Mobil Rakyat...new cars

[waarmstrong]

Neither the "new" Honda Jazz nor the BMW Z4 stand out as anything uniquely new style-wise; I tend to doubt they will be standouts performance-wise either.

Good thing for BMW, there seem to be plenty of well-healed, pretentious, A-holes among the car buying public.

 

[jstar]

Audi drivers are 'the new c0cks', cf. Jeremy Clarkson.

That new Jazz should get a 1.0 Turbo engine which could give it more oomph than the atmospheric 1.5 of the HR-V (which is in fact a repackaged version of the same car).

Talking about facelifts etc. A car that I really like if you're in the market for a -cheaper than Avanza/Xenia- MPV is the sibling combo Toyota Calya/Daihatsu Sigra. Esp. the latter is a real good deal. But it gets three years old now so I would expect some change this year which never does any good to the amortization.

 

[jstar]

Talking about facelifts etc. A car that I really like if you're in the market for a -cheaper than Avanza/Xenia- MPV is the sibling combo Toyota Calya/Daihatsu Sigra. Esp. the latter is a real good deal. But it gets three years old now so I would expect some change this year which never does any good to the amortization.

In Malaysia, the car manufacturer Perodua introduced a model called Alza a couple of months ago. This car is in fact based on the Daihatsu platform. (Daihatsu owns 35% of Perodua, which is the largest manufacturer in Malaysia btw, not Proton!)

Now the rumor is that the new versions of the Calya/Sigra will be similar to this Alza.

But here you never know; the Avanza and Xenia already got two facelifts, the last one in January this year. So that means they deviate substantially from the standard pattern of a life span per model of 4-6 years with a facelift after 2-3 years.

Also, some cars never get the facelift you see in other countries but keep the first version till there is a new model (e.g. X-Trail).
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[vocalneal]

Neither the "new" Honda Jazz nor the BMW Z4 stand out as anything uniquely new style-wise; I tend to doubt they will be standouts performance-wise either.

Good thing for BMW, there seem to be plenty of well-healed, pretentious, A-holes among the car buying public.

One of the least rewarding jobs in the world is the guy that fits turn signals to BMW's

 

[jstar]

^ I thought that lamp set was an option?

 

[jstar]

It is not going so well with Subaru in Indonesia.

Some five years ago the Tax office confiscated over 240 cars all over Indonesia, since the customs on the import was not paid. (Over 1.5 trillion IDR.) Most of the cars were in the Jakarta port Tanjung Priok.

The importers of Subaru started a law suit to realease the cars. And the judge agreed with them. But the directorate of taxes appealed and they finally won the case this year.

As you can imagine, in the mean time business has not been 'booming' to put it mildly. And that's a shame since they have some rather interesting models with great underlying technologies. Even hybrids nowadays.

XV:

Forester:

Outback (break version of the Legacy):

 

[jstar]

Similar to Ford which vanished in Indonesia, customers who bought these brands can not be very happy.

Besides those who could get one in April in the auctions. Although, they were bidding on older models, even if there was only 0 km on the odometer.

 

[AnglaGadapee]

I prefer the Jeep ones.

 

[jstar]

Jeep Wrangler:

Varian	Harga	Price
Sport 4x4	Rp919 Juta OTR	$64,000
Sahara 4x4	Rp1,03 Milyar OTR	$72,000
Rubicon 4x4	Rp1,1 Milyar OTR	$77,000

Prices in the USA for these models are between $30K and $40K.

So that explains why you don't see them so much over here.

 

[jstar]

Big news in car country: Volkswagen has announced the ID.3, a full electric vehicle. Size-wise a VW Golf, range comparable to the KIA/HYUNDAI EV's.

Doesn't look horrible

10.000 potential buyers subscribed.

This is how it will look like...

The 'gearswitch' will have a B setting, in which you would need one pedal only, releasing the accelerator will activate the brakes.

In multiple countries you will get 6 year warranty and/or 2.000 kWh charge. The prices in Europe will be between €30 and €55K, depending on battery pack (and thus range).
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[vocalneal]

Does Indonesia get the new MG electric SUV?

 

[snpark]

Went in one of the new electric taxi here last week, obiously being brand new it was clean, smelt of leather etc, but it seemed quite smooth ride and not bumpy with bad suspension etc like some of the boneshakers here (even the new larger "estate version / small suv) taxis. Dash was very colourful., all LED Lights.

Same price though.

 

[jstar]

Does Indonesia get the new MG electric SUV?

First MG will roll out the Hector. Which is the same as the Wuling Almaz in Indonesia.

As we said before, the new Wuling Almaz is of course a Baojun. This Chinese brand is a joint venture between Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation (SAIC) and General Motors (GM). For Indonesia it makes sense to batch it as Wuling, in other markets it is called Chevrolet or even MG. Seriously, in India this Almaz is called the MG Hector.

Then at the end of this year, they expect the MG eZs in India. Full electric but with a rather weak battery pack.

So I don't expect this car in Indonesia for the next two years, my bet is it will never come unless the government finally starts investing and stimulating BEV's.
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[jstar]

Went in one of the new electric taxi here last week, obiously being brand new it was clean, smelt of leather etc, but it seemed quite smooth ride and not bumpy with bad suspension etc like some of the boneshakers here (even the new larger "estate version / small suv) taxis. Dash was very colourful., all LED Lights.

Same price though.

Which one was that, @snpark ?

 

[snpark]

possibly the honda mobilo or toyota transmover looking on their web, either way they are very uncomfortable going over bumps in the roads, no suspension at all, and dont even try texting on a iphone while in one of them, you get thrown around all over the place

 

[waarmstrong]

About everything that can be done with an oblong box on 4 wheels has been done.

 

[jstar]

^ Thanks for sharing your insight, obviously created by lots of contemplating and reflection. And as usual, with well thought ? out argumentation which makes serious chin-stroking and debating possible.

I strongly disagree btw.

The next years is an amazing paradigm shift for personal transportation. Moving away from car ownership to car sharing, a battle which started between electrification via batteries or hydrogen, car manufacturers striving for CO2 neutral production as well as zero deaths, and the regulators finally approving self driving cars, make it all very interesting.

Also, the gap between first and third world countries will only increase. In the former all these developements have taken off and are being implemented rapidly, while in the latter people are still dreaming of buying a 10 year old Daihatsu with zero safety measures and driving pickup trucks which proudly have a Euro 2 sticker (while in the west Euro 4 is being abandoned).

The culture shock for people traveling back and forth will be bigger and bigger.

 

[jstar]

Something I forgot to mention about the VW ID.3, is that its total size and luggage space is similar to the Golf.

Nothing new you say. But the interior space for driver and passengers will be the same as the Volkswagen Passat!

Obviously that has to do with replacing the traditional engine with (multiple) electric engine(s) close to the wheels. For optimal driving characteristics the battery packs are stored underneath the seats etc. to make the point of gravity as low as possible.

Obviously that also applies for alternatives as Jaguar iPace, Audi eTron, Opel e-Corsa, Peugeot e208, etc.

 

[jstar]

Something (not so) new that we touched before and which we will see very soon in Indonesia, is the 48 Volt mild hybrid.

An short explanation of the background (concept and technology) as we are now going to see the rise of the previously not so popular 48 volt mild hybrid technology:

A mild hybrid system adds some degree of electrification to an existing system so there is no need for an expensive redesign.

Upgrading a vehicle's electric system to 48 Volt from the standard 12 Volt allows a bigger, more powerful starter motor to be utilized that can then be used to add additional power to the drivetrain. A drivetrain is the connection between engine+gearbox and the axles. This addition to the traditional petrol combustion engine (ICE) turns the car into a mild hybrid, which as far as emissions go, is better than a diesel. And there's no need for a costly new setup so you get a lot of bang for the buck from a manufacturer's standpoint.

Full hybrids like the Toyota Prius normally run at 100-300 volts, so producing 'real' hybrids is a lot more expensive and complicated than just adding an electric motor to a petrol engine. Toyota is far ahead on full hybrids and other brands don't follow that path (anymore) and go for full electric or hydrogen. Their in-between solution is mild hybrid.

The big difference between a mild hybrid and a full hybrid is that the electric motor in a mild hybrid can and does not move the vehicle forward on its own. The gasoline engine in a mild hybrid is still doing all of the work and the electric motor only assists.

And this takes it a bit further, many car manufacturers are implementing these features now which make the border between full and mild rather blurry:


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Sorry for the German accent.
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[waarmstrong]

Wishful thinking. Car sharing as the wave of the future does not seem consistent with historical experiments in communalism, especially when suggested by a car aficionado seeing the market as driven by minor styling, and I would say meaningless, distinction.