Archive for July 12th, 2007

Bajaj Auto Finance to ride on new areas

Pune, Outsourced call centres targeting the personal loan segment and old truck financing are some of the intiatives being taken by Bajaj Auto Finance Ltd (BAFL). Talking to presspersons after the annual general meeting of the company, Mr Dipak Poddar, Managing Director, BAFL, said the company has set up a 75-seat call centre to handle the personal loan segment.

The centre, which became operational from July 10, would initially handle customers who are prompt in repayment, and is targeting the lower end of the market. The ticket price that it was looking at was in the Rs 20,000-50,000 range, he said. Read more

Courtesy:www.indiacar.net

Auto Videos: Top Gear - Chevrolet Corvette Z06

BMW to run on LPG

A German research and development team is planning to build a record-breaking car based on the BMW 1 Series car using an engine which runs on liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).

Tuning firm Hartge in Saarbruecken says the car at the centre of the project “V300+” will be able to top 300 km an hour, making it the fastest LPG-driven car to date. More
Courtesy:economictimes.indiatimes.com

Bajaj Fin goes off beaten track

Pune To offer personal loans, truck finance as demand for two-wheeler loans drop.

A slowdown in demand for motorcycles and the resultant drop in two-wheeler loans have forced Bajaj Auto Finance, a Bajaj Auto group company, to look at personal loans and truck finance.
More
Courtesy:www.indiacar.net

Trend towards smaller SUV’s

Car makers are building a range of mini SUVs (sports utility vehicles) in apparent reaction to growing criticism that 4×4s are too heavy and thirsty for driving conditions in big cities.
“The big and heavy 4×4 is no longer in. The SUV is shrinking to the size of the average compact class with less consumption, emission and space and thus becoming more socially acceptable,” says Nick Margetts of the Jato Dynamics research institute.

However, demand for SUVs worldwide remains fairly strong with Henner Lehne from the CSM market research institute near Frankfurt estimating that there will be about 11 million new SUV registrations worldwide by 2010. More
Courtesy:economictimes.indiatimes.com

Auto funds register highest weekly returns

Mumbai Automobile sector-dedicated schemes posted the highest average weekly return of 3.25 per cent across all categories of funds for the week ended Friday.

Barring gold exchange traded funds, all others ended the week in positive territory.

Auto shares surged since they turned attractive as dealers resorted to value buying, which in turn boosted returns from this sector funds. More
Courtesy:www.indiacar.net

Bajaj may ride Ghosn dream

Nissan Renault boss Carlos Ghosn’s pet $3,000 car project could trigger off a new partnership for Renault in India with Bajaj Auto (BAL). BAL MD Rajiv Bajaj will meet top Renault officials in Paris shortly to discuss a possible partnership.

The small car partnership could be part of a larger alliance between Renault and Bajaj Auto covering commercial vehicles as well. Initial discussions on this front have already begun. When contacted Mr Bajaj refused to comment. Carlos Ghosn has already announced that the combine would develop a $3000 small car using Indian expertise. The car is Renault’s big pitch for global volumes after the Logan and will be positioned below it. More
Courtesy:economictimes.indiatimes.com

‘Bizarre’ Nissan at Ginza

In strictly genetic terms, the Fairlady/Sports was the predecessor to Nissan’s current Z range.

But, back when they first debuted in the late 60s, they were all the rage because they offered an affordable option to the all European sports models that were then available. More
Courtesy:auto.indiatimes.com

The formidable and cheeky successor to the Topolino and the Cinquecento, the Fiat 500 is back

Exactly 50 years after resident genius Dante Giacosa marked the re-ignition of post-war Italy with the bubbly, carefree, popular and much loved (Nuova) 500, It returns. On Thursday, Fiat took the wraps off the new 500, a car that’s been preceded by almost as much hype as we’ve ever seen for a car. This is the third 500 in Fiat’s history, and if the previous two – the first one was the pre-world war Topolino and t he second was also known as a Cinquecento (Italian for 500) – are anything to go by, this one’s going to firmly restore Fiat’s glory days.
More
Courtesy:www.bsmotoring.com

Chevrolet’s Optra Magnum is no cosmetic wonder

Deserted highway. Daybreak. The cool night inhabits our eyelids still, but is fading. Wafting, utterly isolated from the romance, at 120-odd kph, is our metal cocoon. The freshly minted daylight flutters loudly behind it like an unsecured tarp. But the indulgent smile I’m about to allow myself vaporises when I realise that the speedo needle disagrees. It points obstinately at 184 kph and it’s still climbing. Now, I’ve ridden and driven a lot faster before so I know what 184 should feel like. The horizon should feel like a viable destination, my vision should narrow so the old porridge in the cranium can process the info and it should not feel this serene. But the Optra Magnum pays no heed. As long as I have the rightmost pedal buried, the needle continues to climb. How much more of this can it take? More
Courtesy:www.bsmotoring.com


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