Indian Cars, Bikes

Former Maruti Suzuki CEO Jagdish Khattar has launched his multi-brand car servicing business Carnation Auto, with nine centres across the country. The firm plans to venture into the used car business soon. Mr Khattar had earlier raised Rs 108 crore from investors PremjiInvest and IFCI Ventures for the new venture. Carnation Auto plans to invest a total of Rs 300 crore by 2011 to roll out 100 car service outlets. The firm expects to open 30 centres and earn revenues of Rs 75 crore in its first year. (more…)

Hyundai India will launch a more powerful version of the i20 petrol. The Hyundai i20 is currently powered by the 1.2L Kappa engine which gets excise duty benefits. However the new engine won’t get any such benefits. The 1.4L i20 will be equipped with automatic transmission, a first for the segment. The i20 1.4L will not have a manual transmission variant. The 1.4L engine generates 99PS@5500rpm and 137NM@4700rpm.

Maruti dealers are reporting that buyers of the newly launched Ritz prefer the petrol version, over the diesel. In fact, about 70% of current Maruti Ritz sales are for the 1.2-litre petrol engine version, with the remaining opting for the 1.3-litre Multijet diesel version. This marks a significant shift in preference among buyers of B-segment hatchbacks who have traditionally preferred diesel versions for their lower running costs. In fact, the sales of existing models like the Maruti Swift are evenly split between their petrol and diesel versions and in some months the diesel even outsells the petrol version. (more…)

The Government of India has allowed state-run oil firms to increase prices of transport fuels, resulting in gasoline becoming dearer by Rs.4 per litre and diesel by Rs.2 per litre, following successive increase in global crude prices. The new prices take effect from midnight, so you still have a few hours to fuel up. (more…)

Did Hero Honda miss the party? Sure it did, but better late then never. Hero Honda is testing the new Karizma (pic courtesy of autobild) which is expected to go on sale by September. The new Karizma boasts of new front fairing, new side and tail pieces, hunk like rear mudguard, rear disc brake, gas charged rear shock absorbers along with increased power and torque. Whether the bike will carry fuel injection or not, that only time will tell but we are expecting serious competition for the Bajaj Pulsar 220.

Hyundai India will launch the i20 diesel on the 7th of this month. However much before the car is launched we got a chance to checkout the much awaited oil burner from Hyundai. The car looks similar to the i20 petrol. Infact you can’t make out if the car is a petrol or a diesel till you see the CRDi badge at the rear. The version featured above is the Asta variant. The Hyundai i20 diesel gets 6 airbags and sunroof as optionalal (Asta (O)). (more…)

A new European marketing campaign from Fiat is one of the coolest we have seen in recent times. In an effort to underscore the safety of the Fiat 500 for both the occupants and animals, Fiat has unleashed a new series of images depicting the retro hatchback in various crash test scenarios.

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Congress president Sonia Gandhi has inaugurated the much-awaited Bandra Worli sea link yesterday. The 5.6 kilometers long cable-stayed bridge has been designed to allow for speedy road travel between Bandra and Worli in the busy and traffic-ridden city of Mumbai. The link would be equipped with state-of-the-art systems for traffic monitoring, emergency support and an automated toll system. (more…)

After holding the numero uno spot in the luxury car segment for the last few months, BMW India is chalking out robust plans to retain its position and is aiming to sell nearly 3,000 units for this calendar year. BMW India has already sold close to 1,700 cars by the end of June, is firming up plans to double its dealership network to 24 by next year. BMW plans to add 10 dealers in semi-urban areas like Coimbatore, Jaipur, Lucknow and Ludhiana, and a host of others, besides adding two showrooms in Gurgaon and West Delhi. (more…)

The Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival has awarded Volkswagen the Advertiser of the Year award. The festival organisers give the award to advertisers that have distinguished themselves for inspiring innovative marketing of their products and who embrace and encourage the creative work produced by their agencies. (more…)