Twenty years ago, when the MPV was still an in-thing, Honda launched the Stream. Three years later, in 2003, Toyota launched its own challenger into the ring, the Wish. Both these MPVs were a delight among families who wanted an MPV that gave off a sporty presence. They were once commonly seen on Malaysian roads, and perhaps some of you reading this might even grow up with one. Eventually, the idea of a car-like MPV evolved into crossover SUVs as both the Toyota Wish and Honda Stream saw sales d
Tidak dinafikan, zaman kegemilangan MPV mula merudum tetapi ia masih belum berakhir. Akibat daripada kemuncak zaman emas MPV tersebut, beberapa MPV masih mempunyai penangan yang hebat sehinggalah ke hari ini. Antaranya, Toyota Wish! Dibangunkan sejak 20 tahun yang lalu, Toyota Wish mencapai kesempurnaan pada generasi kedua yang dilancarkan pada tahun 2009 di Jepun. Walaupun generasi ini tidak dibawa masuk secara rasmi, Toyota Wish tetap ligat berkeliaran di jalan raya Malaysia. Kini 12 tahun sel
20 tahun yang lalu, apabila kereta MPV tengah mencanak naik popularitinya, Honda melancarkan Stream. Tiga tahun selepas itu, pada tahun 2003, Toyota pula melancarkan pesaingnya iaitu Wish. Kedua-dua MPV ini menjadi kegemaran di kalangan keluarga yang mahukan sebuah MPV yang menonjolkan gaya ‘sporty’. Ia sering dilihat meluncur megah di jalanraya Malaysia, dan mungkin ada dikalangan pembaca yang membesar dengan kereta ini. Lama kelamaan, kereta seperti MPV berkembang menjadi SUV crossover. Angka
20年前,当MPV还十分流行时,Honda不失时机地推出了Stream。在3年后的2003年,Toyota也推出了一款同级市场的竞争者——Wish。 对于那些想要一辆姿态更运动的MPV的家庭来说,这两款MPV都是很不错的选择。曾几何时,它们是马来西亚路上常见的一道风景,或许正在阅读这篇文章的你,就是从小跟着这辆车长大的。 最终,这个轿车型MPV的概念被跨界SUV所替代,而Toyota Wish和Honda Stream两者的销量都开始下降,并最终结束了其14年的历史。那么,这两款曾经大卖的MPV到底发生了什么呢? Honda Stream:一款7人座的Civic Honda Stream于2000年在日本首发,定位为运动型7人座车型。它在很大程度上是基于第七代的Honda Civic开发的,只不过为了放下第三排座椅,车身被拉长了。 第一代的Stream定位在Odyssey之下,它有着十分独特的造型,就像是发福了的Civic(或是超重了的Civic“面包车”)。 这款车于2001年引进大马市场,从印尼进行整车进口。大马规格的Stream有两具引擎可选,分别为一具1.7升的D17 VTEC
The fourth-generation all-new 2020 Toyota Harrier is a surprisingly popular car in Japan. Since its official launch in June 2020, the premium SUV has racked up a backorder of close to 100,000 units! Unfortunately, Toyota’s factory is unable to keep up with the overwhelming demand causing a 9-month delay. According to BestCarWeb, sales of the Toyota Harrier has increased a total of 461.7 percent in November compared to the same month of the previous year. That is almost 5 times more than previous
Following the introduction of the Toyota Corolla Cross in regional markets like Vietnam, Philippines, and Indonesia, the new SUV will be launched in Japan soon. According to Japanese sources, Toyota is planning to introduce the Corolla Cross in Japan by Q3 2021. The new SUV is said to be produced at Toyota’s Takaoka plant in Aichi with a monthly production of 7,000 units. As reported earlier, for the Toyota Corolla Cross to succeed in Japan, a hybrid powertrain is a must. The Thai-spec petrol-el
The Japanese fancy boxy vehicles, no matter the size. This is shown in everyone's favourite luxury breadvan, the Toyota Alphard which became the fifth best-selling car in Japan in 2020. At least in the non-Kei car category. According to the latest information by the Japan Automobile Dealer Association (JADA), Toyota sold 90,748 units of the Alphard in 2020. This puts it fifth behind the Toyota Yaris, the Toyota Raize, the Toyota Corolla, and the Honda Fit. With that, the Alphard is easily the be
PT Astra Toyota Motor, Toyota’s Indonesian distributor, has launched the Sienta Welcab in Indonesia. This marks the first time Toyota’s assisted-mobility vehicle was offered officially outside of Japan. The Indonesian-spec Sienta Welcab is powered by the same 1.5-litre 2NR-FE engine as the rest of the Sienta line-up as well as the Malaysian-spec Vios and Yaris. That engine is mated to either a 6-speed manual or a CVT. One of the major features that stand out in the Sienta Welcab is of course the
‘Sells like hotcakes’ is what every carmaker wants to hear about their models. This time, Toyota has done it with their newly launched Toyota RAV4 plug-in hybrid (PHEV) that has sold so well, they've had to suspend orders. Launched in Japan on June 8, Toyota originally planned to sell 300 units a month in Japan, but it soon racked up over 1,000 orders across both the Japanese and North American markets. Japanese media cites two limiting factors that have led to this news: battery supply constrai
The Toyota Corolla Cross is currently on sale in Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines and Vietnam. The model is expected to be launched in Malaysia very soon, but don’t call it a South East Asia-only model yet. Sources in Japan tell us that the Toyota Corolla Cross will be launched in Japan in the third quarter of 2021, possibly imported from Thailand - still the world's only source of Corolla Cross for now (local assembly in Malaysia to start later). Seeing that hybrid is a must for commercial succ
Within Toyota’s model line-up for Japan, the two B-segment Toyota Yaris Cross and Toyota Raize (twin of Daihatsu Rocky, donor car to our upcoming Perodua D55L) sit in a somewhat overlapping position. Both B-segment SUVs are priced quite closed together and are chasing more or less the group of customers, but such is the nature of Japan’s saturated car market. Also, the booming SUV market demands for greater choices. Better to lose sales to your own models than to a competitor’s. The Toyota Yaris
Once Japan’s No.1 selling car, the Honda Jazz (sold as Fit in Japan) is now languishing in Japan’s sales charts. On certain months, it even bumped off the top-5 list, which is now dominated by Toyota. The new TNGA platform Toyota Yaris (not available outside of Australia, Europe, Japan) is now the No.1 selling car in Japan, followed by the Toyota Raize (twin of Daihatsu Rocky, donor car for upcoming Perodua D55L), Corolla, and Harrier. In certain months, the even the Toyota Alphard sells more th
At the sidelines of the 2019 Tokyo Motor Show, Toyota gave us a sneak peak of its upcoming all-new Toyota Yaris. Curiously, the Yaris was not presented at the motor show’s venue, but at a nearby mall located next to Toyota’s MegaWeb brand experience centre. Like its archrival the Honda Jazz (sold as the Fit in Japan), the all-new Toyota Yaris will only go on sale in Japan in February 2020. As such, details on the vehicle’s specifications are still lacking and the display car was locked with a ‘D
Toyota has just launched the updated 2021 Toyota Camry in Japan, updating its D-segment sedan with new looks and improved safety. Like the American and European model, the Japanese market Toyota Camry gets a restyled exterior that encompasses a new front bumper as well as mildly-updated tail lights. New wheel design round off the Camry’s exterior. Japanese buyers also have the option of a sportier Camry WS. In addition to the sportier-looking front bumper, the Camry WS also gets a prominent rear
The Toyota RAV4 is the world’s most popular SUV, holding a strong lead over the Honda CR-V and Nissan X-Trail. The RAV4 is also the fourth best-selling car model worldwide, after the Ford F-Series, Toyota Corolla, and Honda Civic. Earlier this year, the Toyota RAV4 crossed its 10 millionth unit sales milestone, after 26 years on the market (since 1994). All these might come as a surprise to many Malaysians because the Toyota RAV4 has never been a strong contender in here. Few RAV4s were sold her
Remember the unnamed Daihatsu compact SUV that we saw at the recent 2019 Tokyo Motor Show? Well it has now gone on sale in Japan as the Daihatsu Rocky and Toyota Raize. The model is produced by Daihatsu at its Shiga plant, which also builds the same car for its parent company Toyota, which will then sell it as the Toyota Raize. For now, the Raize/Rocky is only for Japan but we are pretty certain that the same model will eventually find its way to our region. If it doesn’t appear as here a Perodu
Toyota has launched the new Toyota Harrier in Japan with prices starting at 2,990,000 yen. Toyota has dropped the 2.0-litre turbocharged petrol engine and replaced it with two Dynamic Force powertrains. Ditching the turbo, the first engine is a 2.0 L M20A-FKS NA engine (171 PS and 207 Nm) paired with a Direct Shift CVT. Apart from the naturally-aspirated unit, Toyota is also offering the all-new Harrier with a 2.5 L A25A-FXS hybrid petrol engine (178 PS and 221 Nm). The hybrid version of the all
If the 2020 Toyota Harrier isn’t enough for your taste, Gazoo Racing (GR) just released a sporty-looking body kit only available in Japan. Form over Function The body kit adds a sporty-looking front and rear diffuser, side visor fins, side skirts and a rear spoiler. You can further add on air intakes on the bumpers, 4 stainless steel-tipped faux exhausts, red racing stripes, 20-inch black multispoke alloy rims and tinted windows. So is there anything functional? An anti-sway bar made by Yamaha i
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
The Toyota Raize (and its Daihatsu Rocky sibling) have proved to be a popular model in Japan, but can the Perodua-derivative achieve the same results? According to data sourced from the Japanese Automobile Dealers Association (JADA), Toyota sold 10,220 units of the Raize (Daihatsu did 3,153 units) in January, putting it well ahead of the Toyota Corolla (8,480 units) and Nissan Note (7,529 units). The momentum continued in February, as Toyota sold 9,979 units of the Raize (Daihatsu Rocky did 3,41
Results are in for the annual Japan Car of the Year awards and the winner is the Toyota RAV4 with 436 votes, beating out the Mazda 3 (328 votes) and BMW 3 Series (290 votes). The new Toyota RAV4 is still not made available in Malaysia, although we are expecting the SUV to finally make its return into the C-segment SUV market in 2020. According to sources familiar with the matter, the Toyota RAV4 will be introduced in this region next year, with Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia on the list. Sourc
It seems like the Toyota/Subaru twins might take a different direction come 2021, cites Creative311. This comes after rumours that the 2020 Subaru BRZ has been discontinued. With the launches of the Subaru BR-Z Final Edition and the Toyota 86 Black Limited runout specials in Germany and Japan respectively, it seems that the rumour isn't unfounded. Since both models share a platform, it’s only a matter of the time before the 86 gets discontinued too. So what will the next Toyobaru twin be like? W
Our fellow media friend Tom Goh from zerotohundred.com will once again be participating in Season 4 of the Toyota Gazoo Racing (TGR) Malaysia Vios Challenge. Once again, Tom will be racing in car #33, in the mid-tier Sporting Class, under Team S&D Tama Motorsports. S&D Tama, better known as Toyota Penang, is a Japanese Toyota dealer that has expanded to Malaysia. It’s the local arm of Netz Toyota Tama, which has been operating in Japan for nearly 60 years. The first round of Season 4 will take p
The brand-new 2020 Nissan Kicks e-Power will kick off sales in Nissan’s home country of Japan from June 30th onwards. The new compact SUV will be exported to Japan from Thailand. The new Nissan Kicks made its global debut in Thailand just last month. Its arrival in Thailand marked the first time Nissan’s e-Power hybrid electric drive powertrain was sold outside of Japan. This is not the first time that Nissan is importing cars from Thailand to Japan. They have previously imported the Nissan Alme
Toyota has officially launched the totally bonkers GR Yaris hot hatch in Japan. The Toyota GR Yaris is conceived as a vehicle that “anyone can drive the way they want with peace of mind on any road in the world”. Now, that’s a mission statement that I can abide by. The GR Yaris is developed together with the Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team and is the first Toyota developed with the reversed concept of turning a motorsports car into a production car. The Japanese GR Yaris will be available i
Perodua is now entering the third phase of its transformation plan aimed at raising the company’s competitiveness beyond Malaysia as well as aiming for a sustainable future, one that is integrated into Daihatsu’s global supply chain. Yesterday, Perodua President and Chief Executive Officer Dato’ Zainal Abidin said that Perodua is also working with all its partners to see where existing expertise can be utilised beyond Malaysia. He gave the example of how Perodua staff are now working to design D
Perodua is expected to introduce a crossover version of the Myvi soon, ala Perodua Axia Style. Expect the forthcoming taller riding Perodua Myvi to feature faux SUV-style side claddings, sharing the same ‘Style’ moniker. The idea of a Perodua Myvi crossover is not new. Back in 2006, two years after the first generation Daihatsu Boon/Toyota Passo twins were introduced in Japan and one year after a lightly re-designed Boon/Passo became the Perodua Myvi, Daihatsu had introduced the D-Compact X-over
You might see Japan as this fascinating nation that is built on the future but there was a period of time when Japanese carmakers were fascinated by the past. And yes, we’re going to focus on that weird van in the recent Honda HR-V spyshot. We identified that van as a 1997 Daihatsu Atrai Classic, a retro variant of the Daihatsu Atrai, which was a more luxurious version of the Daihatsu Hijet van. The thing is, this is an official model from the factory, not some aftermarket kit. In the 1980s, bus
The problem of motorists riding/driving against traffic is not unique to Malaysia, although your Facebook feeds will give you that it’s a growing problem confined only to Malaysia. Yesterday, a 35-year old man in Japan was killed when his Honda N-Box was hit head-on by a Toyota Crown driven by a 78-year old man who was driving against traffic. The incident happened yesterday 6-January, at 12.40 am at the Nishimeihan Expressway in Yamatokōriyama city, in Nara prefecture. The younger driver died o
We’ve already seen the 2021 Subaru BRZ making its global debut in the US, so it’s only natural to ask when the other half of the Toyobaru coupe twin will be launched. According to Japanese sources, the answer is May 2021. As before, the second generation Toyota 86 will mirror the Subaru BRZ’s mechanicals, built by Subaru to. Like the Subaru BRZ, the ‘flat-four’ engine’s capacity has been increased to 2.4-litre. The body is slightly longer and wider too, and kerb weight has been bumped up by arou
Honda HR-V
Perodua Alza
Honda City
Honda City Hatchback
Toyota Yaris