Maruti Suzuki SX4 facelift launched - More features at same price

Maruti Suzuki has launched a gently facelifted version of already running SX4 sedan. The new car gets slightly facelifted design like redesigned front grill and reworked front bumper. The car now comes fitted with electrically foldable wing mirrors with turn indicators on it.

The changes in the interiors includes dual-tone black and beige, with black and marble finish prints featuring in parts of the cabin like AC vents and chrome handles. The buyer can also opt for a touch-screen unit that features integrated Bluetooth, audio and navigation.

The car features the same 1.3L SDE diesel engine with 90 bhp of power 1.6L petrol engine however the existing engines are now more fuel efficient with 16.51 Kmpl for petrol version and 21.79 Kmpl for Diesel version of SX4. The CNG variant of the car delivers 22.1 km/kg of mileage.

The prices of the new car remains unchanged and the base petrol variant, VXI is priced at Rs 7.39 lakh while the base diesel VDI costs Rs 8.27lakh. The top-end petrol variant, ZXI is priced at Rs 8.25 lakh while the diesel version, ZDI tops at Rs 9.22 lakh. The SX4 VXI CNG is priced at Rs 7.99 lakh. All prices are ex-showroom Delhi.

More Images could be viewed here.

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EcoSport’s pricing to challenge Maruti, Renault and even Hyundai

EcoSport might be taking a lot of time to launch now in India, but Ford is certainly working on something that you would have never ever thought about it. Ford hinted that the company could start the initial prices within INR 6 Lac, which means the starting price of base petrol version could be INR 5.9 or INR 5.99 Lac, and would compete with Hyundai's i20 hatchback and Maruti Suzuki's Compact sedan, Dzire, leave apart competing with Maruti Suzuki's Ertiga and Renault's Duster.

The car maker has also confirmed that the price of base version Petrol variant will be lower than the Renault Duster and the top end variant could be priced in the range of INR 9 Lac, which would again be lower than Renault's Duster, with top end variant placed in category of INR 11 Lac.

However, this seems reasonable enough but far from reality. If Ford manages to prices EcoSport at such a price in India, it could sell like hot cakes and could even add few numbers to the automotive industry and add to some growth of the slow moving auto market in India. The EcoSport would fall under less than 4 meter category and hence will be charged excise duty of 12% rather than Duster and Ertiga payig 27% as of now due to length more than 4 metres.

Ford's EcoSport will be recently displayed at various malls in India, however it was first spotted by Wheel-O-Mania at one of the dealers in Delhi-NCR. Ford EcoSport is currently running, "EcoSport Discoveries" contest and will be launching vehicle immediately after this promotional campaign gets over, which still have atleast 1.5 month to go. 

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Mr Debasis Mitra, Head of Sales & Marketing moves out of Mercedes Benz India

Mercedes-Benz India director for marketing & sales Debasis Mitra has left the company to pursue goals outside the industry.

Mr Mitra had been associated with Mercedes-Benz for the past four years at the helm of affairs for its marketing and sales of cars & SUV in the Indian market. The reasons for Mitra's resignation were not known immediately. He had resigned on March 26 according to three persons close to the development.

Mercedes-Benz, a wholly owned subsidiary of German luxury carmaker Daimler AG is the third largest automaker in the domestic premier car market after the global peers like BMW and Audi.

The company would announce a new replacement to head marketing and sales portfolio, soon. "Mr. Debashis Mitra has decided to move on in his professional career pursuit. He has accordingly resigned from Mercedes-Benz India. We are in the process of deciding the succession plan," the Mercedes Benz India spokesperson said.

Source - Economictimes

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Chevrolet to launch Enjoy MPV in April 2013 with an aggressive pricing levels

Chevrolet India will launch the Enjoy MPV in India with aggressive pricing levels and will compete with Ertiga - its major rival. Ertiga, when launched in April 2012 created a new segment at an affordable price level in India and has been successful in managing 6,500 numbers steadily backed by Maruti's strong reputation and network.

Chevrolet's Enjoy, will be powered by Fiat's 1.3L SDE engine which will power out 78 hp of power and B14D, 1.4L Gasoline engine. Maruti Suzuki's Ertiga on the other hand also posseseses the almost same specifications with Fiat's 1.3L SDE engine with 75 hp of power and 1.4L Gasoline engine. However, we will still have to wait and watch as to how does the market reacts to Chevrolet's Enjoy MPV.

Here are the spy images of the vehicle, spotted testing in Delhi-NCR, our first look at the image would surely vote against it, as Ertiga looks more premium as compared to Enjoy, but hey wait, pricing has to be a key factor here and the final finished vehicle could be lot more different.

Meanwhile, last month, Chevrolet also officially started the production of Enjoy at its Halol plant. We expect this vehicle to be launched in the month of April 2013.

More Images could be viewed here.

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India bound new Hyundai i10 called Brilliant caught testing in Chennai, India

Hyundai's new small car, which would be manufactured at Chennai's factory and would roll out in October 2013 would be called Brilliant, as we already told you.

The new Hyundai i10 / Brilliant has been spied many times earlier too however once again, the car was spotted testing in Chennai, where the plant would be manufactured. As per the confirmed sources, the new car would be priced little higher than the current i10 and would be sold along with the i10. Later, once the new brand stabilizes in the market and moreover the Korean car maker would also access the response of the new car, the current generation i10 would be stopped manufacturing and the new car would completely take over.

The new i10 which is codenamed BA would be launched around October 2013 and will be powered by a 1.1L diesel engine apart from regular 1.1 and 1.2L Kappa engine. The company has already constructed the third engine plant at its Chennai factory and will very soon start manufacturing the diesel engines in India which are currently imported from Korea, expect then i20 and Verna to be available with more discounts, near to Diwali 2013.

Hyundai by launching more fluidic i10 / Brilliant and with the diesel variant wants to give Maruti Suzuki Swift a bump both from the front as well as back. We will have to wait and watch until end of 2013 to see what scenario would be of Diesel market in India and thereby how customers respond to Diesel cars and thus Hyundai's new small diesel car in India.

Source - Motorvikatan

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New Maruti Suzuki SX4 variants & on-road prices revealed

As we already briefed all our readers, that the Japanese car maker with majority market share in India, Maruti Suzuki would be revealing the all new SX4 early 2014, however it seems like the car maker is already ready with the facelifted car. Motorbash recently busted the prices of the new facelifted variants of SX4 which could be seen in image below.

As per this, the petrol variants of SX4 have witnessed an increase in prices however the diesel variant prices have kept almost the same, to no difference in Vdi. The maximum increase could be seen in Automatic petrol Zxi variant which is INR 55,000. The manual Zxi petrol variant is also priced INR 25,000 higher than the outgoing similar variant.  On the other hand, from the prices we have in hand, the VDI variant is priced similarly, and even the ZDI variant gets dearer by only Rs 5000.

SX4 Green - CNG variant is pried INR 18,000 higher than the outgoing similar variant.  The major change of the new 2013 SX4 facelift is the introduction of a touchscreen multimedia player. It will be available only on the ‘Z’ variants and is priced at Rs 9.1 Lakh (ex-showroom) for the petrol ZXI whereas the ZDI with multimedia and touchscreen is available at Rs 10.08 Lakh (ex-showroom)

The new features on the facelifted car includes -

• Touchscreen Multimedia system
• Dual tone interiors
• Refreshed door panels - wooden panel include

View more Images here.

Source - Motorbash

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Renault Duster 4WD option spotted testing in India

There have been numerous discussions on Renault's Duster 4WD variant for the Indian market. Due to the price difference, it was a controversial topic always whether Duster 4WD would ever be launched in India ?

Amidst all the controversies, a Black colored 4WD Duster has been spotted zooming across the roads in Kerala, yes, this is the only suspicious moment when we deeply analyze the Duster 4WD. Though, the Renault's manufacturing plant is located in Chennai and thereby the test mule should carry a "TN" number plate for the test mule. 

Now this is still not clear that the vehicle is a test mule or an aftermarket sticker placed on Renault current Duster. The sticker, however is exactly the same which Renault and Dacia use worldwide for its SUV's. The top of the variant Duster would be placed a Lac over the current price which means ~ INR 14.5 Lac for the top end diesel variant, does not makes sense. 

The Duster's 4WD version sold in the UK comes with what Renault terms as an 'intelligent 3-mode all-wheel drive system'. The three mode 4WD was developed using Nissan's technology, and the different driving modes can be chosen via a rotary switch on the dashboard. Interestingly, boot space on the 4WD version is reduced to 408 L (compared to 475 L on the 4x2 version).

Though a query has been placed at Renault India's counter and a reply is expected soon. However, at this moment, we could only speculate and discuss more on possibilities of Renault's launching 4WD Duster in India and await the response from Renault India. Till then, stay tuned.

Source - teambhp

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2013 Fiat Punto and Linea facelift to be unveiled on 03rd April

Fiat unveiled their roadmap for the Indian market couple of months ago, and a facelift version of Punto hatchback and Linea sedan were expected sometime Q2 2013. It was also speculated that Fiat will launch turbojet Linea in March and will be available from new financial year across its showrooms in India (read more details here).

As per the recent report, the facelifted version of Linea and Punto will be unveiled on 3rd April 2013 and will not be having a long lifetime, as next generation Punto and Linea would come in 2014 and thereafter Linea would be called as Linea Classic. The next generation Linea will be powered by 1.6L Turbojet engine.

Also, it is in news that the Punto Abarth would be coming in 2013 itself and the next generation Punto could be called Pandona. Fiat has already decided to stop retailing the cars at Tata showrooms and has already started developing the exclusive Fiat showrooms in India.

Source - Motorbeam

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Dark Red, Maroon colored Honda Amaze spotted at dealerships

Maruti Suzuki really needs to worry in case Honda comes out with an aggressive pricing of its entry level sedan - Amaze in India. Already we have flooded our readers with lot of news about the new upcoming Honda Amaze, here are yet more, never unveiled facts and images of Honda Amaze.

The dark red colored Honda Amaze spotted at a dealership in Chennai looks amazing. This is again the petrol i-VTEC top of the line new VX variant. So far, no diesel variant images have been spotted across any dealership in India, but no worries, Honda India will be launching out the diesel variant too and here are the details of the new engine -

• All new aluminium engine, thus being Light weight
• Spectacular ARAI acclaimed fuel efficiency of 25.8 Kmpl
• 4 cylinder, 1.5L diesel engine with 100PS of power and 200 N-m of torque.
• Same 1.2L petrol motor currently running in Brio hatchback
• Automatic variant for Petrol version only - was expected looking at Dzire petrol automatic.

The launch of the car is expected on 11th April 2013 and will be priced apprx. 20-25K above Maruti Suzuki Dzire.

More Images could be viewed here.

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M&M resorts to plant shut down to clear tractors' inventory

Auto major Mahindra & Mahindra today said it will shut down its tractor plants at Jaipur and Rudrapur for five days and two days, respectively, next week due to inventory pile up amidst falling sales. the Mumbai-based firm said that "as part of aligning its production with sales requirements" the company will be observing "no production days" at its tractor plants at Jaipur for five days and Rudrapur for two days. The planned shut down will take place between March 24 and March 31, it added.

"The management does not envisage any adverse impact on availability of tractors in the market due to adequacy of tractor stocks to serve the market requirements," Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) said. M&M had reported 2.97 per cent decline in its total tractor sales in February this year at 14,861 units compared to 15,316 tractors in the same month of last year.

Domestic tractor sales of the company had fallen by 2.77 per cent during the month at 13,944 units as against 14,341 units in February 2012. Exports last month stood at 917 units compared to 975 units in same month previous year, down 5.95 per cent. Earlier, the country's largest car maker Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) also undertook a one day-production cut at its Gurgaon plant amid declining sales.

MSI had reported 7.89 per cent decline in its total sales at 1,09,567 units in February 2013. It had sold 1,18,949 units in the corresponding month last year.

We also saw, Tata Motors and Maruti Suzuki shuting down their plants during the last week of March 2013.

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Foton Motors to start construction of their Chakan, Pune plant in July 2013

Foton Motors has already purchased 250 acres of land in Chakan, Pune. The chinese company has already begun the testing of its vehicles - pick up and will subsequently be expanding its arms in other segments as well.

As per the sources, the company will start the manufacturing of its production plant in Q3 2013 and the company will start producing the vehicles in India in 2015. The Chinese automaker will have a capacity of 100,000 vehicles in the starting and is capable of expanding it upto 250,000 vehicles.

It will manufacture vehicles in the range of 0.7T - 2.5T and vehicles >2.5T. As per senior person from Foton, the smaller range of vehicle will compete with Tata's Ace, Ashok leyland Dost and Mahindra's Maxximo range of vehicles. The car maker says, no doubt, our products will be very cost competitive.

Meanwhile, a pick-up was spotted testing in Pune and will also be launched in India along with the smaller ace competitor. The engine details are yet not disclosed. Stay tuned for more information on Foton Motors.

Source - Teambhp

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After Ford's controversial advertisement - JWT India Chief Creative Officer Bobby Pawar sacked

Ford India entered into a controversial series of conversations after the sexist advertisement hit the internet. It was soon apologized by both Ford India and the creative company, JWT India.

Amidst international uproar over the Ads, JWT India has gone a step ahead and has sacked its chief creative officer and managing partner, Mr Bobby Pawar. Another top executive in charge of the Ford India account at JWT India, Mr Vijay Simha Vellanki, is also in the firing line.

Ford has even asked for an apology from Italy's former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi who was shown in advertisement with trio of bound women in the trunk of a car.

More details could be viewed here. 

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James Bond aka Daniel Craig unveils new Range Rover Sport

As we already told you, the all new Range Rover Sport has finally been unveiled by Danial Craig aka James Bond showing off the exterior's super-sleek design and some sweet changes inside.

Measuring in at 4850mm, the new Sport is 62mm longer than its predecessor however boasts of 425 Kg weight reduction.  There are four engine options available across as follows -

• 3.0L supercharged V6 Petrol engine delivering 340 PS of power
• 5.0L supercharged V8 petrol engine delivering 510 PS of power
• 3.0L TDV6 diesel engine with 258 PS of power
• 3.0L SDV6 diesel engine with 292 PS of power. 

A 4.4L V8 diesel hybrid engine is expected to be on offer in near future. The first Range Rover Sport was introduced in 2005 and has since sold about 380,000 units worldwide with New York being the largest market.

The other stats: 0-60mph from just under 5 seconds, 149mm shorter and 55mm lower than the new Range Rover, 24 percent more fuel efficient and will go on sale in Q3 2013 across 169 markets including India. 

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2014 Range Rover Sport Video unveiled

The new Range Rover Sport has been teased out by the UK based company. As we already told you, the same would be officially unveiled on 26th March 2013, a day before the opening of New York Motor Show 2013, when it would be driven through Manhattan, here is the official video of the car.

John Edwards, Land Rover’s global brand director, said: “The all-new Range Rover Sport takes the model to another level. It is Land Rover’s most dynamic vehicle yet and showcases the best of British design, engineering and technological innovation.”

Here is the Video of 2014 Range Rover Sport. Watch it out !

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Audi A3 sedan unveiled at New York Auto Show

Audi A3 sedan has been revealed at New York Auto Show and is expected to make its entry into the Indian market some where in 2014. The Audi A3 sedan will again be unveiled at Shanghai Auto Show in April 2013.

The new A3 Sedan is compact, but not all that small. At nearly 4.5m long, with a 2.63m wheelbase, and a width of 1.8m, the sedan is 11mm wider than the Sportback A3. The sedan boasts of 425 Liters of Boot space as well.

The A3 Sedan will be available with a 2.0 TDI engine producing 150bhp of power and 320Nm of torque. Capable of an 8.7 second sprint from 0-100km/h, this engine promises a wallet friendly 4.1l/100km (about 25km/l).  The base petrol is a 1.4 TFSI which produces 140bhp of power and 250Nm of torque. It will do the sprint in 8.4 seconds and will return 4.7l/100km (a little more than 20km/l).

Inside, the A3 now offers a driver information display that uses 3D graphics, a revised MMI system (still operable via a column-mounted knob or steering wheel controls), the choice of three different steering wheels (depending on function), optional sport seating and a whole lot more. Interior colorways fall into the black, brown, gray or beige variety, and two-tone packages are also in the mix. Cloth seats, two kinds of leather and Alacantara all find themselves among the options, as well.

The price of Audi A3 sedan is expected to start from INR 17.5 Lac for base petrol version. More Images could be viewed here.

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Mitsubishi G4 Concept unveiled in Bangkok

Mitsubishi has unveiled the G4 concept at 34th Bangkok International Motor Show, it presents a mixture of weight savings and aerodynamic styling, which the company plans to roll out globally when the concept enters production.

There aren't a lot of details about what’s going on under the bonnet, but Mitsubishi says that the Concept G4 uses a lightweight engine and a continuously variable transmission with sub-gear train. There isn't much on performance either, though the company does describe its handling as “reassuring.”

Mitsubishi says that inspiration for the grille, the headlamps, and the taillamps comes from diamonds, which actually is somewhat identifiable in this photo—well, that’s true for the grille and headlights, at least; we’ll have to wait until we see the concept’s rear end to make a final judgement on the taillights. The G4 features a short nose, and a character line that kicks up to the rear, with what appears to be a healthy serving of the requisite LEDs hiding behind the headlamp lens.

More Images could be viewed here.

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Mahindra replaced Ashok Leyland as No. 2 commercial vehicle maker in India

The Commercial vehicle industry has seen a sharp drop in sales during last year mainly due to slowing of sales in Heavy Duty Commercial Vehicles in India, a major indicator of slowing down of economy. Light Commercial vehicles though still maintain good number of sales with Tata ACE being the leader.

In Medium & Heavy Commercial vehicle segment, Tata Motors still maintains the lead with No. 1 player. Ashok Leyland, has always been at second spot in Commercial vehicle market, but as per the recent figures released by SIAM, Mahindra & Mahindra has replaced Ashok Leyland and has now become No. 2 player in Indian Commercial vehicle market. 

Consider the stats. M&M's April-February tally (including Navistar range as well as Maxximo, Gio, Genio and Bolero pick-up) stands at 1,67,588 units as per SIAM data. ALL's April-February sales, including the Dost LCV, stand at 1,00,592 units. Both do not include exports. When talked with senior officials at Ashok Leyland, they say, we are still No. 2 in Medium & Heavy Commercial vehicle segment. ALL sales does not include Dost Sales which is 30K numbers, since this is a JV product manufactured out of Ashok-Leyland Nissan JV.

A spokesperson for ALL, says its focus, going forward, "will be on expanding and enhancing the M&HCV range while, at the same time, work with JV partner, Nissan Motor Company, to enhance the LCV portfolio," said the company spokesman. "The pace of new product investment has been accelerated to help customers maintain or improve profitability, as they deal with rising fuel costs."

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Daniel Craig will unveil New Range Rover Sport on Tuesday in New York

The Skyfall star Daniel Craig, who plays James Bond on-screen will unveil the New Range Rover Sport on 2nd April 2013. Ofcourse, a stunt too would be performed in New York night.

The 2014 Range Rover Sport is a compact, low-slung version of the regular Range Rover with plenty of oomph under the bonnet. The car’s a big hit with premiership footballers and A-list celebrities. In fact New York is the single biggest market for Range Rover in the world and there can be no better place or time to unveil a new version.

We had already shown you the several images of New Range Rover Sport which were leaked on internet a couple of days before. Watch More details here.

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Mahindra XUV5OO launched in Nepal at 33 Lakh Rupees

Mahindra XUV 5OO is expanding its wings - starting from the launch in India, the home grown carmaker has launched the vehicle in Europe,  South Africa and now in Nepal. However, as of now, the vehicle would be exported from India and would thus get hefty import duty.

The base W6 variant of the XUV500 is priced at 5.3 million Nepal rupees or about 33.15 lakh rupees in Indian currency. The XUV500 is also available in W8 FWD, priced at 5.85 Million Nepali Rupees and W8 AWD variants priced at 6.15 Million Nepali Rupees. The XUV500 sold in Nepal features the same spec sheet as that of the Indian model.

The crossover is powered by the same 2.2L mHawk engine with power output of 140 bhp and 330 N-m of torque. The XUV500, which is Mahindra’s first indigenously developed monocoque vehicle is sold in Nepal by Agni Incorporated. The bookings for this crossover are now open in Nepal with deliveries to commence shortly.

The XUV500 will launch in seven body colors – Satin White, Tuscan Red, Opulent Purple, Neptune Blue, Moondust Silver, Volcano Black and Dolphin Grey. 

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Tata Motors to shut down for 11 days for maintenance

Tata Motors, the home grown car maker and the number one Commercial vehicle maker will undertake a 11 day shutdown to carry out maintenance of its equipment at its Jamshedpur factory from 27th March 2013.

Tata Motors will undertake shutdown from March 27 to April 6 to carry out maintenance of equipment, particularly, in the paint shop," Debasis Ray, Head of Corporate Communications, said.

The shutdown was needed as it is not possible to carry out maintenance of equipment, especially, in the paint house during the day to day operations.

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Maruti Suzuki to remain closed on three days - Slowdown effect

Maruti Suzuki, India's largest car maker is trying to cope with the slowdown in the Indian automobile industry. The car maker will shutdown on 26th, 27th and 28th March 2013.

So far, March has always been the best month for all the automakers - especially for Maruti Suzuki, which in order to achieve targets makes huge sales during this month - be offering discounts and various other corporate benefits. Seems like this year has been a little different.

Apart from these three days, the last day of this month, 31st will again be an off, due to Sunday, and hence a total of 4 days off during this last week, which was expected to be the most efficient week in terms of volumes.

Till date, from April 2012 - February 2013, Maruti Suzuki has manufactured 10,66,943 vehicles, which is a growth of 5.5% over last year.  

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Discolor Tyre - Know when to change your car tyres !

Discolor Tyre is a new Concept which lets you know when to change your tires !

This is a safe option for those who are busy enough and not able to keep track of wearing out of their tires. As you could see, after a considerable amount of use of car, the tire would change its color to Orange and you would get to know this is the right time to go to the nearest dealer to change your set of tires. It also acts as a warning system for you to travel safe.

Source - Yanko design

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Ford India apologises over Italy's former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi bondage ad

The Indian unit of Ford Motor Co. has apologised for advertisements decried as demeaning to women, including one depicting Italy's former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi with a trio of bound women in the trunk of a car. 

A Ford India spokeswoman said Monday that the company is investigating whether anyone at the automaker ever saw the print ads, which were never used commercially but appeared over the weekend on a website showcasing creative advertising. 

The ads caused an uproar online and came just after India passed a new law on violence against women following a fatal gang rape of a student on a bus that prompted mass protests and spotlighted the status of women in India. 

Featuring Ford's logo, one ad showed three women bound and gagged in the trunk of an Indian-made compact, the Ford Figo, with Berlusconi smiling from the driver's seat alongside the slogan "Leave your worries behind with the Figo's extra-large boot." 

Similar ads featured Paris Hilton apparently kidnapping reality television rivals the Kardashian sisters  all three sisters tied up and one in a bikini  and Formula One driver Michael Schumacher abducting his male racing competition. 

Ford said Monday that it regrets the incident, calling the images "contrary to the standards of professionalism and decency within Ford." 

The ads were created at advertising agency JWT India and appeared on the website adsoftheworld.com late Friday. 

"Ford India Needs to Fire Its Advertising Execs," read a headline on a slate.com blog while Indians on Twitter reacted with posts like "Disgusting!" and "SHAME." 

It was unclear Monday whether anyone at Ford India had approved or seen the ads. 

"We take this very seriously and are reviewing approval and oversight processes, and taking necessary steps to ensure nothing like this ever happens again," Ford spokeswoman Sethi Deepti said by email. 

JWT India's CEO also condemned the ads. 

"These were made as posters by individuals. They have never been paid for and were not expected to be released," he told Economic Times.

Source - EconomicTimes

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Mahindra XUV 5OO base version and top end variants in works

Mahindra, the home grown SUV maker is gearing itself against the newly launched Duster, which has clocked 25,000 units in just 7 months of launch. Mahindra's XUV 5OO and Scorpio are the one's most affected by launch of Renault Duster.

At present, there are three variants of XUV 5OO available - W6 4x2, W8 4x2 and W8 4x4 variants. However, as per sources, the two new variants of the SUV are to in pipeline and will take the total to 5 variants.

One would be the base variant, which as per the sources will cut down on some features and will also feature a new center console. The other one would be a top of the line variant which will is likely to touch INR 15 Lac, and is expected to come with all the bells and whistles that you could think of.

On the engine and transmission front, things are expected to be unchanged on the low cost variant with the same 2.2 Liter turbo diesel engine and 6 speed manual transmission doing duty. On the top end variant though, the addition of an automatic gearbox could be in the scheme of things considering the fact that Tata Motors is lining up the Aria Automatic for a end 2013 launch.

Apart from selling the XUV500 in India, Mahindra also exports this crossover to car markets across the globe. The automaker is working on a petrol engined variant of the XUV500 to target specific export markets that favour petrol engined cars.

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Domino's to buy 5,000 Chevrolet Beat to use it as Delivery vehicle

Domino's is planning to buy 5,000 units of Chevrolet's small car - Beat, which is also known as Spark in some countries. Domino’s understands the need of delivering oven fresh and hot pizzas to their customers doorstep.

But, this is nothing unique that Domino's is doing. Last time Dominos was in news for ordering Renault's Twizy for delivering Pizza.  Meanwhile, Domino's also conducted a 5 stage Domino Ultimate delivery vehicle challenge which completed in August 2012 and the winners are out now. The aim of this contest was to find the best design for a delivery vehicle which would come at a price of $20,000 (INR 10,87,400) for Domino’s Pizzas.

The competition was divided into four categories – exterior rendering, interior rendering, night scene and best branding. Romanian designer Marian Cilibeanu was a winner in three of the four categories. His D-Box2 won first place where exterior rendering was concerned which is ideally suited for Domino’s Logo and Out for Delivery signs. D-Box2 project was also the cynosure of all attention due to its special bulls eye window on delivery door situated just behind driver’s door.

Romanian designer Ianis Vasilatos and SparkUS project was ranked third where interior rendering category was concerned. 5000 Chevy Sparks will be added to the Dominos Pizza delivery for their US fleet, one for each franchisee.

View More Images here !

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Nissan Micra facelift - Here are all details along with the Video

Nissan Micra facelift is now fully unveiled. As we had already shown you the Images of the Micra facelift caught while entering a parking lot in the mall. (Check out more details here), the changes at the facelifted car includes -

• New more masculine looking front grill
• New traingular shaped fog lamps
• New redesignd front bumper
• New set of LED tail lamps and rear bumper
• New Blackened center console - Dashboard
• Rectangular shaped AC vents as in Sunny
• New Sparkling Green color option

The new Micra looks better than the outgoing Micra but we will have to wait and watch how much response does it gets from the buyers. The Micra will be powered by same K9K, 1.5L 85 bhp engine along with 5 speed manual transmission. Nissan might launch an automatic variant for Micra too along with Sunny Automatic at the same time, for which we have been waiting for a long time.

Watch out the Video now to notice the changes in Micra facelift and let us know how did you liked it. View other Images here.

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Maruti Suzuki plans to launch new SUV's in India

Maruti Suzuki which till now had an image of being a small car maker, plans to grow its market presence in Utility Vehicle space too and the company has become even more confident after the success of Ertiga in India. The Japanese car maker sold 70,000 units of Ertiga in India since its launch in April 2012.

The JV, "Maruti Suzuki" which is 56 percent owned by the Japanese subsidiary "Suzuki Motor Corporation" still has a 50 percent market share when domestic sales are considered.  Nakanishi, who has been with the company since its inception in 1982, said in his last interaction with the media that the success of Maruti lies in strong commitment to the Indian market along with its long-term focus on small cars. "India is a promising market.

The company plans to launch XA-Alpha, SUV which was first displayed at 2012 Auto Expo and has already started working on the same. As per Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers data, car sales in the country declined 4.64% to 17.14 lakh units in the April-February period while sales of utility vehicles grew 55% to 4.99 lakh units from 3.23 lakh units of the last fiscal.

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Diesel prices hiked by 45 paise a litre from Saturday, third increase since January

In another move, wherein Diesel prices have been hiked by INR 0.45 wef Saturday, 23rd March 2013, the third ever hike since January 2013, when the diesel prices were decided to be partially freed and was decided to hike prices of diesel by 0.45 - 0.50 INR every month by a total of INR 9.

The total price increase of INR 9 is expected to happen till December 2013. After local levies, diesel will be costlier by 51 paise in Delhi, 57 paise in Mumbai, 53 paise in Kolkata and 55 paise in Chennai, Indian Oil Corp executives said. Prices were last revised on 16th Feb 2013.

Oil firms had slashed petrol rates sharply by 2.40 per litre on March 16 as international crude oil prices fell by over $5 per barrel. Fuel rates in India are highly dependent on global fuel prices because the country imports 80% of its crude oil requirements.The loss on Diesel to Oil marketing companies still remains at INR 8.19.fuel

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Ford / JWT India could get into some sort of trouble for a sexist advertisement !

VW India, just a couple of months ago entered into a row of controversies over sexist comment on Twitter and now it could be Ford. Auto makers in India like to get famous - may it be through any of the reasons, seems like !

New York headquartered Global Advertising agency of Ford "JWT" is working on a new advertisement for Ford's Figo. The print ads recently hit the webspace and has started creating controversies. To showcase the Figo’s boot space, JWTIndia has used former Italian prime minister Mr Silvio Berlusconi as a prop in an ad that shows a beaming Mr Berlusconi with skimpily dressed women in the boot of Figo. 

In another ad, American hotel heiress Paris Hilton is depicted in a similar situation where in three women of Kardashian family have been packed inside the boot. 

This is now just, in another advertisement poster - the third one, Michael Schumacher is at the driver’s seat with other F1 driver’s like Sebastian Vettel, Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton packed into the Figo’s boot.

When contacted Ford India senior persons, their response is as follows - 

“We deeply regret this incident and agree with our agency partners that it should have never happened. The posters are contrary to the standards of professionalism and decency within Ford and our agency partners. Together with our partners, we are reviewing approval and oversight processes to help ensure nothing like this ever happens again.“

Source - Indiancarsbikes

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Maruti celebrates 30 Lakh units of Swift sold, launches Swift Star Limited edition

Maruti Suzuki is undoubtedly the market leader in sales of small cars - may it be Alto, WagonR or Swift in their respective segments, they are the market leaders. Maruti Suzuki has recently disclosed in the press release that their hot hatch - Swift has sold 30,00,000 units worldwide.

To celebrate this huge event, Maruti Suzuki has launched a Limited edition variant - "Swift Star" with many new features included as -

• A Double din stereo system with Bluetooth 
• Twin door speakers
• Designer floor mats
• Steering wheel cover
• Art leather seat cover
• Rear roof spoiler

Till now, no pricing details of the car has been revealed by the car maker. Expect the same to be done very soon. Also view, Maruti Suzuki offers instant delivery of Swift in India.

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Mahindra Reva e20 launched at price of Rs 5.96 Lac, on Road Delhi price - Images & details - Videos

Mahindra Reva, part of the Mahindra Group, has on Monday launched its new generation electric vehicle, e2o at Rs 5.96 lakh. Pronounced as ‘Ee-too-oh’, the zero emission e2o is powered by 48-volt lithium ion batteries and offers a range of 100km per charge.

The company said e2o will use next generation Lithium Ion batteries and "will have a range of 100 kms on a full charge, which is suitable for most urban commuters today".

Mahindra & Mahindra President, (Automotive & Farm Equipment Sectors) Pawan Goenka said: "Electric vehicles today epitomise clean and green driving and Mahindra wants to take the lead in developing this segment and its surrounding eco system. "We sincerely hope that such an initiative will find the desired support and incentives from all governmental agencies that will support us in this journey of providing clean mobility solutions."

The e2o will enable users to carry out self fueling through any 15 amp plug point at home or at their workplace. This can be further augmented with the help of Sun2Car solar technology, the company added.

The electric car will be produced at Mahindra Reva's recently inaugurated production facility at Bengaluru which has a manufacturing capacity of 30,000 cars per annum. The e20 was showcased at the Auto Expo held here in January last year.

More Images here ! Meanwhile, here are bunch of Videos revealed by Mahindra. Watch it out !

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