lan automotive engineering work

Geely has become the first Asian automaker to join IATF, a global automotive quality standards organization. The International Automotive Task Force (IATF) is a group of automotive manufacturers which aims at providing improved quality products to automotive customers worldwide. With its admission, Geely will now participate in the formation and improvement of international quality standards with other global automotive groups to promote the sustainable development of the world’s automotive indu

Arif

Apr 9, 2021

On Monday 11-January 2021, the government announced that MCO will be re-instated (let’s call it MCO 2.0) in KL, Selangor, Putrajaya, Melaka, Penang, Johor, Sabah, and Labuan starting 13-Jan. The following day on Tuesday, MITI (Ministry of International Trade and Industry) confirmed that automotive manufacturing and car workshops (including collision repair body and paint centres) are allowed to continue operating. By 9 pm however, the government quietly issued a revision, retracting an earlier a

Hans

Jan 15, 2021

A leaked memo from the EU-Malaysia Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Eurocham) to its members says that the manufacturing sector should prepare itself for a shutdown/strict lockdown if the Covid-19 situation doesn't improve. The memo adds that the organization’s CEO Sven Schneider had a meeting with MITI on 22-January and was told that the Ministry of Health (MoH) has made a clear stance for a complete shutdown of the economy if Covid-19 cases continue to rise. 99 of the 300 Covid-19 clusters in

Hans

Jan 24, 2021

In a parliament sitting last week, Minister of Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives (MEDAC) Datuk Seri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar explained why Malaysia lags in the automotive sector. "Focusing on the automotive sector, we can see that Proton and the government policies back then were stumbling blocks to the development of the national automotive industry,” said Wan Junaidi, in response to a question posed by Datuk Seri Ahmad Maslan (BN, Pontian) at the Dewan Rakyat sitting last Wednesday

Sanjay

Aug 10, 2020

Now that the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) has made a U-turn on their decision to allow car factories to continue operating during the reinstated Movement Control Order (MCO), what are the car factories that are affected by the new standard operating procedures? As you know there are numerous car factories in Malaysia, car factory hotspots mainly focus in Kedah, Selangor, and Pahang. The Honda plant is the only car producing factory located in Pegoh, Melaka. Fun fact: Did y

Jerrica

Jan 14, 2021

China’s white goods manufacturer Hisense Home Appliances Group will acquire Japan’s automotive air-conditioning manufacturer Sanden for JPY 21.4 billion (about RM 809.7 million). The move will allow Hisense to diversify into the automotive air-conditioning system market. Hisense has ambitions to manufacture air-conditioning units for electric vehicles. In an announcement by Sanden made earlier this week, the company says Hisense will acquire 75 percent of voting rights in the company for 21.4 bi

Hans

Mar 9, 2021

Recently, Nokia won a court ruling against Daimler, whereby the Finnish tech company gained some leverage in its fight over mobile technologies used in automobiles. As vague as it may seem, Nokia claimed that Daimler (owner of Mercedes-Benz) violated its mobile technology patents, without going into specifics. “We cannot understand the verdict of the Mannheim court and will appeal,” according to an email statement by Daimler. Furthermore, judges at the Mannheim court sided with Nokia because Dai

Eric

Aug 21, 2020

History recognized Carl Benz as the inventor of the modern car but we won't have the modern car if not for a woman, who in today's world, would've been recognized as a co-inventor, rather than merely the wife of the inventor. The only reason Carl Benz was solely credited for the invention of the car was simply because German patent laws at that time didn’t allow women to register any patents. Berlin’s Imperial Patent Office only granted Mr. Carl Benz of the Benz & Co. company in Mannheim as owne

Hans

Mar 9, 2021

Tyres, the round, black donuts that are often overlooked by its users. Objectively speaking, tyres are one of the most important components in your car. It’s been often said that tyres are your vehicle’s only contact patches with the road surface. Therefore, carmakers spend a considerable amount of time and effort to match the right tyres to their cars. It isn’t just about slapping on any random tyre on the cars that roll of the production line. Carmakers work very closely with tyre brands from

Jason

Dec 24, 2020

Daimler AG and Geely Holding Group made a joint announcement late yesterday confirming earlier reports that both companies are collaborating to develop hybrid powertrain for next generation hybrid vehicles. The resulting powertrains could be used by Mercedes-Benz and all Geely Holding Group’s portfolio of brands, including Volvo Cars. “The cooperation is expected to see the companies work together on hybrid powertrain solutions to enhance their global competitiveness and create true economies of

Hans

Nov 21, 2020

The Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) has released a list of companies that are allowed to operate during the second round of the Movement Control Order (MCO). Updated: MITI has done a U-Turn on the list of essential services, read more about it here. Update No.2: MITI has once again revised the essential services list, car factories will be allowed to continue operations effective immediately. On Monday (11/1/2021), Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin announced that MCO wi

Jerrica

Jan 12, 2021

In view of the soon-to-be launched third national car, Chief Executive Officer of Automotive, Robotic and IoT Institute (MARii), Datuk Madani Sahari has said the criteria of “National Car” will be defined in the new National Automotive Policy (NAP) 2019. “There is a need for the automobile industry to move away from petrol-based engines to hybrid and electric ones,” said Datuk Madani, as quoted by Bernama. Last month, Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad said that the third national car shoul

Adrian Chia

Sep 18, 2019

Although there is a 10 km radius travel restriction in place throughout MCO, there are still those who will need to travel for work. The Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) has clarified that all you need is your employer’s confirmation note from MITI’s Covid-19 Intelligent Management System (CIMS) and your employment pass/letter as proof that you work for the company. The government has declared a full lockdown from 13 January to 26 January 2021 in 5 states and 3 federal territo

Jerrica

Jan 13, 2021

With MCO 2.0 out in force, some of us are forced to work from home yet again. But for those who think that the office gives them more productivity, Nissan has a solution for you with a mobile office van. Called the Nissan NV350 Caravan Office Pod, it’s a concept that allows you to combine both office work and nature. That’s right, Nissan envisions a perfect vehicle for those who want to enjoy the great outdoors while organising spreadsheets. Based on the Nissan NV350 Caravan (once sold here as t

CY Foong

Jan 21, 2021

Yesterday, when the National Security Council (MKN) released a complete list of the standard operating procedure (SOP) regarding the Conditional Movement Control Order (CMCO) between 14 – 27 October 2020 in Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya, many were left confused whether they will need to fill up the police form for their travels. So, who needs to fill up the form? Here’s your answer. The form attached here is what MKN knows as the CMCO Travel Permit form or ‘Borang Permit Pergerakan Perint

Jerrica

Oct 14, 2020

The Relentless Pursuit of Perfection. For a period of time, that was the Lexus motto. It embodied the brand’s obsession with attention to detail. This was one of the cornerstones which Lexus built their cars upon. And at the very zenith of this obsession was the LFA, still Lexus’ one and only forage into supercardom. But what a forage. One that wouldn’t have been possible if not for Hiromu Naruse. If Lexus’ ‘relentless pursuit of perfection’ was distilled into human form, Hiromu Naruse would be

Jason

Jun 23, 2020

This is the Ineos Grenadier, which is, in the words of its creator, "a capable, durable and reliable 4x4 designed and built to handle the world’s harshest environments". To those unfamiliar with INEOS, you probably would've seen this name plastered on Mercedes-AMG's F1 challengers. Essentially, Ineos is one of the biggest petrochemical companies in the world, so why did it create an automotive division? Ineos is led by Sir Jim Ratcliffe, one of Britain's richest individuals. Sir Jim is a big fan

Jason

Jul 7, 2020

Ruslin Tamsir is a Kuala Lumpur native who, through his expertise and fervent hardwork, has brought a Malaysian touch to the wild McLaren Senna. He recently went viral over his patented, fastener-less speaker enclosure for the hypercar - which is the focal point of this article. From humble beginnings... Ruslin is a man of many interests and for him, cars sit right at the top. So much so that it even influenced where he would study. “The reason why I choose to go to Germany is because I like car

Sanjay

Jan 26, 2021

The Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) has once again updated the standard operating procedures (SOP) for the reinstated Movement Control Order (MCO), this time automotive plants, including vehicle assembly and component suppliers, will be allowed to continue operating for the duration of the country’s second MCO. This is yet another U-turn from the MITI on the essential economic services SOP. Previously, when MITI first released the MCO SOP for essential services on 12 January

Jerrica

Jan 16, 2021

Last week, the Proton’s Shah Alam HQ reported that an employee in their research and development division has tested positive for Covid-19. Over the weekend, 8 more new cases were reported forcing the Health Ministry to declare the situation the Auto Cluster. Now the company has issued another update. The following is a statement from Proton over the ongoing Covid-19 update: Subsequent to one of its employees testing positive for Covid-19 on 14th October 2020, Proton confirms 49 others have now

Jerrica

Oct 19, 2020

There is zero doubt that Malaysians are a very creative bunch who are capable of very big things. After all, the ubiquitous pen drive was created by a Malaysian anyway. Somewhere in the veins of awesome Malaysian creations is this drifting Perodua Kancil. Don’t rub your eyes, you read that correctly - this little box can and will go up against big boys like the Cefiro A31. Don’t believe me? Watch this: Built by the multiracial ragtag Streetkilla crew, this kei car has got performance that betray

Sanjay

Aug 20, 2020

After a short and tumultuous two years at Infiniti (the fallout between Carlos Ghosn and Nissan), Karim Habib has now been confirmed to have taken up a new position at Kia. Habib will start his new position as Senior Vice President and Head of Kia Design Center in October, and will be based at Kia’s global design headquarters in Namyang, Korea. Habib will oversee the work of Kia’s exterior, interior, color, and material teams, and help determine the future design strategy and direction of the Ki

Hans

Sep 10, 2019

Nissan's car manufacturing history dates back to 1914, making it one of Japan’s oldest. Between the ‘60s until the ‘90s, Nissan was Japan’s most technologically advanced. When Toyota and Honda entered the car business in 1936 and 1962 respectively, Nissan was No.1. Today, it’s the weakest in Japan. It's a sad turn of events for the company that made the first Japanese car fast enough to beat a Porsche – at the 1966 Japanese Grand Prix, two R380s took the top two spots, ahead of three Porsche 906

Hans

Aug 9, 2020

During a recent trip back to my hometown in Ipoh, I learned from my dad that the son of the mechanic that he usually visits has moved to Singapore. He recently secured a technical position at the Mercedes-Benz division of Cycle and Carriage. Good for him I say. He is a talented young kid who has been helping out in his father’s workshop long before his peers learn about the theory of combustion engines. I have no doubt about the quality of his work. However his father’s workshop is literally und

Hans

Oct 10, 2019

Volkswagen Passenger Cars Malaysia (VPCM) is pleased to announce a reduction on the prices of its models of up to RM9,484, following the announcement on the sales tax exemption. This adjustment will take effect on the 15th June till 31st December 2020. Locally assembled Volkswagen models are the Polo, Vento, Tiguan and Passat, while the Golf family, consisting of the R-Line, GTI and R, are fully imported. With the sales tax exemption, customers can expect savings of up to RM 3,881 on the Tiguan,

Eric

Jun 12, 2020

It looks like Kia has been busy recruiting some of the best talents from BMW. The latest recruit to Kia Motors is Jochen Paesen, a former BMW interior designer. The Belgian-born Paesen will become Kia’s vice president of interior design, reporting under a team led by Karim Habib - himself a former BMW head of design. Coincidence? Maybe not. With Paesen's appointment, this marks Kia’s third major recruitment from BMW over the past years. Along with Karim Habib, this also includes Albert Biermann,

Zamil Syaheer

Mar 30, 2020

You might have read news reports of several car manufacturers – BYD, Ferrari, Fiat, Ford, GM, and Nissan – have stepped in to assist in manufacturing ventilators and personal protective equipment (PPE), which are in chronic short supply, to help fight the battle against Covid-19. This lead us to the next question, we have all seen videos of our frontline medical personnel resorting to using garbage bags as PPE, as supply of PPE at hospitals has run out. While the government have arranged for fre

Hans

Mar 26, 2020

At its most fundamental level, cars are merely a collection of metal and parts. But few car companies will sell you a car at the price of the sum of its materials and cost it took put the car together. Premium brands especially, want to sell you not just a car but also an admission in their deeply storied heritage, and a certain lifestyle that their marketers promise you. Why pay over RM 200k for a Mazda6 when you can buy a Mercedes-Benz C-Class for just a little bit more money? Badge matters (a

Hans

Apr 4, 2021

This article is contributed by the former editor of Malaysian Evo magazine, Daniel Wong, who currently resides in Australia. You can find more of his musings and articles on the motoring world at The Motor Muse. Is there anything sexier to car enthusiasts than carbon-fibre? Our knees get weak at the mention that something in the car is made of the stuff. Even if it is just the sticker motif on our dashboards. Hey, it adds 50 horsepower, according to the infallible wisdom of the internet. Despite

Daniel

Jul 7, 2020

According to a report from the Financial Times, the Japanese government have tried to propose a merger between Nissan Motor Co. and Honda Motor Co. The merger was proposed due to the government’s growing concern over the future of Nissan following the growing rift in the weakening Renault Nissan Alliance, as well as disruptions posed by electric and driverless cars. Unfortunately, the idea has since fizzled as both companies had immediately rejected the idea. Concern for Japan’s once mighty car

Jerrica

Aug 18, 2020