Suzuki Motor Corporation is pleased to announce its support for the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) Cup as the tournament’s title sponsor.

The AFF Suzuki Cup 2008 is the biggest football tournament in the ASEAN region since 1996. Aimed at raising the standard of ASEAN football to a world-class level and at making football more popular in the region, it will decide the top footballing nation among the AFF’s 11 members: Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, and Timor-Leste.

The preliminary competition for the AFF Suzuki Cup 2008 will begin on 17 October in Cambodia. The finals will be played from 5 to 28 December in Thailand, Indonesia, and other ASEAN countries.

Suzuki is also supporting a wide range of other sporting events including the East Asian Football Championship 2008 and the QUALIFIERS 2010™ which is a football sponsorship package consisting 170 of the 268 matches of European qualification. Through ongoing support for events embodying the same excitement and passion for life that are communicated by Suzuki’s global “Way of Life!” slogan, Suzuki aims to heighten its brand awareness and convey its passion for making great vehicles to sport fans around the world.

Source: Suzuki Motor Corporation

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Mitsubishi Motors Corporation will unveil its new Pajero Sport

1 SUV model at the Moscow Auto Salon 2008 (The Moscow Motor Show) to be held at the Crocus Expo in Moscow between August 26 and September 7 (opens to the public on August 29). The new Pajero Sport will be phased in selected regions2 such as Russia, the ASEAN area, the Middle East, Latin America and Oceania starting in the fall this year. *1 The model will carry a different name in different markets: Montero Sport in South America, Nativa in Latin America and Challenger in Australia.

*2 The new Pajero Sport will neither be sold in Central & Western Europe nor in North America, where other types of SUVs are favored.

The new Pajero Sport features dynamic and sporty exterior lines, complemented by a stylish and vast interior space that engenders a sense of comfort, purpose and safety. This cabin, available in either a 2-row (5-passenger) or 3-row (7-passenger) seating configuration is also very practical with water-repellent seats and a waterproof luggage compartment floor, ideal for leisure use.

Mitsubishi’s latest SUV will be powered by a choice of three engines which all deliver outstanding motive performance and fuel economy: 2.5-liter and 3.2-liter common rail direct injection diesel units and a 3.5-liter V6 gasoline unit*3.

In terms of architecture, the body of the Pajero Sport is mounted on a new ladder frame to realize high levels of durability and reliability, consistent with the needs of its target markets.

Mitsubishi’s All Wheel Control philosophy, forged through its participation in the Dakar Rally and other contests, informs all of the company’s 4WD systems. The new model will use the Super Select 4WD system, also used in the Pajero*4 SUV, which transmits drive torque effectively to all four wheels on all types of surface. The body, frame and driveline not only give Pajero Sport outstanding off-road performance but allow it to deliver excellent drive dynamics over all surfaces.

The choice of the Moscow Motor Show to unveil the new Pajero Sport is a clear indication of Russia’s eminent position within Mitsubishi Motors. In fiscal 2007 Mitsubishi Motors sold some 100,000 vehicles on the Russian market, boosted by the ever successful Lancer line-up and a popular range of SUVs.

MMC is confident that the new Pajero Sport SUV will make a strong addition to its SUV range, which also includes the Pajero and Outlander. Coming on the heels of the introduction of the Lancer*5 sports sedan last year, this will allow MMC to expand SUV sales and hit a total sales volume of 140,000 units on the Russian market in fiscal 2008.

Pajero Sport

Pajero Sport

Source: Mitsubishi Motors Corporation

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Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd. announces the completion of a new cast wheel production facility in the premises of Yamaha Motor Parts Manufacturing Vietnam Co., Ltd. (YPMV) in response to the growing demand for cast motorcycle wheels in the ASEAN region. Transition to the new facility will be completed and manufacturing will begin in September 2008.

YPMV’s new specialized cast wheel production facility features three die casting machines that will operate as part of a comprehensive casting, processing and painting production process with the capacity to turn out 600,000 cast wheels annually. The investment for the construction and outfitting of the new facility and subsequent transfer of production is approximately 1.5 billion yen.

Cast wheels have become the mainstream wheels of choice for motorcycles in advanced markets due to their advantages in design freedom, processing ease and cost performance. In the ASEAN region with its growing motorcycle demand, there is also an increasing preference for cast wheels as opposed to conventional spoke wheels that have been predominant in the region. As evidence of this trend, the percentage of Yamaha motorcycles fitted with cast wheels has grown from 13% in 2004 to 44% in 2007 in the five ASEAN nations of Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, the Philippines and Malaysia.

Yamaha Motor has met this demand thus far with cast wheels produced at PT. Yamaha Motor Parts Manufacturing Indonesia (YPMI) and wheels from external makers. Plans call for the cast wheels produced at the new YPMV facility to be supplied to Yamaha Motor Vietnam Co., Ltd., the Yamaha Motor group manufacturing company in Vietnam, as well as to group bases in Thailand and the Philippines.

In the company’s current, three-year medium-term management plan covering the period from 2008 to 2010, the ASEAN market is designated as a growth market for which the group will be aggressively investing corporate resources to “introduce attractive new products,” implemet aggressive promotions,” “strengthen sales networks” and “expand production capacities.” The aim of these activities is to increase motorcycle unit sales to 4.3 million units annually by 2010, a 50% increase from 2007.

Source: Yamaha Motors Co. Ltd.

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On the outskirts of the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur, Sepang International Circuit (1 lap – 5.542kms) played host to Round 4 of the SUPER GT series. Starting from a fourth-place qualifying result, the WOODONE ADVAN Clarion GT-R (#24 – Joao Paolo de Oliveira/Seiji Ara) took the win. In second place, the pole-starting MOTUL AUTECH GT-R, (#22 – Michael Krumm/Masataka Yanagida) came second, resulting in a resounding 1-2 finish for the NISSAN GT-R. From four rounds this season, this is the third victory for the NISSAN supercar. KONDO Racing was also victorious last year; that win coming in a NISSAN Z. It is the team’s second successive Sepang victory.

However, the WOODONE ADVAN Clarion GT-R, from the winners here last year, KONDO Racing, also moved up to third place immediately after the start, and after the penalty was taken by the #1 car, moved securely into 2nd place. In addition, the driver who took over in the second half of the race, Seiji Ara pushed the #24 car onto the tail of the leading GT-R, presenting the chance of getting by. And so with both cars’ tyres coming to the end of their grip, a momentary chance presented itself on lap 50. Ara, through a decisive maneuvere, was instantly through. From there he made his escape, the accomplishment giving the team their first victory of the season. In addition to the 100kgs of success ballast on the XANAVI NISMO GT-R (#23 – Satoshi Motoyama/Benoit Treluyer), an additional 75kgs imposed in the form of a smaller diameter air restrictor meant the car was unable to show it’s true performance in official qualifying, and suffered as a result. After qualifying 15th, Benoit Treluyer took the start and made his way round, putting in the laps. For the second half of the race, Satoshi Motoyama took the wheel, giving chase to the cars ahead, though was unable to advance significantly. He brought the car home in 13th place. Sebastien Philippe took the start in the #12 CALSONIC IMPUL GT-R, though contact with the #32 NSX on the opening lap forced him into a spin. As a result, he had to return to the pits because of trouble in the engine compartment. Repairs meant lost time and the car dropped back. Tsugio Matsuda took over the reins for the second half, the car crossing the line in 14th place. The #3 YellowHat YMS TOMICA GT-R (Ronnie Quintarelli/Naoki Yokomizo) qualified ninth. After battling with other cars, it reached the flag in 9th place. Source: Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. If you are looking for Japanese used vehicles exporters, please visit : http://www.japanautopages.com/business_type/exporter.php Technorati tags: Nissan, Racing Car

There was a drop in the number of cars imported in Malaysia last year following the move to assemble imported cars locally as well as weak market for passenger cars, according to media reports on the Internet.

The number of cars imported in Malaysia last year was 38,121 units compared with 50,857 units in 2005.

Several models of South Korean cars such as Kia, Hyundai and Ssangyong are being now assembled in Malaysia.

Toyota was the most popular model of imported cars with a total of 13,417 units followed by Mercedes Benz-4,146 and Honda-3,060.