Monthly Archives: August 2009

Indian Roads to be Bug- bitten

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New Volkswagen Beetle
The Volkswagen Beetle popularly known as the Bug will bite Indian roads in about three months from now.

The Volkswagen Beetle is the world’s longest running and most-produced car of a single design. The time is crucial for Volkswagen which has decided to launch the Beetle in India as BMW has withheld the launch of its Mini in India. It is said that the Volkswagen Beetle would be released in limited numbers in the Indian Car Market.

The Beetle will be powered by a 1.9-litre TDI diesel engine which is mated to a 5-speed manual transmission. The Bug will sport safety featureslike rain sensors, cruise control and acoustic rear parking sensors to fit into the narrow parking slots. It will also boast of having Anti-lock Braking System (ABS), traction control, anti-skid system and standard front and side airbags. The cute Bug will offer a Nano-sized ride with the extravagance of a high-end SUV.

Volkswagen is presently brooding over the pricing of the Volkswagen Beetle which is a big challenge for the car company. Due to the 110% import duty and high safety specifications the Bug is expected to be pricey. It is likely to carry a hefty price tag of Rs 20 Lakh.

Currently, Volkswagen markets the Jetta and the Passat in India and will roll out the Polo by year end.
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A Beauty Parlour for Cars

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Your dream machine can now spend time in a beauty clinic for a makeover, obviously excluding manicure and pedicure! Amazing, right?

The ‘Carz Spa’ is India’s first Car Beauty Clinic, which is now ready to cross the threshold of the South Indian market through Franchise India. This car beauty parlour has been quite a hit in Western India.

Carz Spa, a division of M/s Fortune Multiple Services Pvt. Ltd, is all geared up to expand its franchise business with the biggest integrated franchise and retail solution provider Franchise India Holdings Limited (FIHL).

This Car Beauty Clinic is a Surat based company and is dedicated to Automobile Beautification and Preservation and has franchisees at Bangalore, Hyderabad, Coimbatore and Calicut. The Car Beauty Parlour is poised to be functional in a month and a half.

Carz Spa will help cars to get a facelift with the best car care products, machines and equipments manufactured by the world’s leading companies. It will offer services life exterior and interior steam clean; beauty and protection treatments; polymer coatings and other car beauty and hygiene treatments to give the car a shimmering and bold new look.

Carz Spa is famous for providing end-to-end solutions using hi-tech modern instruments and technology to detail cars. Carz Spa is talked about to make your ride germ free using steam-jets. The Beauty Clinic can add a glow to your car with the best of the world products and machineries.

Carz Spa will be opening shortly at Cochin, Mangalore and Chennai as well.
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Fiat’s Small Van Car, Fiorino

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It seems like Fiat is echoing itself everywhere in the car market. The car manufacturer is running around, in fact throughout the world, and launching new cars. The new car from Fiat, christened Fiorino, is a first type of its kind, a small van car. The name has it all the car is a crossover of a small car and an MPV.

The launch of Fiat Fiorino in Paris can be seen as a very intelligent decision by Fiat as the company enjoys a very stable position in France. This passenger car combined the characteristics of an MPV and a small car in a very elegant fashion.

This five seater crossover can be used for a leisure trip with your family or an adventurous journey with your friends. The car with a length of 3959mm, width of 1216mm and height of 1735mm is a true compact car and echoes the design principal of the car “Free Space”.

The two models – 1.3 liter 75 bhp Multijet and 1.4 liter 73 bhp petrol engines has the option of 5-speed manual or 6-speed automatic transmission. A very distinctive feature of the car is that it has great fuel efficiency and that too with less carbon dioxide emission, which makes the car is a very eco-friendly machine and a people friendly machine too.

And all of this is offered at a very low maintenance cost and buying cost.
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Toyota’s New Hybrid: Yaris

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Toyota Yaris has often proved its worth to Toyota as a successful compact car. Yaris is available in three variants viz. a three-door hatchback, a five- door hatchback and the sedan. Now, Toyota is considering rolling out a hybrid version of the Yaris compact car, the Yaris Hybrid.

It is revealed that Toyota is likely to use the current engine and platform offered on the Yaris. The Yaris Hybrid will feature a more cost competitive and fuel-efficient hybrid system than that of the Toyota Prius, which topped the fuel economy cars list this year.

The Japanese car giant Toyota Motor Corporation seems to be busy with the introduction of new models of hybrid cars. We have witnessed the launch of the hybrid Camry and Corolla Hybrid in Thailand.

The Toyota Yaris Hybrid is perceived as the best suitable small car from Toyota’s mill. The Yaris will undergo a small change in order to be a hybrid car. The small alteration is the addition of the hybrid system to the existing fuel powered Yaris. The new hybrid will run on either gas or battery. A plug in version of the Toyota Yaris is also anticipated.

The Yaris Hybrid will be unleashed in the Japanese market in 2011 and subsequently the rest of the world will welcome the hybrid car.

The conventional Toyota Yaris in the forms of small car and sedan will be available in India very soon.
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Indica Vista Ignis In The Making

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Tata Motors is all set to roll out a new variant of its successful Indica Vista called Indica Vista Ignis.

The Ignis will be the fourth variant of the Indica Vista; the other three being the Aqua, Terra and Aura.

The new Indica Vista Ignis will boast a bigger 1.4 Litre Saffire engine that can deliver a horsepower of 94 bhp; the same engine which powers the newly launched Fiat Grande Punto. The Ignis will also flaunt a revamped interior with a new dash integrated audio system with Bluetooth connectivity and call answer and reject buttons as well as USB connectivity.

The roomy cabin will sport a new steering wheel with audio controls on it and electrically adjustable Outside Rear View Mirrors (ORVM). Moreover, keyless entry comes as a standard feature.

Tata Motors will equip the Indica Vista Ignis with safety features like the Anti-lock Braking System (ABS) with Electronic Brakeforce Distribution (EBD) and dual front Air Bags.

The new Indica Vista Ignis will carry a price tag between Rs 4.5 – 5.0 Lakh (Ex-Showroom Delhi).
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1928 RR Phantom To go under the Hammer

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It seems to like the “R” word is really taking its toll on the car collectors and auctioneers are having a field day banging the hammer on the table.

We had just a couple of days earlier covered on the 1935 Rolls Royce Phantom II 40/50 HP Continental “All-Weather Convertible also called as the ‘Star of India’ that was to be auctioned for 10,000,000 euros. But even before that piece of info settled down, another Indian-Maharaja owned Rolls Royce Phantom has kicked the dust.

We are talking about the 1928 Rolls-Royce Phantom 1 ‘Jarvis Torpedo which RM Auctions were displaying as a prelude to their ‘Automobiles of London’ Auction to be held in October.

This classic beauty bearing the chassis number of 17EX, was originally one of three experimental chassis produced by Rolls Royce during 1928 and was sold to Maharaja Hari Singh Bahadur, the ruler of Jammu and Kashmir. The Maharaja owned the car until 1932 and the car remained in India until 1976 before it was shipped to Europe.

This beautifully restored 1928 Rolls-Royce Phantom I ‘Jarvis Torpedo sure has a glorious and royal past attached to it.

This car has been the toast of the classic car collectors and was showcased in many occasions including the famous 1996 Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este, where it was awarded the Trofeo Rolls-Royce award for the most elegant Rolls-Royce. The car was again displayed in Pebble Beach in 2004 during the 100th anniversary celebrations of the marque.

RM Auctions would also be auctioning the 1914 Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost Boattail Skiff, one of the most instantaneously recognizable of all Rolls Royce cars and a 1950 Aston Martin DB2 Team Car ‘VMF 64 that has a legendary race history including the Le Mans and Mille Miglia provenance in the Battersea auction and London auction respectively.

The auction will be conducted by the RM Auctions on 28th October and we are pretty sure that this time the hammer banging the table will produce interesting and astronomical figures so that we can write more on that in our next upcoming blogs. Just watch this space.
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GM’s New Hope in Chevy Volt

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General Motors have long recovered from bankruptcy and rearing to show the world its grit in car manufacturing. The proposed launch of the electric vehicle, like none before, is a very good example of this above statement.

Brushing aside the fact that seeing is believing and taking into consideration the past glory of the company one could believe that the assured car from GM, Chevrolet Volt, will be seen in the roads by 2010, as per the promise.

The car has many peculiarities and it is expected to mark a strong comeback by General Motors. The Volt being an electric car and is also an eco-friendly car. By 2010 or 2011, it is expected that the demand for electric cars will increase and General Motors, as it looks, believes in this prophecy.

The Volt is a hybrid car that runs on lithium-ion batteries, the best to start with to begin the list of specialties. The car, like other electric cars, need not be taken to a station for charging their batteries.

The batteries could be charged through electric power or gasoline engine, at the comfort of your home of office or where ever you are, because it just needs a 120-240V AC electrical outlet. It certainly looks like General Motors has bounced back in the big league once more.

The Chevy Volt is powered by a 150 hp electric motor and a 1.4 liter 4 cylinder engine, and with the fully charged batteries of the Volt one can commute around 40 miles.

With more than a handful of hybrid cars and more to be launched by 2011, it could be a tough sailing for the Volt.
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Indicruz Xover To Cruise On Indian Roads

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Tata Indicruz XoverTata Motors is all geared up launch its Indicruz Xover, the Multi Purpose Vehicle (MPV) early next year.

Tata Indicruz Xover is modeled on the Tata Safari platform and this MPV gets a bold cutting-edge look. The new Indicruz will flaunt sizzling exterior similar to the Innova from Toyota Kirloskar Motor.

It will come with a more curvaceous roof, mirror mounted indicators, large futuristic headlights and grille design with the corporate logo in the centre that will accentuate the front visage of the muscular car. The car will run on 17″ alloy wheels.

The premium MPV will boast an extremely large cabin that can accommodate up to seven people comfortably. The beige interior will house all the amenities required for a comfortable and pleasant driving experience. The Indicruz Xover will house navigation system and safety features like Anti-lock Breaking System (ABS) and airbags.

The Tata Indicruz Xover is expected to borrow the Safari’s 2.2-litre DICOR diesel engine that can churn out a powerful horsepower of 138 bhp. But the engine will be setup different to offer better fuel economy and improved drivability.

The Indicuz Xover will be placed against the Toyota Innova and the Mahindra Xylo in the Indian car market.
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Schumi Sans F1 Comeback

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Micheal Schumacher
The excitement around the European Grand Prix seems to have just faded with Michael Schumacher cancelling his much hyped Formula One comeback.

The legendary German F1 driver was supposed to step in for the injured Felipe Massa for Ferrari. But he is compelled to call off his participation in the European Grand Prix to due health reasons. Schumacher had a freak motorcycle accident earlier this year in February and had injured his neck.

The seven-time world champion has informed the Ferrari President Luca di Montezemolo and team Principal Stefano Domenicali regarding his unavailability for the race. It was only last week when he took a one-day test in an F2007 to evaluate his fitness levels and to prepare for the race.

He covered 67 laps of Ferrari’s Mugello circuit in Italy. The neck pain poured forth once again and all consequent treatment has failed to ease his distress and the injury will not be able to withstand the extreme stress levels of the Formula One racing.

The 40 year-old former world champion was disheartened to the core and especially for the team and his fans who were anticipating his return.
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Toyota has Plans For A Diesel Small car

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Toyota seems to be thinking high and certainly has great plans for future; after all it is the largest carmaker of the world and has always been successful in foreseeing its future and planning it accordingly. The company has now foreseen its future in the diesel cars. Sounds interesting, huh!

The company has of late announced that it is not planning to concentrate on anything apart from its small car for another one year, making itself and the customers very clear about the company’s plan to go lull on launching new cars. But even though the company has not promised anything as of yet , it is expected that it cannot stay away from the market for such a long time, as it will affect the company’s business, and it is sure that the company will be tempted to launch some new variants of the existing models or an upgraded version.

Toyota Motors is planning to make its small car available in the diesel version also understanding the pulse of an Indian customer. As the company has not taken any decision on whether or not it will launch the diesel version of the small car, the factors that govern its decision in going further to make its thoughts into action will be the popularity of diesel cars in India.

And as per the current situation, diesel cars are of great demand in India and more and more diesel car models are been launched. And the reason could be that it is a cheaper fuel compared to petrol and will be more fuel efficient. And another factor that the company would be considering will be the government rules and regulation, but this looks a bit tricky as one never knows what rule will the government bring out next week, leave apart next year.

This small diesel car from Toyota might, if everything goes well, hit the Indian roads by the 2011. And it is even possible that the wait to last longer but we all wish that the wait is worth it.
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