Monthly Archives: February 2012

Renault Pulse Costlier by Two Percent

The hike in price of the raw materials has left the French automaker Renault with no choice but to increase the cost of its latest hatchback “Pulse” by two percent which would be effective from March across the country.

Renault, started by Louis Renault along with his brothers Marcel and Fernand, is one of the largest French automobile manufacturer globally. Renault has been in the automobile business since the late 1800s. The Renault Pulse was brought into the domestic market in January. It was launched at the Auto Expo 2012 held at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi at an introductory price of Rs. 5 .77 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi) where it has received overwhelming response from the various car enthusiast.

“The Pulse has been received very well by our customers and we have received a large number of inquiries. In the face of rising input costs we have no option but to pass on a part of the cost to our customers,” Renault India Managing Director Marc Nassif said.

Faced with the soaring input costs, the company has decided to increase the cost of Renault Pulse by 2 percent. The Pulse hatchback will be available at 41 dealerships across the country with a new price tag from 8th March 2012.


The other offerings of Renault such as the Fluence , Koleos etc. won’t be affected with the price hike. The price hike is only meant for the Pulse hatchback of Renault.

The French automaker has a manufacturing plant at nearby Oragadam where it jointly operates with Japanese automaker Nissan Motors. In order to meet the increasing demand, it plans to open 100 dealerships and introduce three more products by the end of this year.

posted by somdatta.basu @ Wednesday, February 29th, 2012 Comments Off links to this post
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Ranger RZR S 800 Side-by-Side Storms The Podium

Lead of 1 hour and 40 minutes! Yes, that is the incredible lead which Ranger RZR S 800 side-by-side had established and won the first prize at the 10th Desert Storm Rally in Moto Quad category. While storming its way to the presentation stands, the Polaris India’s off roader left nearest competitors 1 hour and 40 minutes behind!

Raj Singh Rathore took the razor edge and powered Ranger RZR S 800 side-by-side to the first place and it was Rahul Soni astride the powerful Sportsman 550 EPS, who lifted the cup for the first place in ATV category.

Neither the Ranger TZR nor the Sportsman 550 required any maintenance or modification during the entire rally. Considering that the Desert Storm Rally stretches across 3,500 KM, the maintenance-free victory underlines the staying power, safety, and trouble-free capabilities of the Ranger RZR and the Sportsman 550 EPS. Moreover, this is the first time that Polaris, the powersports vehicles maker, challenged the Desert Strom Rally route.

This year’s Desert Storm Rally (February 20 to 25,) saw the vehicles zooming from Delhi to Ahmadabad, via the great Rann of Kutch, across antagonistic and challenging terrains. It called for tough drivers and tougher machines.

The HP-weight ratio is what is admirable about the Ranger RZR S 800 side-by-side. A 4-Stroke Twin Cylinder, 760cc High Output, powers this diesel driven adventure vehicle, which has exceptional control aided by the automatic PVT Shaft transmission. The vehicles seat two to six people depending on the model. Powerful brakes, headlights and the Roll-Over Protective Structure (ROPS) enhance safety and drivability.

Are the Ranger RZR and Sportsman 550 EPS are meant only for adventure? No, defense services, which have to conquer testing and unfriendly terrain most of the time, will find these toughies more than useful.

Ranger RZR can tow one ton of weight, something mining companies, infrastructure projects, and forestry industries would find extremely handy for their operations. With as many as 14 models to choose from, there is more than enough utility value on offer. The price too spans a wide range, from Rs.2.4 Lakh to Rs.20 Lakh.
Achieve more work on the field or explore the challenges, the Ranger RZR S 800 works side-by-side with you.

posted by somdatta.basu @ Tuesday, February 28th, 2012 Comments Off links to this post
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Ford With OpenXC Research Connectivity Platform Joins the Bandwagon of Apps Technology

 


Ford India was established in 1995 and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Ford Motor Company. The manufacturing unit of Ford India is located at Maraimalai Nagar, near Chennai. Ford also has Ford Business Services Center and Ford Technology Serviceswhich are located in Chennai and Coimbatore.

“Imagine a Ford Figo that tells your family when you reach your destination safe—a car that you can constantly reconfigure and personalize to suit your ever-changing needs and demands, using the most advanced technology in the auto industry but at a cost affordable to all consumers,” says Venkatesh Prasad, senior technical leader at Ford’s Research and Innovation organization, and keynote speaker at NASSCOM.

At the NASSCOM India Leadership Summit in New Delhi, Ford has demonstrated its exciting and new OpenXC research platform and the potential of open-source application development for automobiles.

“Through the OpenXC research project, we are paving new avenues for entrepreneurs and businesses, both small and large, where the automobile, mobile phones and the internet cloud come together in the creation of new experiences when behind the wheel,” says Prasad. He has derived the inspiration from his visit to India where he noticed that even those who couldn’t afford a car were able to buy a smart phone. This made him think of a similarly relevant and affordable connectivity in cars.

Ford Research and Innovation Centre and New York City-based Bug Labs have come up with the “OpenXC” which is an open-source hardware and software platform . The OpenXC has an interface module which is based on Arduino platform. It helps in reading the data from the vehicle’s internal communication network. The hardware provides real time access to the vehicle sensors, GPS receiver and vehicle speed that can be read by apps. The application allows the driver to send “late arrival notification”, ”safe arrival notification” to selected personal contacts with an automatic location update during the travel and also determines whether the driver is running late for a meeting .

Recently, Ford has started shipping the first OpenXC beta toolkits to Universities such as the University of Michigan, MIT and Stanford. The toolkits have also been sent to Weather Underground in the U.S. and HCL Technologies in India. Prasad also added that Ford will be providing an access to the car. With OpenXC, Ford is enabling the local and independent developers to easily and quickly create apps using data provided by the car.

posted by somdatta.basu @ Thursday, February 23rd, 2012 Comments Off links to this post
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Order of Merit Conferred on Dr. Abhay Firodia

 

The Federal Republic of Germany conferred the Order of Merit on Dr. Abhay Firodia, Force Motor’s Chairman on February 16. Dr. Leopold Theodor Heldman, the Consul General, Mumbai presented Dr. Firodia with the Germany’s highest honour at an award ceremony in Pune.

Firodia’s association with German automobile industry goes back to 1950; it was over sixty years ago, that N.K.Firodia started manufacturing HANSEAT 3 wheelers in India, in partnership with Vidal & Sohn Tempo Werke. Firodia’s ‘Tempo’ has been a byword for commercial vehicles in India. Bajaj Tempo, the Matador ruled the light commercial vehicles for over two decades, not just as leading brand, but more as a dominant player. Traveller series of vehicles have taken over the mantle, surpassing the trust-standards and delivering better-than-industry-average profitability.

World’s largest monocoque van, the Traveller-26 was unveiled at the Auto Expo 2012, by Force Motors. Reasonable price has been Firodia’s hallmark, Traveller 26, which can transport 26 passengers at a time, is priced at just Rs.11.50 Lakh. The monocoque body is safer and gives better fuel economy. Large seating capacity and low maintenance make this vehicle an ideal school bus and tourist operators’ choice.

Traveller-26 Luxury is a 15-seater (Rs.14 Lakh,) provides reclining seats with front tray tables; and has a clear 6-foot standing clearance inside. The factory-fitted ducted air-conditioning provides individual a/c ventilators too. Generous legroom is a thoughtful feature of Traveller.

The new series is powered by 2.2L Daimler engines, which build up a good amount of 130BHP. A hybrid version, expected to hit the roads soon, could reduce fuel consumption by nearly 30%, according to Firodia.

For those wanting to test 160kmph top speeds, Force Motors’s, the 2.2L Daimler Engine powered Force One is the answer. Height-adjustable, reclining and theatre like seating, best in class legroom, sophisticated interiors along with easy driving is the promise of this SUV at about Rs.11.08 Lakh.

Even while overseeing manufacturing these popular commercial and passenger vehicles, Dr. Abhay Firodia is proactive in promoting industrial atmosphere. Abhay’s involvement with automobile industry sees him as the president of the Society of Indian Automobiles Manufacturers (SIAM), the Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI) and also the Automotive Component Manufacturers Association of India (ACMA). He is also presiding over the Maratha Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Agriculture.

posted by somdatta.basu @ Wednesday, February 22nd, 2012 Comments Off links to this post
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Maruti Suzuki – Few can beat this Crore

Maruti Suzuki has sold more than 10 million cars in India, perhaps, putting this number in Indian terms will bring out the awesomeness of the number even closer. It is one crore cars! Splendid as the record is, that it has been achieved in just about 28 years is admirable. In fact, Maruti had sold 5 million cars between its inception in 1983 and 2006. The next 5 million Maruti cars were sold at a frenetic pace, in just 5 years. Incidentally, a Red Swift VXI is the 10 millionth vehicle to roll out of Maruti’s Manesar plant on February 9.

How is Maruti achieving the sales, when other manufacturers are competing fiercely all the time? There are almost 100 choices on the road and yet the buyers are willing to be patient, as you know the Swift has some waiting time.

The simple answer is “quality”. Indian car owners are basically adamant. They look for durability, reliability, and driving-ease and even more important is the safety record. When it comes to durability, it is heartening to see early Maruti 800s driving along finely even now on the roads. Look at the Omni, the rugged use to which the owners put this vehicle, perhaps was never envisaged and yet, this Maruti minivan is one of the most popular commercial vehicle across the country.

Fuel efficiency is yet another characteristic of Maruti cars. The Alto with 18.9 kmpl, Swift Dzire at 18.5 kmpl in the city and 23.4 kmpl on the highway, and even the first D-segment car, the Maruti Kizashi with city mileage of 9 kmpl are the most economical cars, around.

For Maruti, WagonR has proved to be a winner right from the launch. The 5-seater BSIV compliant, 998 cc hatchback caught the family-minded Indian car owners. You can get this comfortable vehicle, which has roomy interiors, better-than-most stability between Rs.3.17 Lakh to Rs.4.30 Lakh (depending on the model and place of purchase).

The largest service-network in the country, of course, is a major contributor to Maruti’s popularity. With every factor working in its favor, no wonder Maruti is the ‘Karodpati’ carmaker in India.

posted by somdatta.basu @ Friday, February 17th, 2012 Comments Off links to this post
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Fiat Caffe, Fiat Cars, and Five More days of the Valentine

Can you have more Valentine’s Days? Sure, Fiat Caffe will host the romance for five more days! All you need is a valentine, love for Italian quality coffee and a passion for the great cars.

Walk in with your valentine on any day up to February 18; the new Fiat Caffe on Rajpath, Delhi will surround you with the special spirit of the occasion. Enjoy a complimentary cup of Lavazza (one of the finest coffees of the world,) along with a plate of tasty cookies. There is more; you will get to test drive two of the most useful, beautiful and fuel-efficient cars on Indian roads, the Fiat Punto 2012 and the Fiat Linea 2012.

Fiat Linea 2012 has eight new comfort-features. Power steering that is tilt adjustable, power windows (with a delay feature,) CD, MP3 and FM Player Integrated with 4 Speakers, and volume adjuster that syncs with the speed and central door-locking system are built into the 2012 Fiat Linea. You can adjust rearview mirrors from inside the car and also have additional storage space; there is a parcel shelf at the rear.

Fiat Linea 2012 offers choice of both petrol and diesel variants. Linea’s diesel 1.3L advanced multijet engine develops a healthy 94 BHP power and drives 20.4 KM/L. The petrol version has 14.6 KM/L rating for the 1.4L FIRE 91 BHP engine.
The hatchback, Fiat Punto 2012 too has both diesel and petro versions; you can select from four power variants between 69 BHP and 94 BHP. Petrol driven Fiat Punto (1.2 Fire version,) has fuel-efficiency rating of 15.2 KM/L, while the 1.4 FIRE version goes up to 14.6 KM/L.

Fiat have loaded 1.3 multijet engines for the Punto 2012 diesel models with 20.3 KM/L fuel rating. Power and tile steering, clutch footrest, comfortable seating and other conveniences you expect from a car of this class making riding a pleasure. Depending on the local taxes, Price of the petrol Punto hovers around Rs.4.88 Lakh, Rs.5.12 Lakh and Rs.6.64 Lakh; for the diesel the price range stretches from Rs.5.56 Lakh to Rs.7.17 Lakh.

Fiat Punto is the high-stance hatchback for driving over obstacles easily.

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Mahindra Xylo Face-lift Launched

The Mahindra Xylo was Mahindra’s first MPV project. It was launched in January 2009  and since then 90,000 Xylo cars have been sold. Having served the market for 3 years, the company has given this MPV a major facelift for the first time in order to meet the present tough competition in MPV segment.

Mahindra & Mahindra has launched the face-lifted version of Xylo MPV in India.  The 2012 Xylo MPV is much more appealing to prospective luxury MPV customers. The face-lifted Mahindra Xylo will be available in three diesel engine options. It retains the active and responsive 2.5 litre MDi diesel engine which churns out a power of 95 bhp @ 3600 and a maximum torque of 220 Nm @ 1400-2600 rpm in the D2 and D4 variant and the 2.5 litre mEagle diesel engine which churns out a power of 112 bhp @ 3800 and a maximum torque of 260 Nm @ 1800-2200 rpm in the E4 and the E8 variants. The new engine added is the lighter, 2.1 litre mHawk engine which also empowers the Scorpio and churns out a power of 120 bhp @ 4000  and a maximum torque of 280 Nm @ 2400-2800 rpm in the E9 variant. All these engines are mated to a reworked five speed manual gearbox.

 

The 2012 Xylo is loaded with many features. The exteriors gets 235 cross section tubeless tyres with alloys, roof rails, electric ORVMs, rear spoiler, front and rear fog lamps and body colored door handles and front grille. The interiors get new cruise control, naive voice recognition feature, steering mounted audio and phone controls, antennae built into the rear glass, sunglasses holder, mobile charger, seats draped in Italian leather, theatre effect lamp and courtesy lamps. The digital display system has become sleeker than before.

The safety features include engine mobilize, reverse assist, ABS (Anti-lock Braking System) with EBD (Electronic Brakeforce Distribution) and dual airbags.Mahindra has come up with the E.S.T. (Extra Stability Technology), which enhances the stability of the Xylo. The suspensions of all the variants have been tuned.

 

The base variant of the 2012 Xylo has been priced at Rs. 7.37 lakhs ex-showroom Delhi. With the facelift, the Xylo is going to compete with the Toyota Innova, which got a makeover recently.

posted by somdatta.basu @ Wednesday, February 8th, 2012 Comments Off links to this post
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Second Phase Mahindra XUV500 Bookings Exceed 25000


Automobile major, Mahindra & Mahindra have received more than 25000 bookings for its sports utility vehicle (SUV) XUV500 in the second phase.

XUV500 is Mahindra’s first in a series of next generation global SUVs, designed and developed in-house by Mahindra following the global standards of quality, technology, testing norms, regulations and emissions. The XUV500 during the first phase of launch in October 2011, had received an overwhelming response of 8000 plus bookings in just a few days.

The second phase bookings for the XUV500 had started on 25th January and extended till 3rd February 2012 across 19 cities in India which includes Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata, Bangalore, Pune, Hyderabad, Chandigarh / Panchkula, Ludhiana, Ahmedabad, Jallandhar, Patiala, Kochi, Trivandrum, Nasik, Calicut, Trissur, , Nagpur and Coimbatore. Within this span of 10 days, XUV500 had attracted 25,000 bookings ie. 2500 bookings a day.

Since the booking application has exceeded the available units of 7200 bookings in the second phase, Mahindra plans to conduct a lottery system which will pick out 7200 customers out of all the registrants and vehicles are going to be delivered in a timely manner.  This will ensure transparent and fair allotment to the customers. The XUV500 draw will be conducted on the 15th of February at a central location in Mumbai.  The draw process will be validated by the professional services firm, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India Pvt. Ltd (DTTIPL) as per mutually agreed scope & terms between M&M and DTTIPL. The result of the XUV500 draw will be available in the website www.mahindraxuv500.com.

In order to showcase the global appeal of the Mahindra XUV500, a new campaign has been launched through TV commercial. This ad has shown a very good response with more than 4 lakh clicks on YouTube within a few days of the launch of the campaign.

posted by somdatta.basu @ Wednesday, February 8th, 2012 Comments Off links to this post
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GL Grand Edition Launched By Mercedes-Benz India


Mercedes-Benz India has launched the face lifted version of their GL-SUV- the GL Grand Edition.  The New Mercedes Benz GL comprises of 20 – inch alloy wheels, dark-tinted head lamps, reworked front-end with stretched grille and three horizontal chrome bars and a more prominent three-pointed star at the center. The front bumper has been redesigned and includes integrated daytime running LED lights. The new Mercedes Benz GL also gets metallic paint finishes, heat-insulating and infrared- reflecting laminated glass all-around, aluminium-look running boards with rubber studs and divided exhaust tailpipe trim.


The interiors of new Mercedes Benz GL are enhanced with either a combination of black/porcelain or black/maroon leather upholstery, velour floor mats and a “Grand Edition” badge on the central console.


All the GL-class models feature 4MATIC all-wheel drive, AIRMATIC air suspension, Direct-Steer system and the adaptive Damping System. All these features have been carried forward in the The New Mercedes Benz GL. In addition to these, it possesses PARKTRONIC and COMAND APS system with a reversing camera which assists in easy parking. The New Mercedes Benz GL also gets off-road ABS, Downhill Speed Regulation (DSR) and Hill-Start Assist which truly define this special edition.


The New Mercedes Benz GL is equipped with the same 3 litre V6 diesel engine which churns out a power of 229 bhp and 510Nm of torque mated to a 7G-Tronic transmission. It can accommodate seven people. The Mercedes Benz GL “Grand Edition” comes in two variants- Executive and Luxury. Priced attractively at Rs. 60,99,000 (ex-showroom Delhi) for the GL Grand Edition Executive and Rs. 65,50,000 (ex-showroom Delhi) for the GL Grand Edition Luxury, the company further re-iterates its position of offering the widest product portfolio for the Indian luxury car market.

posted by carazooblog @ Thursday, February 2nd, 2012 Comments Off links to this post
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New Swift Dzire Launched at Rs 4.79 Lakh Onwards

India’s number one automobile manufacturer, Maruti Suzuki, has launched the new Swift Dzire compact sedan at a starting price of Rs. 4.79 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi price). The compact sedan is 4 m in length which helps it qualify for the excise duty benefits offered by the government of India to the manufacturers whose cars measure less than 4 meters in length.

The new Swift Dzire is available in both petrol and diesel engine options and also is offered as a four-speed automatic petrol variant. It shares the same engine as that of the new Swift. The new Swift Dzire is equipped with 1.2 litre petrol engine that gives out a power of 80 bhp and a torque of 190 Nm. The 1.3 litre Multijet diesel engine, which is supplied from Fiat, delivers 75 bhp power.

The Dzire was launched in 2008, and since then it was able to sell 3.2 lakhs of its units. Since this model was longer than 4 meters, it did not enjoy the excise benefit of 10 percent. Moreover, cars with engine capacity of 1200 cc petrol and 1500 cc diesel are considered as small cars. The bigger cars attract an excise duty of 22 per cent with an additional Rs 15,000 for those cars with engine capacity above 1,500 cc.

The new Swift Dzire is equipped with a dual tone dashboard, integrated stereo (higher variants) and many safety features. The boot space has been reduced as compared to the previous one but still offers a trunk space of 316 litres. There are many more features which have been added in the new Swift Dzire which has resulted in the investment of Rs. 230 crore by the company and its vendors.

Maruti Suzuki India Managing Executive Officer (Marketing and Sales) Mayank Pareek said, “At present the Dzire has a waiting period of 3-4 months and MSI is looking to address the issue by gradually ramping up the output.”

The new Swift Dzire petrol version is priced at Rs 4.79 lakh to Rs 6.54 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi) and the diesel version is priced at Rs 5.80 lakh to Rs 7.09 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi).

This will be produced from Maruti’s Manesar plant. AS it hits the Indian roads, it is going to compete with Toyota Etios, Hyundai Accent, Tata Indigo CS and Mahindra Verito.

posted by carazooblog @ Wednesday, February 1st, 2012 Comments Off links to this post
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