Indian car service provider Carnation Auto tied up with the Fiat Group’s Magneti Marelli last week, to service premium cars. Carnation Auto Chairman and Managing Director, Mr Jagdish Khattar, told mediapersons that the company had so far dealt with only entry-level cars, and that with this new venture, it would also start servicing premium cars [...]

German auto company Volkswagen started the production of its small car Polo in India this week. The five-seater hatchback is being produced at the company’s plant at Chakan, near Pune, and will compete with cars in the already crowded B+ segment, including Hyundai’s i20, Maruti’s Swift and Chevrolet’s Beat. It will come in both petrol [...]

Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) Deputy MD, Mr Sandeep Singh, said this week that the company would showcase its upcoming compact car at the January 2010 Delhi Auto Expo. He said that Toyota would display both the sedan and hatchback versions of the concept vehicle next month. The car’s production will begin at the company’s new [...]

Volkswagen India has already received 160 advance bookings for its iconic car, the Beetle, to be launched on December 4, 2009. Buoyed by the positive response to the car, the company is expecting to sell at least 500 units of it next year. This is in spite of the fact that the Beetle will be [...]

Toyota Motor’s plan to launch its hybrid car, the Prius, in India in January 2010 is on track. The car is powered by a petrol engine as well as batteries. Mr Mitsuhiro Umeyama, Gerneral Manager at Toyota’s global R&D division, said that approximately 5 per cent of the total vehicles sold by the company are [...]

Maruti Suzuki India Limited (MSIL) will launch a new van by the end of FY 2008-09 to replace its multi-purpose vehicle (MPV), the Maruti Versa. The company has already stopped producing the Versa. Maruti’s Managing Executive Officer (Engineering), Mr IV Rao, told mediapersons that a new van would replace the Versa by the end of [...]

China’s largest carmaker, Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation (SAIC), may soon buy a stake in General Motors (GM) India. The joint venture will involve sourcing of components from China, and assembling Shanghai Auto’s light trucks at GM’s Talegaon plant in India. SAIC is one of GM’s largest partners in China, and is keen on establishing its [...]

The joint venture between Fiat India and Tata Motors, Fiat India Automobiles Limited (FIAL) may soon launch a number of Chrysler models in India. The first of these is likely to be the iconic Jeep Cherokee, which will be followed by other vehicles. Fiat had acquired a 20 per cent stake in Chrysler earlier this [...]

German luxury car maker Porsche will be launching its luxury sedan, the Panamera, in India on October 6, 2009. The Panamera was unveiled at the Shanghai International Auto Show in April this year. It is expected to be priced at approximately Rs 2 crore in India. Porsche’s products are imported to India by Precision Cars [...]

Luxury car maker Rolls-Royce will be introducing the Rolls-Royce Ghost in India in the second quarter of 2010. The luxury saloon, which is being launched at the Frankfurt Motor Show, has a 6.6-litre turbocharged, V12 engine and a new eight-speed ZF automatic gearbox, with a maximum power output of 563 bhp. It can accelerate from [...]