AUTHENTIC CARS

Maruti Suzuki India has achieved yet another landmark. Earlier today, the carmaker exported its one millionth vehicle – a red-colored A-which star left Mundra port along with 2,200 other vehicles, headed for various international destinations including Switzerland, Malta, Sweden in Europe and Algeria, Egypt and Morocco in the non-European destinations. The millionth car will be sold in Denmark. Commenting on the achievement, Shinzo Nakanishi, managing director and CEO, Maruti Suzuki India, said: “A million cars in overseas markets is a significant milestone for us. Two years ago, Europe was a strong destination for us. We have aligned our exports strategy in line with the changed scenario in exports market. The market for us has shifted significantly from Europe to non-European countries. While the A-star, marketed under the ‘Suzuki Alto’ and ‘Suzuki Celerio’ badges in international markets, was doing well, we also worked on identifying alternate non-European markets. This strategy has...

This is the first picture of Lamborghini’s Super SUV concept, the Urus, soon to be shown at the Beijing Motor Show. The model is the spiritual successor to the LM002 4x4 from 1986, but unlike that model, Lamborghini is aiming for it to become a mainstream rival for the forthcoming large Bentley SUV, the Falcon. No detail technical information has been released, but the Urus SUV is likely to be powered by a 600bhp motor sitting in the nose. The chassis may be shared with the Audi’s variable large car four wheel drive platform, the MLB, and the four wheel drive system is likely to make heavy use of torque vectoring. The name Urus come from a very large and powerful wild bull that was common in central Asia and Europe in the middle ages, and Lamborghini promise the Urus will set a new performance benchmark for SUVs. As Stephan Winkelmann, President and CEO of Automobili Lamborghini says "The Urus is the most extreme interpretation of the SUV idea" The car will be built using ...

German luxury carmaker, Audi, has agreed to buy Italian bikemaker, Ducati, for a sum of 1.12 billion USD. Audi will also inherit all of Ducati’s current financial liabilities. Volkswagen-owned Audi were earlier negotiating with Ducati owner Investindustrial to buy-out the Italian exotic bike maker, but it has now culminated to a deal. The marriage of the two automotive giants fits well with Audi’s ambitious ‘Project Eagle,’ aimed at elevating VW to becoming the world’s largest auto manufacturer. Earlier, Andrea Bonomi, Investindustrial head had stated that Ducati was looking for a world-class industrial partner for its future growth and wanted to sell the iconic brand for one billion Euros. The purchase will make Ducati the 11 th  brand in VW’s portfolio. Ducati sold 42,000 motorcycles through 2011 and commands a nine percent share in its segment. The company has been making all the right moves over the past few years, launching segment-leading motorcycles like its versatile Mu...

American SUV icon Jeep, inventors of the famous CJ series of army off-roaders, could soon come to India. Part of the Chrysler group, now owned by Fiat, Jeep has been steadily dieselising its range of off-roaders to make them suitable for the European market, and that means they are now well suited to India too. Jeep President and CEO Michael Manley, a regular visitor to India, is well versed with the dynamics of the Indian market. “We recognise that Indian customers appreciate good value and we are keen to provide that with our Grand Cherokee”.  Today Jeep has a whole range of diesel SUVs and the Grand Cherokee could be followed by products like the Commander, Compass and Patriot, which are all currently sold in Europe. And Jeep will have other Fiat-based soft-roaders that could be well suited to the Indian market in the near future too. It’s currently evaluating a B-segment competitor that could be launched as early as 2014, and once Jeep gets a foot into the Indian market, it c...

Porsche will unveil a new version of the Cayenne GTS, complete with sporty chassis and tuned V8, at the Beijing show this month. Like its predecessor, the GTS will slot between the Cayenne S and Turbo models. It will mix a more powerful version of the non-turbo V8 motor from the Cayenne S with the body-kitted styling of the range-topping Turbo model. Power from the non-turbo 4.8-litre V8 is increased slightly over the 400 bhp of the Cayenne S to 420bhp. Drive is channeled through a standard eight-speed ZF automatic transmission with stop-start. The peak output is 20bhp more than the previous-gen GTS and the standard automatic gearbox is a change, too. The previous GTS featured a six-speed manual gearbox as standard. As might be expected, the slight increase in muscle of the GTS gives it a mild boost in performance. So the sprint from rest to 100kph is dispatched in 5.7sec, compared with the 5.9sec of today’s V8 S, and the top speed is 257kph. The 0-160kph sprint is similarly rapid,...

Mercedes has revealed an updated version of the G-class military grade off-roader that has just entered its 33rd year of production. Set to make its public debut at the Beijing motor show later this month, the reworked G-class gets a series of subtle exterior styling tweaks, a new range of engines mated to an updated gearbox, a lightly altered interior and a brace of new electronic driver aids. Among the changes made to the G-class’s classic square rigged exterior is a restyled grille with standard models receiving three prominent slats in place of the older model’s seven slats, new headlamp inserts featuring horizontally mounted LED running light, redesigned mirror housings, altered tail lamp graphics and a new line of alloy wheels. Alongside standard G500 and G350 BlueTec models, Mercedes has also introduced a G55 AMG-replacing G63 AMG as well as a hi-performance G65 AMG performance flagship. All are assembled at Mercedes-Benz partner Magna’s factory in Graz, Austria. The two ne...

The winners of the 2012 World Car of the Year awards have been announced at the New York International Auto Show and the top accolade has been awarded to the Volkswagen Up. VW’s well-packaged small hatchback beat the other two finalists, the BMW 3-series and the Porsche 911, which themselves were chosen from among 34 contenders. The jurors chose the Up because of the new standards for its segment – notably with its steering, suspension engines and quality of materials – remarking, “Never before in this economy segment have owners felt so premium.” The Porsche 911 didn’t come away empty-handed though, bagging the title of World Performance Car of the Year and emerging victorious over the very capable runners up, the Lamborghini Aventador and McLaren MP4-12C. The latest 991-generation 911 is practically an all-new car, with an all-new chassis and an aluminium body. It has received much acclaim from the motoring press and now has this significant credential to its name. The title of W...

These are the first pictures of the updated BMW X1 which will be revealed at the New York Auto Show.  These updates come just two and half years after its entry level SUV was first revealed in its production guise. In a move to rid the car of its black plastic cladding and provide it with a more upmarket appearance, the X1 receives a host of subtle exterior styling tweaks. Changes include the adoption of a more heavily contoured front bumper with an altered grille featuring silver slats, more pronounced sockets for the round fog lamps and a completely redesigned lower section finished with a silver accent. The headlamps retain the same familiar shape as those used on the existing X1, but receive new internal graphics, including LED corona ring main beam lights as an option. Further back, it gets reshaped exterior mirror housings carrying side repeater lights. The rear receives a restyled bumper, which like the one up front, has been lightened visually by the adoption of more b...