'Pure Fascination' in Kochi - Mercedes Benz unveils new S- Class

(L-R) Mr. Debashish Mitra, Director of Sales and Marketing, Mercedes-Benz India along with Mr. S Sivakumar, Managing Director, Rajasree Motors Pvt. Ltd. at the unveiling of "Pure Fascination" in Kochi

Mercedes-Benz today set off a high-octane start to the year for the South Indian luxury car market by bringing the "Pure Fascination" to Kochi. This theme was highlighted during its participation at the Auto Expo 2010 reflected the company’s strategy in the near future for Indian market. On display, were the seven models launched by the company since Janaury, 2010. The new S- Class was also unveiled for the first time while the M-Class, E-Class & GL-Class models made its first public appearance in Kochi.

 

The Director of Sales and Marketing of Mercedes-Benz India Mr. Debashis Mitra in a statement said, "So far, we have registered a good start to the year 2010 and February sales have been encouraging. We started the year with the presentation of the SLS AMG at the Auto Expo 2010. In the past eight weeks we continued this product excitement with 10 new product introductions. We have reinforced the Mercedes lifestyle quotient with the 10th edition of the Mercedes-Trophy while our association with Manish Arora ensures exciting fashion evenings with his unique couture "Fascination Collection" inspired by Mercedes. With our network expansion and upgradation program, we are now present in 25 cities with more than 50 touch points, the largest for any luxury player in India. A few projects are remaining, e.g. a 12-car display showroom in Hyderabad, a 16-car display showroom in Chennai and a 26-car display brand center in South Delhi. These will be finished within the next few months and will set standards in their segment. We are looking forward to an exciting 2010 and markets like Kochi are the growth engines of the emerging Indian luxury landscape."

Ford Figo Launch on 9th March in New Delhi!

The small car from Ford which was showcased at the Auto Expo held in New Delhi this year, is all set to be launched officially in the country on the 9th of March, 2010. Michael Boneham, president and MD of Ford India, and Joe Hinrichs, group VP, Ford Motor Company would be gracing the occasion at Hotel Taj Palace in New Delhi.

 

The five door hatchback will don a 1.2 litre Rocam engine(Duratec) or 1.4 litre diesel engine (Duratorq) and will come in four variants common to both the petrol and diesel options - Base (LXI), Mid (EXI), Upper-Mid (SXI) and a high end variant called the Platinum. Figo will be available in seven colours - Diamond white, Panther Black, Moondust Silver, Chille, Sea Grey, Squeeze and Colorad Red.

Prices

1.2L Duratec LXi         – Rs. 3.6 lakhs

1.2L Duratec EXi         – Rs. 3.85 lakhs

1.2L Duratec SXi         – Rs. 4.20 lakhs

1.2L Duratec Titanium – Rs. 4.50 lakhs

1.4L TDCi LXi             – Rs. 4.5 lakhs

1.4L TDCi EXi             – Rs. 4.75 lakhs

1.4L TDCi SXi             – Rs. 5.15 lakhs

1.4L TDCi Titanium     – Rs. 5.45 lakhs

Karun Chandok might join F1 this season! 2010!

Chennai born Karun Chandok who was once titled "The most promising Asian", is all set to make his F1 dream come true. For Karun, the racing blood runs in the family with his father the legendary Vicky Chandok and grandfather Indu Chandok, both being ace drivers of their times. And now, Karun is carrying the family's racing heritage forward.

Karun started racing in 2000 and ultimately joined GP2 in 2007 where he did quite well to let the whole world and especially the F1 teams know his standard of driving. He was presented with the ‘Best Driving Style’ award in 2008. But the last season (2009) wasn’t too great for him. So Karun is all set to make a comeback to racing and this can’t get better than this...

He is about to sign a deal with Spanish Campos Racing founded by former F1 driver Adrian Campos. Bruno Senna,nephew of late Aryton senna will be Karun's team mate if the deal is finalized. Bruno shared the team space with Karun in 2008 GP2 season too. Campos racing's team principal Collin Kolles is going to rename the team once they get a position on the finalized 2010 F1 grid. Karun's F1 dream is slowly turning into reality which means that he will soon get a well deserved place at the pinnacle of motorsport. The team hasn’t done any testing in the pre- season. If things go in the right direction they will be present on the grid on March 14th in Bahrain.

With Narian eyeing Nascar this year and Karun thinking of securing a place in F1, the country will soon get the much needed and deserved recognition in this fast paced world of racing.

Nano EV revealed in Geneva Motor Show

The world’s cheapest car is now on its venture to become the world’s cheapest and greenest car. The Electric version of the Tata Nano was revealed by Tata Motors at the Geneva Motor Show. Cosmetically, the Nano EV will carry the skin of the regular Nano. But within the skin will be an electrically driven heart that can easily accelerate from stand still to 100 kmph in just 10 seconds. The battery run motor when fully charged can commute an entire range of about 160 km.

Present at the launch were Mr. Ravi Kant (Vice Chairman), Prakash Telang (Managing Director – India Operations) and Carl-Peter Forster (Group CEO). Mr. Ravi Kant stated, ‘Electrification will be an integral part of our initiative to launch environment-friendly vehicles. The Indica Vista EV will be introduced in select European countries, beginning this year. We will progressively introduce electric vehicles in all relevant markets.’
 
Earlier, when the Tata Nano was introduced, it helped the economically backward to afford a car. After this, the Tata Nano EV will now help keep the environment green. In a country like ours with a high rate of rise in pollution, a car like the Tata Nano EV would prove to be a gift to the environment. So let’s sit back and hope that the Nano EV makes its to our good old Indian streets.


Images: India Automotive

Last 20 Limited Edition Gran Turismo from BMW

BMW India, who recently launched the limited edition of the new Gran Turismo at the Auto Expo this year in New Delhi, has already hit the sales figure of 80 units till date. The company's target is set on selling 100 units of such kind in the country which means only 20 more units remain up for grabs!

The BMW Gran Turismo housed with a 3.0 diesel engine is priced at Rs. 6,300,000 and is available as a Completely Built-up unit (CBU). On the occasion, Mr. Peter Kronschnabl, President, BMW India said, 'The BMW Gran Turismo is a completely new vehicle concept, adding a unique and distinctive model variant to BMW’s product line-up. The BMW Gran Turismo combines the benefits of a prestige sedan, a modern Sports Activity Vehicle, and a classic Gran Turismo (Grand Touring). Only the elite few in India will have the opportunity to own one of the 100 exclusive limited edition BMW Gran Turismos.

GM India Report Record Sales

Riding high on the success of the popular Chevrolet brand, General Motors India has registered a record growth of 126 % in sales in February 2010, compared to the corresponding period last year. It sold 11,111 units in February 2010 against 4,921 units in February last year recording an all time high in monthly sales. This is the first time that the company has crossed ten thousand units sales in a month since the inception of the company in India in 1996.

The Febuary 2010 sales comprise of 4431 units of Chevrolet Beat, 3412 units of Chevrolet Spark, 1592 units of Chevrolet Tavera, 726 units of Chevrolet Cruze, 420 units of Aveo, 411 units of Aveo U-VA, 98 units of Chevrolet Optra and 21 units of Chevrolet Captiva. The growth was primarily driven by the much sought after Chevrolet Beat and the Spark.

Commenting on the record performance, Mr. P Balendran, Vice-President, GM India said, “Introduction of best-in-segment cars from the 300 series, increase in customer outreach through distribution network, our unique value proposition like Chevrolet Cashless Ownership offer and our promise to deliver quality and performance are the factors that have led the impressive sales. This consistent sales growth demonstrates customer's belief and confidence in Chevrolet brand. We are pleased to see such robust growth for all our car lines and we believe these world class products will further propel the Chevrolet brand in the market", he said.

The company is now in the process of further ramping up its production by adding the third shift at its Halol plant and second shift at Talegaon plant to meet the increased demand of its products. The company is also rapidly expanding its sales and service network to support the market demand of its cars. It intends to take the network to 300 sales points and an equal number of authorized service outlets by the end of this year from the current 206 sales points and 200 authorised service outlets across the country.

New Wagon-R will be launched in April 2010

Just a week ago, Maruti Suzuki was in news, following a recall of over one lakh A- stars to replace the fautly fuel gaskets and O- rings. And even in this dissappointing time, Maruti Suzuki is all set to get the new face lifted version of the Wagon R, which is slated to take its first public bow in April, 2010 and phase out the existing one. This revamped version will be housed with the new K- series, 1 litre engine which will be in line with the Bharat Stage IV emission norms. The hatchback will also don new headlights with pilot light and two fog lamps. The new Wagon R will come along with a price tag of Rs. 3.3 lakh.