Review - Mitsubishi Pajero

I had not even reached puberty, was rather far from it, when I first truly understood the meaning of the much famous phrase for lovebirds – “going weak in the knees”. The feeling of warmth in my heart, having that mesmerized expression in my eyes, feeling lost in our own little world when I used to be with her. Heck yes, I was in love! I remember my mom castigating me for not being like the other boys and keeping home to play with the so-called boys’ toys (read Hot Wheels and He-Mans and Supermans and...), instead I used to be with her, most of the time that I could afford.

Review - Volvo S80

You see, I am besotted by Yamahas. The R1, R6 and MT01 are machines that – I am sure – you would kill your darling mommy-in-law for. Okay, you would kill your mother-in-law even without a reason, but you get the point!  I’ve even had the pleasure of enjoying a Yamaha Waverunner once, and whatever little time I managed on the damn thing, I was screaming with pleasure. Why, you would ask, am I talking about Yamaha in Volvo S80’s review? Well, that’s because I have reasons. All 315 of them, in fact!

Review - Mercedes Benz M-Class (ML 320 CDI)

The moment it was fixed, I immediately decided that the first thing the Mercedes Benz ML 320 CDI will be subjected to is something called ‘girlfriend-approved’ test. You see, my lady – she detests whatever I love under the motoring umbrella. She likes cutesy hatchbacks like the Zen Estilo. Me? I hate it. From the bottom of my heart. To the core. Don’t, not even for a moment, think that I hate small cars. I love them. But the Zen Estilo? No thank you, I’m better off on a bunch of berries.

A train that never stops - concept train from China

I was forwarded this video and think that the concept is really cool. Sorry for the language of the video being Chinese, but I am certain you guys will be able to understand the concept and working principle of the concept train easily.

 

Iron Man 2 - as good as it gets!

Iron Man 2 is making waves. Have not watched this movie yet, and can't wait to watch it! Check out the teaser.

Costs a bomb - if only you don't care.

This was an eye-opener. For her. My friend owns a six-year old, 70,000km run Hyundai Santro and she’d committed the worst sin that a proper petrol-head can ever imagine. It is so sinister that even in the book-of-automotive-sins, it exists as a highlighted item. She took the car to a local workshop and got it serviced from a local mechanic because Hyundai’s authorised workshop was not accepting cars for service for a couple of days and she was in some sort of a hurry. It cannot go all that wrong that the car will not run, she thought. And she was right to some extent. The car was indeed running; only that you’d not feel like driving it – it was a mess.

Mitsubishi unveils the new Outlander

HM-Mitsubishi Motors, one of India’s leading auto manufacturers, unveiled the Outlander 2010 for the India market, today. The much-awaited Outlander 2010 is a comfortable, high-performance car, which lends itself to business purposes, as well as leisure driving. The new Outlander was unveiled by Mr. Vijay Kumar, Executive Vice President and SBU Head – Chennai Car Plant, Hindustan Motors Ltd. in presence of Mr. Rohit Bal, one of India’s leading fashion designers and other senior company officials.

KBB announces video car review contest

Kelley Blue Book, the leading provider of new- and used-car information, announces a new video car review contest offering a grand prize of $10,000 and the opportunity to play Kelley Blue Book Editor for a day. Anyone with a video camera and an interesting take on a car of their choice is encouraged to step up to the plate and show the Kelley Blue Book editors a video review of two minutes or less. A panel of judges will judge entries based on creativity, the ability to capture the essence of the vehicle being reviewed, cool and unusual visuals, overall presentation, professionalism, and 'general awesomeness.'

Harley Davidson establishes Indian corporate headquarter

Harley-Davidson India today inaugurated its India corporate headquarters in Gurgaon. The guest of honor, U.S. Ambassador to India Timothy J. Roemer, opened the passageway to the new office entrance in true Harley-Davidson form – by revving the engine of a 2010 Fatboy.  The grand opening event, hosted by Anoop Prakash, Managing Director, saw the attendance of a broad array of industry leaders, enthusiasts and officials.

Audi sales show northward march

Audi, the German luxury car manufacturer, has continued its positive growth in 2010 with an impressive growth of 69% in April 2010. Audi India's countrywide vehicle sales in April this year grew to 189 units as compared to 112 units sold in April 2009.
                                                    
“Our strong performance this month is a testament of the confidence our customers have in our brand. We recently completed three years in the Indian market and are committed to introducing progressive new products with unparalleled levels of luxury, comfort and sportiness. This year, we will continue to focus on enhancing the customer experience through exciting new product launches and superior standards of service,” said Benoit Tiers, Managing Director, Audi India.

Vishnu Mathur appointed Director General of SIAM

SIAM is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. Vishnu Mathur as Director General of SIAM.  Vishnu succeeds Mr. Dilip Chenoy who after a successful stint with SIAM moves on to take responsibility as the CEO of the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC). Vishnu graduated from Delhi University and joined the Automotive Component Manufacturers Association in 1994 after working in CII from 1980. Vishnu, as Executive Director ACMA, has been involved in the development of the Automotive Mission Plan and is also a member of various committees related to the automotive industry. His work in ACMA included consensus building within industry and also promoting the growth and development of the industry.

Early launch for Nissan's electric car, Leaf, in Hawaii

Due to Hawaii’s strong commitment to clean energy and a recognized leader in the introduction of electric vehicles (EV), Nissan North America, Inc. has selected Hawaii to be one of its initial launch markets in the U.S. beginning in early 2011. Nissan and the State of Hawaii are working towards a partnership to promote the development of an electric vehicle network. As part of the collaboration, Nissan has committed to make the highly anticipated all-electric Nissan LEAF available to Hawaii consumers.

Roll Royce Ghost design application available on App Store

Rolls-Royce Motor Cars announced today that its first app for iPhone and iPod touch is now available on the App Store. The app allows potential customers and enthusiasts to configure their own Ghost, the new model from Rolls-Royce. The Rolls-Royce Ghost App allows users to choose from many thousands of design combinations available to Ghost customers at Rolls-Royce Motor Cars dealerships. Available exterior options include twelve standard paint finishes, three different wheel styles, visible exhausts as well as a Silver Satin bonnet, an option exclusive to Rolls-Royce Ghost.

SIAM-SAFE Annual Convention 2010 - Time for action

Annual Convention of Society for Automobile Fitness & Environment (SAFE) - an initiative of the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) - was organised at CII, Chandigarh today. It was organised in association with Ministry of Road Transport & Highways, Transport Department, Government of Haryana and Chandigarh Traffic Police. The main theme of this year’s annual convention was ‘Growth with Responsibility: Ensuring Safety on Roads’.

Hispania Racing appoints Christian Klien as reserve driver

Hispania Racing F1 team – the first Spanish team to race in Formula One – has not really enjoyed the time they would’ve wished for in the ongoing Formula One season. But, overcoming troubled times and financial concerns, Hispania Racing F1 team is here and battling hard with other new teams into their debut year in Formula One. Taking another step forward, Hispania Racing F1 team announced that it has signed Austrian Christian Klien as their second reserve and test driver. Sakon Yamamoto is the other reserve driver.

A tough decision. Which SUV fits the bill?

A friend of mine – Sanket – was connecting with me after a long time and we discussed about the common longing for classic and retro automotive shapes we share. And that made me get back to the assignment that I’d deferred for a later time tagging it as a work-in-progress. I was working on two concept designs – two cars essentially. One was to be a proper muscle car that would also handle well, for a surprising change, and the other one – a proper 4x4 SUV. When I worked out the cost, I realized it would make sense to either wait a while or get one of those Scorpios or Safaris. I decided to wait. I am still waiting. You see, the problem is that if I get down to building it, I am going to go beyond 15 lakh or so, which I cannot afford.

Review - Volkswagen Jetta

I just loved the Volkswagen Passat. I really did. I loved it as much as I don’t love the Jetta. Mark my words here – I’ve not said that I hate the Jetta. But no matter how hard I try, I just can’t get myself to like it immensely. Whoever says that Volkswagen Jetta has an understated air of elegance to the way it looks is wrong. Revoltingly wrong. These terms sound good for the Passat, because it really has an elegantly subtle look doing business on its physical form. But the Jetta, plainly, is not even eyebrow-raising boring. There are no lines, no sexy curves anywhere in sight, nothing.

Web Marketing Association to name best automobile website in 14th Annual WebAward Competition

The Web Marketing Association announces the call for entries for its 14th annual international WebAward Competition for Web site development at www.webaward2010.org. The WebAwards is the standards-defining competition that sets benchmarks for 96 industries, including automobile web sites, based on the seven criteria of a successful Web site. The deadline for automobile websites to enter to be judged is May 25, 2010.

Which is the best looking small car in India?

I was talking to a friend of mine who thinks she is ready enough to shell out some of her hard-earned cash on a small car. We veered off into an elaborate discussion about every small car there is. Now that she has decided which one to go for, nothing will make her get double-minded again about her decision – nothing at all, I am sure of that. However, amidst all this, a majority of our discussion centred on looks of a car. “So which one, according to you, is the best looking small car there is?” she asked. And there resulted a moment of two of silence. Even I was left wondering. And then we discussed about this pretty seriously.

Record sales for VW in Apr 2010

Volkswagen India clocked a record sale of 1489 in April 2010. On a month on month basis Volkswagen Jetta clocked a growth of 150% and the Passat 85% in April 2010 as compared to April 2009. On a year on year basis Volkswagen Jetta clocked a growth of 43% and the Passat 86% in Jan- Apr 2010 as compared to Jan – Apr 2009. The total FBU (Fully Built Unit) sales including the Volkswagen Iconic New Beetle for the period of Jan-Apr 2010 were 226 and for the SUV Touareg were 69 for the same period.

Nano to cost more

That’s a lot of action in one day! The world’s cheapest car – Tata Nano – though still retaining the tag of being the cheapest, will not be as cheap anymore. With the introduction of Bharat Stage IV (BS-IV) emission norm, the entire automotive industry is pacing up and down to get their products meet the latest emission norm set by the government. Incidentally, India’s emission norm standards are one of the toughest in the world now. Tata Motors has also upgraded its models for BS-IV, including Nano. The price increase is expected to be close to Rs 2,000 or thereabouts. BS-IV has been introduced in 13 cities till now while the rest of the country will fall in the BS-III band. Considering that Nano has a strong market in non-metros and tier-2 and tier-3 cities, the BS-III Nano will do business in those areas whereas in metro cities, the Nano will see a shift to BS-IV. The expected net increase in cost of  a BS-IV compliant Nano will be between Rs 5,000 to Rs 7,000 by the time it reaches the dealer.

China gaining world's attention

This just came in from Pulkit – contributing editor to Motoring & Beyond – and he is quite bang on to analyse the importance China has been getting as an automotive market. People are saying that India too is coming up in a big way, but there is still so much more to do. China is up there primarily because of its infrastructural advancements, as also the higher purchasing capacity of people. In fact, Pulkit cited an example that would put everything in perspective for the entire world – Ford’s head for Asia was asked by a bubbly Indian reporter during the Auto Expo to compare Indian market with the Chinese one. To give an idea of the size of the Chinese market, the Ford guy told quite nonchalantly that Ford alone sold more cars in China than the entire Indian car industry put together. We’ve got a long way to go, and infrastructure will lead the way – now if only something were to be done about that!