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Category: Automotive

Retail News Asia is committed to providing both local and global retailers with the latest Auto and Car news throughout the Asian market. This on a daily base.

  • My Porsche App Now Integrated With Apple CarPlay

    My Porsche App Now Integrated With Apple CarPlay

    Porsche has expanded the functionality of the My Porsche App by integrating it with Apple CarPlay. This added functionality has established Porsche as the first automotive manufacturer to integrate vehicle functions into the CarPlay experience.

    The My Porsche App serves as a centralized hub for the digital management and control of vehicles. With this update, users can now access a range of vehicle functions directly within CarPlay. The integration brings features like real-time battery charge status, climate control adjustments, audio settings, such as sound profiles and radio station selection,  and ambient lighting adjustments. and seamless navigation input.

    Additionally, these functions can be combined into preset “wellness modes,” such as “relax,” “warm-up,” and “refresh,” accessible via quick actions within CarPlay. Furthermore, users can control various vehicle functions using Siri while driving their Porsche.

    Moreover, the My Porsche App integrates with third-party platforms like Apple Music, enabling users to access their associated apps directly through the Porsche Communication Management system.

    The updated app also displays images of the specific Porsche model within the CarPlay interface.

    To get started with this the user has to only do a quick QR code scan displayed on the PCM. As the new features get developed within the Carplay, the customers will get updates to their My Porsche App. The updated functionality has debuted in the new Porsche Cayenne, which is available now and will be rolled out to other Porsche model lines.

    “We are excited to further improve the My Porsche App and use the capabilities of Apple CarPlay to deliver a truly enhanced customer experience,” says Mattias Ulbrich, CEO of Porsche Digital and CIO of Porsche AG. “Technology and digitization are crucial factors for the enduring fascination of our brand – now and in the next 75 years.”

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  • South Korea’s Hyosung motorbikes come to Vietnam

    South Korea’s Hyosung motorbikes come to Vietnam

    South Korean motorbike brand Hyosung has come to Vietnam with the GV300R, a 300 cc vehicle whose prices start at VND148 million (US$6,200).

    It has a 29.5-horsepower engine, a smart key, an LCD screen, and a pillion that costs around VND5 million.

    The motorbikes are manufactured in China.

    Hyosung belongs KR Motors, a company established in 1978 in South Korea.

    At first it partnered with Japan’s Suzuki and assembled the latter’s products. But it established its own research and development unit in 1986 and has since been making its own motorbikes.

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  • Siri can now remotely lock your Tesla’s doors and much more

    Siri can now remotely lock your Tesla’s doors and much more

    Over the weekend, the Tesla app in the App Store was updated to version 4.24.0 and the changelist included one sentence: “Access your vehicle controls and climate from the Apple Shortcuts app.” But within that small sentence is a big change. Previously, Tesla owners could remotely handle certain tasks through the Tesla app. But with the update, the Tesla app now integrates with the Apple Shortcuts app allowing Tesla owners to say “Hey Siri” on their iPhone or Apple Watch to lock and unlock the door of their Tesla vehicles remotely, and more.
    The list of supported shortcuts, will allow you to say “Hey Siri” to get your Tesla to start and stop charging; start and stop preconditioning; open and close the trunk, the front trunk, and the charge port; enable and disable Sentry Mode and Dog Mode; and as we previously noted, it will remotely lock and unlock the doors. It also will allow Tesla users to control some basic functions via their iPhones.
    Two paid apps in the App Store, Tessie, and Watch app for Tesla, allow you to use Siri Shortcuts on your iPhone or Apple Watch to control your Tesla. But now that this ability is found in the native Tesla app for free, Tesla owners can ask Siri to remotely perform some tasks for their car without having to pay for that convenience. It should be pointed out that the Shortcuts app allows iPhone users to use both ready-made and custom shortcuts to handle tasks by asking Siri to perform them.

    Apple continues to slowly but surely take Tesla under its wing. In December, Apple Music became available on Tesla as part of an update released for the holiday season. Just last month, AirPlay code was discovered in an update to the iOS Tesla app. In theory, this would suggest that in the future, an iPhone user with a Tesla might be able to “cast” his iPhone screen to the Tesla entertainment screen.

    AirPlay allows users to wirelessly stream audio, video, photos, and other content from their iPhones to a larger screen. Instead of using Bluetooth to stream their music over the speakers on their Tesla vehicles, users could rely on AirPlay instead.
  • Ola Electric Announces MoveOS 4

    Ola Electric Announces MoveOS 4

    Ola Electric has announced a software upgrade for all Ola scooters. This latest software upgrade packs a lot of features and enhancements to the already existing features and functionalities. The company says the beta release for MoveOS 4 will take place on September 15th, followed by a public rollout somewhere around late October.

    Ola Electric has introduced their in-house developed Ola Maps, while the scooters are currently using ‘MapMyIndia’. Alongside this, some additional new features are Geofencing, Timefencing, Ride Journal, Concert mode and hill descent control system.

    To address the safety concern Ola Electric has introduced a tamper alert system that notifies both owners and bystanders in case any tampering is detected. The other features include personalised proximity settings, auto turn indicator cut-off, new trip metres, and headphone controls for music and calls. “Take-me-home” lights and favourite contacts have also been seamlessly integrated into the scooter’s functionalities.

    Ola has also introduced ‘Garage mode’ that facilitates the centralised control of multiple Ola electric scooters through a single interface. The company will also be offering application widgets and cruise control in Eco Mode. The company introduced the energy insight feature that provides users with deeper insights such as distance travelled, Fuel Saved and CO2 savings. Which will help users to track their energy consumption patterns.

    The company has made a significant change in the overall application itself, featuring a sleek dark mode for improved user experience. Over-the-air (OTA) updates can now be seamlessly implemented. The application will also be updated and will have features, including a hill hold setting, regen setting, and call settings.  The company says the application will now support biometric app lock options, which will use facial recognition or fingerprint authentication to open the app.

    A few enhancements are done to the pre-existing features such as regeneration, hill hold, charging time prediction, riding range etc. Also with MoveOS 4 document syncing, contact syncing, pairing, and touch response is now faster. Hypercharging has also been improved.

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  • VinFast becomes 3rd biggest EV maker globally

    VinFast becomes 3rd biggest EV maker globally

    VinFast has become the third most valuable electric vehicle maker behind Tesla and BYD with a market cap of US$85 billion.

    Its shares listed on the U.S.’s Nasdaq stock exchange Tuesday at $22 and closed at over $37 billion.

    VinFast’s market cap is higher than all EV startups in the U.S. combined.

    It also exceeds that of Ford Motor, GM, BMW, Volkswagen, and Mercedes-Benz.

    American company Tesla leads the industry with a market cap of $738 billion followed by China’s BYD with $87 billion.

    VinFast is followed by another Chinese company, Li Auto, with $40 billion.

    But data from Bloomberg shows that shares of EV companies that listed through special-purpose acquisition companies, like VinFast, have plummeted after listing.

    U.S. firms Lordstown Motors lost 99% of its value since its listing in October 2020 and Faraday Future 98% since July 2021.

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  • July auto sales 2nd highest for year

    July auto sales 2nd highest for year

    Auto sales jumped to 24,687 units in July, the second-highest monthly number this year behind only March.

    The Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers Association (VAMA), which provided the data – excluding TC Motor and VinFast sales – said however sales were down 18.4% year-on-year.

    The auto market has been going through a rough year amid low economic growth, with sales plummeting by 30% year-on-year in the first seven months to 162,000 units.

    Toyota sold 3,800 cars, a 31% decline.

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  • Okxe opens first motorbike service station in Hanoi

    Okxe opens first motorbike service station in Hanoi

    Hanoi’s first OKXE Motorbike Service Station officially opened at 92 Kham Thien on August 8.

    The station is the second Okxe to open in Vietnam since its online-to-offline (O2O) motorbike business model was put into operation in May 2022. The first was opened in HCMC at 40E Ut Tich, Ward 4, Tan Binh District.

    With an e-commerce platform specializing in trading motorbikes with strengths in AI and Big Data technology developed since 2018, Okxe Motorbike Service Station purchases and sells motorbikes with the market’s first warranty service at an affordable market price.

    In addition, the company provides professional vehicle repair services with a team of well-trained Okxe Care technicians.

    With a modern design and focus on customer experience, Okxe is confident in bringing a special type of motorbike buying and selling service, completely new and unprecedented.

    Okxe provides a clear look outside the motorbike and has strict requirements on the origin and legal documents for the purchase of a used motorbike.

    The company also ensures the quality of the product when building and putting into operation a vehicle quality inspection process consisting of 60 evaluation points for used motorbikes instead of committing to the quality of each vehicle sold at its stations.

    In addition to ensuring the quality of motorbikes sold, the Okxe Care team with experienced personnel also brings peace of mind to customers with a 1-year warranty policy worth more than VND3.3 million (US$139), including 10 comprehensive maintenance categories that apply to both used and new motorbikes.

    All services of Okxe are oriented towards the motto “Buy motorbikes easily, sell motorbikes leisurely,” providing a full range of motorbike buying and selling solutions, from online to offline transactions, including used and brand-new motorbikes for users with guaranteed quality and simple procedures.

    Trang Vu, Vice President of Okxe, said that after more than a year of directly participating in the motorbike business in Vietnam, the company has been recording positive signals with stable sales growth. That is also the basis for Okxe to continue its efforts to perfect the chain of products and services for users.

    “With the opening of the Motorbike Service Station in Hanoi as well as the implementation of the plan to expand the store system from now until the end of 2023, Okxe commits to providing top-quality experiences so that customers are always satisfied during the process of using our services, from considering selection, owning, and using until later transfer,” a representative of the start-up company added.

    On the occasion of opening the Motorbike Service Station in Hanoi in August 2023, Okxe is offering many attractive promotions for customers. Interested readers can read more here.

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  • Vietnamese EV maker VinFast gets go ahead for Nasdaq SPAC listin

    Vietnamese EV maker VinFast gets go ahead for Nasdaq SPAC listin

    Vietnamese electric vehicle maker VinFast said it expects to start trading on the U.S. Nasdaq as soon as next week after its merger into a special purchase acquisition company (SPAC) was approved on Thursday.

    On Thursday, shareholders of Hong Kong-based Black Spade Acquisition, a blank-check company, voted to approve the merger with VinFast.

    VinFast, in a joint statement with Black Spade, said it would list on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol VFS “on or around August 15”.

    The remaining shareholders of Black Spade approved the merger on Thursday. In July, over 80% of the shareholders in the SPAC had opted to redeem their shares before the merger.

    The SPAC merger will not raise new capital for VinFast but the company’s founder Pham Nhat Vuong has championed a U.S. listing as the carmaker seeks to expand in the U.S. market and is building a plant in North Carolina.

    The two companies said the merger had valued VinFast at $23 billion. In comparison, the current market capitalization of U.S.-listed EV makers Rivian and Lucid are $21 billion and around $17 billion, respectively.

    It leaves VinFast’s existing shareholders, including parent company Vingroup and Vuong, Vietnam’s richest man, with 99% of shares in the company.

    “The voting results today are a vote of confidence in VinFast from Black Spade shareholders,” VinFast’s global head Thuy Le said in the statement.

    VinFast had filed for an initial public offering on the Nasdaq last December, but in May announced plans to list through a merger with Black Spade.

    Other EV makers including Faraday Future, Nikola Corp and Lucid have listed via SPAC deals but the market for such deals has faced increased scrutiny from investors and regulators.

    VinFast has shipped around 3,000 EVs to the United States from its plant in Haiphong, Vietnam. It started to deliver its first VF8 EVs in March. It has not announced U.S. sales figures.

    VinFast’s first-quarter revenue dropped 49% from the previous year and it posted a net loss of $598 million. In 2022, the company posted a loss of $2.1 billion. It has not yet made a profit.

    Vuong, who is also chairman of Vingroup, Vietnam’s largest conglomerate, told Vingroup shareholders in May that VinFast expected to sell as many as 50,000 EVs this year and could break even as soon as the end of 2024.

    The company has previously missed some of its internal delivery targets. It faces competition from established rivals led by Tesla, which have been driving down prices and bringing a range of new EVs to market.

    Black Spade was founded by the private investment arm of Lawrence Ho, son of the late gambling mogul Stanley Ho.

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  • Tesla Appoints Vaibhav Taneja As Chief Financial Officer

    Tesla Appoints Vaibhav Taneja As Chief Financial Officer

    Tesla has announced that they have appointed Vaibhav Taneja as a new Chief Financial Officer (CFO). He will succeed Zachary Kirkhorn who has stepped down from the position. Taneja is of Indian descent and has been serving as the Chief Accounting Officer (CAO) of Tesla since March 2019. In addition to his new role as CFO, he will also retain his responsibilities as CAO.

    Kirkhorn will continue to support a smooth transition until the end of the year. Kirkhorn himself took to LinkedIn to announce his departure from the role of Tesla’s CFO. He shared his pride in the accomplishments made during his tenure and expressed his appreciation towards the employees and the leadership of CEO Elon Musk. Kirkhorn’s transition underscores Tesla’s steps to sustaining its momentum while integrating new leadership. Zachary served as CFO for 4 years and as a Vice President for 4 months at Tesla.

    Vaibhav Taneja’s journey within Tesla is marked by a series of progressively responsible roles. He has held the position of Corporate Controller since May 2018 and previously served as Assistant Corporate Controller from February 2017 to May 2018. His association with Tesla traces back to its acquisition of SolarCity Corporation in 2016. Taneja held various finance and accounting positions since March 2016 in SolarCity.

    Before joining Tesla, he worked at PricewaterhouseCoopers in both India and the US over a period of nearly two decades. Taneja is an alumnus of Delhi University where completed his Bachelor of Commerce (B.Com). He gained a license to practice as a Chartered Accountant (CA) from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India in 2000.

  • Chinese car Lynk & Co to come to Vietnam in October

    Chinese car Lynk & Co to come to Vietnam in October

    Lynk & Co cars will be sold in Vietnam from October, according to their distributor GreenLynk Automotive.

    The brand is jointly owned by China’s Geely and Volvo Car, who develop the cars on the compact modular architecture Evo platform with engines produced in Sweden and the vehicles assembled in China, GreenLynk said.

    Its models have serial numbers rather than names, and currently the range extends from 01 to 09.

    04 is a foldable electric scooter. GreenLynk said it would be selling 01, 03, 05 and 09. 01 is a C-segment SUV, 03 is a C-segment sedan, 05 is also a C-segment SUV but with a coupe-like hybrid design, and 09 is a midsize SUV developed with Volvo.

    GreenLynk is an affiliate of transport infrastructure developer Tasco, which fully owns car distribution giant SVC Holdings.

    It can thus take advantage of the 83 car showrooms SVC Holdings has, but has not said if it would use them for the Lynk & Co cars.

    Lynk & Co was founded by Geely in 2016, six years after it bought Volvo from Ford.

    In Europe, Lynk & Co does not sell cars in the traditional manner: Its customers do not own the cars, but pay a monthly or other usage fee.

    It is the latest Chinese car brand to enter Vietnam in the last few months after Wuling and Haval.

    According to experts, the wave of Chinese cars flooding Vietnam has become overwhelming this year though the vehicle market is dormant due to the economic situation.

     

  • 100 Tesla Model Y Cars Will Be Introduced in Japan Under Uber Premium Service

    100 Tesla Model Y Cars Will Be Introduced in Japan Under Uber Premium Service

    Uber Japan has announced a strategic partnership with local cab and hire car operator, Hinomaru Kotsu and Tesla Japan to introduce 100 Tesla Model Y vehicles into their Uber Premium fleet.

    As part of the initiative, 30 Tesla Model Y vehicles will be deployed in November 2023 at Hinomaru Kotsu’s offices in Setagaya, Edogawa, and Adachi. The fleet will subsequently expand to include affiliated companies of Hinomaru Automobile’s wireless group, bringing the total number of Model Y vehicles to 100 by the end of 2024. These vehicles will be exclusively available under Uber Premium, and a dedicated menu on the Uber app will enable users to request rides in the Tesla Model Y.

    Uber chose Tesla’s Model Y because of its cruising range, driving performance, serene quietness, and premium interior and exterior, making it an ideal choice for discerning passengers seeking an elevated travel experience.

    Furthermore, to address the concerns of charging infrastructure for long-distance taxi operations, Hinomaru Kotsu plans to implement Tesla charging solutions at their Adachi and Setagaya offices from November 2023.

    Shiro Yamanaka, General Manager Mobility Business, Uber Japan Co., Ltd. said, “I am very pleased to be able to work with Hinomaru Kotsu and Tesla Japan to promote zero-emission vehicles. Uber Premium is a service that allows you to easily and reasonably call a luxury vehicle using the Uber app. It has been very well received in the deployment area. We expect that the demand for Uber Premium will increase further with the introduction of the Tesla Model Y, which is popular as a luxury vehicle, as a dedicated vehicle.”

    Kazutaka Tomita, Representative Director of Hinomaru Kotsu Co., Ltd. said,  “We are very proud to be able to play a role in promoting the introduction of zero-emission vehicles in the taxi and hire industry together with Uber Japan and Tesla Japan. We promise to deliver safe and secure transportation to our customers with a diverse lineup of vehicles that meet the needs of our customers.”

    Ryokusai Inoue, Country Manager, Tesla Motors Japan LLC, said, “We are also focusing on the taxi and hire business, mainly in North America, and we are very pleased to be able to realize an initiative of 100 units in Japan as well. We believe that business owners will also benefit greatly from this, and we will continue to have everyone experience the appeal of Tesla and expand it widely throughout Japan, regardless of whether it is a corporation or an individual.”

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  • Czech Skoda cars available in Vietnam this September

    Czech Skoda cars available in Vietnam this September

    Skoda cars have been imported into Vietnam from the Czech Republic and will go on sale here in September, according to Skoda’s Vietnamese partner TC Motor.

    The imported models include the CUV Karoq in the C-segment and the SUV Kodiaq in the D-segment, which will compete with Hyundai Tucson, Kia Sportage, Mazda CX-5, Honda CR-V, Kia Sorento, Hyundai Santa Fe, Mazda CX-8, and Toyota Fortuner, said TC Motor, a distributor and assembler of South Korean Hyundai vehicles.

    The 7-seat Kodiaq has gasoline and diesel engine versions and costs some US$52,870 on the European market.

    The Karoq also includes gasoline and diesel engine versions and has a list price of some $31,390 in Germany and around $33,000 in China.

    TC Motor will sell Skoda cars imported from Europe and then vehicles assembled in Vietnam.

    In late February Skoda and TC Motor began building a plant with an annual capacity of 120,000 Skoda cars at Viet Hung Industrial Park in the northern province of Quang Ninh.

    Vietnam is the first Southeast Asian country in which Skoda has put up a factory, from which it also plans to export vehicles to other countries in the region.

    Skoda has three plants in the Czech Republic and facilities in China, Russia, Slovakia, India and Ukraine.
    The company sold 731,300 vehicles in some 100 markets around the world, with Germany, the Czech Republic, India, the UK, and Poland being the biggest.

    In 2021, it sold nearly 900,000 cars in the markets with Germany and Russia being the biggest.

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  • Luxury car dealer allegedly sells customer’s $1M Brabus 800

    Luxury car dealer allegedly sells customer’s $1M Brabus 800

    Without his knowledge, luxury car dealer Phan Cong Khanh has been accused of selling a customer’s luxury car for VND24.5 billion ($1.04 million).

    A person named Manh from the southern province of Kien Giang has complained to the police that he had lent his Brabus 800 to Khanh in early June to put on display at the launch of his dealership in Ho Chi Minh City.

    But a few weeks later he found out that Khanh had sold the car to a buyer in HCMC for VND24.5 billion.

    Brabus is a German high-performance automotive aftermarket tuning company.

    The Brabus 800 is the upgraded version of the Mercedes AMG G63, and costs around VND30 billion in Vietnam.

    Some vendors have also complained that Khanh owes them money for services they provided for the launch of K Supper, his luxury car dealership in District 1.

    They include VND100 million for bouquets, VND25 million for renting a crane and some money for construction.

    Mohamach Da Pha’s employee has also been accused of mortgaging a person’s car without consent.

    The police said that in April Pha borrowed a VND1.8-billion BMW from a man named Son and offered to sell it.

    But Son found out recently he had mortgaged his car for VND1 billion.

    The HCMC police are investigating.

    Khanh, a native of the Mekong Delta province of Ben Tre, has the reputation of selling the most luxurious cars in Vietnam.

    In June, he entered the car dealership business in 2017 and opened his K Supper showroom in HCMC’s District 1.

    He regularly posts photos of himself standing next to Rolls-Royce, McLaren, Lamborghini, Ferrari, and Porsche cars on social media, and writes about how young people can start a business and make money.

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  • C-segment car sales slump

    C-segment car sales slump

    In the first half of the year 6,787 C-segment sedans, as medium-sized passenger cars are categorized, were sold, a year-on-year decrease of 59.5%.

    The Mazda3 and Kia K3 assembled and distributed by Thaco accounted for 3,983 of them.The former was the bestseller, replacing the K3, which topped last year with sales of 7,439.

    Two Japanese models imported from Thailand, the Toyota Altis and Honda Civic, the highest priced in the segment, had the lowest combined sales of 1,057 units.

    Unlike in the A- and B-segments, few new models have been launched in the C-segment.

    The Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers Association said its members sold 404,635 vehicles in 2022, up 33% from the previous year, with Toyota having the biggest market share of 25.4%.

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  • VinFast to hold EV factory groundbreaking ceremony in US

    VinFast to hold EV factory groundbreaking ceremony in US

    VinFast, the subsidiary automaker of Vietnamese conglomerate Vingroup, has announced it will hold a groundbreaking ceremony of its electric vehicle (EV) factory in North Carolina, the U.S., on July 28.

    This will be the first EV manufacturing facility in the state and help contribute to the supply of this kind of vehicles in North America, accelerating the global green mobility revolution.

    The facility will be built at the Triangle Innovation Point in Chatham County. Covering an area of approximately 1,800 acres, VinFast’s factory is designed to reach a capacity of 150,000 vehicles per year in Phase 1. The factory will consist of two main areas: production and assembly. The complex will also house supplementary supplier businesses.

    The project has received basic permits to begin Phase 1 construction. When the manufacturing complex commences operations, VinFast’s factory will create an ecosystem of suppliers and help generate thousands of new jobs.

    Le Thi Thu Thuy, CEO of VinFast Auto, said that the manufacturing facility in North Carolina is one of VinFast’s key projects. When it begins operations, the factory will be VinFast’s primary supplier of EVs to the North American market. The company also hopes the construction of the factory in Chatham County will contribute to advancing the clean energy economy in the U.S. and help to support North Carolina’s green mobility strategy.

    The factory is expected to start production in 2025. Last year, VinFast was awarded a US$1.2 billion incentive package from the State of North Carolina for this project, along with critical financial support from the City of Sanford, Chatham County, and the Golden Leaf Foundation.

    In addition to the factory, VinFast is accelerating its business and brand recognition in the US by expanding its retail store and service centre system, organising local test drives and displaying products events throughout California. These efforts will aid in bringing opportunities for customers to directly experience VinFast’s EVs.

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