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Vinfast to offer one of the most powerful SUVs in the world

Vinfast, Vietnam’s only domestic brand, has been in the market for a couple of years now and is working hard at establishing its credentials as a premium carmaker. Besides the two models it has already started producing, it has also come up with a limited edition SUV model exclusively for the Vietnamese market.

Designed by Pininfarina (which was also involved in its first two models), the SUV is known as the President and claimed to be one of the most powerful SUVs in the world at the moment. Vinfast will build 500 units for sale; the first 1000 will be sold for 3.8 billion VND (equivalent to about RM682,000) and for the remaining 400, the price will be 4.6 billion VND (about RM823,000).

To join the ‘most powerful SUV’ club, the President’s V8 engine has a maximum output of 420 ps/624 Nm and, with an 8-speed automatic transmission and full-time 4-wheel drive, the claimed 0 to 100 km/h acceleration time is 6.8 seconds and a top speed capability of nearly 300 km/h.

As would be expected of such an exclusive model. Pininfarina has given it a majestic and elegant design. The grille is designed in a diamond shape to accentuate the high position, while a large air cavity enhances the strong appearance. The highlight at the rear is a pair of large dual exhaust tailpipes.

Besides a choice of 18 exterior colours, the premium finishing includes sophisticated details covered in gold colour, copper bronze, gun metal, or metallic silver on the logo, roof rack, door braces, car steps, wheels, and bumpers.

The inside gives priority to the comfort of the rear occupants (although the driver’s comfort is not ignored). Massage functions are available in the seats, along with heating and ventilation features for the first and second rows. In particular, the second row of seats is very spacious with legroom of up to 20 cm more compared to the Lux SA2.0 model.

The seats are covered with premium Nappa leather from exclusive leather suppliers, along with premium veneer wood made in Italy exclusively for the President. The wood cladding on each car will have a completely different pattern, thus creating a unique ‘ID’ and adding to the exclusiveness. The entertainment system consists of a 7-inch multi-function display cluster with a centre screen of 12.3 inches and 13 high-end speakers positioned around the cabin.

Commenting on the President, Nguyen Thi Van Anh, Standing Deputy General Director of VinFast, said: “President is a product line that represents the high class and quality of VinFast, it is also our affirmation to the world of Vietnamese automobile production capacity. We want to dedicate this wonderful product and VinFast’s top-notch customer care services to Vietnamese people who have a pioneering and strong spirit. That is also the reason why VinFast only produces a limited number of 500 cars to ensure this masterpiece is worthy of its owner”.

First flagship models of Vietnam’s Vinfast score 5 stars in ASEAN NCAP tests

Hap Seng Star opens first Mercedes-Benz Accessories and Collection Boutique in Malaysia

While most people will think of cars when mention is made of Mercedes-Benz, the brand also has a range of exclusive lifestyle products for owners as well as those who are not owners [yet]. These products are available at most authorised Mercedes-Benz outlets and at Hap Seng Star’s new Autohaus, they are presented in a Luxury Lifestyle Boutique that is part of the showroom.

RM3.5 million investment
The Autohaus, situated along Jalan Sultan Ismail, was originally opened in 2004. It has since undergone a RM3.5 million refurbishment exercise to create the first new Mercedes-Benz Retail Brand Presence in the ‘Golden Triangle’ of Kuala Lumpur. The Mercedes-Benz Accessories and Collection Boutique is the first of its kind in Malaysia.

“With this investment, we aim to create the best experience for our customers throughout their ownership journey. Hap Seng Star embraces the Mercedes-Benz spirit of innovation, luxury, and world-class service, delivered by experienced personnel with in-depth product knowledge and exceptional service skills,” said Harald Behrend, Group Chief Operating Officer of Hap Seng Consolidated Berhad and CEO of Hap Seng Group Automotive Division.

Providing the luxury experience
There’s also a private lounge on the second level, while a cafe on Level 3 is available with refreshments for customers. The Autohaus also sells cars, of course, and the spacious delivery bays, are special illuminated to provide a unique vehicle hand-over experience for the new owners.

“The new Autohaus by Hap Seng Star reaffirms Mercedes-Benz Malaysia’s commitment to create a fascinating brand experience at every point in the customer journey. The new brand presence promises an authentic luxury experience with a modern touch. Our aim is to connect our customers not just with a car, but also a lifestyle experience that encourages a sense of joy, luxury and exclusivity,” said Dr. Claus Weidner, President & CEO of Mercedes-Benz Malaysia.

Hap Seng has invested a total of over RM300 million to date in enriching customer touchpoints nationwide. Its Mercedes-Benz Autohaus network is in 11 locations nationwide, with three in East Malaysia.

Click here for other news and articles about Mercedes-Benz.

First details of all-new Hyundai Sonata for Malaysian market

The 8th generation of the Hyundai Sonata, which made its global debut in March 2019, will be released in the Malaysian market before the year ends. Hyundai Sime Darby Motors is expecting the new model to be highly competitive in the D-segment with its design and technological advancements.

“Make no mistake. Hyundai’s roll-out of all its latest models is poised to disrupt the market. The all-new Sonata is no exception. It has surged ahead of competing models in terms of sales in several markets and the awards are accumulating,” said Low Yuan Lung, Managing Director of Hyundai Sime Darby Motors.

“The Sonata’s unique features in the D-segment is patently obvious. One look at it and you can already see that its Sensuous Sportiness exterior design, with its coupe roof line and elegant, sporty body lines, makes this the stand-out car in the segment. The conservative look of the D-segment has been totally discarded. This is a stunning, sporty, long coupe-like sedan for the business executive. Its design was conceived to emote. This is not your average D-segment car,” Mr. Low declared.

Under the sleek new design, the 4.9-metre long Sonata has a structure of Hyundai’s proprietary Advanced High Strength Steel. The expertise in steel that Hyundai today possesses is through its decades as an industrial steel company. The steel has been used for railway tracks, bridges and ships and is now also used in the motor vehicles to make them more resistant to deformation.

The new Sonata will have a Smartstream 2.5-litre MPI 4-cylinder engine with improved fuel efficiency. The long-stroke engine produces 180 ps/232 Nm which goes to the front wheels through a 6-speed automatic transmission with shift-by-wire link.

While full details of the features are not available at this time, it is known that there will be a blind-spot display which will be on a small screen within the 12.3-inch digital instrument panel. This means the driver does not have to turn the head to look for alerts of other vehicles in the blind spot as the image will be right in front of him or her.

Mr. Low said that such a feature is not available in other D-segment sedans, adding that the new Sonata is also one of the safest cars in the world. It has already been assessed by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and received a 5-star rating.

A Head-up Display will also be available, also allowing the driver to keep the eyes on the road ahead for better driving safety.

If you want to be among the first to own a new Sonata, you can place a booking now with a fee of RM888 while the price is teased as RM20X,XXX. The bookings are accepted at all authorised Hyundai showrooms nationwide.

The next Hyundai Tucson

Aston Martin can design an exclusive garage for you too

Aston Martin is well known for its fine and exclusive cars and even offers personalisation services to make them more exclusive. For those who also want the same design excellence for their homes – or just the garage to house their cars – the British carmaker also offers design services.

Service from Q by Aston Martin
The new design service was introduced a year ago and is an additional business of Q by Aston Martin, the division which does personalisation services for the cars. Known as Aston Martin Automotive Galleries and Lairs, it offers the opportunity for clients to work with the Aston Martin Design Team to create a home that has the car as the centrepiece (if desired).

Ultimate space for automotive displays
Understanding that, to the car enthusiast, the garage would be an important area of the house, a special auto gallery can be designed that either focuses on showing off the car or is part of a larger, integrated entertainment space. It would be the ultimate space to showcase automotive works of art.

One design concept shown as an example for an automotive space houses works of art including the Aston Martin Valhalla and the iconic DB5 in a subterranean circular space. The chosen car sits at the centre of this extravagant design that focuses attention on the car, whilst providing entertainment and leisure areas, along with living space for guests.

Automotive Galleries & Lairs can also come up with a design to fit the era if a customer has a heritage car. The spaces can be for a single car as a piece of automotive art or a full collection of cars in a private museum. These spaces provide an opportunity for people to create their own unique world where they can share their passion for cars with their guests.

The team has already produced interior design work for the 66-storey Aston Martin Residences in Miami, Florida, as well as collaborated on the design of Aston Martin’s global brand centre in Tokyo. The interiors of numerous Aston Martin dealership centres have seen involvement by the design team.

The first private residential estate designed by the Aston Martin service is Sylvan Rock (shown above), in collaboration with S3 Architecture. Located on 22.3 hectares of land in Rhinebeck, 90 minutes from Manhattan in the US state of New York, Sylvan Rock firmly embraces the natural landscape. It is described as ‘a truly visionary example of elegant, post-pandemic design thinking’.

[All images by Aston Martin]

AMR-C01 – the ultimate racing simulator from Aston Martin

Updated Honda CR-V coming soon, bookings accepted now

The rush of new model introductions, some delayed by the MCO earlier in the year, continues and today, Honda Malaysia has announced that an updated Honda CR-V will be in showrooms before the end of this year. Bookings are now accepted at all 101 authorised dealerships nationwide.

The CR-V was the first model that Honda Malaysia assembled at its new plant when the facility opened in Melaka in 2003. Since then, over 100,000 units have been sold, of which more than 36,000 have been of the 5^th generation which was launched in 2017.

*Restyled front bumper of New CR-V has a bolder look than the previous one (below).*

“We are confident that the New CR-V will not only continue to live up to this stellar track record, but also regain its status as No.1 in the Non-National SUV segment as it offers a complete package comprising bold exterior, VTEC Turbocharged engine as well as Next Generation Advanced Safety Technology – Honda SENSING. We believe the enhanced New CR-V is an ideal SUV for families and professionals with a keen sense of sophistication and style,” said Honda Malaysia’s Managing Director & CEO, Toichi Ishiyama.

The changes
The exterior of the New CR-V receives cosmetic changes with a new black grille combined with Honda’s signature LED headlights. The restyled front and rear bumpers have a wing-style chrome fascia, while the rear end has new dark chrome and new smoked finish taillights, plus a new tailpipe finisher. The 18-inch dual-tone alloy wheels have a new design as well.

Owners of the New CR-V will no longer have to press a button to open the tailgate. It now comes with a Handsfree Power Tailgate which will open (and close) when a foot is positioned under the rear bumper.

The CR-V has a 1.5-litre VTEC turbocharged Earth Dreams engine with an output of 193ps/243 Nm, which makes its more powerful than a conventional 2.4-litre engine. Having a smaller displacement helps in fuel efficiency which can be enhanced with activation of the ECON mode.

The CR-V is available with all-wheel drive (AWD) that is managed by an Intelligent Control System. Torque is distributed optimally to the wheels, providing better traction and control on all surfaces.

Full Honda SENSING suite
The New CR-V will come with a full suite of Honda SENSING that that consists of eight systems, all of which work with a camera mounted at the top of the windscreen. The systems are Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC), Low-Speed Follow (LSF), Forward Collision Warning (FCW), Collision Mitigation Braking System (CMBS), Lane Departure Warning (LDW), Road Departure Mitigation (RDM), Lane Keeping Assist System (LKAS), and Auto High-Beam (AHB).

In addition, Honda LaneWatch (shown above) is now a standard feature. This is a noteworthy innovation by Honda which provides a real-time image of the blind spot along the left side of the vehicle from a small camera mounted on the left door mirror. The image, which is clear day and night, is displayed on the infotainment screen in the middle of the dashboard, so the driver does not have to turn the head so much to view.

Pricing for the New CR-V is not revealed yet but it would, of course, have full exemption of the 10% sales tax until December 31, 2020. Visit www.honda.com.my for more information or let a Honda dealer know of your interest to be updated.

Honda Insurance Plus plan upgraded with more benefits

Malaysia is first stop in Asia for 2020 Hot Wheels Legends Tour

The Hot Wheels Legends Tour, now in its third year, is a global search for the next fan-made custom car to be made into a Hot Wheels die-cast toy. In 2019, the event saw more than 110,000 participants and over 5,000 entries, with 18 finalists and of course, 1 winner. This year, in view of the ongoing pandemic, the Tour has gone virtual and one of the new stops will be in Malaysia in search of a winner. Malaysia is the first country in Asia to be selected as host.

Hosted & presented by Art of Speed
The Hot Wheels Legends Tour Malaysia, hosted and presented by Art of Speed, will see one lucky custom-build immortalized as a die-cast car and shared with fans across the globe. The winning Malaysian car will be announced live on November 12, 2020 at the 1Utama Shopping Centre in Bandar Utama, Petaling Jaya, Selangor. It will, of course, also be streamed on the Hot Wheels Facebook livestream (www.facebook.com/HotWheels).

Open to all Malaysians
Fans, families and car enthusiasts can participate in the Hot Wheels Legends Tour Malaysia by submitting their builds here and by tuning into the live virtual stop where the top Malaysia’s entries will be shortlisted.

Entries are accepted from today until October 15, 2020 and fans can submit photos and videos of their custom builds for the chance to have their design included in the Legends Tour/Date virtual stop and livestream. For the rules and entry conditions, click here.

After the submission window closes, a panel of judges will select the top vehicles to be featured during the 9th Annual Art of Speed Malaysia 2020 on-ground event on November 12th at the 1Utama Shopping Centre and judging will be live. Similar to all Legends Tour stops, the judges will consider creativity, authenticity and garage spirit when selecting finalists and winners.

The finalist from the Hot Wheels Legends Tour Malaysia’s virtual stop will join all other Legends Tour finalists at the Virtual Global Finale in Los Angeles in November for a chance to have their car immortalized as an iconic Hot Wheels die-cast vehicle.

For more information about this event and AOS activities, visit www.artofspeedmy.com.