Looks like the oddly named XUV 500 from Mahindra is off to a flying start. In the six days following its launch the vehicle has received more than five thousand bookings and the rumour mill doing the rounds is that certain variants which have seen great demand will see suspension of bookings for a while. The XUV500 has been the most anticipated vehicle from Mahindra and is its vehicle with global ambitions. Mahindra have plans of taking this SUV to different parts of the world, a process already begun by the launch of the vehicle in South Africa.
Nissan thinks the GT-R is too serious and so plonked a GT-R engine in a Juke to give us the Juke-R!
The Juke-R will be developed for Nissan by RML with input from Nissan Technical Centre for Europe (NTC-E). The car is currently in development and expected to complete first tests in November. Nissan says the Juke-R is meant to underline the compact crossover’s fun factor. Nissan’s Facebook page for the Juke-R has already crossed 20,000 fans and the number seems to be growing. We guess there is something enticing about doing irrational and just-for-fun kind of engineering feats like this!
Design changes include flared wheel arches, revised front and rear bumpers plus a unique split rear wing. The Juke-R is not for production and is a one-off, road legal concept car, developed by Nissan and built by leading motorsports outfit RML with input from Nissan Technology Centre for Europe (NTC-E).
Under the bonnet is a 3.8-litre twin-turbo V6 engine adopted directly from Nissan’s flagship supercar. Under the boot floor hides the GT-R’s six-speed transaxle, with the front and rear ends joined by a modified GT-R 4WD drive line and prop shaft, while chunky 20-inch RAYS forged alloy rims fill each wheel arch.
The dashboard had to be redesigned to accommodate the gauges, dials and 7-inch customisable LCD display from the GT-R. The Juke’s iconic centre console, inspired by the fuel tank of a motorcycle, remains while the rest of the interior has the look of a machine bred for the track. Twin race-seats with five-point harnesses sit inside a visible roll cage that gives FIA safety standards as well as enhanced rigidity to provide the ultimate performance.
Ray Mallock Limited (RML) was founded by race driver and motorsport engineer Ray Mallock. The company started by building and running sports prototypes in the World Sportscar Championship.
Jenson Button of Vodafone McLaren Mercedes won the Formula1 Grand Prix of Japan at Suzuka finishing ahead of Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso in second and World Championship winner Sebastian Vettel in third driving a Red Bull Racing Renault. Pole sitter Vettel got off to a flying start but better tyre management by Jenson Button saw him take the lead midway through the race. Vettel needed only one point to become World Champion but his third place ensured that he had many more than that. Fourth in the race went to Mark Webber in the second of the Red Bull Racing Renaults while fifth place was clinched by Lewis Hamilton who drove erratically to move down from second place that he took on the first lap. Michael Schumacher in the Mercedes GP car finished sixth ahead of Felipe Massa who finished seventh after a brief coming together with Lewis Hamilton. Sergio Perez in the Sauber came in at eighth and Renault’s Vitaly Petrov finished in ninth while the last and final point scoring position of ten went to Nico Rosberg in the Mercedes GP car who had to start from the back of the grid due to his not being able to set a time in qualifying thanks to hydraulics problems in his car. Force India’s Adrian Sutil and Paul Di Resta finished in eleventh and twelfth places and hence could not score any points.
Sebastian Vettel driving the Red Bull Racing car captured pole position in the dying seconds of the last and final segments of qualifying. Till then it looked as if Red Bull’s strangle hold over pole position would be broken with Lewis Hamilton looking all set for pole but Vettel and Hamilton’s teammate Jenson Button in the McLaren bettered Hamilton’s time and demoted him to third on the grid. Vettel’s time was nine thousandth of a second quicker than Button’s time. Fourth and fifth spots on the grid when to the two Ferraris of Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso while sixth spot was taken by Mark Webber in the second of the Red Bull Racing cars. Kamui Kobayashi (Sauber), Michael Schumacher (Mercedes GP), Vitaly Petrov (Renault) and Bruno Senna (Renault) will start from positions seventh to tenth in the above order. Force India’s Adrian Sutil and Paul Di Resta will start the race from eleventh and twelfth positions tomorrow.
Carlos Ghosn, the CEO of Renault and Nissan will use the up coming Formula1 Grand Prix of India which will be held from the 28th of October, 2011 to 30th of October, 2011, to unveil Renault’s next offering in India. Renault has launched the Fluence sedan and the Koleos SUV and as per the schedule that it has imposed upon itself a small hatchback is to be launched in January, 2012, probably during the Auto Expo in Delhi. However, the car will be unveiled by Ghosn during the Indian GP weekend at Greater Noida near Delhi. Renault has a substantial presence in Formula1 and the all conquering Red Bull Racing car of Sebastian Vettel is powered by Renault. By the time the Indian GP takes place Red Bull and Vettel are likely to be World Champions and that is therefore the perfect opportunity for Renault to announce its next product for India. The Renault hatchback will be based on the same V platform that has spawned the Nissan Micra and the Sunny. The Renault hatch will be styled differently from the Micra but may share parts to bring down costs.
This bit of news is yet again courtesy Motorbeam.com which says that Bajaj is all set to launch the KTM Duke 200 this month while actual deliveries will begin next year in January. The KTM Duke 200 has already been launched in Malaysia and is expected to go to Brazil as well. The Duke 200 uses a trellis frame, up side down front forks, and will feature an engine that will produce up to 24 PS of power. Motorbeam believes that the Duke will be priced below the Honda CBR250R.
Motorbeam.com has got hold of a bit of news from a Team-Bhp member that the Honda CBR150R maybe on its way into the Indian market. Motorbeam says that this bit of news was revealed by a dealer in conversation with the Team-Bhp member who is also have supposed to have quoted the dealer as a saying that Honda will also be looking at a fourth manufacturing plant. The CBR150R is sold in most of the South East Asian countries and we will not be surprised if it is introduced in India to kill the Yamaha R15. The rivalry between Honda and Yamaha is bitter and nothing will give Honda more pleasure than putting one over Yamaha and the CBR150R seems to be the perfect tool for that.
Picture Courtesy: Motorbeam.com
The first citizen of the country, the President of India, Ms. Pratibha Patil will soon be travelling on terra firma in a Mercedes Benz S600L Pullman limousine. As the name itself suggests the car is a stretched version of the already quite long S class. The new car replaces the existing S Class which was commissioned for the President’s use during the tenure of Shri. A P J Abdul Kalam as President. Apart from ultra luxurious interiors the new car will have all the other necessities such as being bullet and bomb proof. The Prime Minister of India uses rival BMW’s 7 series car which also has all the luxury and safety features but with the absence of a stretch. India’s top leaders ride in German cars, something that many heads of State and Govt do in many countries the world over.
Picture Courtesy: Indiancarsbikes.in
Picture is for illustrative purposes and not the actual car that the President of India will be using.
Let us face it, this news is a bit bizarre, but is doing the rounds on the internet. Indian Autos Blog has broken news that Ashok Leyland will develop a peoples mover on the NV 200 platform that Nissan will be launching as a competitor to the Toyota Innova. The Nissan NV 200 does not have the appearance of a personal vehicle and is most unlikely to breach the Innova bastion which continues to be impregnable. Now IAB has quoted Dr. Sumantran of Hinduja Automotive, the holding company of Ashok Leyland that has an alliance with Nissan, that the version of the NV200 from Ashok Leyland will be different from the Nissan NV 200 and will be targetted at taxi and tour operators rather than individuals. It would be most interesting to see how this whole thing will pan out.
Toyota has decided to export the Etios sedan and the Etios Liva hatchback to South Africa from March 2012 onward. South Africa is the one exception to the rule of left hand drive in Africa. South Africa shares other similarities with India apart from the right hand drive system. It is therefore logical for Toyota to export its inexpensive but spacious and efficient Etios range to South Africa.
