Paul Tan has popped up a brief post stating some details about the launch of the Chevrolet Cruze in Malaysia. Thailand is still waiting for this car!

Malaysia is not getting much choice in engines, and the car is imported from Korea. Clearly this strategy wouldn't be a success in Thailand, since it would be impossible to compete with locally built alternatives.

Attempting to demonstrate how easy it is to break into a car, this reporter makes it look very difficult.

This is almost sad to watch. And if you faint at the sight of blood you might want to skip this one.

Apparently, Thailand is to relinquish it's role as the production hub for the Toyota Fortuner to Indonesia. According to paultan.org, this will happen sometime in July or August this year.

There could be many reasons for this move, but it is most likely related to the recent shuttering of the Samrong Plant, where the Fortuner was produced alongside the Vigo.

Toyota is to suspend production at its Thai Auto Works (TAW) plant at the end of the month. The plant in Samrong has been cranking out 60,000 vehicles a year, specifically the Fortuner and Vigo models, the bulk of which were for the export market.

The decision to suspend production was taken late last year, in the midst of an effort by the company to make best use of its global manufacturing resources.

Isn't it amazing how little the car has changed? And when you see something like this from Chevrolet, you'd wonder why something so simple hadn't been thought of before now.

The Chevrolet Cruze seems to be turning into something of a pleasant surprise. The strong performance on the Euro NCAP, the interesting design both inside and out, and the seeming good value for money. And then there are little things like this:

Australian inventor, Steve Durnin, has developed a new transmission system that he believes will be ideal for use in cars. Capable of providing infinitely variable transmission the D-Drive removes the need for a clutch.

The D-Drive is far from simple. But the video below should help.

“Inter-Media” invites 4 WHEELS enthusiasts to take a condensed course “Learn how to drive a 4x4 and make the most of it.” at Amphoe Suan Phueng, May 22-23.

British motoring rag Auto Express have travelled to Thailand to test drive the new Nissan March, or Micra as it will be called in the UK market. The interest in the car is obvious, given that this is a global car, with Thailand being the first market.

Toyota has recently update the Corolla in Europe, and considering that the Corolla has so far shared the same looks as the Corolla Altis in Thailand, there is every reason to expect that the Altis will get a similar facelift in the coming months.

As a follow up on previous coverage of the Chevrolet Cruze, the Euro NCAP test result for the Cruze is worth a look. The car performs very well. In fact, it's almost flawless!

Of course when sold in Thailand, the Chevrolet Cruze will not be as generously appointed when it comes to safety specification. Still, the platform looks extremely strong. And hopefully Chevrolet will raise the bar for this segment by offering side and curtain air-bags at least as options.

It seems like years since I wrote this about the Cruze, and ... yeah it was in 2008! So where is it? It seems usual now for the Thai market to have to wait for a car to go stale first. Mitsubishi did this with the Lancer, and it seems that Chevrolet are doing the same with the Cruze.

Fans of the GM brand shouldn't have to wait much longer though, and while we wait here is another glimpse of the car this time in the form of a short promo video.

Now this is cool. I'd been struggling to think of a single place that the iPad would be better than an iPhone, or a laptop. But I hadn't thought of this! These guys have fitted the iPad into a truck, and although they're not completely finished at this point, this looks like a very nice use for the device.

Video after the jump.

Honda Automobile (Thailand) Co., Ltd., Thailand’s second largest manufacturer and exporter of passenger cars, today exhibited its Honda New Small Concept, a compact-sized concept model and the U3-X, a new personal mobility device at the 31st Bangkok International Motor Show. Both mobility products, exhibited for the first time in Thailand, are expected to be the main attractions at Honda’s booth this year.

This just isn't even funny any more. On the 31st attempt at hosting an International Motor Show, it is hard to fathom how the event organisers could still get the event slogan so badly wrong. This year, the opening ceremony photo looks even funnier given that there is a British representative present and in massive print in front of the special people is the "sentence": "DRIVING SAVE THE EARTH".