I'm regularly banging on about safety issues here on bkkAutos, but I've never really felt that safety promotion videos were an effective way of dealing with the issues. Education is vital, since many of the safety concerns can be met by changes to individual behaviours and choices.

This road safety video is a bit different though. While I'm not sure how effective it might be in changing the minds of those who refuse to embrace seatbelts, it is a beautifully produced video.

The Bangkok Post has a video posted on their site of the Lotus Evora on Thai roads. The Evora is probably the coolest Lotus in the last 10 years.

Although all the "reviewer" does is confirm that it is a Lotus, and that the steering wheel, and other aspects of the car are "well... very Lotus", I'm posting this because I love the noise this Toyota V6 makes, when they eventually allow us to listen to it towards the end of the "review".

Honda has just unveiled a new small car concept at the 2010 Auto Expo in New Delhi. You'll never guess what they've called it, so I'll tell you: "New Small."

I really hope nobody got paid to come up with that name. But, while the name might indeed be about as imaginative as the title of this article, the car itself is much less dull. In fact, I'd say it bodes well for the chances of the Eco Car's success in Thailand when it is launched next year (2011 people).

Toyota are due to dispaly a new small car in India. The Toyota Etios (apparently meaning "the origin of") at the 2010 Delhi Auto Expo which begins later this week. Usually cars released on the Indian market don't give much insight into the Thai market, but this could be different.

A while back I did a speculative piece and suggested that the Nissan Eco Car could be on the market as soon as October 2009. Well, it's now almost 2010, so I guess you win some, but not the rest.

But this morning Nissan Thailand sent me a very nice little card in the mail, and I'm sure they won't mind me sharing it with you all here. It seems that while I was wrong about the timing of the Eco Car launch, I was probably right about the actual car Nissan would use. Read on...

Anybody else see today's article in the Bangkok Post about the expected revenue gain for PTT next year? If not here is a quick run down:

• Image of a PTT guy showing us the thumbs up
• Headline "PTT forecasts 20% revenue gain next year"
• Bunch of stuff about how well PTT is doing

For the auto industry, 2009 will probably be a year to forget. With a few exceptions, the majority of car makers have suffered the worst results ever. The results haven't been pretty either with job losses, bankruptcies, yadda yadda.

So, I've decided to dispense with 2009 news early. Let's look forward to 2010.

The car pictured above is the next generation Toyota Wish, and based on it, I think the we have reason to believe that things will get better in 2010.

Am I the only one who remembers when the toll on the Don Muang Tollway rose from 40 to 55 baht? If memory serves, this was a reasonably gradual increase over time, 5 baht here, 10 baht there. Now, the increase is simply impossible to understand. How can a 30 baht price hike be justified?

Paultan.org has some caught some snaps of a lightly disguised Persona facelift that is due next year. It doesn't look a whole lot different, with some minor changes to the light clusters, and the front end.

The Thailand International Motor Expo 2009 came to a close on Sunday, and the final sales results are in. A grand total of 25,220 new car bookings were made at the Expo, which is 10,000 more than event organisers had forecast. This could be taken as some indication that the economic situation is improving. Or it could just mean that impulse buying is rampant.

Regardless, it is interesting to see the shakedown of the final sales results. We reported earlier on the first day's results, and now we can share the final results complete with some comments on what it means for the industry in Thailand, if anything.

The 2009 Thailand International Motor Expo is underway, and sales results from the first day have been tallied. Overall the results aren't exactly fantastic with a mere 931 cars sold, but it's early days with the show running until 13th December.

Read on for the highlights from the first day of sales, complete with a few images.

Sometimes after living in Thailand for a few years and witnessing the crazy things that drivers do on the roads, you might hear people saying things like, "Only in Thailand." Well, this compilation video is not from Thailand. It's from Europe, and I think it shows that people are the same the world over.

Video after the jump.

Updated (24/11/09): Running Footage Video added.

Regulars here will know that we don't do a lot of talking about premium cars. The fact is that if you are reading this blog, you probably don't have the cash to buy a BMW. But I feel compelled to write a little bit about the new styling direction taken by BMW with the new 7-series and now, the 5.

Simply put, BMW are officially making cool cars again. The pictures speak for themselves. This is a very nicely balanced design. Of course it's still going to be ridiculously expensive, and you'd be much better off buying a few houses, and a Jazz.

The Thailand International Motor Expo is set for another mindless run. From 2nd to 13th December prospective car buyers can go to the Impact Arena, Muang Tong Thani to check out the same cars that they can see at their local dealers. As usual the show has a theme, and this year it is: "Driving... for Sustainability."