To show appreciation to the nation’s frontliners in the War against COVID-19, Volkswagen Passengers Cars Malaysia (VPCM) has updated its ‘Welcome Back’ aftersales campaign announced earlier. The frontliners refer to the government hospitals doctors, nurses and administrators, personnel of the Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM) and Malaysian Armed Forces as well as RELA and Malaysia Civil Defense (Angkatan Pertahanan Awam).
For this brave and dedicated group of Malaysians, there are additional benefits if they are Volkswagen owners. The benefits are a small token of appreciation to ease their burden and offer peace of mind.
The additional benefits include priority booking, complimentary car sanitization and a 10% discount off the total bill (terms and conditions apply). Volkswagen owners who are frontliners are required to indicate their respective occupational areas when registering online, and a Volkswagen representative will be in touch for verification.
Once verified, the additional benefits will be credited into their Volkswagen Cares App wallet and will be ready to be used for their pre-booked appointment. The appointment must be made within 30 days after the Movement Control Order is lifted.
The ‘Welcome Back’ campaign, announced earlier, offer Volkswagen owners a gift and an additional RM50 engine oil voucher (for owners not redeeming their free maintenance service and non-Volkswagen Cares Plus members).
To register and book an appointment, visit www.volkswagen.com.my where the Volkswagen Cares mobile app can be downloaded to enjoy the benefits.
Over the past week, there have been remarks on social media by motorists who have become frustrated by what seems to be the increasing number of vehicles on the road. This is in spite of the Movement Control Order (MCO) restricting a large portion of the population to their homes. This being the case, it is expected that the traffic volumes should be less.
However, it has to be noted that the MCO does not stop people from travelling if they wish to go to the supermarket to buy essential items or to pick up food orders. So there will still be many vehicles on the road daily and their occupants (should be one person in the vehicle) are not breaking the law.
70% of motorists are in essential services
What the police have found is that 70% of the vehicles on the road are those being driven by people in essential services – those who work in banks, hospitals and telcos, for example. And as additional sectors have been allowed to resume operations, there will be more and more vehicles on the road in coming weeks when the companies receive their approval letters and recall their employees for daily work.
The other thing to also remember is that the roadblocks will inevitably create a queue. On the Federal Highway between Kuala Lumpur and Petaling Jaya, for example, three lanes are closed off and traffic is directed to a single lane. Each vehicle has to stop and be checked which requires a bit of time. It may be helpful of the police have two lanes instead but manpower may be an issue as they have had to set up roadblocks nationwide.
Travel during off-peak hours
From the police studies, about 25% of the motorists are those who are buying essential items or doing other permissible things such as going to a hospital. Of course, there are also those who travel for invalid reasons which is why the checking is needed, and those who are found to be doing so are likely to be arrested and have to pay a RM1,000 fine as well as spend time in jail.
The police recommend that those who are out buying stuff travel at non-peak hours which would be after 9 am or before 5 pm. In this way, there will be less traffic on the road so those who are working in the essential services can proceed with less delay.
Less crime, less accidents
Meanwhile, it has also been found that crime and road accidents have fallen significantly. Since the MCO started on March 18, the number of road accidents has dropped by almost 70%, with a total of 10,382 accidents recorded between March 18 to April 14.
However, the reduced traffic on many roads has also led some motorists to ignore laws. There have been complaints of speeding and even more dangerous, not stopping for red lights at junctions. Yes, it’s nice to drive around but you still need to adhere to laws.
The police and army personnel are manning the roadblocks day and night, in the hot sun and lately in the rain. If you wish to do so and can afford it, drop off a box of water or drinks for them on your way home after buying your essentials. Let’s show our appreciation to these frontliners.
Face mask not compulsory
Incidentally, wearing a face mask is not compulsory when out of the home (unlike in Singapore now). So if you choose not to wear one while driving, you will not be committing any offence. Of course, for the personnel at roadblocks who have to check thousands daily, it would make them feel more comfortable if the driver has a face mask on but there are no grounds for being detained if he or she does not wear one.
All other earlier regulations relating to travel remain in force and we are not aware of any changes. The authorities have clarified that those who have to travel beyond the 10-km range because they have to go for specialised medical treatment are permitted to do so. Of course, they should have documents to prove their need to travel further. The police are not insensitive to genuine cases and what angers them is people who tell lies or simply refuse to follow the basic instruction to #stayathome.
While most Malaysians are staying at home during this period of the Movement Control Order (MCO), there are also many who are in essential services who are working daily. Apart from the brave and dedicated frontliners in the healthcare services, there are also those who ensure that supplies of food, equipment, materials and other essential items are not disrupted.
These are the truck drivers who have to collect the goods from the port or warehouses and then drive long distances across the country. No doubt their journeys are different now with less traffic on the roads but the driving is still the same, perhaps with completion in a shorter time.
Recently, as part of the Shell Rimula #HeroKami campaign, Shell Malaysia has been distributing face masks to the truck drivers to provide them with protection against the possibility of getting infected by the virus.
The distribution has been done in the Port Klang, Selangor area and so far, some 20,000 face masks have been given out. The masks were handed over at selected participating truck service centres and the Northport.
That is the message from Nissan’s global design team as it looks to connect a worldwide community of artists through the new #DrawDrawDraw social project. The carmaker is offering 23 newly created, downloadable colouring pages featuring Nissan’s classic and current models, futuristic concepts and even some ‘cult classic’ ones such as the Figaro and ChoiMobi.
Nissan designers from around the world created the pages over the last few weeks, a time during which many people have been staying home because of the global coronavirus pandemic.
“To draw, draw, draw, in our world, is one of the best ways to close the gap between wonderful creative impulses in your head and making it a reality – especially as we face this global pandemic together,” said Alfonso Albaisa, Nissan’s Senior Vice-President for Global Design. “Our team of designers, worldwide, are using this time to breathe, to draw, to dream creatively. I know that some of their best work will come from the challenges that we’re facing now. So we thought: ‘Why not give everyone a chance to express themselves creatively and share it with those who will appreciate it?'”
Albaisa is launching this effort with a video from his home and, with input from his two young sons, showing what he is currently drawing and why. Designers from his team will post additional videos in coming weeks to talk about their design inspirations, what they are drawing, how they became car designers, and tips for those looking to break into the business.
“Our inspiration for this project came from Nissan designer Giovanny Arroba, the creative mind behind the recently unveiled Ariya Concept car,” said Albaisa. “Gio was asked for advice on becoming a car designer. He said, simply and beautifully: ‘Draw like crazy. Draw, draw, draw.'”
Nissan asks individuals to hashtag their drawings – from sidewalk art to napkin sketches to the downloaded colouring book pictures – with #drawdrawdraw. The drawings can be posted on their social media platforms.
“We’re looking forward to celebrating passion and creativity,” said Albaisa. “Don’t be surprised if you see a Nissan designer comment on your drawings and artwork!”
Only 130 people in the whole world will get to own the Lotus Evija all-electric hypercar. With production of the 2,000 ps car set to start later in 2020 (now dependent on the lockdown situation in Britain), customers will soon be able to specify their personalisation requirements.
The exclusive nature of the Evija means every customer’s car will be unique. Requests for personalisation on every aspect – from striking exterior paint colour combinations to highly detailed interior trim – are all part of the enhanced ordering process.
The starting point for every car’s specification is an all-new touchscreen configurator. Designed especially for Lotus, its ultra-powerful graphics processor creates stunning high-definition ‘photo-realistic’ images and animations. Developed using advanced gaming software, these allow the buyer to build and personalise their own car from the ground up and visualise it from every angle, inside and out.
Thanks to an advanced imaging technique known as ray-tracing, they can even place their Evija into multiple environments around the world to see how localised sunlight levels will affect their choices. The final element is the creation of a fully personalised ‘360-degree fly-through’ film exclusive to each customer.
Lotus has released a series of all-new images of the Evija captured from the configurator. They show a car set inside the Lotus Design studios and finished in stunning Atomic Red with Carbon Black accent pack. They are accompanied by a new animation which additionally reveals the car in Solaris Yellow and Carbon Black.
The configurator is just one element of the Evija experience. At regular intervals during the purchase process, each customer will receive from Lotus a unique gift to reflect the exclusive and technical nature of the Evija. That will culminate in a beautiful handcrafted build book, packed with stunning imagery of the customer’s individual car during key moments of its assembly. The book will be presented to the customer with their Evija key as part of the handover celebrations.
“We know every customer journey will be unique and our highly experienced customer relations team is ready to support any requests. With state-of-the-art digital tools such as the new configurator, we can accommodate customer preferences and requirements from anywhere in the world at the touch of a button,” said Simon Clare, Executive Director for Global Marketing at Lotus.
The world is extensively connected today and wherever you are on the planet, you can almost easily connect to someone else in another location. In recent years, there’s also been another type of connectivity taking place in cars where development is underway for cars to be able to ‘talk’ to each other.
This is not only useful for improving driving safety today but also tomorrow when autonomous vehicles are moving around. By communicating their position, other vehicles can avoid them if they are not visible or have been immobilised due to an accident.
Now Goodyear is also working on connected tyres which can communicate with the vehicle. With sensors embedded in the tyres, the tyre and road condition can be relayed to the vehicle’s ‘brain’. initial studies have shown that such connected tyres can reduce stopping distance lost between a new and worn tyre by 30%.
With the evolution to electric and autonomous vehicles, connected tyres and the impact they can have on stopping distance, communication with the vehicle will only increase in importance. The connected and intelligent tyre system continuously measures and records tyre-derived information, which is paired with other vehicle data and connected to Goodyear’s cloud-based proprietary algorithms.
Goodyear has been conducting road tests and field trials and its test fleet has covered 4.8 million kilometres, collecting valuable data to refine and improve the concept. The intelligent tyres can measure tyre wear, load, inflation and temperature, along with road surface conditions, in real time, allowing the vehicle to adjust and respond to these measurements and optimise vehicle performance.
“Consider someone driving on a slick, curvy road in wet conditions. The driver adjusts his movements by slowing down, tapping the brakes or avoiding sudden steering,” said Chris Helsel, Goodyear’s Chief Technology Officer. “But what happens when nobody is behind the wheel? The tyre is the only part of the vehicle that touches the ground and it can communicate vital information to the vehicle, enhancing safety and performance.”
There’s no time-frame for the introduction of connected tyres but Goodyear is continuously testing them extensively with automakers, start-ups and other groups.
