Thursday, July 5, 2012

New variant Honda Freed S launched.

The Honda Freed is one of Honda's newest models and is a well designed and equipped small sized MPV which seats up to 7. When it was first launched a few years ago, sales were hampered by a relatively high price. In the next step to enhancing sales of the Freed, Honda Malaysia has just launched the Freed S, a new variant with reduced specifications and at a much more affordable price, below the magical RM100k mark in fact. The primary change is the deletion of the motorized sliding door, replaced by a manually operated one. Other than this, all the other unique features of the Freed are still retained. The official Honda Malaysia press release for the Freed S is below.
   
HONDA MALAYSIA INTRODUCES A NEW AFFORDABLE FREED VARIANT, THE FREED S FOR URBAN FAMILIES

Petaling Jaya, 5 July 2012 - Honda Malaysia Sdn Bhd today introduced a new Freed variant, the Freed S in Malaysia. The new Freed S is a practical, comfortable and affordable compact Multi-Purpose Vehicle (MPV) featuring "4 seater + ideas" utilities, making it the ideal vehicle for young professional urban family or couple who appreciate quality traveling time together.

The new Freed S is a Complete Build-Up (CBU) unit from Indonesia. 'FREED' originates from the word 'Freedom' and combines the meaning of "Free" and "Do". As a result, the Freed is a vehicle, which is designed without restrictions of conventional thinking or standard practices. The unique futuristic aerodynamic triangle-shaped front is the result of its design concept. It provides a powerful one-motion silhouette that highlights an energetic sharp character line. It's square-shaped cabin enhances interior spaciousness for greater comfort.

Honda Malaysia Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Yoichiro Ueno said, "We are pleased to offer the new Freed S with the practicality, stylishness, and comfort of a Multi-Purpose Vehicle in an affordable package to Malaysians."

Young modern families will find its flat floor and roof design very practical as it creates more cabin space and head room to allow young kids and elderly to move around easily in it. The design of the flat floor is achieved through the use of an ingeniously built-under-floor fuel tank. The low floor is one step, only at 410mm from the floor. Combined with grip assist, this is a great feature that eases the elderly stepping into and out of the car. 

The best in class walkthrough cabin of the new Freed S features four captain seats in the first two rows with a 200mm-wide aisle to ease access. This also increases visibility for all passengers in the first two rows.

The seating of this affordable MPV is flexible and can be configured to accommodate up to seven passengers comfortably or create a more spacious cargo area depending on requirements.  The third row seats of the Freed S are foldable in just three steps for extra loading space. This versatile configuration and spaciousness makes traveling convenient and fun as it can easily accommodate different traveling purposes such as "balik kampung" during festive seasons, leisure activities or a family day out. It can nicely fit in a baby pram, luggage and a golf set, with room to spare. The 1,620 mm low tailgate opening makes it convenient to load and unload cargo.

The new Freed S boasts of innovative storage space and holders such as the illuminated centre tray, large door pockets, backrest hook and front seat back pockets. There are 7-cup holders in the Freed S, which means each of the passengers has their own cup holders.

The dual layer dashboard is designed to hold all controls neatly, keeping the centre free of obstruction and is strategically placed for easy reach.

The new Freed S comes with a 5-speed auto transmission, Drive-By-Wire for smoother ride, 1.5L i-VTEC engine that produces maximum power of 118PS/6,600 rpm, which can also reach the maximum torque of 146Nm/4,800 rpm. The manual sliding doors makes getting in and out easier without restriction especially in tight parking situation. The fuel lid auto lock safety system is a mechanism that prevents the manual sliding door from opening fully when the fuel lid is opened.

In the aspect of safety, the new Freed S features with dual front SRS airbags and seatbelt reminders for the driver. It is rated with 6-Stars JNCAP for both driver and passenger seat. The G-Force Control Technology (G-CON) helps disperse the crash impact across the body frame while the Advanced Compatibility Engineering (ACE) gives better crash compatibility with other cars, thus minimising injuries. The Anti-lock Braking System (ABS), Electrical Brakeforce Distribution (EBD), Brake Assist (BA) and Grade Logic Control are featured in the latest Freed S.

The full-imported new Freed S is available in Brilliant White Pearl, Polished Metal Metallic and Crystal Black Pearl at all Honda dealers now.

The Freed S is the smartest MPV choice, which is sleek, stylish and compact MPV, all in one package with on-the-road price tag of RM 99,800.00. Customers can test drive and place their booking for the new Freed S at any authorised Honda dealers nationwide. For more information, please call Honda Toll Free number at 1-800-88-2020, or log on to www.honda.com.my.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Should have that model from the start. Also, I just heard that the tax exempt on hybrids will end sometime next year. Perhaps timing is too close, but they hopefully Honda doesn't miss out on getting out a nicely priced hybrid version soon as well, since if they do there will be ZERO competition to it well at this moment at least.

TOVA said...

I fully agree ! The Freed Hybrid will totally kill all the competition. I suspect something is in the works at the moment.

Anonymous said...

how would the Freed Hybrid compare to the Prius V? hmm

Honda Freed said...

The main thing that people choose Honda Freed than other MPV's is about its design and Freed also is a multi gender car with an affordable price. Thanks TOVA

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