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Nasser Al-Attiyah Wins Dakar Rally For Fifth Time

Qatar’s Nasser Al-Attiyah and his French co-driver, Mathieu Baumel, successfully defended the Dakar title they won for TOYOTA GAZOO Racing (TGR) in 2022 when they brought their GR DKR Hilux T1+ over the finish line of the final stage of Dakar 2023 with a winning margin of 1 hour 20 minutes 49 seconds.

Although they had lost almost 6 minutes to the final stage leaders, they had already built up a comfortable lead from stage 3 to be able to take overall victory. For Nasser, it’s a fifth win in the event, while Mathieu’s tally is now 4 victories. The pair have won 3 times for Toyota, with the latest victories coming in a back-to-back. Nasser’s two earliest wins were win Volkswagen (2011) and MINI (2015)

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BMW iX3: For Those Who Don’t Want to Wait For An iX

It wouldn’t be too far fetched to say that BMW Malaysia has enjoyed unprecedented success in the EV segment thanks to the iX.

*The BMW iX3 looks nearly identical to the petrol powered X3, except that the iX3 does not have any exhausts for obvious reasons.*

Seen almost everywhere and in every major city in Malaysia, the iX has gathered the attention of the young and not so young alike. Even royals have been spotted driving one. In fact, the iX has been so successful that it is said new buyers now have to wait up to 12 months to receive their new iX.

It is also quite surprising that buyers seem to overlook the other electric SUV from BMW – the iX3, the topic of this article, and simply put, the electric version of the ever-popular X3.

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4th Generation Kia Sorento Coming Soon, Priced From RM220,000

Last year could have been considered a ‘setting up’ year for Dinamikjaya Motors Sdn Bhd, the subsidiary of Bermaz Auto (BAuto) handling the Kia brand. With BAuto having suddenly gained two additional brands in such a short space of time, it need to organize the sales and aftersales network first.

Kia already had its 5-year plan ready to roll, with 4 new models to be assembled locally. The first one was the Carnival, which arrived as planned last year (a hybrid version is planned for 2024) and now comes the second one – the Sorento SUV – which was originally planned to appear in 2022 as well.

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Malaysia To Be First Asia-Pacific Market To Launch Peugeot Landtrek Pick-Up Truck

Bermaz Auto Alliance Sdn Bhd (BAASB) will soon be adding another model to its Peugeot range and this one will surprise many people: it’s a pick-up truck. Although the French carmaker has been making motor vehicles for over 100 years, pick-up trucks have never featured strongly in its range of products, even though the vehicles have been around almost as long as the passenger car.

This will be the first market in the Asia Pacific region to have the Peugeot truck, which has the name of Landtrek. However, the truck already exists in Asia – except that it is not sold as a Peugeot product but as the Kaicene F70 from Changan Automobile which jointly developed the model with Peugeot.

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Karamjit Singh Takes His 17th Rally Championship Title – At 60

For Karamjit Singh, age is just a number and at 60, he still has ‘The Right Stuff’ to not only compete in rallies but also become a champion. The younger generation may have physical agility and perhaps even more bravery but this uncle has experience in the sport that goes back over 35 years – before some of them were even born!

Driving a Proton Gen2, Karamjit and co-driver Jagdev Singh were today crowned champions of the 2022 VANTAGE Malaysian National Rally Championship (MNRC). ‘The Flying Sikh’ shows that his age is no barrier (nor is the age of his rallycar which is 15 years old) and has been recognized as Asia’s most successful rally driver.

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Avalanche Andretti Formula E team Wins Opening Round Of Formula E Season 9

Michael Andretti may be having challenges getting a team, with Cadillac as partner, into Formula 1, but where Formula E is concerned, the Andretti team was readily accepted and has remained a consistent participant since the first season. And this year, as the Avalanche Andretti Formula E team, it has taken the first victory of the new Season 9 in Mexico City this weekend.

Driver Jake Dennis had a dominant drive to win the Hankook Mexico City E-Prix ahead of TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team driver Pascal Wehrlein who started from sixth to finish second, and Mahindra Racing’s Lucas di Grassi who slipped from pole position during the race to finish third.

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Toyota Suggests That There Could Be A Future For Old Models Like The AE86 With EV Conversions

Toyota, like some of the other top carmakers, has expressed a view that the goal of carbon neutrality to prevent climate change is not a single-solution – going electric with motor vehicles – approach. While they do recognise the importance of moving towards that goal, they feel that the electric-only solution is not practical and is also costly. A choice of solutions that include some existing technologies (improved, of course) is being promoted as a more realistic approach.

Toyota’s President, Akio Toyoda, is very vocal about this and was among the first car company CEOs to state the position. Perhaps that encouraged the CEOs in the other companies to also echo similar views but still committing to increasing production of zero emissions battery electric vehicles (BEVs). They are probably under a lot of pressure to allocate massive funding for BEV R&D and at the same time, they still need to continue some development of combustion engine powertrains.

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PLUS To Take Proactive Measures To Make Your Balik Kampung Journey Easier (But You Have To Do Your Part Too)

The first major festival of 2023 – Chinese New Year – is coming and as with other festivals, the roads will be filled with more traffic. In fact, it’s already started in the cities as many people grumble about the increased volume lately, making it longer getting around.

In the days just before Chinese New Year, which falls on January 20, the highways are going to start to see more traffic and PLUS estimates that the volume could reach 2 million vehicles on its highway network on the peak days. That’s 20% higher than the number on normal days, so be prepared for journeys to take longer and the R&R places to be more crowded.

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Jeep Takes European Car Of The Year Title For The First Time With Avenger EV

Since the European Car of the Year (COTY) awards began in 1964, the winners have come from European brands with the first one from Japan in 1993. That of course discounts Ford as being as American brand as the Ford models that won were essentially European models. So there has never been an American brand winning the European COTY – until 2023.

At the Brussels Motor Show today, the Jeep Avenger was announced as this year’s winner, probably a surprise to many as there were strong contenders among the other six finalists. It’s the first time that Jeep – a thoroughly American brand – has won the award though other brands in the Stellantis Group (which it is part of) have won awards over the years.

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Mazda Brings Back The Rotary Engine – As Part Of A Plug-in Hybrid Powertrain in MX-30 e-SKYACTIV

The Wankel rotary engine was first used in a car in 1964 and it seemed like a revolutionary concept that many carmakers licensed it to use for their models. However, virtually all found it to have issues which they didn’t want to waste time and money trying to address and gave up. Only Mazda worked hard to commercialize the rotary engine and succeeded in doing so from 1967.

Unfortunately, some of the characteristics of the rotary engine – high emissions and consumption – were unacceptable as the world grew more environment conscious. By 2012, Mazda had no choice but to stop using the rotary engine and it seemed that it was gone forever. From time to time, there would be rumours of its return and Mazda insiders would say ‘we are working on it but still need time…’. The last time the rumour was strong was with the Vision Study Coupe concept.

Today, the rotary engine returns but not in the way enthusiasts would expect it. It is not used as a primary propulsion system but is instead adapted for use more as a power generator in the plug-in hybrid (PHEV) powertrain of the new MX-30 e-Skyactiv R-EV model.

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