Yearly Archives: 2011

India Yamaha Motor has introduced new variants of the FZ, FZ-S and Fazer bikes of its popular FZ series with a complete makeover. Vibrant colors will adorn these muscular machines along with new logos and graphics to match the changing tastes of the discerning customers. The launch will be complemented by an aggressive media campaign featuring Yamaha brand advisor in India and Bollywood heartthrob – John Abraham.  All the models – FZ, FZ-S and Fazer of the FZ family will now have a kick start option and will continue to sport the signature Yamaha look that instills a sense of pride in ownership. The new FZ will be available at a price of Rs. 67,000, FZ-S at Rs. 69,000 while Fazer will bear the price tag of Rs. 74,000. All these prices are Ex-showroom Delhi.

Yamaha’s full press release

Yamaha unveils its FZ series in a whole new look.

Introduces an exciting new range of colours and graphics that would adorn these spectacular bikes

New Delhi, 12th May, 2011: With its focus on consistently delivering innovation and novelty to its valued customers, India Yamaha Motor has introduced new variants of the FZ, FZ-S and Fazer bikes of its popular FZ series with a complete makeover. Vibrant colors will adorn these muscular machines along with new logos and graphics to match the changing tastes of the discerning customers. The launch will be complemented by an aggressive media campaign featuring Yamaha brand advisor in India and Bollywood heartthrob – John Abraham. All the models – FZ, FZ-S and Fazer of the FZ family will now have a kick start option and will continue to sport the signature Yamaha look that instills a sense of pride in ownership.

After much research on colors and customer preferences, Yamaha has introduced four new colors for FZ-S – Golden Streak, Competition White, Black Cyber Green and Yellow Streak. All four colors of FZ-S have different characteristics which speak for themselves and at the same time maintain their earlier positioning of being the ‘Lord of the Streets’. Fazer will also be seen in four new colors – Competition White, Black Cyber Green, Midnight Black and Lava Red while FZ will be available in two new colors – Midnight Black and Lava Red. The overall idea is to have freshness in the product category which is in line with the company’s promise to give newness to its customers.

Speaking about the bikes, Mr. Hiroyuki Suzuki, CEO & MD, India Yamaha Motor, said, “The FZ series has gained immense popularity among youngsters since its launch in September 2008. The introduction of the FZ series in a whole new look is in line with our strategy to consistently provide our customers with fresh and new offerings. These bikes have been instrumental in taking our sales to a higher trajectory. We are confident that the new variants too will be an instant hit among the biking enthusiasts. We have also charted out an extensive plan for the promotional campaign of the new variants featuring our brand advisor John Abraham.”

The new FZ will be available at a price of Rs. 67,000, FZ-S at Rs. 69,000 while Fazer will bear the price tag of Rs. 74,000. All these prices are Ex-showroom Delhi.

Yamaha will follow a 360 degree approach for the promotional strategy of these new offerings covering all the elements of television, print and web. For the television commercial, Yamaha will bring on board its brand advisor John Abraham who, along with the products, will take centre stage in the commercial.

With the Triple Macho concept projecting the muscular silhouette, muscular body parts and muscular chassis, the 153cc FZ series bikes reflect visual expression of performance.

About India Yamaha Motor Pvt. Ltd.

Yamaha made its initial foray into India in 1985. In August 2001, Yamaha India became a 100% subsidiary of Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd, Japan (YMC). In 2008, Mitsui & Co., Ltd. entered into an agreement with YMC to become a joint-investor in the motorcycle manufacturing company “India Yamaha Motor Private Limited (IYM)”.

IYM operates from its state-of-the-art manufacturing units at Surajpur in Uttar Pradesh and Faridabad in Haryana and produces motorcycles both for domestic & export markets. With a strong workforce of more than 2,000 employees, IYM is highly customer-driven and has a countrywide network of over 400 dealers. Presently, its product portfolio includes VMAX (1,679cc), MT01 (1,670cc), YZF-R1 (998cc), FZ1 (998cc), Fazer (153cc), FZ-S (153cc), FZ (153cc), SZ, SZ-X & SZ-R (153cc), YZF-R15 (150cc), SS125 (123cc), YBR 125 (123cc), YBR 110 (106cc) and Crux (106cc).

News has now emerged that Casey Stoner waited on the race track to impede Valentino Rossi’s smooth running on the Monday test at Estoril.  This is supposed to be his retaliation for a similar move by Rossi during free practice to get a tow behind Stoner.  When Rossi was asked if this was true he answered in the affirmative but also added some controversy by saying that this rivalry was fun.  Wonder what Stoner’s response would be.

Valentino Rossi has said that the post Portugal race test had shown that the Ducati is now delivering power in a more smooth and linear manner.  He also said that the problems with the front end have also come down with the bike being more sensitive in steering.  This has also been corroborated by Pramac Ducati rider Loris Capirossi.  This weekend should be interesting for Rossi and Ducati fans.

The FIPB has given its approval to Honda for setting up a vocational training institute along with its second manufacturing facility in Rajasthan.  This institute will offer courses to the general public and the courses will be related to the auto industry and its supply chain. Honda is doing this to increase the quality of good workmen required by it.  This will benefit the local population as well.

It is being touted on many websites that India could see the introduction of the BMW 1 series car and the Mini in India in a couple of years.  This could be due to the fact that BMW’s arch rival, Mercedes Benz has announced that it will bring its small cars in the form of the A Class and the B Class to India.  The luxury small car market could be in for some interesting times.

Tata Motors is on a roll and has been for some time now, excepting for the Nano that has been mired in controversy from even before launch and the falling sales of the Indica in the last couple of months.  Other these two small glitches the company has been doing well, especially in the CV section where it has the half tonne Ace Zip and the 49 tonne Prima and everything in between.  Now Tata wants to sell more and has decided to ramp up production at its Pantnagar facility from 2.5 lakh units per annum to 3.5 lakh units.  This will include both trucks and buses.  In its plant at Dharwad too Tata will adding capacity for Light Commercial Vehicles.  The plant presently builds Marcopolo buses.  Tata is now concentrating on developing factory built buses since there is demand for that now.

As was expected, Audi launched the A7 Sportsback car but as was not expected it also launched the RS5.  The A7 sports a 3 litre V6 TDi engine that puts out an impressive 245 bhp of power.  It is a 5 door (the fifth being the hatch) coupe like car that looks racy even standing still.  The prices for this car start from Rs. 64 lakhs.  Audi also launched the RS5 which has specs that match those of the BMW M3.  It puts out a whopping 445 bhp and displacing 4.8 litres and is built to a V8 configuration.  Prices also are equally high, starting from Rs. 74 lakhs.

As was predicted Hyundai has launched the New Verna which it showed as a concept called the Solaris in Russia. The car is slightly different from the pictures that were showed by Hyundai at the World Premier of the New Verna. We suggest you do a Google Image search to see the difference between the two cars. The prices of the Verna start from Rs. 6.99 lakhs and go up to Rs. 10.74 lakhs. There are four engine options, two in petrol and two in diesel. The 1.4 litre petrol pumps out an impressive 107 PS while the 1.6 litre engine pumps out 123 PS. The diesel 1.4 litre puts out 90 PS and the 1.6 litre delivers 128 PS. Both the diesel engine are CRDi coupled with Variable Geometry Turbo chargers (VGT CRDi in Hyundai speak) and the petrol engines incorporate Variable Valve Timining (VTVT in Hyundai speak). Hyundai has taken the war to its opponents. Now to see how the car does in the market because all models have good specs and trim levels.

The video was originally published by OmniAuto.it and Virtual Car. car body design did us, and probably all of mankind, a huge favour by subtitling the video in English. Head to car body design for an English transcript of the video.

An exclusive video, from car body design, where Lamborghini Centro Stile Director Filippo Perini talks about the exterior design of the Aventador supercar.

An excerpt from the transcript,

The car is extremely simple and linear. Only Lamborghini is building a supercar with this design.

It’s like watching the dreams of a kid who loves cars – me in this case – come true. Can you remember those cars featured in the sci-fi TV series? As a kid, I remember that they had always this single-line design.

And yet today Lamborghini is the only carmaker that can afford to build cars in this way.

Inspiration comes from the aviation world, the lines are very, very similar to those found in the stealth jets, where there is an “illogical” combination of aerodynamic and stealth solutions that generates extremely fascinating forms, that at the Centro Stile we use as a source of inspiration when we need to sketch something really innovative and advanced.

It’s really important for me to say that we are a very small Centro Stile, with just four designers, but you’ll see many other projects from us in the future.

A small team of people who get on very well and share a single common denominator: passion.

Amen!

Jaguar has released a video where Ian Callum, Design Director, Jaguar Cars Ltd., takes us through the reasoning behind the changes made to the 2012 XF and XK. If you’d asked us a couple of months back, if there was any way to make those Jaguars prettier, we would have said no before you could complete the question. We had no idea Ian Callum and his team blow our opinions into the wind, so soon.

Autoblog.com pointed out in its article that the much loved C-XF concept from 2007 was designed after the production Jaguar XF was signed off by the management then, Ford. The 2012 Jaguar XF is an attempt to make amends to the enthusiasts who were screaming for the XF to be influenced by the C-XF concept.

 

 

Ian Callum on the new Jaguars,

It’s something that we are all very very excited about, that we can actually look at the three cars together and say ‘This is what Jaguar is about, this is it. This is the level we’ve reached’

I have to say, we feel the same, when we see the three cars standing proud in the background. This correspondent is humble enough to know not to shoot off statements like ‘The designs are very Jaguar’, but has no qualms about persuading you to agree that the designs are heart achingly beautiful.