Yearly Archives: 2011

Volkswagen has an initiative termed Planet Volkswagen in the digital space.  It gives product information, brand information apart from games and other forms of entertainment which can keep you occupied.  You can check this out www.planetvolkswagen.co.in.

Commenting on the launch of Planet Volkswagen, Mr. Lutz Kothe, Head Marketing & PR, Volkswagen Passenger Cars, Volkswagen Group Sales India Pvt Ltd said “With a rich heritage and a brand that has given some of the most loved cars in the world, this initiative is our effort to present the world of Volkswagen to all those who love celebrating cars.”

The quote of Mr. Lutz Kothe is courtesy of Carwale.com

Autocar India.com has revealed that Ducati is making a relatively less expensive version of its bestseller the Monster 796 for Asian markets, including India.  The new motorcycle to be called the Monster 795 will be slightly despecced though it will retain the Ducati quality.  The bike will be assembled in Thailand and due to the FTA in place with Thailand the motorcycle should be available in India for a price of around 5 lakhs reports Autocar India.com.  If that is indeed the case, we say bring it on.

Picture of Monster 796 used for illustrative purposes

2011 DTM Round 9 at Valencia

Martin Tomczyk (Schaeffler Audi A4 DTM) was crowned the new DTM champion with the Hockenheim event still to go. In the ninth DTM season round at the ‘Circuit Ricardo Tormo’ known better as the Valencia, in Spain, the German wrapped up an early title in what is considered the most popular international touring car series. Only 29 years old, finishing third was enough for Martin to gain a 13-point advantage over his title rival, Bruno Spengler (Mercedes-Benz). Audi driver Mattias Ekström (Red Bull Audi A4 DTM) took the first place in this round. Having started from pole position, the Swede crossed the finish line as the winner after 45 laps. In second place, Portuguese Filipe Albuquerque (TV Movie Audi A4 DTM) secured his best DTM result to date. In fourth place, Timo Scheider (AUTO TEST Audi A4 DTM) completed the success for the brand from Ingolstadt. Bruno Spengler (Mercedes-Benz) was classified seventh.

Martin Tomczyk after the race : “It’s hard to find words for my emotions. It’s definitely a very nice feeling to be DTM Champion. You’ve got to have achieved it first before you can realize that that’s what you are. Eleven years of DTM with lots of ups and downs, and in the eleventh year, together with Team Phoenix, I’ve managed to become champion. It’s been a fantastic season and real fun to drive this car and to work together with this team. Not only I have earned this title but also, first and foremost, Audi Sport Team Phoenix. But Abt and Rosberg, too, have their share in this overall Audi performance. I think we deserve a couple of parties now.”

Martin Tomczyk driving the 2008 spec Audi A4 DTM is now the first driver to win the championship with an older generation car and is also the only driver to score points in all 9 races.

“I extend warm congratulations to Martin Tomczyk, his team and the entire Audi squad on this outstanding achievement. The fans experience captivating duels at the highest sporting level and in Martin an absolutely deserving champion of the 2011 season,” says Rupert Stadler, Chairman of the Board of Management of AUDI AG . “After the triumph at the Le Mans 24 Hours and numerous other victories this title is already crowning a successful Audi motorsport year now.”

It all started during qualifying  at Singapore when Hamilton drove like he’s known to, determined to pass Massa before starting his flying lap in Q3. The two almost had a run in before Massa finally let Hamilton pass.

“I didn’t understand what he wanted to do,” said Massa. “There were three cars slow, preparing their laps. He was in the condition to touch with somebody on the out lap – I think he didn’t use his mind. Again.”

Hamilton said: “The guys always try to back you up and I was ready to get going. I was trying to get past but he kept blocking and blocking and eventually I got past.”

Race day though, wasn’t so lucky for either drivers. Hamilton trying to gain ground  (and gain ground, he did) turned into Massa, breaking part of his front wing, while Massa was forced to limp back to the pits with a right rear puncture.

What happened at the post-race interview is something you’ve seen too many times on YouTube we bet, having searched for ‘Hamilton Massa Singapore 2011’. Massa patted Hamilton’s arm and then the shoulder, and said: “Good job, bro” , of course with all sarcasm he could manage. Hamilton replied: “Don’t touch me, man. Don’t touch me”.

Things took an uglier turn when the official race edit released on Formula 1 contained a radio call from race engineer Rob Smedley to Massa during the race.

In the message, Smedley comes on the radio to tell Massa to ‘hold Hamilton as much as we can’ and to ‘destroy his race as much as we can’.

The latest news to emerge has Ferrari downplaying the contents of the radio call. Ferrari insisted that there was no malicious intent in what was said even if the wording chosen wasn’t the most ‘politically correct’.

In a ‘Horse Whisperer’ column published on the Ferrari website, the team  said that the call came at the exit to turn five, at the end of lap 11, in other words, it had nothing to do with the collision that followed.

“It’s true that Felipe Massa’s race engineer was caught up in the heat of the moment and chose to use the verb “destroy” at some point. It might not have been the most politically correct choice of word, but it definitely carried no malicious intent, especially when you take into account that Rob is a Middlesbrough lad, born and bred! It is also true that this exhortation to Felipe came at the exit to turn five on lap eleven of the race, at the end of which both the Ferrari man and Hamilton were due to come in to the pits together. In other words, it had nothing to do with the collision between Felipe and Lewis that happened on the following lap.”

Read the full column here

ISO 50001 establishes a framework to manage all aspects of  energy including procurement and use, for industrial plants; commercial, institutional, or governmental facilities; or entire organizations. The standard will provide organizations and companies with technical and management strategies to increase energy efficiency, reduce costs, and improve environmental performance. Targeting broad applicability across national economic sectors, it is estimated that the standard could influence up to 60 % of the world’s energy use.

Lamborghini already has ISO 9001 (quality management) and ISO 14001 (environmental management) certification, and was the first Italian automotive company to obtain EMAS (Eco-Management and Audit Scheme) certification. The ISO 50001 certificate Lamborghini says, is a recognition of the company’s strong commitment to constantly improving energy performance in all areas: from design, development and production of the world’s most extreme super sports cars up to building, assembly and finishing of the carbon fiber monocoque of the Aventador. The certificate also includes the after-sale service activities and building energy management.

We are truly proud to have attained ISO 50001 certification, which consolidates Lamborghini’s environmental sustainability and energy efficiency commitment,” said Stephan Winkelmann, President and CEO of the Sant’ Agata Bolognese company. “We are also actively working on measures and projects that will result in the plant becoming neutral in terms of CO2 emissions by 2015. This commitment in the area naturally goes hand in hand with product development, for which we reiterate our goal to cut emissions by 35% by 2015.”

Lamborghini is proud about the construction of a brand new building inside the main plant by 2012. This building will house the Prototype and Pre-Series Assembly Department, where prototypes of the cars are analyzed and assembled. Designed in collaboration with the engineering firm Prospazio, this building will be built to consume ≤ 8 Kwh/m3 in a year. The building will also be equipped with a photovoltaic roofing system that will guarantee the annual electricity requirement, thus allowing it to have zero CO2 impact. This requirement will become a standard for all new Lamborghini buildings.

Here’s an introductory video on the ISO 50001 standard.

oncars.in reports that Gaurav Gill has been disqualified by the FIA stewards during the post event scrutiny, cutting short any celebrations Team MRF might have had in mind considering Gaurav Gill was topping the time sheets, just ahead of his teammate Katshuhiko Taguchi . As per regulations, it is mandatory to fit foam protection for all modifications on the competition cars, Gaurav was disqualified due to the absence of any such protection.

oncars.in reports that Hyundai’s latest small car offering will find its way out to the streets from October 20. Though dealers have been unofficially taking bookings, the official launch date is set on October 14th and you can book your Eon for a booking amount of Rs.20,000 from October 13th onwards.

Hyundai EonHyundai Eon

Images Courtesy: www.overdrive.in

Polaris Industries Inc.,  announced its entry into the Indian market on 24th August 2011, through Polaris India Pvt. Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary with a wide range of their products on offer bought in as completely built units from the USA.

Mr. Pankaj Dubey, Managing Director – Polaris India Pvt. Ltd., speaking about the market scenario, said “The specialized automobile market is at a very nascent stage in India at this time. Our principal aim is to sensitize the consumers and create a new market for the possible options available in recreational vehicles such as ATVs, off-road jeeps (Polaris RANGER RZR Side-by-Side vehicle) and snowmobiles, and to generate more interest in these activities. We will focus on the utility application of our vehicles in areas of construction, forest, military, police and Para military forces”

As part of its strategy to sensitize consumers, Polaris India intends to travel to a number of cities in the country with their products in tow and let consumers sample some of their offerings. After Delhi and Ahmedabad experienced the slush, muck, the smell of gasoline and good quality riding gear, it was Chennai’s turn.

Polaris’ offerings in India include Polaris Sportsman® ATVs, Polaris RANGER RZR® Side by Side Off-Road Jeeps and Snowmobiles.

MPL Adventure Sports Vehicles Pvt. Ltd., will be Polaris’ dealer in Chennai. MPL is a big name in Chennai having established their credentials with their Ford, Mahindra dealerships. Riot Engine spoke to Mr.S.Ashok, the Director.

We were pleasantly surprised when we realized that this gentleman at the event doing the running around, interacting with prospective clients & members of the media, under the merciless Chennai sun was the Director himself. Ashok believes you do not normally get into this business without having the passion for automobiles.

Ashok introduced us to the ATV range starts from Rs. 2.85 Lakhs and goes all the way upto Rs. 12.5 Lakhs. The Side By Side jeeps start from 10L and go upto Rs. 20L. The off-road vehicles from Polaris are niche market products and Polaris is using targeted advertising methods to reach the clientele that would be willing to fork out the money for the leisure and luxury products from Polaris.

Ashok believes there has never been a better time for Polaris to expand into India, with the rising purchasing power of the Indian. Spares have been stocked, and service will usually be provided on-site with the help of a service van equipped for this purpose in addition to the small workshop that the dealer will have.

Krishnapatnam Port in Nellore already has some imported Polaris’ vehicles doing duty. Ashok says these vehicles can find application in the forests, in mining and construction operations, and in leisure activities like adventure sports.

Polaris branded riding gear will also be available at the dealers. The RANGER® is also available as a Diesel and an electric. A 30 HP/48V AC electric motor powers the EV. It plugs into a 110V AC outlet to charge, in the USA, we assume necessary changes will be made to plug it straight into 240V sockets.The EV retains Polaris’ On-Demand True AWD which maximizes traction.

Business Standard has also reported that Polaris India also has plans to introduce low speed electric vehicles in India. Pankaj Dubey, managing director of Polaris India, said, “We have a good line-up of passenger and goods carriers in GEM. We will soon start a market study to assess the potential for these vehicles in India.”

Dubey said, “ORVs can be used in farms and forests for mining and construction work and also by defence forces. We intend to achieve sales of a minimum of $100 million by 2016.” Polaris records majority of its sales from North America, Europe and Australia. It had a turnover of $1.99 billion in 2010.

Polaris Sportsman ATV

Carlos Checa of team Althea Ducati won the World Championship in World Superbikes with a double win at Magny Cours in France.  The first race saw second place go to Marco Melandri on the Yamaha as it did in the second race as well.  The third place in the first race went to Leon Haslam on the BMW will in the second race that place was claimed by Melandri’s Yamaha teammate Eugene Laverty.

Chaz Davies of ParkinGo Yamaha clinched the world title in World Supersport with a cautious ride to sixth in the race.  The race was won by Luca Scassa his teammate while second position went to Sam Lowes of Parkalgar Honda and third to Motocard Kawasaki rider Broc Parkes.

Dani Pedrosa won his third race of the season today in a convincing way at Motegi in Japan.  Riding his Repsol Honda Pedrosa kept defending champion Jorge Lorenzo on a Yamaha comfortably behind.  Pedrosa’s Repsol Honda teammate Casey Stoner finished a distant third after he went backwards from the lead in the first couple of laps thanks to an uncharacteristic error that saw him run off the track into the gravel.  Stoner recovered but not sufficiently to catch the leading duo.  Andrea Dovizioso on the third Repsol Honda  made a jump start and was penalized for it with a drive through in pit lane as was his arch enemy and rival Marco Simoncelli on the San Carlo Gresini Honda  for the exact same offence.  Tech3 Yamaha’s Cal Crutchlow too had the same penalty for the same offence but while Marco Simoncelli and Dovizioso recovered to fourth and fifth respectively, Crutchlow could only end in eleventh.  Valentino Rossi on the Marlboro Ducati pushed Yamaha’s Ben Spies and consequently the latter dropped to the tail end of the field but recovered to finish sixth on the grid while Rossi crashed out on the first lap itself.  Rossi’s teammate Nicky Hayden on the second Marlboro Ducati did exactly what Stoner did and finished seventh while eighth place went to the Tech3 Yamaha rider Colin Edwards.  Hiroshi Aoyama on the Gresini Honda finished ninth ahead of the Pramac Ducati of Randy De Puniet.  Twelfth and thirteenth went to wild card riders Kousuke Akiyoshi and Shinichi Itoh respectively.  Akiyoshi was riding a second LCR Honda while veteran Itoh was riding an HRC team Honda liveried bike.  Alvaro Bautista on the lone Suzuki crashed out while he was in a competitive fifth place.  Other crashers included Toni Elias (LCR Honda), Damian Cudlin (Pramac Ducati) and Hector Barbera.