Big relief for Petrolheads - Price reduction of Rs 3 per liter in Petrol prices

In another, major relief for Petrolheads, effective tonight, Petrol prices will be slashed across the country by Rs 3 apprx. (depending on state to state) per liter. In Delhi, petrol prices will be reduced by Rs 3, (Inclusive of VAT).

In Chennai, Petrol will cost Rs 65.90. In Delhi petrol will cost Rs 63.09, In Kolkata petrol will cost Rs. 70.35. The biggest decrease will be seen in Hyderabad and will be a cut of Rs 3.28. All the price changes will be effective tonight.

"We have decided to cut petrol prices by Rs 3.00 including taxes," an Indian Oil executive said. The last reduction in Petrol price was  on 15 April wherein the price was reduced by Re 1 per litre.

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Chevrolet Enjoy MPV launching on 9 May 2013

Chevrolet's new MPV - Enjoy, first displayed at 2012 Auto Expo and thereafter spied "n" number of times of road across Delhi, NCR, Pune, Gujarat, Mumbai and Chennai is finally launching on 9 May 2013.

Enjoy MPV will sit in competition to Ertiga and will be available in both petrol and diesel variants. The diesel motor will be 1.3L SDE Smartech engine that puts out 76bhp and 19.17kgm of torque and the petrol motor will be B14D 1.4L engine that pulls out 103bhp and 13.25kgm of torque.

Enjoy is looking at targeting families wanting to have a spacious and fuel efficient MPV. Though it is expected to place Chevrolet's Enjoy above Maruti Suzuki Ertiga but if priced at par with Ertiga, and offered with 5 years warranty on engine and 3 years regular warranty on transmission and other parts, it could do wonders for GM India. The pricing should be the key for this vehicle and should be priced as per strategy what Honda had for Amaze - pricing it at par with Dzire.

The front fascia looks better than Maruti Suzuki Ertiga, with 4 chrome slats neatly housing Chevry "bowtie" and clear headlamps on two sides. The leaf shaped fog lamps on two sides of front bumper and a chrome surrounded airdam on the middle makes it look modern and out of conservative styling. The overall design when looked is still on conservative side, on lines of Sail U-VA and sedan and not as stylish as Beat.

The Enjoy features a monocoque chassis and has a rear wheel drive layout. More importantly, it offers a small 1.3L diesel engine that makes 73 BHP and 19.17 Kgm of Torque at 1,750 rpm. A 1.4 liter gasoline engine is part of the lineup as well. Ertiga too offers 1.3SDE diesel engine and .14L Gasoline engine - so technically Enjoy is at par with Ertiga.

6 spoke 14" alloy wheels come standard on the higher end variants. However, dual AC would be standard and will act as boon for middle and last row passengers. Other feature list includes Tilt steering, power windows all round, power mirrors and a height adjustable driver's seat which could form part of the equipment list. Triple cluster chrome surround Instrument cluster looks good and bright blue lights with red tint gives it nice feel, similar to that seen in Chevrolet's Cruze.

The car is expected to be priced around Rs 5.6 Lac - Rs 8.5 Lac

More Images could be viewed here.

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Honda to pay Rs 164 Crore more as excise duty for selling cars on Discount

Honda Cars India Limited has been trying to capture market share of the Indian market by selling the models like Brio, Jazz on huge discounts. The Central Board of Excise & Customs(CBEC) has served a showcase notice to Honda Cars India Limited and has asked for payment of INR 164 Crore of excise duty. As per the guidelines, the excise duty to be paid on cars should be calculated on actual production cost plus marginal profit and not on the discounted sales price of the car.

This follows the Supreme Court judgement in the Fiat case last year, where the apex court ruled that if a company sells products at a loss for a long period because of commercial considerations or under competitive pressures, then price is not the sole consideration and excise duty should be paid on manufacturing cost plus a 'reasonable' profit margin. Excise duty is an inland tax on the sale of goods produced domestically. It is paid by the manufacturer, but often passed on to the customer.

In the tough times, when Indian passenger car market grew by just 2.2% thanks to huge SUV sales, however the passenger car sales declined, the carmakers retort to huge discounts to push up the sales. Moreover the lack of diesel engine from Honda's stable proved to be a sore point for Honda India and the market share dropped to 2.07% in 2011-12 from 4.05% in 2007-08.

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Mercedes Benz A Class to be disclosed privately on 4th May and official launch on 30th May 2013

Mercedes Benz new latest launch could come as A Class, which will sit below the last year launched B Class Luxury hatchback in India. As per the sources, the new hatchback will be showcased to exisiting Mercedes dealers, High net worth clients and exisiting mercedes car owners on 04th May 2013 privately. As per the sources, the new sports hatchback will officially be launched on 30th May 2013.

The new sports hatcback should sit below price tag of INR 20 Lac in India. During initial stages, the German carmaker plans to import CBU in India however later plans to manufacture both A and B Class hatchbacks at their Chakan facility in Pune.

The Mercedes Benz A-Class sports hatchback will be available with two engine options, a 1.6 Liter petrol motor and a 1.8 Liter turbo diesel engine. Both these engines are expected to be mated to a 7 speed dual clutch automatic gearbox as standard and this transmission will drive the front wheels of the hatchback.

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Audi and Mercedes zooms past BMW in Q1 2013

Just yesterday when we were briefing all our viewers about the recent surge in Luxury car market in India when BMW, Audi and Mercedes have been rolling out discounts, new models etc to lure customers, we did not knew the happenings in the Indian Luxury auto market, which came to light today morning.

In case you remember, BMW just managed to sel 372 units more than Audi in 2012 year and Mercedes was way behind at close to 7,000 units last year. The new year has brought lot of changes in the Indian Luxury car market and as per the recent sources, Jan-March 2013 car sales are as follows.

Audi India - 2,616 units

Mercedes Benz India - 2,009 units

BMW - 1,410 units.

This clearly shows the consumer preference towards more energetic and young looking Audi. BMW has registered 40.5% decline in sales when compared to same period last year.

At the 7 Series launch last week, Phillip von Sahr, President, BMW India maintained that they are not in the race to be the No 1 luxury car maker in India, only by volume. They are a premium brand and would like to keep their focus on that, instead of generating volumes. 

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Hero MotoCorp new wage settlement done. Workers get hike of Rs 9,000 per month

In yet another blow for the Automobile industry came, when Hero MotoCorp finally came to a settlement with the workers over salary negotiation issues. It was under discussion between the management and workers union over a long time now. The workers were demanding a hike of Rs 18,000 per month and the management had decided to settle with Rs 6,000 per month.

It has now been learnt that the issue has finally been sorted out and the workers will get a hike of Rs 9,000 with retrospective effect from 01st August 2012. The pact has been signed for three years wherein during the first year, workers will get hike of 60% and for second and third year, 20% each.

With the settlement looking a far cry, in February this year the union had threatened that it was keeping the option of strike open and had held protests outside the factory gate at Gurgaon. The Gurgaon plant of the company has 1,100 permanent workers.

It could come as a welcome note for some as the industry is already going though rough patch and could not afford to have another strike at this time. Earlier, the Industry has been struggling to get off the after effects of strike at largest carmaker, Maruti Suzuki and now at largets two wheeler maker, could have wiped off huge numbers from the topline. On the other hand, the every increasing costs in terms of huge wages will somehow be reflected in the company financials and could turn out to be detrimental for consumers and industry in the long term.

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Maruti conducts campaign for Dzire to avert Amaze competition - registers 45.8 Kmpl mileage !

As expected from the market leader, Maruti Suzuki responded bravely to the intension competition started by Honda Cars India Limited by launching Amaze at same price levels as the market leader Dzire. The carmaker conducted a nation wide campaign named "mileage drive rally" across 31 cities in India.

As per this rally, the customers were to drive the Maruti Suzuki Dzire for  a distance of 70 Kms with a checkpoint after every 10 Kms.  Following were the rules disclosed by Maruti Suzuki to persons driving during the rally.

• Driver will be driving for 70 Kms with check point after every 10 Kms
• Not to exceed speed levels above 50 Kmph 
• Drive in correct gear as per the speeds and rpm
• Avoid sudden acceleration / deceleration.
• Avoid sudden and prompt brakes
• Avoid stopping the car while in motion.

Over 62 customers participated in mileage drive rally, however Mr. Gurdeep Singh clocked the best mileage figures of 45.8 kmpl in a diesel model, while Mr. Shrirang Chindarkar topped the petrol category with 42.1 kmpl. Interestingly, the average fuel efficiency in the city event was 30.6 kmpl for petrol and 32.4 kmpl for diesel. The certified fuel efficiency of Swift Dzire petrol is 19.1 kmpl and Swift Dzire diesel is 23.4 kmpl.

Speaking on the occasion, Manohar Bhat, Vice President (Marketing), Maruti Suzuki India Limited said, "Competition is in all segment of the cars we sell. We welcome all competition. Our cars speak for themselves by their performance. We are celebrating the 5th year of the Dzire and so we thought of conducting such a mileage rally to connect with our customers," .

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BMW 3-series and 5-series available at attractive financing offers !

The passenger car market is shrinking in terms of growth percentage however the Luxury car maker is expanding month after month. The competition between the luxury carmakers - BMW, Audi, Mercedes and Jaguar is also getting intense month on month.

While, BMW emerged out to be the leader in Indian market last year by selling just 372 cars more than Audi. Audi is leaving no stone unturned this time to come out as market leader. While Audi is gaining focus on launching new models, BMW too is focusing on launching new models along with introducing attractive offers on existing cars. 

The finance scheme now on offer is an attractive one wherein in case a person buys 3-series or 5-series he just has to pay 50% of the on road price in 3 years of its ownership. 

After three years, a customer can choose to either trade in another BMW car or retain the same car by paying the rest of the loan amount. Also, upto 100% financing on ex-showrooms is available on BMW 3 and 5 series models.  BMW will waive off service and maintenance costs for 3 years/60,000 Kms on the 3-Series and the 5-Series sedans bought under the aforementioned scheme.

The EMI for 3 series comes out to be INR 33,333 and INR 55,555 for a 5-series entry level sedans. Both these offers are available only till 30th April 2013. So, hurry to your nearby outlet and grab the deal.

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Volkswagen Polo 1.2L GT TSI launched in India at Rs 7.99 Lac, ex-showroom, New Delhi

Volkswagen, just a while ago launched Polo GT TSI in India at Rs 7.99 Lac, ex-showroom, new Delhi. At this price ofcourse, this is the most expensive hatchback present in Indian market and ofcourse the most powerful too. It offers the combination of powerful turbo petrol engine and a technology packed 7 speed DSG dual clutch automatic gearbox.

The 1.2L 3 cylinder Gasoline engine produces 103 bhp of power similar to what the older 1.6 Liter naturally aspirated 1.6 Liter petrol engine delivered in the Volkswagen Polo 1.6. The Polo 1.2 TSI delivers an ARAI certified 17.2 Kmpl, a fuel economy figure that’s actually better than the 1.2 Liter 3 cylinder petrol motor.

Prominent features of VW GT TSI include -

• Estrada allow wheels measuring 185/60 R15
• Chrome front grill with distinctive GT embossed on it
• Halogen headlamps
• ‘Milan’ Titanschwarz fabric upholstery - combination of black leather with white sticthing
• Climatic automatic climate control
• Leather wrapped handbrake lever, gearshift know and steering wheel
• 2 Din RCD 320 music system with USB, Aux-in and Bluetooth 
• Aluminium pedal cluster
• Sunglass holder inside glove box
• Rear parking sensors

The Polo 1.2 TSI also gets ESP, ABS, EBD, Hill Hold and Twin Airbags as its prominent safety features. The car can do a top speed of 190 Kmph and 0-100 Kmph in just 9.7 seconds.

Available colors for VW GT TSI variant -

• Candy White
• Flash Red
• Deep Black

Commenting on the launch of the New Polo GT TSI, Mr. Arvind Saxena, Managing Director, Volkswagen Passenger Cars, Volkswagen Group Sales India Pvt. Ltd said “In the current market scenario, fuel efficiency has become vital for every customer looking at purchasing a new car. Under these circumstances we strongly feel the need to provide our customer with a choice to opt for an efficient petrol car. The Polo GT TSI is the perfect answer with Maximum Power and Minimum Consumption.”

The bookings amount for the Polo GT is Rs 50,000. Already available for sale at all VW showrooms in India.

More Images could be seen here.

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Kerala Police file case against father of 9 year old Ferrari driver

Few Days before, we brought you the Video of a 9 year old boy driving a Ferrari F430 and later driving Range Rover. As expected, the video which went viral on Youtube has now brought father of child into trouble as police has registered an inquiry into case and files case against father, Muhammed Nisham.

The Peramangalam Police summoned Muhammed Nisham, the owner of the Ferrari F430 Scuderia, on Thursday to record his statement after Thrissur City Police Commissioner ordered an inquiry into the incident. A case has been registered under the Motor Vehicles Act and Section 23 of the Juvenile Justice Act.

“We are going ahead with the inquiry. We are yet to take the car into custody and prepare a statement,” said P.C. Bijukumar, Circle Inspector, Peramangalam Police. He said Mr. Nisham was out of town and likely to return within a couple of days after which he would be summoned for further proceedings.

Ofcourse, the child has driven the car in a careful manner and slowed down the speed before the pump and nothing looks to be a case of rash driving, however, still it could have brought other children in locality as risk. The child also handed over the keys of the car safely.

Mr. Muhammed Nisham, who has several businesses in India and abroad has many other cars apart from this Chandigarh registered Ferrari F430.

Source - The Hindu

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Three kids suffocate to death in an unlocked car

In another tragic incident in Kalher area of the powerloom town of Bhiwandi. three kids suffocate to death inside an unlocked car inside a garage.

The three kids, of which two were brother-sister, accompanied by another friend all in age group of 5-7 years, were out on field playing around 11:30am. After around an hour, they decided to enter into an adjacent garage which had capacity to place around 100 cars. The kids entered into the garage through a compound wall in which there was 25 foot wide opening. After entering into garage, the three kids entered the car which was unlocked. Once inside, though, the children did not know how to open its doors. Their bodies were found 13 hours later, in the wee hours of Thursday. There were marks on the dusty windowpanes, indicating that they had unsuccessfully struggled to break them open, investigating police officers told.

The victim's family demanded action against the godown's owner saying if the compound wall had been properly constructed and if the car had been locked, the tragedy would have been averted. The local Narpoli police have seized the car and registered a case against Sumit Malhotra, director of the car dealership, Global Gallery Agency Pvt Ltd, and Amit Sakpal, delivery checking executive in charge of managing the godown. Sakpal was arrested on Thursday.

The three kids are named Rubi Maji (5), her brother Dilip Maji (7) and their friend Raj Soni (6). M K Bhosale, deputy commissioner of police, Thane Zone 4, said, "We registered a case against the godown's owner as primary investigations clearly show that the incident occurred due to the negligence of the godown owner. He had left an opening in its compound wall." He further said the owner employed just two security guards for the rather large godown and that the guards kept a watch only at the front gate.

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Honda Civic catches fire near Airport in Delhi, Owner dead

In an another tragic incident, a Honda Civic driving on underpass near Indira Gandhi International Airport caught fire. Even more pathetic news is eight fire fighting devices installed on the underpass failed to work. As per the reported by Indian express, none of those equipments were working.

The incident took place on Sunday evening, 05:45 pm when a Honda Civic was travelling on underpass at Airport and the engine bay of car caught fire. The security system of the car got jam due to fire, and the man got stuck inside the car. Rajesh Kumar Misra, 32 year old man died because of 100% fire injuries. The car kept on burning for 20 minutes.

The guard on duty saw the car and tried to help him but all in vain- none of the eight fire fighting systems were working, no water pressure from the pipes used to douse the fire.

An eyewitness said, "The engine of that car caught fire and it went up in flames in no time. We could hear the occupant shouting for help. He was trapped inside as the doors jammed due to the central locking system. My brother and I tried to pull out the pipe from the device installed in the underpass to put out the fire, but we did not know how to operate it. The guard who was posted also came running and opened the lever, but there was no water pressure. None of the devices were working."

The underpass has three water pumps, which supply water to 16 fire fighting devices — eight on each carriageway. But none is operational. The fire hydrants lack a notice informing about directions on how to use the fire fighting device. This makes it difficult for a layman to use the equipment in an emergency situation.

We have earlier seen lot of such incidences where in the seecurity system and thus doors of cars gets jammed and could not be opened then. Thereby, Nissan claims they have installed a special system on their cars - Micra and Sunny in which, the driver's door never gets locked from inside and could always be opened even if locked or even if jammed. Check out the demo at your nearest Nissan dealer.

Earlier, we have spotted various such incidents including Tata Nano fire, VW Vento, Maruti Alto, Esteem, and even Audi R8.

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Audi introduces super sports car Audi R8 USB memory stick in India

Audi merchandise has come up with yet another thing for auto enthusiats to add to their collections. The Audi R8 V10 USB memory stick is fun, sporty and designed to meet our customers’ need for being stylish. It’s a perfect mix of miniature car with USB.

Audi R8 V10 memory stick will be available in the Indian market for INR 3,299 in the sporty red colour with a 4GB capacity. The appeal of this USB stick in the shape of Audi R8 V10 on the scale of 1:72 lies in its impressive design.

Other exclusive merchandise available in India across all dealer networks include high-end Classic Chronograph watches, sophisticated messenger bags, sports bags, travel bags, backpack, and stylish garment bag.

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BMW 7 Series launched at Rs 92.90 Lac

The German rivalry is already on and is getting more and more competitive as the day passes. On one hand, Audi has already lined up few launches for 2013, BMW too is not letting it have a small hand on the same.

BMW today launched 7 series variant for Indian market starting at Rs 92.90 Lac, ex-showroom, India. the face-lifted BMW 7 Series will take on the likes of the Audi A8 L 3.0 TDI, Jaguar XJ 3.0 and the Mercedes-Benz S Class S 350 L in the battle for the ultimate luxury limousine.

The car will be available in both petrol and diesel variants. Powering the only diesel trim currently available to Indian 7 Series buyers is a 2993cc, in line 6 cylinder diesel unit. Fitted with a turbocharger, variable intake geometry and piezo injectors, the engine now delivers 261PS @ 4000 rpm as opposed to 234PS earlier, and torque has also gone up from 520Nm to 560Nm which kicks in as low as 1500rpm. The car is now mated to S-tronic 8 speed automatic transmission which covers 0-100Km in just 6.2 seconds.

There are various changes in the car, listed as below -

• New fog lamps
• More kidney shaped grill
• Option of adaptive LED headlights
• Smaller front seats
• More sound insulation inside car
• Personal iDrive computer for rear seat passengers
• Rear seats get 9.2 inch screens
• Available as option of 10.25 inch display for iDrive system and 3D navigation maps

Price of BMW 7 series facelift are as follows -

• BMW 730Ld - Rs 92.90 Lac
• BMW 740Li - Rs 1.12 Crore
• BMW 750Li - Rs 1.29 Crore
• BMW 760Li - Rs 1.73 Crore

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DC Design to open manufacturing facility in Sanand, Gujarat to manufacturer Luxury cars

Automobile designer Dilip Chhabria's DC Design has decided to set up manufacturing facility at Sanand, Gujarat in 2014. The designer will manufacture only luxury cars and that too limited edition variants priced between Rs 20-25 Lac. Also, the designer hinted, only 4,000 units of a particular model will be manufactured and then new model will be made. The new facility that would entail investment of Rs 60 crore would be developed in a year's time and would manufacture super car DC Avanti and eventually the super SUV, Chhabria said.

"I want DC Design to manufacture limited edition cars. Once we are done with 4000 units of one variant, we would phase that out and introduce a new model in the market. With aspirational young executives getting on board to own their sports car and luxury cars, we have decided to operate in the 25-30 lakh segment," he said.

Chhabria said considering he is close to the launch of DC Avanti, a super car, he would soon require a new facility apart from the one in Pune that would manufacture the super car. DC Design customises and manufactures automotives out of its Pune, Mumbai and Gaziabad plants currently. The Ahmedabad facility will be its fourth facility where it would have dedicated capacity to manufacture 1000 units of DC's existing car variants, while additional 2500 would cater to either DC Avanti or the new SUV DC proposes to showcase in Auto Expo 2014.

DC Design has opened its luxury car showroom in Ahmedabad and expects to sell 40 units in the state every month, said Shaunak Shah, director of Abhidev Automotives that has partnered with DC for Gujarat. DC Design has retail outlets across Delhi, Chennai, Hyderabad, Surat, Mumbai, Pune, Kochi, Raipur and Bengaluru.

Various other designs by DC includes - Duster, Ambassador, XUV 5OO, Aria and Luxury buses

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Tata Motors pitches Manza sedan Vs Honda Amaze at its website

Honda's Amaze sub 4 meter sedan has opened up competition to Maruti Suzuki Dzire, Toyota Etios, Chevrolet Sail sedan and even for Tata Motors Manza sedan. Whereas Maruti Suzuki fought back by launching Dzire Regal - Limited edition variant, Tata Motors has compared Manza Vs Amaze sedan and shows how Manza sedan is better than Amaze. The comparison is already available at Tata Motors website.

If we go just by comparison, whose screen shot is already here, there is not a whiff of doubt that masses would not prefer Manza sedan. The reason is Manza being a full length sedan at 4413mm is much bigger than Amaze. Even in terms of wideness and height, Manza scores way ahead of Amaze along with complete 60 Liters more boot space. Overall, Manza offers much much more space than the already spacious Amaze.

If we come to features, Manza sedan offers features like Touchscreen music system, 6 speakers, Voice assisted GPS, Bluetooth,  ABS + EBD and various other featues which Amaze lacks. Over and above, when you get a buyback offer after 3 years of using the car with 60% of money back, no one would like to miss the wonderful opportunity. Not to forget, Manza comes at cheaper price tag than Amaze despite of offering more space and better features.

However, the final question, Will Manza spoil Amaze's amazing party ? Will customers prefer Manza over Amaze ? The answer would be "No". Over the time, Honda has been able to make its reputation in market in terms of customer's preference for Honda sedan. This is also clear by Honda's sales in last year, which is much more than all sales of Manza. We have previously also seen Tata Motors comparing their Vista hatchback with Maruti's Swift - however swift emerges to be a clear winner.

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3-door Hyundai Veloster arrives at Hyundai showrooms in India - Images from Pune

Hyundai Motors India Limited, the korean subsidiary in India is known for the design language of its cars. Starting from Eon to i10, i20, Verna, Elantra and Sonata all are fluidic in design language. Infact, Verna and Elantra and even the highest selling cars in their respective segments and others cars do pretty good in numbers. Overall, the Korean carmaker has 20% market share and is on second spot in the Indian Automobile market.

In case you remember, the carmaker displayed Veloster at Auto Expo 2012 (View images here) and there was plan to launch the car in India. The carmaker however has not decided anything as of now, but seems like it is already in plan and the actions have already started taking place.

The car is now displayed at some of the dealerships in India with Garve Hyundai at Pune being one of them. It has also come to light, that the car is on display only till 25th April 2013. As per source, Motorbash, the car is on display to test the level of exciteness among the Indian market for Veloster and gauge the market response. Here are some pictures brought in for you.

The car is a 3-door Yellow colored variant displayed which looked pretty sporty and in line with Hyundai's fluidic design language. Apart from regular two doors, the third door was on left side of the car, just behind the co-driver's entry gate and could be opened as the opening handles found in Beat. The car seemed to be manufactured at Korea since on tyres and some of other places, stickers having information in Korean language were found.

On the outside you could see the fluidic design language along with which large alloys fitted on Hankook tyres. The overall looks are superb and the falling line at rear side of car looks fantastic. However, for the rear passengers it was a difficult situation to enter and exit in the car due to demerging roofline.

On the inside, there were black & red profiled sporty leather seats. The dashboard too was in black however it matched with overall design philosphy of other Hyundai cars. Hyundai Veloster is powered by a 1.6L GDI petrol engine which is offered in regular naturally aspirated from and with a turbocharger. The regular variant produces 138hp of power and 167Nm of torque whereas the turbocharged Veloster produces 201hp of power and 264Nm of torque. This particular car was mated to a 6 speed manual gearbox.

You could have a look at other Images of Hyundai Veloster here and do share your comments / feeds on what do you think about this car !

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The most powerful hatchback for India, Volkswagen Polo GT, launching on 29th April 2013

The much awaited, the most powerful hatch till date for Indian market - VW Polo GT was spied  testing in Pune. The Polo GT would have a class leading  1.2L TSI motor with power and torque outputs of 105 Bhp-175 Nm. The deadly combination of direct injection and turbocharging would be seen in this car in India. The car also gets a twin clutch DSG automatic gearbox, another first in class feature.

The changes in exterior includes -

• Smoked headlmaps
• Side skirts
• Rear spoiler

The car would come with a body kit which would inclyde GT and TSI badges to make it look different from regular Polo, dual tone interiors and brushed metal floor pedals. The car in India will compete with likes of Fiat Grande Punto 90PS and Toyota Liva Sportivo 1.5L. Till Fiat launches Abarth in India, Polo TSI would enjoy its brandname of being most powerful hatch. 

The car will be available in three colors - Red, Black and White. Bookings already open by paying Rs 50,000. Image courtesy - Autogadget

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Ford EcoSport spotted closely parked along with VW Polo, Maruti Swift & WagonR - Images

Ford EcoSport as already launched in Brazil and has been doing a pretty good job - almost double the sales than its major competitor Renault Duster when it is priced 10% higher than Duster. Will this happen in India too ? Time will tell !

Here are some more images of Ford EcoSport spotted testing but this time being parked alongwith popular hatchbacks - VW Polo and Maruti Swift. The shots have been clicked from all angles which could let you have a feel of how this compact crossover could look when compared to other hatchbacks already available in India and is it worth to spend couple of lacs more on Compact Crossover than the regular hatchbacks. Our response to this is Yes, however we would like you to have a closer look at images and let us know what do you feel about the same.

As you are going through this post, Ford EcoSport, is being displayed at some or the other mall in India and is getting itself acquainted with common masses or say prospective buyers. Ford India is also running a contest, "EcoSport Discoveries" wherein 100 winners will get to drive EcoSport for full three weeks even before the launch. Ford EcoSport is expected to launch somewhere in slot between end May or early June 2013.

The EcoSport in India will be available in three engine variants - 1.0L Petrol engine, 1.5L Petrol engine and 1.5L DV5 Diesel engine. The Compact crossover will be available in both manual and automatic transmissions with Automatic variants available only on 1.5L Petrol engine options. Also, Wheel-O-Mania was first to spot EcoSport at dealership and reveal enough details about it - could be read here. Read more about EcoSport here.

More Images could be viewed here.
Source - Teambhp

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Tennis star Maria Sharapova becomes brand ambassador of Stuttgart based Porsche

Stuttgart based car manufacturer, Porsche has chosen Tennis superstar Maria Sharapova as their brand ambassador. The 26-year old superstar has already signed her new role and will be valid for a contract for next 3 years. View the entire press release below.

Tennis idol to become brand ambassador of the Stuttgart sports car manufacturer

Stuttgart. Tennis megastar Maria Sharapova has taken on a new role: effective immediately, the 26-year-old world class player will be representing the sports car manufacturer, Porsche AG, as brand ambassador. The cooperation is initially signed for three years and involves a global communications campaign. The athlete is already very familiar with the vehicles from Zuffenhausen: as last year´s winner of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart, Sharapova not only took home prize money, but also a white 911 Carrera S Cabriolet.

Born in Russia and living in the United States, Sharapova has achieved victories at all four Grand Slam tournaments in women's tennis and she was ranked number 1 for a total of 21 weeks.

"Maria Sharapova is an exceptional athlete. She combines top performance in her sports with elegance and power. These are precisely the qualities that are embroiled in our sports cars", as Matthias Mueller, CEO of Porsche AG, explained in today's introduction of the partnership. According to Mueller it was not easy to find the right person to be Porsche´s ambassador. "Maria Sharapova is the perfect choice. Her profile and charisma are an ideal fit for Porsche. She is also highly respected around the world and enjoys an outstanding reputation."

"This is a really special day for me," said Sharapova. "I have had the privilege to be associated with some of the best brands in the world, but now to be partners with Porsche, is such an amazing honor," she explained during her presentation in Stuttgart.

For Porsche, the choice of Maria Sharapova as brand ambassador extends its long-term commitment to women´s tennis. The company sponsors the German women's national team, which competes as the Porsche Team Germany in the Fed Cup, and the Porsche Talent Team Germany, which supports promising young players. "We are fully committed to these activities for a long term. And with Maria Sharapova, we are now extending our involvement in women's tennis globally", Mueller added.

Maria Sharapova was born in the Western Siberian town of Nyagan on April 18, 1987. She moved to Bradenton on the Gulf Coast of Florida (USA), when she was seven years old. Two years later she was accepted at the world-renowned Tennis Academy of coach Nick Bollettieri. In 2004, at the age of 17, she won her first Grand Slam tournament at Wimbledon, the third-youngest player ever. This feat was followed by titles in the other three Grand Slam tournaments: U.S. Open 2006, Australian Open 2008, and French Open 2012. To date, Maria Sharapova has won a total of 28 singles titles, including last year´s Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart, the WTA Championships in 2004, and the silver medal at the 2012 Olympic Games in London. Along with her involvement in the "Maria Sharapova Foundation", she is also active as ambassador of the United Nations Development Program.

More Images could be viewed here.

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Chevrolet Enjoy MPV Information updated on Chevrolet's India website - Official Images

Chevrolet's newest offering for the Indian market is almost here now. The upcoming Maruti Suzuki Ertiga rival - "Enjoy" is already updated on Chevrolet's India website. Enjoy is looking at targeting families wanting to have a spacious and fuel efficient MPV.

Though it is expected to place Chevrolet's Enjoy above Maruti Suzuki Ertiga but if priced at par with Ertiga, and offered with 5 years warranty on engine and 3 years regular warranty on transmission and other parts, it could do wonders for GM India. The pricing should be the key for this vehicle and should be priced as per strategy what Honda had for Amaze - pricing it at par with Dzire.

The front fascia looks better than Maruti Suzuki Ertiga, with 4 chrome slats neatly housing Chevry "bowtie" and clear headlamps on two sides. The leaf shaped fog lamps on two sides of front bumper and a chrome surrounded airdam on the middle makes it look modern and out of conservative styling. The overall design when looked is still on conservative side, on lines of Sail U-VA and sedan and not as stylish as Beat.

The Enjoy features a monocoque chassis and has a rear wheel drive layout. More importantly, it offers a small 1.3L diesel engine that makes 73 BHP and 19.17 Kgm of Torque at 1,750 rpm. A 1.4 liter gasoline engine is part of the lineup as well. Ertiga too offers 1.3SDE diesel engine and .14L Gasoline engine - so technically Enjoy is at par with Ertiga.

6 spoke 14" alloy wheels come standard on the higher end variants. However, dual AC would be standard and will act as boon for middle and last row passengers. Other feature list includes Tilt steering, power windows all round, power mirrors and a height adjustable driver's seat which could form part of the equipment list. Triple cluster chrome surround Instrument cluster looks good and bright blue lights with red tint gives it nice feel, similar to that seen in Chevrolet's Cruze.

Other Images could be viewed here.

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DC Design launches customization pack for Renault Duster at Rs 3.49 Lac

DC Designs has created some of the head turning designs in India, may it be Tata Aria, Mahindra XUV 5OO, Tata Winger, HM Ambassador, Ashok Leyland bus. This time, DC Designs is giving a modification to most popular Compact SUV at the moment - Renault Duster. DC has revealed all the pictures of the car including the as expected luxurious interiors. Moreover, you could get the customized pack for just Rs 3.49 Lac.

The front fascia including the grill, bumper, fog lamps have been entirely redesigned. Strip of LED's replace the headlamps and between the two LED's is an open space which gives it a mean look. It looks like an animal ready for the prey. The fog lamps housing are made in chrome and between those sit twin fog lamps. Also on the exterios, the chrome work and Renault's has been changed to DC and an all new matte black color is provided. The boonet too has some changes - which includes a prominent U shaped bulge and comes to notice at once.

However on the side view, DC hasn't changed alot which is a good thing as this has kept the originality and most importantly kept the costs level down. All the luxury, time and money has been spent on the interiors. The interiors have totally been changed and the experience of interiors has been taken to next level.

The rear seats are replaced by two six-way adjustable captain seats and a tiltable giant LCD screen sits on the driver’s seatback. A foldable tray table and entertainment controls grouped on the center partition are seen in these images. The door trims are given treatment of faux wood, chrome and artificial leather.

Not to forget, the front co-driver seat and the seat behind co-driver could be combined to make a bed.

You could view other modification options for Renault Duster.

More Images could be seen here.

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Polaris opens two new Off road Dirt tracks in Bengaluru

Polaris India opened two new dirt tracks in India at Bengaluru in association with Play at Sarjapur and Target Games and Facilities in Yeshwanthpur.

The Surajpur tracks covers an area of 30,000 sqft. whereas the Yeshwantpur covers an area of 20,000 sqft.  and the track consists of mounds, water pits, axle-breakers and side-inclined slopes. The offroad lovers can choose among the range of 12 different Polaris vehicles ranging from Outlaw 500cc to RZR S 800cc.

The track at Yeshwantpur is smaller in size mainly to cater to new comers and would be given an option to choose from Sportsman 90cc to the Sportsman 500cc.

Polaris currently has tracks in Greater Noida, Ahmedabad, Bhopal, Nagpur, Goa, Pune, Mumbai, Coimbatore, Munnar, Chennai and now the addition of two more at Bengaluru takes toll to 13 tracks in India. Polaris plans to take it to 25 tracks by end of this year.

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