Rejoice India, rejoice! Your long wait of entering into the glamorous and prestigious world of Formula One car racing is soon gonna get satisfied. A year or so, and India’s long-awaited dream of being a part of one of the world’s best car races and getting to see the world’s best F1 drivers prove themselves at the ultimate motor sport event will transform into reality.

Formula One governing body, FIA has announced the schedule of events for next year’s race and we see the inauguration of the Formula One Indian Grand Prix falling on October 30, 2011. It is for the first time that F1 will see record 20 rounds beginning on 13th March with the Bahrain GP and closing on the 27th of November in Brazil after the penultimate race in Abu Dhabi on November 13, 2011. The Indian Grand Prix happens to be the 18th round. But hold on!

This 18th round in the 2011 calendar is subject to approval; homologation of the track needs to complete. India’s maiden F1 race will be held at the Jaypee Group Circuit in Greater Noida which is still under construction and will hopefully see completion by June 2011. It is pending FIA homologation, but that won’t be a problem though. The estimated cost to develop the 5.15 km circuit is about US $215 million. It will have a seating capacity of 150,000.

Unfortunately, no new teams will be entering next year’s Formula One Season. The Federation Internationale del’ Automobile shut doors on new teams for 2011 F1 indicating that nobody met the requirements. FIA announced that no entry had met the required standard to fill the vacant 13th team spot.

The current F1 season has three races back-to-back. Next year, however, Formula One racing is going to be tougher with four races back-to-back. If one weekend has the Malaysia/China GP, the following will have the Spain/Monaco GP, followed by Germany/Hungary on the third consecutive weekend and Japan/Korea on the fourth.

Next year’s 20-round championship will impose extra costs, but at the same time, measures have also been taken to cut costs. New Formula One rules have been introduced such as the ban on in-season testing and restricting the number of mechanics attending an F1 race. Also, an announcement has been made by the world motor sport council that the F1 governing body would be allowed to punish Formula One drivers and other competitors in the series who commit motoring offences on public roads. In the most serious cases, the international sporting code would be altered allowing the governing body to withdraw a driver’s international super licence.

The most important outcome of the World Motorsport Council meet will be the decision taken on Ferrari’s alleged team orders at the German GP in July. The only other change happens to be Turkey opening the European campaign on May 8, 2011. Ex-world champion Jacques Villeneuve will not be returning to the grid as the Canadian had lodged one of the rejected entries. Villeneuve had joined hands with the Italian ex-GP2 team Durango, while another bid had come from the Spanish outfit Epsilon Euskadi.

On Tuesday, we presented to you the first unmasked photos of the new facelifted Hyundai i10. We thought the car would launch in India during Diwali. However, there’s better news. Indian Autos Blog reports that Hyundai has confirmed to them the launch of the car on September 23rd. This month, we haven’t yet had any launches and the launch of the new Hyundai i10 will probably be one of the very few launches this September. Other auto majors must be waiting for the auspicious Dassera season to introduce their new cars into the market.

The first unmasked images revealed the new i10 to some extent. Now, our friends at Overdrive have got a few more images that are helping us discover more about the car. It looks like the new fluidic sculpture design that will be employed in the 2011 Avante has been used in the i10 too. Just look at the new car. Very clearly the i10 now screams that it is a member of the Hyundai family with its new personality that bears similarity with other Hyundai cars.

The facelifted Hyundai i10 has been given the prominent Hyundai hexagonal grille. The super-aggressive look, however, has been bestowed on the i10 through the bold headlamps that sharply sweep backwards. So, we have an angry Hyundai i10 coming by the end of the month. By the way, the car will be launched in the country on 23rd September, which means India has the privilege of experiencing the aggressive little monster even before its global unveiling in October at the Paris Motor Show.

The rear gets some changes too, but very minor ones that can hardly be noticed. The rear bumper and tail lamps are a little different. Anyway, the complete picture of the facelifted i10 with all details and specifications is not too far away. The engine, as we said earlier, will be 1.2-litre Kappa motor with Variable Valve Timing Technology or VTVT.

With the new powerplant, the i10 will be even more alert delivering a better response even at a low speed. The engine happens to be obeying the stricter emission norms while offering a better fuel economy. In Europe, cars get taxed based on tailpipe emissions and Hyundai has planned the i10 in a manner so as to squeeze into the lower tax band, thanks to the new engine. The car maker claims that the i10’s new engine is the most advanced 1.2 litre engine in country.

As for the interiors, there seem to be no visible changes except for the new colours. The analog fuel level and engine temperature gauges in the instrument console may, however, be replaced with digital ones. Distance to empty and average fuel efficiency details will hopefully be additions.

The current Hyundai i10 prices start at Rs. 3,44,144 and go as high as Rs. 5,56,553 (ex-showroom prices). The new facelifted i10 is believed to come with a heavier tag, costlier by Rs 5,000 to 10,000.

Just a few weeks back we were complaining that BMW India was getting a bit too complacent and making the most of the opportunity was Mercedes Benz India. Mercedes India launched quite a few models and variants recently, and looks like BMW is finally going to take things more seriously in the Indian market.

And the festive season that has already begun in the country seems to be the perfect time for BMW to get mean and aggressive. The German luxury car maker has made it official that the new BMW X5 will be launched on the 21st of this month. Dr. Andreas Schaaf, President, BMW India will unveil the new BMW X5 and address the press conference at the company’s new facility Bird Automotive in Gurgaon.

Before you set your hopes soaring very high, let us tell you that this X5 is not a model change. It is just the current generation X5 which was introduced in 2006, only a few new attractions have been added on this SUV including a new front bumper and larger air ducts to cool the engine as well as a bunch of minor cosmetic changes. Some of the exterior changes may include altered headlamps and tail-lights, and a deeper rear bumper.

This facelift comes right on time when the X5 was right in the middle of mid-life crisis and was facing severe competition from the other luxury SUVs.

The German luxury car manufacturer is expected to launch the new 2011 BMW X5 sometime next year. The new model will have enhanced powertrains and updated design. There will be quite a few other innovative design elements and powertrains which come as a result of over 4,000 new parts created by BMW designers and engineers for the 2011 BMW X5.

The 2011 BMW X5 also has a totally new trim, the latest iDrive and a host of new features including park assistance systems. The styling changes are subtle, but the company has gone an extra mile to enhance the performance and fuel economy of the car. So the new 2011 X5 gets the latest engines and an eight-speed automatic transmission as standard.

For the UK markets, BMW will bring in the xDrive30d, with 245bhp, and also the company claims that the fuel consumption of this SUV has been improved with a lower CO2 emission.

Furthermore, the 2011 X5 would have the xDrive40d instead of the xDrive35d. This obviously makes the SUV more powerful and torque. The entry-level sDrive30i will be dropped altogether, because the company is going to launch the more upmarket X3 very soon.

So the entry level model will now be the xDrive35i, and the top of the range would get the twin-turbocharged 4.4-litre V8, replacing the naturally aspirated 4.8.

Maruti Suzuki will not be offering discounts during this year’s festival season as it usually does. If it does offer discounts, the sales will no doubt go high. But then, will the car maker be able to deliver the cars on time? Certainly no! Maruti Suzuki India chief general manager of marketing Shashank Srivastava “Right now capacity is a constraint for Maruti; meeting the existing demand itself is a challenge.” Well, that leads to a conclusion that the car maker will have to invest in order to move higher. Maruti too is already aware of what needs to be done and has plans of a fresh investment of Rs 1,925 Crore in its proposed sixth plant.

The construction of a fifth plant in Manesar which is using an investment of Rs 1,700 Crore is already on the go and Maruti Suzuki expects it be complete by 2012. The new proposed plant, the company’s sixth facility, will hopefully help Maruti produce an additional 2.5 Lakh cars by 2013. When this planned expansion sees completion, the Indian arm of Suzuki, Maruti Suzuki, will become the Japanese parent company’s largest production base surpassing even Suzuki’s Japanese and Chinese facilities.

We hear that the car maker is up to something more. Maruti Suzuki is apparently looking at refurbishing its three other plants in Gurgaon that currently churn out nearly 7 Lakh cars every year. However, it is not yet disclosed as to how much the auto manufacturer will invest there. “We have been facing supply constraints on some models and new capacities. Refurbishment of the Gurgaon plant would help meet local demand as well as our export commitments,” said Osamu Suzuki chairman and CEO of Suzuki Motors.

It is a few weeks now since the time Maruti realized its capacity constraints and decided to invest in a new plant in Manesar. It was just the amount that hadn’t been disclosed. Maruti Suzuki is also said to invest Rs 2,500 Crore in an engine plant and an R&D centre at Rohtak in Haryana. The company will fund the whole amount through internal accruals. It will be making use of its cash reserves of around Rs 7,000 Crore.

Everybody is well aware of Maruti’s dwindling market share in spite of sales surging 26 per cent to 4.8 Lakh cars during the April-August period. In the company’s tenure of over two decades in the country, it was for the first time that its market share fell below 50 per cent. Right now, Maruti is gearing up to recapture its market share. New small cars like the Volkswagen Polo, Ford Figo and Nissan Micra have already given nightmares to India’s largest selling car manufacturer.

“We have decided to concentrate in the 1-1.3-litre engine capacity cars where the bulk of sales originate,” said Mr Suzuki. He said the firm will also look at bigger cars. The company will also launch its biggest sedan Kizashi soon followed by the 7-seater RIII crossover which will also come with ample boot space.

Volkswagen has 20 per cent stake in Suzuki and Maruti’s parent company says the association could begin with Maruti lending a helping hand to Volkswagen in India with its low-cost components. In China, it’s the other way around where Volkswagen is the bigger player helping Suzuki with components.

“We are looking at joint designing and development of components for mutual benefit. While we make cars for Nissan, Mazda, Fiat and General Motors there are not immediate plans for a similar arrangement with Volkswagen,” said Mr Suzuki.

In India, the car maker is looking at sales of over 15 Lakh units by 2015, above and beyond exporting 15 per cent of what it produces. Meanwhile, SIAM has predicted doubling of car sales in India in 5 years to over 30 lakh units.

The recent bug to bite the car manufacturing fraternity is the green technology. Recently Maruti Suzuki India introduced CNG variants of nothing less than 5 models. And Honda is almost ready with hybrid Jazz. But the absolute show stealer is the Hyundai “BlueOn” electric car that unveiled recently.

This is the first pure electric car from Hyundai Motors. The South Korean carmaker will begin the mass production of the vehicles in 2012. The BlueOn electric car is based on the i10 hatchback and will be powered by batteries made by SK Energy with a capacity of 16.4 kilowatts per hour, Hyundai said in a statement. The company has not revealed any details regarding the price of the car.

The range of the car seems to be on the higher side. The BlueOn can go up to run 140 kilometres on a single charge. Electric cars are always looked down upon for their lack of thump and power. This car might just provide the answer. The BlueOn has a maximum speed of 130 kilometres per hour. Beat that now!

Before starting the actual production of the vehicle in 2012, Hyundai would manufacture a small number of the electric vehicles this year and the next to supply it to government agencies. It is but obvious that whenever we hear about a new electric car, we get our hopes high and pray for it to be launched in the Indian market. Well, for Hyundai it is too to reveal the markets it has on its list for the BlueOn.

“We are taking a baby step. There is no infrastructure such as charging stations in Korea and many other countries,” a Hyundai spokesperson said. We already have a bunch of electric vehicles from other car manufacturers, but the high buying costs and the limited range offered by these cars have been cited as the biggest problems for their adoption.

Japanese car maker Mitsubishi Motors Corp. was the first major one to introduce pure electric cars. Its i-MiEV electric car was introduced in Japan in August.

Another Japanese car maker Nissan Motors Co is also planning to introduce a mass-market electric car in the United States in December. Ford Motors is soon going to introduce an all-electric version of its Focus available in late 2011. The government said on Thursday that South Korea plans replace 20 per cent of the country’s passenger cars with electric vehicles by 2020 with a goal to lead the emerging market.

With its grand expansion plans and model launches, BMW AG is sending a kind of warning message to its biggest competitors, Audi AG and Daimler AG. Let’s take a quick look at the list of things that make an appearance on the German luxury carmaker’s agenda.

First and foremost, BMW is looking at a new factory and expanding the existing facilities to help the growth in the long run. Chief Executive Officer Norbert Reithofer said BMW intends to sell more than 2 million vehicles by 2020. And considering that it sold 1.29 million units last year, it seems like quite an achievable feat.

“The big push in new models, entering new segments comes after 2012,” Reithofer said. “If I look forward to 2020, then we have to think about additional capacity.”

Another accomplishment that BMW wants in its kitty is to have a battery-powered car for city driving as well as more models in its 6-Series and Mini line-up. BMW along with Mini, and Rolls-Royce is putting up a big fight against Volkswagen that boasts of having Lamborghini, Bentley and Audi, and with the VW and Porsche merger, things are only going to get worse. Word has it that Audi has vowed to topple BMW as luxury leader by 2015. BMW snatched the top spot from Daimler’s Mercedes-Benz in 2005.

BMW plans to add a four-door version of the 6- Series luxury coupe after the rollout of the new two-door model next year. Introduction of a new front-wheel-drive technology to the BMW brand is also on the card, with which the company’s exclusive association with rear-wheel powertrains will come to an end. Compact vehicle offerings are also being planned out by the company. “We have plenty of different ideas on how to win new customers” with fresh small-car models, said Reithofer.

Additionally, BMW is planning to develop fuel-saving technology. The battery-powered megacity vehicle, which is due to be introduced in 2013 under a new BMW sub-brand, could eventually become a vehicle family, he said. The Mini brand is also up for an expansion with at least three new models, including roadsters and coupes.

“We have to grow Mini to expand volumes of front-wheel- drive cars and secure the brand’s future”, he said, adding that Mini’s sales of 217,000 vehicles last year are too low.

Audi is bringing in at least a dozen models in 2010, including the five-door A7 Sportback and A1, its smallest car. Audi CEO Rupert Stadler said that the new A7, A1, and A6 mid-sized sedan will provide the company with thrust for growth like never before.

Mercedes Benz will premiere a revamped CLS sports coupe this month, and also plans to increase its small car offerings. The German company is also planning to build electric cars for China with BYD Co.

BMW experienced great sales growth in July and August. The new BMW 5 Series is sold out, resulting in long waiting periods. The company is adding a third shift at its Leipzig factory to meet demand for the X1 compact sport-utility vehicle. BMW is planning to invest about $1.5 billion to boost capacity at plants in the U.S. and China.

“Looking at 2020 and beyond, I could possibly imagine building a new plant” as well as expanding existing facilities in India, Russia, and Thailand, which assemble vehicles from components produced at other factories, Reithofer said.

With just six more races remaining in the 2010 Formula One Championship, we have reached to the point which is most revered by most F1 fans. Yes, we are talking about the Italian Grand Prix that is happening this weekend. And looks like the crowd will go all out to cheer on Ferrari drivers, Spaniard Fernando Alonso and Brazilian Felipe Massa.

Alonso was quite well placed on championship standings until the Belgium race at the end of August created a slight havoc. An unfortunate spin in the wet dumped him out of points paying position in the Spa race. Hamilton took maximum points and Alonso is now 41 points behind him in the driver’s standing. Alonso’s prospects of a third title also looks very bleak right now.

Team Ferrari is going to slip further down when the World Motor Sport Council announces its judgment over Ferrari’s team-order debacle in Germany. We think that Ferrari will get nothing more than a feather slap on the wrist, or some monetary fines. But, in worst case scenario, WMSC may deduct team and driver points too.

Red Bull team driver Sebastian Vettel and McLaren’s Jenson Button, after a difficult weekend at Spa, would want to rekindle their hopes of the championship title. Any further slip-ups would ruin their chances of being in the run for championship titles.

After the much disastrous race at Spa, Button would be looking for a calm, mature victory at the track where he claimed his first ever Formula 1 victory. In 2008, the German took pole position and the win in wet conditions in a Toro Rosso.

We can expect a good performance from the McLaren team this weekend. The long straights of the Monza track would suit the car with the most effective f-duct, and the Woking-based outfit. The team would want to score the largest point before F1 moves to Singapore.

Additionally, the teams we will be watching out for this weekend include Renault and Force India. Both showed very impressive performances at Spa. After his fifth place finish at the previous race, it would be interesting to watch Adrian Sutil in Monza. Earlier rumours suggested that Force India was going to lose their engine supply to Red Bull. Mercedes motorsport boss Norbert Haug, however, has denied these claims.

Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello boast of having eight wins at this circuit, and five of them came in Ferrari (3 for Schumacher and 2 for Barrichello). But since Schumi is driving a Mercedes now, we are not very sure of history repeating itself on this track.

Looking to buy a new car? Better hurry! Next week, Reserve Bank of India may reveal a policy rate hike of 25 basis points. That’s what’s expected by all and sundry to be the centrepiece of RBI’s mid-quarter policy review on September 16. That’s certainly going to prompt banks to hike loan rates.

Oh yes! We never know what’s gonna happen to the car sales though. When everyone thought new car prices would increase with the implementation of the new emission norms in April, the car sales in India actually went up. Now that everyone has a feeling that car loan rates may go high, sales may go high once again.

Will brakes ever be applied to car sales? Till date, there have been many a speed breakers, but sales have moved on. Even today, car makers who are expecting a minor hike in car loan rates are not really worried. A small hike in rates may be absorbed by buyers, said C Ramakrishnan, chief financial officer of Tata Motors, India’s largest commercial vehicle maker by sales. Others feel the same and say, even if banks increase their interest rates in the months ahead, sales growth is unlikely to be affected.

The healthy economic growth that we have been witnessing this fiscal is boosting car sales remarkably. Additionally, last year’s low sales are making this year’s sales figures look even bigger. July’s data shows a sale of 1.24 million vehicles in the country, 32 per cent higher than July 2009.

“Right now, the economy has started to pick up and demand is buoyant for the automobile sector,” said Vaishali Jajoo, analyst, Angel Broking. Jajoo too does not see the higher rates affecting car demand. “It seems there won’t be any big impact if there is a rate hike of around 25 basis points,” she said. Indian economy has experienced an 8.8 per cent growth during the April-June quarter of this fiscal compared with 6.02 per cent a year ago. The higher growth was driven by a robust manufacturing and services output.

Alchemy Research analyst Mayur Milak says, demand during the ongoing two-month-long festival season and new car launches will cushion the impact of a rate hike. He also said, “Rainfall has been good, so rural demand will also be good.” Up to August, or the first three months of the annual monsoon season, rainfall was 99 per cent of the long-period average. So, there would be a greater number of people wanting to invest in a car. Monsoon rains are likely to be above average this month too, according to Met department forecast.

But, what if RBI rates go very high? The optimism that most car makers currently share may then fade away. Tata Motors’ Ramakrishnan says a sharp hike could dry up retail credit, hurting sales. Maruti nods its head in agreement. One out of every two cars sold in India wears the Maruti Suzuki badge. Presently, the demand is so high that capacity is becoming a constraint.

Maruti has no plans of offering discounts during the festival season as it usually does. “Right now capacity is a constraint for Maruti; meeting the existing demand itself is a challenge,” said Maruti Suzuki India chief general manager of marketing Shashank Srivastava. Jajoo said that SIAM’s projection of 14 per cent growth in 2010-11 points to growth rates falling in coming months. There wouldn’t be a long term decline in sales though.

Proton had earlier said that its first vehicle to premier on the Indian roads would be a small car based on the EMAS concept that was showcased at the 2010 Geneva Motor Show. “We are mindful that time is of the essence. We want to enter the Indian market as soon as possible,” Syed Zainal Abidin Syed Mohamed Tahir, group managing director had said. We now hear that the car will enter India in another two years.

Proton is believed to be using the EMAS platform to create an exclusively new small car for markets like India and China. Designed by Italdesign Giugiaro of Italy, it will probably be a 3,550-mm long four-seater, five-door hatch and will certainly epitomize style. At the Geneva auto show, the EMAS concept was presented as a global concept car. However, now, the company says that this concept will be adopted for the new Proton model in the small car segment, with focus on India, China, Asian and the Middle East, as four key markets in the company’s long-term business plans.

The news of the hybrid supermini with sports car DNA seems to be back with a bang at the moment. It will be pitted against the MINI. The new car is internally known as the Lotus Global Small Car and the latest headlines in this regard say that the Proton-badged five-door version would go on sale in Malaysia while a more premium three-door Lotus variant in other markets around the world, including the UK.

Lotus is decking up its upmarket models including the new Esprit and two front-engine GTs at the Paris Motor Show. We are yet to see how well these models are accepted; the reason being, the company has deviated from its core philosophy of ‘simplifying and adding lightness’. Moreover, this new EMAS-based car is neither a performance nor a sports car. The supermini is happens to be the firm’s boldest move yet.

The new MINI rival reveals a trapezoidal front grille having triangular vents with LED running lights on either side. The frontal design makes the car look real furious and the slot-like headlights add to the car’s aggressive character. The finishing touches are given by an aero kit and alloys that fill the arches.

In the interiors, snug Recaro seats boost the Lotus’ splendid hatch characteristics. The most striking aspect of the new car, however, is its engine. The ground-breaking plug-in hybrid powertrain has the potential to return economy of over 42.51 kmpl. It has a depository of batteries under the floor and an electric motor on the back axle, powering the rear wheels. Crammed in between is a fuel tank which supplies a Lotus-designed 50-bhp 1.2-litre 3-cylinder range-extender engine in the front.

The car will be capable of running around 48 km on electric power alone. Many users would require just that much of commuting on a single charge, and thus, the car will be a zero-emissions drive for certain users. The batteries can be fully charged in 3 hours through a 240V socket and for greater distances, the 3-cylinder combustion engine kicks in and keeps the batteries topped up via a generator.

Lotus, which currently sells around 2,000 units a year, is expecting sales of around 8,000 units this year, thanks to the new model launches that are boosting the car maker’s hopes. The EMAS-based new car is sure going to assist significantly in sales. A prototype of the new car can be expected at this year’s Paris Motor Show and we may see a production version as soon as 2012. India may not get the 3 door hybrid version, but the more practical 5-door hatch with a 1.2 or 1.0-liter petrol engine would be a great way for Proton to re-enter India.

Can it be the Tata Nano? The car has passed all the tormenting safety tests more than once, but we all know that the recent fire incident has put it back in the hot seat. The matter is still under investigation. This award, however, is not for the safest car; it’s for the safest plant. Guess who won the award! It was GM India last year, and if you’re thinking of GM winning it once again, you are absolutely right.

Thanks to GM’s Halol plant, General Motors India has won itself the esteemed National Safety Award in the Motor Vehicles category for the second year in a row. The plant has received the recognition it deserves for its best safety systems pertaining to two critical areas. The Halol plant has been considered safest in the industry under the categories of Lowest Average Frequency Rate and Highest Man-Hours for Accident Free Year.

Directorate General of the Factory Advice Service & Labour Institute (DGFASLI), the country’s premier institution for safety, with the support of Ministry of Labour & Employment, Government of India, bestows this award. It was GM India’s turn for the second time in a row.

Commenting on this, Mr P Balendran, Vice-President, General Motors India said, “The award demonstrates General Motors’ commitment to safety and security measures at its plants. We have maintained a continued focus on encouraging accident prevention and implementing safety procedures across all our processes and management.

This award is very significant, as it comes against stiff competition from automobile manufacturers in India. Winning this award for the second year in a row reiterates our commitment to the high safety and security standards and we will continue raising the bar for safety in all our operations.”

Back in 1965, the Government of India had introduced the National Safety Awards in order to recognize, reward and motivate phenomenal safety performance on the part of industrial establishments. The second motive was to support accident prevention and safety promotion programmes.

This year, there was stiff competition. However, it was GM India that managed to grab the award endorsed by Directorate of Industrial Safety & Health for the automobiles category. This award seems to be adding a feather in the auto maker’s cap. It’s celebration time for GM India which is celebrating seven years of a successful journey in the Indian car industry. GM’s Talegaon plant in Maharashtra is celebrating its two-year presence.

The Talegaon plant has a capacity of 145,000 while the Halol plant has a net installed capacity of 85,000 units in 3 shifts. Earlier, GM was operating in a single shift at the Halol plant. It then started a second shift and plans to have a third one. GM India president and managing director Karl Slym calls the Halol plant flexible and feels it is capable of manufacturing all the models of GM India. GM currently sells the Aveo, Aveo U-VA, Beat, Captiva, Cruze, Optra Magnum, Optra SRV, Spark and Tavera under the Chevrolet brand in India.

Of the company’s last year’s production, less than 40,000 units were produced at Talegaon and the rest at Halol. A total of around 70,000 units were sold. Talegaon currently produces only Spark.