Automobile News

A joint venture between Tata Motors and Fiat is likely to launch a number of Chrysler models in India, including the iconic Jeep Cherokee, from a factory in Ranjangaon near Pune as it seeks to expand its presence in one of the world’s fastest growing passenger car market. Sources close to the development, who did not wish to be identified, said that Tata-Fiat alliance will initially start retailing the Cherokee and follow up with other products.
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Tata Motors raised US$ 750 million (about Rs3,525 crore) through Global Depository Receipts (GDRs) and convertible bonds, to pay off rest of the debt that it incurred for acquiring UK’s iconic brands, Jaguar and Land Rover.

The issue comprises of GDRs of $375 million and an equivalent amount in convertible bonds. The size of the offering was increased by 25% as the initial fund-raising target of $600 million (Rs2,820 crore) closed in less than an hour, following robust investor demand.
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World’s largest carmaker Toyota on Wednesday said it will launch its hybrid car Prius in India early next year and roll in a 10% more fuel-efficient small car in early 2011, as Japanese carmakers revealed big India plans at the Tokyo Motor Show.

Nissan said it will roll out its new global V platform small car from its Chennai plant from mid next year, while Suzuki unveiled a Swift with a Plug-In hybrid and a Suzuki SX4-FCW hydrogen drive under the slogan, ‘Small cars for a big future’.
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General Motors India will launch its light commercial vehicles, popularly called minivans, in the domestic market in the medium future. “The launch of the light commercial vehicles in association with our Chinese partners would happen in the medium term,” says Karl Slym, President & Managing Director.

Company executives say the launch of GM’s third compact car, Beat, scheduled for launch in early 2010, is top priority. “Then, we have to gear up for introduction of the petrol automatic version of the Cruze. Later, we would turn our attention to the minivan launch. It’s all at the discussion stage,” says one GM executive. Which means the roll out of GM’s minivans in the domestic market could well be after 2010.
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Increasing demand for electric vehicles has everyone uttering about alternative fuel solutions. Auto manufacturers have ambitious plans in the coming year to deploy new electric cars that are powered by batteries.

During the past year, the auto industry has faced some dark times, but new Electric Vehicles are about to change all that. [click to continue...]

The world’s biggest carmaker by sales, Toyota Motor Corp, is developing a 10 per cent more fuel-efficient small car for launch in India by early 2011, to beat market leaders Maruti Suzuki and Hyundai.

“For our upcoming small car we have set the benchmark with Maruti’s Swift and Hyundai’s i20. [click to continue...]

Toyota Motor Corp said its car sales in China in September rose 45 percent from a year earlier to a record monthly high of about 72,000 vehicles as stimulus policies bolstered consumer confidence.

In the first nine months of the year, the top Japanese automaker sold about 486,000 cars in China, up 13 percent from a year earlier, a company spokesman said.
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This has been a heady Diwali weekend for carmakers which could pave the way for good sales numbers this month.

Market leader Maruti Suzuki sold 10,000-12,000 cars in three days from Dhanteras to Diwali, considered an auspicious period for buying.
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Ford Figo to compete with maruti’s A-Star, Hyundai’s Santro Xing.

Ford India finally unveiled its small car, Figo, for the domestic market. The Figo, which means ‘cool’ in Italian, has been built on a new platform.
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