Toyota to introduce three “new-to-market” green vehicles in 2012

Toyota FT-EV Concept

Sources inside Toyota said that the company plans to introduce three “new-to-market” green vehicles in 2012. Joining the upcoming plug-in version of the Toyota Prius will be a battery electric vehicle (BEV) and a yet-to-be-unveiled variant of the Prius

We’re guessing the Prius variant vehicle will the much talked about MPV version of the hybrid, while the BEV will be an electric-version of the Toyota iQ (seen in the FT-EV Concept pictured here), which is currently being sold under the Scion badge in the United States. The Prius vehicle will kick of the creation of an ongoing family lineup of vehicles that will carry a Prius badge.-egmcartech.

Spy Shots: Hyundai HB small car

Autoesporte has recently revealed the images of Hyundai HB. The source is claimed to be someone very close to automaker in South Korea.

The HB is a small car developed for the South American market. The experts are expecting this car to come to India as well as the South American markets are pretty similar to that of India’s.-rushlane.

Proton Exora 25th Anniversary Edition – limited to 25 units!

Proton unveiled a special trio of cars at its 25th anniversary celebration gala dinner tonight. This is one of the three – the Proton Exora 25th Anniversary Edition, which is joined by a Persona 25th Anniversary Edition and a Saga 25th Anniversary Edition. Each model will only be available in 25 units.

All three sport a similiar design theme said to be inspired by a tiger’s face. They’re all finished in a Pearl White exclusive to these commemorative models. There’s a very thin and subtle line on the side of the car following the shoulder from the front all the way to the rear, to represent a tiger’s stripe. The ‘stripe’ ends at the rear with a small 25th Anniversary logo. They come with uniquely designed alloy wheels. The ‘mouth’ of the vehicle is blacked out, which actually reminds me of SEAT’s Bocanegra front end styling.

What’s most special is the interior, which is done in a nice brown colour with the 25th Anniversary logo embossed in the headrests. They may not look that great or represent how they look like in real life in the photos we have for you as lighting conditions was really bad at the dinner hall but they really give the interior a more upmarket feel, though I feel it would be even better if the dash material was made darker. I’ve seen similiar brown leather in the Passat CC and the E90 3-Series offered here in Malaysia.

Externally, there’s a subtle bodykit and I can see that the front bumper has chrome surrounds at the foglamps similiar to the Exora Prestige bumper.

The Exora’s head unit has been replaced with a widescreen unit with touch screen control. I didn’t get a chance to play with the head unit but from the photos I managed to snap I can see logos for SD card and USB, together with your usual disc loading slot at the top. The widescreen display is also used to display video feeds from a reverse camera as well as GPS navigation screens.

For the second row passengers, there’s individual LCD screens integrated into the front seat headrests. I’m not sure where these LCD screens get their input source from but I did find that they have USB ports built into them, so perhaps they are able to load MP3 and MP4 files. We’ll find out more about the extra specs for you later when we get the chance.

Speaking of the second row, the seats have been modified so that the second row consists of two ‘captain seats’ with spacing between them as compared to the usual tumble-forward bench.

And how much for all this you ask? The Proton Exora 25th Anniversary Edition costs quite a premium over the regular Exora – RM91,998. Bookings will open from the 12th of July onwards at all Proton showrooms nationwide, but if you want to see the limited edition cars you’ll have to come to the Centre of Excellence showroom by the KESAS highway.-paultan.

Spy Shots: MINI Clubman S Hybrid

MINI must have some moderately evil geniuses in their skunkworks, as this MINIClubman S Hybrid is the second prototype spotted since April. The last one was a hydrogen-fueled hybrid wearing a BMW skin, but this time, it's a full-on MINI, and it's not using star juice.

Though we can only guess that the hybrid system is some combination of existing MINI gas-burner plus an electric drive. It's certainly a hybrid, however, if the stickers down each door are to be trusted.

The look of the hybrid MINI is a bit different from the standard model, with a new front clip featuring larger air intakes and a side-pipe exhaust setup. We're betting the side pipes won't make it to production. Likewise, the Clubman platform may not be the choice for retail units--it may simply offer more room for onboard testing and evaluation equipment.

While this vehicle may be a test mule for a hybrid headed to production, it could also just be an engineering prototype or testbed for research. On the other hand, a MINI hybrid could take the fight to Honda's CR-Z, delivering both fuel efficiency and what the CR-Z lacks: a truly sporty hatchback platform.

We'll keep our eyes peeled and our spy photographers' lenses focused to bring the latest as it happens.-motorauthority.

BNM naikkan kadar faedah lagi sebanyak 0.25%

Rugilah kepada mereka yang masih tertunggu-tunggu & ternanti-nanti nak beli Exora turbo atau exora MC. Kadar faedah dah naik lagi semalam tapi tak apa sebab masih ada masa lagi kerana bank-bank masih belum naikkan lagi kadar faedah. Dijangka bank-bank akan mula menaikkan kadar faedah pada minggu hadapan. Cepat exorian semua...cepat pergi booking.