From the category archives:

cars

Maruti 800 To Make Its Journey Into History Books,To Phase Out Of 13 cities

by Ankit Agarwal on February 14, 2010

The dynamics of the consumer marketplace have changed phenomenally in the last few years.In this never ending pursuit to meet customer demand, the manufacturers have been forced to revisit their products and deliver new and better product variants every now and then.Now, the whole marketplace thrives on better and new products ever so frequently that [...]

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A Good Year For The Indian Automobile Sector

by Ankit Agarwal

The dawn of a new year brings with it a lot of insights into what transpired in the year just gone by.In the industry , it is even more relevant when companies take a look at their Year On Year numbers.Well, the Indian Auto Sector seems to have come out tops reporting impressive numbers for [...]

3 comments January 2, 2010 Continue Reading →

Remote Charging – A REVAlutionary innovation

by Arun Prabhudesai

I am sure you have seen or atleast heard REVA -The Bangalore based electric car maker has been at the forefront of promoting a Green environment by its electric vehicles(EV). More so, the site has a rather stark punch line, “If they got it, more people will get it” [...]

13 comments October 20, 2009 Continue Reading →

Force India does it again – This time its Sutil

by Arun Prabhudesai

By now you must have guessed that I am a huge Formula One fan. I used to look forward race after race in the hope that I will have something worth writing about, but it has taken long 1.5 years for that and it seems worth the wait :)

2 weeks back, I was ecstatic about [...]

3 comments September 13, 2009 Continue Reading →

Tata Nano to be launched on March 3rd

by Sriram Vadlamani

Finally, we have a date for the launch of the much coveted, most awaited car of the century. The 1 lakh car or Tata Nano is being launched on March 3rd. Bookings will start from the last week of February.

One has to pay 70000 rupees for pre-booking to get the car on March 3rd. [...]

5 comments February 6, 2009 Continue Reading →

Who else wants the oil price to be doubled to $80 per barrel?

by Sriram Vadlamani

The current rate of $40 per barrel* will not help OPEC nations. Most of the OPEC nations depend heavily on the oil exports with very few other industries to fall back on. Speaking at the Davos, OPEC’s secretary general said the desirable price for oil should be at $60-$80. Of course he is speaking [...]

0 comments January 31, 2009 Continue Reading →

Tata Motors posts loss. Nano launch might be delayed

by Sriram Vadlamani

Tata Motors has posted a loss of 263 crores for the December quarter. The previous loss posted was of 153 crores in 2000-01. Tata Motors is not the only company which is facing some uncertain future in this heavily intertwined global economy. The big 3 automakers in the US are facing an uncertain future. [...]

0 comments January 31, 2009 Continue Reading →

India needs Tata Prius and not Tata Nano

by Sriram Vadlamani

Toyota Prius uses the energy produced from braking and tries to replenish it for running the car. It also uses the kinetic energy produced from the spinning of wheels on a downhill to replenish some of the energy required to run the car. This would reduce the amount of energy (fossil fuel) needed to run the car. This car is best suited for city conditions. This was designed for US market.

Now, imagine the car in India.

I would say the car would never use the petrol in the tank. Any guesses why? In Indian cities you don’t do anything else other than hitting on the brake pedal. That is a lot of energy to run a car. So Isn’t Prius the better-suited car for India than Nano?

India needs a Prius or a Prius++, not Nano !

Nano would be an environmental disaster. It would clog the roads, the atmosphere and ultimately the lungs of little ones. Funny thing is Tata is doing the Indian society a great service by commoditizing the car market. Though they are running into loses already because of the Singur issue and the new plant to be set-up.

14 comments September 30, 2008 Continue Reading →

Poll Results – When and at what price will Tata Launch?

by Arun Prabhudesai

Few days back I had launched a poll asking readers – At what price will Tata Nano be available in the market. Here are the results of that poll.

[poll=8]

This poll garnered very good response with over 1000 respondents participating.

Majority of the respondents do not feel that Tata nano will come at a promised price of 1 Lakh rupee – given that Indian inflation figures are continuously into double digits, raw material prices may have close to doubled, since Ratan Tata announced the launch of the car early in January this year.

However, I am surprised that 22% still feel that Tata Nano will be available at 1 Lakh rupee. Although I respect their optimism, I am sure their hopes will be shattered same way it happened with pricing hype of Iphone before launch.

2 comments September 24, 2008 Continue Reading →

Will the Nano come out on time and at what price?

by Arun Prabhudesai

The world is eagerly waiting to see when, how and at what price Tata Nano is going to get launched. Most of the people I have spoken to and most of the articles I have read are very very skeptical about Tata Nano’s arrival– A One lakh rupees ($2500) people’s car.

Even though Ratan Tata had gone ahead and announced that he will keep his promise on Tata Nano earlier this year in Auto Expo, most Automakers across the globe are still not convinced.

The Tata Nano is supposed to hit the roads by end of this year, but with problems faced for setting up Tata Nano production plant at Singur in West Bengal, it seems quite unlikely !

Tata Nano car

10 comments August 5, 2008 Continue Reading →

After Passat, its time for Jetta

by Arun Prabhudesai

Volkswagen, the German car manufacturer yesterday launched its ever popular compact sedan – JETTA – in India. The car will come between the range of 13 to 17 lakhs for various petrol and diesel variants. Jetta has been consistently ranked in top 10 best-selling compact sedans worldwide for last few years and there is a reason to it. Like most German cars, Jetta has very good built, strong on safety features and top-of-the-line engines.

In US, Jetta’s are popular with select segment of people, especially those who want a solid car that will serve them for very long years. I think they are a perfect fit for tough Indian road conditions.

Jetta_04

2 comments July 16, 2008 Continue Reading →

Tata Motors to introduce Air Car – Is it the next big thing?

by Arun Prabhudesai

Tata Motors is taking giant strides and making history for itself. First the Landrover-Jaguar deal, then the world’s cheapest car and now it is also set to introduce the car that runs on air, compressed air to be specific.

With fuel prices touching nearly $150 per barrel, it is about time we heard some breakthrough !

India’s largest automaker Tata Motors is set to start producing the world’s first commercial air-powered vehicle. The Air Car, developed by ex-Formula One engineer Guy Nègre for Luxembourg-based MDI, uses compressed air, as opposed to the gas-and-oxygen explosions of internal-combustion models, to push its engine’s pistons. Some 6000 zero-emissions Air Cars are scheduled to hit Indian streets in August of 2008.

The Air Car, called the MiniCAT could cost around Rs. 3,50,000 ($ 8177) in India and would have a range of around 300 km between refuels.

The cost of a refill would be about Rs. 85 ($ 2). Tata motors also plans to launch the world’s cheapest car, Tata Nano priced famously at One lakh rupees by October.

115 comments July 1, 2008 Continue Reading →

Now the Armani’s and Ferrari’s trying to woo Cash rich Indian consumers

by Arun Prabhudesai

The world is eyeing the pockets of cash rich Indian consumers like never before. And why not, the pace at which India is changing has to be seen to be believed. Even in a tier II city like Pune, you can see luxury cars (costing more than Rs. 50 lakh each) plying the roads in abundance.

The younger generation is also getting quite hip. If you pass by any college – one look at students will give you a glimpse of how savvy they are getting about fashion. The clothes and accessories they sport are straight from the ramp !

That’s exactly why Giorgio Armani has become the latest of a horde of high-end brands to target India’s growing appetite for luxury goods. The Italian group will take a 51 per cent stake in a joint venture with DLF, the Indian property developer – the biggest presence it is allowed in the country under regulations.

The first Armani outlet will be opened at a new “super luxury mall” being built by DLF, which also has a partnership with Dolce & Gabbana, in New Delhi. By the end of the year, Armani expects to have around five stores across the subcontinent.

1 comment April 1, 2008 Continue Reading →

Rs. 1 Lakh Tata car will be unveiled, a decade after announcement

by Arun Prabhudesai

This year’s Auto Expo will probably be the most attended and most watched Auto event worldwide.

The reason – Tata will be unveiling its much talked about Rs. 1 Lakh car to the world. Nearly every car manufacturer in the world participates in this event and everybody’s eyes will be on Tata’s car.
Many car manufacturers were skeptical about possibility of this car seeing the light of the day. But Tata’s have done it and other car manufacturers followed. What was thought to be impossible has now come to reality !

10 comments January 8, 2008 Continue Reading →

Carazoo.com: Eye-catching and Impressive Indian Car Portal

by Arun Prabhudesai

Carazoo.com has a 360 degree exterior view, the interior 360 degree view to enable the viewers to get virtual “touch and feel” experience. It’s currently implemented on few models and will be provided soon for all the models. The “paint your car” option allows you to view cars painted in all available colors, which is just not possible even if you visit the car showroom! Also one can read specifications and reviews and compare cars, request for unlimited number of E-brochures and ask for a variety of no-obligation, hassle-free car quotations from dealers in the required city.

0 comments December 27, 2007 Continue Reading →

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