This afternoon, the automotive grapevine has been veritably buzzing in Malaysia, with the news that the Chinese auto manufacturer has been the successful of the two bidders to take over Malaysia’s ailing national car manufacturer, Proton, from DRB-Hicom. Geely, who also owns Sweden’s Volvo Group and the London Taxi Company, is said to have taken a 49.9% share in the Malaysian company.
Parking bays in ALL buildings in Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia, may well become a thing of the past if the Dewan Bandaraya KL (City Hall) gets its way and bans them. Presently, there is actually a city ordinance that mandates that all new developments have to include a set number of parking bays in all new developments. This policy of course actually encourages drivers to bring their cars into the city as parking is cheap and plentiful, which of course adds to congestion. This ordinance looks like it is to be scrapped, although it is not clear whether owners of buildings that currently have parking lots will have to close them.
Over the weekend, if you had been looking for stories on motorised racing, you would have been swamped with stories on the glitzy and glamorous world of Formula One and how it did in Spain. At the other end of the racing spectrum, though, is a group of petrolheads with just as much passion and love of the adrenaline buzz from the physical challenge of racing, and of course last weekend was the season opener.
Car vending machines are nothing new. There was this one in Nashville and this one in China, which made the news and our blog a few years ago. But this time, this one is bigger, and it dispenses luxury cars only. Located in our neighbouring country, Singapore, where the rich goes to live and play, it makes sense that Autobahn Motors wanted a glass car vending machine; if you had 60 beautiful machines – Ferrari’s, Porshe’s, Bentley’s and the like – in your stockpile, it would be a pity…no, a SIN…to keep them in a warehouse under covers, when it can be displayed for all to admire…and covet.
Two Hollywood A-listers have signed on to star in the upcoming Lamborghini biopic, with Antonio Banderas in the titular role of Ferruccio Lamborghini and Alec Baldwin starring as Ferruccio’s fiercest rival, Enzo Ferrari. Considering that the movie will be based on the biography written by Ferruccio’s son, Tonino Lamborghini, titled Ferruccio Lamborghini. La Storia Ufficiale (The Official Story), we can expect a favourable portrayal.
There are many adjectives you could use to describe Toyota – “sensible” or “dependable” both spring to mind. But boring should no longer be used to describe the cars manufactured by the second largest manufacturer in the world; well, that is according to Akio Toyoda, the CEO of Toyota.