News: Indian automotive scene.

[shishirbn]

Carmaker General Motors India rolled out its 1,00,000th Chevrolet Spark from Halol plant. The company said it has also collaborated with REVA Electric Car Company to manufacture electric 'Spark', which it is planning to launch by the end of this year.

GM is also coming out with "The e-Spark" which will be India's first 4-door Passenger Electric Vehicle and will be launched by the end of this year

[shishirbn]

The uptick in the auto segment may be back, but global slowdown has taught auto component firms one key lesson — the need to spread risks and not put all eggs in one basket. If in the past, tier I and II suppliers were gung-ho about the export market, scores of auto component companies have now started seriously evaluating diversification opportunities.Those having made a headway include Bharat Forge, Sundram Fasteners, Wheels India, Shriram Pistons, Lucas TVS, Autotech Industries, India Pistons, Super Auto Forge, Susira, the Mahindras, the Tata Group, Lakshmi Precision Tools, Caparo Fasteners, Sterling Tools, Caparo Engineering and Maini.

[shishirbn]

The Indian subsidiary of the Japanese Nissan Motor Company has taken the first step to export vehicles from its plant near here by shipping out six Micra cars as test consignment to Spain. The company shipped out the cars Saturday.India will be one of the a major production hubs for Nissan Motors as it plans to ship cars made near here to more than 100 countries in Africa, Europe and the Middle East.

[shishirbn]

Farm equipment and engineering goods maker Escorts has plans to launch up to three new tractor models in the next six months, besides expanding its portfolio in the railway business division. Theye have introduced two new tractors of high-horsepower range over last two months and their target is to launch another 2-3 products during the next fiscal. Work is progressing on expanding rolling stock of vestibules, couplers, shock absorbers and other components to the metro and mono rail categories

[shishirbn]

Car maker Toyota Kirloskar Motor today said it may come out with a diesel version of its upcoming compact car, Etios, to make a mark in the Indian small car segment. The company is looking at the Etios as a breakthrough in its India strategy. The company will bring out the petrol hatchback variant of the car with a 1.2 litre engine and the sedan variant with a 1.5 litre engine.

The hatchback will compete with Maruti Suzuki's Swift, Hyundai's i20 petrol and Volkswagen's Polo, the sedan version will be positioned along Maruti's DZire and Tata's Manza. The cars are priced between Rs 4 lakh and Rs 6.75 lakh

[shishirbn]

Engineering and construction major L&T is planning to enter the heavy industrial tyre business in collaboration with Japanese heavy machinery manufacturer Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI). L&T has initiated discussions with MHI to form a joint venture that would manufacture a wide range of heavy industrial tyres in the country,It is understood that this collaboration will perform manufacturing and assembly with support from MHI’s Industrial Machinery Business, Technology & Solutions Division in Hiroshima. It will cater to domestic customers, including high-end models and machines, to produce tyres for heavy-duty construction vehicles

[shishirbn]

As we all know VW polo is most famous and successful in Europe and even has won the car of the year award. Just some months back it has launched polo in india also. With Reva running all over Indian soil as the first and the last electric car, VW also wants a share by pitching its electric version of polo by 2013. they are even planning to launch a whole bunch of electric cars in India. SO now even the electric space is becoming hot. Don't know when other will also catch the wave.

[shishirbn]

A New York teachers 1996 Honda Accord was stolen 3 years ago and she had no hope of getting it back. However, cops recently found the car without the VIN . They were able to track it back to the original owner and the woman got a pleasant shock to see her car updated with V-TEC powerplant and stick shift. Who says thiefs don’t drag race?


See the video for yourself :: Brooklyn Woman Finds Stolen Car Complet ... t" -- WPIX

[shishirbn]

Hennessey Performance Engineering has contracted DiMora Motorcar to be the exclusive distributor in the Middle East and India for the new Venom GT and other vehicles from the company. The Venom GT is based upon the Lotus Elise and combines a high-tech, lightweight British chassis with a American mid mounted 6.2 liter LS9 V8 twin turbo-ed engine from GM. Power will be available in either 725, 1,000 or 1200 horsepower variants (depending on how much you need or how much you can tame). Prices start at $600,000/- Production is limited to just 10 vehicles per year and the company already has orders for 4 Venom GT’s.

[shishirbn]

This news was flashed on all business channels yesterday. Might consider buying out the beleaguered South Korean SUV manufacturer.According to the Korea Economic Daily, M&M recently sent a letter to the management of SsangYong, expressing its desire of buying controlling rights in the cash-strapped firm. The paper did not cite the source of the news.While SsangYong officials were unavailable for comment, M&M officials declined to do so. Interestingly, M&M was in the race to buy a controlling stake in SsangYong in 2003 when its holding company, Daewoo, went bust and creditors put up a 54 per cent stake in the Korean company for sale.M&M, however, later pulled out of the race as it believed that SMC failed to fit into its plans for the international market.M&M was also planning to bring in SsangYong’s seven-seater SUV Rexton to the Indian market, which would have sold alongside the Scorpio, the M&M flagship passenger vehicle.