About a 100 Omni taxis are likely to hit Mumbai roads over the next month or two, and it would be interesting to see how Mumbai inhabitants will react to their beloved Fiat 1100/Premier Padmini taxis being replaced with the Maruti Omni.
Maruti Suzuki, in the meanwhile, will be providing Omni taxis at an ex-showroom price of around Rs 1.90 lakh - a discount of about Rs 45,000 on the vehicle’s regular price. The vehicle is likely to be fitted with an LPG kit.
Tata Nano is designed with a family in mind, has a roomy passenger compartment with generous leg space and head room. It can comfortably seat four persons. Four doors with high seating position make ingress and egress easy.
Its mono-volume design, with wheels at the corners and the powertrain at the rear, enables it to uniquely combine both space and manoeuvrability, which will set a new benchmark among small cars.
The HUMMER brand isn’t exactly sterling here in the States due to high fuel prices and its standing as the poster vehicle for green groups trying to save the environment from the evils of CO2 emissions. That’s probably the biggest reason GM is looking to offload the brand, and while it doesn’t seem likely that anyone would want the marque, there are interested parties.
According to GM’s Middle East Managing Director, Terry Johnsson, one group is a pair of Arab investors. The Middle East has been a player in the automotive landscape over the past few years, as the region is rife with cash and oil and has growing transportation needs. Arab investors were 50% of the Aston Martin sale in 2007, and Abu Dhabi’s investment group purchased 5% of Ferrari in 2005.
