The New BMW 5 Series. Highlights.
Wednesday, November 25th, 2009
The New BMW 5 Series . Highlights.
Tata Nano May Be Sold Under Different Brand Name
Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009According to the latest statement in London from Tata Motors MD, Ravi Kant, the company may allow Tata Nano to be assembled and sold under a different brand name by other manufacturers. Ravi Kant was spaaking at an award function in London where he indicated that Tata Motors will allow micro-assembly units that can produce 10,000 units a year.
“Tata Motors was always toying with the idea of outsourcing a small batch of Nano to third-part automakers. However, it is just in its embryonic stages and the company will take a final call in due course,” well-informed sourced from the industry were quoted saying about Tata Motors.
It is presumed that Nano under different brand name will be sold in the Indian market only as it has yet not made its foray into the overseas market. So far Tata Motors has delivered 7506 units from its Uttrakhand plant in Pantnagar. Tata Motors also has a joint venture with Fiat Auto India Limited and Fiat will be looking after the overseas marketing of Tata Nano. It is quite speculative that Fiat may assemble additional units of Tata Nano under a different brand name.
[Via: cartradeindia]
BMW Z4 Launched In India
Monday, October 12th, 2009Finally, Porsche gets a serious rival against its Boxster – The BMW Z4 has been launched in Indian market. The Z4 will further strengthen BMW’s position in India’s luxury car market. BMW currently sells 2 other convertible car models in India – the BMW M3 and the BMW M6. BMW hopes to sell at least 30-40 units of the car in the first year of its launch.
BMW India has made tremendous progress in financial year 2009-10, overtaking its long time rival Mercedes-Benz for the first time this year. From April to August 2009, BMW sold 1,313 units in the country, as against Mercedes-Benz’s 1,128 units.
BMW has launched Z4 with only one engine option which is a 2979cc petrol engine which develops 306 Bhp of maximum power at 5800 rpm with maximum torque of 400 Nm starting from as low as 1300 rpm!!
The BMW Z4 is available across India at an ex-showroom price of 59 lakhs. On-road price of Z4 is expected to come around 64 lakhs. Ex-showroom price excludes RTO registration charges, tax, insurance, handling charges; Octroi and entry tax if applicable
Tyre Prices Shooting Up In India
Friday, October 9th, 2009There has been an increase in the prices of the car tyes. And the 7 per cent increase for the tyre price is because of the high demand and low supply. The car owners actually need not spend an extra 5 to 7 per cent. But it is the carmaker who needs to shell out an additional cost of Rs.800 for a new tyre for every new car they sell.
A deficiency of tyres in the market has become the reason for decrease of inventories at tyre makers to just 5-7 days from 20-25 days. And this is seriously affecting car manufacturers such as Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai Motor India, Tata Motors, General Motors India and Ford India. There isn’t any clear information on how much are the carmakers affected by this situation.
“There is a demand-supply mismatch. While production has increased in the past few weeks, the supply of tyres has not kept pace, resulting into shortages. We have asked tyre companies to augment supplies but that has not happened yet,” a senior executive at Tata Motors said.
Auto makers assume that tyre companies are charging arbitrary prices. But the tyre makers are of the opinion that they are trying to meet the demand despite production constraints.
“Tyres are a capital-intensive industry and there has been no major capacity addition in a year due to slowdown in the market and economic recession. While sales have jumped in recent months, production has not increased to that level, leading to shortages,” said a senior executive of a tyre company on condition of anonymity. It is expected that the price will be dropped once the festival season is over and the demand for cars come down.
Tata Indigo Manza Teaser Website Is Up
Monday, October 5th, 2009Finally, Here are some official news about sedan based on Indica Vista platform. According to a report by India’s leading automotive magazine – Autocar India – New Tata Indigo will be unveiled in Mumbai on October 14th by Ratan Tata, Chairman, Tata Motors. The launch is exactly six days before Diwali and Tata Motors don’t want to loose any customers and wants to cash in this festive season.
The New Indigo will be christened “Manza”, which is another name which ends with “a” alphabet. Presently we have Indica “Xeta”, Indica “Vista” and Indigo “Marina”. The Manza will feature a huge boot and promises best in class interior space. Typical of Tata cars, the Manza promises to offer good value for money as it is expected to be packed with equipment.
Tata Manza teaser website is up and you can enter the “Guess The Manza” contest in which you have guess the vehicle type and estimated price of Manza. I have also entered the contest – Manza is a Sedan which is based on Indica Vista hatchback and estimated price of Manza should be starting from five lakhs for the base model and will go up to seven lakhs for top of the line variant which is expected to feature ABS, EBD, Dual SRS Airbags, Alloy Wheels, Dash Integrated Music System etc.
Ford Figo Promotional Video
Thursday, September 24th, 2009
Ford Figo Promotional Video. Ford has unveiled its new small car Figo today in New Delhi with Alan Roger Mulally, Ford’s president and chief executive, making a lightening visit to the country for the unveiling.
Ford’s Made For India Car Unvieled – It has been christened “Figo”
Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009Ford has unveiled its new small car Figo today in New Delhi with Alan Roger Mulally, Ford’s president and chief executive, making a lightening visit to the country for the unveiling. It is expected that Figo will be priced in the range of 3.5-5 lakh rupees and will compete with the likes of Maruti Ritz, Hyundai i20, Honda Jazz & Skoda Fabia.
Today’s press conference in Delhi was the first public preview of the exterior design of the new Ford Figo. Ford is reserving further details about the vehicle until closer to its production launch early in 2010. Design-conscious Italy inspired the new Ford Figo’s name. Figo is colloquial Italian for “cool.”
Sharing key elements of Ford’s kinetic design language with vehicles like the globally renowned Ford Focus, Ford Mondeo and the Ford Fiesta, Ford Figo features a fresh, contemporary shape that will be a distinctive alternative to traditional brands in this segment. The design language conveys a dynamic spirit of energy in motion.
Quality, substance and generous proportions are clearly evident in the design of the new Ford Figo, which features a solid stance, an invitingly large interior and a vibrant, youthful character. Its package is right-sized for the market, which is predominated by congested urban driving conditions.
From its modern headlamps, grille shapes and sculpted bonnet of its distinctive face to the subtle integrated spoiler and chamfered window shape at the rear, Ford Figo is filled with kinetic design touches. These also include sculpted shapes to the body side – chiseled front fenders, a “comet tail” undercut in the doors and additional light-catching sculpting in the lower bodyside – which combine to communicate the solidity, substance and protective safety of its design.
The bold graphic of Ford Figo’s large side window shape is another key kinetic design feature hinting at the comfort and spaciousness awaiting occupants’ front and rear. The side window graphic is executed with a blacked-out B-pillar, an elegant design touch that unifies the side windows into one shape visually.
With its wheels positioned at the four corners of the vehicle with minimal overhang, Ford Figo’s bold wheel arches self-assuredly signal its agility and solidity.
New Ford Regional Production Centre
The introduction of the new Ford Figo marks a significant shift for India’s role in Ford’s strategy. Transformed with a production capacity of 200,000 units, the integrated Chennai manufacturing facility is now positioned as a Ford regional centre of excellence for small-car engineering and production.
Ford Figo models will be produced at the plant for export to international markets. The plant is also being groomed to produce diesel and petrol engines for local vehicle production and export within Ford’s Asia Pacific and Africa region.
With more automation and high-tech new facilities, the new site reflects the latest Ford manufacturing processes globally and pioneers new technologies for Ford and India. Created with a “best of the best” approach, it has been benchmarked against other competitive facilities globally, as well as the current volume manufacturers in the Indian market, for quality and production efficiency.
The transformed plant introduces eco-friendly production techniques like its new Three-Wet High-Solids paint process. This approach produces beautifully painted vehicles with three wet coats – primer, base coat and clear coat – of high solids-content paint applied one after the other without oven curing between coats. A first for India, it produces fewer carbon dioxide emissions and reduces volatile organic compounds emissions by about 20 percent compared to current medium-solids solvent-borne paints. Use of high-solids content results in a paint finish with high levels of gloss and depth ofcolour which is more resistant to scratches and stone chips.
Ford Small Car To Make Debut Tomorrow
Tuesday, September 22nd, 2009Ford is likely to unveil its new small car Splash on 23rd September – Today – in New Delhi with Alan Roger Mulally, Ford’s president and chief executive, making a lightening visit to the country for the unveiling. Though there is no official confirmation about it but it is expected that they are going to unviel a ‘Made For India’ small car.
Codenamed B402/B517, Ford’s small car might use its existing Ikon or Fiesta platforms for a hatchback. It is also likely that Ford may tweak the new car model KA which is being developed jointly with Fiat in Europe.
Here is a snapshot from Ford India’s Official Website which is a confirmation that a new small car is coming!!
Festival Delight “Win a Car” From Honda!
Wednesday, September 9th, 2009Honda is here to add to the festival delight of the customers in India. It has launched “Win a Car” contest from September 07, 2009 to attract more customers. The new contest is a part of “Great Honda Fest” where one lucky Honda customer across India will win his favorite Honda car every week. The contest will be valid for those who purchase a Honda car between 7 September and 31st October 2009.
Apart from winning one Honda car every week, customers also stand a chance to win lucky existing accessory package for Honda models like Jazz, City, Civic, Accord or CRV. “HSCI has exciting plans for this festival season. The Great Honda Fest is our first offering this festive season to celebrate and share the festivities with our customers. We are confident that the contest coupled with the new launches during this period will fuel positive growth for the company,” said Mr. Jnaneswar Sen, VP Marketing & Sales, HSCI.
Honda Jazz was the last new model which was added to the Honda product portfolio in India. The model is an exclusively premium hatchack model but falls short in making high sales volume due to its hefty price tag. On the other hand, Honda City continues to be India’s most popular sedan and keeps marking healthy sales figures every month.
[Via: cartradeindia]
