Automobile

Honda Cars India Ltd posted nearly three-fold rise in its domestic sales at 15,714 units in January, 2014.

The company had sold 5,451 units in the same month of the previous year, HCIL said today in a statement.

During January, the company sold 1,015 units of its small car Brio, 7,398 units of its latest sedan Amaze and 7,184 units of the premium sedan City.

Besides the company sold 117 units of sports utility vehicle CRV. In addition, the company exported a total of 88 units during the month.

Mahindra Group’s tractor arm today reported a 15 per cent growth in sales at 20,109 units in January, driven by a robust Khareef crop and an expected good rabi crop.

The company had sold 17,473 units in January 2013, a company release said here. The domestic sales stood at 19,389 units, a growth of 18 per cent over January 2013, it said.

Leading car makers Maruti Suzuki India, Hyundai Motor India, Toyota Kirloskar Motor and Tata Motors reported decline in domestic sales in January, as the Indian auto market continued to reel under a prolonged slump.

On the other hand, riding on the success of their new launches, Ford India and Honda Cars India posted double digit growth during the month.

Two wheeler makers Yamaha Motor India and TVS Motor Company posted single digit growth last month.

A Rolls-Royce owned by Brigitte Bardot, who was one of the best known sex symbols of the 1950s and 1960s, at the height of her career will soon be auctioned off for 320,000 pounds in Paris.

The ‘ And God Created Woman’ star had purchased the car from singer Charles Aznavour in October 1970 and then sold it two years later to designer Charles Jourdan, the Daily Express reported.

Referring to the 79-year-old French actress, Matthieu Lamoure , of auctioneers Artcurial Motorcars, said that the story behind its previous owners is truly unique.

The 12th edition of the Auto Expo, jointly organized by CII, SIAM and ACMA, accredited by OICA and due to begin in the first week of February is expected to revive the auto industry and give a fillip to the Indian economy.

According to a CII statement, as many as 70 new vehicles will be unveiled, with 26 global unveilings of which 15 are cars.

Home-grown auto major Mahindra & Mahindra today launched its Maxximo Mini Van VX school bus with “safe eye digital technology” in its efforts to provide the safe transportation.

The vehicle is priced at Rs 4.37-4.88 lakh (ex-showroom, Mumbai).

“School bus safety is a cause of serious concern. The SafeEye technology that we have applied in Maxximo Mini van aims at providing solution to this concern,” Mahindra & Mahindra automotive division chief executive Pravin Shah said at the launch.

An in-house developed new Coal Charging Car commissioned at Coke Oven Battery-4 has been inaugurated by the public sector Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP) here.

Coal Charging Cars are the vital oven equipment which are operated continuously on the oven top to feed coal blend to the Batteries of the oven, RSP sources said today.

Though during rebuilding of the Coke Oven Battery-4, only one Charging Car had been planned for use in the circuit, later the need of another charging car was felt.

German car maker Volkswagen will hike prices of its best selling cars in India, hatchback Polo and sedan Vento by up to Rs 26,800 from February citing increased inputs costs and changes in the exchange rate.

In a statement, the company said it will hike prices by a 2.7 per cent on all variants of the Polo and Vento to partially offset increased input costs and changes in the exchange rate.

This price hike, of up to Rs 22,700 for the Polo and up to Rs 26,800 for the Vento, will be effective from February 1 2014, it added.

The nose designs of new Formula 1 cars could be a safety risk, a leading designer has said. Red Bull”s Adrian Newey said the lower noses could go under a car if one was hit from behind and could lead to a severe accident, causing a rear crash structure on the driver”s face. He said this was ”much worse” than a car taking off, which is one scenario the rules were created to prevent, the BBC reports.

German luxury car maker Mercedes-Benz today launched new C-class Grand Edition, both in petrol and diesel variants, priced at Rs 36.81 lakh and Rs 39.16 lakh (ex-showroom Mumbai) respectively in the domestic market.

The auto major, which reported a 32 per cent growth in volumes at 9,003 in the last calendar year over 2012, also rolled out the 50,000th car from its Chakan plant in Pune.

Mercedes Benz currently churns out C, E, S, ML and GL class models from its Chakan plant, which has a capacity to produce 10,000 vehicles a year.

Country’s largest car maker Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) is bidding to its enhance position in the compact car segment with upcoming model Celerio that will cater to a growing demand for vehicles with automatic gear shift at an affordable price.

With the new compact car, which is slated for launch on February 6, the company has worked on addressing three key issues associated with automatic transmission cars — high cost of acquisition, low fuel economy and maintenance hassles.

Formula One side Ferrari has reportedly unveiled their new F14-T car in a bid to gain glory this year, with the help of their racers Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen.

Ferrari”s 2014 model, unveiled at the Scuderia”s Maranello headquarters, features a number of modifications to fall in line with the many changes introduced for the new season by the International Automobile Federation (FIA). According to Sport24, the F14-T is powered by a 1.6 litre, turbo V6 power engine and notably features a new-look nose, which differs significantly to those seen so far on other 2014 cars.

Tata Motors today announced the launch of the new Vista VX Tech here.

Vista VX Tech comes loaded with advanced technology features like touch screen multimedia system with GPS navigation, new drive pro-console and advanced driver information system among others, the company said.

Announcing the launch of the new Vista VX Tech here, Avinash Roy, national sales head, South and East, passenger vehicles business unit of the Tata Motors told reporters “at Tata Motors, the core philosophy behind the launch of every new vehicle is anticipating what our customers need.”

Describing India as a “sophisticated country”, Renault-Nissan Alliance chief Carlos Ghosn has said the auto major aims to have 10 per cent share in the Indian passenger vehicles market.

The company is also planning to launch a slew of new models from its stable.

Carlos Ghosn, who is Renault-Nissan Alliance’s Chairman and CEO, said that 2013 was disappointing for the industry in India but 2014 should see slow recovery.

Isuzu Motors India was targeting to sell 5,000 units of SUVs a year in India in the next two years and by 2015-16, the Japanese automobile maker was eyeing sales of 50,000 units a year,a top company official said here today.

Launching its Sports Utility Vehicle MU-7 in Kerala, Takashi Kikuchi, President and Managing Director, Isuzu Motors India told reporters the company aims to sell 5,000 units a year in India in the next two years.

By 2016 when its own plant is commissioned, production would touch 50,000 units a year, he said.

Car maker Ford India today said its Clasic sedan will be now be available at a price starting from Rs 4.99 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi).

“Starting January 22, the entire Ford Classic range will be available between Rs 4.99 lakh and Rs 7.59 lakh (ex- showroom, Delhi),” Ford India said in a statement.

The new pricing for the Ford Classic is reflective of Ford India’s thrust on continuously improving the value proposition of its products through operational efficiencies, it added.

Leading tractor manufacturer Escorts Ltd today launched its new premium tractor series ‘Farmtrac’ with modern looks and feature in Rajasthan market.

“The tractors are not only fundamentally superior, but also deliver comfort, glamour and pride to farmers,” Shenu Agrawal, Head, Knowledge Management Center, Escorts Agri Machinery said.

“We are going to redefine tractor market with the new tractors under executive range which have new looks, shape, design and several other features which are not available in tractors of other companies,” he said.

Auto major Mahindra & Mahindra today launched its new ‘Bolero Pick-Up Flat Bed’ commercial vehicle here, priced at Rs 5.59 lakh (ex-showroom, Jaipur).

The vehicle has more contemporary exterior and interiors with hybrid technology and has a higher load carrying capacity of 1250 kg, a company official said.

“It will cater to the evolving needs of stand operators, businessmen and traders,” he said, adding that the vehicle is powered by MDI Engine resulting in high mileage of 13.86 km per litre.

Even the electric cars or battery-operated rickshaws on Indian roads are not sufficient to tame the air pollution.

Researchers from North Carolina State University in the US found that even a sharp increase in the use of electric drive passenger vehicles (EDVs) by 2050 would not significantly reduce emissions of high-profile air pollutants like carbon dioxide, sulphur dioxide or nitrogen oxides.

“We found that increasing the use of EDVs is not an effective way to produce large emissions reductions,” said senior author Joseph DeCarolis, an assistant professor at NC State.

Riding on the success of its cars last year in India, German luxury carmaker Mercedes Benz will showcase a range of products, including the CLA45 AMG sedan, at the upcoming Auto Expo.

Outlining the company’s plans for India’s flagship auto show, the firm said it will unveil the CLA45 AMG and Concept GLA’ during the biennial show.

“We are very excited about our product and brand showcase for the 12th Auto Expo as we are going to unveil some of the most awaited cars for the Indian market,” Mercedes-Benz India Managing Director & CEO, Eberhard Kern told PTI.

Car maker Toyota Kirloskar Motor has stopped production of its premier sedan Corolla Altis from this month as it gears up to roll out a new version in the next 4-5 months.

According to industry sources, the company will showcase the model with added features during the upcoming Auto Expo in New Delhi next month.

“The company has stopped the production of the Corolla Altis from January. It is now preparing to launch a new version, which has already been rolled out in many countries,” a source said.

Auto major Tata Motors today launched a new variant of its premium hatchback ‘Vista’ and said it aims to increase market share from the current nine per cent in passenger cars and vans segment.

“Our market share at the national level is close to about nine per cent of passenger cars and vans included. With this new product obviously we are looking at increasing our share,” Tata Motors Ltd Senior Vice President Passenger Vehicle Unit (Commercial) Ankush Arora told reporters here.

Volkswagen Group’s luxury sports car maker Porsche is on a sales network expansion drive in India as part of strategy to increase foothold in the country.

Porsche India, which has opened its latest showroom in Gurgaon during the weekend, is looking to enhance its presence in East India as well to spread its reach.

“While Porsche Centre Gurgaon is our newest showroom, we are all set to open another contemporary facility soon in Mumbai which will be followed later this year by a new one at Kolkata,” Porsche India Director Anil Reddi told PTI.

Scottish driver Paul di Resta will return to DTM racing with Mercedes after losing his Formula 1 seat at Force India.

Di Resta had made his F1 debut with Force India in 2011 after winning the 2010 DTM title for Mercedes. He went to complete three seasons with the Silverstone squad before he was replaced by financially supported Sergio Perez for 2014.

A new smart parking sensor system will help drivers locate an open spot easily.

The system, made by the firm Smart Parking, uses infrared sensors called ‘SmartEye’ which are placed in parking spaces and are connected to a ‘ParkRight’ smartphone app that displays a real-time map and directs the driver to an available space, Discovery News reported.

After a successful trial run, Westminster City Counsel has approved a larger trial, which involves retrofitting parking spots with 3,000 sensors.