Automobile

The familiar large convoys of SUVs and utility vehicles such as Bolero, Scorpio, Innova, Fortuner and Endeavour leaving behind a trail of dust as netas criss- cross for campaigns haven’t translated into big-bang sales of these vehicles around 2014 Lok Sabha polls, which are dubbed as most expensive in country’s history.

Unlike in the past, this time around SUVs and utility vehicles seem to be losing lustre, putting paid to hopes of those in the auto industry who were banking on improved sales of these vehicles during the election time.

The US military has issued a grant for the development of a stealth motorcycle.

According to Defense Tech, the motorcycle’s “stealthiness” will be a product of its hybrid-electric engine, which will allow soldiers to drive for long periods on rough terrain while emitting virtually no engine noise.

And according to Logos Technologies – the company responsible for building the engine – this will be the first hybrid-electric dirt bike ever built.

German luxury automobile manufacturer Mercedes-Benz India Tuesday launched its luxury sports utility vehicle (SUV) GL 63 AMG in India priced at Rs.1.66 crore (ex-showroom Mumbai).

“It is one of the most revolutionary products to come from Mercedes-Benz demonstrating the rich blend of sophistication with the latest design and technology,” said Eberhard Kern, managing director and chief executive, Mercedes-Benz India.

International automobile federation (FIA) announced Tuesday that it will uphold the decision on Red Bull driver Daniel Ricciardo’s disqualification from last month’s Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix.

The 24-year-old Australian finished runners-up behind Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg in the season’s opening race in Melbourne but was stripped of the result for breaching a fuel flow regulation. Red Bull immediately decided to appeal the decision of the stewards, reports Xinhua.

Luxury carmaker Mercedes-Benz today launched its seven-seater sports utility vehicle GL 63 AMG in India with a price tag of Rs 1.66 crore (ex-showroom Mumbai).

With this, the German high-end carmaker, which unveiled the AMG range for the first time in India, has introduced its fourth model so far this year in one of the fastest-growing auto markets in the world.

The company plans to roll out 10 products by December, Mercedes-Benz India Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Eberhard Kern told reporters after the launch here.

Riding on its new models such as compact sedan Xcent and sports utility vehicle Santa Fe, Hyundai Motor India expects to post better sales this year as the auto industry looks for a turnaround in fortune.

“The good news is that industry is expected to grow in single digit in this calender year and the company would do better than the industry,” Hyundai Motor India Ltd (HMIL) Senior Vice-President, Sales & Marketing, Rakesh Srivastava said.

He said the company has been receiving good response for models like Grand, Santa Fe and Xcent, which would help it increase market share.

Volvo has reportedly come up with an inflatable car seat, designed exclusively for infant and toddler safety.

According to the Verge, the Swedish carmaker’s concept seat has a built-in pump that can inflate it in just 40 seconds, and deflated, the whole package is about 18 x 20 x 8 inches (45 x 50 x 20cm) – portable enough to fit into some luggage or a large bag.

The inflatable car seat weighs just over 11 pounds (5kg).

Automobile major Hyundai Motor India Monday reported it has received bookings for 11,000 units of its entry-level compact sedan ‘Xcent’ within just 30 days of its launch in March 2014.

“We are committed and continuously working on the operational efficiencies to cater to the demand to reduce the waiting period,” Rakesh Srivastava, senior vice president, sales and marketing, Hyundai Motor India said in a statement.

According to the company, over 100,000 enquiries have been received at its dealerships across metros as well as tier-I and II cities.

India has become the fourth biggest market for Renault’s compact sports utility vehicle Duster globally, with sales touching 85,974 units in the country, since the launch of the vehicle in 2012.

India has become the fourth biggest market for Renault’s compact sports utility vehicle Duster globally, with sales touching 85,974 units in the country, since the launch of the vehicle in 2012.

Currently, Russia is the biggest market for Duster globally. The French car major has sold 1,51,633 units of the SUV in that country.

Researchers may have cracked the formula by which a supersonic car (SSC) capable of reaching a record speed of 1,000mph (1,600 kmph) will cope with the aerodynamic characteristics of travelling that fast.

Simulations by researchers from the Swansea University look at how the car will deal with the supersonic rolling ground, rotating wheels and resulting shock waves in close proximity to the test surface at the record attempt site in Hakskeen Pan, South Africa.

While as the car will make high speed test runs of up to 800mph in 2015, the full 1,000mph attempt has been scheduled for 2016.

Force India driver Sergio Perez has revealed that he had almost quit Formula One after losing his McLaren seat last season.

The Mexican ace, who has returned to winning ways after finishing third behind the Mercedes duo in Sunday”s Bahrain Grand Prix, lost out in a long-running behind the scenes saga that saw McLaren appoint Kevin Magnussen as the team”s number two.

In one of the biggest vehicle recalls, Maruti Suzuki India is recalling 1,03,311 units of its popular models — Ertiga, Swift and DZire — manufactured between November 12, 2013 and February 4, 2014 to replace faulty fuel filler neck.

The company said the recall will impact 42,481 units of DZire, 47,237 units of Swift and 13,593 units of Ertiga. “This exercise is limited to vehicles within the above specified range and does not pertain to any other vehicle of the company,” Maruti Suzuki India said in a statement.

The country’s largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) consolidated its position in the passenger vehicles segment by increasing its share to 42 per cent in a declining market during 2013-14.

Its closest rival remained Hyundai Motors India Ltd with a 15.18 per cent share, while Mahindra & Mahindra (10.15 per cent) overtook Tata Motors (7.94 per cent) to the third spot.

Japanese major Honda was in fifth place with a market share of 5.36 per cent, just ahead of Toyota’s 5.14 per cent.

German car producer BMW Group has recalled almost half a million cars with 6-cylinder engines, since realising that a screw in the engine compartment could possibly break and damage the engine in rare cases, a company official said Friday.

Around 489,000 cars with 6-cylinder engines that were manufactured between September 2009 and November 2011 are involved in the recall, Xinhua reported.

Buoyed by the response to its cars, Fiat Group Automobiles India Private Ltd (FGAIPL), the fully owned subsidiary of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, will be introducing four new models by December this year, a top official today said.

“Fiat has an exciting line up of products for this year. We have already launched our brand New Linea and will soon be coming out with New Punto.

Its not only US information technology companies such as Google working on driverless cars and drones, home-based tech company Tech Mahindra is also working on similar projects as part of its machine-to-machine offering.

For example, the company is working with some major international car companies on using big data analytics to understand driver behaviour.

In line with its strategy for sustainable profitable growth in India, German luxury carmaker BMW is pushing for more ultra high-end models.

The company, which last week launched an all-new version of its M6 Gran Coupe, a four-door sports car priced at Rs 1.75 crore (ex-showroom Delhi), plans to bring the hybrid BMW i8 car as a completely built-up unit (CBU) by the end of 2014.

BMW Group India President Philipp von Sahr told PTI that although the company plans to introduce four models this year, the focus on ultra high-end models made sense, considering the tough market conditions.

The country’s largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India is likely to recall about one lakh units of its compact sedan Dzire to replace a faulty fuel tank part.

While the company officials declined to comment, neither confirming nor denying the development, industry sources said the firm has already initiated replacement of the faulty fuel neck filler, which is connected to the fuel tank, in unsold units at dealerships.

Buoyed by the response to its cars, Fiat Group Automobiles India Private Ltd (FGAIPL), the fully owned subsidiary of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, will be introducing four new models by December this year, a top official today said.

Troubled Hindustan Motors (HM) is pinning hopes on its recent divestment of the Chennai plant and has initiated talks with global automobile firms to set up a joint venture there. The Chennai plant manufactures cars under licence from Mitsubishi Motors of Japan.

“We are pinning high hopes on the divestment of the Chennai plant as a part of restructuring strategy,” managing director and CEO of HM Uttam Bose told PTI. Recently, HM divested the Chennai plant to an associate company Hindustan Motors Finance Corporation (HMFC).

Automobile manufacturers Tuesday reported a decline in March sales due to prevailing economic slowdown coupled with high fuel and interest costs.

Passenger car major Maruti Suzuki’s total sales declined by 5.5 percent during last month at 113,350 units from 119,937 units.

Domestic sales in March fell by 5.2 percent at 102,269 units from an off-take of 107,890 units reported in March 2013.

For year ended March 31, 2014, the company reported a 1.4 percent fall in its total sales at 1,155,041 units from 1,171,434 units sold in the previous fiscal.

German luxury car maker Mercedes Benz today reported 27.12 per cent increase in its sales in India in the first quarter of 2014 at 2,554 units.

The company’s wholly-owned arm Mercedes Benz India had sold 2,009 units in the same period last year.

Commenting on the sales performance, Mercedes-Benz India Managing Director and CEO Eberhard Kern said: “Our success and robust growth of 27 per cent in the first quarter of 2014 amidst challenging market dynamics is a clear indicator that our customers have appreciated our ‘Year of Excellence’ strategy,”

Automobile manufacturer Hyundai Motor India Tuesday reported an 8.4 percent fall in its total sales for March at 51,708 units from 56,437 units in the corresponding month of last year.

In a statement, the company said its domestic sales during the month under review grew by 3.4 percent and stood at 35,003 units — up from 33,858 units sold in March 2013.

Automobile manufacturer Maruti Suzuki Tuesday reported a decline of 1.4 percent in its total sales for 2013-14 at 1,155,041 units from 1,171,434 units sold in the previous fiscal.

According to the company, domestic sales during the year ended March 31, 2014, marginally grew at 0.3 percent at 1,053,689 units from 1,051,046 units in 2012-13.

Exports during the period under review fell by 15.8 percent at 101,352 units from 120,388 units shipped out in 2012-13.

Researchers have found out that hybrid cars will be significantly more fuel-efficient in India and China than they are in the United States.

Lead researcher Anand Gopal at U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory said currently greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation sector in India and China are a smaller piece of the pie compared with other sectors.

Gopal said with the official fuel economy test procedure currently used in India, fuel savings for hybrids are fairly grossly underestimated, showing only a 29 percent savings over conventional vehicles.