Volvo and MG are brands that have been around for more than 60 years with both brands now being owned by Chinese investors. The fortune for these 2 brands really turned around since the take over and having access to the world's largest car market helped tremendously.
Volvo has gone from strength to strength since the take over and the new models introduced in the last year has impressed the automotive industry worldwide. It is no longer dubbed as the boring Swedish log as the new models offer a lot of new innovative technology but yet it did not stray away from its focus on being the safest car in the world. Being safe does not necessarily mean it has to be boring and Volvo focused on shaking the boring image. The XC90, S90 and the upcoming XC60 all have plug-in hybrid technology, new impressive looking minimalist interiors and display a sense of solidity to its build quality. Volvo has definitely carved itself a unique position in the market which allows it to straddle in between BMWs and Volkswagens. It doesn't come at the high price of a BMW but it is not as cheap as the Volkswagen.
MG has also changed in the recent year since the take over and like Volvo having access to the China market made a big difference. Of course having a production base in China does help. The soon to be launched MG6 looks very impressive and would definitely help it boost the brand position in China. MG contracted out of the market before it was taken over by the Chinese but the resurgence in the brand has always been a possibility. Having much more available fund for development and design allowed MG to shine once again. Selling cars in China alone will allow it to survive but being an old brand it would only make sense for MG to once again sell in UK, Europe and Asia. MG now needs to develop more models such as SUV and large sedans to cater for a wider market.
Volvo and MG names were at risk of disappearing at one point in time. Good thing that these brands ended up in the hands of companies that would turn it around and utilise the name as well as the facility to build good cars. It would be a shame to lose such established names. The automotive industry is highly competitive and survival of the fittest the name of the game. Having just money with no plans and no vision will lead the company to nowhere.
Sunday, 24 September 2017
Wednesday, 20 September 2017
Toyota's new design direction
Toyota has finally decided to move forward with a new design direction that will see them introduce new models that look more sporty and exciting. They will do away with the old "boring" designs as instructed by the President himself Akio Toyoda. This has come very late but better late than never. It is clear that Toyota lost a lot of customer in the recent years due to their ultra conservative approach. The older generation who used to buy Toyota cars because they were made by Toyota are slowly dying off and sticking to boring traditional designs is a death wish for Toyota.
Honda, Nissan and Mazda took massive swipes at Toyota for being too conservative and it has paid dividends for these 3 cars companies. Many younger buyers jumped to better and fresher designed cars. Designing boring and conservative cars are no longer acceptable. Toyota realised this and engaged a non Japanese designer which has put a fresher look to it. Some of his designs have been questionable but he is trying to make a difference. Just like Chris Bangle made some controversial designs with BMW during his time but it allowed the brand to stand out. Love it or hate it designing a car is not easy but if it is able to stand out (without being too ugly) it will make a statement for the brand image.
Subaru in the past used to design very ugly cars but of late their car designs have improved and are less ugly and more acceptable with the wider audience. This has translated to better sales worldwide and improved its brand image.
Toyota will definitely stand to gain more from this upcoming new image and help it compete head on with Nissan, Mazda, and Honda. The design direction constantly change and in order to keep up one needs to be ahead of the game.
The soon to be launched Supra looks amazing and will be something Toyota to be proud of.
Honda, Nissan and Mazda took massive swipes at Toyota for being too conservative and it has paid dividends for these 3 cars companies. Many younger buyers jumped to better and fresher designed cars. Designing boring and conservative cars are no longer acceptable. Toyota realised this and engaged a non Japanese designer which has put a fresher look to it. Some of his designs have been questionable but he is trying to make a difference. Just like Chris Bangle made some controversial designs with BMW during his time but it allowed the brand to stand out. Love it or hate it designing a car is not easy but if it is able to stand out (without being too ugly) it will make a statement for the brand image.
Subaru in the past used to design very ugly cars but of late their car designs have improved and are less ugly and more acceptable with the wider audience. This has translated to better sales worldwide and improved its brand image.
Toyota will definitely stand to gain more from this upcoming new image and help it compete head on with Nissan, Mazda, and Honda. The design direction constantly change and in order to keep up one needs to be ahead of the game.
The soon to be launched Supra looks amazing and will be something Toyota to be proud of.
Monday, 4 September 2017
Ford Fusion Hybrid (Ford Mondeo outside USA)
I recently rented a Ford Fusion Hybrid while on a business trip in Los Angeles. The car itself was very comfortable but it seemed a bit different from Japanese or Korean hybrids. The Fusion was based on a 2.0 litre gasoline engine with a parallel hybrid system. The energy recovery was good and the batteries charged up very efficiently when you are off throttle or coasting or while braking. The battery pack wasn't big and it didn't really offer much of a performance boost. The car's performance on paper showed 188hp which is quite low for a hybrid but I believe Ford was aiming more at fuel economy rather than performance.
The car's MPG meter consistently showed 44MPG (US gallon) which was quite good. A full tank had 14 gallons and I managed 500 miles before I refuelled (I estimate that the fuel tank had about 2 gallon left before I refuelled). Considering that driving in LA we spend a lot of time on freeways the fuel economy on this car was good. The interior was typical Ford design with a special rotary knob gear selector (similar to Land Rover and Jaguar). I felt that Ford still had some catching up to do in the hybrid department since it is still not quite as good as the Camry Hybrid. The switch between electric power and gasoline engine power was quite seamless and often it was not noticeable. I would appreciate if the car had more power and torque because quite often when the car was accelerating to meet the freeway speeds from an on-ramp the car felt slow.
Other hybrids like the Camry or the Hyundai Sonata had much more punch compared to the Ford. Delivering good fuel economy does not have to come at the expense of performance as demonstrated by other hybrids. I feel that Ford pushed a little too far into the fuel economy direction and forgot about extracting more performance.
It would seem like Ford would need another generation of development before it was on par with Toyota, Honda or even Hyundai when it comes to making hybrids. Nevertheless it is still a good effort by Ford and they needed to jump on the bandwagon to show that their cars are fuel efficient and can compete with others. Since diesel cars are still not popular in America going with a diesel hybrid would be out of the question. Mercedes's E300 Diesel Hybrid is probably the most fuel efficient hybrid available now. Diesel engine is already more fuel efficient than gasoline engine combined with further fuel savings with the electric motor. The combined performance is nothing short of impressive with 205hp and 500Nm of torque. A single tank of diesel can stretch up to 1000 miles which is more impressive than any other gasoline hybrid.
If Ford wants to make a real statement about fuel economy it has to be radically different and do something like the Mercedes E300 diesel hybrid. Give the buyers something to really talk about and be the champion of the fuel economy game!
The car's MPG meter consistently showed 44MPG (US gallon) which was quite good. A full tank had 14 gallons and I managed 500 miles before I refuelled (I estimate that the fuel tank had about 2 gallon left before I refuelled). Considering that driving in LA we spend a lot of time on freeways the fuel economy on this car was good. The interior was typical Ford design with a special rotary knob gear selector (similar to Land Rover and Jaguar). I felt that Ford still had some catching up to do in the hybrid department since it is still not quite as good as the Camry Hybrid. The switch between electric power and gasoline engine power was quite seamless and often it was not noticeable. I would appreciate if the car had more power and torque because quite often when the car was accelerating to meet the freeway speeds from an on-ramp the car felt slow.
Other hybrids like the Camry or the Hyundai Sonata had much more punch compared to the Ford. Delivering good fuel economy does not have to come at the expense of performance as demonstrated by other hybrids. I feel that Ford pushed a little too far into the fuel economy direction and forgot about extracting more performance.
It would seem like Ford would need another generation of development before it was on par with Toyota, Honda or even Hyundai when it comes to making hybrids. Nevertheless it is still a good effort by Ford and they needed to jump on the bandwagon to show that their cars are fuel efficient and can compete with others. Since diesel cars are still not popular in America going with a diesel hybrid would be out of the question. Mercedes's E300 Diesel Hybrid is probably the most fuel efficient hybrid available now. Diesel engine is already more fuel efficient than gasoline engine combined with further fuel savings with the electric motor. The combined performance is nothing short of impressive with 205hp and 500Nm of torque. A single tank of diesel can stretch up to 1000 miles which is more impressive than any other gasoline hybrid.
If Ford wants to make a real statement about fuel economy it has to be radically different and do something like the Mercedes E300 diesel hybrid. Give the buyers something to really talk about and be the champion of the fuel economy game!
Tuesday, 1 August 2017
Mini resurgence of sporty cars from Japan
Japan was in a bit of limbo when it came to making exciting cars. In the 1990s the Subaru WRX, Mitsubishi Evo, Honda NSX, Honda S2000, Nissan Silvia, Nissan GTR and Mazda RX-8 were hot and extremely popular. Being very tuneable made them very desirable among the young. The Japanese car makers were enjoying great success with these sporty models. Then came the 2000s where the slump him them hard. There was no real excitement coming from the Japanese car makers, Nissan had the 350Z which was not particularly exciting, Toyota had a very poor performing Celica and Honda had the Civic Type R which was not very exciting.
Now there is a glimmer of hope with Honda introducing their new Civic Type R FK8 with a 320hp engine and being very tuneable is definitely something people will look forward to. Apart from Honda, Toyota is going to launch the new Supra in the Tokyo Motorshow. The Supra is heavily based on the BMW Z4, nevertheless it is still something new from Toyota. However there is still no news from Mazda or Nissan for a new sports model. Nissan's 370Z is getting old and the GT-R's replacement is expected to be launched in 2019. Mazda have been talking about the RX-8 replacement but this is all just rumours.
While the Japanese car makers were sleeping the Germans have been capitalising on making affordable sporty cars which was once dominated by the Japanese. Even in Japan turbo charged BMW's, VW and Audis are selling well since it is easy to tune and simple plug and play chips can easily boost the car's performance. The Japanese car makers need to wake up and play catch up. Despite being slow, Toyota and Honda are making some progress especially with Honda already launching several models with turbo engines. Toyota is planning to launch several Lexus models with turbo engines.
It is better late than never but they should be less conservative and be more proactive with their approach. They have the resources to build exciting cars but it is the old timers who are in the management team that is too conservative and have lost touch with the current development of the automotive market. Playing it too safe is not good and with more European competitors moving ahead playing catch up with be a bigger task the longer they delay it. Thing may start to change one day when the old management team retires and younger more dynamic people take over in the management team.
Now there is a glimmer of hope with Honda introducing their new Civic Type R FK8 with a 320hp engine and being very tuneable is definitely something people will look forward to. Apart from Honda, Toyota is going to launch the new Supra in the Tokyo Motorshow. The Supra is heavily based on the BMW Z4, nevertheless it is still something new from Toyota. However there is still no news from Mazda or Nissan for a new sports model. Nissan's 370Z is getting old and the GT-R's replacement is expected to be launched in 2019. Mazda have been talking about the RX-8 replacement but this is all just rumours.
While the Japanese car makers were sleeping the Germans have been capitalising on making affordable sporty cars which was once dominated by the Japanese. Even in Japan turbo charged BMW's, VW and Audis are selling well since it is easy to tune and simple plug and play chips can easily boost the car's performance. The Japanese car makers need to wake up and play catch up. Despite being slow, Toyota and Honda are making some progress especially with Honda already launching several models with turbo engines. Toyota is planning to launch several Lexus models with turbo engines.
It is better late than never but they should be less conservative and be more proactive with their approach. They have the resources to build exciting cars but it is the old timers who are in the management team that is too conservative and have lost touch with the current development of the automotive market. Playing it too safe is not good and with more European competitors moving ahead playing catch up with be a bigger task the longer they delay it. Thing may start to change one day when the old management team retires and younger more dynamic people take over in the management team.
Wednesday, 19 July 2017
Toyota's sales decline in Thailand
Toyota was once the king in Thailand when it came to being the most popular car brand. The title was held for a very long time until recently when Honda overtook Toyota for top sales figures. It is very surprising since Toyota has many large factories to assemble Hilux, Vios, Fortuner and Altis models. Toyota dominated Thailand's automotive industry for decades and Honda was nowhere close to challenging Toyota for sales.
Toyota really needs to rethink its strategy for South East Asia. Honda overtook Toyota in Malaysia and now Thailand. The shift will definitely start to worry Toyota's top management since their sales figures are declining. Toyota's customers seem to prefer Honda and this shift could be down to demographics of the buyers. Toyota's buyer traditionally are from the older generation and as the buyers ages their frequency in changing cars will decline. The younger generation do not look so much at the brand and prefer trendy new designs. Toyota has been labelled as old and boring while Honda has the image of the young and sporty.
Apart from the ageing models, Toyota cannot keep relying on their brand image to sell cars. They need to move with the times and improve their designs. Honda's direction is clever and they targeted the younger buyers to great effect. Even the engines and transmission have to improve to keep up with the market trends. Toyota has always been a laggard when it comes to introducing new functions and new features into their cars. This overly conservative mindset has cost them dearly.
A good example is Mercedes Benz which once was labelled as an old man's brand however, in the last 5 years the image of Mercedes Benz has changed tremendously. The new designs are aimed at the younger buy and the trendy look of the car made a massive difference. The change in direction saw Mercedes steal many younger customers from BMW and Audi. The marketing and promotions are also aimed at the younger buyers. All this effort paid off for Mercedes and it hit record sales 2 years in a row.
Toyota can do something similar to Mercedes but the question will again fall back to its ultra conservative management. If Toyota wants to remain relevant to the younger generation it has to reinvent itself and move with the times. Merely putting a car together with an out of date engine and old gearbox will no longer cut it. Competition is much stiffer now and relying on brand alone is not going to help.
Toyota really needs to rethink its strategy for South East Asia. Honda overtook Toyota in Malaysia and now Thailand. The shift will definitely start to worry Toyota's top management since their sales figures are declining. Toyota's customers seem to prefer Honda and this shift could be down to demographics of the buyers. Toyota's buyer traditionally are from the older generation and as the buyers ages their frequency in changing cars will decline. The younger generation do not look so much at the brand and prefer trendy new designs. Toyota has been labelled as old and boring while Honda has the image of the young and sporty.
Apart from the ageing models, Toyota cannot keep relying on their brand image to sell cars. They need to move with the times and improve their designs. Honda's direction is clever and they targeted the younger buyers to great effect. Even the engines and transmission have to improve to keep up with the market trends. Toyota has always been a laggard when it comes to introducing new functions and new features into their cars. This overly conservative mindset has cost them dearly.
A good example is Mercedes Benz which once was labelled as an old man's brand however, in the last 5 years the image of Mercedes Benz has changed tremendously. The new designs are aimed at the younger buy and the trendy look of the car made a massive difference. The change in direction saw Mercedes steal many younger customers from BMW and Audi. The marketing and promotions are also aimed at the younger buyers. All this effort paid off for Mercedes and it hit record sales 2 years in a row.
Toyota can do something similar to Mercedes but the question will again fall back to its ultra conservative management. If Toyota wants to remain relevant to the younger generation it has to reinvent itself and move with the times. Merely putting a car together with an out of date engine and old gearbox will no longer cut it. Competition is much stiffer now and relying on brand alone is not going to help.
Tuesday, 11 July 2017
Poor sales of Toyota in Malaysia
Once upon a time Toyota was one of the top selling brand of cars in Malaysia. This ended last year when Honda beat it to the top selling foreign brand in Malaysia. Honda didn't just beat Toyota, it made Toyota's sales figures look low. This was unheard of and is completely new in Malaysia. The problem is with the Toyota management's approach in handling the product planning and sales in South East Asia. Among the South East Asian countries such as Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines and Vietnam. Malaysia has the most matured automotive industry and having English as one of its main language makes it easier for information to be shared.
Toyota took the conservative route in the last 20 years and have been dumping out of date technology into the region. The models which are sold are usually assembled in either Thailand, Malaysia (previously) and Indonesia. The models usually will carry very old engines and transmissions and old chassis. Models like the Vios may be current in Asia but the engines are over 20 years old. This is the same for the Innova. It may sell well in Indonesia but the buyers in Malaysia are becoming more discerning and they have moved on. Toyota ended up catering for the older generation that still believe in the Toyota brand regardless if the car has new or old technology.
Honda on the other hand decided to push forward with innovative designs and caught Toyota napping. The models like the HR-V and the BR-V have been a great success. The HR-V alone sold more than 11,000 units since its launch last year. The Honda Civic is also a run away success with the new design that has captured the interest of many young buyers.
Toyota is not set to introduce any new models this year and this could be a real problem for them. No new models means no new interest and this would definitely affect their sales. The new models will only introduced in 2018 and that being the new CH-R. It may be a little too late since Honda would have taken the bulk of their customers a year ahead.
I am not sure why Toyota is so conservative but with the younger generation looking for more trendy cars and innovative designs, Toyota is struggling to follow.
Toyota took the conservative route in the last 20 years and have been dumping out of date technology into the region. The models which are sold are usually assembled in either Thailand, Malaysia (previously) and Indonesia. The models usually will carry very old engines and transmissions and old chassis. Models like the Vios may be current in Asia but the engines are over 20 years old. This is the same for the Innova. It may sell well in Indonesia but the buyers in Malaysia are becoming more discerning and they have moved on. Toyota ended up catering for the older generation that still believe in the Toyota brand regardless if the car has new or old technology.
Honda on the other hand decided to push forward with innovative designs and caught Toyota napping. The models like the HR-V and the BR-V have been a great success. The HR-V alone sold more than 11,000 units since its launch last year. The Honda Civic is also a run away success with the new design that has captured the interest of many young buyers.
Toyota is not set to introduce any new models this year and this could be a real problem for them. No new models means no new interest and this would definitely affect their sales. The new models will only introduced in 2018 and that being the new CH-R. It may be a little too late since Honda would have taken the bulk of their customers a year ahead.
I am not sure why Toyota is so conservative but with the younger generation looking for more trendy cars and innovative designs, Toyota is struggling to follow.
Flying cars are coming and drones
The idea of the flying car is not new. We all saw concepts and ideas of flying cars in movies more than 30 years ago. We all even saw flying cars in cartoons like the Jetsons. Flying cars is definitely something many people are looking forward to but the pitfalls are waiting for them. Like Elon Musk said it is far too dangerous for it to work in reality. The reason for it is that in the event the engines or propulsion systems fail the car will simply fall out of the sky and crash killing the occupants and anybody directly below.
Unlike normal cars, the flying car has no road or track for it to rest on. The fail safe system is only as good as the design and the reliability of the hardware. Traffic congestion is the main reason for the flying car to potentially become a reality soon. Several companies have developed working prototypes that can land and take off almost vertically and have an operating range of up to 600km at a speed of up to 300km/h. A Chinese inventor also developed a small flying car based on drones using 4 large propellers to provide lift and forward propulsion.
I don't foresee flying cars to be a reality for at least another 15 years unless the regulators can agree on a specific safety and operating standard. It is not easy for all regulatory bodies to agree and also for legal liabilities associated with it. Some of the big companies like Google and Apple are rumoured to have invested in Flying Car technology. Chinese company that owns Geely is said to have bought over an American company that has the working flying car prototype. It is undoubtedly a bold move but is the public ready for this?
Like cars on the road, the movement and travel of the flying car has to be monitored and control. Without any flow control it cause congestion in the air as well as on the ground. I know many who would dream of using a flying car as their daily means of transport to avoid traffic especially in heavily congested cities like LA, tokyo, Manila. Bangkok, Jakarta or New York.
The cost will be a prohibiting factor for the time being since the first prototype was a quoted at over US$200,000 each. Only the rich will be able to afford it and it will take time for the cost to drop before it is more affordable for the masses.
The other possibility is the creation of a larger drone capable of carrying 1 or 2 persons. this may be a more simple approach however it will still need to be regulated. Simply building and selling it won't be practical and when accidents happen it may cause it to be banned. For now, the flying car is still nothing but a dream but this dream may become a reality sooner than we know.
Unlike normal cars, the flying car has no road or track for it to rest on. The fail safe system is only as good as the design and the reliability of the hardware. Traffic congestion is the main reason for the flying car to potentially become a reality soon. Several companies have developed working prototypes that can land and take off almost vertically and have an operating range of up to 600km at a speed of up to 300km/h. A Chinese inventor also developed a small flying car based on drones using 4 large propellers to provide lift and forward propulsion.
I don't foresee flying cars to be a reality for at least another 15 years unless the regulators can agree on a specific safety and operating standard. It is not easy for all regulatory bodies to agree and also for legal liabilities associated with it. Some of the big companies like Google and Apple are rumoured to have invested in Flying Car technology. Chinese company that owns Geely is said to have bought over an American company that has the working flying car prototype. It is undoubtedly a bold move but is the public ready for this?
Like cars on the road, the movement and travel of the flying car has to be monitored and control. Without any flow control it cause congestion in the air as well as on the ground. I know many who would dream of using a flying car as their daily means of transport to avoid traffic especially in heavily congested cities like LA, tokyo, Manila. Bangkok, Jakarta or New York.
The cost will be a prohibiting factor for the time being since the first prototype was a quoted at over US$200,000 each. Only the rich will be able to afford it and it will take time for the cost to drop before it is more affordable for the masses.
The other possibility is the creation of a larger drone capable of carrying 1 or 2 persons. this may be a more simple approach however it will still need to be regulated. Simply building and selling it won't be practical and when accidents happen it may cause it to be banned. For now, the flying car is still nothing but a dream but this dream may become a reality sooner than we know.
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