It will be displayed at the Bangkok International Motor Show starting on March 28 at Challenger Hall, IMPACT Arena.

The American auto maker is also expanding the availability of advanced safety technologies in all Colorado models, said Piyanuch Chaturaphat, general director for sales and marketing at Chevrolet Thailand.

“Vehicle personalisation is one of the strongest trends in our industry, with after-market accessory sales expected to see robust growth for years to come,” she said.

“More than 50 per cent of Colorado customers in Thailand choose to accessorise their vehicles. Appearance packages such as ‘Thunder’ are just one way our customers can express their personal style. Another is with their choice in exterior colour, one of the top considerations when purchasing any vehicle.”

The “Thunder” pack includes fender flares, black bowtie front and rear, under-rail bed liner, side steps, black grill, end-gate decal, fuel cover and hood scoop.

The orange interior package includes an IP insert, transmission shifter bezel, air-vent bezels and door trim inserts.

The “Thunder” packs are available separately from the stylish High Country Storm package that already includes a sport bar, 18-inch alloy wheels, hood decal sticker with High Country logo, outside rear-view mirror, door handles, tailgate handle, outer belt moulding, rear bumper with parking sensors, and Storm body decals – all in black finish.

The 2018 Alphard is available as a 3.5 VIP and a 2.5 Hybrid, while the Vellfire 2.5 is being offered for the first time by TMT.

New features include alloy wheels, a front chrome grille, LED headlights and sequential-type turning lights at the front and rear.

Other equipment includes front and rear skirts, a back-massage function, digital television receiver and T-connect Telematics.

The Alphard and Vellfire come with five-year, 150,000-kilometre warranties and free labour.

The Alphard 2.5 Hybrid also has a 10-year warranty on the battery and five years on the hybrid system.

The Alphard 2.5 Hybrid costs Bt3,939,000, the Alphard 3.5 VIP Bt5,429,000, and the Vellfire 2.5 Bt3,809,000.

The Uber vehicle was in autonomous mode, with an operator behind the wheel, when it hit a woman walking in the street in the city of Tempe late Sunday, according to the San Francisco-based company.

The victim was hospitalized and later died from her injuries.

“Our hearts go out to the victim’s family,” an Uber spokesperson told AFP. “We are fully cooperating with local authorities in their investigation of this incident.”

Uber said it had temporarily halted its use of self-driving cars for testing or customer rides in Tempe, Pittsburgh, Toronto, and San Francisco.

Tempe is one of just two cities — along with Pittsburgh — where the ride-sharing firm has been using autonomous vehicles as part of its regular passenger.

The vehicle operator in the driver’s seat was the only person in the car when the accident occurred, Uber said. The car was in police hands on Monday.

Sunday’s accident was the first fatal self-driving car crash involving a pedestrian.

The first deadly self-driving car accident was reported in mid-2016, and involved a Tesla.

Sheriff needed?

The Tesla Model S, cruising on “Autopilot,” failed to detect a crossing tractor-trailer against a bright sky, killing the driver — who it later emerged had kept his hands off the wheel for extended periods of time despite automated warnings not to do so.

Investigators at the US National Transportation Safety Board determined the probable cause of the Tesla crash was the combination of “a truck driver’s failure to yield the right of way and a car driver’s inattention due to overreliance on vehicle automation.”

Autonomous-vehicle technology has been touted as having potential to save fuel, ease congestion, and to save thousands of lives by avoiding accidents due to human error.

As with the fatal Tesla crash, however, the deadly Uber accident is likely to stoke concerns that the industry is moving too fast.

Google-owned Waymo this month began using its self-driving trucks to haul cargo bound for the internet giant’s data centers in Georgia, while rival Uber announced the use of self-driving semi trucks as part of an on-demand trucking service in Arizona.

In September, US Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao released new guidelines that permit more testing of self-driving cars.

But America’s non-profit Consumer Watchdog has warned that roads are being turned “into private laboratories for robot cars with no regard for our safety.”

The group on Monday called for a nationwide moratorium on testing self-driving cars on public roads while investigators figure out what went wrong in the Uber accident.

“Arizona has been the wild west of robot car testing with virtually no regulations in place,” Watchdog technology project director John Simpson said in a statement.

“When there’s no sheriff in town, people get killed.”

Car vision tests?

US states set their own rules for roads, and a handful have passed laws allowing self-driving vehicles.

California and Arizona have been particularly encouraging, hoping that companies developing autonomous technology in those states will create local jobs and facilities devoted to a promising new industry.

Duke University robotics professor Missy Cummings is among the advocates of slowing down introduction of autonomous vehicles to avoid risk and get proper regulations in place.

While machines are better at staying vigilant and reacting to routine situations, human drivers have proven superior at handling unusual or unexpected situations, according to the professor.

Cummings reasoned that if people need to pass vision exams in order to get driving licenses, so should self-driving cars.

She noted a case in which putting stickers on a stop sign could fool autonomous car sensors into seeing it as a sign indicating a speed limit.

“If we are still learning at this rate, and still uncovering major problems, it begs the question of why we are trying to put this technology into widespread use,” Cummings told AFP.

“I am a big fan of the technology, but it is very unproven and experimental.”

Mazda’s new Soul Red Crystal exterior colour is also being offered for the Mazda3 for the first time, Chanchai Trakarnudomsuk, president of Mazda Sales (Thailand), said on Monday.

“The Mazda3 is an important model that will help Mazda grow sales,” he added.

The first Mazda3 produced at the AutoAlliance Thailand plant in Rayong in 2003 had many achievements, with aggregate sales of 30,000 units.

The second-generation model in 2011 achieved sales of 13,000 units, while the third-gen model introduced in 2014 has already exceeded 25,500 unit sales.

“In total, more than 68,500 units of the Mazda3 have been sold in Thailand and it plays an important role in the success of Mazda in the Kingdom. It makes up one-third of Mazda’s global sales with over 5 million units sold in 142 countries, and has won over 180 prizes and awards from around the world,” Chanchai said.

Among the new features added to the Mazda3 2018 Collection are: Advanced Blind Spot Monitoring, Rear Cross Traffic Alert, LED projector headlights with daytime running lights, dual-zone air-conditioning, six-way electrically powered driver’s seat, and four-sensor parking assist.

Prices of the updated model range from Bt857,000 to Bt1.149 million.

Poppitt will lead communications across GM’s Southeast Asia operations, overseeing brand, product, corporate and internal communications for the business.

He will report to Ian Nicholls, president of GM Southeast Asia, and George Svigos, director of communications – Asia Pacific, GM International.

Svigos and Poppitt are both based in Bangkok.

General Motors posted positive sales momentum across Southeast Asia last year, growing overall sales volumes by 14.8 per cent compared to 2016.

Poppitt, who is Australian, will also assume responsibility for coordinating brand and product communications across GMI Asia Pacific, working with GM’s in-market teams and GM’s communications partner, Weber Shandwick.

Prior to joining GM Southeast Asia, Poppitt held the position of director of communications for GM Holden in Australia.

Before that, he held various senior communications positions in the automotive industry, following several years in journalism.

Around 180 guests, including representatives of the Industry Ministry, Board of Investment secretary-general Duangjai Asawachintachit, as well as Continental management, the local project team, suppliers, dealers and representatives of academic institutions gathered on site to attend the ceremony.

The calendering machine is not only the first but, at almost 100-metres long, also one of the largest machines in the factory.

The civil works as well as the machine installation process have run according to schedule and will be followed by the official start of production next year, the Germany-based company said.

“The investment in the greenfield tyre plant in Thailand is an integral part of our growth strategy called ‘Vision 2025’. The combination of innovative German engineering combined with local Thai production capabilities ensures the highest-quality tyre manufacturing that Thai and Asian consumers are looking for, thus fulfilling our philosophy of ‘In The Market, For The Market,’” said Nikolai Setzer, member of the executive board of Continental and head of the Tyre Division.

“The pace at which infrastructure development is happening on the Eastern Seaboard is encouraging for us. Therefore, we would like to thank the Thai government, the Industry Ministry and the Thai Board of Investment for the support given so far,” he added.

The company will also start accepting orders for the Ranger Raptor at the show and at all Ford dealerships across the country, with customer deliveries starting later this year.

Solar Gard Corp, the official importer and distributor of Solar Gard automotive solar films, safety films and building solar films, targets sales of Bt70 million for a 5-per-cent market share in 2018, chief executive officer Chaicharn Oupapan said on Friday.

Chaicharn said his company had been appointed by Belgium-based Saint-Gobain Solar Gard as the sole importer and distributor of Solar Gard films in Thailand, starting this year.

Solar Gard films have been introduced and marketed since February, while the first Solar Gard Centre was opened at Rachayothin recently.

“From now on we will concentrate on expanding our business with proactive marketing with a goal of opening a total of 30 Solar Gard Centres and 50 dealerships across Thailand, with targeted sales of Bt70 million in 2018,” the CEO explained.

The company expects the Thai automobile market to grow by 5 per cent this year to 920,000 units, compared to 871,650 vehicles sold in 2017.

This would enable the automotive solar-film market in Thailand to grow in the same direction, with projected sales of Bt1.5 billion to Bt1.6 billion this year, Chaicharn added.

Thanks to the world’s first “Multi-Layer Sputtering” technology, Solar Gard films are guaranteed to reflect as much as 97 per cent of solar energy.

Tapma president Achana Limpaitoon said auto-part import values tallied up to $16.62 billion, with 8.15 per cent increase compared to 2016.

The total import-export value in 2017 has a surplus of $3.22 billion with the most export value coming from top five export partners, Achana said.

These were the United State, at $2.7 billion making 14 per cent of the total export with an increase of 20.62 per cent from 2016; followed by Japan, at $1.79 billion with 9.07 per cent of the total export and 9.79 per cent increase from 2016; Indonesia, at $1.69 billion making 8.54 per cent of the total with 22.80 per cent increase from 2016; Malaysia, at $1.34 billion making 6.80 per cent of the total with 2.81 per cent decrease from 2016; and China, at $1.17 billion making 5.91 per cent of the total export with 37.92 per cent increase from 2016.”

“In the previous year, the association has undergone several projects which has continuously benefited the manufacture industry and the country, with intensive operation procedures to support the many changes affecting the industry. including changes in technology and the global economy,” Achana said.

“We aim to support the auto parts manufacture industry and push for sustainable growth, strength and the ability to compete in international stage with Tapma’s new strategies for 2018-2020.

Achana said these strategies could be categorised into six major aspects: 1) Strengthen the organisation, creating people with focus on ethical values, developing operation systems, emphasising solid management with cooperation, supporting the new generations in management of finance within the association for self-dependency;

2) Focus on technology, innovation and standardisation;

3) Human empowerment developing the potential and ability of the labour force in the industry with appropriate skills, well-being and discipline;

4) Strengthen the business internationally, focusing and developing the connection of international networks;

5) Management of SMEs, supporting and developing strong SMEs with proper management; and

6) Support and promote exports, creating increased opportunities, channels and cooperation between auto-parts manufacturers.

“Currently, from our cooperation with the Department of Skill Development, Ministry of Labour in 2016–17, we have developed 5,949 professional staff and aim for 4,000 more each year going forward,” added Achana.

The CLS has always been my favourite Mercedes model for many reasons.

While the general Mercedes buyer a decade ago would expect a large and elegant vehicle with lots of interior space, the first-gen CLS, first launched in 2005, offers quite the opposite. Despite its 4.9-metre body length, the extra-low roofline gave it a height of just 1,389mm. Sleek-looking it was, but the fact is it wasn’t a spacious car.

I love to compare the CLS to a family member – that mysterious underworld uncle who comes to the family reunion with plenty of gifts, but never tells you what he does for a living – imagine Christopher Walken.

Of course the CLS isn’t perfect, with the low roof offering little headroom, particularly for the rear passengers. But that was another reason I liked it so much – this was an example of style taking over practicality, something you don’t expect from well-engineered German cars.

The long wheelbase and flat body provided the CLS with a comfortable and stable ride too, with a bunch of engine choices.

Since the first generation, the CLS has been a popular niche model in the Thai market, being marketed in large numbers by both official dealerships and grey importers.

The second-gen car came around in 2011, and while the flat windows and low roof concept were retained, the front- and rear-end design were softened along with a less-aggressive bodyline.

For 2018, the third-generation CLS has been introduced and will arrive in Mercedes showrooms in Thailand later this year.

As you can see, the biggest changes again are at the front and rear (and the low roof still needs to be there, otherwise it wouldn’t be a CLS). The new CLS looks modern and sleek coming with a low drag co-efficient (Cd) of just 0.26. Still, the new face design has been mellowed down further, and has a bigger similarity to other Mercedes models with that grille design. The rear-end, meanwhile, comes with sleek horizontal lights that are trendy in design, but I did mistake it for an Audi from a distance.

Seems like the new CLS is targeted at a wider customer group. There are now five seats instead of four (what for?) and interior space has been increased dramatically, offering plenty of headroom, shoulder room and legroom. The car has actually grown in size as well, measuring 5 metres in length and almost 1.9 metres wide. It’s much taller than the first-gen car too, standing at 1,422mm for the Mercedes-AMG CLS 53 4MATIC+ model featured today.

Talking about Mercedes-AMG, the brand recently started being assembled in Thailand, with C 43 Coupe 4MATIC SKD kits being put together at the TAAP plant in Samut Prakan.

This had significantly lowered the retail price of the car from Bt5.19 million to just Bt4.14 million.

And while there is no confirmation that the CLS 53 will be offered (the first model to hit the Thai market will come with a 3.0-litre diesel followed by a 4-cylinder petrol), I am pretty sure it will eventually come when the timing is right. The interior of the CLS 53 is highlighted by the two large high-resolution screens sharing one glass cover, and appearing as a widescreen cockpit.

The sporty side provides plenty of lateral support, particularly while cornering hard as the side bolsters squeeze inwards automatically. As mentioned, there is plenty of space as well, offering passengers a relaxed atmosphere. The luggage area is also good, measuring in at 520 litres (rear seat backrests are split-foldable as well).

Speaking of atmosphere – the interior lighting offers a combination of 64 colours, 10 colour themes and two effects. The dash air vents are reminiscent of jet turbines, and also illuminated. They turn red with the heater and blue with the cooler.

But really, the highlight of any AMG vehicle is the engine and in the case of the CLS 53, some points are pretty interesting.

First is that instead of the regular V6 motor, this one comes with an in-line-six that you’d normally associate with a BMW. Not that Mercedes has never offered a straight-six, but it’s not what you’d normally expect. An advantage of the in-line-six, and you can clearly notice it in the C 53, is the smoothness once you fire up the engine.

The good thing about this engine is that it’s really compact and is not much longer than a conventional V6, with twin-turbocharging churning out as much as 435hp and 520Nm. The EQ Boost starter/generator system (which is being offered across the Mercedes product range) throws in another 25hp and 250Nm over a short period. It also feeds the 48-volt on-board electrical system – meaning that it uses a 48-volt battery.

A clear advantage of this system is that it builds up high charge pressure without any delay, resulting in better response and acceleration.

The CLS 53 gets a new AMG SPEEDSHIFT 9-speed gearbox that provides you with short shift times, double de-clutching and multiple downshifts.

While the C 43 comes with the 4MATIC all-wheel-drive system with a fixed 30-70 front-rear-power distribution, the C 53’s 4MATIC+ is fully variable. The test drive event was held in Barcelona last week, and the snowy weather was perfect for testing out the car’s grip.

The CLS 53 can accelerate from 0-100km/h in 4.5 seconds and reach an electronically-limited top speed of 250km/h (270km/h with the Driver’s Package). The CLS runs on multi-link suspension, both front and rear, and gets AMG’s speed-sensitive steering that provides a good feel and weight at high speeds.

In Sport+ mode the CLS 53 performed with much enthusiasm, the powertrain unleashing its potential without any signs of turbo lag. Unfortunately, the car weighs in at 1.9 tonnes, and even the 435hp engine and the boost function isn’t going to turn it into a supercar.

Nevertheless, bear in mind that you’re capable of going faster than a Lamborghini Countach in the CLS 53, and in style too, with the retarded ignition purposely igniting backfires that gets the attention of others on the road.

“Did you hear the crackles? I was driving behind you,” I asked a fellow Thai journalist who was in front. His reply was, “You bet I did all the way!”

Driving the CLS 53 through serpentine Spanish roads was entertaining. I could enter tight corners easily with good precision and tight body control despite the car’s large dimensions and the slippery road condition.

Large vented discs at the front (4-piston calipers) and rear (1-piston caliper) provide good bite when the 1.9-tonne car needs to decelerate.

There are plenty of driver assistance systems and other features in the new CLS, but for the Thai market, we’ll have to see what the marketing guys at Mercedes-Benz (Thailand) decide to offer.

For me, the new CLS has become a more complete car despite its original hard-headed styling being toned down somewhat. It’s going to appeal to more people surely, but for those who want that no-nonsense “purist” design, we all just might have to wait longer.

Mercedes-AMG C53 4MATIC+ specs

Engine: inline 6-cylinder 24 valve with turbocharger and electric auxiliary compressor

Displacement: 2,999cc

Bore and stroke: 83.0×92.4mm

Compression ratio: 10.5:1

Max power: 435hp/6,100rpm

Max torque: 520Nm/1,800-5,800rpm

Transmission: 9-speed automatic

Ratios: 5.35/3.24/2.25/1.64/1.21/1.00/0.86/0.72/0.60

0-100kmh: 4.5 seconds

Top speed: 250km/h

Average fuel economy: 11.4km/litre

Average CO2: 200g/km

Suspension (f/r): four-link, air springs, stabiliser/five-link, air springs, stabiliser

Steering: powered rack-and-pinion

Turning circle: 12.3 metres

Brakes (f/r): vented disc/vented disc

Dimensions (mm)

Length: 5,001

Width: 1,890

Height: 1,422

Wheelbase: 2,939

Track (f/r): 1,647/1,637

Kerb weight: 1,980kgs

Wheels: 19-inch alloys

Tyres: 245/40R19 (front), 275/35 R19 (rear

Fuel tank capacity: 73 litres

Price: to be announced

Distributor: Mercedes-Benz (Thailand) Ltd