Last week Rolls Royce launched the much talked about ‘Ghost’ super-luxury car, through its Mumbai dealership – Navnit Motors. The ‘Rolls Royce for everyday use’ is what the carmaker defines the Ghost as (sure!), is priced at Rs. 2.5-crore – quite economical, should you compare it to its elder sibling, the Phantom, which itself attracts a price tag of Rs. 5-crore. The launch comes in after almost a week of the Ghost’s launch in Delhi. And guess what, as the launch function was underway in Mumbai, the Delhi showroom had already accepted as many as 60 bookings for the Ghost – that’s the exact number of this model that Rolls Royce had allocated for India! Is our country progressing or what!?
A testimony to this fact comes straight from Collin Kelly’s (Asia Pacific Regional Director, Rolls Royce) mouth, as he was quotes “India will become one of the most important markets for the Ghost, as it is for Phantom in the Asia Pacific region. Rolls-Royce’s rich history in India, the brand’s return to the country in 2005 and strong economic growth has ensured that our business here has developed steadily.” The car, like most other Rolls Royce models will be made to order and for India the deliveries will commence by Q2 2010. With the allocated number of Ghosts for India already exhausted, Rolls Royce may soon need to jack up the production to meet the increasing demand in our progressing country!
Volkswagen recently announced the launch of its trademark car Beetle alongside its SUV Touareg. The cars are a little more expensive than their close competitors as they are brought in as CBU's to the country. However they are very elegant and special to drive, and most importantly they are made by VW which in itself adds much value to the machine.
The beetle costs just over 20 lakhs (ex-showroom delhi) and the Touareg around 52 lakhs.
Toyota Motor Corporation announced the unveiling of the concept model of its compact car, for the Indian markets to take place next month at the annual Auto Expo show to be held in the capital, along with its hybrid variant, the Toyota Prius.
Toyota's Indian counterpart, Toyota Kirloskar Motor Pvt Ltd, will start the compact car's production in December, next year at its second plant which is being built in Bangalore. TKM Deputy Managing Director Sandeep Singh said, "Both hatchback and sedan version of concept vehicle of the compact car will be showcased at Auto Expo in New Delhi from January 5th to 11th." "Production will start by December 2010. First year production plan is 70,000" he added.
In eleven year's of Toyota's existence in India, this compact car's project is believed to be the most ambitious and the company is betting big on this initiative to become a volume player. TKM will also be showcasing its hybrid variant, the Toyota Prius at the same event in the capial. "Prius, we are going to display and you can say we are talking about launch of the Prius", Singh said.
When asked about the price tag which will accompany the Prius, Mr. Singh declined to give any details. However, he said that the company is striving hard to convince the Government in granting some concession on duty for Toyota's Prius.