Latest Car Reviews Online

KTM Duke 200 launched by Bajaj Auto at Rs 1.18 lakh

2012-01-26T21:41:00.000-08:00

To strengthen its position in sports bike market in India, Bajaj Auto , in collaboration with Austrian manufacturer KTM, on Tuesday launched its 200cc power bike Duke 200, priced at Rs.1.17 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi).

"Between the Bajaj Pulsar and the KTM Duke, we intend to further strengthen our dominant position in the sports motorcycle segment in India," said Rajiv Bajaj, managing director.

He said the company will be launching at least one new KTM bike every year in the country.

Bajaj Auto has a 39% stake in the Austrian company with whom it produces two models - Duke 125 and Duke 200 - at its Chakan plant near Pune.

The bike would be retailed through 34 KTM stores which were earlier known as Bajaj Probiking showrooms.

Duke has nearly 95 local components and is powered by 200cc, liquid cooled, four-valve engine which generates peak power of 25 bhp and a maximum torque of 19 Nm.

"We will be producing 3,000 units per month at the Chakan plant. We are very optimistic about the sales prospects as we have a very attractive price," Hubert Trunkenpolz, chief sales officer, KTM Power Sports, said.

The total capacity at the plant for the two KTM bikes currently stands at 30,000 units.

Maruti Suzuki 2012 A Star hatchback launched with a price of Rs 366,000

2012-01-26T21:20:00.000-08:00

Currently available Maruti A Star hatchback had some issues which heeded to be fixed. Agreed it offers excellent handling, is a 1 liter petrol engine but it has failed to receive any importance primarily due to its cramped interiors especially in its rear seats. Maruti A Star has failed to appeal to buyers as a family car due to its space constraints.

Now Maruti Suzuki has learnt from their previous mistakes and are offering the 2012 Maruti A Star with a number of upgrades first among which is more space in its back seats. The seats are split in two and this is what offers a comfortable ride to passengers. Besides this the new A Star also has beige upholstery and trims which make its interiors smart as well as comfortable.

Where engine updates are concerned the 2013 A Star has a 1 liter K series engine offering 67 Bhp peak power and 90 Nm torque. Transmission options would include a five speed manual and four speed automatic gearbox while air bags are an option. New alloy wheels and roof spoiler at the rear are also added to the 2013 model which Maruti Suzuki is offering in Caffeine Brown and Glistening Grey.

The company has exported over 2.81 lakh units so far to over 130 countries, primarily to the European markets such as the Netherlands, Italy, the UK, Spain and Germany. Other markets that have also contributed the car include Australia and South Africa.

Bajaj Launches Low Cost Car RE60

2012-01-03T05:16:00.000-08:00

Bajaj in its eighty years of history has launched its first car ever today and taken on Tata Nano.

The Bajaj RE60 has high fuel-efficiency ratios, the company said.

Bajaj has been working with Nissan Motor Co and Renault SA on a project to develop what was originally planned to be an ultra low-cost minicar.

To be christened as Bajaj RE60, the four-wheeler is an epitome of not just a car-like vehicle, but even Bajaj's future range of three and four-wheeler passenger and goods transport vehicles.

With speculation rife about the fact that retaining its three-wheeler genes in the car which essentially is a three-wheeler, Bajaj has added an extra wheel to it just to give better balance, comfort and safety.

The four-wheeler, as the observers point out powered by a two or three-cylinder petrol motor with a displacement of 700-800cc at most. With power on the slower side, the vehicle may not hit more than the speed of 90 Kph. But what would give the car a definite edge over the existing players in the segment is its better fuel efficiency which is expected to be around the 30 Kilometer per liter mark.

As a complete in-house product, the Bajaj RE60 was originally conceived as the ULCC project or Ultra Low-Cost Car under a joint-venture between Renault-Nissan and Bajaj.

2012 Yamaha Zuma 50F Scooter

2011-10-08T15:11:00.000-07:00

Imagine a company having enough faith and confidence in a new product’s performance potential to have the national press launch take place in the “City by the Bay” – San Francisco, with its steep hills and heavy commute traffic. Especially when the new product is a new 49cc scooter and several members of the moto-press are in excess of 220 pounds – the payload for the product in question is actually 222 pounds. The company was Yamaha and the product was their new 0212 Zuma 50F scooter.

The Yamaha Zuma first made its appearance on the scooter scene with the first generation, which covered from 1989 to 2001, followed by the second generation Zuma from 2002 to 2011. So far, more than 79,000 Zumas have been sold to a variety of rider types, making it a cult favorite. The new third generation Zuma makes its debut as a 2012 model, and it has progressed from a two stroke to a four stroke, SOHC, 3-valve, liquid-cooled, fuel injected single-cylinder motor. The motor is mated to a CVT automatic transmission that delivers power to the rear wheel via a V-belt.

Development of the 2012 Yamaha Zuma 50F was aimed at satisfying customer concerns in all areas, but focusing most heavily on style and fuel mileage. The resulting design influence was based upon a tough, rugged dirt bike image, with a separate front fender, side panels, knobby-type tires and tube-type handlebars.

Zumas are used most for both commuting and for pleasure riding, with no real specific rider profile. Zuma riders are traditionally a very diverse group, skewed gender-wise at 28 percent female and 72 percent male, with the highest age groups being in the 30-34 age range, topped by the 50-54 age group. Twelve percent are under 16 years of age and two percent are over age 70. How’s that for a broad reach? Average Household Income of Zuma riders is $46,003. And 56 percent have some level of college education.

The Zuma 50F features a low center of gravity for great balance and sporty handling characteristics. The 1.2-gallon fuel tank is positioned low, in the center floorboard tunnel and the fuel thrifty scooter is capable of delivering 132 mpg. The locking under seat storage is large enough for a helmet (23-liters), but if

other gear consumes most of the space; there is an underseat post for hooking one’s helmet strap rings for security with the seat in its locked position.

The Yamaha Zuma 50F (the F is for Four stroke) provides a flatter seat and more spacious ergonomics, delivering a less cramped riding position and greater comfort for both rider and passenger. The tube-type handlebars with their bar clamp mounting system allows customers to easily change bars. There’s also a cupholder, fold out hook and rear luggage rack and grab bar for added convenience and versatility. The sporty meter pod contains an easy to read speedometer, fuel gauge, odometer, coolant warning, turn signal (non-canceling) indicator, high beam and engine trouble warning lights.

As already mentioned, the Zuma rides on fat knobby 120/90-10-inch tires front and rear, mounted on five-spoke alloy wheels. Suspension componentry consists of telescopic forks up front and left-side single coil-over shock and swingarm in the rear. Braking chores are handled by a single, left-side disc up front and drum in the rear. Finished in red are the front brake caliper, front inner brake disc and rear shock spring. Other styling details include the clear front and rear turn signal lenses. Exterior color choices include: Team Yamaha Blue; Alpine White; and Raven.

Available Zuma 50F accessories include: a low or tall clear windscreen, under-seat storage organizer, hand guards, seat cover, carbon fiber dash sticker kit, graphic kits and a storage cover.

My test ride came in Alpine White and was equipped with Garmin’s bike friendly Zumo 220 GPS (priced at $499.) The base price was set at $2,540. Total price estimated at $3,189. Based upon GPS and dealer prep.

SUMMARY: The Yamaha Zuma 50F launch team concocted a photo “scavenger hunt” that took in ten of San Fransisco’s most notable landmarks and tourist attractions, all preloaded with City Navigator® into the Garmin ZUMO 220 nav system with voice-prompted, turn-by-turn directions to aid in locating the points of interest. Moto-journalists were encouraged to photograph their scooters at each location, in no particular order with an Olympus PEN E-PM1 camera provided to participate in a contest, with the winning photographer to receive their own Garmin Zumo 220. A Bell “shorty” helmet was provided for each rider’s safety.

The Zuma 50F performed admirably, hauling my 230 pounds (not counting extra gear) up and down hills (Twin Peaks included, along with famed twisty brick-paved Lombard street) and through crowded city streets. The scooter did everything that it was supposed to do with little effort. The ride quality was most compliant and my 6-foot, 4-inch frame actually fit comfortably.

Acceleration seemed to be more than adequate, and the Zuma 50F proved to be highly maneuverable, even surviving an encounter with an intrusive automobile that drifted into my lane, bumping my Zuma in the process. The scooter and I remained upright with only a slight scratch on the scooter and tire mark on my pant leg. Even despite that negative incident, the Zuma 50F provided an exceptionally fun outing with very little fuel consumed during the entire day’s fifty plus mile run.

Yamaha offers a complete lineup of scooters, including a Zuma 125 priced at $3,350 should you desire a little more power, but the Zuma 50F did a yeoman’s job transporting oversized journalists about the city with seemingly little effort. Yamaha’s Extended Service is optionally available for up to four years of extended warranty coverage. – available for all Yamaha street and scooter models.

Bottom-line, the 2012 Yamaha 50F represents an outstanding entry into the scooter world in a smart and stylish package.

Yamaha R15 launched in India for a price of Rs 1.07 lakhs

2011-09-06T23:03:00.000-07:00

Yamaha Motors has finally launched the new Yamaha R15 motorcycle in India for a price of Rs 1.07 lakhs (Ex-Showroom, New Delhi). Christened as R15 Version 2.0, the new motorcycle from Yamaha is available for booking across all Yamaha outlets in India.

Yamaha fans in India have been waiting for this upgrade for quite some time now. As predicted, Yamaha has installed new cosmetics which make the new R15 much attractive than the outgoing variant. Along with cosmetic changes, Yamaha has also managed to upgrade handling and performance of their new R15 sportbike.

Technical specs of the new Yamaha R15 Version 2.0 include, a single cylinder FI engine with a displacement capacity of 149.8 cc generating maximum power of 17 PS @ 8,500 rpm and maximum torque of 15 Nm @ 7,500 rpm.

Dimensions of the new Yamaha R15 are 1970 mm X 670 mm X 1070 mm (L X W X H). To tackle the bumpy Indian roads, Yamaha has installed hydraulic damping telescopic suspensions on the front while the rear features monoshock coil spring suspension. As seen in the earlier variant, this one too has front and rear disc brakes.

Upgraded features of the New Yamaha R15 are, new sportsbike like split seats, new front faring, black color coating on the engine, new black alloys, better aerodynamics, new black color exhaust, and new tire hugger for both front and rear wheels.

Maruti Suzuki launches Swift in UP

2011-08-19T04:18:00.000-07:00

Maruti Suzuki launched its new version of Swift, loaded with 140 new features, in Uttar Pradesh market today.

Launching the car here the company's Chief General Manager (Network Development) Partho Banerjee said the new Swift has been introduced at a time when there was a good demand for the outgoing model.

Build on an all new platform, the new Swift is longer and wider than the earlier model.

Banerjee said engineers of the company had adopted several new weight reduction techniques for an enhanced power to weight ratio and much fuel efficiency in the new model.

The base model of the Swift (petrol) would start from Rs 4.46 lakh and the diesel from Rs 5.32 lakh

Maruti Suzuki launches upgraded version of Swift

2011-08-18T04:20:00.000-07:00

The country's largest carmaker, Maruti Suzuki India, on Wednesday launched an upgraded version of its popular premium hatchback 'Swift' in an aggressive price range of Rs 4.22-6.38 lakh. Built on an all-new global platform, the new Swift is cheaper than rivals Volkswagen Polo and Hyundai i20. Maruti is hoping the new Swift would help it drive sales in the world's second largest auto market where new car purchases fell 16% in July.

"The new Swift will create new benchmarks with its improved fuel efficiency, stylish and sportier looks and high performance," Maruti Suzuki India managing director and CEO Shinzo Nakanishi said on the sidelines of the launch in Delhi. The new Swift is lighter by 30 kg and promises better fuel efficiency than its phased out version. The company said the petrol variant would run up to 18.6 km in a litre of fuel, offering 4% more mileage, while the diesel version will deliver 22.9 km in a litre, or 6% more fuel efficiency over the older version.

Maruti, which invested Rs 550 crore in the new car, saw its sales drop 26% in July. The company is now hoping to make strong gains from the new Swift. The company said it has already received orders for 50,000 new Swifts from across the country. In anticipation of the huge order flow, the company has raised production of the new car at its Manesar plant from 12,000 to 18,000 units a month.

Volkswagen launches new Jetta at staring price tag of Rs 14.12 lakh

2011-08-18T03:24:00.000-07:00

The largest European car maker Volkswagen has launched all new upgraded diesel variant of its popular premium sedan – Volkswagen Jetta – in the Indian market. The car carries a starting price tag of Rs 14.12 lakh (ex-showroom New Delhi).

The all new Volkswagen Jetta has been launched in four new variants including Trendline, Comfortline and highline manual and Highline DSG. The new Jetta is powered by a 2.0L four-cylinder CRDi engine. The car is available in both 6-speed manual and 6-speed automatic transmissions.

Speaking to the reporters at the launching ceremony of the car in Mumbai, Member of Board and Director, Volkswagen Passenger Cars, Volkswagen Group Sales India, Neeraj Garg said, "With the introduction of the New Jetta our entire carline from the Polo to the Passat now offers the latest and the best to our customers."

Volkswagen India has been witnessing a considerable surge in sales since last one year. While the total sales of the company stood at 32,000 units during last year, it has already sold 45,000 units of its cars in the country in last seven months.

While further elaborating the company’s expectations from newly launched Jetta, Mr. Garg said that the company has sold a good number of Volkswagen Passat and Volkswagen Jetta in the last seven months. Despite economic slowdown Volkswagen hopes this New Jetta will help to increase its market share in coming days.

Chevrolet India website features Beat Diesel

2011-07-28T02:56:00.000-07:00

Chevrolet India website, added a new page which features one of the most awaited cars of this year, Beat Diesel. Chevrolet Beat diesel will be powered by a small 936 cc TDCi diesel engine that will generate 57 bhp and 157 Nm torque.

The USP of this car is that it will be powered by a diesel engine that will deliver a mileage of 24 kmpl. In today’s time when rising fuel costs have forced people to switch to diesel powered cars, Chevrolet Beat is expected to change GM India’s fortunes in India.

According to the website, Chevrolet Beat’s Smartech engine will feature advanced engine design, engineering & packaging, combination of features and engine components package that provides improved performance, significant improvement in NVH characteristics of the engine leading to more comfortable driving experience, smart engine design and technology that provides optimum fuel efficiency in varied driving conditions, higher low end torque delivery for improved driving experience in stop and go traffic conditions, and rigorously tested & proven in extreme Indian road and climatic conditions.

While on the car, Chevrolet states, “Leave behind the worries of petrol costs, ignore the long queues at fuel stations; pass by every milestone on the road because new Beat Diesel is here. Equipped with advanced SMARTECH engine, Chevrolet Beat Diesel promises a very good mileage for really long drives. Its low end torque lets you hit the road with excellent pick up and enjoy the silent rides along with 4.5 m turning radius for great city maneuverability. So what are you waiting for? Be the first to experience. The Smarter Diesel!”
Source: Chevrolet Beat Diesel India

Chevrolet Beat Diesel Pre-Launch Preview

2011-07-27T02:51:00.000-07:00

Chevrolet Beat Diesel

Tomorrow, at 1130 in the morning, General Motors India will unveil the hotly anticipated entry level diesel hatchback, the Chevrolet Beat Diesel at Delhi and Mumbai simultaneously. In the run up to the launch, General Motors has been stressing upon the fact that the Beat Diesel’s three cylinder, common rail turbo diesel engine displaces 936cc and will be one of the segment leaders when it comes to fuel economy.

Also, the fact that the engine being a three cylinder unit will cost lesser to produce than say, a four cylinder diesel engine that most of the other competing cars in the segment like the Tata Indica eV2 and the Ford Figo Diesel feature. And this factor is expected to make a big difference.

This cost saving aspect of the three pot engine is expected to translate into a lower sticker price for the Chevrolet Beat Diesel, one which we expect will be very competitive to say the least. So, you can expect the Chevrolet Beat Diesel to be priced very close to the Tata Indica eV2 or just a little over the Indica’s price, thus making it one of the lowest price diesel hatchbacks in a country.

Chevrolet Beat Diesel

This, is especially crucial in a time when the demand for diesel cars in India is at an all time high. With the Chevrolet Beat Diesel, GM India will also aim to demonstrate that a three cylinder engine too can be as smooth as say a four potter. Yesterday, we brought you a story about the Chevrolet Beat’s brand new XSDE(An acronym for extra small diesel engine) Diesel engine’s raft of technologically advanced features.

The engine is also the smallest diesel engine yet, from the General Motors stable. Featuring a cam chain instead of the conventional cam belt, the XSDE Diesel three potter is designed to be a low maintenance engine. The engine has also been developed keeping in mind the fact that its intended application will be mainly on city streets. Therefore, plenty of low end torque to make city driving a breeze is a strong point of the engine.
Source:indiancarsbikes.in

Honda Vietnam to build third motorcycle production plant

2011-07-26T04:15:00.000-07:00

Honda motor's, motorcycle and automobile sales unit, Honda Vietnam (HVN) is planning to build its $120m third motorcycle production plant in Ha Nam Province, Vietnam.

The new plant is part of company's plan to expand its total annual production capacity by 500,000 units in order to meet demand of the motorcycle market in the region.

HVN is expected to invest $120m in the new plant which is scheduled to become operational in the second half of 2012.

The third plant is expected to open in the second half of 2012 and increase HVN's annual production capacity to 2.5 million motorcycles from 2 million.

Since starting production in 1997, Honda Vietnam has produced 9.6 million motorcycles and its market share reached 64% last year.

GM Introduces Beat in Diesel Version

2011-07-26T02:45:00.000-07:00

General Motors are aware of rising fuel prices, and also very well know the difference between petrol and diesel prices. And, that is why they have introduced diesel version of Beat for their friendly customers. The new swanky model is priced at Rs 4.29 lakhs. It is considered the car would give tough competition to Ford Figo and Suzuki Swift.

Not only, GM has kept price in mind but it also has designed world smallest diesel engine. The Diesel Beat is available in 1000cc engine, which is designed by GM engineers in Europe, and also has been modified, so that it could suit Indian driving conditions. According to GM officials, this new model would surely give an impetus to the sales of Beat.

Moreover, this new diesel model would be appreciated, when fuel prices has been recently hiked. GM could also introduce diesel versions in their other models. And, in next 18 months GM India hopes to get five new vehicles, including a hatchback. There would not be much difference in novel model, but signature style of the Beat that is macho factor would remain and would be carried in interiors of it as well.

The best about the Beat is its handling, which is considered to be the best in India’s small cars. What makes its handling easy is its light steering, and its turning radius is also small, which makes everything hassle free.

Chevrolet Beat (diesel) to be launched in India on Jul 25

2011-07-21T01:31:00.000-07:00

General Motors India would launch the diesel variant of its Chevrolet Beat in the Indian market on July 25, a top company official said

“With fluctuation in fuel prices in India from time to time, the new Chevrolet Diesel Beat, the prices of which will be announced at the launch will revolutionise the small car segment, with its engine capacity and fuel economy,” Karl Slym President and Managing Director General Motors India said

The company, which sold about 1.1 lakh cars last year in India, was doubling its growth rate in India as compared to industry average and expected to sell about 1.4 lakh vehicles in all variants this year,up by more than 30 per cent, he said.

Slym, was in Coimbatore to launch a new dealership along with two attached workshops, said the outlet was 250th in India. With tremendous demand for its cars particularly in rural areas, the company would increase sales and service network to 300 locations by the end of this year, he said.

Ford Focus Sedan to be unveiled at the 2012 Indian Auto Expo

2011-07-21T01:09:00.000-07:00

Ford Focus Sedan

Having just launched the 2011 Ford Fiesta Sedan a couple of weeks ago, Ford India will unveil its next product for the Indian car market, the second of the 8 global products the automaker plans to launch in India by 2015, the Ford Focus Sedan. Reliable Ford India sources have revealed this bit of information to Team ICB. The Ford Focus Sedan will compete with the likes of the Toyota Corolla Altis, the Chevrolet Cruze, the Honda Civic, the Renault Fluence Sedan, the Skoda Laura and the new Volkswagen Jetta.

Ford India though would have a tough time at pricing the Focus Sedan competitively as the Fiesta Sedan Diesel’s top end variant is dangerously close to the D-segment car segment. Coming to what the Focus Sedan is expected to offer, a petrol engine and a diesel engine will be on offer with Ford India very serious about expanding its diesel engined model range in India.

Ford Focus Sedan

A 1.6 Liter turbocharged Eco-Boost engine producing about 160 Bhp could be the petrol engine that Ford India might outfit the Indian Focus Sedan with. The diesel engine on the other hand could be a 140 Bh, 2 liter TDCI unit. Both these engines, while being quite powerful to endow the Focus Sedan with terrific performance are also known to be extremely fuel efficient, which most definitely is the need of the day.

These engines will be paired with both manual and automatic six speed transmissions. Notably, the dual, dry clutch automatic Powershift gearbox that Ford has developed recently could make it to the Focus Sedan, for better gearshift response as well as fuel economy. Globally, the Ford Focus Sedan comes with a range of new features, that might come to India as well as Ford India has demonstrated with the class leading features for the new Ford Fiesta Sedan like Active Park Assist, Adaptive Cruise Control and Rear View Camera to name just a few.

Triumph Motorcycles to be launched in India

2011-07-17T11:31:00.000-07:00

The iconic British motorcycle brand has announced its foray into the Indian market with its extensive range of premium models hitting the roads by next year. Triumph is one of the oldest motorcycle makers in the world and has been producing some of the finest machines for bikers all around the world. With international players entering the Indian market, Triumph too does not want to be left behind and has officially announced its entry into the country. For its Indian operations, Triumph has appointed Ashish Joshi as its Managing Director, who previously was heading the European operations for Royal Enfield and has a solid experience of sixteen years working in the in Asian and European markets.

Commenting on Triumph’s entry to the Indian market Nick Bloor, CEO of Triumph Motorcycles, UK said: “India is a very important motorcycle market and Triumph has assessed it carefully before deciding to step in. We see it as the next step in our global business model. The appointment of Ashish Joshi is a signal of our seriousness about success in India. I wish him the best and look forward to comprehensive growth from the Indian market.”
Source: zigwheels.com

Ford rolls out global Fiesta at 8.23 lakh

2011-07-14T15:10:00.000-07:00

Ford drove in the international Fiesta sedan in India on Thursday with an entry price of Rs 8.23 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi), significantly higher than rivals like Honda City, Hyundai Verna and Volkswagen Vento. The US car major has seen a revival of sorts in India after the launch the Figo last year. It is counting on the new car to up its stake in the lucrative but highly competitive premium sedan segment, which has seen a flurry of new launches in recent times.

Ford Fiesta is the first of the eight new global models that Ford has promised to roll out by 2015. It sports a 1500cc engine in both petrol and diesel variants. The entry-level diesel variant will cost Rs 9.27 lakh (Delhi ex-showroom). Michael Boneham, MD of Ford India, told TOI that he was not worried about the price gap against rivals. "It is not about price, but about the product. The Ford Fiesta offers features like anti-lock braking system (ABS), airbags and steering wheel audio controls as standard across variants," Boneham said.

However, rival brands like Honda also offer the features as standard while in others they are available at a lower price. The premium sedan segment has seen competition hotting up of late and changes in the dynamics. The Honda City, once the leader of the pack, has been under tremendous pressure following the entry of models like Vento and the new Verna, forcing the company to go in for a Rs 66,000 price cut last month.

The competition will make things difficult for Ford. The US major is already witnessing a pressure in the demand for the Figo as slowdown hits the market and competitors like Maruti, Hyundai and Toyota catch up. The Figo, the volume-driver for the company, saw volumes dip 6% in the first quarter of this fiscal at 17,319 units against 18,495 units in the corresponding quarter in 2010-11, according to figures released by Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM).

Boneham said he was not too worried about the slowdown in demand in the market and for Figo. "While factors like high interest rates and scarcity of cash have put pressure on the demand in the car market, we are still forecast to grow by 12-14%, which is absolutely not bad. On Figo, we have some production constraints on the diesel engines. In any case, the model is also being exported and we are doing well internationally." Refusing to forecast the company's sales targets, Boneham said Ford was bullish on India and was on course to bring in new models in the market.

New Chevrolet Beat Diesel

2011-07-12T12:48:00.000-07:00

Chevrolet Beat Diesel

A small, economical, four-door hatchback is what an average middle-class Indian family of today is looking for. Out of all this, economy is of utmost priority when it comes to choosing a family hatchback from the varied choice that the customer is presented with. Now with price of petrol nudging 70 rupees a litre, diesel powered cars are set to gain popularity among the middle class population in India. Automakers in India are now anticipating an increased demand for diesel vehicles and have already started addressing the issue.

General Motors will launch the Beat hatchback with a diesel engine which will be aimed at fulfilling the demand for affordable diesel cars. IndianCarsBikes takes a look at a car that will grab your attention by virtue of its funky looks and now with a diesel engine under the bonnet would be light on your pocket as well. Well, fuel economy was definitely on GM’s mind when it comes to the Chevrolet Beat Diesel. At the heart of the machine is the smallest common-rail diesel engine on a passenger car in India and the first GM hatchback to sport a diesel powerplant anywhere in the world.

This is how important the Indian market is to automakers that GM went on to develop the 3-cylinder diesel engine specifically for India. The engine is based on the 1.3 litre Fiat Multijet which GM got from Fiat. The engineers at GM then reduced the size of the engine to 937 cc by getting rid of one of the cylinders turning it into a 3-pot. In this configuration, the 937 cc common-rail diesel engine puts out a healthy 57.8 horsepower and 15.2 kgm of torque. The 4-valves per cylinders and double overhead cams ensure better fuel economy and driveability.

Chevrolet Beat Diesel

To further improve fuel efficiency, GM has dumped the good-old hydraulic steering with a modern electric one. The new electric setup will in fact make the car more maneuverable but could lack the feedback of the classic hydraulic. Still, in the city the Beat diesel with its electric steering will be a joy to hustle around. At speeds though, things could get rather twitchy. The Chevrolet Beat Diesel will do a top whack close to 140 kph but it will require quite a long stretch of empty highway if you wish to get any close to the limit.

Coming to the most important bit, fuel economy. With a small diesel engine upfront, the Chevrolet Beat Diesel does 24 km in a litre of diesel, this according to tests conducted by ARAI. This makes the Chevrolet Beat diesel one of the most frugal hatchbacks available in India today. Now, the Chevrolet Beat is not the most spacious of the hatchbacks and lacks rear space. The boot too is not as spacious as that of its competitors. That said, the rear seat can seat just two adults in comfort.

The Chevrolet Beat Diesel will be launched in India on the 25th of July and as always, pricing will be crucial. So, bottom line, the new Chevrolet Beat is a frugal and affordable (depends on how GM price it) hatchback for a small family or four adults at the max. GM is expected to price the Chevrolet Beat diesel around Rs 4-4.2 lakh. Thus, it will rival the Tata Indica V2 (53.5 bhp @ 5500 rpm). In terms of power, the Beat diesel surely has a slight upper hand and same with the looks. But, as far as practicality is concerned, the Beat does lack interior space. Keep watching this space for more updates on the launch day.
Source: indiancarsbikes.in/cars/chevrolet-beat-diesel-45269/

Maruti Suzuki hopes to see car sales pickup by festive season

2011-07-12T12:39:00.000-07:00

2011 Maruti Suzuki Swift

The past few months haven’t been so good for the Indian auto industry. Sales have slumped during the past months due to various reasons. Maruti Suzuki sales slumped by 8.8 percent in the month of June. India’s #1 auto maker recorded 80,298 units in the month of June this year which almost 8000 units down on the last years tally during the same month. The slowdown has been associated with the rising fuel prices. The increase in interest rates haven’t been helping either.

CNBC-TV18 recently had a chat with RC Bhargava, Chairman, Maruti Suzuki. Bhargava believes that the recent slowdown in the auto sales should not only be associated with the rising petrol prices and the interest rates that have also been on the rise. The auto industry has been on a roller coaster ride since the past couple of years. The growth of the industry has been fluctuating for the past few years. Maruti Suzuki grew by 30 percent last year and according to Bhargava a low growth rate in the following year was inevitable.

Suzuki Swift Hatchback

Meanwhile, Maruti Suzuki is gearing up for the upcoming festive season and Bhargava believes the sales would pick up before Diwali. Now, the company is also getting ready to launch the new Maruti Suzuki Swift. We come to know that the new Swift will be launched in the month of August. Maruti has already halted the production of the old Swift for the upcoming model. The company has also planned an MPV to take on Toyota’s Innova.

Recently, Maruti Suzuki had to deal with labour issues at their Manesar unit, which also lead to huge production losses. The waiting period for Maruti cars thus increased and with new launches impending, the automaker will have get its act together. The festive season will bring in more demand but automakers should also be able to meet those in time if they wish to cash in on the opportunity.

Via Moneycontrol

Audi's Half-yearly Sales Up 100 Percent

2011-07-05T04:55:00.000-07:00

German luxury car manufacturer Audi reported a 100 percent increase in its sales for the first half of the calendar year.

It has sold 2,802 cars from January to June 2011 as compared to 1,400 units sold in the corresponding period last year.

"Given our outstanding performance in the first six months of the year, we will soon surpass our 2010 annual sale of 3,003 cars," said Michael Perschke, head, Audi India.

The luxury carmaker's sales during the last month grew by 75 percent with sales of 408 cars as against 233 cars in June 2010.

According to the company, the brand is in the process of repeating in the Indian market some proven growth strategies used in the Chinese market, such as aggressively marketing the product, qualitative network growth and strong brand-building process.

"Audi India has adopted an aggressive product strategy this year with the launch of a slew of class-defining models," the company said in a statement.

The statement further said that China has overtaken Germany as the single biggest market for Audi, while the Indian and US markets were the fastest growing regions for the company.

Currently, the company offers a range of cars including A4, A6, A8, A7 Sportback, Q5, Q7, RS5, R8 and R8 Spyder.

Renault Fluence to be launched

2011-05-23T00:58:00.000-07:00

The much awaited premium sedan Renault Fluence is all set to mark its debut in the Indian market today. The Fluence model will mark the re-entry of the French car maker in the Indian market as the company currently doesnt' have any car in the country. However, the company is yet to reveal any specification details of the car.

The Fluence model is speculated to be rolled-out in the price range of Rs 11 to 14 lakh where it will be competing with the likes of Honda Civic, Toyota Corolla Altis, Chevrolet Cruze and Skoda Laura. The Fluence sedan will be imported to the Indian market as a completely knocked-down unit (CKD).

Initially, the Fluence model will be available at only 12 dealerships of the company in the Indian market. The company plans to enhance the reach of the Fluence model as per rise in the demand for the car. According to a recent statement given by Mr. Sudhir Rao, Deputy MD, Renault India, “Currently, we have appointed about six dealerships. By the end of May we should be having 12. The plan is to have 100 dealership networks by 2012.”

Source:cartradeindia.com

2011 Tata Nano Diesel

2011-03-31T05:22:00.000-07:00

2011 Tata Nano Diesel

Here’s an ICB exclusive straight from a very reliable source regarding the 2011 Tata Nano Diesel. Work on the 2011 Tata Nano Diesel is going on at a frenetic pace at Tata Motors as the Nano Diesel is the next big thing for Tata. We have many interesting things about the Nano Diesel, first of which is the launch. The Nano Diesel’s CRDI engined version should be all set to hit Indian roads by the end of 2011.

Simultaneously a lower priced Nano Diesel with a Direct Injected version of the the Tata Ace’s engine is being tested and that could follow the Nano Diesel CRDI as a cheaper alternative. However, the Nano Diesel DI’s launch is something that Tata Motors is still evaluating. Coming to the Nano Diesel CRDI, the 800cc common rail diesel engine has been developed by German diesel engine specialists FEV along with Bosch proving the injection system.

According to our source, the engine is extremely torquey and Noise Vibration and Harshness levels are pretty similar to that of the Indica Vista Diesel. Now, that is a huge positive as we were concerned about the 3 pot CRDI Diesel NVH levels considering that the petrol Nano’s engine is more on the audible side. The biggest selling point of this engine is said to be it’s fuel efficiency with Tata’s in-house testing managing 40 KMPL pretty consistently.

The boffins at Tata are gunning for an even better economy figure to ensure that the Nano Diesel CRDI really turns on the heat when it is launched later this year. Now, beat that! Coming to the fuel efficiency of the DI engined Nano Diesel, it is expected to be much lesser than the CRDI engine’s figures and will be in the range of 30 KMPL. Also, a major change in the Nano Diesel’s engine design is the location of the radiator which might be in all probability shifted to the front of the engine.

This, as Tata seems to be grappling with the temperature levels of the petrol Nano engine, especially with the CVT variant, with the radiator being located at the back of the car, struggling to cool the engine quickly over large distances. The front radiator design might be adopted in the CVT Nano, which is another product that is being developed quickly. While that is a lot of messy plumbing, it is imperative for the Nano’s engine to remain cool and reliable. The Nano CVT could see a 2012 launch and going by our source, the Nano CVT might just be the best solution for driving in Indian traffic.

Also, there have been reports about the Nano’s boot being redesigned to allow more access by means of a hatch type rear windshield design. No such plans for the Nano exist in the near future and the Nano’s design is set to be pretty consistent for some more time. While Tata continues to explore on the interior front seat redesign, no decision to incorporate it in the Nano has been arrived at yet.

Finally, coming to the Nano fires incident, Tata has been testing the Nano Petrol all along, even after it’s official investigation declaring the Nano’s design to be safe. Here’s some good news for existing Nano owners. The Nano’s design is safe and in most fire cases reported, the improper fitment of accessories have been the cause of short circuit fires in the Nano. So, if you’re are in a spot over the Nano’s safety, don’t worry. Just go ahead and buy it. Your Nano is safe.

So, that brings us to the end of this week’s big ICB exclusive on the Tata Nano Diesel. Stay glued as we bring you more juicy stuff soon. And thanks for reading!
Source:www.indiancarsbikes.in

Honda to develop new diesel engine for Civic and Accord

2011-03-31T05:18:00.000-07:00

After a number of delays and postponements, the leading Japanese car maker Honda will be developing a new diesel engine for its premium cars – Civic, Accord and CR-V. So far, most of Honda cars are only available in Petrol versions and the company has developed only a 2.4L diesel engine for Accord. In a statement given in a recent interview Mr. David Hodgetts, MD, Honda UK, said that the company will be launching its new diesel engine once its new Civic model completes one year on road.

The new diesel power-train of the company will be rolled-out in across the world by the first quarter of year 2013. The move of developing a new diesel engine has been taken in the view of rising demand for diesel run cars in the country. The launch of diesel version will not only strengthen the company’s India portfolio, but will also enable its luxury cars in Indian to compete more promptly with their rivals.

The unavailability of diesel versions is now proving a major drawback for the Honda cars. For instance, the closest competitors of the Honda Civic model including Toyota Corolla Altis, Chevrolet Cruze and Skoda Laura, all are available in diesel versions.

2012 Tata Nano America to be launched soon in US

2011-03-30T05:19:00.000-07:00

Tata Nano is expected to hit the US market either in 2011 or 2012 as a 2012 model. This will be known as the 2012 Tata Nano America, which will be a tough competitor for other group of minicars in US market.

Tata Nano was launched first in India during 2007. This was a blessing for millions of people to get this small car at an affordable price of just $ 2,500. The 2012 Tata Nano America is being called as the 21st century Model T.

The Tata Group's CEO, Ratan Tata came up with this small genuine car that can seat four passengers quite comfortably. This small car was a big relief for most of the people in India. Many Indian families, who cannot afford to have a car, would travel on a two wheeler with four persons on it.

Tata Nano is a mini car, which is shaped like an egg. It is a four door model car, which has taken it from the original British Mini of 1960's. Tata brought a deluxe version called Nano Europa at the Geneva Auto Show held on March 2009. This Nano Europa was meant to be launched in other developed countries in future. The source says that Tata Europa would be released for sale in UK, Spain, Italy, and Poland markets.

The new and the latest version of Nano is the US version of Nano called the 2012 Tata Nano America. This Tata Nano in US would compete with 2011 Chevrolet, 2011, Ford Ka, Smart ForTwo, Scion iQ, and other minicars in US. 2012 Tata Nano America will measure 129.5 inches in length, 62.2 inches in width, and 65.0 inches in height. The base curb weight of this car is 1,475 pounds. The wheelbase measures 89.8 inches. The 2012 Tata Nano America is 7.5 inches longer than the basic Tata Nano model. The wheel base of the Nano America is 2 inches longer and larger.

2012 Tata Nano America is a subcompact car with rear wheel drive. Its engine is placed in the back. It has a 1.0 liter 3 cylinder engine that produces 65 horsepower and 65 Ib-ft of torque. This new Nano America has a five speed automatic transmission, which is replaced by the basic Nano's 4-speed manual. The 2012 Tata Nano America is modeled after Nano Europa in Indian markets. The 3-cylinder engine is based on the Europa model. The Tata Nano America claims to have very low CO2 emissions. It gives a fuel economy of more than 50 miles per gallon.

The interior of the new 2012 Tata Nano America will have a high quality interior trim with leather upholstery. The outside appearance of the small car will surprise you with the more spacious interior. The new Tata Nano American version will have a restyled strong bumpers placed for the Western crash tests. The Nano America will also have a rear wiper and washer. Unlike basic model of Tata Nano, the Nano America will have safety features like four airbags, antilock brakes, traction control, stability system, which are standard safety features found in top trim levels.

2012 Tata Nano America also include air-conditioning, fog lights, front power windows, and power door locks. The new Nano America is more stylish in design. All these features in 2012 Tata Nano America comes with the base price of $ 7,000, which is very impressive for a person with low budget.

Source:www.auto-types.com

Big Bazaar helps Tata Motors drive Nano sales

2011-03-29T09:01:00.000-07:00

Kishore Biyani's discounted retail format Big Bazaar, which started the concept of 'Sabse Sasta Din' a few years ago, is now selling the sabse sasta car-the Tata Nano.

In a novel move, Tata Motors has tied up with Future Group to sell the Tata Nano in Big Bazaar outlets.

"There is a lot of commonality between Big Bazaar consumers and prospective Tata Nano buyers. Big Bazaar as a concept appeals to the masses and with over 150 million footfalls every year, we are trying to see how we can sell Tata Nano, which has a similar positioning," said Future group's Customer Strategy president Sandip Tarkas, who heads this initiative at Big Bazaar.

2011 Volkswagen Passat @ Rs 20.80 lakhs

2011-03-29T04:28:00.000-07:00

Earlier today, German car manufacturer, Volkswagen launched their new Passat sedan in the Indian auto market. Available in 3 options, 2011 Passat is priced between Rs 20 – 26 lakhs. Following are the prices of the 3 Passat variants;

• 2011 Passat 2.0L TDI Trendline @ Rs. 20.80 lakh

• 2011 Passat 2.0L TDI Comfortline @ Rs. 23.80 lakh

• 2011 Passat 2.0L TDI Highline (AT) @ Rs. 25.65 lakh

All the above prices are Mumbai, ex-showroom prices. To know the exact price of 2011 Volkswagen Passat in your city, give a call to the nearest Volkswagen dealer. Volkswagen has launched the new D segment sedan hoping that they can now garner some sales in the segment. Outgoing Passat variant, failed badly in the Indian auto industry.

2011 Passat’s 2.0L TDI engine is not only powerful, but also very efficient as it features the BlueMotion technology. This diesel heart generates 170 bhp of raw power and 350 Nm of torque while giving you the complete control over itself. 2011 Volkswagen Passat’s main competitor in India is Skoda Superb, ironically, VW owns Skoda Auto!

BMW plans launch of new 4-series

2011-03-29T04:26:00.000-07:00

Germany’s Auto and Motor Sport magazine has revealed that BMW plans of launching a new four-door coupe. BMW has plans of launching cars for every segment of customers, and the campaign will start with the new four door coupe or BMW 4-series.

The brand new 4-series model is expected to be based on Gran Coupe or a BMW 3-series GT. The main idea of BMW is to launch a car which would include less development costs, and can be afforded easily by customers. Expect the possible 4-series coupe to be a mix of BMW 3-series and 5-Series.

Frankfurt Motor Show in September might feature BMW making announcements pertaining to launch of their new affordable 4-series coupe. BMW’s plan of launching a four-door coupe reflects the company’s idea of increasing sales and profit margins. Presently, no information of the technical specifications was available, but in coming months details of the new 4-series from BMW are expected to be revealed

2011 Chevrolet Beat Diesel primed for a June 2011 Launch

2011-02-18T03:49:00.000-08:00

2011 Chevrolet Beat Diesel

As petrol prices have sky rocketed to a level where two wheelers seem the sensible option for most prospective car buyers, a diesel hatchback makes so much more sense as Diesel is still being taxed lesser than petrol by the Indian government. So, diesel cars are most definitely the flavor of the season. The Chevrolet Beat Diesel has been long in the coming with General Motors India making some positive noises at the launch of the Chevrolet Beat LPG recently. According to General Motors India Vice-President P Balendran, the Chevrolet Beat Diesel will be launched in June, 2011.

He also went on to add that the Chevrolet Beat featuring the 1 liter CRDI diesel engine is not a volume player for General Motors, which is really surprising as we expect the Diesel Beat to really improve the fortunes of the Beat brand as a whole. General Motors India, for it’s part has been constantly improving the Beat based on the market feedback and the latest SMARTECH engine was a move in this direction, to improve the low end tractability of the petrol Beat. Now, a top GM India official mentioning that the Beat is not a volume player for GM could mean three things.

One: That he hasn’t a clue about what the Beat lacks right now, which is a diesel engine and that the Diesel as recently as January 2011 anaged to clock in at units, which while falling short of the market leaders the Hyundai i10 and the Maruti Suzuki Swift, is still a very reasonable number.

Two: That General Motors plans to sell the Diesel Beat with a high price tag, a-la-Nissan Micra Diesel and ensure that they shoot themselves onto their own feet and manage to convert the high potential Beat Diesel into an absolute sales dud.

Three: That, he simply has been misquoted.

The last option seems most likely or so we hope as the Chevrolet Beat Diesel simply deserves to be very competitively priced if GM India aim to consolidate their position in the Great Indian Small Car market. Otherwise, introducing a high priced diesel variant would simply not make sense, especially when the likes of the WagonR and the i10 are setting sales charts afire, month after month.

Source: 2011 Chevrolet Beat Diesel

Hyundai i45 named 2011 International Car of the Year

2011-02-17T09:46:00.000-08:00

Hyundai i45 named 2011 International Car of the Year.

Off the back of a very successful start to the year for the i45 in New Zealand, its latest accolade, the stunning Hyundai i45 has been named International Car of the Year.

In a grueling American review, the family-favourite midsize sedan has been singled out by a dozen of the world’s top motoring writers as the very best at fitting the lifestyle of its owner.

“This is proof of what many Kiwi owners already know,” commented the Chief Operating Officer of Hyundai New Zealand, Tom Ruddenklau.

“It’s an enormous accolade and an extremely difficult award to win. The ICOTY Awards honour vehicles based on lifestyle compatibility and how well automakers achieve that goal.

“Many of the world’s leading brands would give anything to have a model honoured by the ICOTY jury,” said Mr Ruddenklau.

The ICOTY Jury consists of 12 reputable writers and editors who represent respected publications such as Kelley Blue Book, Consumer Guide Automotive, Yahoo! Autos, Auto Week, MSN Autos, and Cars.com and more.

Voting ballots are then sent to JD Power and Associates for final tabulation to ensure accuracy and credibility.

Launched in 1997, the ICOTY Awards became the first automotive awards show to honour new vehicles based on the emotional connection between car and consumer.

“Month by month, all around the world, the accolades have continued to roll in since we launched the Hyundai i45 last year,” Mr Ruddenklau said.

“The awards and recognitions are simply too numerous to list.”

“The Hyundai i45 is setting the standard for even more advanced Hyundai vehicles in future, and New Zealand drivers are sharing the joy of this premium ownership experience right now.”

The Hyundai i45 has set a new industry standard for mid-size sedans, with a unique fuel-efficient four-cylinder engine delivering outstanding fuel economy, emotional design, high-tech and luxurious convenience features and a 5-star ANCAP safety rating across the entire range in New Zealand.

The Hyundai i45 was the first mid-size car to receive a 5-star safety rating under the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s new, more stringent 2011 system.

Tata’s Nano becomes an exhibition in US museum

2011-02-17T04:13:00.000-08:00

Heralding the role of design in profound societal change, an exhibition highlighting the Rs 1 lakh car Nano is one at the Herbert F Johnson Museum of Art here. On till March 27, “Unpacking the Tata Nano” explains how it is possible to design and produce a car that sells for equivalent of $2,500, the organisers said.

The exhibition, by a team of Cornell University’s faculty and students, features a full-scale Tata Nano, plus a production Tata Nano dismantled and suspended in air in its 2,000 parts.

The exhibition also has Tata Motors’ very first concept vehicle, which consists of two used motor scooters welded together under the body of a golf cart.

To show how little carbon dioxide the Tata Nano emits, a 25-foot in diameter balloon will float above the museum's sculpture garden. It represents the Nano's emissions for one year.
Source: hindustantimes.com

Tata Motors to build Nano car factory in Indonesia in 2013

2011-02-17T04:10:00.000-08:00

Tata Motors is considering building a manufacturing unit in Indonesia which will be used to manufacture the famous Tata Nano model. According to Indian motoring sources, the plan is under “constant vigilance” by the various study teams. The report cited a Tata spokesperson as saying “Yes, we will be establishing a manufacturing unit in Jakarta. We will be announcing this piece of news shortly, but till then it is all under wraps.”

Indiandrives.com said the plan is basically to get a foothold in the large, as yet untapped markets, beginning with Indonesia. The next step is thought to include Malaysia, Philippines and Thailand.

If the reports are right, the decision will have been influenced by surging sales figures of light vehicles which expanded to 2.23 million units up 36 per cent, according to an Asian Automotive market report by JD Power and Associates in January this year.

This plan is expected to take “a definite shape” in the 2013 financial year. Once they establish production of Tata Nano, the company is then likely to start manufacturing the Tata Ace side by side. It is expected that this manufacturing unit will be capable of generating 50,000 units per year. Supplier are said to have already given quotations.

Currently, the company is planning to output between 12,000 and 15000 Tato Nano model a month in its Sanand, Gujarat plant from March 2011 onwards, according to Indiandrives.com.

Source: tyrepress.com

New auto sales drop in December

2011-02-17T04:07:00.000-08:00

Sales of new automobiles dropped in December, as the truck-buying spree of the previous month lost momentum, Statistics Canada reported.

Sales dropped 4.8% to 128,210 units, with the sale of trucks dropping almost 7% to 69,998 units, it said. The sale of passenger cars dropped for a second month, declining 2.2% to 58,212 units.

For the whole of 2010, new motor vehicle sales jumped 6.7%, as an 18.4% gain in truck sales outweighed a 4.8% drop in car sales.

Last year was a bumper year for Canadian truck sales, accounting for 55% of all vehicles sold. It was the first time since records began in 1946 that trucks outstripped passenger car sales.

In December, sales of North American cars declined 3.6%, while overseas-built vehicles fared better, declining just 0.3%.

Statistics Canada said preliminary data for January points to a renewed uptick in auto sales, with a gain of 3%.

In December, sales dropped across all provinces, led by Ontario.

Source: torontosun.com

Honda to Recall Nearly 60,000 Cars in India

2011-02-17T01:49:00.000-08:00

The Indian unit of Honda Motor Co. said Thursday it will recall 57,853 units of the City sedan to replace a faulty part as part of a global exercise.

The company would replace the lost motion spring in the valve train in City cars manufactured between November 2008 and December 2009, Honda Siel Cars India Ltd. said. The replacement would be done free of cost by informing customers directly, it added.

Honda said the recall doesn't impact the latest version of the City sedan that is currently produced and sold in India.

"Honda Siel is proactively replacing the part in these vehicles with a new improved part," it said. "Lost motion springs, which are compressed by rocker arms in normal engine use, may bend or break over time, resulting in abnormal engine noise and potentially causing engine stalling and problems in re-starting."

This will be the second recall of City sedans in about a year. In January last year the auto maker recalled 8,532 City sedans manufactured in 2007 to replace defective power window switches that could cause a fire.

Honda currently produces the City, Jazz, Honda Civic and Accord cars in India. It also imports and markets the CR-V sport utility vehicle.

The latest recall doesn't impact the Jazz hatchback in India, the auto maker said.

"The recall announced by Honda applies to certain units of Fit/Jazz fitted with 1.5-liter i-VTEC engine, which is sold in other countries and not sold in India," it said. The Jazz is sold with a 1.2-liter gasoline engine in India.

Honda said it would recall a total of 693,497 vehicles worldwide due to faulty engine parts. Outside India this affects City sedans, some models of the Fit compact, also known as the Jazz in some markets and Freed compact minivan models sold in North America, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa.

Tata Nano Sale Amongst Tata Motors Employees

2010-12-31T02:10:00.000-08:00

The latest bid from Tata Motors to boost Tata Nano sale is to press its employees in large numbers. The offer is open for its Tata Motors employees with Rs12500+ as monthly salary and the loan can be availed for a period of 4 years. The rate of interest will be 2% per year against 14% charged on 100% loan for other public. Another advantage is the waiving of processing fees and the scheme comes into effect from the dawn of 2011.

Tata Motors has issued circulars to its employees by which it said the blood relatives of such employees too can avail this offer. The repayment shall be made through deductions from the monthly salary and there are 24000 Tata Motors employees. Under this scheme, the EMI comes about Rs3684 for the standard variant costing Rs1.69 lakhs(Mumbai ex-showroom); it is Rs4956 for the LX variant which costs Rs2.28 lakhs.

The company claims that by this repayment scheme Tata Motors employees can save Rs 48000 – Rs 61000 for the entire loan period of 4 years. In addition the employees may get exclusive facilities depending upon the profile and in particular, zero down payment. However, the company says this is not new offer since the employees are availing schemes for almost all of its products.

The company official said the recent launch of open sale of Tata Nano in 12 cities is doing well and the offer to employees is no way related to clearing of the year end stock. Yet, the fact remains that the Tata Nano sale has fallen in recent months making the company to come out with a series of sale promotion offers – extended warranty, maintenance contract for Rs99 per month, instant loan in 48 hours. The company attributed its decline in sale to the neglect of the semi urban sector.

Tata Nano sale came down to 509 units in November from 9000 units sold five months ago. The dealers of Nano started smiling with the introduction of finance scheme and the units are gradually reducing in the show rooms. There will be fresh orders from January 2011, they said.

Tata To Install Sale Stall For Nano

2010-12-30T06:16:00.000-08:00

With more upside down and reverse gear move from its cheapest car fancy, Tata Motors is brushing its eyes to visualize the boost of the car Tata Nano. There has been a deep decline in its sales recently much to the contrary of its initial slogan from its Chairman Ratan Tata, we are at the gates to offer a new version of transportation for the people of India. He was actually initiating the move targeting the two wheeler segment to divert to his cheapest car much akin to Henry Ford’s move with his Model T. Much disappointing to the projected 85% sales for a year, the company faced an all time low sale in November this year just 509 units.

The irony is that the car market has been growing at a rapid pace all through this year. The Rs1 lakh car, as it was branded at the launch, had to undergo a lot of ups and downs especially the fire incidents in its electrical components. This event was highlighted through television news coverage. Though it had not involved any physical injuries, it had made a deep crack in the safety aspect of the car among the customers.

The company had to defend the incidents and convince the customers with a statement that Tata Nano is a safe car with a robust design. In a bid to woo the existing customers and new arrivals, Tata Motors has introduced a safety assurance scheme by offering refinement to the electrical accessories, quoting image engineering. However, the competitors reaped a good volume at the loss of this Nano decline. Maruti, in particular, secured a sale volume of 33000 units of its cheapest mode Alto even at the double price of that Tata Nano. Sensing all these hiccups, Tata Motors is now devising some strategies to revive the market for Tata Nano and the latest one is the Tata Nano Happiness Guarantee scheme. The scheme enables the buyers with extended warranty – for four years from the earlier 18 months- and a maintenance contract for Rs99 per month.

Also the company is aiding to arrange easy finance upto 90% for purchase of Nano at the revised low rates of interest in just 48 hours. The fall in the sale of Nano came from another major cause – the rise in its price- from Rs1 lakh to Rs1.37 lakhs (non-a/c model), since the company claimed the rise in input costs. The airconditioned model costs Rs1.6 lakhs which the car dealers claim that is high compared to the cost of seconds from top brands. Tata believes that Nano could still bring fortune for it though a complete review of the car has not reached the mass. The industry analysts claim that Nano do possess good features at its cost and the existing owners have no sort of regrets. The car can gain potential in coming days if Tata Motors devised any new dimensions. The tussles for Nano now are not recent one, but it faced such problems even before its launch in West Bengal, where it was supposed to install its unit. But unable to resist the local farmers, Tata Motors had to vacate and shift its unit to Gujarat. In addition, the acquiring of Jaguar and Land Rover faced a fall in its sale.
Source: http://living.oneindia.in/automobiles/auto-news/

Tata Nano Design Gets International Awards

2010-12-30T02:13:00.000-08:00

Tata Motors’ Nano design has got the an international award- from the Chicago Atheanaeum :Museum of Architecture and Design with the European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies.ta

Tata Nano design is appreciated for the extra space provided for the passengers which can accommodate four adults. Tata Nano design in detail is that it measures 3.1m long, 1.5 mts wide and 1.6 mts high. Tata Nano designed with least exterior footprint yet it is spacious by 21% than the existing small cars in the markets. With these features, Tata Motors has added some more attractions for promoting Nano – easy and fast track finance within 48hours; in addition there will be manufacturing warranty upto 60,000 kms or 4 years, whichever is earlier.

Much contrary to its early claims, Tata Motors has let the open sale of Tata Nano through dealer network in 12 states in India from this August, which is to be expanded to remaining areas before March 2011.

Car Sales In India Droppes

2010-12-29T10:10:00.000-08:00

Despite huge schemes and offers announced by the car makers, the Indian customers are not wooed yet and the result is the slackening in the Indian cars sale. Two reasons are attributed for low pace of indian car sale – poor offer from the companies and bulk volume of purchase during the festival season.

To quote a few, Maruti Suzuki is offering Rs20,000 for its Alto and Rs12,000 for its refined WagonR which seems to be lower than the one offered last year. A Delhi based Maruti dealer exclaimed that this happened to be the highest offer from a car maker yet is lower than the previous year- even to the extent of Rs38,000 cash incentives. This happens in spite of the growing scene in the Indian car industry – 30% rise- to race against China. The actual rise of car sale is 32% (12.66lakh units) till last month for this fiscal and the trend has suddenly changed now a days. The annual sale volume is high for every year but the same for the monthly basis is fluctuating. The comparative sale for October was 1.82 cars against 1.61 units in November.

Dealers of various companies are hopeful of reaping more car sale in India this month due to the price rise announced by the makers. Other major reasons for the slow rate of car sale are the comparative high sale in the last year, the supply constraint for components and increased interest rates. The analysts felt that the actual car sale in India has surpassed the expectation and projections. Yet the final volume by the end of the fiscal will be different, said the Director general of SIAM.

There are a group of people who wait till next month to gain a year long resale promotion. This is true that the vehicle is mentioned under the year of purchase irrespective of the month purchased. The customers are not in a hurry to buy cars in this December even after offered attractive gains. Particularly in Gujarat, this month is considered to be inauspicious for good things. One more reason cited for slow sale was the suspension of dealing between the manufacturers and the dealers during the end of December, for the closure of year end maintenance.

Maruti Suzuki Starts Work On Diesel Engines

2010-12-29T01:57:00.000-08:00

Before middle of 2011, Maruti Suzuki may roll down the diesel engine meant for the mid-sized sedan in India. The company’s CEO and MD said the process is being shaped by the company engineers internally and there is hope to deliver the engine before the middle of 2011. The initial brand for which the engine will be fitted will be SX 4 and the current procurement of engines for its Swift, Dzire and Ritz is from Fiat. He disclosed that the sale for October was 1 lakh units, first of its kind, and efforts are on to repeat the feat for this month too.

The net sale during October was 107555 units in the local market against 95148 units in the previous month. This made the net total sale for the period April-October for this year was 628378 units making a rise by 31.4% from the one derived in the same period of 2009.

The CEO said the company feels difficult to maintain the same stint for this fiscal quoting the tough base existed in the last year. He further mentioned that the operation of the second plant at Manesar will be advanced by six months in 2011 and similar will be the third plant much ahead the scheduled 2013. The expansion activities will incur an investment of Rs3500 crore; the JV enables Maruti hold 54.2% in Suzuki and the Gurgaon plant has the annual capacity of 8.5 lakh units. Manesar facility has the annual capacity of 3.5 lakh units making the net annual capacity to 12 lakhs. He announced the annual closure and maintenance of the facility from December 25 to 2nd January2011.

BMW X1 India Introduced

2010-12-29T01:45:00.000-08:00

Do you dream of a BMW but are depressed at the high price? Well, now the German car maker introduces the cheapest BMW X1 in India. BMW X1 is scheduled to launch in January 2011. The cost of the car is supposed to be between 22 lakhs to 29 lakhs. BMW X1 India will be assembled in its Chennai plant with an investment of 180 crore.

BMW X1 India will be in both petrol and diesel variant. BMW X1diesel engine will have the power of 177 BHP, torque 350 Nm and 1750 TO 3000 rpm. BMW X1 petrol on the other hand will have the power of 150 BHP, torque of 200 Nm and 3600rpm.

The BMW officials claim that the BMW X1 diesel version takes 8.3 seconds to pick up a speed of 100 kmph while the petrol version takes 10.4 seconds to take on the same speed. Mr Andreas Schaaf president of BMW India said that "The new BMW 'X1' sets the benchmark by bringing together features of a sports activity vehicle with spontaneous flexibility and outstanding fuel economy.”

The BMW X1 India will bring on a new turn in the segment of luxury cars by getting it closer to the general crowd. This January 2011, one of the first luxury car to be launched in the Indian automobile market will be BMW X1 India.

Mini-SUV From Maruti In Two Years

2010-12-29T01:39:00.000-08:00

Maruti Suzuki is still an undisputed leader in the Indian car market by retaining 50% share amidst the invasion of global players into it with rapid pace. To increase the more possible volume and to enter the various segment, Maruti is aiming to roll down an SUV to counter the existing players. The vehicle, according to some section of reports, may be on the lines of Suzuki Jimmy which is a diesel with 2-door. However Maruti may convert this into 4-door, it is learnt, to meet the domestic market demands. According to the company sources, this will be one of the seven models proposed by Maruti for the next couple of years.

Other forms will be on the basis of Alto small car, an MPV on the lines of Toyota Innova on RIII concept. For the calendar year 2011, in January there will be Kizashi sedan, in February it will be SX4 diesel, and in March-April it may be refined Swift and the Swift Dzire ranges. Maruti heavily relies on these two last versions to boost its sale volume for regaining the 50%share in the domestic market. This proposition is made in accordance with the projection of 20-25% sale in car in the next few years. An official from Maruti hinted said that the company is exploring all possibilities to fill in the gap and void left by it in other segments, especially SUV and MUV.

The existing models in SUV are Grand Vitara and Gypsy which are petrol versions. The move comes in the wake of Volkswagen entering into a JV with Suzuki, by which Maruti intends to capitalize on engine specifications. The major players in the SUV segment are M&M with Scorpio, Toyota (Innova and Fortuner) Ford (Endeavor) and Tata (Safari). The segment is expected to rise its market share by 70% towards this year end.

All these indications were to have been conceived and confirmed by the company’s MD and CEO.

Toyota gears up to roll out two compact cars in Indian market

2010-01-01T12:16:00.000-08:00

After serving the above Rs 7 lakh bracket with its vehicles in the country, Japanese car maker Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) is all set to expand its reach in the Indian sub-continent with its compact car platform variants including a hatchback and a sedan. The two cars will be showcased at the forthcoming Auto Expo in New Delhi ( from January 5-11) with another 12 models from the company. Other models include the hybrid Prius that the company will be launching at the Auto Expo, along with display of a concept, CNG Innova and Corolla Altis, and two more hybrids from the stable.

Toyota has still not taken a call on which one of the two compact car variants will be launched first in 2011. The compact car platform is a brand new platform called the entry family car (EFC), keeping in focus the Indian market. The R&D for the said platform has been done in Japan, while the manufacturing will take place in India.

The hatchback and sedan will be powered by 1.2 and 1.5 petrol engines, respectively. The hatchback will be competing against the Maruti Swift and Hyundai i20 in the market.

The sedan will compete against Tata Manza and Maruti SwiftDzire category, said Sandeep Singh, marketing deputy managing director, Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM). While putting a price to the product is too pre-mature considering one long standing year yet to go, experts expect the hactchback to be around Rs 5.5 lakh and the sedan at Rs 6.5 lakh.

To put things into perspective, a Hyundai i20, a hatchback, in New Delhi with 1.2 litre engine costs approximately Rs 5.3 to 6.3 lakh on-road, while Tata Manza, a sedan, with Saffire (petrol) engine costs approximately Rs 4.8-Rs 5.9 lakh on-road in New Delhi.

Singh said that the feedback the company gets at the Auto Expo will be crucial in the decision of the launch. Further, on diesel variant of the two cars, Singh said that the company is not denying the possibility of having a diesel engine, which are being imported by the company.
Source:[financialexpress.com]

Big plans for the small car

2010-01-01T12:01:00.000-08:00

From the time when the Maruti 800 put Indian women in the driver's seat, to the more recent Nano, which put the car within common man's reach, the Indian small car segment has seen a lot of action. But nothing can hold a candle to what 2010 has in store.

To begin with, the segment is heading for a complete makeover. It's time to start thinking international as several global auto giants are planning to launch their small cars in the country next year. Japanese car maker Nissan is way ahead in the race and is reportedly planning to start trial production of its small car as early as this November. Ford Motors' Figo is slated to be launched next year. Toyota is busy setting up a small car plant for its offering that is targeted to hit the showrooms by the end of 2010. And the German Volkswagen is making India-specific alterations to its small car, Polo.

The reason all these automakers are queuing up is the potential of the Indian auto market. A little over 88,000 passenger cars were sold in September 2009 alone. "It is an untapped market. Automobile markets in the US, Europe and Japan are near stagnation. On the other hand, in India, the car and two-wheeler penetration level is at its lowest. This will result in a shift of new capacities and flow of capital to the cost-competitive Indian car market, states research firm Kredent.

Also, considering that 73% of the cars sold in India are small cars, driven by price sensitivity, pundits expect most of the new launches to be competitively priced, at around Rs 3 lakh for the base model. For instance, Ford is expected to price the Figo just below the Rs 4 lakh and Nissan's car is expected to follow suit.

India sells, makes more small cars than

2010-01-01T11:53:00.000-08:00

India is emerging as a leader in small cars as declining sales in Western markets coupled with robust growth in Asia rapidly redraw the global map of the auto industry.

It's well known that China overtook the United States as the world's largest car market in 2009. Less noticed is that India will top Japan for the first time in sales of super-compact cars. It overtook Japan as the world's No. 1 producer of basic cars in 2007.

Automakers like Ford Motor Co., Nissan Motor Co. Ltd., Volkswagen AG, General Motors Co., and China's Shanghai Automotive Industries Corp. are pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into the country, hoping to capture a piece of the growing market for tiny, inexpensive vehicles. As they do so, they are quietly transforming India into an export hub for small car manufacturing.

"India is right in the center of the radar," said Michael Boneham, head of Ford India, which plans to roll out its first India-made compact, the Figo, in the first quarter.

More than 892,000 basic cars - the smallest category of passenger vehicle - were estimated to have been sold in India in 2009, up 14 percent from 2008 and surpassing the 708,034 forecast for Japan, according to J.D. Power and Associates.

Unlike China, Russia, and Brazil, where consumers buy a range of cars from basic to luxury, Indians overwhelmingly prefer small, affordable cars.

Nearly half of all cars sold in India fall into the basic category. These are cars so small they're almost nonexistent in the U.S. market. They could be called sub-subcompacts.

A trip down the streets of a typical Indian megacity, where the bulk of car buyers live, makes the reason clear. Drivers squeeze through any remotely plausible opening on the clogged streets, grazing handcarts, bicycles, cars, pedestrians, and livestock.

And executives say most Indians won't spend more than $8,000 on a car.

To manufacture these low-margin vehicles profitably, car makers must localize production.

Auto industry registers robust sales in December

2010-01-01T11:45:00.000-08:00

India’s auto industry ended 2009 on a strong note with car and two-wheeler makers reporting robust growth in December sales as increasing economic activity and easy availability of loans prompted buyers to rush to dealerships.

December is traditionally seen as a weak month for sales as customers prefer to wait for the new year to make purchases as cars bought in December attract lower resale prices than than those bought a month later. However, in the past few years car makers have rushed to attract buyers with discounts and other rebates to shore up December sales.

Maruti Suzuki India Ltd, the country’s largest car maker reported a 36% jump in sales. The company sold 71,000 units in December, compared with 52,029 units a year ago.

Sales at rival, Hyundai Motor India Ltd, rose 42% to 22,252 units. Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd clocked the biggest percentage jump, with sales rising 122% to 22,754 units.

Tata Motors Ltd did not release its numbers.

The growth was also helped along by the base effect when muted growth in one month leads to the next year’s numbers looking stronger then they would have otherwise. Car and two-wheeler sales started falling in October 2008 and continued to do so till February.

Smaller players such as General Motors India and Skoda Auto also reported brisk growth. Sales at General Motors doubled to 8,258 units. Significantly, the Spark, its small car, accounted for 4,147 units. It plans to further strengthen its offering in the small car segment with the launch of the Chevrolet Beat at this month’s New Delhi Auto Expo. Skoda sold 1,113 units compared with 732 a year ago.

Car makers also benefited from buyers advancing purchases due to price hikes, which several companies have said they plan to do in the next few months. Some, such as Ford India Pvt. Ltd, have already announced an increase in prices from January.

Among two-wheeler companies, Hero Honda Motors Ltd ended the year with the company selling in excess of 300,000 units every month in 2009. It sold 375,838 units in December, a 42% increase over the year-ago period. TVS Motor Co. Ltd sold 102,479 two-wheelers in December, compared with 72,355 a year ago, a growth of 42%. India Yamaha Motor Pvt. Ltd’s sales fell 15% to 13,612 units.

Mercedes-Benz India 132 percent growth in October sales

2009-11-28T11:57:00.000-08:00

Mercedes-Benz India achieves 132 per cent growth in sales in October'09

Mercedes-Benz India announced a sale of 325 units of passenger vehicles in October 2009. This is an increase of 132 per cent as compared to their October 2008 performance (140 units in Oct 2008) and takes their cumulative numbers to 2,640 units of passenger cars for the period January – October 2009.

“In tune with the rest of the market, 2009 was a slow start for us. However we have witnessed increased demand since the second half of this year and October 2009 is the continuation of this growth story.The new E-Class which made its debut end of September 2009 and has won hearts of customers with its bold looks and aggressive stance and has sold 127 units in October 2009,” commented Dr. Wilfried Aulbur, managing director and CEO of Mercedes-Benz India.

The S-Class, the leading luxury vehicle from the Mercedes-Benz stable also registered very strong sales performance with 30 units sold in October 2009 (as compared to 6 units in October 2008). The C-Class has also added to the volumes netting 153 units in October 2009 (100 units in Oct 2008).

Debashis Mitra, director- Sales and Marketing, “Mercedes-Benz India offers the widest and deepest portfolio for customers; our network penetration is the deepest across the Indian luxury car segment. We have worked very closely with our customers to ensure that our products, service and the value proposition match their needs. October sales numbers are encouraging for us.”
Source:[wheelsunplugged.com]

Mercedes-Benz India sees lower sales in 2009

2009-11-28T11:55:00.000-08:00

Mercedes-Benz India expects 2009 sales to be lower than the previous year largely because of lower availability of credit and also due to the effect of the global economic crisis.

The company sold 2,650 cars between January and October, said Wilfried Aulbur, Managing Director and CEO, Mercedes-Benz India. In 2008, the company had sold 3625 cars. However, there has been a recovery in the sales of cars in the luxury segment, he added.

“In the first half of the year, there was a certain amount of cooling down because of the unavailability of credit,” said Aulbur. He said there has been a change in attitude and confidence is back, and the company should be seeing some good numbers. However, he declined to give a sales projection.

The car-maker has about 300 people in R&D centres in Bangalore and Pune. Aulbur said there would be expansion in this space next year that would lead to some employment generation. But he declined to share further details.

Aulbur was speaking at the launch of the E350 CDI BlueEfficiency model in India, which is powered by a diesel engine. The petrol variant of the same car that had been launched some time ago and the company has sold 130 cars in 45 days.
Source:[moneycontrol.com]

December price hike for Ford cars

2009-11-28T11:09:00.000-08:00

Despite prices rising 4% in the summer, the car giant said devaluation of the pound was higher than 30% since 2007, and increasing customer costs was the only way to cover the shortfall.

Ford said the weakness of the pound was a "fundamental concern" for any UK business which incurred costs in Euros, and it had taken "strenuous" action to reduce costs before affecting customers directly.

From December motorists will have to spend between £250 and £500 extra on a Ford Ka, Fiesta, Focus, C-Max, Kuga or Mondeo, while an S-Max or Galaxy will cost £600 more.

Prices for Ford Fiesta vans will jump up £400, Transit Connect and Ranger models by £500, and it will be £600 extra for a Transit 1T. Focus RS and Transit 2T models will stay the same price.

Ford of Britain managing director, Nigel Sharp, said: "To combat the continuing weakness of the pound against the euro, Ford has reduced costs across its entire UK business, including personnel reductions in its central operation and across its dealer network."
Source:[rac.co.uk]

Small is beautiful for Ford India

2009-11-28T11:01:00.000-08:00

Ford Motor Co will launch a new car model in India every 12-15 months over the next five years, with its new Figo small car is set to drive a tripling of sales in 2010, its India head said on Tuesday.

The No.2 US automaker by sales plans to use India as a global manufacturing hub for compact cars, eyeing the country's low-cost facilities to grow in a segment that it expects will make up 60 percent of all global car sales in 10 years.

The small-car segment makes up nearly 70 percent of the 1.5 million cars sold annually in India, a growing market which is one of the few bright spots around the globe for the auto sector.

"If you want to be in the game here in India, you have got to be in that segment. If not, you'll be an interesting niche player, not a mainstream player," Michael Boneham, Ford Motor India's president and managing director, told the Reuters India Investment Summit.

"And Ford wants to be a mainstream player here."

Half of the small cars on Indian roads are sold by Maruti Suzuki Ltd, which is 54.2 percent owned by Japan's Suzuki Motor Corp.

Apart from Ford, Toyota and General Motors have also lined up compact cars for the Indian market, and Volkswagen plans to launch a small car next year.

Ford has just 2 percent of the Indian market, selling larger cars like the Fiesta, Ikon, Fusion sedans and utility vehicle Endeavour, but sees that increasing with its run of new launches.

Boneham said he expected to sell 31,000 cars in 2009, and it would be "a reasonable expectation" for this number to triple in 2010 when the Figo will hit Indian roads.

Figo and other cars will be produced at Ford's plant in the southern Indian city of Chennai, which is set to double capacity to 200,000 units annually at a cost of USD500 million.

Early next year capacity at the plant will be expanded to make 250,000 diesel engines annually.

"Within a five-year period, we should be expecting to fill up the capacity that we are installing," Boneham said at the Reuters office in the Indian capital.

Ford will not further expand capacity for the next three to four years, and would instead invest in developing products and upgrading technology, he added.

Vehicles and engines made in India would be exported to markets in Africa and Asia Pacific, and Ford would decide next year how much they would export, Boneham said.

"It's not going to be a story about the growth in India, it's a story about the growth in India combined with using India as an export base," Boneham said.
Source:[moneycontrol.com]

Chevy Volt Powered With New Technology

2009-10-24T11:51:00.000-07:00

The new Chevy Volt is due to hit the market around 2010. The Volt is going to run on electric. General Motors takes a huge leap as they allow the future owner of the Chevy Volt to charge their batteries any time and anywhere.

The new Chevy Volt is going to be empowered with the OnStar technology. Though it is going to be used for the first time in a Chevy, the technology itself is about ten years old. The technology will be helping future Chevy owners a lot as they would be able to charge their vehicles at different times for different utilities. This would also enable them to enjoy the benefits of charging their vehicles at off-peak hours, which would mean that they will have to pay a far lower rate for the services.

The implementation of the OnStar technology is described by the spokespersons of General Motors as a regular check up by the doctor. OnStar takes care of the battery and the temperature. It also takes the cooling system into consideration. Apart from using the OnStar technology for the battery, General Motors is also looking into several other matters. For instance, it is trying to figure out which would be the places from where the owners would prefer to charge their vehicles while they are on the move.

The OnStar technology is still in the testing stage. Important information is constantly being fed to the engineers all the time. Several Volt vehicles are being prepared to take the test against a crash wall, in which a number of them might be destroyed.

Mercedes open to CNG E-Class imports

2009-10-24T11:48:00.000-07:00

Mercedes Benz India is ready to deliver the CNG variant of its E-Class sedan to customers who need them, said Dr Wilfried Aulbur, Managing Director.

“We have a CNG variant and will import it based on demand,” he told Business Line on the sidelines of the launch of the new E-Class here on Sunday.

The downside is that the imported car will attract 104 per cent duty, which will mean that it will be twice as much the latest edition of the E-Class (petrol) that costs Rs 45.89 lakh (ex-showroom Mumbai). The fact that CNG is largely retailed in Delhi and Mumbai also means that the market will be confined to these two cities.

Dr Aulbur said the company would consider assembly of the CNG version if there was adequate demand. The petrol Merc models are E-25 (25 per cent mix of ethanol) compliant while the diesel options can operate on bio-diesel.

Mercedes had earlier conducted a trial run of the CNG-E Class in India. The mileage of the car is estimated to be 18 km a kg. As for the bus business, Dr Aulbur said private operators were not too enthusiastic about buying intercity luxury coaches due to the swine flu outbreak which hit occupancy rates. The company has sold 25 buses so far this year. Incidentally, Mercedes-Benz India opened a new dealership in Jalandhar on Monday.

BMW rolls out sports car Z4 at Rs 59 lakh

2009-10-24T11:40:00.000-07:00

German luxury car maker BMW launched sports car Z4 in India, priced at Rs 59 lakh (ex-showroom), that the company aims to sell about 30-40 units in the next three months of the year. For the current year, across all its models, BMW aims to sell over 3,000 units. Till September, the company has sold 2,738 units, BMW India president Peter Kronschnabl told at a media conference. In 2008, the German luxury car maker had sold 2,908 units in India.

Kronschnabl added that BMW was trying to strengthen its position in the Indian luxury car segment. He was talking to the media at the launch of Z4, its two-seater sports-car powered by a 2,979 cc petrol engine. The launch is part of the company's move to strengthen its position in the Indian luxury car segment.

"With the new BMW Z4 car we want to reach out to new target groups in India who appreciate a pure driving experience, high standard of elegance and value, and suitability for everyday driving and comfort," Kronschnabl said.

BMW is currently competing neck-to-neck with rival German luxury car maker Mercedes-Benz for the top slot in the Indian luxury-car market. During the first eight months of 2009, BMW had sold 2,305 units as against 2,026 units sold by Mercedes. The company's bulk of sales come from its two luxury sedans- the 3-series and 5-series, both currently being assembled at its Chennai plant.

Mercedes-Benz India to launch three-axle trucks

2009-10-24T11:36:00.000-07:00

Mercedes-Benz India is slated to launch three-axle trucks in the next six months to a year. That will will be followed by launching of city buses. Talking to reporters at the launch of New Actros 4841K in Kolkata on Friday, Mr Wilfried Aulbur, managing director & CEO, Mercedes-Benz India said: "We’ve just launched two-axle trucks in India. Trial tests for three-axle trucks are already on and we hope to launch it in the next six months to a year."

Nevertheless, the company hopes to sell about 240 trucks in India during 2009, which is tipped to translate in Rs 145 crore revenue for the company's trucks business. During 2008, the company sold the same number of trucks. It now feels the market will improve only in 2010 when a growth a likely to be witnessed in the truck segment.

Mercedes-Benz is banking on growth in the coal mining segment, where its trucks are being used mainly for over-burden removal – the soil that needs to be removed for extracting coal. Talking about the buses segment, Mr Aulber said: "The economic recession and swine-flu has hit the city buses sector very hard -- the one in which we operate. The private market is very dull. This has forced us to shift focus to state transport agencies and we have started talks with various state governments."

Interestingly, Merc is also looking at a sizeable opportunity across the fire departments of various states and the defence sector. "We have already sold a few trucks to a fire department in Mumbai and are looking at opportunities in the defence sector. The Merc stable offers vehicles that are suited for the defence sector and are in use by some governments. These could be a possibility in India," said Mr Aulbur. In India, the commercial vehicle segment offers about 15% of the total revenue to Mercedes-Benz India while it is 40% globally.

Test Driving the Electric Ford Focus

2009-10-24T11:30:00.000-07:00

At a press event in San Francisco, Ford showed off a prototype of what might be called the Model T of the automaker’s electric car strategy: the battery-powered Focus sedan.

“This is about affordable transportation for the masses — this is not about a small niche,” said Nancy Gioia, Ford’s director of global electrification.

To keep costs down, the Ford Focus and plug-in electric hybrids will be built — in small numbers at first — on what the company calls its global “C” platform, which produces two million cars a year.

“The assembly line in Michigan will produce the battery-electric Focus and also, with minor modifications, the gas Focus,” Ms. Gioia said. “We can change production as the market shifts.”

The Ford Focus will hit the market in 2011 followed the next year by a plug-in electric Escape sport-utility vehicle, which Ford also showed off in San Francisco. Ms. Gioia said she expects electric and plug-in hybrids will account for 10 to 25 percent of the market by 2020.

But the cars seemed almost beside the point as Ford executives focused on their strategy to work with utilities and other groups to create open standards for electric cars and ensure that a charging infrastructure is in place when buyers hit showrooms.

“The worst thing in the world is if a customer buys one of these things and they run into barrier after barrier,” Ms. Gioia said. “If you go to a dealer and get one of these cars and then it takes 45 days to get a charger installed at your house, you’re not going to be a happy camper.”

She noted the there are some 3,000 utilities in the United States in contrast to just a couple in China, where she recently returned from a visit to the country’s five largest cities. Even though China is moving fast to build an electric car industry, she said each city was developing a different electric charging infrastructure.

In laying out their plans, the Ford executives brought a dose of Midwestern realism to California, home to exotic electric carmakers like Tesla Motors and Fisker Automotive.

“We have to create customer demand based on realistic expectations,” Ms. Gioia said. “We don’t want to hype this.”

In fact, Ford has engineered the battery-powered Focus to mimic the driving experience of the gasoline version.

As I drove a blue prototype around the streets of San Francisco, I was hard-pressed to distinguish the car from one I recently rented at an airport. It was quiet, of course, but that burst of acceleration you get from punching the accelerator of an electric car has been moderated.

The Ford executive sitting shotgun told me that software limits the amount of power instantaneously transferred to the wheels so that the car will perform more like its gasoline-powered cousin.

The production electric Ford Focus, which will be powered by lithium ion battery packs, will be based on the more stylish European version of the car. The Focus will have a range of about 100 miles and a top speed of around 90 miles an hour.

Ford has not announced a price for the car.

Higher sales, margins to boost auto earnings

2009-10-24T04:28:00.000-07:00

Higher passenger car sales in the quarter ended September is likely to boost Maruti Suzuki India earnings, while Tata Motors will benefit from a recovery in truck sales, say analysts.

India's top carmaker Maruti Suzuki is likely to report an 86 percent rise in quarterly profit to 5.5 billion rupees from a year earlier driven by higher compact car sales, especially exports of its A-Star hatchback.

The automaker, 54.2 percent owned by Japan's Suzuki Motor Corp, also benefited from the scrappage incentives in Europe.

"Domestic volumes continue to be driven by A2 segment (Ritz, A-Star, Alto, Swift)...", brokerage firm Motilal Oswal Securities noted in a report.

During the second quarter, Maruti's domestic sales rose 22.5 percent to 209,083 units, while exports more than doubled to 37,105 units, data from the company showed.

As the company is operating close to its peak production capacity, analysts say its growth prospects are limited. The automaker's installed capacity is about 1 million cars a month, of which it currently produces 85,000-90,000.

"Key concerns arise from (Maruti's) lack of capacity to meet the rising demand," Emkay Global Financial Services noted in a pre-earnings report.

In the July-September quarter, Tata Motors' passenger vehicles sales rose 27 percent, while it saw around 22 percent jump in truck sales, company data showed. Turnover of its light commercial vehicles powered ahead, unlike its high-margin heavy trucks.

Passenger car sales of Tata Motors, India's largest truck maker, were boosted by the launch of its Indica Vista and deliveries of Nano, the world's cheapest car, from July, even though its higher-end Indigo sedan sales declined.

According to Motilal Oswal, a pick up in heavy truck sales as the Indian economic conditions improve would bolster the company's future performance.

Tata Motors' net profit is seen rising by nearly a fourth in the September quarter to 4.3 billion rupees.

Brokerage Edelweiss said higher interest and depreciation costs are a cause of concern and could negate the benefits of better operating margins.

While the overall outlook was favourable, higher interest rates and commodity prices and a likely rise in excise duty could negatively impact the firm's profit margins, Edelweiss noted.

Tata's second-quarter earnings would not include that of Jaguar and Land Rover, acquired from Ford Motor last year.

Analysts said interest costs from its huge debt burden would also weigh on the company.

Earlier this month, the company raised $750 million through a combined issue of Global Depositary Receipts and convertible bonds, to repay its debt which stood at 240 billion rupees ($5.2 billion) at the end of June.

In the first quarter ended June, Tata Motors' net profit rose 58 percent to 5.14 billion rupees, while Maruti reported a better-than-expected 25 percent jump in net profit to 5.84 billion rupees.

Shares in Maruti, worth $9.4 billion, have risen 59.5 percent during the September quarter, outperforming the main index which has risen 19.4 percent.

Tata Motors' shares, valued at $6.1 billion, have more than doubled during the second quarter.
Source:[economictimes.indiatimes.com]

Onward to a hybrid future at Toyota

2009-10-21T23:00:00.000-07:00

Three in 10 cars sold by Toyota Motor a decade from now will be low-emission, petrol-electric hybrids, a top executive at the Japanese carmaker said yesterday.

Toyota, the leader in hybrids with its trendsetting Prius, has vowed to build petrol-electric versions of all its vehicles by 2020, but it had not previously said how many of the vehicles it expected to sell.

Takeshi Uchiyamada, Toyota executive vice-president in charge of product development, disclosed the estimate at the start of the Tokyo Motor Show.

Toyota and others are showing off a range of low-emission vehicles intended to appeal beyond their familiar niche of environmentally conscious mid-range buyers.

In contrast to his bullish view on hybrids, Mr Uchiyamada said he did not expect pure electric cars - which are being heavily promoted at the Tokyo show by rival Nissan Motor - to catch on in the next few years.

He cited high production costs and a lack of infrastructure for recharging the relatively short-range vehicles.

Carlos Ghosn, Nissan chief executive, has said pure electrics such as his company's recently developed Leaf five-door are likely to make up 10 per cent of industry-wide sales by 2020.

Mr Uchiyamada said: "We don't think electric vehicles will spread that fast."

For Toyota, the Prius and other hybrids represent about 8 per cent of sales, by far the largest proportion in the industry.

The carmaker has sold 2m hybrids since it launched the Prius in 1997, a number that would be easily eclipsed each year if sales reached 30 per cent of its overall turnover.

At the Tokyo car show, Toyota is highlighting a larger, more upmarket version of the Prius, called the Sai, which it plans to begin selling in Japan in December, as well as its sporty Lexus LF-Ch hybrid five-door.

Honda, Japan's largest producer after Toyota, is also stretching the hybrid genre with a version of its CR-Z hybrid sports coupé, which it plans to begin selling in the US next year.

The Tokyo show is an almost all-Japanese affair this year after US and European carmakers pulled out to save money amid the downturn.

Foreign carmakers control less than a tenth of the Japanese market, making the show an easy target for cost-cutting managers.

Observers said that even the Japanese contingent seemed to have toned down the usual line-up of abstract, futuristic offerings that have made the event a showcase for designers' whims.

Ray Wert, editor of Jalopnik, the US-based motor blog, said: "I miss concepts for concepts' sake, but no one can afford to do that any more."

The show nonetheless highlighted the sharp differences that exist between carmakers over the expected pace of the adoption of technologies, particularly those for reducing output of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.

While big carmakers are researching a range of low-emission drives, from "plug-in" hybrids to pure electrics to hydrogen fuel cells, they have varied in the investments they have put into commercialising those systems in the next few years. Toyota, for example, is showing a tiny pure electric urban commuter, the FT-EV II, which it plans to start selling in 2012.

But Mr Uchiyamada said that probably only "a few thousand" would be made annually at first.

Nissan, by contrast, hopes to be producing 200,000 Leafs a year by then.

Not all the offerings in Tokyo were defined by pragmatism and ecological virtue. Lexus unveiled the LF-A, a two-seat supercar priced at $375,000 whose 4.8-litre engine can blast-fire it to speeds of up to 325kph. Toyota began taking orders yesterday for the 500 units it says it will produce between December next year and 2012.
Source:[ft.com]

Audi car sales set to overtake Mercedes

2009-10-19T23:24:00.000-07:00

German carmaker Audi is set to sell more vehicles worldwide than luxury rival Mercedes for the first time ever next year.

The University of Duisburg's Centre of Automotive Research forecast mighty Mercedes will fall to third place after BMW and Audi, which is owned by Volkswagen, amid surging demand for fancy German cars in China.

Ferdinand Dudenhoffer, the director of the university's centre, said Audi’s better market share in the fast-growing Asian country would allow it to overtake Daimler’s Mercedes brand for sales in 2010.

"While Mercedes will remain the German market leader in the premium segment with slightly fewer than 260,000 sold vehicles, Mercedes lead will melt by nearly 20,000 cars," the study said, pointing to Audi's increasing advantages in pricing and productivity.

The biggest factor weighing on Mercedes car sales appears to be that its cars are more expensive than Audi's.

Audi is able to keep its costs lower through its ties to Volkswagen, which means it can use components and car platforms made for several VW models. The study also calculated that Mercedes could eliminate around 17,000 positions if its car workers had the same level of productivity found at Audi plants.

"Mercedes has far too many workers and does too much on its own," said Dudenhoffer.

Tata Motors set to launch Rs5.5-lakh 'Manza'

2009-10-15T03:09:00.000-07:00

Tata Motors Ltd, the maker of the world's cheapest car, ' Nano', is all set to launch the cheapest luxury car - the Tata Manza. A re-designed version of the company's Indica Vista, it's been launched on 14 October, just ahead of the Diwali buying season.

The Tata Manza carries a price tag of Rs5.5 lakh to Rs7.5 lakh, depending on the model and trimmings. In order to ensure an exciting launch, the company has initiated a contest, which would give the participants an opportunity to own a Manza for a day - not self-driven, of course, but with a company provided 'chauffeur'. Lesser winners will be given gift vouchers.

The Tata Manza is touted as a 'luxurious, comfortable car' with a spacious cabin, alloy wheels and steering-mounted audio controls similar to the Vista. The dickey or 'boot' is merged in the overall shape, rather than as a standout space as in the Vista model. The car will also feature alloy wheels, adding to rider comfort.

The engine is sourced from Italy's Fiat, and will come in two options -1.4L petrol engine capable of delivering 95PS and a 1.3L multi-jet engine that pumps out 90PS, according to a company release. Projector headlamps will help differentiate it from the Vista.

The car is expected to compete with Maruti Suzuki's Swift Dzire, Ford's Ikon and Fiesta, and Mahindra Renault's Logan.

Hummer Sale Finalized

2009-10-15T02:10:00.000-07:00

General Motors has signed a "definitive agreement" with Sichuan-based Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Company to buy GM's Hummer brand, as the deal first announced last June finally moves toward a conclusion. While financial terms were not disclosed, widespread media reports said Tengzhong will pay about $150 million.

GM's carefully worded statement said the agreement "will allow Tengzhong to acquire" Hummer, including ownership of the brand, trademark and "specific IP (intellectual property) license rights necessary for the manufacture of Hummer vehicles." The new owner would also assume Hummer's existing dealer franchise agreements.

In fact, it appears that Hummer eventually may be controlled by a young Chinese mining and chemical tycoon known as Li Yan on the mainland and Suo Lang Duo Ji in Hong Kong.

GM said Tengzhong, a privately owned manufacturer of mining and construction equipment, has set up a separate investment group to purchase Hummer. Tengzhong will hold an 80-percent stake in the group and Mr. Suo will hold 20 percent. GM described Suo Lang Duo Ji as a "private entrepreneur from Sichuan Province."

The Wall Street Journal described the 46-year-old Li, as he is better known in China, as a "local tycoon" who owns Lumena Resources, a company based in Sichuan and listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Lumena is the world's second largest producer of thenardite, a form of sodium sulfate that is used in laundry detergent and glass, as well as Chinese medicines.

The Standard newspaper in Hong Kong earlier this year said Li is "a key shareholder" of Tengzhong through his flagship company Huatong Investment. The Associated Press said Li maintains a luxury apartment in Hong Kong.

Tengzhong, which was formed in 2005, makes heavy industrial vehicles, such as fuel tankers, dump trucks, tow trucks, fire trucks and cement mixers, as well as oil-field and construction equipment.

GM said the deal with Tengzhong calls for contract assembly of the Hummer H2 and H3 to remain in the U.S. through June 2011, with a one-year option through June 2012. The existing Hummer management team at GM, including CEO James Taylor, will continue to manage the organization through the transition.

GM said it is certifying a new diesel version of the H3 for markets outside North America, and that future product development is focusing on six-speed transmissions, more efficient engines and alternative fuels.
Source:[edmunds.com]

Car Sales in India Rise

2009-10-15T01:58:00.000-07:00

In India the onslaught of several festivals and mitigation cost of a loan that led customers to purchase cars from Maruti Suzuki India Ltd, Hyundai Motor and General Motors Co. caused car sales to rise 21%.

It was shown that car sales in the past month increased up to 129,683 cars. It is considered to be the eight month that indicates a straight growth in car sales.

Because of high interest rates many banks are not happy to provide loans in order to buy a car in a slow economy. But such options as packages, including tax cuts lowering of loan rates by banks are advantages for those who intend to buy a new car.

Hindu festivals also influenced favorable on sales in September.

According to Vaishali Jajoo, analyst at Angel Broking Ltd, a sustained improvement in demand influenced on the overall upturn in the Indian auto sector. He also added that the economy recovery would be able to help in registering valuable growth in the domestic market.

Maruti, India’s biggest carmaker and local unit of Suzuki Motor Corp admitted that their sales rose 12% in comparison with September to 63,071 cars.

13 well-known carmakers such as BMW AG, Audi AG, Fiat SpA, Ford Motor Co. and Honda Motor Co stated about high India sales in September.
Source:[thelatestnews.in]

Ford India Cuts Price For Endeavour

2009-09-09T23:53:00.000-07:00

This new pricing of the Ford Endeavour is a direct result of the announcement made in the Union Budget 2009-10. It has been proposed that the excise duty applicable on cars of engine capacity 2000 cc and above will be reduced from Rs. 20,000/- per vehicle to Rs. 15, 000 per vehicle.

Tim Tucker, vice president, sales, Ford India, said, ”The additional duty reduction has been a welcome step taken by the Government though the reduction is limited only to large cars. We are pleased to pass the benefit of the reduction on the Endeavour to the consumer in entirety.”

The price reduction of Rs. 6,000 will be applicable to all three variants of the Ford Endeavour. The base model (2.5 Litre) of the Endeavour will now be available at Rs. 15, 01,000 (Ex-showroom, New Delhi). The Ford Endeavour is available in two other variants – the 2.5L XLT and the 3.0L Thunder Plus.

Ford Endeavour was rated the No. 1 in vehicle dependability in the SUV segment. Ford continues to maintain its undisputed leadership position in the premium SUV segment. Ford has sold more than 1118 units of SUV through January to June, registering a 29% market share.
Source:[vicky.in]

Ford Endeavour Automatic

2009-09-09T23:45:00.001-07:00

Endeavour is the hardcore SUV from Ford’s product portfolio. The company now plans to launch its automatic version in India. The model currently comes with 2.5L and 3.0L engine option (Thunder+). The new models will sport Ford’s five speed automatic remission system that features an innovative Transmission Control Module (TCM) that can automatically detect and quickly adjust to the changing engine speed and driving condition. The new Endeavour with automatic transmission is also expected to come equipped with Borg Warner’s Shift-on-the-Fly system. The active-Shift-on-the-Fly mechanism will enable you to switch between 2wd and 4wd up to 100kmph. There may be a price hike of up to Rs. 50000 for both the models – Ford Endeavour and Endeavour Thunder+.

Currently, Mahindra offers Scorpio Automatic which falls at the lower end of the segment. Toyota is now ready to launch Fortuner is India built on IMV platform. The new automatic model of Endeavour is likely to fall between these two models.

2009 Hyundai Sonata

2009-09-09T23:41:00.000-07:00

Hyundai has built a good reputation for manufacturing well-made and economical automobiles, and the 2009 Hyundai Sonata GLS should take it up a notch or two. A roomy and comfortable sedan, the 2009 Hyundai Sonata holds it's own well against the stiff competition of Honda and Toyota, and is a little more wallet friendly in terms of MSRP. With a starting price of $18,700, the 2009 Hyundai Sonata gets great fuel mileage - 19 miles per gallon in the city and 29 miles per gallon on the highway, and is an absolute joy to drive.

The performance package of the 2009 Hyundai Sonata is spectacular, mainly because of the 3.3 Liter, V-6 engine, that has a 249 Horsepower output. With the manual 5 speed transmission, power rack-and-pinion steering and front wheel drive, the 2009 Hyundai Sonata can get through most bad weather easily. The front double wishbone suspension and rear multi-link suspension with a stabilizer bar gives a better than average ride in terms of smoothness. A 17.7 gallon fuel tank means that combined with the excellent gas mileage, you won't have to stop very often for fuel.

On the interior of the 2009 Hyundai Sonata a few very nice surprises await a potential owner. A tilt and telescopic steering wheel that is leather wrapped has audio controls at your fingertips. Power windows and door locks, cruise control, and a very good air conditioning system make for an operational dream. The audio system on the 2009 Hyundai Sonata consists of an AM/FM stereo with a CD player with MP3 capabilities and 6 quality speakers. This adventure of sound is enhanced by a 3 month XM radio service included.

The 2009 Hyundai Sonata has quite a unique appearance, with a sculpted front end, chrome grille, and larger headlights. The 16 inch steel wheels with full wheel covers, solar control glass and fog lights give a classy yet stylish look of a winner. The exterior package is completed by power heated outside mirrors that have a sleek design.

Small is not beautiful

2009-09-09T23:36:00.000-07:00

In the last two years, sales of sports utility vehicles (SUVs) have been falling worldwide. According to media reports, the share of full-size trucks and SUVs, which used to stand at more than 18 percent of total auto sales, in US, the largest automobile market in the world, has come down to 11 percent.

The main reason behind this fall is the skyrocketing price of oil, which at point reached an all time high of $146 per barrel, last year. Later, the global economic slowdown, which put a dent on incomes of many households, also prevented potential buyers from investing on these vehicles.

Needless to say, SUVs are known as gas guzzlers. And at times when incomes fall or fossil fuel prices rise, every sensible person tends to cut down on everything that are unnecessary and luxury.

Lately, many responsible citizens worldwide are also reducing SUV consumption for another reason: the pressing green issue. These vehicles generally consume 1.5 times more fuel than normal cars, meaning they also emit more carbon dioxide, which is partly responsible for gradual destruction of our environment and ecology.

Recently, the US government itself tried to control Americans’ appetite for big SUVs by introducing a car scrappage scheme. Under this, the US government started giving car owners vouchers of $4,500 for trading in a car giving 18 miles per gallon (mpg) or less in exchange for a model that gives at least 28 mpg.

This shows the US government is encouraging Americans to embrace the concept of “small is better” -- in a way setting a precedent for other countries.

But the trend seems just the opposite in Nepal. Many nouveau riches of the country, who were earlier driving small cars like Hyundai’s Santro or Maruti’s Alto, now want to sit behind the steering wheels of Hyundai’s Tucson or KIA’s Sportage. Then there are the ultra riches who have never gotten out of the hangover of Toyota’s Prado, Mitsubishi’s Pajero and lately Land Rover’s Freelander and Range Rover series.

The irony is at a time when sales of SUVs are declining worldwide, Nepal’s SUV market grew by around 10 percent in the last fiscal year. According to auto dealers, around 1,000 units of SUVs are sold in Nepal every year.

"This is mainly because of the boom in the real estate business," Sachin Aryal, deputy general manager of Continental Trading, the authorized distributors of KIA Motors in Nepal, told myrepublica.

"If you sell a piece of land in Kathmandu or other urban areas nowadays, you become a millionaire instantly. This gives one enough money to buy a relatively expensive type of vehicle like SUVs."

Another reason, according to Aryal, is the condition of roads, which are filled with pot holes. But this seems to be just an excuse, as one definitely needs to invest some extra amount to be able to drive off comfortably on those adverse street conditions. But where is the money coming from? "It’s the real estate business once again," Aryal said.
And with the introduction of cheap but powerful SUVs like Hyundai’s Tucson, this appetite is only expected to grow.

Looks like the American dream of owning an SUV -- which has received many criticisms like “wasteful excesses” -- is soon becoming a dream of Nepali car owners.

Ford India to launch small car in 2010

2009-09-09T23:35:00.000-07:00

US-based carmaker Ford on Friday said it will launch its new small car during the first half of next year and was planning to start exporting the product by the end of 2010.

The company said the sub-B segment car would be made to meet the statutory requirements of having an engine capacity of 1.2 litre petrol engine and 1.5 litre diesel engine.

"Our planned small car will be launched in India in by early 2010. We also plan to export it to markets in Asia Pacific and Africa by the end of next year," Ford India President and Managing Director Michael Boneham said on the sidelines of the Annual Siam Convention in New Delhi.

He said the company was looking at exploring the overseas market for the new car, but did not give details about the number of units planned.

Ford India is also going to launch a new advanced version of its SUV Endeavour within the next two weeks.

Boneham, meanwhile, said that the company has no plans to phase out its existing small car Fusion from India at present.

The company is also planning to start exporting diesel and petrol engines from its Chennai plant by early 2010. The company hopes to maintain a sales figure of 30,000 units this year, similar to last year's figure.

2009-09-09T23:32:00.000-07:00

The Campro CPS engine is finally in the Proton Satria Neo, something that many have been eagerly waiting for. The CPS is essentially a Campro engine with a few updates and a variable valve lift system called CPS as well as a variable intake manifold (VIM) system. These additions help push up power to 125 PS at 6,500rpm and 150Nm of torque at 4,500rpm, figures which are up from the standard Campro’s 110hp and 148Nm.

The car’s front and rear track has also been updated. While the Proton Satria Neo had a front and rear track of 1,470mm for both, the Satria Neo CPS H-Line has a narrower front track at 1,467mm and a wider rear track 1,483mm.

We didn’t managed to get hold of a Proton engineer to ask this question but we did manage to ask a member of Proton’s Race Rally Research (R3) team who said the change was made because Proton found the standard Neo suffered from slight oversteer, so this change was made to induce a slight understeer to improve handling. Anyway either way as a result of the large wheel arches, the wheels looks kind of lost inside them at certain angles.

As for aesthetics, as you can see there’s a new bodykit and more prominent flared wheel arches that are inspired from the old Satria GTI’s design. The alloy wheels are of the same 16 inch size as the M-Line but feature a different design that looks like a carbon copy of Advanti Racing’s MEDUSA design but without the two-tone design - perhaps it’s licensed or “inspired”. On the interior, the dashboard is now of a darker shade with red lighting on the various air conditioning controls and auto gear position indicators, has a different door trim design, some new trim around the gear shifter area, and leather seats in a black and red combination similiar to the GEN2 CPS.

The following are the prices for the new Proton Satria Neo CPS, available in only two colours which are unique to the CPS - solid white and tranquility black.
CPS is only available for the high line model, so the lite and M-line models retain the regular Campro. Unfortunately this is the old original Campro engine, without the new IAFM systems in the Saga, Persona and GEN2. The CPS system has also been tweaked with this version of the Campro engine, so the high lift cam profile activation point has been revised. However I’m not sure what is the purpose of activating it later.

VIM switches between a long intake manifold at low RPMs and a short intake manifold at higher RPMs. According to Proton, a longer intake manifold is used at low RPMs to achieve slower air flow; this promotes better mixing with fuel. The short intake manifold allows more air in faster. This is beneficial at high RPMs. The CPS system uses a switching tappet and a trilobe camshaft to switch between two different cam profiles, one with low valve lift and another with high valve lift.

Source:[cars-blogcatalog.blogspot.com]

New Honda Civic launched in three variants

2009-09-09T03:49:00.000-07:00

Auto manufacturer Honda Siel Cars launched a refurbished Honda Civic sedan with alternations in its design, such as a five-point metallic front grille and a new bumper.

The new Civic is available in three variants that will come in two models - Elegance and Inspire. The car is priced in the range of Rs.11.8 lakh to Rs.14.13 lakh at showrooms in Delhi.

The company has also introduced dark smokey headlights and crystalline octagonal tail lights in the car to give it a "contemporary look".

"The new Honda Civic carries forward the legacy of the Civic which is already the most refined and advanced car in the segment," said Honda Siel president and chief executive Masahiro Takedagawa.

The car will have an additional colour option of polished metal besides the regular available colours.

"With the new look, we are confident we can revive the sales that suffered a setback due to global meltdown. However, the market will decide how many units we manage to sell," Takedagawa said.

Honda Siel is also offering an additional two-year warranty in addition to the existing two years, and will also offer a 24-hour roadside assistance.

The company plans to expand its dealership from 106 to 112 by the end of current financial year, said Takedagawa.

2010 Dodge Caliber interior upgrades

2009-09-03T00:43:00.000-07:00

For 2010, Chrysler is improving the Caliber’s worst feature, its interior. After we originally tested our first Caliber, one of our engineers likened it to sitting in an Igloo cooler.

The revised cabin has a new blue backlit instrument cluster, a center stack with a full-color music screen and brushed aluminum surround, and a new, less-angular console with lighted cupholders. While it is difficult to judge the extent of improvements by pictures, the much-improved interior in our tested 2009 Dodge Ram gives us hope.

Last year, Chrysler modestly upgraded the interior of the Caliber’s near-twin, the Jeep Patriot. They also made other improvements that collectively boosted the test score of our 2009 Patriot by 10 points. Even with that considerable increase in score, it falls short of our criteria for recommendation.

As with the Patriot, a new interior won’t solve many of the Caliber’s fundamental problems, such as a noisy engine, annoying continuously variable transmission, and poor visibility. But Chrysler will build Calibers anyway (it just announced it would double production), and some consumers will buy them. At least those customers will ride in a more inviting cabin.

2011 Hyundai Tucson Preview

2009-09-03T00:35:00.000-07:00

Hyundai pulled the covers off its redesigned Tucson small SUV in Korea this week, previewing the second-generation model scheduled to make its Stateside introduction this fall at the Los Angeles auto show. The new Tucson production will begin at the Ulsan, South Korea, manufacturing complex in late 2009.

Expected to again slot just a notch below the Hyundai Santa Fe in size and price, the new Tucson has radically different styling than the outgoing model, with cleaner, more dynamic lines akin to other recent Hyundai vehicles. (The updated 2010 Santa Fe will be available with a 2.4-liter four-cylinder engine. Production begins late 2009.) The hood slopes down, the fender flares are flattened, and the triangular rear quarter windows taper to a point facing aft.

Interior space is about the same as before, and we expect reasonably high levels of fit and finish. The engine is a 2.4-liter four-cylinder like that in the current Sonata sedan, where it makes 175 hp, mated to a six-speed automatic transmission. (An all-new Sonata begins production in winter 2010.) That engine replaces the outgoing Tucson’s 2.0-liter four-cylinder as well as its fuel-thirsty 2.7-liter V6. Both front- and all-wheel-drive versions will be available. True to Hyundai’s lots-for-the-money marketing strategy, uplevel Tucsons will offer leather upholstery, a navigation system, keyless ignition with push-button start, and other premium touches.

Toyota goes hybrid mad

2009-09-02T04:45:00.000-07:00

While some car makers are putting all their efforts into extracting more efficiency from the turbodiesel engine, the Toyota empire is clearly devoted to the petrol-hybrid, as a host of new hybrid vehicles are set to be unveiled at the Frankfurt Show later this month.

On Toyota's stand, pride of place will be given to a full hybrid version of the Auris hatchback, the first mainstream model to be fitted with the Hybrid Synergy Drive for Europe. Although the show car is tagged a 'concept', a production model won't be far behind, as Toyota has committed to deploying its hybrid technology across the range.

Also on hand will be a plug-in concept version of the Prius hybrid. Although the new Prius can already operate on electricity alone, this variant will be optimised for running on battery power. It will suit drivers commuting short distances each day, as its batteries can be charged overnight by plugging it into the mains - or into an on-street charging point when they exist.

Next year, 150 prototype examples of the plug-in Prius will be leased to select fleet drivers in a bid to assess the car's real-world usefulness.

Over on the Lexus stand (the luxury arm of Toyota), a compact concept will be unveiled, previewing Lexus's answer to the BMW 1 Series and Audi A3. In show car guise at least it will be a full hybrid, complementing the revised Lexus GS 450h and LS 600h luxury hybrids also on display.

Volkswagen Polo to compete with Swift, i10

2009-08-22T02:44:00.000-07:00

Volkswagen India (VW) will launch its first small car, the Polo, in the domestic market in the early part of 2010. The car will be priced and positioned in line with the A2 compact car category, which includes models such as Maruti’s Swift & Ritz, and be built on a new platform. The Polo will be made at the company’s new manufacturing facility at Chakan, Pune, with locally sourced auto components being about 50 per cent.

“The all-new platform for the Polo has been designed keeping Indian road conditions in mind. The Polo will be benchmarked against the market leader in this segment, which is Maruti Suzuki’s Swift. The broad positioning for the Polo would revolve around communicating Polo’s German engineering pedigree, adapted for the domestic market,” says Neeraj Garg, Director, Passenger Cars Division, of the VW Group. Garg says the wait to launch the Polo is well-timed, since by next year, car manufacturers like Nissan, Toyota and Ford would unveil their compact cars in the premium A2 segment. The Polo would be available in the petrol and the diesel engine variant.

Volkswagen’s strategy in the compact segment, according to Garg, would be launching variants of the Polo initially. “Later, we would consider launching other Volkswagen brands, as long as there’s demand in the market. We hope to sell around 30,000 units in 2010. Then, by 2014, we hope to cross the 100,000 mark, by which time the car market in India would have crossed two million units.” Garg added the VW Golf, another compact car brand, will not be launched in the country until 2010. VW sold around 1,500 units of passenger vehicles in calendar 2008, and hopes to double the amount in 2009.

Till date, Volkswagen India has invested Rs 3,800 crore in setting up its operations in India. The facility at Chakan has an annual capacity of up to 110,000 cars on a single shift. Till this production capacity is reached, said garg, there would be no more fresh investments.

On the issue of Porsche becoming a part of the Volkswagen Group, Garg said Porsche will continue to be sold as a premium luxury car. “Porsche will not lose its identity. We are brand sensitive. It ‘s too early to say how the domestic operations of Porsche will be affected by this move.”

Industry executives say the premium A2 car segment (hatchback) comprising models like the Swift and Hyundai’s i10 & i20 has grown by around 20 per cent between January to June this year, while the A1 and the entry A2 models have registered either declining sales (Maruti 800) or slower growth than the premium A2 segment.

Magna wants Chevrolet Russia as part of Opel deal

2009-08-22T02:32:00.001-07:00

Magna International Inc.'s offer for German automaker Opel is sputtering over its request that rights to General Motor Co. Chevrolet vehicles in Russia be included in the deal.

The Canadian auto supplier is locked in a bidding duel for Opel with Belgian investment firm RHJ International SA. Magna, bidding together with Russian state lender Sberbank, wants GM's Chevrolet Russia business to be part of the Opel transaction, sources indicated Tuesday. GM is balking because Chevrolet is its high-volume seller in the region and it's highly profitable.

Magna's bid is clearly preferred by several German politicians and labour leaders, but its final offer as presented to GM varied from what the parties had discussed in previous weeks and contained elements around intellectual property and GM's Russian operations that could not be implemented, John Smith, GM's chief negotiator for the Opel sale, wrote on the company's Europe blog Tuesday.

"GM has partners in other parts of the world who have joint ownership of these assets," Mr. Smith said.""We simply could not execute the deal as submitted."

Those partners include Avtotor, which builds GM vehicles in the city of Kaliningrad, and Avtovaz, which operates a joint venture with GM in Togliatti that builds the Chevrolet Niva sports utility vehicle. Avtovaz is 25% owned by French carmaker Renault. GM's Chevrolet vehicles in Russia are based on products from its Korean Daewoo unit. Korea's government-run Development Bank is a major shareholder in GM Daewoo and is keen on seeing it grow.

Talks on reformulating a bid with Magna continue, Mr. Smith said. He said the rival bid from RHJ is completed and "would represent a much simpler structure and be easier to implement."

A deal with Magna could still get done. But GM would have to get something significant in return, people familiar with the matter said.

Magna's offer for Opel centers on a business strategy that would see sales of Opel vehicles expand dramatically in Russia and the post-Soviet states. Russia is backing the bid because it wants to use Opel technology to revive its own auto manufacturing capability, centered on Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska's automaker GAZ.

As part of that commercial strategy, sources said Magna and its partner are also seeking control over all or part of GM's Chevrolet business in Russia. The Russian Chevrolet unit is said to be a cash machine for GM because it sources vehicles free of the country's import duty on foreign vehicles, making it a crucial unit as the automaker seeks to reverse nearly US$88-billion in losses accumulated since 2004.

"Not only is Magna having difficulty with this intellectual property issue, they're having difficult understanding that they're not going to get Chevrolet," said Warren Browne, GM's former top executive in Russia. "You're not buying a country. You're buying a brand -- Opel."

Mr. Deripaska has toured the GM-Avtovaz assembly factory and "understands" its value, one source said. Russia's political leaders and Magna executives are also familiar with the operation.

They'd be getting one of the leanest manufacturing facilities in Russia, with an experienced workforce, said the source. "Magna gets to jump in and doesn't have to clean up anybody's mess. They could walk into that plant and get 85,000 to 100,000 units worth of capacity without untangling anything."

Mr. Deripaska's GAZ is still struggling to modernize its car lines and assembly operations. According to Russian media reports, its passenger vehicle business is close to collapse and last week received another state bailout of 5.6 billion roubles ($195-million).

Aurora, Ont.-based Magna and Sberbank are together offering 500 million euros ($766-million) for Opel and its U.K. unit Vauxhall. The partners have offered to pay more cash right away than initially planned. They will each take a 27.5% stake in Opel. GM would retain 35% while Opel workers would be offered 10%.

GM takes more time to negotiate Opel sale

2009-08-22T02:28:00.000-07:00

General Motors is taking more time to negotiate with Magna and RHJ International over the planned sale of its European arm Opel, the U.S.-based company said on Tuesday.

Canadian auto parts group Magna and Belgium-based RHJ are locked in a takeover battle for Opel, in which GM is relinquishing control in return for state support.

GM was expected to recommend one of the two bidders to its new board of directors at a meeting on Monday. But it said on Tuesday it merely brought the board up to speed on talks without making a recommendation as negotiations were still dragging on.

German government officials and GM representatives are expected to meet with Magna and RHJ this week to further discuss the sale, sources said earlier this week.

GM, which holds 35% of Opel shares, and Germany, which will provide state aid, must agree on the buyer but so far the two have disagreed. Germany prefers the Magna offer and GM likes RHJ's bid.

German Economy Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg had said in a weekend newspaper interview both suitors had to improve their bids to win government backing.

Magna, a Canadian auto parts supplier, wants to expand Opel's full-scale car assembly business and forecasts high growth rates, particularly in Russia, home of its bidding partner, state-controlled bank Sberbank.

RHJ aims to shrink production to return Opel to profit and may be open to selling it back to GM at a later date.

Ford remains top carmaker in Canada

2009-08-22T02:26:00.000-07:00

Ford Motor Co. says it was the top-selling carmaker in Canada again in July, the second straight month it has stripped the title from perennial volume leader General Motors Co.

Ford said it sold 26,788 cars and trucks last month, a 47% increase over July 2008 and its ninth consecutive month of market share increases. Total sales for the automaker through the end of July are 2.3% higher than last year. The company said sales of its Fusion, Mustang and Escape among models were particularly strong.

Ford is offering a promotion to consumers whereby if a buyer test drives a Ford but ends up purchasing a competing product from a competitor, Ford will offer the consumer $100.

Other automakers also posted strong results last month. Volkswagen boosted sales 14.6% year-over-year. Hyundai saw a 37% sales increase.

Automakers report sales in Canada throughout the day Tuesday.

Toyota Will Make Hybrids in Britain

2009-07-18T11:07:00.000-07:00

Toyota Motor Corp. said it will produce hybrid vehicles in Europe for the first time next year, as it pushes ahead with its leading gas-sipping hybrid cars across the globe.

Toyota, the world's largest hybrid maker, aims to gather momentum by enticing cost-conscious customers with its hybrids in the region, where it is struggling with a relatively small 5% share of the overall market.

The world's biggest car maker by sales volume said it will manufacture a hybrid version of the Auris subcompact hatchback in the U.K. from the middle of 2010. It will spend three billion yen ($32 million) to prepare for production.

The U.K. will be the fifth country outside Japan where Toyota makes hybrid cars or plans to do so. The company already builds hybrids in China and the U.S. and will begin production in Thailand later this month and in Australia in early 2010.

The latest decision on U.K. production follows a strategy that the company's newly appointed president, Akio Toyoda, outlined late last month. He aims to promote hybrid car sales in Europe where customers looking for more fuel-economic vehicles tend to buy diesel-powered cars.

Toyota is betting on its leading technology combining combustion engines with electric motors to spur demand in Europe for low-emission cars that are cheaper to run.

The auto giant also aims to offer hybrid versions of all of its vehicles by 2020.

Core components of the system such as the batteries and the motors will be shipped from Japan, a Toyota spokesman said.

Nissan Motor Co. said it is considering expanding its limited offerings of hybrid vehicles by installing its own gasoline-electric system technology in more models to catch up with rivals such as Toyota.

The Japanese car maker, in which Renault SA holds a 44% stake, follows Honda Motor Co. and Mazda Motor Corp. in seeking to beef up its hybrid lineup.

Honda said July 13 that it will launch two new gasoline-electric hybrid vehicles next year, while Mazda is in talks with Toyota over using components of Toyota's system for its hybrid vehicles.

Nissan has lagged behind major hybrid makers including Toyota, Honda and Ford Motor Co. as the company has focused more on developing electric cars. It plans to roll out electric vehicles next year in Japan and the U.S.

India June Car Sales Rise 7.8%

2009-07-08T11:16:00.000-07:00

Car sales in India rose for the fifth straight month in June, driven primarily by lower lending rates and the introduction of new models from auto makers.

Sales climbed 7.8% in June to 107,531 cars from the 99,741 sold a year earlier, showed data issued Wednesday by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers industry group.

Higher borrowing costs and a slowing economy reduced demand for cars and two-wheelers in Asia's third-largest automobile market last year.

But sales began to recover earlier this year after a slew of stimulus packages, including tax cuts, from the federal government and a lowering of borrowing rates by financial institutions.

Compared to a year earlier, car sales grew 22% in February - the first monthly rise since last September - 1% in March, 4.2% in April and 2.5% in May.

"Overall, the auto industry has exhibited a positive trend in volume growth over the last four to five months," Vaishali Jajoo, an analyst at Mumbai-based Angel Broking, said in a recent report.

Ms. Jajoo, however, said the rising trend in vehicle sales will only be confirmed when auto makers report a gradual positive trend in volumes over the next couple of months.

Automakers in India have introduced several new small cars and sedans since January in an effort to lure more customers.

Maruti Suzuki India Ltd. began selling the Ritz, its seventh small car model, in May as it worked to maintain its leadership in the expanding market.

Sales at Maruti - a unit of Suzuki Motor Corp. - gained 12% to 54,693 cars as the market leader sold more A-Star, Ritz and Swift cars.

Fiat SpA introduced its Grande Punto hatchback last month, with the company lifting car sales to 2,464 units in June from 500 a year earlier.

Second-ranked carmaker Hyundai Motor Co. posted a 5.2% rise to 23,013 cars, while Tata Motors, the country's third-largest auto maker, rose 3.2% to 13,732 cars.

Sales at Honda Motor Co.'s local unit increased 13.5% to 5,039 cars in June, boosted by the introduction of the Jazz hatchback model.

"Our full-year outlook was based on stimulus packages," Dilip Chenoy, SIAM's director general told reporters, referring to the association's annual sales outlook announced in April. "Currently nothing has changed and it is too early to factor in the impact of the monsoon."

Normal monsoon rains are considered key to higher sales of cars, commercial vehicles and motorcycles in India's growing rural markets. About half of the country's agriculture depends on monsoons rains.

Monsoon rains are forecast to be below normal this year and auto makers have previously said they are studying for possible impact of this delay on their sales.

SIAM had forecast local car sales to grow 3%-5% in this fiscal year that began April 1. Truck and bus sales may grow 7%-10%, while that of motorcycles and scooters are projected to rise up to 5%.

Local sales of trucks and buses slid 12.5% to 36,193 vehicles in June because of a decline in sales of medium and heavy commercial vehicles.

Sales in the medium and heavy commercial vehicle segment declined 31% to 15,659 vehicles as Tata Motors and Ashok Leyland - the top two manufacturers - posted lower sales in a slowing economy.

Light commercial vehicle sales, however, increased 10% to 20,534 units in June.

In the motorcycle segment, sales gained 16% in June to 550,833 units as Hero Honda Motors Ltd., Yamaha Motor Co. and Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India Ltd. saw an increase in demand.

Motorcycle sales of second-ranked Bajaj Auto Ltd. and third-ranked TVS Motor Co., however, declined.

Scooter sales rose 25% to 111,980 units in June, with Hero Honda, Honda Motorcycle and TVS posting higher sales.

An Electric Car With Chinese Roots

2009-06-29T02:11:00.000-07:00

Add one more to the growing list of small private electric-car companies: Coda Automotive, a new brand started by Miles EV, a company that’s been selling low-speed electric vehicles from China for about four years.

The Coda sedan was unveiled last week in Santa Monica, Calif. It is based on the Saibao, a gas-powered car built by the Hafei Automobile Group, a state-owned company in China. The chassis was originally developed by Mitsubishi (which licenses it to Hafei). According to Coda, Hafei sells 200,000 cars a year and has delivered more than a million units since it was established in 2006.

Coda addressed Chinese quality questions by giving the Saibao a big makeover. The electric version had a front and rear redesign by Porsche, a partner, as well as considerable re-engineering to accommodate the battery drive and meet United States safety standards. “We think we have the right combination of existing automotive know-how and a mass-manufacturing partner,” said Kevin Czinger, Coda’s chief executive. Other suppliers include Delphi and EnergyCS.

Mr. Czinger said the core of the Coda is an lithium-ion battery system developed in a joint venture with the Tianjin Lishen Battery Joint-Stock Company, a supplier to Apple, Motorola and Samsung. Mr. Czinger said that the Coda’s 700-pound, 33.8-kilowatt-hour battery pack is purpose-built for auto applications, with 728 cells (compared with more than 6,000 in the Tesla Roadster) in modules of seven. The battery joint venture will be 40 percent owned by Coda and 60 percent by Lishen.

Coda said the new sedan would have a cruising range of 90 to 120 miles and a recharging time of less than six hours from 220-volt service. Zero to 60 will take less than 11 seconds and top speed is electronically limited to 80 miles an hour. The purchase price will be $45,000, and buyers could receive a $7,500 federal tax credit and state incentives.

On Monday, Coda said it was applying for an undisclosed amount of Department of Energy stimulus funds to build a battery plant in Enfield, Conn., as part of a joint venture with Connecticut-based Yardney Technical Products, which makes aerospace batteries. According to William Yalen, a program manager, Yardney has conducted research on automotive applications, but has not built auto batteries. He said the Enfield factory was scheduled to be operating next year.

Coda may be a small company, but it has big ambitions. The sedan will be introduced next year in a dealer-free, California-only marketing strategy that will depend on the Internet to get the word out. Test rides will be available. The company said it will have the capacity to build 2,700 cars in 2010 (starting in June) and 20,000 a year starting in 2011. That, of course, would be quite an ambitious number for an electric start-up.
Source: [Electric Cars]

Hybrid Cars - Choice Of The New Generation

2009-06-27T00:17:00.000-07:00

Its true that everybody uses cars and have very often felt the need to increase the efficiency of your car and at the same time reduce the gas usage to be pocket friendly.

These days of recession where the profit margins are decreasing and oil prices are becoming dearer, driving a car has become very expensive on pockets of every man and not only the common man.

The fuel prices are hiked every alternate day and your expenses for fuel refilling have started reaching astronomical high levels.

These days’ people are opting for public transport or just walking down the lanes to reach their destination. Buying a car is easy but spending money on gas has become so difficult that driving a car would become a luxury in the long run.

Keeping these views in mind the research team has designed a new style of car called as Hybrid cars. These cars are considered to be a future car as they would not necessarily work on gasoline which is so highly priced. They work on dual power that is gas and electric batteries which are fitted inside the car.

While people think of buying used vehicles they give preference to used hybrid vehicles for sale. They are lighter on the wallet and are designed using modern technology also.

These cars are also eco friendly because they have reduced gasoline consumption, and the smoke and greenhouse gas emissions are also significantly reduced.

Buying a Hybrid car is like earning two points from a same transaction, i.e. low cost and environment friendly.

As the hybrid cars are becoming the car of the century there are many giant manufacturers who are plunging them selves into their production as they can sense a huge potential of growth among this segment.

There are big companies like Toyota, Honda, Volvo, and Lamborghini etc. who have entered the market for producing Hybrid cars.

People buy used Volvo cars the used cars fall cheaper then the newer hybrid version. There is an option of buying used Lamborghini cars for sale to fulfill your need, as they are an equally good manufacturer producing hybrid cars.

You can buy these used Volvo cars for sale from various dealers or directly through the internet. Internet is the answer to the modern day’s solution of instant replies. You can instantly get all information about the products that you shortlist at your luxurious time.

You need to search for hybrid cars or go to the advanced search option and check out for hybrid cars manufactured by a particular company and that solves your query. You will get a list of used hybrid cars manufactured by Volvo which are available for sale.

You can select from any of these options and be happy as your pockets are not always light.

The Buzz on Electric Cars

2009-06-26T23:50:00.000-07:00

General Motors has previously tried to dispel rumors that bankruptcy might affect plans for the hybrid-electric Volt, insisting pre-production and planning will continue.

Now the automaker is getting help tamping down those rumors from Chevy Volt enthusiast Lyle Dennis. The neurosurgeon and author of the Chevy Volt fan site posted a link on his Twitter account this morning to an eight-minute video he filmed during a tour of GM's Advanced Battery Laboratory, complete with shots of the battery pack. (Hint: skip to 2:30 minutes to get to the show-and-tell).

A company spokesperson in the video noted there are 155 unique parts within the sealed battery pack, 147 of which are designed by GM. There are 200 Lithium Ion cells within the LG Chem-designed battery pack, he noted along with a dig at Tesla: "You can't reliably attach 6,000 cells over a large number of batteries."

The current design is the fifth iteration of the Volt's battery pack since the the original 18 months ago, the spokesman said. The pack is mounted underneath the vehicle and sealed from dust and water. A poster in the background noted that more than 100 battery packs have been built to date, and the company projects more than 300 will be built by the end of the third quarter.

In a slicker video promotion on GM's website, two test engineers roll the battery pack into a thermal chamber for extreme temperature testing. The company announced the opening of the battery lab in Warren, Mich., on June 8.

"The new global GM battery lab will benefit consumers across America by helping us advance the development of battery technology in the United States and put cleaner, more efficient vehicles on the road more quickly and affordably," said Fritz Henderson, GM president and CEO, in a prepared statement at the time.

"Our new lab improves GM's competitiveness by speeding the development of our hybrid, plug-in and extended-range electric vehicles, including the Chevrolet Volt," Henderson continued.

In other electric car news, Electrovaya will roll out its Maya 300 all-electric vehicle in 2011, according to Greentech Media.

The battery maker will use ExxonMobil's battery separator film, which is "an integral part of battery system design and critical to overall performance," according to a press release (PDF) from January 2008.

"The car will run on lithium-ion batteries, charge in about eight to 10 hours, run for 60 miles and plug into regular 110-volt outlets. It will cost around $20,000 to $25,000. An extended-range battery option will run for 120 miles on a charge and cost $30,000 to $35,000," Greentech Media reported.

The company will reportedly make the big announcement Wednesday, but information on both ExxonMobil's and Electrovaya's websites is sparse, while the dedicated site, Mayamobility.com, is largely under construction.

It is hard to see, however, how Maya 300, a $20,000 low speed (25-35 mph) plug-in vehicle, could gain market share. Other around-town electric cars such as Chrysler's GEM car are cheaper (about half the price) despite the top speed of only 25 mph with a range of about 30 miles. Is it worth two or three times the sticker price to have twice the range? Maybe it depends on how the vehicle is used.

In the meantime, electric and hybrid vehicle fans will continue to wait until more affordable, longer-range, higher-speed options are available.

Will GM Abandon Hydrogen Cars?

2009-06-26T23:29:00.000-07:00

As the automaker emerges from bankruptcy, it will have to decide whether it's still worth betting on hydrogen cars. Hydrogen car advocates have little love for electric cars: "EV people are killing our technologies."

Advocates of hydrogen fuel cell cars are a bit miffed about the attention and money the federal government is showering on companies making plug-in hybrid electric or all-electric cars.

It's not hard to understand why. The government is giving out billions of dollars to carmakers for build different types of electric vehicles. Consumers can get rebates for buying them.

Meanwhile, Energy Secretary Steve Chu has planned to cut millions of dollars from the hydrogen car program for the next fiscal year. The reason, Chu said, is because hydrogen cars aren't likely to be ready for the mass market for another 10 to 20 years, and that's just too far down the road.

"I was at a fuel cell meeting last week, and people were lamenting that all those EV people are killing our technologies," said Dave Barthmuss, General Motors' western region manager for environmental and energy communications, during his talk at the Edison Electric Institute's annual convention in San Francisco on Wednesday. EEI represents the country's investor-owned utilities.

Barthmuss was making a point that it will take different kinds of low or zero-emission cars to move the country away from relying on fossil fuel vehicles. Barthmuss noted that GM already has invested billions in developing hydrogen cars.

As General Motors works on restructuring its business and emerging out of bankruptcy in the next few months, the company will have to think hard about what to do with its hydrogen fuel cell car program, he said in an interview after his talk. The new version of GM needs to be lean, so it will have to allocate its resources carefully.

"It's like we have swam halfway across the English Channel only have to turn back," Barthmuss said. "We don't need any more breakthroughs to bring the cars into the commercial market by 2015."

What GM needs is for the federal government to fund the installation of hydrogen fuel stations across the country. Creating that network of pump stations across the country will be crucial to popularizing hydrogen cars.

California's Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced the "Hydrogen Highway" initiative in 2004 to position California as a leader in adopting zero emission technologies.

That program hasn't been successful – there are 25 pump stations that have been built in the state, Barthmuss said. But only a handful could completely fill out GM's hydrogen demo car, the Equinox, because of the varying amount of pressure used to compress the hydrogen gas (10,000 psi for the Equinox versus 5,000 psi being dispensed at many pumping stations).

GM has been running the Project Driveway program to test the marketability of hydrogen cars. It gives a limited number of Equinox vehicles to consumers to tool around for two months and then gets their feedback afterwards.

California regulators, including the head of the state Air Resources Board, Mary Nichols, have written to Chu and other environmental officials in President Obama's administration and argued that the government should fund all sorts of alternative vehicle technologies to achieve its emissions reduction goals.

Critics have said it's far more costly to build a hydrogen car than an electric car, so why bet on hydrogen vehicles when cheaper and still cleaner alternatives exist?

While GM will have to figure out what to do with its hydrogen car program, it's firmly set on introducing its plug-in hybrid electric car, the Chevy Volt, in November next year.

"Part of our restructuring plan is based on the Chevy Volt," Barthmuss said. "That's the key to our reinvention."

Testing Slot Cars for the Real World

2009-06-21T12:18:00.000-07:00

Researchers in South Korea demonstrate an electric car that draws power from strips embedded in the road.

While entrepreneurs in the United States continue to pursue an infrastructure for charging electric cars, two research projects –- one in Korea, the other in Israel -– have recently offered intriguing ideas for putting blacktop itself to work in the service of electric cars.

In May, scientists at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology demonstrated how induction strips and inverters embedded in a road can carry a current that recharges specially designed electric vehicles on the fly. The cars in such a system — aimed primarily at urban areas — would be equipped with compact batteries that have a 50-mile range.

The government of South Korea is investing heavily in the project, which was displayed at last month’s C-40 summit meeting in Seoul, a city of 10 million with serious traffic problems.

The Israeli project — a venture of the research and development firm Innowattech, which is linked to the Israel Institute of Technology, takes a slightly different tack. Piezoelectric ceramic tiles are embedded into the asphalt of a road, or the tracks of a rail line, and linked to modules that draw the electricity generated from the pressure exerted by passing vehicles.

Piezoelectric materials are commonly found in microelectronics, like watches and CD-ROMs, which rely on very small quantities of power.

From Green Inc.:

Odds Keep Improving For Electric Cars

2009-06-21T12:08:00.000-07:00

If personal cars are to move from gasoline to an alternative — hydrogen, compressed natural gas, batteries or something else — they’ll need new infrastructure to match today’s gas stations. It’s the chicken-and-egg problem of the transportation industry. Without a way to refuel, why would anyone switch away from standard combustion engine vehicles?

The onus is thus put on investors to build or buy infrastructure, in hopes that once they do, the people will come. Now it’s starting to look like some investors are ready to take the risk, including some not known for risky behavior. One example: A small company called Coulomb Technologies is projecting higher-than-expected sales targets for its electric car charging stations, according the the New York Times.

Coulomb says it’ll be profitable by next year, based on the sales of thousands of its slow-charge kiosks. Cities, condo owners and others are looking for a way to get a jump on what looks like a promising market, with the approaching introduction of plug-in hybrids like the Chevy Volt and the all-electric Coda from Miles Electric.

Such purchases are a risk, because there’s no guarantee that sales of the vehicles will take off — electrics and hybrids tend to be expensive even for affluent places like California’s Bay Area, where many of the first charging stations will go. Building up volume sales of vehicles that are starting in the $40,000 and above range may take years, or not happen at all if prices don’t come down. But the important thing for now is that the infrastructure is being built in, by Coulomb as well as others like Better Place and GreenlightAC.

The good news for electric cars doesn’t stop there. Despite the urging of oil and gas baron T. Boone Pickens, it seems compressed natural gas vehicles aren’t going to take off. And on the hydrogen side, it looks like General Motors might be ready to cut funding for its fuel cell program, says Gas 2.0. Of course, other companies including Toyota are also working on fuel cells, but it takes more than one to make a party.

Consumers, for their part, will be happier making purchases of electrics and hybrids if they feel confident that the rest of the world is moving the same way. Building a new market is always one part business, one part psychology. The sight of gleaming new charging kiosks should help a great deal with the latter.

Drivers learn how to build their own electric cars

2009-06-21T11:57:00.000-07:00

Oil companies probably aren't too happy about what Craig Egan did to his Jeep Wrangler.

Powered entirely by 144 volts of electricity, the Jeep doesn't need a drop of gas.

“The gas station hates me because all I do is get free air for my tires,” Egan said.

Egan is a member of a small but passionate group of enthusiasts who remove gas-guzzling engines from old cars and replace them with packs of rechargeable golf-cart batteries.

It takes time, knowledge, and at least $6,000 to build these do-it-yourself electric vehicles. But Egan, who owns an alternative energy company, has been teaching people the basics.

On Saturday, he showed schematics and PowerPoint lessons to students at an adult-education class arranged by the Northside Independent School District.

“This is technology that's coming toward us pretty fast,” said Rick Smith, who attended the daylong class.

There are obvious advantages to owning a pollution-free vehicle at a time when the United States is trying to reduce its dependence on foreign oil. Egan said it costs about 2 cents per mile to run on battery power.

The downside is that such vehicles are only good for commutes of about 30-50 miles. You can't take them on a road trip. And cool weather up to 70 degrees reduces a vehicle's range.

Safety is also an issue.

“Respect is important when it comes to electricity,” Egan said. It's also important to think about what might happen in a car accident. The heavy batteries need to be secured properly.

Egan said he just learned about a new potential risk when an elderly man called him and asked if electric cars would disrupt his pacemaker. Egan said his gut reaction was, no way. But after speaking with scientists at the Southwest Research Institute, he said, he changed his mind. The batteries create an electromagnetic field and there's no easy way to block that field. So electric cars could be unhealthful to people with pacemakers, Egan cautioned.

Egan said any vehicle can be weaned off gasoline, but light ones — such as the Volkswagen bus — are good candidates. Small pickup trucks are especially suitable because they're built to haul stuff — and batteries are heavy.

Raymond Agueros, a refrigerator repairman who attended the class, plans to try to convert his 1984 Ford Thunderbird into an electric-powered car.

At the end of the day, the small class gathered in a parking lot and took turns driving Egan's electric-powered Jeep.

As it quietly coasted in circles, the only sound was the roar of traffic on nearby Grissom Road. There was no rumble of an engine. No pollutants were emitted from a tailpipe.

In fact, the Jeep doesn't need a tailpipe.

Honda Hybrid Cars Go Electric

2009-06-21T11:40:00.000-07:00

Honda To Convert Gas Vehicles To Hybrid Electric Cars

Honda Hybrid Cars are rolling out everywhere on local roadways and highways. Honda hopes to expand its conventional vehicles by converting several models to hybrid and electric car technologies.

Honda is meeting increasing consumer demands as the automaker plans to produce more hybrid cars. Some of these plans include converting its Honda Fit and other models to new electric cars. Moreover, some of these car models are greener and will help the environment.

Honda Hybrid Cars are popular and one of the fastest selling hybrid cars in Japan is the Honda Insight. It was the top selling hybrid vehicle until the Toyota Prius was released. However, Honda wants to expand its current line-up by adopting new green technologies and convert some of its conventional gasoline vehicles to electric cars.

The new Honda automobiles that will soon make this conversion to hybrid technologies will come in various sizes and shapes. The plan is to convert as many cars before the end of 2010. For example, the Honda Fit Hybrid was scheduled for a 2011 release, but the automaker moved the schedule up to late 2010.

Honda also plans to release its Civic model to offer both hybrid and fuel cell versions. The Honda Civic fuel cell version will run on natural gas to produce lower carbon emissions. The Civic has a long track record for proven reliability, and it could become the next big seller in the auto industry.

The line-up for 2010 Hybrid Cars will be interesting and fast coming. Consumers are looking for new electric vehicles and cars to save on fuel as gas prices begin to climb once again. Electric cars also reduce carbon emissions, which are one of the causes for climate change and global warming.

Test driving the Honda Clarity

2009-06-16T23:51:00.000-07:00

Hydrogen powered/energy stored vehicles, commonly called fuel cell vehicle, FCV are an interesting idea. We set out to drive a Honda Clarity and met with an owner. What happened next was an interesting mix of surprises and more questions that only time will answer.

The gist is that if you can step aside the passionate debate as to whether to use batteries to store energy or hydrogen as a medium, the real point at stake is the future of the electric drive. While batteries are pushing the performance envelop at breakneck speed, hydrogen is continuing to mature. Hence, when Honda decided to build a Clarity fuel cell vehicle, FCV concept, many wondered if it was just another PR trick. Other car makers, such as BMW have used a different approach, mainly that of burning hydrogen in an internal combustion engine, ICE.

Driving On Hydrogen. Stepping into the Clarity, you understand why Honda chose the name "clarity". You have a sense of 380 degree vision inside it. It is a modern car, and in many ways hints as to how future sedans will look like. It is spacious, mostly due to the inherent infrastructure of the electric vehicles, EVs design with the little space the motor takes in the front hood. Modern amenities abound, such as air conditioned seats and collision detection radars.

The Sound Experience. Starting the car is an EV experience. Nothing happen, short of faint noise of the hydrogen pump kicking in and the dash indicating the consumption state. On the right side of the dashboard, you have the blue hydrogen level, on the other the green battery's and in the middle how much hydrogen is used. You can gauge it by viewing a small blue dot that gets bigger and turns green as you accelerate. The accelerations were frank and the only thing you could hear with the high pitch sound of the electric motor, synonymous to torquey. The regenerative braking was smooth, as you would expect from a modern sedan. It is above all a sedan and acts accordingly.

Technically Speaking. The AC electric motor drives the front wheels and is rated at 100 kW, or 134HP, with a 189 ft-lb torque which is plenty for a car like that. Why is 134 hp enough? An electric motor delivers 100% of its torque as soon as it spins and the horsepower curve comes in much sooner than with an ICE. It uses a lithium-ion pack rated at 288V kept full by a fuel cell stack rated at 100 kW, that rests between the driver and passenger. The hydrogen tank is located in the trunk and packs 5,000 psi. And this is where Honda has innovated compared to other manufacturers using 10,000 psi tanks. According to the company, the performance gain are nullified with anything higher than 5,000 psi. The turn radius is above most modern gas cars and the Honda Clarity handles very well. It's range is only 280 miles which makes it a great city car and an average long distance traveler. In this aspect, it is on par with the best pure electric vehicles, EVs out there. Fueling up the car felt like a CNG process, except much quicker. It took about 5mn to fill the tank.

Final Thoughts. Honda has clearly put a lot of thought and engineering into its Clarity. From its Eco-friendly material to modern amenities, what impressed us most was the space inside an EV. As much as hydrogen is intriguing, there are still many roadblocks the community is working on. For instance, Hydrogen is still slightly cheaper than gasoline and in this aspect, electricity is cheaper. Water is a precious commodity now days and using it to make hydrogen is something that needs to be handled without detriment to the environment. Another point often brought to the table is that fuel stacks rely on platinum, which is a rare and expensive commodity. Research is happening to bypass using platinum.

Lastly, the debate is still out as to whether using batteries to power electric car or fuel cells to conduct energy is the best way. The advantages at this moment seems to be tipped toward pure electricity, since the infrastructure is already in place and it is cheaper to operate and construct. When the hydrogen community resolve these three issues, diverting water for hydrogen, using platinum and cost effectively building stations and FCVs , it will be a brilliant alternative. The next few years will be fascinating as car makers are betting on one technology or the other. Unfortunately, at this stage the debate is still too emotional and the only experts we need to listen to are the ones who are in the middle of the road, neither for or against but working on solutions.

Ford Fusion Hybrid Offers 2010 Green Car Solutions

2009-06-16T23:33:00.000-07:00

2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid can double its mileage using new coaching techniques from its dashboard.

Last April, Ford Motor Company took the Ford Fusion Hybrid on a journey which proved remarkable fuel economy and MPG rating. The Ford 2010 Fusion nearly doubled its mileage as it traveled across 1,400 miles on one tank of gas. The car is equipped with a dashboard which informs the driver on how to conserve fuel.

The 2010 Ford Fusion V6 automobile combines the best attributes of a gas engine and electric battery. The vehicle inclusions a new propulsion system which handles the gas to electric transition more efficiently and seamlessly. More importantly, the propulsion system allows the car to operate longer at higher speeds in the electric mode.

The Hybrid Fusion can operate up to 47 mph in the pure electric mode. Plus, the city driving range on a single tank of gas is expected to be more than 700 miles. Driving 700 miles on one tank marks a huge technical advancement.

Ford proved that its Fusion Hybrid can reach distances of more than 1,400 miles. The team also used driving technics to conserve fuel, more than doubling its fuel economy. It is still the most fuel-efficient mid-size automobile on the market.

The Ford instrument panel on the Fusion Hybrid is pure quality.

Ford has introduced a new instrument panel which is finished with a soft upper and lower skin which carries through the center console, doors, and steering wheel. The panel display features a contemporary iced blue lighting. The leather wrapped steering wheel was completely redesigned with form fitting palm swells and a new shifter.

When you sit in the new Fusion, you immediately take notice to the new seats. The seat contour has been revised offering more side support with smoother bolsters and comfort. The seats also feature contrasting stitching and leather inserts to give the automobile more attitude.

Ford Fusion features daytime backlighting and 3D elements to create a nice appearance.

The vehicle gauge cluster features daytime backlighting with a black lens. It offers 3-D elements to create a high tech appearance, similar to a fine watch. The gauge needles move from left to right as the ambient lighting system illuminates the front and rear foot wells and cup holders.

Several other elements help differentiate the Ford Fusion from its gas-powered sibling, including unique hybrid "road and leaf" badging on both sides and the rear of the vehicle; unique 17-inch, eight-spoke wheels; and eco-friendly seat fabric made from post-industrial 100 percent recycled materials.

Nano platform to be used for future electric and hybrid cars rollout

2009-06-16T23:28:00.000-07:00

According to sources familiar with the development, Tata Motors is drawing up plans to roll out an electric car based on its ultra-cheap car-Nano. If speculation is to be believed, the Indian automaker is likely to develop the model in cooperation with the Norwegian electric car company Miljoebil Grenland. The price and other specifications have not been yet finalised by Tata Motors.

According to sources who requested anonymity, Tata Motors has plans to use the Nano platform to build electric and hybrid cars, adding that the Nano is just not a car for Tata Motors; it is also a platform to create more high-end models that will sell for higher prices and yield better margins.

After Nano, Tata Motors gearing up to roll out its micro-hybrid version also and would also use stop-start technology, likely to be supplied by German engineering major, Bosch. This technology enables the car's engine to switch off automatically at a traffic light when idle and in neutral gear and the engine starts seamlessly once the driver depresses the clutch before moving forward. Though the technology will add another Rs. 4,000 to Rs. 6,000 to the Nano's cost, it would cut fuel bills by around 5 per cent. Bosch is also keen to offer this technology as an after-sales fitting. Currently, Bosch is supplying the fuel and braking systems for the Nano.

Source:[wheelsunplugged.com]

2009 Chevrolet Malibu Hybrid Car Review

2009-06-16T23:11:00.000-07:00

Chevrolet is relegating its 2009 Malibu Hybrid to fleet buyers only due to poor sales. The bow-tie brand will begin working on a “two-mode” hybrid system that should be available in about a year, but until then, non-fleet customers won’t be able to get a hybrid Malibu. So that makes the tester that I had recently one of the last Malibu Hybrids available to the general public. As special as that is, something tells me these cars won’t be showing up at Barrett-Jackson in 20 years. But you never know.

The Basics

The Malibu Hybrid is a “mild” hybrid, meaning that it has an electric motor/generator that assists the gasoline engine, in order to improve fuel economy. A “mild” hybrid works differently than a “two-mode” system. “Two-mode” hybrids can be powered by either the electric motor or the gasoline motor or both, depending on driving needs. “Mild” hybrids, by contrast, use an electric motor to assist the gasoline engine. In the Malibu’s case, the hybrid system does allow for the gas motor to shut off at stoplights, and it also shuts off the fuel supply early during deceleration. Finally, the electric motor can give the gas engine a boost while at full throttle. All this adds up to an EPA-rated fuel economy of 26 mpg city and 34 mpg highway.

That electric motor/generator mates to a 2.4-liter 4-cylinder engine, and the hybrid powertrain is matched up with a 4-speed automatic transmission. Available safety features include ABS, traction control, an antiskid system, front side airbags, and curtain side airbags.

Standard features on my tester included air conditioning, satellite radio, a CD player, power windows and locks, remote keyless entry, and a tilt and telescopic steering wheel. Base price? $25,555. The only options were a power 6-way adjuster for the driver’s seat ($200), and the black granite metallic paint ($95). With the options and the $670 destination fee, the as-tested price was $26,520.

Drive Impressions

Turn the key in the Malibu Hybrid, and it fires up in the same manner as a conventional gasoline-powered car. Step on the gas and acceleration is lively, particularly for a midsize car. Back off the gas, and an “eco” light comes on in the gauge cluster, indicating that you are driving in a more eco-friendly way.

Speaking of eco-friendliness, one of the reasons that the Malibu Hybrid wasn’t selling well was its lack of a major fuel-economy boost over conventional Malibu models. Indeed, 4-cylinder Malibus get 30 mpg highway with the 4-speed automatic and 33 mpg with the 6-speed automatic, which is just one mpg shy of the hybrid, according to the EPA. Real-world results were a tad disappointing: I averaged 20.5 mpg in mostly city driving, which isn’t great. I applaud the Malibu Hybrid for shutting off the gas engine when the vehicle is stopped as a fuel-saving measure, but I still expected better results overall.

Ride and handling are on the sporty side, with just a smidge of stiffness. That’s not to say the ride is punishing, it isn’t. But it is firmer than say, a Toyota Camry. Thankfully, its handling responses are also tauter. Sure, it’s not a sports car, but the Malibu Hybrid isn’t as averse to cornering maneuvers as some of its competitors are. Light, accurate steering helps it cause. Settle into a highway cruise, and the Malibu is generally planted, although some sharper bumps are felt.

The interior is a pleasant place to do business, although too much engine noise intrudes, especially under acceleration. The design is pleasing to the eye, and most of the switches are within easy reach, and are easy to use. Small-item storage is above average. There are a couple of downsides: The seats are a bit stiff on longer drives, and there are too many plastic surfaces throughout the cockpit. One other demerit: Interior space seems a bit cramped compared to others in this class.

Out back, the trunk is plenty large, and it should fit luggage or golf bags with no problems. The decklid is nicely integrated into the car’s overall exterior styling, which is handsome while still hewing to the conservative tastes of the class. No more rental-car look, which was the burden of the previous Malibu. No, this is a handsome ride--in an understated sort of way. The look is marred a bit by a couple of large “Hybrid” window stickers, but that’s a small price to pay for showing off your “green” sensibilities.

Final Thoughts

The Malibu is already a very strong choice in the midsize segment, so it made sense for Chevy to make a hybrid version to compete against Toyota’s Camry Hybrid and the Ford Fusion Hybrid. Unfortunately, the “mild” hybrid doesn’t bring the same fuel-economy gains as a “two-mode” system would. The Malibu is a great car, but unless you really need the one extra highway mpg or you really like the eco-friendly image of being a hybrid driver, I’d stick with the conventional 4-cylinder models.

Positives: Upscale interior, sleek exterior styling, sporty handling

Negatives: A tad noisy, a bit small inside, slightly stiff seats

Base Price: $25,555

Price as Tested: $26,520

Key Competitors: Ford Fusion Hybrid, Nissan Altima Hybrid, Toyota Camry Hybrid

Specifications

Engine: 2.4-liter 4-cylinder combined with electric motor/generator

Horsepower: 164 @ 6,400 RPM

Torque: 159 @ 5,000 RPM

Transmission: 4-speed automatic

Wheelbase: 112.3 inches

Length: 191.8 inches

Width: 70.3 inches

Height: 57.1 inches

Curb Weight: 3,537 lb

Cargo Volume: 15.1 cu. ft.

Fuel Capacity: 16.3 gallons

Seating Capacity: 5

Front Head Room: 39.4 inches

Front Leg Room: 42.2 inches

Rear Head Room: 37.2 inches

Rear Leg Room: 37.6 inches

Source:[examiner.com]

Tesla Motors CEO: Gas Should Be $10/Gallon

2009-06-16T22:51:00.000-07:00

"I'm anti-tax, but I'm pro-carbon tax," Tesla Motors founder Elon Musk said onstage at the Wired Business Conference here Monday--a remark that prompted interviewer and Wired editor-in-chief Chris Anderson to quip that he was a "true Silicon Valley libertarian."

Gasoline "should probably be $10" per gallon, said onetime PayPal co-founder Musk, who is also attempting to make sending satellites into space cheaper with a start-up called SpaceX. "I'm not paying for the true cost of gasoline at the pump...since nobody's explicitly paying for the CO2 capacity of the oceans and atmospheres, it's getting consumed. We will pay for it down the road, but we are sort of ignoring it for now."

Musk's company has put out the Tesla Roadster, a pricey sports car that runs exclusively on electric power. On the way is the Model S, a more affordable sedan. Separate from the technology, Tesla has gained a reputation for financial difficulties and corporate bickering. Earlier this month, former CEO Martin Eberhard sued Musk and the company for libel and breach of contract.

Musk's rash attitude and devotion to cutting-edge innovation has constructed him as a figure less than willing to compromise. He didn't sound too satisfied, for example, with the level of innovation in the Toyota Prius, the car that is practically synonymous with environmental consciousness in the auto industry.

"A Prius is not a true hybrid, really," he said. (A plug-in Prius is on the way.) "The current Prius is like, 2 percent electric. It's a gasoline car with slightly better mileage."

That said, Tesla shines quite a bit brighter due to the utter disarray of the U.S. auto industry, with major automakers falling into bankruptcy and Detroit in a continuing downward spiral. This, according to Musk, was the inevitable result of a completely broken system.

"Great companies are built on great products," he said, and when those products take a turn for the worse, so does the company. Automakers, Musk theorized, focused too much on the money rather than innovation. "The path to the CEO's office should not be through the CFO's office, and it should not be through the marketing department. It needs to be through engineering and design."

Musk said that unions weren't inherently the problem but the way that they were structured was. "It's not out of the question to have unions. But if they do have a union, they've got to understand that they're on the same side of the company," Musk said. "I really am kind of against having a two-class system where you've got the workers and the management sort of like the nobles and peasants." In other words, Musk thinks Detroit could use a dose of Silicon Valley corporate culture.

Surprisingly, Musk implied that Detroit will survive. "I think it'll probably be a healthier place. This has been somewhat cathartic. Maybe, I think, maybe I'm being overly optimistic, but I think this will be a cathartic experience," Musk said. "I think GM and Ford, maybe not Chrysler, but GM and Ford will come out of this healthier...and more competitive."

He wants Tesla to be part of that, obviously.

"I'd like to take up some of the manufacturing plants," he said. "When the mess gets sorted out I'd like to have a conversation with whoever's in charge."

Source:[cbsnews.com]

Chevy Volt cost expected to rise

2009-06-08T00:24:00.000-07:00

Expensively redundant power features will likely be reworked for later models

The first Chevy Volt electric cars scheduled to reach showrooms in late 2010 will probably cost about $35,000 US in the United States, not the $30,000 US General Motors had hoped, the company says.

GM has found it can't re-engineer features such as windshield wipers and high-powered audio systems fast enough for the all-electric car, so it will be forced to put expensively redundant systems into the first-generation Volt.

The redundant systems will be eliminated later, probably in the second generation of the Volt, after engineers have had time to rework them for the new world of electric propulsion.

"It's starting to look like it's going to be close to $35,000," Dee Allen, a spokesman for GM, said of the first-generation Chevy Volt.

"Because we're going as fast as we're going to get this to market, some of the systems will have to be redundant," Allen said at the Chicago Auto Show.

The redundancies will add cost, but only temporarily, to buy engineers more time to solve the new challenges posed by electric propulsion.

In gasoline-powered vehicles, windshield wiper motors are powered directly off the engine. Audio systems have become enormous power hogs in recent years, with consumers demanding seven or nine-speaker sound in their cars, powered by 200-watt and even 500-watt amplifiers.

Those kinds of "parasitical" power losses are tolerated in gasoline-powered vehicles because they don't cost much or reduce mileage significantly.

But in a car with an electrical propulsion system, like the Volt, such wasted power means would mean greatly reduced range per charge.

"What we've ended up doing is having to re-engineer things most people take for granted," Allen said. The engineers have no doubt they can rework the electrical utilities of the car to meet modern demands, but not in the timeframe given to them by GM vice-chairman Bob Lutz to bring Volt to market, he said.

Lutz, GM's product boss, has pledged to have the Volt in showrooms by late 2010, if at all possible.

If that deadline doesn't prove feasible then the Volt it will reach market in the spring of 2011 -- which still doesn't give the engineers time to re-invent the windshield wiper.

"The second generation will be more refined," Allen said of the Volt, adding that some of the work-arounds devised by GM engineering so far are "elegant," while others are less so. The Volt will move under electrical energy alone, stored in lithium-ion batteries which can be plugged in.

A one-litre gasoline engine on board will power a generator to replenish the batteries when the charge is depleted during extended trips.

JPMorgan predicts dramatic Hybrid Sales increase

2009-06-07T22:51:00.000-07:00

Critical mass, as stated by Merriam Webster, is a size, number, or amount large enough to produce a particular result. Have hybrid vehicle sales reached such a number? Or maybe it’s more of a tipping point. Author Malcolm Gladwell, who wrote “The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference,” considers tipping points "the levels at which the momentum for change becomes unstoppable." Or possibly it comes down to marketing? We tend to eat what we’re being fed. Whatever the reason, hybrid electric vehicles (HEV) are not only here to stay, but according to a survey just conducted by JPMorgan, they’ll soon take off in a very big way.

Globally, more than 480,000 HEVs were sold in 2008, a number that represents 1% of totally vehicle sales. By 2020, however, JPMorgan estimates that a worldwide total of 11.28 million hybrid vehicles will be sold each year, boosting HEV sales up to 13%. US hybrid sales are expected to reach 20% of total vehicles purchased by this date, so therefore we can expect similar results in Canada.

How did JPMorgan arrive at their findings? The calculative process is no doubt locked away in a sealed vault along with whatever’s in the “secret sauce” and KFC’s original chicken recipe, but the study does suggest that hybrid sales will be heavily influenced by government pressure on manufacturers to produce fuel efficient vehicles to reduce dependence on foreign oil and limit tailpipe emissions, plus an overall reduction in the price of hybrid technologies.

Whichever way you look at it, a hybrid could be in your future.

Stronach seeks federal help for electric cars

2009-06-07T22:48:00.000-07:00

Fresh off his company's acquisition of Germany's Opel, Canadian auto parts magnate Frank Stronach was in Ottawa on Tuesday seeking federal funds to start building electric cars in Canada for sale within as little as three years.

"In 12 years, we see 30 per cent of all cars being electric. There will be very fierce competition in the world for that market, but I feel very strongly Magna will be among the leaders," Stronach, the chairman of Magna International, said at a news conference adjacent to Parliament Hill, where a Ford Focus battery electric car being developed in partnership with Magna was on display.

"One of the main reasons I'm here today ... is that I would like to see that the first electrical car facilities are in Canada. If we could get a loan, we know we could speed it up. If we could get a loan, we could make sure it's in Canada."

The first stage of that process would involve the production of lithium ion battery systems for electric cars. Stronach said the company has so far spent $200 million of the $300 million necessary to develop the project, although he refused to specify how much it is seeking from the federal government.

Stronach said Magna had paid $50 million for the rights to lithium-ion battery technology developed by a South Korean manufacturer, saying the auto parts maker couldn't wait the seven or eight years it would have taken to develop its own products.

Stronach said the company could begin mass-producing battery systems, and entire electric cars, within three years.

In April, Magna announced a major push into electric vehicles through a strategic alliance with Ford Motor Co. to supply key components for a battery-powered vehicle.

Stronach also said Tuesday that the terms of Magna's investment in German auto maker Opel from General Motors Corp. prevent it from selling Opel autos in the United States or China, although he expressed optimism that those terms could be revisited.

He forecast Opel would be profitable within three to four years.

GM sought bankruptcy protection in the U.S. on Monday, and has been divesting assets such as Opel as part of a broad restructuring.

Stronach brushed aside questions about a possible purchase of the Saab or Saturn brands, saying, "We have to digest Opel.

"We'll see how quickly that takes place."

Future of 'green' cars begins with the hybrid

2009-06-07T22:02:00.000-07:00

Toyota Motor Corp.'s newest Prius hybrid, with tens of thousands of orders in before it hit dealerships nationwide in May, seems a sure-fire winner in the race to dominate the eco-car market.

Also in the running is Honda Motor Co.'s gas-electric Insight, introduced earlier this year.

But with full-electric vehicles coming up fast in the development lane and minivehicle makers scrambling to improve fuel efficiency, will hybrids fulfill their promise in the global market for "green" cars?

"We have come closer to the price range our customers are willing to pay," Akio Toyoda, Toyota's incoming president, said at the unveiling of the company's third-generation Prius hybrid on May 18.

A basic Prius model starts at 2.05 million yen, tax included--about 300,000 yen less than the previous model.

The revamped Prius boasts a 1.8-liter engine, up from the 1.5-liter displacement of the previous model. The new Prius gets 38 kilometers to the liter, a 7-percent improvement, and offers better safety features.

Toyota's efforts to roll out more affordable hybrids have paid off. It received 80,000 prelaunch orders for the new Prius--an unprecedented number for a new model.

That lifted total orders for Toyota vehicles by 20 percent in April over the same month a year earlier to their highest level in four years.

The latest Prius model represents one-fifth of the Toyota's total domestic production, pushing it closer to the carmaker's mainstay Corolla.

Price has been the biggest obstacle to Prius sales since its introduction in 1997, when it whetted appetites for the world's first mass-produced hybrid.

Reportedly, hybrids cost hundreds of thousands of yen more to produce than the average gas-powered car. To make the new Prius more affordable, Toyota trimmed costs from its hybrid system.

Toyota's future hybrids will likely come with a lower sticker price. A smaller hybrid is in the works, aimed at offering more than 40 km per liter. The model, due in 2011, will sell for 1.7 million yen or so.

Toyota is confident it can lead the race in the global eco-car market with hybrids alone, ruling out the need to add electric vehicles or other types to its lineup.

"If we can achieve our targets for the smaller hybrid in fuel economy and price competitiveness, we won't need other types of eco-friendly vehicles," said a senior Toyota official.

Toyota pushed its innovative "21st century" car development into full gear in the early 1990s under company chairman Eiji Toyoda.

"Developing a commercial electric vehicle at that time posed a slew of challenges," the official said. "That is the case even today."

In fact, Toyota has a long history of research into electric vehicles, which greatly interested the company's late founder, Kiichiro Toyoda.

Toyota conducted a test run of a prototype electric vehicle in around 1941. It even sold a few units.

In recent years, however, testing showed that an electric minivehicle would only be able to travel 150 km or so at most between charges, even using a next-generation lithium-ion battery. The bigger the vehicle, the higher the retail price, because more batteries are needed.

Moreover, a battery pack's ability to hold a charge and its durability vary by temperature and driving conditions, the automaker points out.

For example, the distance covered on one battery charge would be significantly reduced when a hybrid is caught in a traffic jam on a hot summer day requiring air conditioning.

Honda too sees the hybrid as becoming the mainstream green vehicle.

Amid sharply dwindling revenues due to the global recession, the carmaker has frozen development of a next-generation diesel car that it initially hoped to introduce at the end of this year. And Honda has no plans to market a fully electric model.

Honda is now firmly focused on hybrids, after years of jockeying to come up with the next-generation green car, whether electric or hybrid vehicle. It has managed to considerably reduce the cost to produce hybrids.

From next year, Honda plans to introduce both a small hybrid and a hybrid sports car, aiming to raise the share of hybrids to 10 percent of its worldwide unit sales by about 2015.

According to Nomura Research Institute, the global market for hybrids will expand to an estimated 12 million vehicles in 2020, up from 700,000 vehicles in 2007. That represents about 17 percent of all units sold worldwide.

Hybrids, however, are not the only bright sign for the auto industry.

U.S. President Barack Obama has pledged to ensure 1 million plug-in hybrid electric vehicles are on the road across America by 2015.

Plug-in vehicles, which are closer to electric vehicles than hybrids, are recharged using ordinary household sockets.

With that policy, the United States, whose market clout steers the direction of next-generation vehicles, could produce big changes in the eco-friendly vehicle market.

Other automakers, lagging behind Toyota and Honda in hybrids, are scrambling to speed their plans to develop electric vehicles.

Nissan Motor Co. CEO Carlos Ghosn says he is skeptical of the single-minded focus on hybrids his company's rivals have displayed. Electric vehicles will greatly alter the green vehicle market, Ghosn says.

Because of a shortage of funds in the late 1990s, Nissan was unable to invest enough in hybrid development. Instead, Nissan pinned its hopes on a planned electric vehicle due out in 2010 or later.

Nissan would not be able to lead technological innovations, Ghosn says, if it were to pursue hybrid strategies similar to its competitors.

Mitsubishi Motors Corp. said Friday it will roll out its new i MiEV electric vehicle in July, with a sales target of 1,400 units for the current fiscal year.

The company says its breakeven point is 30,000 units a year, which it hopes to reach by 2013 by broadening the market for electric cars through an OEM supply deal with PSA Peugeot Citroen in France and other means.

The battle between hybrids and electric cars is not only intensifying competition for the next-generation earth-friendly automotive technology. It is also sparking concerns for automakers whose future plans remain reliant on gas-fueled minivehicles.

To survive, makers such as Suzuki Motor Corp. will have to substantially improve the fuel efficiency of their offerings.

According to Suzuki Chairman Osamu Suzuki, "The presence of minivehicles will be called into question" when more green cars hit the road.

His company's WagonR is currently Japan's best-selling minivehicle. But the WagonR's top mileage is 23.5 km per liter, only about 60 percent of the Prius's 38 km per liter of gasoline.

"We won't be able to survive unless we succeed in raising the fuel efficiency (of our products)," Suzuki said.

Company looks to bring air-powered cars to US

2009-05-29T23:44:00.000-07:00

Most car companies are racing to bring electric vehicles to the market. But one startup is skipping the high-tech electronics, making cars whose energy source is pulled literally out of thin air.

Zero Pollution Motors is trying to bring a car to U.S. roads by early 2011 that's powered by a combination of compressed air and a small conventional engine.

ZPM Chief Executive Shiva Vencat said the ultimate goal is a price tag between $18,000 and $20,000, fuel economy equivalent to 100 miles per gallon and a tailpipe that emits nothing but air at low enough speeds.

Elsewhere in the world, the technology is already gaining speed. The French startup Motor Development International, which licensed the technology to ZPM, unveiled a new air-powered car at the Geneva Auto Show in March. Airlines KLM and Air France are starting to test the bubble-shaped AirPod this month for use as transportation around airports.

Engineering experts, however, are skeptical of the technology, saying it is clouded by the caveat that compressing air is notoriously energy intensive.

"Air compressors are one of the least efficient machines to convert electricity to work," said Harold Kung, professor of chemical and biological engineering at Northwestern University. "Why not use the electricity directly, as in electric cars? From an energy utilization point of view, the compressed (air) car does not make sense."

As Vencat spells it out, the "air cars" plug into a wall outlet, allowing an on-board compressor to pressurize the car's air tank to 4,500 pounds per square inch. It takes about four hours to get the tank to full pressure, then the air is then released gradually to power the car's pistons.

At speeds less than 35 mph, the car relies entirely on the air tank and emits only cold air. At faster speeds, a small conventionally fueled engine kicks in to run a heater that warms the air and speeds its release. The engine also refills the air tank, extending the range and speed.

The technology behind the car was developed by the French race car engineer Guy Negre, head of Motor Development International. Besides ZPM, Negre has licensed the technology to Indian car giant Tata Motors and others.

Many of the specifications of ZPM's car are still speculative, but Vencat expects it to go about 20 miles on compressed air alone, and hundreds more after the engine kicks in, with a top speed of 96 mph.

The technology shouldn't sound too outlandish, Vencat said. It's similar to the internal-combustion engines in conventional cars — the main difference is the fuel.

"Every single car you see out there, except an electric car, is a compressed-air car," he said. "It takes air in the chamber and it pushes the piston, and the only way you push the piston is through pressure."

James Van de Ven, a mechanical engineering assistant professor at Worcester Polytechnic Institute who has studied compressed-air technology, said air compressors allow you to recover only 25 to 30 percent of the energy used to compress the air. The rest is lost through heat, air leakage and other forms of waste, he said.

While that's still slightly better a gasoline engine, it pales compared with the efficiencies of other alternative-fuel powertrains, like those in hybrid-electric cars, which have an efficiency closer to 80 percent, Van de Ven said.

A look at some of ZPM's specifications illustrates the issue. With four hours of charging, the air car's 5.5-kilowatt compressor would eat up 22 kilowatt-hours of electricity. That means the same energy used to turn on 10 100-watt light bulbs for 22 hours would allow the car to travel 20 miles.

By comparison, General Motors Corp. has said its Chevrolet Volt will use about 8 kilowatt-hours of energy to fully charge, and it will be able to travel 40 miles on battery power alone.

George Haley, business professor at the University of New Haven, said U.S. safety regulations could be another obstacle given the air car's tiny size and light weight.

Vencat said he gets such criticism "from the whole wide world" and pays it little mind. He counters that the car is cleaner than any internal combustion engine and remarkably simpler — and cheaper — than more advanced powertrains currently under development.

"The big difference is that the (Chevrolet) Volt needs the battery," Vencat said. The Volt's massive lithium-ion battery is a big part of the reason it is expected to cost about $40,000 when it goes on sale late next year.

He acknowledges the difficulties with getting the car out quickly but said he is lining up investors.

"You know, we've got a lot of people who wanted the car yesterday," he said.

2010 Hybrid Electric Cars To Offer More Plug In Options

2009-05-29T23:21:00.000-07:00

2010 hybrid electric cars will offer higher milieage and lower prices for consumers. New plug in cars can offer consumers a hybrid tax credit and the Ford Fusion, Toyota Prius 2010, and Honda Insight has set the stage.

2010 Will Offer More Hybrid Plug In Options For Electric Cars

The race is on for automakers to meet demands for 2010 hybrid electric cars as the Ford Fusion, Toyota Prius 2010, and Honda Insight has set the stage. These are new alternative energy cars, which also include a hybrid tax credit. Moreover, consumers are looking for better MPG ratings and affordable prices.

With gas prices back on the rise, due to summer transportation, the cars in 2010 are becoming more appealing to consumers. The line-up of 2010 automobiles offer a greater variety than previous years, including better fuel-efficiency, and more affordability. There are also hybrid tax credits, which offer incentives for consumers to make the switch to lower carbon emissions.

There is a sudden trend, more so in the past three months than any other time, of new popular hybrid vehicles on the road. These hybrid cars are zipping down streets in just about every neighborhood in America. Most of these alternative energy cars are made by Honda, Toyota, Ford and a few independent automakers, which just arrived on the scene.

The Toyota Prius, Honda Insight, and Ford Fusion are the popular models for coupes and sedans. If you're in the market to buy a new hybrid, don't just settle on word-of-mouth, but make your decision on reliability and fuel economy.

For example, I live on a street which has a Toyota Prius in most driveways. If I were to base my opinions on exterior looks, I think the Ford Fusion and Honda Insight look sharp. However, there is something about sitting in a Toyota Prius where the dashboard seems to be more modern than the rest.

You also need to act fast if you plan on using the hybrid tax credits. Some of them expire in September and October. Each time they expire, the credits are getting lower. The credits are to help reduce carbon emissions.

There is a $1,700 tax credit by the IRS for owning a hybrid or electric car. The credit is good only if the vehicle is purchased before October 1, 2009. After that, the credit is $850 which is good until March 2010.

While most hybrids are using a combination of gasoline and electric alternatives, these cars still produce carbon emissions. However, most of them reduce it by as much as 90 percent. The only real zero emission automobiles are the plug-in hybrids which only use electric and no gas.

Most of the new hybrid vehicles do offer a plug-in option, even though they combine the use of gasoline. For example, most models will run solely on electric power for up to 47 miles without using one single drop of fuel. You can always purchase this option, if your daily commute is less than 47 miles, while charging the vehicle from home or at work.

Solar Powered Electric Cars Coming From Toyota

2009-05-29T23:15:00.000-07:00

Electric cars which can use solar panels for power are under development at Toyota. It is the first time Toyota will try to use solar energy as a way to charge its electric batteries in hybrid cars.

Electric Cars Using Solar Panels For Alternative Energy

Solar energy is being used for Toyota electric cars with solar panels mounted on each end of the vehicle. Toyota wants to develop ways to use the energy as a way to charge its electric batteries in hybrid cars. While the method is possible, experts say it will be difficult to consume enough energy from solar methods to power an electric car.

There are other solar-powered energy methods used such as outdoor lamps, which get their energy from the sun during the day and use it at night. However, using the same technology to power a Hybrid electric car is still several years away.

However, it's possible that Toyota found a way, which we don't know yet. Solar energy could charge limited batteries to run dashboard functions like car headlights, radio and windshield wipers. Toyota was unavailable for comment.

Hybrid is the new trend to power new electric vehicles. Most car manufactures plan to release their own versions of the electric technology next year. Some companies include General Motors, Ford, Nissan, Chrysler and Toyota.

Rumor of a car getting its energy from a rooftop solar panel first started in July 2008. There were speculations that Toyota would offer such a method on its next generation Prius.

One thing we do know is that Toyota has been using solar panels at its Tsutsumi plant in central Japan. The plant produces its own electricity.

Tesla Motors recalls 345 Roadster sports cars

2009-05-29T23:07:00.000-07:00

Electric-car maker Tesla blames a possible suspension problem on bolts that were improperly installed on the rear chassis 'of a small percentage' of Roadsters by British automaker Lotus.

Electric-car maker Tesla Motors said Thursday that it was recalling all 345 of its Roadster sports cars produced before April 22 so they could be inspected for a possible suspension problem.

Tesla blamed the problem on bolts that were improperly installed on the rear chassis "of a small percentage" of Roadsters by British automaker Lotus. The Roadsters, which sell for $109,000, are assembled in Britain by Lotus and then shipped to California, where Tesla installs the cars' batteries and electric powertrain.

Tesla said no accidents had been reported as a result of the defect, which it said was unrelated to the powertrain.

Lotus is recalling 27 of its 2009 Elise and Exige sports cars with the same suspension problem, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. "If the problem is not addressed promptly, the driver could lose control of the vehicle, resulting in a crash," the agency said in its recall notice.

Lotus could not be reached for comment late Thursday

Tesla, based in San Carlos, Calif., has delivered almost 500 of the two-seat Roadsters. The firm said it found the problem after an owner reported "uncharacteristic handling."

The company said it would send technicians to customers' homes to make the needed repairs free of charge or pick up the cars and take them into a service center to do the work.

"We plan to do everything we can to address this matter swiftly and keep customers satisfied," said Greg Zanghi, Tesla's director of service and parts operations. The company declined to disclose how much the recall would cost.

Clarkson on the Audi Q7 V12 TDI

2009-05-27T04:27:00.000-07:00

Last year, Audi announced the most insane version of its Audi Q7 SUV yet in the form of the Q7 V12 TDI. The V12 is an all-new diesel engine that, for now at least, only has a home in the Q7, but at some future date, it may appear in some other VW group products. The V12 produces 500 hp and a ridiculous 758 lb-ft of torque, enough to get the 2.5-ton SUV to 62 mph in 5.5 seconds.

While Audi has said it has no plans to bring the V12 Q7 TDI to America, Top Gear mouthpiece Jeremy Clarkson got to try one out and came away with mixed feelings. Like many people, Clarkson is no fan of the Audi Q7's looks and thinks the whole premise of the vehicle is ridiculous. On the other hand, brute force does have a way of twisting people's opinions and this big Audi proves to be no exception.

Generally, any sporting motorcycle can leave a four-wheeled conveyance in the dust. Apparently, this Audi Q7 is the exception, as Clarkson was supposedly able to keep pace with Top Gear co-host Richard Hammond on a Suzuki Hayabusa. Even with all this power, the V12 TDI is still rated at 21 mpg (U.S.) on the EU combined cycle. In Clarkson's own words, "Mad. Bonkers. Stupid. [...] It's crap. But it's brilliant too." Too bad they canceled the R8 with this engine.

[Source: The Times of London]

Safety Could Suffer With Small Cars

2009-05-27T04:19:00.000-07:00

The Obama administration’s sweeping fuel economy and emissions initiative announced Tuesday reopens a fierce debate over tradeoffs between fuel economy and auto safety.

The government says no tradeoff exists because nothing in the new rules would force automakers to sell more small cars, which are more dangerous in crashes than larger ones. But some safety experts think otherwise.

“The deadlines are so tight that downsizing will be a tempting compliance strategy” for automakers, says John Graham, the former rulemaking chief in the Office of Management and Budget.

The plan requires automakers to sell cars that average 35.5 miles-per-gallon by 2016, a little more and a lot sooner than current law. It has been heralded as a brilliant solution to the nettlesome mix of problems related to fuel consumption and greenhouse-gas emissions.

The move is also an example of the clout environmentalists have with the Obama administration and comes as automakers’ dire financial straits are forcing safety to a back burner. It raises the risk that cash-strapped automakers will take the fastest and cheapest route to building more fuel-efficient vehicles: Make them smaller and lighter. Further, as General Motors and Chrysler rely on federal bailout money for survival, they are ill-positioned — and disinclined — to fight proposals that some say may not be just dangerously costly, but simply dangerous.

The National Academy of Sciences, Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, Congressional Budget Office and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration have separately concluded in multiple studies dating back about 20 years that fuel-economy standards force automakers to build more small cars, which has led to thousands more deaths in crashes annually. Even though the standards were updated in recent years to reduce the incentive for automakers to sell more small cars by allowing different fuel-economy targets for different vehicles, the fastest way to make cars more fuel-efficient is to make them smaller.

Some safety experts worry that the administration’s green focus could reverse progress made in reducing the highway death toll. The fatality rate in car crashes reached its lowest ever in 2007 and is projected to drop even lower for 2008 — to 1.28 deaths per 100 million miles traveled.

President Obama this month withdrew the name of his nominee to lead the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, longtime safety advocate Charles “Chuck” Hurley, after an outcry from environmentalists over Hurley’s statements linking fuel-economy rules to highway deaths.

But while U.S. automakers might not have made many of the most popular small and midsize cars, they did build and sell millions because they needed to keep their car and light-truck fleet fuel-economy averages over the number prescribed by law. The tilt toward smaller vehicles, which were often heavily discounted to sell, boosted the death toll, the studies say.

The Obama administration maintains the new fuel standards can be met without forcing more small cars into the market.

“Because every (size) category has to get more efficient, if the soccer mom wants to buy her minivan, it will be a more fuel-efficient minivan. If someone wants to buy a big SUV, it will be a more fuel-efficient SUV,” said Carol Browner, director of the White House Office of Energy and Climate Change.

She said companies can use advanced technologies to improve fuel efficiency without dramatically changing their fleets.

Former NHTSA chief Jeffrey Runge, now an auto-safety and biodefense consultant, applauds the administration’s decision to factor safety into its fuel-economy plan but worries automakers will still “do what is cheap and quick because the timelines are very short,” and that could lead to more small cars.

"Why do you say small cars are dangerous? A luau is a big party and lots of fun -- unless you're the pig. When a big car hits a small car and somebody gets hurt, why blame the small car? The big car is the one that caused the damage! BIG cars are dangerous.

Pickup trucks and large SUVs are especially dangerous because of their higher bumpers. They tend to cause lots of damage to other cars they hit. They also tend to run over bicycles (fatally) rather than having the bicyclist land on the hood (non-fatally) like with small cars.

Hyundai reports 4,000 scrap car trades in UK

2009-05-27T03:11:00.000-07:00

Governments all over the world have introduced Cash-For-Clunkers-style programs that are nothing if not controversial. While the stated intent of each of these schemes is to increase new car sales and remove older, dirtier and less fuel efficient vehicles from the road, some powerful organizations have voiced concerns that untold numbers of classic machinery may be lost forever for no good reason. Could it be that both sides are right? New car buyers in the UK are reportedly flocking to Hyundai dealers in droves with a bevy of older vehicles in tow. According to Tony Whitehorn, Hyundai UK's managing director:

"For many [the scrappage scheme] is an opportunity to buy their first ever new car, and is enormously exciting. Some people look a little embarrassed when they turn up at a showroom with an old car which is literally falling to pieces but we're happy to take anything as long as it meets the government's criteria. Other buyers have taken the decision to wave goodbye to cars which have been in the family for a generation, but their sadness soon disappears when they get into their new Hyundai."

So, just what kinds of cars are being traded in? The Korean automaker reports that both a Jaguar XJ-S and XJ6 have both been scrapped, as have 34 BMWs, 22 Audis and 32 vehicles from Mercedes-Benz. Six Mazda MX-5's, seven MGFs, a 1966 Austin 1100 and a 1968 Morris Minor were also sent to the great scrapheap in the sky along with at least one Citroen that lost a wheel on the way to the dealership.

[Source: The Green Car Website]

Honda to Release Acura Coupe in 2010

2009-05-26T12:15:00.000-07:00

At a time when American automakers such as Ford, General Motors and Chrysler are having their worst nightmare, Japanese and Korean car companies are coming up with new cars and new models at a stable pace. Even Indian car makers are trying their luck in an industry that is taking a lot of heat from the global economic climate.

Honda is one such Japanese company that has been working on new models of its cars. Now auto news Autoblog is reporting that Honda could release an Acura coupe in 2010. The car could be styled similar to a dropped-off ZDX and will have a powertrain-transmission combo like it. Also, in terms of the size, the coupe is expected to fill the gap between the between the TSX and the TL.

Though the Honda Acura Coupe is expected to be out next year, there are speculations it would be revealed at an upcoming auto show, maybe the Detroit Auto Show. It seems that the coupe could then hit the showrooms late in 2010. Previously, there were reports that Honda was working on the 2012 Honda Civic and the CR-Z.

[Source: Autotantra.in]

BMW drops the details on its 2010 5 Series Gran Turismo

2009-05-26T12:10:00.000-07:00

Despite the departure of controversial lead designer Chris Bangle, BMW is showing no signs of returning to the "One sausage, three-sizes" styling brief that it once adhered to. The latest proof of this is the announcement of the production 5 Series Gran Turismo, which, as expected, looks little changed from the concept that set tongues wagging in Geneva, save for a few details like smaller wheels, more conventional interior fabrics and real-world-sized side mirrors.

The genre-blurring 5 Series GT is, in the words of BMW, meant to combine "the characteristic features of a prestige saloon, a modern, highly versatile Sports Activity Vehicle, and a classic Gran Turismo" – outwardly, at least, we'd say that they've succeeded in meeting that goal, although the final judgment on whether this amalgam of characteristics is a even a direction worth pursuing will ultimately be made by consumers.

In the meantime, we can focus not only on the five-door hatchback's design, but also its internals, as BMW has released specifications and pricing for its European market models.

In the main, BMW has disclosed that Europe's gasoline model range will be composed of the 306 horsepower, 3.0-liter 535i Gran Turismo (a derivative of the fabulous dual-turbo inline-six seen in the engine bays of the 1, 3, and 5 Series) and the 550i Gran Turismo, which relies on a stonking dual-turbo 4.4-liter V8 good for 407 horsepower, an engine that promises to be just the thing when you're running late for your squash court appointment. Finally, there's the 530d Gran Turismo, which offers a 3.0-liter, 245 horsepower I6 diesel powerplant and a tidy C02 rating of 173 grams per kilometer. Regardless of which engine the buyer chooses, the sole gearbox offering will be the eight-speed automatic gearbox borrowed from the 760i luxury sedan. The cog-happy unit should not only help with overall fuel economy, but it makes any model in the range a sprightly performer, with BMW quoting 0-62 mph times of 6.3 seconds for the 535i GT, 5.5 seconds for the 550i GT, and a thoroughly respectable 6.9 seconds for the 530d GT (which also achieves 43.5 miles per imperial gallon, or around 36 mpg US).

It isn't yet clear what models will come to the States, but we're hearing that the 550i will be the first to make the journey, and it is likely to arrive carrying a price tag of around $70,000, which would represent around a $10,000 premium over the less-powerful 550i sedan.

[Source: BMW]