Monthly Archives: September 2009

Ford Figo Unveiled

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The much-awaited small car from the US auto major Ford has been unveiled in New Delhi. The car has been christened Figo.

Ford Figo is a four-door hatchback that will be available in both diesel as well as petrol engines.

Figo has the main elements of Ford’s kinetic design language such as modern headlamps, grille shapes and sculpted bonnet of its distinctive face to the subtle integrated spoiler and chamfered window shape at the rear, which the company has used in world renowned vehicles such as Ford Mondeo, Ford Focus, and the Ford Fiesta. It also has very contemporary features, with a completely new look that is very different from the usual Ford models.

Figo is a synonym of car that has essence, superiority and intelligent designing, which is truly Italian inspired very similar to the name of the car which in Italian means cool. It also has a solid posture and a very spacious and elegant interior. The Figo is designed to best suit the urban driving conditions.

The Figo also has a molded body side with chiseled front fenders, a “comet tail” undercut in the doors and additional light-catching sculpting in the lower body side.
The Figo has a bold graphic with large side window shape and spaciousness awaiting occupants’ front and rear and the side window graphic has a blacked-out B-pillar.
The engine specification or transmission details are not available.

The production of the car will begin in the early months of 2010. The company has also not yet unveiled any details about the pricing of the car, but it is expected to be priced at something higher than Rs. 3 lakh.
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Tata Upgrading Discovery 3 And Range Rovers

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Land Rover Discovery 3
What is Tata Motors up to? As the writer would try to impose his thoughts on to the readers, that would be exactly what most of you are going to think after reading this blog. Well, in fact, each of us should be proud of this Indian auto giant, for having always given us chances to imagine and envision about motor glorified tomorrows.

The company launched its Land Rover Freelander 2, a much awaited SUV, in the Indian car market yesterday and also has promises for upgraded models from the manufacturer that will be available in the country from November this year.

The 2010 Range Rover, Range Rover Sport and the Land Rover Discovery 3, with some interior and exterior upgraded Indian features, are the new cars in the list. And if you trust the company so much that you do not find it necessary to know the changes in the new upgraded vehicles, you can as well book the new upgraded models right away.

The bookings are open for one obvious reason; the Indian car Industry will see a tremendous hike in sales in the next few months as it is the festival season in the country, but as Tata is not ready to launch the new models now they don’t want to kill this golden opportunity and is readying the car for those who is not adamant about owing one new car soon after all the celebrations.

Range Rover, Range Rover Sport, and Discovery 3 are already available in the Indian car market. And the new models will surely improve the sales for this car maker. But recollecting the news about how Tata in general is doing a great business, but is still unable to revive itself from the tangle of ‘no gain’ from the JLR buyout, do they really have to hurry on such things.
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SSC Ultimate Aero: World’s Fastest Car Soon to be in India

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SSC Ultimate Aero
The fastest growing Indian car industry has a fast companion, the fastest car of the world, Ultimate Aero. And the proud manufacturer of this speed muncher is Shelby Super Car (SSC) a US-based company that is expecting to make a grand entry into the Indian car market.

Well, for all the features and functions available in the car, it will indeed receive a red carpet entry in India, especially into the minds of the Indian car lovers, who would all be eagerly waiting for the day the car will be available in India. Even though they cannot buy one, they are excited about the mere thought of seeing it adorning the Indian roads.

The Aero is expected to be launched in Mumbai in the near future, let us also hope that our wishes come true. Delhi will follow Mumbai in the list of cities where the Aero will be launched. Aero holds a Guinness World Record for being the fastest car in the world. The top speed of Aero is 413 kilometres per hour.

In the United States, where the car is been manufactured, it costs only Rs. 3 crore, thanks to the high import duty in the country, which is as high as 100 per cent, it will make Aero the costliest car available in the Indian car industry as the car would be priced at Rs 6 crore when it makes inroads to India. And so Mercedes-Benz Maybach with a price tag of Rs 5 crore will be pushed to the second place.

The light weight car is manufactured with lightweight titanium and carbon fibre materials and is powered by a 6.35L twin-turbo V8 engine.

India will be the third country where the Aero will be launched, US and Russia being the other two.
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Ford To Display Small Car Today

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Ford Small Car
The wait is finally going to get over when Ford India will unveil its small car today.

The small car codenamed B517 will be flagged off by the CEO of Ford Motor Company, Alan Mulally. The CEO has flown to India just for the purpose. The last time, the company’s CEO visited India was at the launch of the Ford Fiesta in2005. Bill Ford, grandson of Henry Ford, had come to India to launch the sedan. Moreover, it has to be noted that since that time, Ford India has not had a new product launch, but has continued to upgrade its existing product line.

This small car is very critical and crucial to the future success and growth of the company in India. The Indian arm of the Ford Motor Company has sweated out to localise the car. Moreover, it is going to be Ford’s cheapest offering as the B517 will be priced a little more than Rs 3 Lakh.

The Ford small car will be spacious and come in two engine variants. The petrol version will be driven by a 1.2-litre engine and a 1.4-litre engine will power the diesel variant. These indigenous engines also power the Ford Ikon and the Fiesta. The engines also meet the government’s small car excise norms.

The small car will pit itself against the upcoming Volkswagen Polo, Nissan Micra and the New Chevrolet Beat (code M300). The Ford B517 will also stand against the existing Hyundai i20 and the Swift model in the market. The arrival of Ford’s small car would sound death knell for its competitors.

This new Ford model will go on sale in March 2010. Then, why display the car now? Rewinding the history of Ford Motors, it was never part of Auto Expo where every car maker loves to bring their new babies to the public eye. Hence Ford might have felt the festive season would be auspicious time for the launch of small car.
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GM To Make A Hybrid Corvette?

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Chevrolet Corvette
Though General Motors has denied the fact, we have heard that the second largest car maker of the world has a hybrid Corvette project on the drawing board.

The regular 2010 Corvette comes with a 430 bhp LS3 6.2-liter V8 engine and six-speed manual transmission. The car can deliver a mileage of 6.8 km/l in the city and 10.2 km/l on the highway. Creating a plugin Corvette is possible as we have witnessed the Fisker Karma. The Fisker Karma is a plug-in hybrid luxury sports sedan that can crank out 400 bhp.

We shouldn’t forget that when the Chevy Volt concept was first unveiled, sometimes it used to be referred to as an electric Camaro indicating to its very sporty design. But that sportiness was scaled back somewhat in favor of more widespread appeal when the car went into production.

However, the Chevrolet Corvette remains General Motors’ iconic lynchpin sports car. It is powered by a very highly spirited line of V8 gas engines, though new CAFE rules regulating a fleet average of 15 km/l by 2016 have some pundits wondering if the sports car’s days could be numbered.

The GM Vice Chairman of Product Development says that the V8 engine of the super car will stay. Down the road, he plans to keep the car alive no matter what it takes even if that means hybridization.

So, what do you think? Isn’t it a hint at rolling out a Corvette hybrid in future?
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Freelander 2 Launched

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Freelander 2 Launched in India

It has been a much anticipated launch and finally it has happened, the highly acclaimed Freelander 2 has been introduced in the India car market by Land Rover. And now Freelander 2 will join its predecessors such as Discovery 4, the quintessential sports tourer, the Range Rover Sport, and the ultimate luxury 4×4, the Range Rover that had all been launched in India in June 2009.

The Freelander 2 is distinct compact premium 4×4 segment. It has in it all the characteristic of a Land Rover such as purposeful stance, dynamic design, smart and spacious interior, and an profusion of advanced technologies and the most important of them all – an exceptional on-road performance and class-leading off-road ability.

The Freelander 2 is available in a 2.2 litre common rail turbodiesel engine. The Freelander 2 will be offered in 3 trim levels in the country namely S, SE and HSE. The engine of the SUV has been transversely mounted for better crash protection, extra space, front end styling and a shorter bonnet for more cabin space. Land Rover’s unique Terrain Response® system is standard on the vehicle.

The Freelander 2 possesses a remarkably strong monocoque body and inner safety cell, with front and rear crumple zones, which attract energy on impact. Having also received a 5 star rating in the rigorous Euro NCAP tests for Adult Occupant Protection – a first in its class, the Freelander appears to be the vehicle Indian car lovers have been waiting for. The Dynamic Technology Systems, Airbags, and Command Driving Position provide the customers with an all-terrain, all weather package of the Freelander 2.

The Freelander 2 has a price starting from Rs. 33.79 lakhs, Ex-Showroom Mumbai. The car is been launched in India at the right season, the festival season. And it is expected that this will prove to be a right decision by the carmaker.
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Audi E-TRON Concept Car

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Audi E-TRON Concept Car
Audi has presented its E-TRON concept car at the ongoing Frankfurt Motor Show. The E-TRON is a performance sports car with electric drive system that runs on four motors. There are two motors which are located at the front and rear axles that drive the wheels making the concept car a true Quattro.

The E-TRON can produce 313 bhp and 4,500 Nm torque. Moreover, the two-seater E-TRON can sprint from 0 to 100 km in just 4.8 seconds. The lithium-ion battery in the car provides a truly useable energy content of 42.4 kilowatt hours to enable a range of approximately 248 kilometers.

The design of the Audi E-TRON concept car defines its place at the major leagues of sports cars, while the package takes into account the specific realities of an electric vehicle. The battery is directly behind the passenger cabin for an optimal center of gravity and axle load distribution.

Car with electric drive systems took to the roads around 1900, yet till date no car manufacturer has a car powered exclusively by batteries in its lineup even though electric driving potentially offers numerous advantages.

Electric cars reduce the dependence of transportation and the economy on the raw material petroleum. They produce no direct exhaust emissions and thus ease the burden on the environment. However, there is still a lot of work to do before electric cars are ready for mass production.
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Toyota Corolla Altis CNG

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The one reason why not many CNG cars are available in the Indian car market is that there aren’t many fuel stations in the country where CNG is available.

Customer-friendly car makers of the country who generally think about the likes and comforts of their customers will abandon the thought of making CNG variants optional to the customers as they don’t want their customers to wander around for filling their fuel or even get stuck without enough fuel.

The car customers of the country favours the launch of cars fitted with CNG, as it is more durable and comes with a guarantee from the company, rather than the ones that is fitted outside, which will not have any guarantee from the car maker.

Toyota is launching a new variant of its successful model Corolla Altis, a CNG variant. The new model is expected to hit the Indian roads at the right time, in the next month, during the festival season. The Altis Corolla CNG will have tank capacity of 14kg and Sequential Injection system, along with its own ECU, which gives the car supreme economy by not sacrificing on performance.

With only a single competent in the segment, Chevrolet Optra CNG, the Toyota Corolla Altis will have a smooth sale in the Indian car market. Corolla Altis is the second model from Toyota, after Innova, which comes in a CNG version.

It feels like Toyota knows the way out from the situation in the country where there is a lack of CNG stations, and it is simply more and more CNG versions of cars, which will force the launch of more CNG station due to the increase in demand.
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Unlimited Fun With Limited Alto Xcite

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It seems like all the car makers are keeping themselves busy with launches these days. Some of them are bringing in their latest creation to the Indian market, while most of the car makers in India are rolling out facelifted versions and limited editions. The obvious reason is the festive season that has kicked off with the Eid and the Navratras are on with Diwali and Dusshera just around the corner and Christmas is a while away!

So, Maruti Suzuki began the celebration by coming out with a limited edition of its butter and butter model by adding spice to it, the Alto Xcite.

The new Alto Xcite is really peppy. The car drapes in body coloured bumpers and door handles. Moreover, the car gets a tattoo too; we mean to say the Alto Xcite flaunts stylish graphics on its body. The ‘Xcite’ sticker is tagged on the rear and side door to give a refreshed look. This new small car decks half wheel cover in silver that gives it a neat and smart look.

This ‘mileage ka muncher’ Alto limited edition sports dual-tone seat covers and fabric inserts on the door panel. The Alto Xcite boasts of numerous features that include front power windows, internally adjustable ORVM, rear demister, new gear knob, chrome plated grill and rear qtr trim. All these spruce up the Alto Xcite making it an attractive purchase.

Central locking system makes into the new Alto Xcite limited edition. There is a rear parcel tray to secure your things too, for the first time in an Alto. The limited edition of Maruti Suzuki’s best selling Alto also features front power windows, manual central locking and remote boot opener.

The new Maruti Alto Xcite Limited Edition is priced at Rs 2.75 Lakh (ex-showroom, New Delhi). The Xcite will be Rs. 13, 500 more than the regular Alto. Besides, the Alto Xcite Limited Edition will be available in the car market till November end.
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Reva May Open an Electric Car Plant at New York

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Maini REVAi NXR and NXG
It was already expected of Reva and now proving the speculations right, the Indian electric car company is making a clear entry into the American car industry.

It was only last week that the Reva had unveiled its two new electric car models, NXR and NXG, in the Frankfurt Motor Show. These new cars are believed to have engrossed much of praise and admiration. There are now reports about how the company is now planning to build a really huge auto plant in upstate New York.

This multimillion-dollar plan of Reva is now going through the process of getting approved. And the company is curiously waiting for the moment with fingers crossed.
The first and the only car manufacturer of electric cars in India, Reva has already exported its battery run car, Reva, and has made a very appreciative global presence.

But the two new models NXR, the four-seat hatchback, and the NXG, the two-seater sports car will be, for sure, contemporary models from the auto maker and will surely help the company do more profitable business.

There are, more than certainties, speculations about the financial source and other matters such as the time when the plant will start working and if the company is half way through deciding for a plant in the country why is it that there have not started hiring people. It was expected that in India the company would launch both its new models, NXR and NXG, by 2011 but it is still not known when it will mark its entry in the global market.

The deal the company has been waiting for includes state and federal incentives. The company may not completely dependent on the $40 million in federal Department of Energy loan guarantee funding. And with more and more Indian companies starting their plants at different parts of the world, like Tata Motors acquiring loan for its electric car plant from the British government, it is a moment of pride and joy.
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