New Cars & Old Cars Review

The Indian unit of French carmaker Renault said on Tuesday it would set up an independent distribution network in the country, as it
looks to expand its offerings.

Renault will create a nationwide network in the next 30 months, the company said in a statement.

Currently, Renault shares a distribution network with India’s No. 1 utility vehicle and tractor maker Mahindra and Mahindra. More
Courtesy : economictimes.indiatimes.com

India’s car sales rose more than 32 per cent year-over-year in January as demand was boosted by cheap loans and an economic recovery,
an industry group said Tuesday.

Domestic passenger car sales rose to 145,905 units from 110,300 in the corresponding month last year, according to the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM).

Motorcycle sales grew even faster, jumping 43.69 per cent to 650,633 units from 452,809 in January 2008. More
Courtesy : economictimes.indiatimes.com

The country`s largest carmaker, Maruti Suzuki India, said it expects to double its exports to about 1.6 lakh units this fiscal, while it is aiming over 20% growth in its overall sales, reports agency source.

“Last fiscal we exported 80,000 units. We are expecting 100% growth in export this fiscal,“ Maruti Suzuki (Q,N,C,F)* India (MSI) Executive Officer Marketing and Sales Mayank Pareekh told reporters on the sidelines of an AIMA event here. More
Courtesy : indiacar.net

Toyota Motor Corp, which has recalled more than 8 million vehicles around the world for problems with accelerators, has decided to recall its new Prius hybrid sold in Japan to fix a braking software glitch, a Japanese newspaper said on Sunday.

Safety regulators in both the United States and Japan are investigating breaking problems with the Prius cars, Japan’s top-selling car last year and an icon of green design that has lifted the public image of Toyota.

The world’s biggest automaker had already told its car dealers about the braking recall decision, the Yomiuri newspaper said. More
Courtesy : economictimes.indiatimes.com

Ford today formally inaugurated its facility at its Chennai plant that is meant to be turned into �Ford’s global low displacement engines’ hub. The facility will produce both petrol and diesel engines.

The engines that will be produced initially will go into Ford’s small car � the Figo, whose commercial production began today. �The public introduction of the car is a few weeks away,� Mr Micheal Boneham, President and Managing Director, Ford India Pvt Ltd, told journalists here on Friday. More
Courtesy : indiacar.net

Ford India today launched the commercial production of its compact car Figo at its Maraimalai Nagar plant here. Chief Minister M Karunanidhi inaugurated the production of Figo, the company’’s first compact car through which it aims to capture a big slice of the booming small car market.

Ford had signed an MoU with the Tamil Nadu government in September last year, under which it would invest an additional Rs 1,500 crore to expand the facility.
More
Courtesy : indiacar.net

It’s the other extreme of the car market. Away from the mad rush of mass volumes and discounts, this segment thrives on the statements pomp, power, style, speed and the hefty price tags that often range from close to a crore to a whopping Rs 6 crore. And car connoisseurs do not hesitate to write out that fat cheque which many may dismiss as splurging. So, the fight here is more for the finest style statement and the brand than the price.

Welcome to the world of luxury wheels. This is the world of Rolls Royce, Bentley, Lamborghini, Mercedes AMG, Maybach, BMW and Porsche — fancied by almost everybody but affordable only for a few, many of whom are discussed as much for their high-profile personality as for the cars they own. And while recession may have dampened spirits, the pockets are still deep enough to indulge, as is evident from the way many of these models are sold out even before they are launched. More
Courtesy : economictimes.indiatimes.com

Before the end of next month, Ford Motor Company’s ‘Figo’ — the sub-B category car — will hit the Indian roads, triggering further competition in the compact car segment that currently generates over 70% of the country’s total new car sales. Figo, the sixth new Ford model to be introduced by the US automaker, was flagged off by Tamil Nadu chief minister M Karunanidhi on Friday at the Maraimalainagar facilty near Chennai.

Nearly 90% of the $500-million investment by Ford has been completed though there are still some parts to be added in the new 40,000-sq-m flexible engine plant that will quadruple the production capacity to 2.50 lakh engines a year. Incremental investments would be made as and when necessary, Ford vice-president, operations (Asia Pacific and Africa) Raj Nair told reporters. More
Courtesy : economictimes.indiatimes.com

Auto major, Mahindra and Mahindra (M&M) is likely to roll out its commercial vehicle Mahindra Navistar from the greenfield manufacturing facility at Chakan in Maharashtra soon, a top company official said here today.

“After Maxximo, Mahindra Navistar is likely to be rolled out from our facility at Chakan (spread across 650 acres), where all the expansion plans have been lined up,” M&M Senior Vice President Sales and Customer Care Automotive Arun Malhotra said.
Read more
Courtesy : indiacar.net

Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) is understood to be in discussions with Italian and British two-wheeler players to develop premium bikes for the Indian market. Top officials close to the development said Triumph and Moto Guzzi are some of the companies that M&M has held talks with.

M&M had recently moved into the two-wheeler space by acquiring Pune based Kinetic and is planning to launch products on its own in the mid-segment of the motorcycle market. However, the company is keen to have a global tie-up for the hi-end of the market which is very image-conscious. When contacted, senior company officials declined to divulge details of the hi-end two wheeler players. Read more
Courtesy : economictimes.indiatimes.com