SG also got

Markham Shaw, chairman of the Orchard Road Business Association, told Nikkei Asia in a recent interview that traditionally locals and tourists each do 50% of the consumption in the area.

"Orchard Road is very dependent on both local consumption and tourism consumption," he said. "And because tourism isn't really back to where it was pre-pandemic, I would feel that the sales on Orchard Road are probably not quite back to what they should be, either.

"I guess it's due to China's slowdown. The very strong Singapore dollar, too, [is] an issue for me. It's quite expensive for people to purchase here."

The yuan has depreciated more than 4% against the Singapore dollar this year.

Shaw said his association is tracking the Chinese economy quite closely. "We're hopeful," he said. "However, it really depends on how the Chinese economy progresses and whether their consumption and spending level comes up domestically."

The association plans trips to China in the coming months to gain an understanding of the situation, he said.

The city-state's official tourism statistics show total visitor arrivals came to 1.1 million in November, 28% lower than in the same month in 2019, before anyone had heard of COVID. Chinese accounted for about 104,000 arrivals, down 58% from four years earlier.

Shaw feels that the Chinese are "still the top spinner" on Orchard Road, followed by Indonesians. But he also noted the robust demand from Indian tourists. Singapore had about 90,000 Indian tourists in November. The large number of "Indian tourist arrivals was a surprise," he said. "It was very strong."

Markham Shaw, the chairman of the Orchard Road Business Association, believes tomorrow's tourists will be more likely to spend their money on hotels and at boutiques that mind their energy and waste usage. (Photo by Fumika Sato)

Orchard Road is home to luxury brand boutiques, shopping malls and hotels, and Shaw pointed out that spending on high-end goods remains high.

"Right now," he said, "we're sort of at a level where we can survive, and the numbers are good, particularly for luxury. The spend on luxury goods on Orchard Road has been very high and remains high. It's a lot of the mid-range spenders that's missing."

He noted that Singapore in January will raise its goods and services tax (GST) rate to 9% from 8%. The increase, Shaw said, won't "affect the tourists much, but it does affect locals. It's half of the spend of Orchard Road. Ideally, we would love the government to come and delay that a little bit."

Currently, the business association is encouraging its member companies to focus on "the sustainability of Orchard Road," perhaps by using renewable energy or reducing waste, to maintain the area's attractiveness to tourists, Shaw said.

"I think that the next group of travelers that come to Singapore will be more conscious travelers," he said. "They'll be looking to stay in hotels where they see less waste."

anyone has a code to share or is there a better option out there?

Taking to Facebook in a group for private-hire drivers on Thursday (Dec 28), Lim Gim Koon said that he was at The Sail @ Marina Bay at that time. 

"The passenger expected me to position my car which is already blocking many vehicles along the short driveway to assist him to move his household items," the private-hire driver said.

"He shouted vulgarities at the other cars honking behind and made a bad sign when I told him it's not acceptable to load all the items into the car."

While the original destination was to a condo located at Lorong 6 Geylang, Lim shared a screenshot that he had cancelled the ride.

"A nightmare cheapo passenger," he said. "He booked a four-wheeler but insisted he booked a premium car.

"Go book a [Lalamove] van instead. Disgrace."

In the comments, several netizens agreed with how Lim dealt with the passenger's demands.

"We private-hire drivers fetch passengers, not house movers," one of them said.

"If drivers help, they should be appreciated. But we shouldn't have to help at all. Later we get complaints about damaging his items. Who's going to bear responsibility for this rude clown then?"

Another netizen pointed out that the boot of a private-hire car would have enough space to fit the items for the passenger. 

"Just unfold the rear seats. Just remember, boot space is not for your own personal storage but for all passengers," he said.

AsiaOne has contacted Lim and Grab for more information.

A carjacker assaulted a 34-year-old pregnant woman in Illinois, stealing her Volkswagen, along with her two year old boy trapped in the back seat, and running her over on the way out. Although badly injured, the woman managed to call 911. With little idea of where the carjacker fled, Lake County sheriffs rushed to call Volkswagen's Car-Net service to track down her car.

But Volkswagen Car-Net refused to play ball — not because it had any qualms with forking over information to the police, but because the mother hadn't renewed her subscription.

Instead, VW insisted someone pay the $150 fee to reactivate the tracking service. Sheriffs pleaded with the company, explaining the gravity of the situation — but VW didn't budge.

While the fee was eventually paid by a relative, the dispute ended up causing a costly delay, which deputy chief Chris Covelli described as "16 minutes of hell," according to the Chicago Tribune.

And by the time it was over the information ended up being "worthless," Covelli said, because the child, alive and well, had been dumped at a parking lot, where a bystander found him and called the police. The stolen car was also recovered not long after.

Thankfully the child was found safe and sound in this case, but what if the carjacker managed to switch cars with the child because VW was too busy pinching pennies?

Fuss Auto

In response to the blunder, Volkswagen has tried shifting blame for the faux pas to its third party subcontractor responsible for running the Car-Net service.

"Volkswagen has a procedure in place with a third-party provider for Car-Net Support Services involving emergency requests from law enforcement," a VW spokesperson said in a statement. "They have executed this process successfully in previous incidents."

"Unfortunately, in this instance, there was a serious breach of the process," they added.

But if the automaker's find-my-car service isn't even available during an actual child kidnapping, what good is it for?

Not for much, apparently. Last year, many VW customers found out that their cars' Car-Net systems no longer even worked because they were lousily built on now obsolete 3G technology, even though the automaker knew it was already being replaced with 4G LTE, according to a lawsuit. The suit further alleges that VW never informed customers that Car-Net would be "rendered obsolete" by the switch from 3G to 4G.

Adding to that list of grievances against Volkswagen's services: in 2021, VW experienced a massive breach of its data — once again, through a third party — that compromised the personal information of over 3 million customers. VW sure doesn't sound like the safest pair of hands to keep your location data with.

https://futurism.com/the-byte/volkswagen-refused-track-car-kidnapped-child

An XPeng electric car owner complained on Chinese social media platform Weibo about the strange things his car made him do when it wanted to verify his identity through facial recognition.

The video he uploaded on Mar. 3 has gone viral with over 8 million views.

Car requested owner to do an identity check

The car owner claimed that after a recent update, he logged on to his in-car system's application and was requested to do an identity check through facial recognition.

The video shows that he was asked to place his face in front of a camera to fit into the circle designated by the app.

“Please move your face into the circle,” the app asked politely.

However, he discovered that the camera the app chose to use was near the car's front bumper, and it was pretty close to the ground.

Bend down or go on all fours

He was then forced to bend down, and tilt his head by the side, just so the app could "see "him.

"Never in my life have I expected this," the car owner said.

Another netizen reposted a photo from another post in the video's comments, which shows an XPeng car owner almost on all fours.

XPeng Motors apologises for poor user experience

A day after the video was posted, XPeng Motors issued a statement stating that they had taken down the app after receiving feedback about "poor user experience".

It explained that the application had invoked risk controls after a software update, requiring users to do facial recognition.

They have also apologised to the affected customers and will work on improving the system.

This is not the first time XPeng Motors has had trouble with "faces".

In December 2021, XPeng motors were fined RMB100,000 (S$19,440) for illegally collecting 430,000 facial images of store visitors over six months, as reported by Global Times.

https://mothership.sg/2023/03/kneel-for-china-car/

Honda, peers to ride 20 motorcycles off into the sunset this year
Japan's big 4 retire some bestsellers in response to tougher emission standards

Honda will end production of the CB400 Super Four motorcycle. (Photo courtesy of Honda Motor)
SAKI SHIRAI, Nikkei staff writerJune 22, 2022 23:56 JST

TOKYO -- Honda Motor and three Japanese rivals plan to discontinue about 20 motorcycle models by the end of this year, Nikkei has learned, in response to tougher emissions standards to be implemented in Japan in the fall.

The retired motorbikes represent 10% of the roughly 190 models available from Honda, Yamaha Motor, Suzuki Motor and Kawasaki Heavy Industries.

Going forward, the companies will shift to electrics. Honda will electrify its entire lineup of vehicles by the 2040s. Yamaha will make 90% of new vehicles plug-ins by 2050.

Honda, the world's largest motorcycle company, will retire approximately 10 out of 80 models. The affected bikes include popular models like the CB400 Super Four, a midsized motorcycle which has been a bestseller since the 1990s.

Also on Honda's chopping block are models from the full-sized Gold Wing series, as well as the Benly scooter made for delivery services.

Yahama will stop selling two models from its flagship FJR1300 series of tourers. Suzuki will pull at least five out of roughly 20 models from production lines by October, including the midsized GSX250R.

Kawasaki Motors, a subsidiary of Kawasaki Heavy Industries, stopped delivering some full-sized motorcycles last year.

Japan adopted tougher emission standards at the end of 2020 that applied to new models. The standards will apply to all existing models in November.

The rules are modeled after the European Union's Euro 5 law, introduced in January 2020. It mandates that nitrogen oxide emission be cut by up to 33%.

To comply with Japan's incoming regulations, motorcycle manufacturers will need to install upgraded catalytic converters or to completely redesign engines. However, it is extremely expensive to develop new engines. The price of rare metals used in catalytic converters has jumped to new highs.

Redesigning existing motorcycle models "would raise the sale price three to four times," said a source from a major motorcycle manufacturer. There is no prospect for growth for the Japanese market, so the makers will significantly shrink lineups and cut back on new model rollouts.

Motorcycle manufactures anticipate electrified models will sway competitive advantage amid the shift toward carbon reduction. The companies are concentrating research and development funds into electrics. Because Japanese players control 40% of the global motorcycle market, that trend is expected to hasten the transition away from gasoline two-wheelers.