The all new Maruti Ritz facelift has been revealed and body does it look better than ever. Maruti is currently struggling with many issues and is trying ever so hard to regain on lost ground and gain more market share. Official photos of the new Ritz have been revealed on the Japanese website since the Ritz is sold throughout Asia but with different names.

The front section has been altered and lowered with sportier and aggressive headlights and some additional air vents are also visible on the rear which seem to be just for looks since they have no purpose. We can also confirm minor adjustments to the interiors and added colours, while the engine is most likely going to be the K series 1.2 litre unit and the diesel 1.3 litre unit. The new Ritz will be launched sometime this year.

The legendary British car maker of luxury and sports cars, Aston Martin, recently opened a new dealership in New Delhi where customers and enthusiasts will be able to come and check out the beautiful Aston Martin range of cars. The new dealership will be run by Select Cars and is now the second Aston Martin dealership in India.

Andy Gawthorpe, who is the Global Sales Director of Aston Martin was quoted as saying “Its been a long process to ensure that we have the right longterm business partner for Aston Martin in the Northern region of India. Select Cars has a proven track record in the automotive industry on many levels with a strong focus on trained staff and customer service and we look forward to starting a successful relationship.”

The New Delhi dealership boasts a space of about 12,000 square feet and will also have an attached service centre.

Currently all Porsche vehicles are brought into the country through Precision Cars India, which was the only importer, but now it is no more as VW India have finally decided to import the legendary marquee themselves. The Volkswagen Group has officially announced and confirmed that it will now be the official importer and distributor of all Porsche cars into the country, however Precision Cars India will still sell and service their vehicles. The next Porsche which is to be launched in India will be the all new 911 Carrera and a diesel variant of the Panamera, plus there is also excitement about the new Porsche SUV called the Macan.

VW India will plan to strengthen the brand in the country and open more dealerships over the course of time and Mr. Anil Reddi will head this venture, while George Wills, MD Porsche Middle East and Africa, had this to say; “With this new agreement, we are looking forward to exploring the opportunities across India even further. Development of emerging markets is clearly important for Porsche’s future, and we are confident that sales in the sub-continent will continue to grow in the coming years, especially with new Porsche models being introduced in the future.”

German luxury car manufacturer, Audi, has just launched the all new Audi A4 in India. The A4 is the company’s longest selling and also its best selling sedan for 39 years now. With its newly acquired emotional appeal, it will reach out to a younger and much wider customer base. Hence it aims to gain a considerable footing in the Indian luxury sedan space.

The new Audi A4 offers considerable advantages over its predecessor and combines powerful dynamic design with outstanding handling characteristics. The new look further accentuates the horizontal lines at the front end. The engine hood is more arched, the upper corners of the single frame grille are tapered, and the cross ribs and the Audi rings are highlighted three-dimensionally. The redesigned bumpers are striking with their angular air inlets, their revised grilles and the flat front fog lights.

The fuel efficiency on an average has improved by 10% on the new Audi A4. The 1.8 TFSI offers a fuel efficiency of 15.64 km/l – which has improved by 25% compared to its predecessor. The 2.0 TDI offers an efficiency of 16.55 km/l, thus ensuring best in class fuel efficiency.

Priced from Rs 28 lakhs onwards (Ex-showroom Delhi), this sporty and stylish new model is now available at Audi dealerships across the country.

Taking notice of the increasing demand of ultra high luxury sports cars in the country and especially in the metros cities, Italian car maker Lamborghini has just opened a showroom in Mumbai, which is now its second in the country. Autohangar, which is also a dealer of Mercedes, has been honored as its dealer in Mumbai to try and grab attention throughout the country. Besides Autohangar, Exclusive Motors is also an authorized dealer based in Delhi. Since VW has recently planned to self-import its Porsche marquee, it might be very soon that the company will also decide to set up their own sales and distribution centre for Lambo’s.

Kotak Securities published a report on May 2, 2012 in which they said:

April volumes signal slowdown ahead. Auto volume growth in April was sluggish: It was below expectations for Maruti Suzuki and Tata Motors and slightly better than expectations for M&M and Hero Motocorp. A sharp increase in cost of ownership of vehicles has started to reflect in low single digit growth in the two-wheeler and passenger car segments. A sharp decline in truck volumes (-29% yoy) in April indicate a sharp slowdown in freight demand.

Hero Motocorp volumes up 6.7% yoy in April 2012 Hero Motocorp’s April 2012 volumes grew by only 6.7% yoy, which was 5% more than our expectations. TVS Motors’ domestic motorcycle volume declined 2% yoy in April, in our view. We expect weak numbers from Bajaj Auto as well (it is likely to report its numbers tomorrow). Two wheeler volumes are likely to remain weak in 1HFY13, in our view, due to a rise in vehicle prices after the Union Budget and a likely rise in fuel prices. Rural growth also slowed due to a decline in crop prices, which also impacted two-wheeler volume growth.

Maruti disappoints due to a sharp fall in petrol volumes Maruti Suzuki reported 3% yoy growth in volumes (10% below expectations) on a low base in April 2012, driven by 26% yoy decline in the Alto and WagonR segment (primarily petrol). Eeco volumes declined 10% yoy. Swift, Dzire volumes supported growth due to an increase in diesel engine capacity Export volumes grew by a muted 2% yoy in April 2012. We believe revival of petrol volume growth is unlikely in the near term as we expect petrol prices to rise in May.

M&M continued its strong performance in utility vehicles M&M continued its strong performance in passenger utility vehicles (+32% yoy) and the light commercial vehicle segment (37% yoy) in April 2012. Auto exports declined by 18% yoy. We expect strong growth in utility vehicle volumes to continue in FY2013 due to the popularity of diesel models, success of XUV500 and new model launches (refreshed Xylo and mini Xylo). Tractor volumes have not been reported as yet but we expect the weak trend to continue in April and estimate a 3% yoy decline in tractor volumes.

MHCV volumes decline by 29% yoy for Tata Motors. Tata Motors reported a 7% yoy decline in standalone volumes driven by MHCV (-29% yoy) and passenger car volumes (-7% yoy). Domestic MHCV declined by 29% yoy in April 2012 indicating slowdown in freight demand and correction of dealer inventory and LCV volume growth grew at a muted 9% yoy. Tata Nano volumes declined by 20% yoy and Indica volumes grew by 63% yoy. Our channel checks suggests that truck manufacturers have been pushing sales to dealers since Dec and are offering 3-4% discounts on vehicles, indicating a weakening commercial vehicle cycle. We await numbers from Eicher and Ashok Leyland to assess the slowdown in the truck segment. Both these players are offering significant discounts to increase their market shares in the truck segment.

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The Ford EcoSport has been at the tip of our tongue for sometime but we haven’t been able to give our readers details about what could be the biggest game changer in the mini SUV market throughout the developing world. But now thanks to Ford’s presence at the Beijing Auto Show they have now provided us with some more information on this car. Firstly we now know that the EcoSport is production ready and we will be able to make our booking by the end of this year. The production version of the car looks very familiar to the concept that was displayed in Delhi and we are happy to say it still looks good. Ford has also unveiled interior pictures which shows a close similarity to the Ford Fiesta. Other features that we will see in the EcoSport will be keyless entry, power start, and we will also get a chilled glove box not to mention on the higher variants we will also get hill launch assist, rear parking sensors and other driver aids. Standard equipment will be airbags, ABS with EBD and Ford SYNC. This all looks good, but what we really want to see is how well the famed 1.0 litre EcoBoost engine will perform. Until then we will just have to wait.

Lamborghini launched the first super-luxury SUV with the legendary LM002 back in 1986 and it looks like it could eat a Hummer. And now they have launched something completely different which looks like it could eat up an X6. Say hello to the Urus. With the Urus, Lamborghini designers and engineers have created a new icon in automotive history, we would like to think so because it does look radical if not pure crazy. The Urus has a unique, utterly unmistakable appearance. It looks powerful, but not bulky. It is muscular and highly athletic, but also elegant. The Urus will most probably produce more than 600bhp and will have 4 wheel drive and seat only 4 people but in a very comfortable fashion. The Urus is based on the Aventador platform and will most probably cost you around $200,000 if you live in Europe or USA. The car will be production ready by 2015 so we still have some time before we see this machine on roads.

“The Urus is a very concrete idea for the future of Lamborghini – as a third model line and as the perfect complement to our super sports cars,” says Stephan Winkelmann, President and CEO of Automobili Lamborghini. “SUVs stand for freedom and emotion. SUVs make up one of the most successful market segments worldwide. The Urus is the most extreme interpretation of the SUV idea; it is the Lamborghini of the SUVs.”

We all remember our Willy’s Jeep, if you had one you can never forget it, and if you still have one, well then you are really a true fan of Jeeps. But for everyone else who doesn’t know about nor had the privilege to drive in one, there is nothing to worry about because the legendary American jeep maker known as Jeep is heading to India. Jeep is currently owned by Fiat and since Fiat is struggling in India and Jeep is now making diesel engines, it seems like a perfect time for them to enter our shores. Currently the company has a whole range of SUVs with diesel engines but the first car that we will probably see would be the 237bhp diesel Jeep Grand Cherokee. The 2987cc common-rail diesel unit is produced by Fiat and the car looks rough and is certainly tough keeping in tandem with Jeep’s philosophy. An arrival date is not announced yet but for sure within the coming months we will post more info here.

Skoda India has just launched the Ambition variant of their luxury sedan Superb at a considerably lower and tempting price of Rs 18 lakh ex-showroom Delhi. The Superb Ambition will be available in two variants which are the 1.8 TSI petrol that has a manual transmission and the 2.0 TDI diesel with the DSG auto transmission. The price of the petrol variant is much lower than the diesel which will cost around Rs 22.5 lakh. Skoda India has managed to reduce the price of the car by removing special features such as the touch screen audio system, sunroof and front parking sensors. But the interiors still remain luxurious as ever and the comfort level will not be degraded. This is a strong move by Skoda to gain market share in the entry luxury sedan segment.