Haryana Govt Bans old petrol & diesel cars

After the ban on old diesel cars in the Capital, Haryana govt has also banned 15 year old petrol and 10 year old diesel vehicles in the cities which are a part of National Capital Region (NCR). At present this rule is applicable for cities of Gurgaon, Faridabad, Sonepat and Jhajjar . These cities constitute of almost 20 Lakh registered vehicles.

Toyota halts fresh investment in India

2017 Fortuner

After the 10 year diesel ban and the diesel engine capacity ban, companies like Toyota said that they are halting the fresh investments in India , while taking a review , and will possibly hold some of the models that it had planned to introduce in the Indian market.

Shekhar Vishwanathan, Vice chairman and Director at the companies India subsidiary Toyota Kirloskar Motors said, " We will bring in some products planned, but fresh proposals will be on ice for a while, we will rework product plans, atleast till 2020. Some of the products that we had planned to introduce will be rethought."

Toyota recently set up a diesel engine plant with a capacity of 1 lakh unit per year after an investment of 1200 crore rupees. This plant is only able to utilise only 30% of its capacity and causing a loss to the company. " I don't know what to do with this excess capacity. We cannot live with the betrayal of faith. When I go to the Toyota headquarters in Japan for the next project , It is very hard to explain " Vishwanathan said.

NGT Orders to De-register over 10 year old Diesel Vehicles

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Monday 18 July 2016 has directed Regional Transport Office (RTO) Delhi to De-Register all Diesel vehicles which are more than 10 year old.
"We hearby direct RTO, Delhi to de-register all diesel vehicles which are more than 10 years old, from plying of the roads of the national capilal" , a bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar said.
NGT said that RTO should inform the police about such vehicles for further course of action.
The tribunal passed this order after noting submissions of Delhi Police which said that it has made continuous attempts to stop more than 10 year old vehicles from plying on the roads of the National Capital. But have hardly met any success.

Indian Railways launch Auto Express Freight Train

Indian Railways on tuesday launched the Auto Express, A train which will carry automobiles from Gurgaon to Nidvanda near Bangalore.This will help to reduce the transport time as well as cost.
According to Mr. Suresh Prabhu (Railway Minister) , this train will increase the confidence of the Auto Industries on Indian Railways which will also help to boost the revenues of the railways.
The Coaches of the new train have been specially designed to run at higher speeds of approx 100 kilometers per hour and will help to reduce transport time.
At present 2000 cars move per month between Gurgaon and Nidvanda, with the launch of the train , the no is expected to go upto 6000 cars a month.

Takata Airbag Recall : Things you need to know

This issue basically involves defective inflators and propellant devices which may deploy improperly in case of a crash, shooting metal fragments on the occupants and leading to fatal injuries.
As of today we know that 34 million vehicles are affected in the United States of America and 7 million other vehicles in various parts of the globe have been recalled.

In India majorly Honda cars have been affected and the total no of them is 1,90,578 cars.

Honda Cars India Limited have recalled all the affected cars and will do the airbag replacement free of cost at the dealerships.

LIST OF ALL AFFECTED VEHICLES ( Taken from a US Website )

Acura: 2002–2003, 2009–2014 TL; 2003 CL; 2003–2006 MDX; 2005–2012 RL; 2007–2016 RDX; 2009–2011 TSX; 2010–2013 ZDX; 2013–2016 ILX

Audi (approximately 387,000): 2004–2008 A4; 2005–2011 A6; 2006–2013 A3; 2006–2009 A4 cabriolet; 2009–2012 Q5; 2010–2011 A5 cabriolet; 2015 Q5

BMW (1,968,283): 2000–2011 3-series sedan; 2000–2012 3-series wagon; 2002–2013 3-series coupe and convertible; 2001–2013 M3 coupe and convertible; 2002–2003 5-series and M5; 2003–2004, 2007–2013 X5; 2007–2010 X3; 2008–2013 1-series coupe and convertible; 2008–2011 M3 sedan; 2008–2014 X6; 2013–2015 X1

Buick: 2015 LaCrosse

Cadillac: 2007–2011 Escalade, Escalade EXT, and Escalade ESV; 2015 XTS

Chevrolet (approximately 1.91 million, including Buick, Cadillac, GMC, Saab, and Saturn): 2007–2011 Silverado 1500, Avalanche, Tahoe, and Suburban; 2007–2011 Silverado HD; 2015 Camaro, Equinox, and Malibu

Chrysler: 2005–2012 300; 2006–2007 Crossfire; 2007–2009 Aspen

Daimler: 2006–2009 Dodge Sprinter 2500 and 3500; 2007–2014 Freightliner Sprinter 2500 and 3500

Dodge/Ram (more than 5.64 million, including Chrysler, not including Daimler-built Sprinter): 2003–2008 Ram 1500; 2003–2010 Ram 3500; 2005–2012 Charger; 2005–2010 Magnum; 2005–2011 Dakota; 2004–2009 Durango; 2003–2009 Ram 2500; 2008–2012 Challenger; 2008–2010 Ram 4500 and Ram 5500; 2008–2009 Sterling Bullet 4500 and 5500

Ferrari (2820): 2009–2011 California; 2010–2011 458 Italia

Ford (2,799,546, including Lincoln and Mercury): 2004–2011 Ranger; 2005–2006 GT; 2005–2014 Mustang; 2006–2011 Fusion; 2007–2010 Edge

GMC: 2007–2011 Sierra HD; 2015 Terrain

Honda (approximately 10.7 million, including Acura): 2001–2007 Accord (four-cylinder), 2001–2002 Accord (V-6), 2008–2011 Accord; 2001–2011 Civic; 2002–2011, 2016 CR-V; 2002–2004 Odyssey; 2003–2005 Civic Hybrid; 2003–2011 Element; 2003–2011 Pilot; 2006–2010 Gold Wing motorcycle; 2006–2014 Ridgeline; 2007–2014 Fit; 2010–2011 Accord Crosstour; 2010–2014 FCX Clarity; 2010–2014 Insight; 2011–2015 CR-Z

Infiniti: 2001–2004 I30/I35; 2002–2003 QX4; 2003–2008 FX35/FX45; 2006–2010 M35/M45

Jaguar (20,016): 2009–2011 XF

Jeep: 2007–2012 Wrangler

Land Rover (34,334): 2007–2011 Range Rover

Lexus: 2002–2010 SC430; 2006–2011 IS; 2007–2011 ES; 2010–2011 GX

Lincoln: 2006–2011 Lincoln Zephyr and MKZ; 2007–2010 Lincoln MKX

Mazda (more than 730,000): 2003–2011 Mazda 6; 2006–2007 Mazdaspeed 6; 2004–2011 RX-8; 2004–2006 MPV; 2004–2006 B-series; 2007–2011 CX-7 and CX-9

Mercedes-Benz (1,044,602, including Daimler): 2005–2014 C-class (excluding C55 AMG but including 2009–2011 C63 AMG); 2007–2008 SLK-class; 2007–2014 Sprinter; 2009–2012 GL-class; 2009–2011 M-class, 2009–2012 R-class; 2010–2017 E-class sedan, wagon, coupe, and convertible; 2010–2015 GLK-class; 2011–2015 SLS AMG coupe and roadster

Mercury: 2006–2011 Milan

Mitsubishi (more than 105,000): 2004–2007 Lancer and Lancer Evolution; 2006–2009 Raider

Nissan (more than 1,091,000, including Infiniti): 2001–2003 Maxima; 2002–2004 Pathfinder; 2002–2006 Sentra; 2007–2011 Versa

Pontiac (approximately 300,000): 2003–2007 Vibe

Saab: 2003–2011 9-3; 2005–2006 9-2X; 2010–2011 9-5

Saturn: 2008–2009 Astra

Scion: 2008–2011 xB

Subaru (more than 380,000): 2003–2005, 2009–2011 Legacy and Outback; 2004–2011 Impreza; 2005–2006 Baja; 2006–2011 Tribeca; 2009–2011 Forester

Toyota (approximately 4,697,000, including Lexus and Scion): 2002–2007 Sequoia; 2003–2011 Corolla and Corolla Matrix; 2003–2006 Tundra; 2004–2005 RAV4; 2006–2011 Yaris; 2010–2011 4Runner; 2011 Sienna

Volkswagen (680,000): 2006–2010, 2012–2014 Passat; 2009–2014 CC; 2010–2014 Jetta SportWagen and Golf; 2012–2014 Eos; 2015 Tiguan

New Elantra Spotted in Gurgaon

A new generation Elantra with a camouflage and electric blue paintjob was spotted by our team in sector 29 Gurgaon today.
Here are a few shots

INTERIORS

Ford Mustang GT launched in India at 65 Lakh

Ford launched the Mustang GT Muscle car in India at the price of 65 Lakh (Ex Showroom Delhi).
Initially the car will be sold in Delhi and Mumbai. Till the last generation , the Mustang was only available in the Left Hand drive configuration and this is the first generation car to be developed for Right hand markets also.

The Mustang GT Features a 5.0 Liter petrol engine with V8 configuration and generates 401 Bhp with 515 Nm of torque. This engine comes mated to the six speed automatic gearbox. The car can reach a top speed of 250 Km per hour and surprisingly it doesn't need 97 octane or any high grade fuel, it can work on regular 91 octane.
The exteriors get a lot of retro styling which reminds of the older Mustangs and gives an imposing look.

The interior on the other hand gets a fighter jet and aviation inspired stuff , like the toggle switches.
Drivers can choose from Normal, Sport+, Track and Wet modes. The car is also equipped with a Limited Slip Differential to help in maintaining traction and in cornering.
Another amazing feature is the electronic line lock. This helps to lock the front brakes and lets the rear tyres to spin freely , this helps to gain traction in a drag race by making the tyres sticky and also a good and easy way to showoff burnouts.

Electronic Line Lock Video

FIAT's 117 Birthday and Documentary

Giovanni Agnelli founded the Fabrica Italiana Automobili Torino (FIAT) societa per azioni (S.p.a) on this date in the year 1899 in Turin, Italy. The name was changed to Fiat later in the year 1906.
The first car launched by the company was the 3.5 CV of which only 24 cars were ever built , it used a 697 cc Boxer twin cylinder engine.

Lingotto Factory

The construction of the Lingotto factory started in 1916 by Fiat and the building was completed by the year 1923. The factory was built in a unique manner, it had 5 floors with the raw materials at the ground floor and as the car kept building it moved on the higher floor. The final car emerged at the roof top which had the most unique thing , a rooftop test track. At that time , it was the largest car factory in the world with the best of the equipments.

 

Fiat History Documentary by The History Car

First Fiats to be seen in India were the Fiat 1100 which were imported from Italy , later in the year 1964, Premier Automobiles limited got licence to make 1100 in India and the production began and the car was named as Premier Padmini.
The Padmini was an instant hit and the Indian roads was filled with Padminis. It was produced till the year 2003.

In the year 1997 , Fiat came to India without collaboration with PAL and launched the UNO.
Uno was a boxy and solid car which came with a 1.0L FIRE engine and a 1.7L NA Diesel engine. Initially the car sold in good numbers but later the sale dropped and it was phased out in the year 2001.

In the year 2000, The Fiat Siena was launched. A mid size family sedan with one of the most powerful and enthusiastic 1.6 Petrol engine. It also had a 1.2 Petrol and 1.7 Turbo Diesel engines.
This car was not liked much by the people and could not sell much .

In the year 2001 , The game changing Palio was launched in India. This was a revolution in the higher end Hatchback segment at that time. The car came loaded with safety and convenience features. The car remained the fastest hatchback in India till the year 2010 when the production stopped. It came with 1.2 , 1.6 Petrol engines and a 1.9 NA Diesel engine. This car received a mid life update as the Palio stile, but this model didn't sell much.
The Petra , Adventure and the weekend were also launched on the same platform with similar engine options.

In 2008 Fiat launched the new Punto and Linea in India. These cars helped a lot to revive the brand. These were launched with the 1.4 Petrol in natural aspirated and Turbo variants and a 1.3 Multijet diesel engine. The 1.3 multijet came as a boon to the Indian auto industry and most of the small car manufactures are using this engine even presently.

New Hyundai Tucson coming in September

Hyundai Motor India Limited is planning to launch the new 2016 Tucson in september this year.
The new Tucson will be positioned between the Hyundai Creta and the Hyundai SantaFe. Pricing is expected to be in the 17-22 lakh mark.
In the Indian market the new Tucson is expected to be launched with the 2.0 CRDI Diesel engine with 136 BHP and 184 BHP tunes with both manual and automatic transmissions.
The car will compete with the Honda CRV, Mahindra XUV 500 and other SUVs in this price range.

Fiat Punto to be replaced by X6H , not the Tipo

The X6H 

The next generation Punto has been cancelled for production. Everyone was thinking the Tipo will replace the Punto, but thats not the truth. The real replacement for the Fiat Punto is the new model under development (Codenamed the Fiat X6H). This model will be priced below the Tipo and might be renamed the Super Palio.
The X6H will be based on the Fiat 326 platform , which will also be the base for the next generation Fiat Linea (Codenamed Fiat X6S). Both the Super Palio hatch (X6H)  and Linea (X6S) will be positioned and priced below the Tipo hatch and the Egea (Tipo Sedan)

Possible Linea replacement 

Internationally the new 1.3 petrol engine with 100 Bhp and the 1.8 E torQ will be offered with choice of 5 or 6 speed transmissions.
Hope Fiat replaces its ageing cars soon.

Indian Govt asks Auto Industries to switch to electric cars

Union Minister for road transport and highways  said " Its time for the auto industry to manufacture more electric vehicles and I am confident electric vehicles will be a success story".
Mr. Nitin Gadkari also said that the success of electric cars depends on the pricing and if the automobile companies do more research and bring down the prices then the electric cars can sell very well in our market.
At present we have only two fully electric vehicles in our market, The Mahindra Reva and Mahindra Verito Electric Vehicle .
Mahindra and Mahindra  Executive Director, Mr. Pawan Kumar Goenka said that the country needs to attract global auto companies to do research on the development of electric cars for our market.
While, Tata Motors is also planning to launch the Electric range of buses by the end of this year.

Amazing New Audi A4 Details and Specs.

New A4 in Tango Red Metallic Shade

The A4 in India was initially launched as the bread and butter sedan for Audi. The car as always been technically advanced and offered more space and a mix of comfort and performance. Now with the new BMW 3 series and the Mercedes C class in the market , the A4 has lost its charm and feels a bit dated.
Audi has launched the new generation model in Europe and is planning to launch the same in India by the end of this year.

The new car as always has focus on latest technology and comfort which will make it a good alternative to the competition. Based of customer feedback, Audi has worked on the newer car to enhance the comfort too.
The new vehicle is based on the Volkswagens MLB evo platform. This model also has a longitudinally mounted engine and overall the car has shed its weight compared to the older model by 120 Kg.

ENGINE-

2.0 TDI Engine Bay

Initially we expect the car to be launched with the 2.0 Liter TDI diesel engine with 190 and 150 BHP power outputs and the 2.0 Liter TFSI petrol engine with 190 BHP output in India.
The best selling model will be the 2.0 Liter diesel engine in any of the tunes as it has a amazing 21% increase in efficiency as per Audi and now claims a fuel average of almost 25Kmpl from it.
The TDI engine is smooth , refined and is capable of hitting 0-100 times of around 7.7 seconds.
The engine noise and wind noise has also reduced making the cabin even more silent.


INTERIOR-

The interior is beautiful and good quality materials have been used. It is crammed with technologies.
The interior feels more classy and premium compared to its rivals and everything has a solid and built to last feel to it.

The new infotainment system is very simple and intuitive to use, also features Apple Carplay and Android auto. There is a 8.3 inch display and is surprisingly a touchscreen which is intuitive and easy to use like a smartphone.

Virtual Cockpit Screen

The Virtual Cockpit is another amazing option which replaces the conventional speedometer and RPM console with a 12.3 inch high resolution display. The driver can cycle through various displays on the 12.3 inch screen with the help of the steering buttons .

The exterior of the car has increased length and width by 25mm and 16mm , compared to the old A4, the new car feels much more spacious and also is one of the most spacious car in the class. The interior space is best suited for four people,  as the large transmission tunnel may cause inconvenience to the fifth passenger.

SAFETY-

The old A4 also had 8 airbags and offered excellent levels of safety equipment , same is the case with the newer model. The new car also gets added features like Pre sense automatic city braking which helps the car the reduce the impact by applying auto brakes under 53 Kmph and bring the car to a complete halt at speeds upto 25 Kmph.


We expect prices for the new Audi A4 to start at 35 Lakhs INR in India.

Fiat Launches the more powerful Linea 125 S

First showcased at the Auto expo this year, the new Linea 125 S has finally been launched by Fiat in India. This is the most powerful variant of the Linea in India. The new car has a starting price of 7.82 lakh (Ex Showroom Delhi).
Mechanically the engine is the same 1.4 Liter block which does duty on the Abarth Punto as well as old Linea Tjet , but the power has been upped from 114 BHP to 125 BHP. Some enthusiasts still complain that fiat should have launched it in the same 145 BHP tune as the Abarth Punto.
The new car gets a new 5 inch touchscreen navigation infotainment system with a rear viewing camera.
All other features are similar to the older car like cruise control, ambient lighting and a lot more.
Fiat has priced the car very competitively compared to all other cars in this segment and this should be the enthusiast choice sedan now .

Fiat Panda Cross - The Pocket sized real 4x4

With the increasing demand and sales of the compact sport utility vehicle segment in India, most of the companies have bought one such car in the market to increase their sales.
Compact SUVs like the Renault Duster, Ford Ecosport , Maruti Suzuki Vitara Breeza, Nissan terrano and many other brands are doing well and people in India are preferring these compact SUVs instead of mid size sedans.

Fiat has launched the Panda cross in the UK some time back. It is a pocket sized compact SUV with features of real SUVs like 4x4 and terrain control systems which almost none of the compact SUVs in India have apart from the Duster 4x4.
This is a very practical city car with an excellent 4x4 capability aswell.

Muti Air Engine

Powered by a little 875cc Multiair turbo petrol engine generating 90 BHP of power at 5500 rpm and 145Nm of torque at as low as 1900 rpm. Comes mated to a 6 speed manual transmission and makes it a fun to drive as well as efficient car overall .

Terrain Control System

This car has offload features which are even hard to find on some bigger SUVs like , it has an electronically locking rear differential to prevent wheel slippage and also features an electronic hill decent control system which makes tough hill decents an easy task.

Diff Lock in Action

If Fiat launches this in India at a competitive price, this can prove to be a game changer for the brand.

Panda 4x4 vs Rangerover Vogue 

No more combined DL for car & bikes in Lucknow

The combined driving licence for car and bikes will no longer be issued in Lucknow. Irrespective of what they know to drive, they get a licence for both 2 and 4 wheelers, and as per motor vehicle act , one can only get a licence after he clears the test for that particular type of vehicle.

No of cars registered in Lucknow in the year 2015 was only 83000 and the no of driving licences issued for cars was 2.8 lakh. And a total of 4 lakh cars were bought in the state of Uttar Pradesh and the number of driving licence issued for cars were 14 lakh.

As a matter of road safety the department has stopped issuing combined driving licences for 2 and 4 wheelers for a month and will be made permanent later.

No action will be taken on the people who presently hold the combined licences and they can continue to use it.

Volkswagen & LG working on connected car platform

The German auto giant Volkswagen is planning to work with South Korea's electronic giant LG to develop a connected car platform. This technology will help cars to communicate with external devices.
LG said " It and Volkswagen will jointly work to develop new technologies which will allow drivers to control and monitor devices at their homes , such as lights , security systems , as well as in vehicle entertainment , remote vehicle air conditioning and other alert and recommendation systems for drivers aswell.
Other car makers are also teaming up with tech giants to develop new technologies like self driving cars
LG is also supposed to supply batteries and motors to Chevrolet which will be used in the Chevrolet Bolt electric car. Presently LG also supplies batteries and audio systems to Volkswagen.

Pininfarina to develop new product under own brand, says Mahindra

Mahindra & Mahindra on Wednesday said , its Italian engineering and design firm Pininfarina will develop a new product and market under its own brand only.
Pavan Goenka , executive director, Mahindra & Mahindra said  " We have not yet decided what products this will be, but we intend to do something with Pininfarina beyond just design and engineering development projects.
Mahindra & Mahindra have also started to homologate and work on 30 vehicles on BS 6 standards.
The company is also looking to expand the two wheeler business.

Diesel Car sales reduced to 26%

The share of diesel cars in total sales has come down to just a quarter. The reduction in gap of the diesel and petrol prices is one of the main reasons for this decrease in diesel car sales, the recent action taken by the Supreme court on demand of the National Green Tribunal in Delhi NCR regions to ban the 2000+ cc cars is also a reason for people to shift towards petrol cars.
This fall has lead to an inventory pileup at the car dealers who are giving loads of discounts to clear out the old diesel car stock.
As per Society of Indian Automotive Manufacturers , 4 years back the diesel cars had a share of 52% on the roads compared to 26% today.
As the diesel prices have also gone up so recovery time for the extra money paid to buy a diesel car has also increased which is another reason stopping buyers to buy diesel powered vehicles.

Volvo India opens bookings for the S90

Volvo India dealers have started to accept the bookings for the new Volvo S90 luxury sedan whose launch is rumored to take place around September this year.
The new car would be a long awaiting replacement for the old S80 sedan, which has been on sale in the Indian market since the brand debut in India.
The new car is built on the scalable platform architecture , which is also present in the XC90 SUV.
The Volvo S90 would be powered by the 2.0 Liter, 4 cylinder twin turbo diesel engine which will be offered in the D4 (190 BHP and 400 Nm torque) and the D5 (235 BHP and 480 Nm torque)
After the launch Volvo might also bring in the Petrol engine in India.
The car will be sold by 15 Volvo dealerships in the country and Volvo plans to increase the dealer network soon.
The car is expected to launch at a price of 50 Lakh Ex Showroom Delhi.

Toyota Innova Crysta petrol specifications

After being launched in may this year with two diesel engine options , now the company is planning to launch the petrol powered variant of the Innova Crysta aswell.
The Toyota Innova petrol in India will be powered by a 2.7 Liter, 4 cylinder petrol engine which will produce 166 BHP and 245Nm of torque. This engine works on dual VVT-i technology and has better power and mileage compared to the older car

2TR-FE petrol engine

Amazing Discounts on Cars this month

New Audi Q7 Premium plus variant, Discount - 4 Lakhs INR

Audi A4, Discount - 6 Lakhs INR

Nissan Terrano , Discount- 90,000 INR

Fiat Linea, Discount- 1.2 Lakh INR

New VW Vento, Discount - 85,000 INR

Honda City, Discount - 25,000 INR (2016 model)
                                      60,000 INR (2015 model)

Fiat Punto Evo, Discount - 65,000 INR

Nissan Micra, Discount - 55,000 INR

Etios Liva, Discount - 35,000 INR

New Honda Accord spotted again

After a few days of seeing the car in half camouflage , today we could spot the car without any camouflage in South City 2 area in Gurgaon Haryana.
The car may be launched near diwali this year .

BMW & Intel to develop autonomous driving tech by 2021

Car brands like Volvo and Tesla in collaboration with Google have cars with plenty of driver assistance systems to make our lives easier. Now BMW has teamed up with Intel and Mobileye to make self driving vehicles a reality.
The main reason for this collaboration is not only to take their hands off the steering wheel, but reached the so called "eyes off" as well as "Mind OFF" level. This will help to drive the car with nil driver input. The task is difficult but BMW and Intel are working hard to begin this revolution and handover the driving from the human to a machine.