Monthly Archives: August 2009

Make Special Cars Says Government

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In a statement made in the Indian parliament, the Indian government has asked car manufacturers to contemplate on making cars specially designed for physically challenged persons.

Arun Yadav, the Minister of State for Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises expressed the will of the Government that it wants the car manufacturers in India to concentrate in making at least one or two models for the physically challenged persons. This step by the Government comes as a welcome sign for people in India as the car manufacturers are being finally waken up from their deep slumber in neglecting the handicapped people.

To top it all, the Government has been doling out excise duty concessions on cars and other vehicles meant for handicapped people. This tax benefits should lure the car manufacturers in India to toy with the idea of coming out with at least a couple of models designed for the physically challenged people.

Some Indian carmakers were earlier providing cars with automatic transmission for physically challenged persons but had to discontinue the same as the demand for such vehicles was very less and occasional and making them available readily in the market is not practical in terms of economy.

But the growing Indian car industry makes such customized cars and other vehicles on specific order to suit the disability of person.

Some of car manufacturers who tune the cars according to the needs of physically challenged drivers are Hyundai with their Santro, Mahindra with their Scorpio, Maruti Suzuki on their Omni, and some of the higher end car manufacturers.
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BWM 3-Series to Breathe New Life

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New Jaguar XKR Cars in IndiaLuxury carmaker BMW is hovering on to revive the 3-Series, the company’s biggest-selling model. The new 3-Series is expected to make its appearance at the 2011 Paris motor show.

The reintroduction of the 3-Series car was speculated as a result of the ongoing eco-friendly buzz. The new car will deliver excellent aerodynamics, with a drag coefficient of only Cd figure 0.24.

The 2011 3-Series will come with turbocharged three-cylinder engine in petrol and diesel options and will deliver 150bhp. The petrol version will be cheaper compared to the diesel as it does not have the need for emissions kit demanded by a Euro 6-compliant diesel engine.

A remarkable 40 per cent of overall air resistance of the 3-Series will come from the shape and size of the car. And BWM has to meditate on the remaining 60 per cent.
BMW’s will retain its customary front-engined with rear-drive design. BMW has also to render on the lightweight three-cylinder engines which will demand very specific suspension settings.

The 2016 BMW 3-Series are anticipated to be the first BMW to be fitted with a new type of heating system. This version is expected to trap heat from the exhaust system. Moreover, a heat store is a possibility.

BMW is expected to fit the new 3-Series with its new eight-speed automatic transmission, instead of the 6-speed automatic transmission.
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TATA, Who ?

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The growing American interest for Indian and Chinese car was a very interesting piece of news. The already proud Indian will be super proud to know about the rocketing Indian car market. And it is also true that this is the right time to venture into the American car market, but it is of course not a now or never situation and we will again get chance to prove ourselves, but it is just a matter of time before we do that.

It seemed like a new era of acceptance of the Indian cars. This was the news that was celebrated by the Indian news media. And it seemed that the Indian car market, clearly knowing its strengths and weaknesses, is working towards a very bright tomorrow in the American industry, even accepting that it is not as strong as the Chinese car market, which has more indigenous cars than the Indian car market.

“The two”, and we deliberately stress on this the two, Indian car brand names are Tata Motors and Mahindra &Mahindra. It seemed to be a challenging journey, but it certainly seemed like a fruitful one. Until yesterday when browsing through some questions asked by Americans, it suddenly seemed to be a very distant dream, the dream to win over the hearts of the American car buyers.

Among the questions asked there were these most troubling ones – What is Tata? Is there a company called Tata? Mmmh! Well, the quick response was to answer all of them with a big yes. And the thoughts followed how it is possible that they don’t even know about the name of the biggest Indian conglomerate with different business interests under its wings.

To comfort oneself, there is this answer – There are at least questions asked about Tata these days, there was a time when they did even know the name to ask such a question.
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Yeti, The Next New from Skoda

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Yeti, the new attraction from Skoda, will be unveiled at the 2010 Geneva Auto Expo and will be subsequently launched in India.

The launch of Yeti, in India, is expected sometime in the early 2010, and will be at the 2010 Auto Expo. Yeti is a crossover, the missing link between Fabia and Octavia in India.

Yeti will be a good choice for the Indian roads. It is neither an SUV nor a car and thus a crossover. It has integrated the good qualities from both an SUV and a car. The Yeti, though carries the qualities of an SUV, is not as bulky as one and has a very trendy look. In spite of being a two-wheel drive, the Yeti has high ground clearance and long suspension.

The Yeti is built based on the Volkswagen Golf platform and borrows mechanics and features from Skoda Laura, Skoda Fabia, and Skoda Roomster. The looks of the Yeti resembles more of Skoda Fabia, with its grille, which can be easily recognized, and it has the suspension of the Fabia. And it is also expected to have the brakes and transmission of Roomster.

The Yeti has a very intelligently designed interiors and it also has a very interesting option of a bike carrier.

Both the petrol and diesel versions of the Skoda Yeti are expected to be launched in India. The petrol variant will be powered by a 1.6-litre to 2.0-litre engines and the diesel version comes with a 1.9-litre turbo diesel engine.

The competitors of Yeti in the Indian car market would be Mahindra Scorpio, Tata Indicruz, and Tata Safari. The car is expected to carry a price tag of Rs 10 lakh, which is slightly on the higher side.

The Skoda Yeti will be brought as CKD to India and will be assembled at the Skoda’s Aurangabad plant using the kits from Skoda’s Kvasiny plant in the Czech Republic.
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Aston Martin’s Cygnet

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The “Baby Swan” adds a new feather to Aston Martin’s cap. Baby Swan? We are talking about the new concept car by Aston Martin. And we all know a baby swan is called a Cygnet.

The Cygnet is said to be a derivative of the Toyota iQ. This car has been developed by the British supercar maker to abide by the strict emissions rule of the European Union.

The Aston Martin Cygnet is a small car which will have 1.0 litre three-cylinder petrol engine similar to the iQ. The car will also come with the Toyota iQ’s innovative three- plus-one seating arrangement. The tiny car is the result of a joint venture between Aston Martin and the Japanese giant.

The Cygnet can pride itself on a Euro NCAP five-star crash safety rating. Moreover, Aston has fitted the baby swan with a low-emission and highly economical engine to meet those harsh environmental rules.

The 3-metre long Cygnet will sport exquisite style taken from Aston Martin’s supercar range. In addition, this car will also flaunt leather-clad cabin featuring the very best materials, along with an Emotion Control Unit (ECU) that plugs into the centre console, replacing a traditional key.

The Cygnet will go on sale in 2010 and Aston Martin aims at selling atleast 4000 of these cars per year, across its global market.
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Tata’s Steel for Toyota’s Small Car

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Toyota is in for a great change in the way it thinks. And the wait-and-see attitude of the company will certainly do good for the company’s expected small car that is that will be launched in 2010. Hope the customers who are yearning for the car will never get disappointed with Toyota as it has a history of satisfying its customers through their cars.

It seems that this perfect picture about a small car will have shades of Tata also in it. It does not sound surprising for sure as Tata has been supplying nearly 90 per cent of its auto-grade steel and has also been helping out Toyota to choose the most accurate steel for Toyota’s largest selling MUV in India, Toyota Innova. And now Tata might also supply skin panel for the proposed small car from Toyota.

This is not a probability, as it can be almost certain that Tata will be supplying steel for the skin panel of the small car. The skin panel shapes the outer part of the car and gives the car a fine look.

But it should also be strong, thin and formable which makes it very necessary the steel should be of very high quality. And Tata being fifth largest steel producer and already supplying steel for the skin panels for itself, Tata Motors, Honda, Maruti, and Hyundai, Toyota might not waste time searching for another steel supplier.

Toyota launched the face lifted Toyota Camry just a week ago and has already given the word that it will launch its SUV Fortuner on August 24th, much before its expected launch in the month of September.

It is also expected that except for the relauch and new variants of the existing cars, Toyota is not thinking about any other car until it delivers its small car. And all of this, for the cause of bringing out its small car by the end of 2010.
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Will Mercedes-Benz Ditch F1 Too?

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It’s just a week since BMW officially bade farewell to the Formula 1 circuit, and now the rumour mill is working overtime with the reports that it would the Mercedes-Benz backed McLaren F1 team which is next in line to say adios to F1.

This has been inferred as a result of the ongoing global economic recession and the conflicts encompassing Formula One.

Mercedes Benz is yet to confirm its engagement with F1. Honda quit the F1 racing track citing economic recession last year in December followed by BMW last month.

Recently, the automakers have questioned the relevance and benefits of competing in F1. Perhaps if relevance is what Mercedes is looking for, it may go back to sports car racing which is increasingly embracing alternative drive trains, particularly in the American Le Mans Series.

Mercedes Benz owns 40 per cent of the McLaren team and supplies engines to both McLaren and Brawn. If Mercedes does decide to pull out, it is not clear how that would affect McLaren.

McLaren was an F1 stalwart long before Mercedes came on board and could conceivably continue, perhaps using engines from Cosworth. Interestingly, the withdrawal of automakers could take F1 back to the 1970s when most of the teams were independent and aside from Ferrari and Renault most used Cosworth DFV V8 engines.

McLaren-Mercedes won several constructors’ world titles over the past years and three drivers’ crowns from Mika Hakkinen (1998, 1999) and Lewis Hamilton (2008).
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Bentley Continental Flying Spur Now with Speed

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New Bentley Continental GT Cars in IndiaIndia can now boast to have one more world’s fastest car on its roads. The Bentley Continental Flying Spur Speed was launched in India on 14th July.

This super luxury sedan is a sportier cousin of the Continental Flying Spur that came to India in 2006. Super luxury car maker Bentley claims that the Continental Flying Spur Speed is the most powerful sedan ever built by the company.

The car is endowed with massive 6.0-litre W12 engine. The engine is paired with a 6-speed automatic gearbox that enables the car to get to the top speed of 322 km/h and puts out 600bhp. The car can cover 100 km from inertia in an amazing 4.8 seconds.

The Bentley Continental Flying Spur Speed adorns an exterior with subtle designs and a luxurious interior to entice customers. It has a leather-wrapped steering wheel and a Naim 1100W custom-made audio unit. The other features, though optional, without additional cost, are a bright chromed grille, piano black and dark stained Burr Walnut veneers, diamond-quilted leather to seat facings and doors, headrests with embroidered Bentley logo and “Speed” tread plates to all the doors.

This supercar is a four-door variant of the Bentley Continental GT Speed. It stands on 20 –inch Pirelli PZero performance tyres fitted multi-spoke alloys in bright silver or darkened tungsten and provides an option of carbon-ceramic disc brakes. The car has a self-adjusting air suspension with thicker front and rear stabilizer bars.

Moreover, it comes with the revised Servotronic steering system of the Flying Spur. The car’s radar-based Adaptive Cruise Control has also been refurbished with follow-to-stop precision and five time-gap settings.

The Continental Flying Spur Speed is priced at Rs 2.45 crore (ex-showroom Delhi). With the launch of the new Speed variant, the company hopes that it will sell ten units of the Flying Spur every month. Currently there are four Bentley variants being sold in India.
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Long Wait For Chrysler

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Chrysler under GM when filed for bankruptcy, on April 30, 2009, did not have many hopes for a brighter future. But when Chrysler thought everything was down and out, Fiat pitched in and Chrysler was able to strike a deal with Fiat, which made Fiat the joint owner of Chrysler.

This will in future be a very profitable business for both the companies, a give and take policy. By joining hands with Chrysler, Fiat has gained an easy access to the American automobile market and Chrysler has had the benefit of learning new technologies from Fiat, which will help it to make more new-generation cars than ever in the near future.

But it appeared to be a tough journey for Chrysler and Fiat when the sale was delayed by the Supreme Court following an appeal by the consumer groups, Indiana pension and construction funds, and others to stop the transaction.

But luckily everything started falling into place when Supreme Court cleared the path for the deal and Chrysler sold its assets to Fiat group SpA. Chrysler, with this sale, has been freed from the clutches of bankruptcy.

Chrysler has never gone through a similar situation. Even though Chrysler was on the verge of filing a bankruptcy more than once, it has never happened during its 80 years of business.

This plight of the company is mainly due to its inability to think in a contemporary fashion. Chrysler failed to bring out new looks and technology in its cars, it was stuck with the long gone design and features. This didn’t impress the car buyers who were flooded with plenty of options to choose from. This brought down the sale of the company and this finally ended up in the filing of bankruptcy.

Now with a new lease of life being imparted to Chrysler, It should come out with innovative car designs and features that could charm the car buyers to Chrysler’s showrooms.

Chrysler is a big name for America and now with the US government supporting the Chrysler-Fiat partnership, Chrysler should regain its lost glory. But even months after Chrysler joined hands with Fiat, there are not many clear cut plans announced by both the companies. But let’s hope a real come back from this master carmaker.
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Lewis Hamilton of F1 in Delhi

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Formula One racer Lewis Hamilton acclaimed as the world’s youngest F1 champion was in Delhi, recently. No! No! There was no F1 race here. He was here to play cricket. As a brand ambassador for telecom giant Vodafone, he was part of the Team Vodafone which played against the local team Delhi 6.

The game consisting of two overs each was played and Delhi 6 took home a trophy, but Lewis Hamilton dazzled the crowds with his presence. The formula one ace driver was even courteous to meet the thrilled F1 enthusiasts and shared some time with them. Though it was a short stay, he left a mark on India’s F1 cheerers.

Lewis Hamilton, who races for the McLaren-Mercedes team, has taken a special interest in the upcoming European Grand Prix 2009 which will see the comeback of F1 legend Michael Schumacher.

Hamilton as the youngest F1 driver and Schumacher the oldest F1 racer in that event are going to test their skills there.

On August 23 when the race gets underway, the world will witness the clash of titans. On his part, he has promised to give his best shot against Schumacher.
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