Have you ever wondered why the Cadillac and Hummer models are experiencing such a delay to come to India?

I think it is because they are converting them from left-hand drives to right-hand drives. Among hundreds of countries in the world, there are only 52 right-hand drive countries and India is one among them. Amazing but true! If the country had been using left-hand drives, then these cars would have arrived in India a long time ago.

I understand that these cars are very costly and converting them after sales is again a costly business. In addition, no one in India is equipped to make this change in mass scales. It is good news that the companies have decided to do it themselves.

I can only hope that this is the only change that these cars see when sold here.

Article Submitted by IKnowCars

All speed enthusiasts take note – Ferrari is eager to hit Indian roads. This announcement was made by the PRO office of Ferrari recently. But don’t jump from your seats, this could mean another 3-5 years. It is like a dream come true to finally see a Ferrari on Indian roads.

This brand has been like a jewel in a crown for Italian sports cars enthusiasts and it is time that the car was brought to India, the land of the Maharajah’s. The Ferrari’s arrival is like an action moving waiting to happen, provided the bullock carts, old trucks, and pedestrians are cleared from the highways. It is not good to associate a fine machine like the Ferrari with accidents that are only too keen to happen.

I have good news for all car lovers. You can now take home used cars like Maruti 800 or Hyundai Santro at very competitive prices. The prices have been dropping since the one lakh car Tata Nano was unveiled in January. Now that the news of the launch of this small car in October is official, i can guarantee you that the prices of second hand cars will come down even further.

When I went to purchase a used car in November last year, I was told that a 2002 Maruti 800 was available for Rs. 1.1 lakh. I was surprised to find out that the same car was selling for Rs. 85,000 in January. This is when I noticed the effect that Nano was having. I have been following this trend closely since then and want to let all of you know of this as well.

Article submitted by Sanjeev K. (Bangalore)

Maruti never seems to be tired of gushing. First it was the record sale of one million Maruti Alto cars. Then, the achievement of exporting half a million cars from India. Now read this. Maruti has received an award from the finance ministry for paying a huge excise duty of nearly Rs. 2,500 Crore in the current fiscal up to January. And its still not over, there are two more months to go before the end of the financial year. Looks like Maruti is having a great time at the moment!

In JD Power’s list of car manufacturers based on customer satisfaction for the year 2007, Honda, Hyundai and Tata Motors have hit bottom. It’s totally unbelievable that they have dropped to the end of the list on the sales satisfaction index. Shockingly, Hyundai has lost the most points and dropped to the eighth position from last year’s third position.

I find that Hyundai has good after-sales service and I’m sure they have very happy customers. Their small cars are also very decent. I don’t think the customer satisfaction list is accurate.

Article submitted by Gaja

I recently came across news that Tata Motors will be able to manufacture 4000 to 5000 Nano cars every month. I find the number really pitiable compared to the hype it has generated. It seems that it will be able to reach a bigger production capacity of 18,000 to 20,000 cars per month only 4-5 months after start of production. With this minimal number, I think the Nano will be gone within a few seconds of appearing in the market.

Being a Nano aspirant myself, I haven’t seen such a mad rush for a vehicle since the launch of Bajaj scooters in India in the 80s.

Article submitted by Ravi

Maruti’s achievements don’t seem to be so surprising anymore. They seem to be setting records over and over again. After being in India for more than 20 years, they have set another record. First, it was news of one million Maruti Alto cars being sold till date. Now, for the first time in India, a car manufacturer has exported half a million cars. Maruti is truly adding a lot of feathers to its cap with such achievements.

Fiat enthusiasts now have now another option on the Palio Stile. Fiat is launching a 1.3 liter multi-jet diesel engine to power the Palio. The engine is new technology developed by Fiat and they are planning to use it in almost all the models that they plan to launch in India soon. Maruti too wants to have this engine on a few of their models. The new Maruti Suzuki Swift Diesel already has a multi-jet diesel engine.

Renault, the French car manufacturer who brought out the car Logan along with Mahindra, and Nissan are holding a series of talks with Bajaj Auto on creating an ultra-cheap car like the Tata Nano. That’s all I keep hearing these days.

Renault keeps saying that it’s interested in a joint venture with Bajaj for creating a small car that will compete with Tata’s Nano. The news of this alliance has been just news for a long time now. Doesn’t look like the talks are getting anywhere. Bajaj Auto had displayed their one-lakh concept car at the Delhi auto expo in January but it’s not known if anything happened after that.

Article submitted by Frenchbeard

It seems that the Indian Premier League (IPL) fever is catching up in the auto sector too. After some famous Bollywood stars and prominent Indian businessmen forayed into the IPL, it has become as popular as English football.

Hero Honda signed a partnership in the Indian Premier League looking to promote their bikes heavily over the next couple of years. Maybe some car manufacturer will also consider this opportunity and come forward soon. Maruti or Hyundai are always on TV so they might be most interested in this. But then, maybe Mercedes and BMW will be interested.

Article submitted by Crickraxyjunk