It hasn’t been too long since the A-Class launched in Europe and Mercedes-Benz is already recalling more than 6000 numbers of the model in Europe. The A-Class was launched in Germany in September last year, while the European launch was a little later. While 6000 cars have been confirmed to have been issued recall in Germany alone, the number outside Europe is yet to be confirmed.

The issue, as with most recalls, arises from the supplier’s end, the result being that the passenger airbag would not deploy properly sometimes, in case of an accident.

Dr. Zetsche definitely would not have wanted this issue arising at this inopportune moment when Mercedes-Benz is to launch the A-Class in India tomorrow.

Source: AutoNews Europe

“Our locally made products continue to be unprofitable while our imported products, are profitable.” said Bob Graziano, President & CEO, Ford Australia in a statement to the media today, that laid to rest any doubts over speculations of Ford shutting its manufacturing facilities in Australia.

Ford Australia will shut its manufacturing facilities in Broadmeadows and Geelong, come October 2016. The Broadmeadows facility is a vehicle assembly plant, while the Geelong facility is an engine manufacturing plant. More than 1200 jobs will be lost, and as Graziano put it ‘we will work to maximize deployment elsewhere but realistically we believe those opportunities will be limited’.

He also pointed out that the cost of manufacturing was double that of Europe and four times that of Asia. ‘The business case simply did not stack up… manufacturing is not viable for Ford in Australia anymore’ he said. Ford Australia has lost close to $600 million over the last five years.

Ford has been manufacturing in Australia for close to 90 years now, beginning with the Model T in 1925.

The Ford Falcon’s last flight

The Ford Falcon, is a very Australian car that has a sizable fan following in the country. The Falcon is also Ford’s star in the Australian V8 Supercar Championships. When manufacturing in Australia ceases, Ford will also retire the Falcon brand. Fans have already come forward with their opinion that Ford could do a lot more than just retire the brand.

Falcon sales have been on a downward spiral, but there was hope that a new Falcon would be introduced this year which could improve sales. While the Ford Falcon’s ‘arch nemesis’, the Holden Commodore will be launching the new VF Commodore Calais V sedan – Australia’s most technologically advanced car, they say – this year, Ford will soldier on with the existing Falcon until 2016.

Ford makes its announcement dangerously close to that of the new Holden VF Commodore launch

Ford’s announcement comes at an unfortunate time for Holden, which was supposed to be in the limelight this month with the launch of their new Commodore.

Toby Hagon, a journalist for the Fairfax Media Group was with Holden boss Mike Devereux in the new VF Commodore, for what was supposed to be a sneak preview for auto journalists when Graziano called to give Devereux a heads-up half an hour before the press conference.

Devereux has said that the timing of the announcement was regrettable and refused to comment further. Graziano has said that Ford decided to make the announcement three years in advance to enable a smoother transition for employees and suppliers.

Australia’s Prime Minister has come forward with an announcement that the Government will be providing $40 million assistance to local communities and $10 million to the component suppliers.

Further investment in Ford Australia’s R&D facilities

The Motor Report says last year, Ford Australia’s total investment in R&D was over $270 million dollars, bringing the company’s total R&D investment in Australia the six years to more than $1.9 billion. This happens to be the largest investment any car maker has made in Australia.

Ford Australia’s design centre at Campbellfield has played an active role in the development of the Figo and the EcoSport. More than 900 engineers and designers are employed by this facility, one of only three in the world. The others are in Cologne, Germany and Dearborn, USA.

Ford Australia will accelerate the introduction of new products in Australia following this announcement. If the number of Australian scribes at the recent media drive of the EcoSport in Goa is any indication, the Australians should be getting their hands on the EcoSport soon.

The new Bajaj Pulsar 375 (supposedly) is a fully faired motorcycle expected to be powered by the KTM Duke 390 mill. While we expect the tank to be retained, the rest of the motorcycle should be visually very different from the Pulsar 200NS.

The perimeter frame will hold on to the 373cc single cylinder engine, while telescopic forks up front and monoshock at the rear will take care of the suspension duties.

While we expect Bajaj to continue to hang onto the centralized under the engine exhaust, we would love to see a more visually substantial exhaust.

The spyshots also show a R1-esque front with the projector headlamps while the fairing continues with the sharp edges worthy of a Pulsar.

Source: Autocar India

The S101 pictured here is Mahindra’s take on a compact SUV designed from ground up. While the Quanto seemed to be nothing more than a shrunk Xylo,at least superficially, the S101 has been developed from the scratch.

The proportions of the S101 are expected to much better than that of the Quanto. What interests us most is the bench seat up front, which will enable the S101 to seat three people up front. The gear lever has been moved up to the dashboard enabling this arrangement.

The S101 will in all probability be powered by the same 3 cylinder 98bhp 1500cc turbocharged engine from the Quanto.

Source Autocar India