Ford has announced the all-new Ford Escape, a totally redesigned SUV, which has no resemblance to its squarish and boxy progenitors as we know it.
The new Escape is based on the Ford Kuga, a compact SUV sold in Europe the past few years, and features sharp design and bold appearance — something consumers in Asia and many parts of the world could only drool on.
It remains to be seen, however, if the new Escape will be sold in Malaysia, bearing in mind that the 2011 variant has never made it to this part of the world.
Below is the press release announcing the new Escape. I’ve highlighted the key features: [click to continue…]
If you are in the market for an SUV between the price of RM140,000 and RM150,000 in Kota Kinabalu, you are in for a big surprise — none of the SUVs at that price range is in stock! You name it, none of them is there — Kia Sportage, Honda CRV and Ford Escape. Not sure about Hyundai Tucson though.
According to the guy at Honda, the SUV’s stock has been affected by the floods in Thailand. “Maybe we can have the car in stock next year,” he said. “But exactly when next year, I won’t be able to tell.”
As for the Ford Escape, you’d have to place an order; even then. not all the colour variants are available. The only Ford SUV available in Kota Kinabalu at the moment is the Ford Escape 2.0 XLS 2.3L 4×2.
The same goes with the Sportage. The stock for the new Sportage will only be replenished early next year. The third generation Sportage is available though but with the latest Sportage looking highly sophisticated, I doubt anyone would settle for the old one, though the price is much lower.
Meanwhile, the face-lifted Toyota Fortuner will only be available within the next three months, according to a salesman there. The current Fortuner generation is also running out of stock, with the only one available at the moment being the Fortuner 2.7 TRD Sportivo.
British comedian Rowan Atkinson, the man who bring to life funnyman Mr Bean, was injured in a McLaren F1 supercar crash near Peterborough, England, yesterday. He sustains minor injuries and is expected to be discharge from hospital today.
Unlike the Mini-loving character Mr Bean, Atkinson is adept behind the wheel of a supercar as shown in this footage. But as fate would have it…
Range Rover Evoque has been voted Auto Express Car of the Year 2011. I bet the Evoque will be winning many more accolades in the near future. Auto Express says, among other things, on why the Evoque has won the award, that “To take the Auto Express Car of the Year prize, a model needs to break the mould – and the Range Rover Evoque does exactly that. For a prestige off-road brand to launch a tarmac-focused machine aimed at coupé and saloon car buyers is a brave move, but the British manufacturer has pulled if off.”
Finally, after waiting for more than a year since it first appeared at the Geneva Motor Show in February last year, the all-new Kia Sportage 2011 has finally launched in Malaysia. The 2011 Kia Sportage is of particular interest to me as I contemplate upgrading from a pick-up truck to an SUV.
In fact I’ve made a booking for the SUV two weeks ago. The salesman told me I was the first to book the car. It is priced at RM141,180 for private registration in Sabah (RM141,407.80 for company registration). Check here for the price of Kia Sportage 2011 in other parts of Malaysia.
The all-new Sportage offers a more urban and fluid silhouette than its predecessor as well as increased levels of performance, efficiency, comfort, convenience and the latest in-vehicle technologies.
“We are confident the all-new Sportage will be a hit among Malaysians and we have set a target of selling 200 units a month,” SM Nasarudin SM Nasimuddin, CEO of Naza Kia Malaysia told reporters at the launching of the car in Kuala Lumpur. [click to continue…]
I recently sat for a test to get a Goods Driver’s Licence or what is known as GDL and passed with flying colours. A friend asked me why should I need that licence and whether I was considering a career switch. I told him it was just for fun. Did I have the fun I wanted then? Well, sort of.
It was fun because I was there attending the one-day course and the test a week later on my own free will.
… to be continued (got to step away from the computer for a while)
We got back our Kia Sportage 2000 last week, three months after sending it for repair. It hasn’t stalled so far, that means the diagnostic was correct. The technician recommended that we replaced several parts like the idle speed valve, pressure hose (two of them) and the engine’s gaskets.
It took three months for the whole repair to be completed because spare parts had to be ordered and for some reasons parts must take months to reach the service centre.
No stalling so far
I hope there will be no more problem with this old SUV, at least during the period while we are waiting for the delivery of the new Kia Sportage 2011.
Kia Sportage 2011 status update: The much anticipated Kia Sportage 2011 is expected to be launched in Malaysia within the next couple of months, sources said. Those who have been waiting for this compact SUV, here is a piece of good news: bookings are now open!
So, put your RM1,000 in your wallet and head over to the nearest Kia dealer and book your 2011 Sportage. The bad news is, the SUV might sell like hot cakes and you’d have to wait several months more for the stock to come. The price? It’s about RM140,000 or less, about the same price with Mitsubishi ASX.
The diesel variant of Kia Sportage 2011 will not be released in Malaysia, according to the sources.
While consumers in many markets are already driving the new 2011 Kia Sportage, it is still a guessing game when the car makes its way to Malaysia. Some say it might make come to this part of the world as early as next month and as late as August but no one seems to know exactly when.
And then there are rumours that the diesel variant won’t be marketed in Malaysia, which is a shame, really. The price of Kia Sportage 2011 also remains a guessing game at the moment. Will it be priced the same as Mitsubishi ASX at RM136,000? Time will tell.
Cars with the intelligence matching that of a human have long been invented on the silver screen but no cars in our lifetime would ever reach this kind of sophistication. But just because we won’t live to see the day cars would act this way doesn’t mean the human race should not try to build cars like that.
On a more realistic front, Ford has teamed up with Google for a research project to allow hybrid cars to “think” when to use battery power and fuel power by predicting where their owners are going based on their established routines.
For instance, if the owner is going home from office and along the way home there is a long stretch of highway it may decide to shift to electronic motor during the period to conserve fuel.
