Mobil Rakyat...new cars

[jstar]

A bit of news on what we can expect in 2023 from the Chinese and Japanese manufacturers:

Wuling
The Alvez will be a five-passenger SUV with a 1,500 cc engine that should compete with the Honda HR-V in Indonesia.

Honda
During the GIIAS expo 2022, Honda showed the Accord e:HEV and CR-V e:HEV so it is expected that both hybrids make it to the consumer this year. The weird thing is that the CR-V is a completely new model in the USA and Europe but it’s unclear when that will come to Indonesia. As you can see, the design style is somewhat similar to the HR-V, with no more chrome.

Daihatsu
Interestingly, Daihatsu will enter the sedan segment. The new car is allegedly a twin of the Toyota Vios which we all know from the BlueBird taxis in a not so distance past. So some more badge engineering.

Mitsubishi
The manufacturer showed the XFC prototype in a car expo in Vietnam. It should make its way to Indonesia and the model is likely to fill the space above the Xpander and below the Pajero Sport. So you could consider it a bit the successor of the Outlander Sport (ASX).

Suzuki
The XL7, the SUV / cross version of the Ertiga, will also become available in a hybrid version.

Nissan
In Thailand the sales of the previous X-Trail has already been halted, but there’s no news yet about the new version for Indonesia. I can’t imagine someone buying the existing model anymore unless they offer huge discounts.

The successor of the Outlander Sport or ASX is called the XForce. I haven’t seen that Mitsubishi on the road yet.

It is produced at the PT Mitsubishi Motors Krama Yudha Indonesia (also called MMKI) plant in Cikarang.

The car has quite some advanced ADAS features. Advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS) are technologies that assist drivers with the safe operation of a vehicle. It uses sensors and cameras, to detect nearby obstacles or driver errors, and respond accordingly.

The problem with these systems is that they become annoying rather fast with all the beeping and people tend to turn them off. Which has to be done every time you start the car. Things like driver drowsiness and eyes on the road detection are great tools but they can also drive you crazy.

 

[Hawk256]

The car has quite some advanced ADAS features. Advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS) are technologies that assist drivers with the safe operation of a vehicle. It uses sensors and cameras, to detect nearby obstacles or driver errors, and respond accordingly.

The problem with these systems is that they become annoying rather fast with all the beeping and people tend to turn them off. Which has to be done every time you start the car. Things like driver drowsiness and eyes on the road detection are great tools but they can also drive you crazy.

Or the auto braking that is overly sensitive and is constantly jamming on the brakes in Jakarta traffic.

 

[Jaime C]

I invested about 25% of my kids education fund into various EV companies. BYD, Li, XPEV, NIO, in the Chinese realm. One Vietnamese, plus Ford, Rivian, and Lucid in the US.

It’s a mixed bag, as some like BYD have really risen. Others like Lucid, Rivian, and Nio have had a pretty rough road. I’m fairly certain about half will be out of business or merged with another company within 5 years.

 

[Helpful Herbert]

If they could produce an electric vehicle with the same dimensions as a Kijang Innova, it would be very successful. The closest at the moment seems to be the BYD M6, but it looks closer to Avanza size than Innova size. Hopefully within 3-4 years there will be something.

 

[jstar]

an electric vehicle with the same dimensions as a Kijang Innova, it would be very successful. The closest at the moment seems to be the BYD M6

I know that BlueBird purchased some BYD E 6 which should be a similar size. (Length and wheelbase.) But they don’t sell those here?! Unlike in HK, Thailand and India; in the latter they also have this eMax 7 which is rather big.

The weird thing is there is an alternative already for the large MPV’s, almost in the Alphard class; that’s the BYD Denza D9. Not cheap also, almost 1 milyar.

 

[jstar]

It’s a mixed bag, as some like BYD have really risen. Others like Lucid, Rivian, and Nio have had a pretty rough road.

Rivian obviously has a joint venture with Volkswagen, I hope they will survive. Lucid ‘s specs are quite amazing and that Gravity is really cool; they’re just too expensive. I’m not so sure about Nio’s battery swapping model but hey, if you see the electric motorbikes here that swap at the mini markets, who knows? I really like their small Honda e look-a-like; the FireFly. But it seems in Europe Lamborghini is selling 3x as much as Nio.

 

[jstar]

Or the auto braking that is overly sensitive and is constantly jamming on the brakes in Jakarta traffic.

Yeah this automatic emergency braking (AEB), uses sensors to detect potential collisions. With hundreds of motorbikes etc popping up in front of your car…. it makes you wonder if autonomous driving can ever work here.

 

[Shadrach]

Yeah this automatic emergency braking (AEB), uses sensors to detect potential collisions. With hundreds of motorbikes etc popping up in front of your car…. it makes you wonder if autonomous driving can ever work here.

No Way! With the MotorbikesAll over the Road, People running Red lights, Dogs, Drivers with Three or more Children on 1 bike, that don't even look when entering traffic, there will never be Autonomous Vehicles!

 

[jstar]

About FSD, the Full Self Driving; this is a Tesla at the infamous traffic hell at the Arc de Triomphe in Paris.


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Although it’s quite impressive: I‘ve driven there quite some times and must say it’s not more scary than the round-abouts at Bundaran HI or Kelapa Gading‘s La Piazza.

 

[harryopal1]

At present if one were coming off a small lane to enter a major thoroughfare like Jalan Ulutwau and wanting to do a right turn, you might wait for hours for the road to be clear of traffic from left or right. With local rules, you edge out at the earliest sign of a little gap and usually other cars will allow your entry. I can't see how AI would deal with this situation. I guess in seriously congested areas you just turn off AI but there is now talk about driverless cars. If another car were stuck behind you waiting for entry, and in the absence of a driver to abuse then the raging motorist would have to vent on the passenger.

I suppose when all cars use AI, ultimately systems may develop that are interacting with other cars to arrange driving through the congestion. However, it may be quite some years before all cars use AI so in the meantime it looks like a combination of the human with AI for driving.

 

[El_Goretto]

About FSD, the Full Self Driving; this is a Tesla at the infamous traffic hell at the Arc de Triomphe in Paris.


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Although it’s quite impressive: I‘ve driven there quite some times and must say it’s not more scary than the round-abouts at Bundaran HI or Kelapa Gading‘s La Piazza.

Ah memories! I used to live just around the corner, at rue Lauriston, so I took this round-about many times!

I have to say that now that I live in Indonesia, indeed this is no big deal, but back in the day it always got my heart pumping a bit! The main issue being that all roundabouts in France have right of way to the left, and this one is right of way to the right. It's not technically a roundabout, just a round road with its usual set of rules for a normal road.

It's pretty impressive from Tesla though.

 

[jstar]

True, it’s in fact a massive, uncontrolled intersection. Like the ‘roundabouts’ here I guess.

I drove in Mexico recently and it really was a piece of cake while years ago I was very nervous. You’re so used now to moronic manoeuvres and people not obeying the traffic rules, not a lot of things scare or surprise you anymore.

Now that’s of course a bit what FSD ’needs’; other cars with FSD and no pedestrians, nor a beehive of motorcycles.

 

[jstar]

If you’re considering buying a new Toyota RAV4, I would advise you to wait a bit.

Honestly I can’t imagine buying this car for 1.15 miliar rupiah, that is like $70,000, even if it is the most popular Toyota worldwide. That price is a major reason you practically don’t see it driving around in Indonesia.

But that’s not the point; in three days a new model will be introduced. Besides some vague teasers we don’t know anything yet. Extremely important car for Toyota.

 

[jstar]

Since we were talking about Chery before:

Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) will end production of vehicles in China to make room for a new auto brand called Freelander, from its joint venture with Chery. And while this Freelander will start off as a China-exclusive brand, it's set to eventually go global.

The British automaker, whose parent company is India's Tata Motors, is surprisingly still producing Jaguar cars in China but it will end production of these at the plant in Changshu, China in September. Production of the Range Rover Evoque and Land Rover Discovery Sport will continue one more year.

The (Land Rover) Freelander as we remember it:

 

[jstar]

Toyota is filling up their gamut of SUV’s rapidly.

So they introduced the Corolla Cross. You should see this model as calmer sibling of the C-HR and position the crossover between the bigger RAV-4 and smaller Yaris Cross. (Which are not available here but they have the Fortuner and the Raize.)

View attachment 2757

The Indonesian version has, like in Malaysia and the Philippines, a 1,8 liter version. In Singapore and Europe they have started with a 2,0 liter version and they will get the 1,8 with 50 horse power less, later.

Prices start at 541 juta with is 60 million cheaper than the C-HR. So these cars are twice as expensive as a Toyota Rush for instance.

Just like in the rest of the world, the Corolla Cross got a facelift.

But here in the ASEAN countries they have a completely unique version. The 2.0 liter version never came and the facelift was some time ago.

Now both versions, including the GR, look completely different from the Japanese / Australian / European versions. Which fwiw (now) look better. But luckily the depressed dog mouth disappeared.

Compared to the rest of the world they saved a lot in the interior, used smaller screens and less attractive materials.

 

[jstar]

And there’s the Yaris Cross.

Which -as said before- is a very different cas as in Europe for instance. The Indonesian version has a Daihatsu platform.

But now it is also available in a hybrid version over here…

And this is the European version. on the so called TNGA platform.

 

[jstar]

France imposes a driving ban on another 800,000 cars with Takata airbags. These are cars of different brands with construction years up to 2011. Millions of of cars in the rest of the world are also equipped with such an airbag.

The Takata airbags are supposed to protect the occupants of a car in the event of a collision, but can also spontaneously explode and then seriously injure or kill the occupants by spreading metal particles through the car with great force. This happens especially in a warm and humid climate.

As a result, at least 34 people have already died worldwide. In the US alone, 28 people have been killed by exploding airbags and more than 400 people have been injured. In recent years, several recalls have already been executed by different car brands.

These are models of the following brands: Audi, BMW, Cadillac, Chevrolet, Chrysler, Citroën, Daihatsu, Dodge, DS, Ferrari, Ford, Honda, Jaguar, Jeep, Lancia, Land Rover, Lexus, Mazda, Mercedes, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Opel, Peugeot, Seat, Skoda, Subaru, Suzuki, Tesla, Toyota and Volkswagen.

Because there are now these additional 800,000 cars from different brands on the so-called 'Stop Drive' list, a total of 1.7 million cars is not allowed to be driven in France for example.

And in Indonesia? Esp. Nissan, Mercedes and Honda have been active on the airbag recalls but it has been rather quiet from the other brands.

 

[vocalneal]

In Thailand most used cars from "tents" have had the airbags removed as they are worth $100 - $1500 a pop.

Maybe Indonesia is the same?

 

[jstar]

This will be the new Mazda CX-5. As you can see, the Japanese embrace the ‘never change a winning team’. It will be somewhat bigger than the current model though. And they mention -unlike many other car manufacturers- they won’t downsize, even the opposite; the engine will be a 2,5 liter version.

Also in Indonesia it’s an extremely popular model. No news yet when it will change and what the specs here will be(come).

 

[jstar]

We see more and more cars where the actual headlights are lower than what you would think and what the front design suggests. That is currently a big trend, but it began in 2003.

Many cars you see are with 'fake headlights'. Of course they all have real headlights, but they are not in the place you would expect. These cars have light units high in the nose that give the impression that they are headlights, but in fact they are 'only' daytime running lights. The bright small LED headlights are housed in another, often hidden, place in the front bumper. You’d think these are fog lights but obviously they are not.

Headlights that have been hidden this way over several layers have been known for years.

In 2003 the Rolls Royce Phantom started the trend…