New Cars & Old Cars Review

Renault-Nissan strongly hinted on Tuesday that it might partner with commercial vehicle major Ashok Leyland (ALL) to produce a new passenger car which will be positioned between its ultra-low-cost car project (ULC) with Bajaj and the v-platform ‘Micra’ car. ( Watch )

The alliance has been engaged in discussion with the ALL team, among other partners, earlier in the day. Renault-Nissan chairman Carlos Ghosn said his company is working with ALL on the evolution of some common projects. He is in Chennai to inaugurate Renault-Nissan’s maiden greenfield car plant in India at Oragadam on Wednesday. More
Courtesy: economictimes.indiatimes.com

Homegrown auto major Tata Motors on Monday said its global sales increased by 59 percent in February to 89,768 units on robust demand for both commercial and passenger vehicles.

Sales of luxury brands from Jaguar Land Rover were at 17,197 units during February, up 60 percent from the same period last year, the company said in a statement.

It said total passenger vehicles sales stood at 47,108 units in February 2010, a growth of 50 percent from the corresponding month last year. More
Courtesy: indiacar.net

Toyota Motor Corp is slashing its output of the Prius hybrid model by 10% starting this month due to a slowdown in sales from a peak last year, a source at a group company told Reuters on Monday.

Toyota, the world’s biggest automaker, had been building a combined 50,000 Priuses a month at two Japanese factories since the third-generation model debuted last May. More
Courtesy: economictimes.indiatimes.com

Fiat plans to roll out over 60,000 cars from its Ranjangaon plant near Pune by end-March 2011. This will be twice the number of cars expected to be produced this fiscal.

The company’s initial projections were 70,000 cars during 2009-10 but the global slowdown last year affected a whole lot of potential export markets from India. Consequently, numbers had to be revised downwards. More
Courtesy: indiacar.net

Come April, vehicle owners may have to shell out a little extra for tyres. With natural rubber prices northbound, tyre makers are
mulling a price hike to improve margins. While companies such as Ceat and Birla Tyres have decided to hike prices by 2-5%, others like Apollo Tyres and JK Tyre are closely tracking the market before taking a final call on the quantum of increase. If tyre makers indeed go in for a price hike next month, it will be the second successive hike this year. Tyre companies had increased prices in January. More
Courtesy: economictimes.indiatimes.com

The second edition of the Bangalore International Automotive Expo (BIAE) 2010, which commenced here this week, is proving to be major draw for thousands of automobile lovers here.

The five-day Auto Expo will exhibit some exotic brands of cars and bikes from across the world.

Karnataka Chief Minister B.S.Yeddyurappa inaugurated the Bangalore International Automotive Expo (BIAE) 2010 at the Palace Grounds on Thursday (March 11). More
Courtesy: indiacar.net

Ford has just launched the Figo, its first small car. Does this mean going ahead the Figo will have more siblings because you can’t win the small car race with one model?

We are really excited with the reception the Figo is receiving. This is a crucial product for us. Clearly, this is another proof point for everybody of our commitment to the Indian customers. So, we will see more and more Ford products here. As for a sibling…that will come as fast as we can bring them in. More
Courtesy: economictimes.indiatimes.com

Tata Nano was launched with great fanfare as a 100,000-rupee (2,200-dollar) vehicle — a round number that neatly encapsulated its status as the world’s cheapest car.

But analysts say parent group Tata and its chairman Ratan Tata will struggle to keep the jellybean-shaped vehicle on sale at this level due to the rising costs of raw materials, labour and new higher taxes.

Described as India’s “People’s Car,” the Nano is pitched at the country’s aspiring middle-classes, many of whom currently travel on two wheels but are looking to upgrade. More
Courtesy: indiacar.net

Kolkata-based Vibgyor Allied Industries Ltd’s flagship company, Vibgyor Vehicles, is planning to set up second two-wheeler manufacturing unit in Dankuni in West Bengal, a top company official said in Mumbai.

“We have an existing manufacturing unit at Dhulagori plant near Howrah and setting up another unit at Dankuni in West Bengal which will be operational by June this year,” vice president of the company Mrigen Banerjee sais after the launch of its vehicles in Mumbai.
More
Courtesy: economictimes.indiatimes.com

TVS Motor Company on Thursday brought the country’s first auto-clutch motorcycle ‘TVS Jive’ to the north Indian market by launching the vehicle here and said it eyes per-month sales of up to 20,000 units in the region.

TVS Motor Company General Manager (Sales) S Ram Mohan told reporters the Jive is set to transform the definition of city commuting with convenience being the focus. More
Courtesy : economictimes.indiatimes.com