chinese car

Being one of the largest car makers in the world, you can expect Geely to do things huge, including celebrating Chinese New Year. This year, Geely ushered in Chinese New Year by breaking the Guinness World Record for creating the world’s largest car mosaic. Over 2,000 Geely Emgrands (known in China as the Geely Dihao) were used to make the record-breaking car mosaics at Geely’s second manufacturing base in Cixi, Zhejiang. The cars were used to form 2 images. The first image is of an ox head. The

Jerrica

Feb 16, 2021

Ho Wah Genting Berhad (HWGB) and its subsidiary HWGB EV has over the last five days, signed three separate but related Memorandum of Understanding (MoUs) with 3 Chinese parties, all related to the manufacturing and sale of Chinese electric vehicles (EVs) in Malaysia. But before that, it is important to point out that Ho Wah Genting is not related to the Lim family’s Genting Highlands Resort. The first MoU is with Seiyong Motor, a little-known Chinese electric car maker founded in 2017. The annou

Eric

Mar 25, 2021

The National Security Council (MKN) has released the final standard operating procedures (SOP) for the upcoming Chinese New Year celebration during the Movement Control Order (MCO). Effective on 11, 12, and 19 February only, all religious activities are not allowed and family reunion dinners are only limited to members living in the same household. As expected, cross border travelling is still prohibited during the festive period so any Chinese New Year activities such as visiting family members

Jerrica

Feb 5, 2021

The Toyota Crown is one of Toyota’s longest-running nameplates, having been introduced in 1955. Though the name has been applied to a few body styles all these years, including pick-ups and station wagons, the Crown is more familiar on sedans. With sales of sedans dwindling across the globe, there are rumours that could see the royal emblem continue on as an SUV. Previously, we reported that FAW Toyota has registered the Crown Kluger name in China, and now, we found fully revealing images of wha

CY Foong

Apr 14, 2021

A new Chinese EV has been spotted in Malaysia – the DFSK Glory E3, known as the Seres 3 in Europe. With almost all badges covered, but barely camouflaged, the car was spotted charging at the DC Fast charger at ABB Sunway. These images have been shared by a member of the Malaysian Electric Vehicle Owners Cub (MyEVOC). The DFSK EV is left-hand-drive and was sporting trade plates, suggesting that this is most likely a training unit. Although the car has several names, this is most likely the Seres

Arif

Apr 1, 2021

The National Unity Ministry has announced that family reunion dinners for Chinese New Year will now be permitted though it will be limited to 15 family members living within a 10 km radius. Interstate or inter-district travel is still not allowed. According to a statement from the National Unity Ministry, the latest revision on 7 February 2021 came after a technical meeting with the National Security Council (MKN). Defence Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob was also present at the technical

Jerrica

Feb 8, 2021

Earlier this week, The Star published an article “Locally assembled cars may cost more.” The article claims that prices of locally-assembled (CKD) cars will cost more due to potential restructuring in tax structures. Yes, the claim mentioned by the English daily is true. WapCar’s own sources within the automotive industry have also confirmed the claim. The reason behind the increase in prices is due to two factors: Withdrawal of EEV incentives and changes in Open Market Value (OMV) calculation –

Hans

Jan 15, 2020

Great Wall Motor (GWM) recently officiated their entry into Thailand with a bang, outlining their plans in the country by introducing 9 models over three years. Four of them are slated to take place this year, with only two revealed so far - the 2021 Haval H6 and the Ora Good Cat. Now, it seems that they're well on the way to be South East Asia's most influential Chinese carmaker, and here's a few reasons why. GWM will have 3 plants in the region Last year, we learnt that GWM took over the ex-Ge

Sanjay

Feb 18, 2021

The Nissan Kicks has been on sale in numerous countries and in different iterations too. The Malaysian-bound Kicks would most likely be shared with the Thai-, Indo-, and Japanese-spec Kicks but India has a different version of the Kicks. Ditto the Chinese Kicks facelift which sports a slight redesign from the rest of the world. Based on these spyshots, the Chinese-spec Nissan Kicks will be getting a slight redesign and will be using a different engine to the Thai-assembled Kicks too. For this re

CY Foong

Feb 5, 2021

Remember the BMW Concept 4? Some were surprised, put off, or even amused by it, thinking that it's just a concept. But we'll get back to it in a moment. Peter Henrich, who is the Head of Product Management at BMW, told Autocar that the feedback from customers about the change in styling on recent models like the 7 Series and X7 has been positive. It would seem that the bold move to introduce a huge grille on the 7 Series and X7 has paid off then, and BMW doesn't plan to stop there. In 2018, BMW

Shaun

Feb 24, 2020

Well, looks like we might be seeing another Chinese brand making its way back into Malaysia. The camouflaged SUV you see here is very likely a Chery Tiggo 4 Pro, doing its testing rounds in Malaysia. Also read: Spied: GAC's Trumpchi GS3 Power spotted in Malaysia - new X50 rival coming soon? According to the user who posted this in a Facebook group, this SUV was spotted in Puchong. It’s interesting to hear the Chery name again after all these years. Chery had a very turbulent time in Malaysia. In

CY Foong

Mar 11, 2021

There has been a rise of drivers driving under influence (DUI) cases on Malaysian roads recently, sparking many heated discussions across social media. This has even prompted the Ministry of Transport to propose an amendment on Act 333 of the Road Transport Act 1987. Chinese radio station, 988 FM, invited listeners to share their opinions on the appropriate respond or punishment needed to stop drunk driving and the lost of lives. In the 988 discussion, the general consensus agrees there should b

Jerrica

Jun 2, 2020

Geely Holdings will join forces with Baidu to build a driverless electric car on Geely’s new Sustainable Experience Architecture (SEA) platform. The strategic partnership will focus primarily on the joint research, development, and production of intelligent and connected electric vehicles. Note, “intelligent” here meaning self-driving cars. The partnership could see the Geely Group roll out their first set of autonomous cars, or better known as driverless cars, as it will feature technology from

Jerrica

Jan 11, 2021

The Malaysian Automotive Association (MAA) has confirmed that new car prices are set to increase after December 31, 2020. Its president, Datuk Aishah Ahmad has confirmed that the updated Open Market Value (OMV) calculations will bump car prices up, between 0-20%, depending on model. She told reporters, “Any increase in OTR prices would be fully absorbed or exempted by the MoF for this year and the difference in duties for past years will also be exempted.” She also said that the increase in car

Eric

Jan 22, 2020

Nearly 3 months ago back in July, we covered a story where one of our readers spotted the MG HS SUV and the ZS EV in front of Berjaya Times Square for what appeared to be a public viewing of the former British Chinese brand’s expected Malaysian line-up. Things have been pretty quiet from MG and no further details have been mentioned until today. This time, one of our very own writers spotted a red MG HS somewhere near Shah Alam. It’s wearing trade plates and appears to be sporting a similar red

CY Foong

Oct 5, 2020

The National Security Council (MKN) has released a new set of standard operating procedures (SOP) that allow businesses like car wash, hair salons, and night markets to operate during the Movement Control Order (MCO). The new SOPs will be effective from 4 February 2021. Car wash businesses and hair salons will be allowed to operate until 10 pm. The government has also specified that only haircuts are allowed in hair salons while other treatments like perming or hair dying are still prohibited. T

Jerrica

Feb 4, 2021

The Nissan Sylphy is China’s equivalent to our Perodua Myvi – everyone knows someone who has one. It’s the most popular car in China. Yes, Volkswagen no longer rules China. The title for the No.1 selling car in the world’s No.1 car market no longer belongs to a Volkswagen Santana or a Lavida, but a Nissan Sylphy, which is also sold in the US as the Nissan Sentra. As of August 2020, Nissan shifted 308,145 units of the Sylphy, putting it well ahead of the Volkswagen Lavida (252,106 units), and Toy

Hans

Sep 21, 2020

Geely may be relatively new to Malaysians since they acquired 49.9% of Proton just three years ago in May 2017. Not many know they've been making cars in China for much longer than that, after being founded by Li Shufu in 1997. 23 years is relatively young in the automotive world - Proton have been around for 35 years - but that hasn't stopped Geely from selling its 10 millionth vehicle recently. Geely's first car was the HQ (Hao Qing). Touted as a cheap, local alternative to relatively-dearer s

Sanjay

Nov 27, 2020

Malaysia Automotive Association (MAA) has confirmed that the earlier announced plan by the (previous) government to revise existing Open Market Value (OMV) calculations for new cars, which could raise new car prices by up to 20 percent, has been temporarily suspended until 31-December 2022. Car buyers, dealers and manufacturers can now take a breather, as there won’t be any increase in new car prices for 2021, apart from re-instatement of 10 percent Sales tax starting 1-Jan 2021, which has alway

Hans

Dec 28, 2020

Looks like the Mini EV2 X2 has a new rival in China. This Wuling Hong Guang Mini EV is the latest small electric vehicle (EV) on the market and it is cheaper and more practical than all its rivals. As like most small cars, the boxy 3-door Wuling EV’s design is inspired by Japanese Kei-cars. Overall, the Hong Guang looks very much like a life-size toy car with its straight simple lines and a colour scheme that gives the EV the illusion of a floating roof. Thanks to its size of 2,917 x 1,493 x 1,6

Jerrica

Jul 3, 2020

They say “honesty is the best policy” and it couldn’t be truer when it comes to this incident in Singapore where a truck driver was rewarded for owing up to side-swiping another person’s car. Not only was he rewarded with plane tickets to bring his family over, but many other chain brands also joined in with dishing out rewards. The note says: Driver Wang Yao Wen, I've accidentally hit your car. I'm so sorry, this is my contact number According to AsiaOne, the truck driver is believed to be of C

Jerrica

Nov 6, 2020

Perodua has confirmed that the Malaysian government has revised the excise duty structure for cars in Malaysia, but added that the impact for Perodua will likely be minimal and the company will try its best to not pass any additional cost to buyers. Speaking at a press conference earlier today, President and CEO Datuk Zainal Abidin Ahmad said, “For Perodua, we have been following all the requirements given by the government, as far as declaration is concerned. At the moment, we are still evaluat

Hans

Jan 21, 2020

Not many are aware but Geely has been quietly working on a flying car, one that actually fits the description of a flying car, as in a vehicle that not only flies but can also be driven on the road. The distinction is important because our own Entrepreneur Development Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Redzuan Yusof is still confused between a flying car and an air taxi. The erroneously described flying car project that the Malaysian government supports is not a flying car but an air taxi - a vertical tak

Hans

Nov 19, 2019

The most expensive Proton X70 Premium X variant sells for just RM 122,800. A similarly equipped Honda CR-V 1.5 TC-P sells for RM 175,900. Both cars are from the same segment but there’s a whopping RM 53,100 difference in prices! To give you a better perspective, for the price of a top specs Honda CR-V 1.5 TC-P, you can buy the most expesive Proton X70 variant, then head over to a nearby Perodua showroom to buy another mid-specs Perodua Myvi 1.5H, and still have some change left! Nevermind compar

Hans

Apr 15, 2020

You are not the only one who think that cars are getting a little bit too expensive. Malaysians have long complained about high car prices due to our lopsided tax structure but actually, this is a question asked by consumers from all over the world. Data from USA’s Edmunds.com show that the average transaction price for a new car has gone up from USD 23,900 in year 2008 to almost USD 39,000 in 2019, the last available pre-pandemic level data. This flies against conventional logic. You would thin

Hans

Jan 20, 2021

Mercedes-Benz Malaysia’s 30 second Chinese New Year video, titled World of CNY, might look like a set of elaborate CGI effects, but in reality, the video is produced by the art of Chinese paper cuttings! Every piece of paper cutting that made up the red world in the video was meticulously hand-crafted from a team of highly skilled paper cutting artisans. What we saw as animation are made up of 10 to 60 layers of paper. These were then carefully placed into position against a backdrop to create t

Jerrica

Jan 25, 2020

Six months ago, WapCar.my broke the news that locally-assembled (CKD) cars may cost more due to updated Open Market Value (OMV) calculations. According to a report by Paultan.org, the Malaysia Automotive Association (MAA) president Datuk Aishah Ahmad said that MAA has written an appeal to the new government regarding the OMV. “They said that they’re looking at it, reviewing it, to make it more acceptable to the automotive industry, and we’re waiting for the outcome,” she said. Datuk Aishah added

Eric

Jul 27, 2020

This is the Yema Spica, an MPV from China that gives you Toyota Alphard vibes, especially when you look at it from the rear! The Spica has been on sale since 2015 but now, Yema has updated the MPV include a fully electric version to sell alongside their combustion engine range as a cleaner alternative for business owners. We know what you’re going to say, another replica from China! But in their defence, most of China’s car brands have left copying designs behind in the past as is obvious in bra

Jerrica

Jan 20, 2021

Recently, an account known as “Hongqi Japan” has surfaced on Chinese social media site Weibo with the picture of a Hongqi H9 captioned “launching in Japan on February 2021”. This has caught the attention of many who started wondering if the Chinese car brand Hongqi is planning to join the Japanese market to compete with cars like Toyota, Nissan, and Honda? Many of you probably have never heard of the brand Hongqi, but if you’re savvier with Chinese manufacturers, you would know that Hongqi is Ch

Jerrica

Jan 30, 2021

Geely Holding saw 2020 sales exceeding 2.1 million units which might sound like good news but that figure accounts for a 3.6% loss compared to 2019. In 2019, the Chinese conglomerate which consists of 3 subsidiaries – Geely Auto Group, Volvo Car Group, and Geely New Energy Commercial Vehicle Group – saw over 2.178 million units sold. In spite of the slight drop in total sales, Geely Holding still remains optimistic. Geely Auto saw 1.32 million units sold in 2020 (despite a 3% loss) and retained

CY Foong

Jan 19, 2021