In a widely anticipated move the Formula1 Commission has approved the name change of three teams from the year 2012 onward. This means that the confusion existing around the name Lotus will be cleared. Presently there are two teams going with the Lotus Renault moniker, one belongs to Tony Fernandes and it is called the Team Lotus while the other is the Renault team which is sponsored by Group Lotus, the manufacturer of Lotus branded road cars. Earlier this year Tony Fernandes purchased specialist car manufacturer Caterham Cars and will be branding his team as Caterham F1 from 2012. The present Renault team is actually owned by the Genii Capital group and this will now become Lotus. Both Caterham and Lotus will use Renault engines along with Red Bull Racing and Williams in 2012. The third team to change its name is the Virgin Racing team run by Manor Grand Prix. This year Russian sports car maker Marussia became the sponsor of the Virgin Racing Team and from 2012 the team will simply be called the Marussia Team and will continue with Cosworth engines. Virgin will continue to be involved with the team even though there will be no mention of it officially. The cars are expected to carry Virgin logos.
The Chevrolet brand of cars has turned 100 years old. The brand gets its name from Louis Chevrolet who was keen on making racing cars that were also affordable. Chevrolet became a part of General Motors which is the mammoth auto company of America started by William Durant. Chevrolet has made iconic American muscle cars such as the Camaro and the Corvette. It was also the first manufacturer to offer cars in many colours when Henry Ford was selling the Model T or the Tin Lizzy only in black. Chevrolet has been the brand around which the recovery of GM has taken place after GM had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The GM renaissance has been aided spectacularly by Chevrolet cars such as the Cruze, the Optra, the Aveo (not so much in India though), the Spark, the Beat, the Sonic twins and the Sail range of cars in China. The Sail range is poised to come to India as well. Chevrolet as a brand has always stood for affordable and cheerful cars and in India too Chevrolet is growing rapidly due to the Beat and the Spark and to an extent the Cruze. Happy birthday Chevrolet. May many more years roll.
Germany’s high tech specialised cruiser motorcycle brand, Hollister is in India thanks to Interglobe’s ESTD arm. The cruisers are low slung and are usually built as per the specifications of the customers and their prices start at around Rs. 20 lakhs and go upwards to around Rs. 50 lakhs.
ESTD, a part of Interglobe the aviation company that runs Air Indigo, will be bringing the Ariel Atom to India soon. ESTD is in the business of bringing ultra luxury, super fast and high tech life style cars and motorcycles to India. It is responsible for bringing the Vyrus brand of motorcycles to India and is now poised to bring the famous Ariel Atom car into India. Following the unveiling of the Buddh International Circuit, sports car manufacturer Caterham has launched its products in India. Now the Ariel Atom, which is nothing but a trellis frame with suspension components and Honda’s Mugen tuned i-VTEC engines along with two seats is coming to India. The Honda engine will power the 450kg car and will do insane speeds in insane times. Like the Aventador, the Atom3 can do 0-100 km/h in less than three seconds. The Atom range will cost between Rs. 50-60 lakhs. The car like the Caterham is more for circuit racing and in India along with the Buddh Circuit, the ones at Sriperumbudur and Coimbatore can become the playgrounds for those wanting to feel the adrenaline rush.
That Skoda is making a Fabia based sedan called the Rapid is now well known. The date of the launch of the said vehicle has also been confirmed for the 16th of November, 2011. The Rapid shares its face with the Fabia but most of the other features including the mechanicals are shared with the Volkswagen Vento which is built on the Volkswagen Polo platform. The Polo is built on the PQ 26 platform while the Skoda Fabia is built on the slightly older PQ 25 platform which will be the basis for the Rapid as well. The Rapid will be priced below the Vento in typical VW style and is likely to offer more value for money.
Maruti Suzuki India has zeroed in on Mehsana in Gujarat as the location for its next plant. The Indian car major has been facing hardships because of strikes at its Manesar plant and also at Gurgaon. Maruti needs to expand its capacity and therefore is going to set up a new plant, but this time in Gujarat since the government there is offering industry friendly policies and the promise of no labour unrest. General Motors were the first to go to Gujarat with their plant at Halol and more recently Tata moved its Nano manufacture to Sanand after many troubles at Singur in West Bengal. Ford also is setting up its second facility at Sanand along with Peugeot. Now Maruti has chosen CM Narendra Modi’s home district of Mehsana for its own plant. After Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu, Gujarat seems to have become the favourite destination for auto manufacturers. Bajaj Auto and Mahindra have also threatened the Maharashtra government asking it to not become industry unfriendly, failing which they too are likely to set up new plants in Gujarat.
Nissan has launched a limited edition version of its X Trail SUV (the underpinnings of this are shared with the Renault Koleos) in commemoration of the Xtreme Trail drive programme that is being aired on the National Geographic Channel. The limited edition comes with touch screen navigation, rear spoiler, door visors and Xtreme Trail decals. It is priced at Rs. 22.79 lakhs ex showroom Mumbai.
The PSA group of France, makers of Peugeot and Citroen branded cars had announced sometime ago that it was re-entering India on its own power a little more than 10 years after it first came into India in collaboration with Premier Automobiles Limited and brought the competent 309 car. The car was good but the alliance wasn’t and Peugeot left India after prolonged troubles in the PAL plant at Kalyan in Mumbai. Now Peugeot is coming back and has decided to make Gujarat its home and has broken ground for its new factory at Sanand. Premier Automobiles’ other pal, Fiat also burnt its fingers in India and in spite of having technically sound products, their sales have been undergoing a free fall. This October, Fiat sold a meagre 622 cars that too in the festive season. We hope the fortunes of both Fiat and Peugeot improve and that they are not still burdened by their failed JVs with the PAL.
A few days ago, Ferrari launched its FF in India, so can its arch rival Lamborghini be far behind? Lamborghini has launched its latest model the Aventador LP700-4 in India on the 3rd of November, 2011 at a price of Rs. 3.69 crores, more than the Ferrari FF’s price of Rs. 3.42 crores. The LP in the Aventador stands for ‘Longitudinale Posteriori’ or longitudinally placed in the rear, the 700 referring to the horse power and the four to the fact that all the four wheels being driven. The car is expected to breach the 100 kmph mark from zero in less than three seconds. So if you have small change that will total nearly four crore rupees, make sure you get this car. And if you have some more change also get the Ferrari FF.
The previous iteration of the Hyosung GT250 Comet is well known to Indian bikers since it was sold in limited numbers along with the cruiser Aquila by the now defunct Kinetic Motor Company. It is also well known that Garware Motors is now officially selling the Hyosung range of motorcycles in India with the GT 650 R, the GT650N and the ST7 already on sale. In order to increase its presence in India, Garware will bring the latest iteration of the GT 250 both in its faired and naked forms come March, 2012. The V twin engined motorcycle is likely to develop around 30 PS of power and will in all probability be priced below the Honda CBR250R in order to hog greater market share.