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3 Nov 2013

AUSTRALIA - Jaguar F-Type needs to respond to Porsche price cuts.

Jaguar F-Type needs to respond to Porsche price cuts.

Price cuts and/or feature upgrades are a chance for the Jaguar F-Type despite strong early demand for the roadster. Jaguar Land Rover Asia-Pacific boss David Blackhall says Porsche's price cuts in response to the launch of the F-Type earlier this year prompted JLR to re-evaluate.

The results seems to say (Porsche) took a look at the car and the segment and thought ‘We're going to protect our turf'." Blackhall says. 'We were comfortable with where the F-Type's price and position ended up but when the goalposts moved, we've had to respond to that."

The F-Type Jaguar is priced between the Porsche Boxster and 911 cabrio, ranging from $138,645 for the base supercharged V6 to $201,945 for the V8 S. The Boxster range starts at $101,500 while the 911 drop-top kicks off at $228,900.

Former Porsche Australia head Michael Winkler will take over local JLR operations from November 11. His appointment comes at a time when demand for Land Rovers and Range Rovers is outstripping supply. 'We would sell in Australia almost anything we can get across the entire Land Rover range except Defender," Blackhall says.

The first shipment of 40 F-Types for Australia was pre-sold and Blackhall says a second batch of 80 also will be a sellout. 'The F-Type was never going to be a volume-seller but it is a halo car for the brand and we'll defend its position in the segment as required," Blackhall says.

Quizzed as to whether basic options - such as dual-zone aircon, manual activation of the active sports exhaust and reversing camera - would be standard to bolster the value-for-money equation, Blackhall says: 'That's all on the table as part of this review. We won't rule

REPORT HERE

19 Sept 2013

New Honda Mobilio and Brio for Indonesia

Honda Unveils Honda Mobilio Prototype at Indonesia International Motor Show, a New Multi-Purpose Vehicle (MPV) for Asian Markets

JAKARTA, Indonesia, September 19, 2013 - P.T. Honda Prospect Motor (HPM), Honda's automobile manufacturing and sales joint venture in Indonesia, today exhibited the world premiere of a prototype of Honda Mobilio, the new multi-purpose vehicle (MPV) developed exclusively for Asian markets, at the 21st Indonesia International Motor Show held in Jakarta, Indonesia from September 19 through 29, 2013. Other Honda vehicles on display include the Brio Satya, which will qualify for the Low Cost Green Car (LCGC) program implemented by the Indonesian government.

Honda Mobilio prototype

Brio Satya

The Honda Mobilio will be Honda's first model to be introduced in the lower priced MPV category, which is the best-selling category in the automobile market in Indonesia. Honda developed this model based on the research conducted in Indonesia regarding local road and weather conditions, and customer needs. While offering a spacious cabin space with a three row seat configuration for seven occupants, the Honda Mobilio features a compact-sized body fitting the general size of parking spaces in Indonesia which are of less than 4.4 m in length. Moreover, taking local road surface conditions into consideration, the Honda Mobilio features a ground clearance as high as 185mm, which is equivalent to the ground clearance of SUVs while achieving nimble driving performance. Equipped with a 1.5L i-VTEC� 4-cylinder gasoline engine, the Honda Mobilio will go on sales realizing both excellent driving performance and fuel economy. Production will be at the second plant of HPM which will become operational in January 2014 in the Karawang region of Indonesia.

The Brio Satya, which Honda introduced on September 11, 2013 prior to the motor show, is equipped with a 1.2L i-VTEC gasoline engine, achieving more than 20 km/L low fuel economy, which will qualify for LCGC program. This model will also be produced locally at the Karawang plant of HPM, realizing local content as high as 85%. To coincide with the production of the Brio Satya, HPM will expand the annual production capacity of its existing plant from the current 70,000 units to 80,000 units. Combined with the capacity of the second plant, which will become operational in early 2014, the overall annual production capacity of HPM will reach 200,000 units.

In addition to these new models, HPM exhibited the next-generation super sports model NSX Concept, as well as the new Brio Sports (1.3L), a successor model to the Thai-made Brio which became the best-selling vehicle in its class with sales of approximately 15,000 units* in the first 12 months since August 2012 in Indonesia.

*Honda Caluculations as of August 2013

Comment by Takanobu Ito, President and CEO of Honda Motor Co., Ltd.:
"The Honda Mobilio is the first model Honda has developed especially for the Indonesian market. Working closely with Honda operations here to study the unique needs of Indonesian customers, this Honda Mobilio will fulfill the dreams of Indonesian customers for an affordable family car featuring Honda's high standard of quality. We will continue to support the expansion of Honda business in Indonesia by introducing new products that meet the needs of our Indonesian customers."

28 May 2013

TANK moto magazine - premier issue

Cool!
Found the premier issue of TANK moto in my mailbox this week, thanks guys!
From the makers of the very nice FUEL magazine.
TANK moto is a 100% two wheeld sister puplication.
Size, stock, page count, all stand side by side.
TANK moto's editor is Geoff Baldwin. He is successfully running the Return of the cafe Racers blog for 7 years now and is organizer of the Oil Stained Brain event.

Printed on very nice paper. 145 pages packed with beautifull shots of cool bikes. It's not just cafe racers but all customs with two wheels. Bobbers, choppers, flat trackers, classic racers etc. Great selection in this first issue.
In this issue they got in touch with Jim Phillips and he shared his story about his time at Tracy's Fiberglas Works. Great story with loads of cool pics and nice art work.
Get your issue here