Monthly Archives: August 2008

Optra to Cruze

Chevrolet’s fans now get ready for the latest model of Optra, which will hit the India roads by 2009. The new Optra will carry the name Chevrolet Cruze and will be expensive than the Chevrolet Optra with the price tag of Rs.12-13 lakh.

The Chevrolet Cruze expected to fall in the Civic and Jetta category in terms of build as well as performance level. Coming to its size, this car is larger than the Volkswagen Passat or Hyundai Sonata.

The car will be available in both petrol and diesel version. The petrol version will be powered by a 1.8 litre engines, whereas the diesel engine will be propelled by a 2 litre engine. The diesel variant is anticipated to be the best performing version in its class offering mind blowing drive. The Cruze will also bag the credit of being the first car model to roll out from the General Motors’s new plant at Chakan near Pune.

    SocialTwist Tell-a-Friend     Add to Technorati Favorites                 Add New Post

Maruti to Introduce K-Series Engine

Everything is undergoing a transformation with changing generation and so is the car industry. One of the biggest generational changes in car industry is the new K-series petrol engine.

India’s largest car manufacturer, the Maruti Suzuki, is working to introduce this next generation engine technology in all the car models. The production of this series of engine has already been started at Manesar in Haryana. The current production is restricted for the upcoming global car Maruti A Star.

The K-series engine is to be manufactured in compliance to the Euro 4- and Euro 5-emission norms. It is also believed to be one of the highly efficient engines.

Currently, Maruti has four types of engines, F-series, two variants of G-series and M-series. But unfortunately all these are not in accordance to the Bharat 4 emission norms which are soon to be implemented in India. With respect to this, Maruti plans to fit the new K-series engine in all its existing car models and make them compliant to the norms.

    SocialTwist Tell-a-Friend     Add to Technorati Favorites                 Add New Post

Innovative Safety Feature on Its Way

With the increasing number of car accidents, the demand for advanced safety features is increasing.

Currently, many innovative features have come up in the car industry to ensure both the driver and car safety. Technologies like airbags, anti-lock brakes, electronic sensors, crash testing, adaptive headlights, tyre pressure monitoring, rearview camera, and adaptive cruise control have reduced the number of road accidents.

Inspite of so many futuristic technologies, everyday the top headlines of the newspaper dictates one or more number of fatalities due to car accidents. Why are the numbers not reduced? What’s the use of safety technologies if these are not successful in preventing accidents? Many similar questions are still unanswered.

Some say this is because of reckless driving but is that true? Nothing can be commented on reckless driving but what if the accident occurs due to fatigue and drowsiness. Some cases have been heard where the crashes occurs just because the driver is beset by fatigue or some kind of drowsiness. Some drivers, who feel that fatigue is setting in, stop their cars and others who don’t realize it drive on towards a crash. In such cases, what a driver should do?

Whether we may think over it or not but the German luxury car manufacturer, Mercedes-Benz has given a deep thought to it. To combat the issue of drowsiness while driving, Mercedes is working on the lifesaving technological feature, termed as Attention Assist. This innovative safety technology is a simple driver support system which will monitor the linear and lateral motion of the car with respect to the steering inputs and brake pressure.

Attention Assist will alert the driver at different levels of fatigue and drowsiness. In case of a risk, this feature will display a warning message, “Attention Assist. Break!” on the instrument panel. This message will be immediately followed by a warning sound that will compel the driver to stop the car and take a rest.

This innovative safety feature is on its way and is expected to enter the industry by 2009.

    SocialTwist Tell-a-Friend     Add to Technorati Favorites                 Add New Post

Volkswagen Cars to get Independent Identities

The German auto giant Volkswagen has decided to split its sales and service networks for all cars. The company wants to create unique identities and plans to maintain separate outlets and marketing teams for all the three brands.

However, group synergies would be attached for the backend operations like logistics, finance and procurement would be shared amongst the group companies. Currently the group also shares the manufacturing units. But once the Chakan plant becomes ready, some of the models will be shifted to the new plant for production.

Volkswagen models in India are very popular and with the recent launch of Jetta, the company has added another feather to their cap. This stunning sedan is known for its sporty and powerful design coupled with luxurious features.

Well, this strategy will surely help the company to retain elite brand identities for all the three brands.

    SocialTwist Tell-a-Friend     Add to Technorati Favorites                 Add New Post

Maruti Commences from Scratch

Maruti Motors, the leading car manufacturers in India, is planning to start car designing from a scratch by the turn of the decade.

In order to turn its plan to a fruitful end, the company is in process to hire more numbers of skilled and talented engineers and designers. The hired professionals would be accelerated to the cause of innovative car designs, electrical features and mechanical car works. The company desires to bring a revolution in the entire Indian operation and plans to make India a global design hub for small cars.

Till now, Maruti has been importing innovative technology from its parent company, the Suzuki Motors. But the company now plans to develop its own design centre. Thereby, it is working hard to turn its ambition into a reality and build new cars from a scratch in India by 2010-2011.

    SocialTwist Tell-a-Friend     Add to Technorati Favorites                 Add New Post

Nano’s Cousin to Arrive Soon

Tata Motors is already an active member in the electric car race. The company is working on the production of electric vehicles that are soon to hit the Indian car market.

A recent speculation states that the Tata is now planning to introduce E-Nano, yes the electric version of the ultra-cheap car, the Nano. Don’t you think this is something exciting…the actual car model is still not out and there are rumours about the versions and variants?

Though Nano is still under the veil, Tata announces the launch of diesel Nano and E-Nano. The electric version is expected to roll out seven months after the launch of Nano. The car is to be built in cooperation with the Miljoebil Grenland, Norwegian electric car specialist firm.

Nothing can be commented on the Nano and its version until the car makes its first appearance in the market.

    SocialTwist Tell-a-Friend     Add to Technorati Favorites                 Add New Post

Volkswagen Evaluates the Possibility of Expansion in India

At one end of the spectrum, when Fiat announced to open a R&D centre and Maruti is planning to start a design centre, at the other end the Volkswagen is also working on to open a research centre in India.

The plan of setting up a research centre in India is a step to expand its market share in the mushrooming Indian car industry. The proposed centre is expected to be in line with the accident research centre of the company set up in China almost three years back. In the established research centre, skilled professionals research the causes, aftermaths and other essentials of the car accident and then use the findings in incorporating safety features in the cars. The similar approach is set for the Indian research centre.

The Volkswagen believes that different countries have different cultures, road and weather conditions. These differences invite a need for completely different set of safety measures and features in the cars available in different countries. India also has its own ifs and buts when it comes to car safety and accidents.

The company plans to research all the accident sites in the country and then incorporate safety features in accordance to the India specific conditions.

Currently, India has limited infrastructure to incorporate a range of safety features.
The company is looking forward to fit in some features while the rest like lane departure indications and night view are not supported by the Indian infrastructure. Volkswagen promises to gradually bring out these features as well.

    SocialTwist Tell-a-Friend     Add to Technorati Favorites                 Add New Post

Logan Drives in Nepal

Logan is winning appreciation and accolades across the country. It is one of the highest fuel efficient cars running on Indian roads. After the success of Logan in India, Mahindra-Renault introduces the car to Nepal.

The jointly manufactured car by Mahindra and Renault is believed to be marketed by Agni Inc., a company that is currently marketing and selling Mahindra cars in the Himalayan country.

The overseas venture of Logan is associated with superior and elegant features. The car will be available in both petrol and diesel engines powered by 1.4 GLE 1.5 DLS, respectively.

Agni feels that Logan is a technologically superior car that will definitely get good response from the consumers in Nepal. Is this true? Will the success of Logan in Indian reflect in the car market of Nepal?

    SocialTwist Tell-a-Friend     Add to Technorati Favorites                 Add New Post

Fiat and Tata Extends Partnership

The Tata Motors had signed a memorandum with Fiat to market and sell the ultra-cheap car, Tata Nano, overseas. Both the companies now plan to extend their partnership for the success of Jaguar and Land Rover as well.

Tata is working on to design next generation engines for Jaguar and Land Rover that will deliver better fuel economy in accordance to the new European CO2 emission norms. Fiat is already in alliance with BMW for parts development, now Tata plans to extend the partnership with Fiat for designing the engine and transmission for Jaguar and Land Rover(JLR).

Currently, Ford Motors supplies engines to JLR. Once the fuel economic engines come into picture, JLR will put a halt to its contract with Ford.

The venture refuses to give any kind of details on the extended partnership. Are the companies still planning to extend the alliance for some other cause? Will they become lifetime partners?

All these are left unanswered!

    SocialTwist Tell-a-Friend     Add to Technorati Favorites                 Add New Post

Fiat Works on Revival Plans in India

Driven by the emerging and promising Indian car market, the Fiat India is working on to revive its expansion plans in India.

Fiat has great plans to start car exports to the Asia-Oceanic markets like Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and UK. The emphasis is expected to lay on right hand drive markets. The company plans to export cars to the right-hand drive from the Indian production base.

Recently, Fiat has launched its legendary Fiat 500 in India and is planning to import its iconic global brands like Alfa Romeo, Ferrari and Maserati. Later in the fiscal year, the company is also ready to roll out Grande Punto and Linea on Indian roads.

With so many cars hitting the Indian roads, it’s difficult to decide the faith of the Indian car industry? All the car manufacturers are expanding their operations in India. The day is not far, when there’ll be no space for pedestrians on Indian roads, infact less space for all the cars to run on.

    SocialTwist Tell-a-Friend     Add to Technorati Favorites                 Add New Post