TATA's plans on Military Business, may invest Rs. 600 crore

India's largest commercial vehicle manufacturer, TATA Motors said during Defense Expo that it may invest about Rs. 600 crore to the development of FICV (Futuristic Infantry Combat Vehicles) and further on set up a manufacturing plant for it.

"The development cost of FICV could be around Rs 300 crore and a manufacturing plant for the same could be around Rs 250 crore or above," Tata Motors President (Commercial Vehicles Business Unit) Ravi Pisharody told.

AshoK Leyland eyeing Aerospace business

Hinduja group firm Ashok Leyland said it is planning a foray into aerospace business, both defence and civilian, and is talking to foreign players for technology partnership.

"We are looking at opportunities in the aerospace business, when we will finally enter that will depend on any good opportunity and the finalisation of areas in which we want to enter," Ashok Leyland Vice Chairman V Sumantran told at Defence Expo.

Johnson Controls forms JV with Pricol Limited

India's own Automotive instrument cluster maker Pricol have entered into a Joint Venture (JV) with Worlds leading auto component supplier Johnson Controls to form Johnson Controls Pricol Private Limited.

A 50:50 JV will use Pricol's Pune manufacturing facility as a base to develop and manufacture instrument clusters, display and body electronics for both cars and motorcycle manufacturers in India.

Force Motors exit JV with MAN Trucks

Force Motors has exited its joint venture with MAN Trucks & Bus AG of Germany with the completion of transfer of 55.8 million equity shares of the erstwhile MAN Force Trucks Pvt Ltd to MAN for Euro 150 million (Rs1,041 crore).

Suzuki Motorcycle's new Rs. 2000 crore plant gets approval

Suzuki Motorcycles has received Harayana Government's approval for an investment of Rs. 2000 crore for a unit at IMT Rohtak. Suzuki Motorcycle India Private Limited, a subsidiary of Suzuki Motor Corporation of Japan, already has manufacturing facilities for two-wheelers at Kherki Dhaula, Gurgaon.

On this occasion a company spokesperson said that the first phase of the project will be put up on an investment of Rs 500 crore and will be completed in 2014 with an annual capacity of 5-lakh units. The total cost of the 3-phase project is estimated to be Rs 2,000 crore, with a capacity raised to 2 million units by 2019, he said.

BMW to recall 3,422 units in India to fix battery fault

German luxury car maker BMW is calling back over 3,422 units of its 5-series and 6-series models to fix a potential problem with a battery-cable cover.

BMW's India recall is part of a global exercise and will see the company fix the problem on a total of 3,422 units sold between the year 2007 and 2010. "In some remote cases, the battery cable cover inside the boot of these vehicles may be incorrectly mounted. This can result in the electrical system malfunctioning , the vehicle failing to start and, in some cases, to charring or fire," BMW said.

2012 Hyundai i20 launched at Rs 4.73 lakh

Hyundai India has finally launched the much awaited i20 - priced up to Rs Rs 7.67 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi).

The all new '2012 i20' will replace the existing i20. The petrol variants of the new version is priced from Rs 4.73 lakh to Rs 6.65 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi), the company said in a statement.

TVS Group acquires UK based Universal Components

TVS Group, holding company of India's third largest two wheeler manufacturer TVS Motors has acquired 90% stake in Universal Components UK Ltd. for Rs. 100 crore. Universal Components a wholesale distributor of commercial vehicles's parts and accessories is a Britian headquartered group with operations through 650 distribution outlets, has 420 customers in the UK.

'Enjoy' - New MPV from GM coming by the end of 2012, plus some hot news from GM India

World's most respected car maker General Motors has a list of launches planned for India market.
GM's new MPV (Multi Purpose Vehicle) is the most discussed and promising launch this year. This took place after unveiling the Bharat Stage IV version of MUV Tavera Neo last day in Chennai.

Jaguar-Land Rover finds new Chinese partner

India's most respectful business house and largest commercial vehicle maker Tata Motors has selected a partner to build an assembly plant for its recently acquired luxury British car brands Jaguar and Land Rover in China.

Ford lays foundation stone for new plant in Sanand

Ford India has laid foundation stone for its new manufacturing facility in Sanand. The new one billion dollar plant will be built in a 460 acre plant and will commence operations in 2014 making Ford's total India investment at two billion dollars.

This new plant will have a production capacity of 2,40,000 cars and 2,70,000 engines per year for domestic and export markets.

Hyundai launches new Sonata

Hyundai has launched the all-new 2012 Fluidic Design Sonata at a starting price tag of Rs 18.53 lakh for the 6-speed manual and Rs. 20.61 lakh for the six-speed automatic version(prices ex-showroom Delhi).

The new Sonata comes with a 2.4-litre GDI petrol motor pumping out 198bhp at 6300rpm.

Nissan launches Datsun

After a lot of speculations Nissan Motor India has announced the rebirth of the Datsun brand and has confirmed it will be coming to India in 2014.

Renault-Nissan chief executive Carlos Ghosn has announced that the Datsun name is being relaunched as a budget car brand for high-growth markets such as India, Indonesia, and Russia. The cars under the Datsun brand will be built locally and will be designed to meet local customer needs, featuring the latest technologies.

Suzuki confirms to announce about Diesel engine plant in 2 months

Following the Diesel news from Honda we have another Japanese major Suzuki announcing its Diesel plans for India. The company currently manufactures all the petrol engines at its Gurgaon plant and has an annual capacity of over eight lakh units.


















Suzuki India had recently increased its Diesel engines capacity from 2.4 lakh units to 3 lakh units annually in addition to the supply from Fiat for 1 lakh MultiJet diesel engines for its lineup.

The company plans to expand its diesel engine capacity in Gurgoan and confirms to take a decision in 2 months.

Honda eyes India as Global Diesel Engine hub for compact cars

Within days from the presentation of the 2012 Union Budget in India, auto majors have announced their plans on diesel engines and models for India.

Japanese car major Honda announced its plans to make India the Global Diesel engine hub for its models.

Hero MotoCorp to make its own engines, tie-up with AVL

Hero MotoCorp Ltd, countries largest two wheeler manufacturer by volumes is building in-house capabilities to manufacture its own Engines by a tie-up with AVL of Austria.

The company is keen in fixing the technology gap they are having after separation from their Japanese partner Honda and a tie-up with the world's largest privately owned engine developer AVL will not only help Hero MotoCorp in manufacturing engines for the current best models Splendor, Passion, CBZ, Hunk etc but also to develop to the next level to meet the increased competition by rivals in the segment.

2012 Budget and Auto Industry

2012 Union Budget was presented by Finance Minister Mr. Pranab Mukherjee and we have a review of the outcomes of the Budget to the Auto industry.

The main factor of concern in the 2012 Union Budget to the Auto industry was regarding the additional duty for Diesel cars in the country. There were speculations on this around the Industry and the Budget was clear on not imposing any additional duty on Diesel cars.
This makes it clear that Auto majors will have a serious time ahead developing and launching Diesel engines and car models.

Audi in race for Ducati

Few days back we had news about Hero Motor Corp's interest in taking over Italian Bike maker Ducati. Within days after this news we have another major player in this race and this time its Volkswagen group concern 'Audi'.

New Mitsubishi Outlander - now 7 seater

Mitsubishi Motors were having a rough period in India for the past few years, but the Japanese auto major is in now plans to quit the race.

Mitsubishi is gearing up its India operations and after the launch of the new Pajero Sport, the company have introduced a seven seater model of its Outlander.

Mercedes Benz launches new Low-Floor City Bus

Mercedes-Benz has launched its low-floor City bus in the Indian market. Along with the launch, Mercedes unveiled its in-plant bus body building unit in Chakan, Pune.

This bus comes with an OM 926 diesel engine which produces 255PS of power and uses Mercedes’ world famous BlueTec technology. Mercedes claims that with its aerodynamics, powerful, efficient engine and optimum weight factor, the City bus will have the highest fuel efficiency in its class.

BMW reaching 2 million sales target 4 years in advance

BMW has been one of the most successful car manufacturer in the recent years and has a strong leadership position not only in India but Globally.

Now the Bavarian auto major has publicly announced that it is reaching its target of selling 2 millions cars 4 years ahead of schedule. BMW had originally planned to sell 2 million cars by 2020, however they have achieved a sales figure of 1.67 million last year.

Volvo V40 with airbags for Pedestrians

Volvo - Worlds safest car manufacturer is understood to launch every new car model with a new safety feature. This time Volvo has outdone the expectations of features they offer in their 2013 Volvo V40.

Volvo have come up with a unique feature in their latest Volvo V40 which now carries external air bags to protect the pedestrians.

TATA Megapixel concept at Geneva Motor Show

Tata Motors brought its latest Megapixel concept at the 82nd Geneva Motor Show. Powered by a lithium ion phosphate battery and a petrol engine to recharge it on the move, Megapixel has a fuel economy of 100 km/litre (operated along with battery power).

Mitsubishi's new Outlander

After a long wait of six years from the launch of the second generation Outlander, Mitsubishi has finally taken a call on unveiling the next generation Outlander.

The latest offering plans on a greener future and comes equipped with lists of changes.

To begin with the new Outlander will have two engine options (as in Europe)
1. a 150ps 2-liter MIVEC petrol with a new valve train termed “4J11”
2. a 150ps, 2.2-liter Clean Diesel boasting of a low 14.9:1 compression ratio termed “4N14”.

Both offering a six-speed gearbox & a Start-Stop in common.

2012 Hyundai i20 photos are out

Hyundai is bringing its famous i20 hatchback in a new facelifted avatar. The new offering of Hyundai is built comprehensively around the famous 'Fluidic Sculpture Design'.

Official photos of the new-generation 'i20' is out and we have it for you. It has more aerodynamic features than the previous one.

Daimler India to launch 17 trucks in 20 months

Daimler India Commercial Vehicles (DICV), a unit of Germany's Daimler AG, plans to launch as many as 17 truck models over the next 20 months, focusing mainly on the high-volume 7 - 49 tonne market.

This will be made possible by the company's new 400-acre facility at Oragadam near Chennai, which will launch production in April, and the company expects to announce three new truck models in the third quarter of this year.

New 2012 Mahindra Xylo E9

Tired of reading pages together to understand or see the new features Mahindra have incorporated on the new 2012 Xylo?

Below is a simple video which describes all the new or add-on features Mahindra have got in its new Xylo to be competitive against the recently facelifted Toyota Innova.

General Motors and PSA Peugeot Citroen join hands

General Motors (GM), the world's largest carmaker has taken steps to stem losses at its European operations by forming an alliance with Europe's second-largest carmaker PSA Peugeot Citroen in a deal that will bring in savings of $2 billion to the partners.

The Detroit-based auto giant will acquire a 7-per cent stake in its French rival, share vehicle architectures and form a joint purchasing venture that will buy parts worth $125 billion per year from suppliers.

As part of the deal, Peugeot will raise €1 billion through a capital increase that includes an investment from the Peugeot family, and GM will acquire a 7-per cent equity stake in Peugeot, making it the second-largest shareholder behind the Peugeot family's 30-per cent stake.

Ferrari unveils fastest car on road - F12 Berlinetta

Ferrari has unveiled the F12 Berlinetta declaring it to be its “fastest road car ever", with a top speed of 211mph, reaching 0-60mph in 3.1 seconds.

Using tricks learned from its Formula 1 cars, Ferrari claims the F12 burns less fuel and goes faster than its predecessors thanks to combination of high-tech engine, complex weight loss schemes and a bit of work on aerodynamics.