Hybrid cars of Nano

The world’s cheapest car Nano is getting the hybrid version, meeting the environment-friendly norms. According to its Chairman Ratan Tata there is more scope for low-priced goods than high –priced goods in India, the trend which is likely spread globally. The India’s biggest car maker Tata believes that the car industry would decide the future of economic-friendly models. However, no detailed picture could be got about the cheap hybrid versions. Nano spread the revolution at the price factor of $2000 and entered the roads in last July.

Mr.Tata briefed that his company has plans to export the light truck Ace to South Korea and also assembling and manufacturing the truck in South Korean plant. By promoting bio technology and bioengineering, he said the company wants to play on the nutrient-enriched food market. Tata is exploring its potential in Vietnam and the US markets before making any active participation. Simultaneously, the company is assessing the investment in automobiles, software and hotel lines along with bio fuel in South American belts like Brazil and Argentina.

Peugeot

A joint venture between the French car maker Peugeot and the UK-based component concern Caparo is shaping for the Indian affairs. The return of the dragon, after 11 years of extinct in India, is seen as a huge set up with an investment of Rs1500 crore for an initial production of 6000 units. Caparo’s fortune in this regard laid on its land bank, spread across the country, enabling Peugeot to refrain from any such task. The final outcome would be known in a couple or two weeks, said sources, amidst the disclaim from the Caparo India MD.

Peugeot is in plans to deliver its products in the country by 2012, comprising mid-sized and hatchbacks. The range between Peugeot and Citreon is yet to be decided, while the price range would be Rs5-6 lakh and Rs8-10 lakh. It is, however, believed that Peugeot would fill in the mainstream with Citreon favoring the top-end segment, as existing in many countries. The JV has been in the air for a long time and the officials from the companies had talks with the government of Andhra Pradesh for a Greenfield project.

Peugeot is coming back to India after 11 years as its tie with Premier Padmini suffered a jolt following the rejection of 309 model by the public. Peugeot-Citreon JV has been striving to gain momentum in the car segment with the series of brands 407, 206, 308, C4 and C5. Caparo India is an Indian business firm for the UK based Caparo Group involving in total solutions for automotive systems, assemblies, advanced composites, modules and components. This is the first attempt for Caparo in car manufacturing following the technical agreement made in 2008.

Honda to launch CB Twister

The much touted Honda’s 110cc sporty commuter motorcyclee will be out in next month Auto Expo in Delhi. But before the official unveiling happens, pictures of the bike are already floating across the net. The 110cc bike is said to be christened as CB Twister. Honda has already promised it won’t compete with splendors and passions but a niche bike in the commuter segment.

From the pictures, CB Twister might easily be the nice looking bike in the segment. CB Twister is tall and it has character. The muscular scoops and treatment to the rear cowl might easily deceive you the CB Twister is a bike with larger engine. CB Twister features front disc brake,alloy wheel and hunki-ish red springs at the rear. Going by the Honda standard’s, we expect the CB Twister at a premium over peers. Expect the pricing upwards of Rs52,000.

Pictures of Honda CB Twister 110cc

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Picture source bike india and BS Motoring

BMW to launch affordable SUV; new bigger X3 also on the cards

The German car giant BMW has been on good mood to please the Indian car lovers with an affordable range of its SUV. The likes of CR-V, Fortuner, Captiva Pajero and Outlander are already ruling the roosters in the cat segment of the market. But the alarming signal has come in the form of BMW as it is shaping its muscle with a new affordable SUV – XI.

This XI has been in the global market since October and the Indian roads will have its pleasance by 2011. BMW’s smallest Sports Activity Vehicle is priced @Rs25-35 lakh with the right hand drive configuration. BMW’s decision in this regard is viewed as a bold one since its X3, X5 and X6 have already crossed over the SUV category.

Some time next year the enlarged version of X3 will roll on to meet the challenge from Audi Q5 and Mercedes-Benz’s latest SUV – GLK. BMW’s X3, a predecessor to X1, is fully loaded with latest features and interiors and it has moved into the bigger X5 containing roomier innards and frills. The price factor is also important- the all-wheel drive (xDrive) X3 is a CBU import and priced Rs40lakh(approximate). The entry level X1 sports rear wheel drive (sDrive) is fitted with 1.8 L gasoline engine. This version is globally available in various configurations of X1- 1.8L diesel, petrol, 2.0L.diesel, 2.3L diesel and 1.8L petrol.

BMW may sneak the entry of any of these versions since the market for premium cars is in good momentum in India. X3 and X5 have procured a good business for BMW- 100% in the period of April-October on year-on-year basis. Audi too had earned a good business with its Q5 and Q7, indicating that the potential for Rs20-30 lakh segment is excellent. The global carmakers yield tremendous growth mainly from the developing countries, especially India and China who contribute a combined 70%. The passion for shifting to bigger cars, from small cars, promises a lot to the car makers.

A reversal of Fortune

A year ago, Ms.Mamta Banerjee took to the streets the protest against the entry of Tata into the West Bengal for its plant at Singur. Now, the time has changed that the Union Minister for Railways in good spirit to fuel her ministry with fresh proposals of inviting automobile manufacturers in the country to initiate the hub and ancillary units at the site and sight of these logistics – railways, from two locations in West Bengal.

Partnering private parties, the Railways has chalked out its plan for constructing 10 auto hubs for transiting the products from the manufacturing units to distributors. The land will be provided by the ministry in which the private players may erect necessary infrastructure. Further developmental facilities will be provided time to time. The Minister is understood to have expressed the state of unemployment and the constraints of her ministry in this regard. In all, the ministry is willing to provide 112,000 acres of land for this purpose and foundation for the first such hub was laid by her at Shalimar near Kolkata.

Six companies including Tata Motors, represented the event and could listen to the flexible mood from the Minister about cheap labor and government back up. This clarion’s call is a contra to what she mulled last year over the acquisition of land in Singur by Tata Motors for its Nano plant.The current volume of transportation in automobiles by railways is 2% and it is projected that the opening of such hubs would yield the increase to 15% by accruing an income of Rs1000 crore per year.

The move is a joint effort, going on for the last two years, between the Railways Ministry and the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers’ Association. Such a move was in the air even before Ms.Mamta became Minister. Transportation of two, three and four-wheelers is the main agenda under this scheme.

M&M looks to buy two-wheeler parts from China

The Indian car giant Mahindra&Mahindra is already on the verge of entering into the two wheeler market and is exploring the aspirations to source Chinese parts. The President of M&M’s two wheeler segment said the talks with the Chinese vendors have already begun, since China is the second largest manufacturer after India.

As of now, M&M has three 125cc scooters – two power scooters called Mahindra Rodeo and Duro, along with Mahindra Flyte. Another motorcycle will be launched next year. All these scooters are in the price range of Rs38300 – Rs41300, striking similarity with Hero Honda Pleasure and TVS Scooty Pep, but lesser than Honda Activa by 5-6 percent and by 8-12% than Suzuki Access. The engine is larger by 12-18%.

M&M believes that the price is strategic and sustainable, even if the Chinese sourcing is done for the two wheelers. The fate about the current models of Mahindra – Nova, Kine, and 4S – is undecided. M&M took over Kinetic Motors in 2008 after Kinetic launched its Flyte a 125-cc. M&M intends to secure its identity as an end-to-end player and the Kinetic models would feed the market on need. The Rodeo is targeted at the youth, Duro is ideal for family ride and Flyte is pro-feminine.

The company has secured a good sale stint – in just 40 days of the launch, 7000 units have been sold on a monthly average. The company’s production capacity is 500000 two-wheelers and the dealer number is 325 (to be increased to 375 by the end of this year). With the take over of Kinetic, some 200 dealers of Kinetic came to the fold of M&M and the rest are dealers of tractors and utility vehicles. The net growth of two wheeler market is around 15% this financial year of which Honda Motorcycles and Scooters India dominated with 53% in scooter segment followed by TVS (21) & Hero Honda(14%) and Suzuki (8%).

The best branded frills for riders

Biking is not at all complete without the perfect Riding Gear! Helmet gives us adequate protection but the rest of the body craves for it! Your knees, knuckles, elbows all beg for extra protection as adrenalin rushes to indicate the same, when you go a little sliding down to hit the road with any of your joints! [more riding gears…]

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A shiny performance from Ford Ikon

The entry-level sedan from Ford, Ikon, secured a slot as the highest number in the mid-size segment, said the report from JD Power Asia Pacific 2009 India. Ford Ikon’s feat is amidst the increasing competition from new faces and clinched the spot with a score of 90PP100 in the study. The score is viewed as a remarkable one in the average rate of 123 PP 100 in the entry level mid-size of Overall New-Vehicle Quality in the country.

The MD and President of Ford India is full of pride that the results speaks the volume of credentials and is a quantum leap reflecting the company’s commitment to performance and world-class quality. This feat is a continuation of the one in which Ikon, along with Endeavor, won top scores in 2009 JD Power Dependability for the entry-level midsize and SUV segments.

The MD assured that Ford will continue to leverage the momentum thus gained to carry on for the new products. Ford Ikon is deemed to be No1 in terms of vehicle quality on comparison with Maruti Swift D’zire (115PP/100) and Tata Indigo (142PP/100) in the segment.

Bajaj to add another bike in its portfolio of Pulsar 150cc

Come December, the Indian roads will look upon a new breed from Bajaj, the country’s most popular bike maker. The new Pulsar 150cc is slated for the release in a month’s time and is expected to number about 10 lakh units of Pulsar range alone including the new one in 2010. Bajaj thus intends to focus more on sporty category and power train. The price is yet to be made known though there are three versions on Pulsar – in 150cc, 180cc and 220cc engines. Pulsar is gracious enough for Bajaj to yield 80% increase in the sales in the last six months. The Q2 of 2009-10 received an average sale figure of 45000 units/month against 25000 units in the whole second half of 2008—09; there is 50% increase in the sports segment alone.

Nano gets another contender

A London-based car company has dared to challenge Nano as the cheapest car. The new car will be 340-cc, two-seater at less than Rs1lakh! In addition, the dealers will also avail a lumpsum margin. The company EcoCa is seeking the Indian counterpart to design and market this car under the same brand. The company is hopeful that the Indian market seems to be lucrative for gaining good margin even at the lowest car.The move comes in the wake of some car makers inviting EcoCa to present some prototype cars with fuel efficiency and safety aspects and in this regard, the company’s top choice is M&M. but there is no word from M&M yet except that every prospect of developing the technology oriented products will be on consideration. EcoCa is concentrating both on domestic markets like India and the global ones.

EcoCa is an initiative with an investment of 8 million pounds under the inspiration of VW Beetle and the car will be built with convertible roof and automatic gearbox to relax from using the gears. The car weighs less 330kg (Nano weighs 635kg) with the strength of ABS plastic for good resistance to heat and chemicals. The car has the fuel efficiency of 27-28 km/lit of petrol (Nano gives 23.6km/lit) under standard test conditions. The car has the optional front airbags and cleared the front clash test in Europe, has the top speed of 70km/h (lower than Nano’s 103km /h).

The production of new chassis and body can be shelled at 24 hours of time under normal production process. The target for this car is 1800 per month to keep the price track. The price will come down further when the production volume increases. The analysts in industry feel optimistic that the Indian market is ideal for low cost cars, meeting the population volume.