Digital Instrument cluster

Mercedes Benz, Lexus and now Audi has launched cars using LCD displays instead of typical mechanical instrument clusters. This has taken a new dimension to the design and also the information that can be displayed in front of the driver. Lexus was one of the earliest to introduce this in the LF-A but this technology quickly trickled down to the IS model Lexus. the original idea was to replace the analog tachometer because the engine of the LF-A could rev faster than any mechanical tachometer can keep up. the benefits of using the LCD display was very evident as more information could be displayed on the LCD compared to the analog meters.

Mercedes also introduced it in the new W-222 S Class. The entire instrument cluster is also LCD and it gave off the cool exclusive look to the car's interior.

The most impressive of all is the one from Audi which was included in the newly launched Audi TT. the entire instrument cluster can be altered to display the navigation system map and the size of the actual speedometer and tachometer is reduced to make way for the navigation map.

this is the next wave in terms of car design and functionality. I believe many other auto makers will follow suit. It is unlikely that budget cars will see such LCD displays replacing the traditional analog meters but in the next 10 years more cars will be fitted with new LCD displays instead of traditional analog meters. 

The creative use of the LCD display is definitely impressive and it is here to stay.

VEP - Vehicle Entry Permit in Kuala Lumpur

The Kuala Lumpur city council together with the Government proposed to introduce the VEP (Vehicle Entry Permit) for cars entering the city centre in an attempt to reduce traffic congestion and also air pollution in KL City. this is similar to that introduced in London several years ago. However despite the idea being a logical one there little thought that went into its proposed implementation. Neither the city council nor the government actually worked out the mechanism on how to charge the cars that entered the city during the chargeable hours!
this is very typical in the way which Malaysian government related agencies function. Mooting ideas is not the problem but seeing through their ideas is the problem.
It would not be practical to install toll gates as this will increase the traffic problem and slow traffic down tremendously, secondly there is no space to put up toll booths. The permit collection system is simply not available and it is not like how it is done in Singapore where the ERP gantry system works very efficiently to collect fees from the car wirelessly without stopping.
The current Smartag solution available is out of date and cannot be used in such a case. The Smartag system is not effective enough as the cars have to be driven below 10km/h for it to read, this will cause a problem if it was implemented.

It is quite silly to want to impose such rulings without having a suitable solution available in the first place. It is little wonder why the Malaysian public always laugh at the Government as they constantly contradict themselves and have no ideas how to solve problems that are presented to them.

New models from Proton - is it too late?

Proton recently teased the Malaysian public with a few new models, a new EV Iriz model and a new Perdana model and also a new 1.3 turbo engine. The company seems to be going all out to win back some confidence from the public with such announcements but the question remains if this is all in vain and is it really too late for Proton to make a come back?
the damage done over the years is really quite a large hurdle. the public perception of Proton has always been poor and even the die hard supporters of buy Malaysian made has abandoned them. Proton cars are still seen as low value, low quality and low tech cars and Proton does not bring anything new to the table every time. they are always trying to play catch up and have not innovated anything. Unlike the Hyundai which should be the direct comparison since Hyundai and Proton start around similar time has gone on to be a force to be reckoned with. they have done well in US as well as other parts of the world. Their cars are still cheaper than Japanese but they are no longer looked at as low quality and low tech cars.

Hyundai regularly package their cars to be good value since they bundle in a wide range of accessories and new functions to their cars. these new function are usually found in much more expensive European cars or Lexus.
Proton has not made any impact outside Malaysia and with domestic sales dwindling it is a monumental task for them to claw back any kind of momentum. Firstly they need to capture back a larger slice of the domestic market before going on to attack the overseas market. I often wonder if Proton has a 10, 15 or 20 year plan for their development and marketing. It seems everything is haphazardly done and stop gap measures are often introduced to solve some problems. With the cash pile that Proton had during the 1990s Proton should have gone on to team up with foreign automotive engineering companies to develop new models and build on that momentum. Instead a lot was wasted on silly ventures such as on the MV Augusta motorcycle and Lotus. Both companies bled out Proton plus employing far too many useless engineers to do simple jobs.
Dr. Mahathir has to face reality and let go of his huge ego and shut down Proton if it cannot compete. He is already in his 90s and he will not live that much longer. there is no shame in shutting down his pet project that has become a national burden.

All the signs are there to show that Proton should not be in existence today.
1. small domestic market
2. poor engineering and design
3. poor quality control
4. limited technology transfer from Lotus
5. few export markets buying Proton cars
6. Out of date technology
7. dwindling local sales
8. low local confidence
9. poor engineering expertise
10. lack of innovation