Azman Ismail, Managing Director of PLUS, has to say in response:
“When Syarikat Danasaham Sdn Bhd (subsequently transferred all assets to Khazanah Nasional Berhad) took over UEM Group Berhad (UEMG) from Renong Berhad and privatized UEMG in 2001, PLUS was a wholly-owned subsidiary of UEMG and was already a debt-ridden company with a total borrowing of RM16.5 billion on its balance sheet as at 31 December 2001. This amount is almost 3 times higher than the figure quoted in Tan Sri Halim Saad’s statement.
Subsequently, UEMG under the new shareholder, Danasaham, successfully listed PLUS shares on Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange (now Bursa Malaysia) through an IPO exercise in 2002 at the value of RM12.75 billion, then only pared down PLUS’ debt substantially to RM7.2 billion.
PLUS was listed on Bursa Malaysia for 9 years and during this period, PLUS grew its business through various acquisitions of brown field (existing) highways together with their borrowings, which included ELITE and LINKEDUA.
PLUS was subsequently taken private in November 2011 under the joint offer from UEMG and Employee Provident Fund Board (EPF), based on the approved valuation of RM23 billion, to address the conflicting pressures between the foreign/institutional investors and various stakeholders arising from toll rate increase issue. In order to fund this privatization cost of RM23 billion as well as the refinancing of PLUS borrowings totaling RM11.5 billion, PLUS had to gear up by issuing an enlarged Islamic Sukuk of RM30.6 billion in January 2012.
The Board of PLUS realized the growing competition that PLUS is facing against the other emerging highways, the public transport system and disruptions in digital technology. Hence, the Board took the decision to recruit the best talents and adopted a new business plan which includes optimizing non toll revenue and operation cost efficiency within the organization. The company continues to drive investment in the latest technologies towards the development of smart highways for the benefit of all customers.
PLUS is considered not only the largest and most experienced toll concessionaire in Southeast Asia but also among the top 10 toll highway companies in the world, and always benchmarks itself against the yardstick of operational and cost excellence. According to a recent benchmarking report, PLUS excelled in Operations as well Mechanical & Electrical maintenance and performed better than its domestic peers.
The dynamic tolling system which is being developed by PLUS will reduce bottlenecks during peak hours. Through this latest technology, real-time information on road and weather conditions ahead will be made available to all highway users. The overall safety of highway users and PLUS personnel is also further enhanced with the deployment of mechanized roadwork vehicles.PLUS manages over 1,100 kms of highways, along with 8,303 slopes, 2 tunnels (ie the Meru and Menora Tunnels), 741 bridges (including major bridges like the 1st Penang Bridge, JB Causeway, Linkedua) and 6,187 drainage/culverts. All these need constant maintenance and PLUS undertakes more than 10,000 inspections annually. Furthermore, these assets are all built over a wide variety of conditions from peat/swampy land to undulating terrain.
Apart from that, we continue to rejuvenate and enhance our 29 Rest and Services Areas as well as 50 lay-bys, 4 overhead bridge restaurants, 114 interchanges, 104 toll plazas and 1,212 toll lanes, of which the cost of maintenance works and upgrading projects are fully borne by PLUS.
PLUS R&R areas in selected locations are being refurbished into contemporary and family-friendly places to meet the demands of today’s highway travellers. Our business partners (ie the stall operators) benefit directly from all these improvements as it enlarges their customer footprint.
Our aim is to provide a safe and enjoyable experience in keeping with an increasingly affluent Malaysian society and putting PLUS in the forefront of Malaysia’s modern infrastructure serving new townships and industrial areas along the highway corridors. We are committed to fulfil our social obligations under the Shared Prosperity Vision as we strongly believe that being a good responsible corporate citizen is good for business.
It is also worth noting that PLUS has not increased its toll rates for 14 years since 2005 and the current toll rate per kilometre of the N-S Expressway and ELITE are one of the lowest in the country.
The profits received by PLUS are distributed to its shareholders – EPF and Khazanah Nasional Berhad (via its wholly-owned subsidiary, UEM Group) – to benefit some 14 million EPF contributors, ie the Rakyat and the Government.
The new management is powering change by using technology and digitization to disrupt the barriers that once stood in the way of doing things better in PLUS. These initiatives will enhance the safety of motorists and employee productivity, which invariably will reduce cost.
We remain committed in our relentless efforts to provide our customers a safe, comfortable and enjoyable highway experience.”
Toyota Gazoo Racing (GR) has announced their plans to start sales on the pumped-up Toyota GR Supra GT4, a race machine for interested customer teams beginning March 2020 in Europe. This 430hp A90 Supra is will also go up for sale in Japan and other Asian countries next October for the ultimate racing nirvana. (more…)
Since its original founding in 1913, Aston Martin has produced only 4-wheeled machines So it’s Big News that the iconic Aston Martin wings appearing on a motorcycle for the first time ever. The motorcycle will be the product of a collaboration between Aston Martin Lagonda and Brough Superior which will be unveiled at the EICMA motorcycle show in Milan, Italy next week.
Brough Superior, like Aston Martin, is a luxury brand with great heritage. It was even regarded as the ‘Rolls-Royce of motorcycles’ by a British motorcycle publication. Brough Superior, founded in 1919, offered the fastest, best-looking, most expensive motorcycles that drew thrill-seeking record-breakers and gentleman riders of the Roaring Twenties. Its most famous fan was T.E Lawrence of ‘Lawrence of Arabia’ who owned seven motorcycles of the brand.
The brand was relaunched in 2013 by Thierry Henriette, a highly-respected motorcycle designer who has worked for major manufacturers throughout the world. He started by relaunching the most famous of George Brough’s motorcycles, the one favoured by Lawrence of Arabia, the SS100. The new era Brough Superior bikes have kept the DNA of the classics such as the art deco design and improved it beyond the modern standards with exclusive technologies and the finest materials.
Today Brough Superior produces a range of three luxury modern classic motorcycles, recognised for their superior quality, high performance and precise handling that provide a joy riding experience. These distinctive motorcycles are handcrafted in limited numbers in a fully integrated process including the specific engine built in France and shipped worldwide.
Both companies take pride in craftsmanship and use the finest materials to breathe life into their designs. As independent companies, they also revel in their ability to offer bespoke design and engineering solutions so a collaboration between the two brands is virtually guaranteed to produce something very special.
The first new motorcycle, to be produced as a limited edition, is the combined vision of Aston Martin Executive Vice-President and Chief Creative Officer Marek Reichman and Henriette, both motorcycle enthusiasts.
“This is a fascinating and very popular project for myself and my team. The opportunity to collaborate with Brough Superior has given us the chance to bring our own unique views on how beauty and engineering can combine to create a highly emotive piece of vehicle design. We’re excited about the end result and can’t wait to see the reaction the motorcycle receives when it is revealed,” Reichman said.
