Motoring 2.0

Toyota Prius Will Meet Honda Insight at Paris Motor Show

Toyota recently announced their hybrid vehicle,Prius. Before the dust settling,their arch rival Honda announcedtheir hybrid version 'Insight'. Honda Insight will be displayed in Paris Motor Show, Oct-2-19.

Honda said, this five door-five passenger vehicle is extremely light to handle and offers a pleasure drive.This hybrid's primary fuel is gasoline and supplemented with battery,for extra power requirements.Other technical details are yet to be known.Honda claims significant weight reduction of this unit to enhance fuel efficiency.

Honda aim to sell 200000 units globally, including Japan,Europe,US. For more details stay tuned.

Karun Chandok To Drive Force India?

Vijay Mallya expressed his confidence in giving Karun Chandok a chance to drive Force India formula one team.Mr.Mallya categorically said Giancarlo Fisichella will be continuing in Force India, in year 2009 too.
Karun, 24 at this young age holds two support series win at GP2 can expect a call from Force India, down the line.Thus he could be the second Indian formula one driver.

Mr.Mallya was equally concerned about his team performance in this season. He narrated Force India's 2009, game plan as well.Force One is developing their all new vehicle for 2009 season.

If negotiations went right Force India team will be driving a Ferrari powered machine.We wish all the best to Force India team.

Premier Readies Envy For Tata Magic

Tata introduced 'Magic' the passenger version of Tata Ace. Magic does wonders for Tata since it's launch.Magic score well in passenger markets in rural and urban sector.Today we noticed the first rival of Magic,the yet to be named vehicle being tested.Here first glimpses of this vehicle first time in web.

The vehicle looks very similar to a Maruti Omni,similar frontal designs and dimensions.But the roof looks bit elevated to give sufficient head room.The newbie looks better than Omni,but we have to wait to see the engine and transmission details.

The logo has been removed(Clever Premier Guys), but the empty logo location is sufficient to identify the makers as 'Premier'.Officially Premier has not yet disclossed any details.

It seems yet another segment getting hotter..

GPS Technology Is Not For India?

We Indians always exhibit the tendency to imitate west without any reason.But we don't have any clue of very nominal usage of Global Positioning System(GPS) in India.In western coutries GPS has been employed extensively in transportation sector to wildlife protection.

GPS have been used for route maps,pedestrian guide,vehicle tracking systems,speed monitoring systems etc.At present we have a handful of mobile hand sets from all leaders and service providers supports GPS,but ironically a fractional pie has been using this technique.

The application like truck fleet monitoring may require continuous efforts to convince fleet owners. But the educated flocks also equally maintain the distance from GPS services.

We feel the unawareness of prospective customers and lack of efforts from all stake holders is the reason for less popularity of GPS service.We may see sudden sudden surge in recent days.

Mahindra Outperforms Maruti In JDPower SSI -2008

JDPower Asia Pacific Sales Satisfaction Survey(SSI)-2008 was out on 25th Aug-08.JDPower SSI 2008 witnessed head rolling of many,Skoda remained at top spot with 799(797,figures in bracket indicates 2007 score).Ford climbed four positions from sixth to second with score 792(780),Mahindra with 782 remained at third position even though they lost seven points, and shares this position with two Japanese majors Honda and Toyota.

Maruti scored 775(790) lost its second place to Ford,had to come down two steps.Hyundai with 743 and Tata with 745 remained below the industry average of 767points.General Motors, score 766 this year figured under industry average.

Its worth to mention Skoda improved their score this year also,but as Indian company Mahindra beats all its counterparts.The score is in 1000 points basis,still 200 points remaining,.

Speed Breaker That Made For India

Speed breakers in Indian roads are inspiration for many drivers to accelerate the vehicle and enjoy funny ride.Now China has developed the ultimate speed breakers,to stop flying drivers at any cost.China's ShanXi province authority installed this speed breakers after suffering enough hassles.

They constructed this Ultimate Speed breakers, in the middle of Jing Zhuang highway. This speed breakers have caused many accidents due to immediate deceleration,but authorities are comfortable with that. Even this causes major scratches to cars,heavy traffic jams, but China is happy to enjoy the benefits from this.

Now we hope you too agree with us,its a must wanted item for Indian roads too...
[Source:- www.asiaweirednews.com]

European Grand Prix - Felipe Massa Did It In Style

Felipe Massa won European Grand Prix held at Valencia’s street in style, He kept the lead from the starting to end of the race. He out done Lewis Hamilton of Vodafone McLaren-Mercedes and Robert Kubica of BMW Sauber F1 Team, they forced to be in second and third place respectively.

With this win Felip’s could reach the total score of 60, celebrated his 100th race.But Felip’s this performance couldn’t push him beyond Lewis Hamilton’s 70 points. Kimi Räikkönen, is in third place on 57 points.

Ferrari had a day of mixed feelings as Felipe could emerge as winner his team mate Kimi Räikkönen, couldn’t do well. Neither his start nor his finish was good, to worsen the situation, after second pit stop, he left the stop before his mechanic Pietro could move away from the car. That caused a minor fracture in his left foot. Still Kimi can do wonders in remaining six races.

Intelligent Seat Belt Yet Another First From Nissan

Recently we had reported Nissan's new addition to their technology gallery,accelerator which stop undisciplined driver from unwanted acceleration.Last week a new entrant joined this gallery,Nissan displayed 'Intelligent Seat Belt' for their coupe series.

In their technology presentation meeting,Nissan displayed this latest development in vehicle safety system. With the help of intelligent display system the seat belt will automatically pop up as soon as the driver closes the door and will retract the belt after engaging the buckle.

Also this system will incline the seat forward while driver taking the seat thus help driver to grab seat belt easily.Intelligent Seat belt will be commercially available in market.Seems Nissan will go to any extent to save the driver's life.
[Source:-www.newlaunches.com]

Facebook Car Maker's Viral Market Place

Social networking sites like Facebook,Orkut,Linked In have become a new channel for automobile companies also.These platforms were used by techbolgs and geeks who have huge fan base following them.Now automobile makers across the world have been looking to social networking sites.

If you are a Facebook fan you might have come across many groups dedicated to automobiles.But companies like Fiat and Tata Nano have been created official face groups in Facebook.Fiat formed their group to promote and interact their little wonder Fiat 500 and have very active fan base of 1500 .If you would like to join you can do it here
Tata Nano the Indian little wonder is relatively new entrant to Facebook also has 125 members around the world.But the group is not than active when comparing with it's Italian counter part.Reason is obvious we are not yet ready to accept such high end viral marketing techniques.If you would like to join Tata Nano at Facebook you can do it here

Road Safety Who Is Resposnsible?

Road accidents have become our routine news.But we may not be sure who is responsible for road accidents.The death toll in India due to road accidents in 15times more than that of western countries.In 2007, the death count was 100000 in Indian roads.

We think this is high time to address this issue,Its impossible to eradicate road accidents 100%. As per Maharashtra PWD,the major causes of accidents is broadly divided in to four categories,
1. Defect of the vehicle:- The defects occurs in a running vehicle like breakage of axles,wheels coming out may cause accidents in a running vehicle.
2. Error of Drivers :- All drivers are equally responsible for road accidents as wrong side overtaking,exceeding speed limits, sleeping at wheels.
3. Environment around road :- Errors of other fellow drivers may cause accident,because of distractions like bullock carts,pedestrians.
4. Bad roads:- This also contribute a significant 10%.

Now some general trends observed in 2007,According Mumbai Mirror,
1. Causes of 60% accidents are over speeding and results in 64% of fatalities.
2. Overloaded vehicle comes second in contribution
3. Poor driving skills come third.
4. Drunk driving causes 5% accidents.
5. Rural ares causes to 34% of accidents,but causes 64% of deaths.

The picture is clear now,how to take care of this situation? well we have some suggestions,
1. Be extra cautious at wheels, be alert while driving,look for other drivers actions.
2. Overloading and Overcrowding, a strict 'NO'
3. Maintain vehicles well, stick to manufactures guidelines.
4. Start road safety awareness from home.
5. A well planned journey will definitely reduce the chances of accidents.
6. Government's prompt actions for road maintenance and traffic law enforcement will definitely leave an impact.
7. Eduction institutes can teach kids some good habits in early stage.

Solutions for road accidents can be a countless,the only concern is how they will be followed.

Audi R8 Finished Indian Sales For FY-08

Audi R8,the super luxury sports car from Audi achieved it's sales target for this financial year.The interesting part is company has not launched Audi R8 in India. The launch is scheduled this November. Audi already sold 15 units this year.The price tag is whopping 1.2 Crores.

Audi have grand plans for India from expanding dealer networks to financing options for customers of this dream machines.Audi already doubled the sales this year sales figure,to 600 units against 296 units for same period. By launching R8 Audi taking on another German major Porsche's Carrera S,priced 86lakhs.

Not only in India, Audi R8 has been a hot cake globally. It give a clear indication of customer choice shifting towards luxury brands that is worth of money

Auto Expo To Take Rural Ride

India’s premier Auto Expo, which being held at New Delhi biannually, is on rural ride. The auto enthusiasts in tier -2 cities got a reason to cheer. They need not to flock to much congested capital city for Auto Expo.Next year onwards at least two Auto expo will be conducted in cities like, Bangalore, Kolkota, Pune, Mumbai in the years which Auto Expo will not be conducted at New Delhi.

Mr.Dileep Chinoy,Top executive of Auto Expo hosting organization The Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers(SIAM) pointed out that due to the increased buying power of growing middle class Autos and Auto shows are in huge demand. According to SIAM even though Auto Shows are conducted in regional level they are not well managed and entry of SIAM will make the situation better.

By this movement ultimately both exhibitors and auto buyers will be in advantage as they need not spend much for regional shows. The next show at Bangalore will be conducted for public transport and a complete vehicle show at Kolkota, The firm dates are yet to be announced.

So get ready to visit Bangalore and Kolkota.

Mahindra Associates with Yancheng Tractor On World?s No.1 Route

Today Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) announced the acquiring news of China?s 3rd largest tractor manufacturing company,Yancheng Tractor. M&M is currently India?s No.1 in tractor segment already acquired many other small and big firms including Gujrat Tractors,Punjab Tractor in their home turf.

Last year?s overall sales figure of M&M was 90000 units and by this latest acquisition they can produce nearly 160000 units and the world leader John Deere(JD) last year sold 170000 globally. Now we think JD will be the most cautious party in tractor segment.

Both companies top officials explained the pro?s of this developments, as M&M will be getting benefit from Yancheng?s higher version Tractors, and part sourcing and developments. Similarly Yancheng Tractor will gaining from M&M?s expert management team and R&D capabilities.M&M may get another opportunity to sell their utility vehicles in China.

Let see who is M&M's next prey.

TATA Ace LPG Variant Soon

Tata Ace was the best debutant in Light Commercial Vehicle(LCV) segment in 2005.After Tata's entry into this segment we saw entry of Piaggio,Force Motors,Bajaj into this product but non of them couldn't erode Ace's position much.

Now again Tata's readying another variant of Ace. Tata is aggressively testing LPG and CNG variants of Ace.The load carrying capacity looks similar to basic Ace. By introduction Tata may gain some volume in metroes where LPG/CNG is very common.

Recently Mahindra's also launched their CNG variant of pick ups in Bolero platform.
The pictures will be uploaded soon,stay tuned.

A Mouth Watering Ferrari

Last week Royal Plaza,a restaurant at Scotts,Singapore displayed a ' Chocolate Ferrari'.The life model of this Chocolate Ferrari measured 4.7 Mtr length and 2.0 Mtr wide made of chocolate.This special creation was to celebrate Singapore's first ever motor race event.

The Royal Plaza's chefs spent one week in kitchen to finish this unprecedented car making. This car made its entry to record of largest chocolate car in Asia.The team comprised of eight chefs lead by Mr.Choo Eng Tat.

We believe a hotel doesn't have a better way to promote a motor race event.

[Picture,Content:- sgcarmart]

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