Japanese automaker Nissan, which the is all set to unveil the production version of the Nissan Kicks compact SUV on the inaugural day of the Rio Olympic and Paralympic Games starting from May 3 is likely to launch the same in India in the near future.
Unveiled at the 2014 Sao Paulo Auto Show as a concept, Nissan could trim the platform to achieve a sub-4 metre length, according to a report. Nissan Kicks may rival against the likes of the Renault Duster, Hyundai Creta and others in its league. In order to introduce Kicks SUV, Nissan could phase out Terrano SUV from India, which failed to generate volumes for the car maker. However, nothing concrete has been revealed in this regard by the company.
Reports suggest that the Kicks SUV will be based on Nissan's V-platform that currently underpins the Micra hatchback. The SUV measures 4,300 m in length, which makes it a worthy competitor to Hyundai Creta and others in the segment. The Brazilian spec model will be powered by a 1.6-litre ...

Nissan likely to bring its Kicks compact SUV to India

BS-Motoring

Hyundai Motor India Limited (HMIL) has enhanced the safety features and made some other changes in the variants of the entry-level hatchbacks such as Eon, the Grand i10 and the Xcent compact sedan. 
Additional safety features on these cars comes as a follow up to the safety upgrades made to the Elite i20, i20 Active and the Verna by Hyundai India earlier this year.
The Eon, considered as the most affordable car in Hyundai India's line-up, now gets driver-side airbags as an option across the variants, barring the base D-Lite trim. The top-spec Sportz variant is sold with driver-side airbags as standard. The Grand i10 gets driver-side airbags as standard while passenger-side airbags are now optional from the mid-level Sportz trim. After revision, the Grand i10 is now sold in the Era, Magna, Sportz and Asta (O) variants.
The compact Xcent sedan will now have an Antilock Brake System and driver-side airbags as standard. The top-spec SX and SX(O) variants come with dual front airbags as ...

Hyundai enhances safety features in Eon, Grand i10 & Xcent models

Tata Motors has launched its next-gen PRIMA range of heavy commercial vehicles in Bhutan. The trucks first made famous by the T1 PRIMA racing league, will be available in three variants.
The company introduced its Tata Prima in the tipper and cargo segment, with different combinations of drivelines for varied applications. The three products launched include PRIMA LX 2523.T form the cargo segment while the PRIMA LX 2523.K and PRIMA LX 2528.K form the tipper construct segment. 
The 2523.T comes with to a 5.9-litre common rail diesel engine provided by Cummins, producing 233PS and 850Nm of torque. This is mated to a 6-speed manual transmission by Eaton. The 2523.K and 2528.K come with a Cummins CRDe engine producing 270PS and 970Nm of torque, mated to a 9-speed ZF manual gearbox.
"The launch of the PRIMA World-Smart range of heavy commercial vehicles in Bhutan is an important milestone in Tata Motors' continued expansion in the country and the South Asian region. We at Tata Motors are ..

Tata Motors launches PRIMA range of trucks in Bhutan

Mercedes-Benz will be launching its new SUV, the GLC this year.  The company has plans to get the GLC by this June or towards the end of May 2016.

Mercedes Benz GLC to be launched with two engines

MotorOctane

Taxi hailing companies such as Uber and Ola, which have been directed by the Karnataka government not to indulge in ‘surge pricing’ are facing the heat elsewhere in the country as well.
While the Maharashtra government is also planning to impose some curbs on surge pricing, the Delhi high court has sought a report from the state government on the practice engaged by taxi-hailing companies.
Magic Sewa, also a start-up in the transport segment, has filed a plea in the court accusing Uber and Ola of violating a government notification on fares by under-pricing or over-pricing.
According to the company, peak time charges or surge pricing sees customers being charged as high as five times the normal fare. “Attracting a prospective passenger with a published fare as low as Rs. 5 per km but charging as high as Rs. 38 per km in the name of 'peak time charge' or 'surge pricing' is downright misleading, mischievous and cheating,” said the complaint.
Such unlawful practices of unlicensed taxi ...

Uber, Ola facing heat on surge pricing

One of the biggest worries for motorists, especially when in a hurry, is finding parking space. Most motorists go through the grind of cruising along roads, searching for an empty space to park the car. 
German technology giant Bosch has a solution. “The mobility of the future starts today – with smart parking,” says Dr. Dirk Hoheisel, member of the board of management of Robert Bosch GmbH. The company is tapping a whole new market by offering parking technologies and services. 
Bosch is simplifying the search for parking spaces and is gradually automating the parking process. Potential customers for Bosch parking solutions include vehicle manufacturers and parking garage operators as well as cities and communities around the globe. 
The company has already made major achievements in this area, especially with its systems for automated parking and driving. “In 2016, our sales in driver assistance will exceed one billion euros,” says Hoheisel. Worldwide, almost 2,500 Bosch engineers – .

Bosch introduces smart parking solutions

American auto major Ford opened a technical training facility in Manesar on Tuesday. The 18,000 sq ft facility, set up in partnership with Technical Training Inc, will provide training to technicians.
“This new facility is a testimony to our commitment towards ensuring a skilled work force, qualified with the right certifications to deal with Ford products and more,” said Anurag Mehrotra, executive director, marketing, sales and service, Ford India. 
The automaker operates six training centres in the country including in Chennai, Kochi, Kolhapur, Ahmedabad, Mohali and Kolkata. 
Established in 1995, Ford manufactures and exports automobiles and engines made at its integrated manufacturing facility in Chennai and Sanand in Gujarat. Its current range of products in India include the Ford EcoSport, Figo, Fiesta, Aspire and Endeavour.
Its operations in India also include Global Business Services, with offices in Chennai, New Delhi and Coimbatore. It provides innovative solutions to Ford ...

Ford opens technical training facility in Manesar

Celebrating its completion of 20 years of operation in India this year, Hyundai Motors India Limited (HMIL) has announced that it will bring special editions of the Xcent and Grand i10 models. 
The Xcent compact sedan special edition will be launched later this month. HMIL will be introducing the Grand i10 hatchback in a special edition avatar in May. While no updates will be provided to the engines on offer in the Xcent and Grand i10, the interior and exterior will be overhauled for special and unique looks. Along with special edition stickers, Hyundai is likely to make slight aesthetic changes on the skin for both the cars.
Some of the anticipated changes include addition of sport pedals and special floor mats. We can also expect some features – such as steering mounted buttons, reverse sensors and rear spoiler – from the top-end variants to be made available in the special editions.
We do not expect any changes in the mechanical drives and the transmission duties. Both the cars are 

Hyundai to launch special edition of Xcent and Grand i10 

India’s top woman biker, Veenu Paliwal, died in an accident in Vidisha district of Madhya Pradesh on Monday. The Jaipur resident was on a nationwide tour on her Harley Davidson bike along with fellow biker Dipesh Tanwar, who was on his motorcycle.
The 44-year-old biker skidded on a road about 100 km from Bhopal. She was rushed to a primary health centre, from where she was shifted to the Vidisha district hospital. However, she succumbed to injuries before admission.
Known as ‘Lady of Harley’ and ‘HOG Rani,’ Veenu’s numerous admirers mourned her untimely death on social media on Tuesday. “A sad day for the biking community,” tweeted Wheel Street, an online platform for bike lovers. 
“RIP mam :( you are a great loss to the community,” tweeted another admirer.
The mother of two had left Lucknow on Monday morning and was headed for Bhopal. Veenu, who was wearing protective gear, also emphasised on safety. She was also planning to make a documentary on her motorbike journeys. She also ...

Top woman biker killed in accident

Bhartiya Micro Credit (BMC) is in the process of completing formalities and all e-rickshaws will be handed over to the applicants within two weeks.
At a BMC event held in Noida on April 5, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had launched 5,100 e-rickshaws for NCR, but so far only a little over 200 vehicles have been handed over to beneficiaries.
"We have completed formalities for 209 e-rickshaw beneficiaries," Vijay Pandey, managing director, BMC said. "They have been asked to apply for e-rickshaw permit and registration with the transport department. We will hand over the remaining e-rickshaws to the applicants within the next two weeks," he said.
Justifying the price of BMC e-rickshaws, which is higher than those available in the market, Pandey said: "The BMC e-rickshaw is priced at Rs 1.33 lakh, which includes fee for regional transport office (RTO) permit, life insurance, certification of vehicle, maintenance cost, learner's licence fee, etc. With bank interest, the total cost comes to ..

Bhartiya Micro Credit to hand over e-rickshaws to nearly 5,000 beneficiaries 

Hero MotoCorp Ltd (HMCL) has submitted plans to begin production at its proposed plant in Chittoor district in Andhra Pradesh. 
HMCL had signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Andhra Pradesh government in September 2014 for setting up a two-wheeler manufacturing facility at Madannapalem in Chittoor district. The plant would come up close to the existing Sri City Special Economic Zone.
According to the plan, the company will commence production of 5 lakh units (per annum) in the first phase by December 2018 with an investment of Rs. 800 crore, a recent state government order said.
The two-wheeler giant will add another five lakh units to its production capacity in the second phase by December 2020, and an additional eight lakh units in the third phase by December 2023 with an investment of Rs. 800 crore for both the phases, AP's Industries Secretary M Girija Shankar said in the order.
HMCL informed the government in a letter on March 31 that the upcoming plant would be ...

Hero MotoCorp to begin production at Chittoor plant in AP by Dec 2018

Tourists had a harrowing time in Goa on Monday, as the powerful taxi operators lobby went on a strike, demanding a ban on rent-a-cab firms.
Thousands of tourists were stranded at the Dabolim airport and at railway stations and bus stands across the state in the absence of taxis and auto-rickshaws.
The entrenched taxi operators lobby in Goa has for years resisted any efforts at regulation and tourists often complain of having been forced to pay extortionate rates for even short distances.
Attempts by fleet operators and radio cab services in the past were stonewalled by the taxi operators unions. Even taxi-hailing firms like Uber and Ola face problems in introducing services in the state.
The state government threatened the operators that they would take action against them under the Essential Service Management Act, but the unions have defied the authorities. 
Goa’s economy is heavily dependent on the tourist traffic. While the inflow of foreign tourists has trickled down with the ...

Taxi strike in Goa against rent-a-cab operators

French carmaker PSA Peugeot Citroen, which has unveiled its ‘Push to Pass’ growth strategy for 2016-2021, plans to enter into a partnership deal in India in two years and launch a product by 2021.
The French automaker aims to meet customers’ mobility needs, under its new plan, by anticipating changes in car usage patterns. Driven by evolving customer expectations, the plan will transform the company in order to unleash its full potential, capitalising also on the efficiency, operational excellence and agility demonstrated during the "Back in the Race" plan.
“Based on our financial reconstruction, we will launch a global product and technology offensive,” said Carlos Tavares, chairman of the managing board. “Now more agile, we are ready to shift paradigms by anticipating changes in car usage patterns. Our digital transformation will make the PSA Group a company connected to its customers. With “Push to Pass”, we will ensure PSA profitable organic growth.” Tavares said the group plans ..

Peugeot plans to re-enter India by 2021

Bajaj Auto’s Qute, the company’s first endeavour in the quadricycle market secured a one-star rating in the Euro NCAP crash test. 
According to the tests, Qute scored 4 out of 16 for frontal crash and 6 out of 16 for side crash. The tests are benchmarked with results of Toyota iQ 'microcar'. Other quadricycles which were also tested were Aixam Crossover GTR, Chatenet CH30 and Microcar M.GO Family.
Global NCAP said: “Safety equipment is sparsely fitted to these vehicles and the results show little improvement since the last tests performed in 2014. Their performance in Euro NCAP's tests is far below a similarly-sized passenger car.”
According to Dr Michiel van Ratingen, secretary-general, Euro NCAP, quadricycles are not subject to the same legislation as passenger cars. These vehicles look like small city cars and are likely to compete for sales in the same category, he adds. But their safety parameters are far below a similarly-sized passenger car which can be bought second-hand more .

Bajaj Auto\'s Qute gets one-star rating in Euro NCAP crash test

Mercedes-Benz India, which launched its LuxeDrive programme last month, drove into Vijayawada over the weekend, allowing potential customers to experience the luxury cars.
The German luxury carmaker launched the six-city LuxeDrive programme last month. It covers Kolkata, Vizag, Vijayawada, Chennai, Bangalore and Nashik. The second leg of the programme will cover another eight cities including Gurgaon, Ludhiana, Kanpur, Mumbai, Pune, Ahmedabad, Indore and Calicut.
Visits get a complimentary car evaluation at the event and can pick up exclusive Mercedes-Benz merchandise at the venue. The company demonstrates the capabilities of its vehicles through a series of self-driving exercises on specially designed test tracks.
According to Roland Folger, managing director and CEO, Mercedes-Benz India, Vijayawada, which is the business hub of Andhra Pradesh, is a major market for the German carmaker. "The city is known for its auto-affiliation, trading prowess and incessantly burgeoning economy," .

Mercedes-Benz takes its LuxeDrive programme to Vijayawada

Tata Motors reported a 11 per cent growth in group global wholesales (which includes figures for Jaguar Land Rover) at 118,750 units for March. Cumulative wholesales for the fiscal were up by eight per cent at 1.06 million units.
Global wholesales of all Tata Motors' commercial vehicles and Tata Daewoo range in March 2016 was at 45,235, higher by 18%, compared to March 2015. Cumulative commercial vehicles wholesales for this fiscal were higher by 4%, over the last fiscal, at 391,629 units.
Global wholesales of all passenger vehicles in March 2016 were at 73,515 units, higher by 8%, compared to March 2015. Cumulative passenger vehicles wholesales for this fiscal at 674,625 units, was higher by 11%, over the last fiscal.
Global wholesales for Jaguar Land Rover were 64,579 vehicles (includes CJLR, a joint venture between JLR and Chery Automobiles). Jaguar wholesales for the month were 13,370 vehicles and cumulative wholesales were 102,106 units, while Land Rover wholesales for the month .

Tata Motors reports 11 per cent growth in group global wholesales for March

The cumulative worldwide sales of Suzuki Motor Corporation's compact car Swift crossed five million units this month, 11 years and five months after the launch of its world strategic model.
Since its launch in 2004, the Swift has brought innovative changes to Suzuki's car-making, earning high appraisal for its sporty, stylish, and fun to drive character. The Swift has won Suzuki various car of the year awards in Japan and in other countries.
The Swift is currently produced in seven countries worldwide including in India and Japan. Launched here in 2005, the Swift steadily increased its sales in line with the market expansion due to economic growth, and with the addition of diesel variants and sedans. 
The Swift accounts for about 30 percent (430,000 units) of the annual sales of Suzuki in India. India accounts for 54% of the total 5 million Swifts sold worldwide, while Europe makes up 17% of the market and Japan 10%. Maruti Suzuki has sold 2.7 million Swift and Swift DZires in India ..

Cumulative worldwide sales of Swift add up to 5 million units

The Delhi government’s plans to exempt cars with parents driving their children in uniforms to school from the odd-even formula – but with no suggestion on how they return home – has resulted in twitterati making hilarious suggestions.
“Sir parents can drop them on even days & pick them up odd days. Problem solved,” someone tweeted to Arvind Kejriwal, the chief minister of Delhi. Kejrwal’s office had sought suggestions from the public on how to overcome the problem, after a Delhi resident raised concerns on how parents would pick up their wards from their school later in the day, since the children would not be there in the cars.
“Thats a real problem. Looking for a solution. Pl suggest if anyone has any ideas,” tweeted Kejriwal. This drew in a flood of suggestions from the public. “Special school uniforms for parents and caregivers,” quipped one twitterati. “keep schools open on alternate days,” offered another citizen. “Sir, teach kids how to drive and make it legal so kids ...

Odd-even formula: Delhi government flummoxed by exemption to parents dropping children at school

The National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) has asked the police chiefs of Uttar Pradesh and Haryana to provide security to its officials and contractors executing the Eastern Peripheral Expressway (EPE).
The NHAI had earlier moved the Supreme Court with an interlocutory application seeking “police protection from unwarranted obstruction from miscreants and vested interests,” who were obstructing construction of the expressway.
The apex court has set July 2018 as the deadline for completion of the EPE. But according to the NHAI, vested interests in the districts of Ghaziabad, Gautam Budh Nagar and Baghpat in Uttar Pradesh and Sonepat in Haryana had obstructed commencement of the work. This despite land having been formally acquired and contractors appointed “from amongst the best companies of the country.”
The Solicitor General of India had sought the Supreme Court’s intervention, after which the court directed the Director Generals of Police of Uttar Pradesh and Haryana to ensure .

NHAI seeks police protection for construction of Eastern Peripheral Expressway in UP, Haryana

Utility vehicle sales jumped by 21.32 per cent in March, as compared to the same month last year, while production grew by a hefty 28.96 per cent, according to the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (Siam).
But passenger car sales fell by 0.3 per cent in March, while production grew by 4.18 per cent. Overall, there was a 10.76 per cent growth in sales of all category of vehicles (including passenger vehicles, commercial vehicles, three-wheelers, two-wheelers and quadricycles), and 12.78 per cent increase in production.
A total of 2.14 million vehicles were produced in the country in March 2016 and 1.85 million units were sold, according to Siam.
Exports during the month were up by 6.53 per cent. There was a huge, 69.09 per cent growth in sales of utility vehicles in March and a 22.06 per cent rise in export of passenger vehicles. 
Similarly, there was a massive 122.8 per cent growth in exports of scooters and scooterettes. Total exports of all vehicle categories added up to ...

UV sales expand by 21.32 per cent in March

Jaguar Land Rover India Ltd., a part of Tata Group, has announced that it has recorded a growth of 45 per cent between January-March 2016.  
The company said in a statement that it had crossed sales of 1,000 units during the quarter, primarily due to the success of the newly launched Jaguar XE and Discovery Sport. 
The Jaguar XE marks the company’s first foray into the compact executive segment. It comes with a 2.0-litre turbocharged petrol engine available in two power tunes, one producing 200PS and 320Nm of torque, while the latter produces 240PS and 340Nm of torque.
The Discovery Sport is a more compact version of the Discovery, competing with the likes of the Audi Q5 and BMW X3. It comes with a 2.2-litre turbocharged diesel motor, producing 150PS and 400Nm of torque.
“The Jaguar and Land Rover brands are now firmly established in India,” said Rohit Suri, president of Jaguar Land Rover India. “The all-new Jaguar XE, which we introduced in the Indian market in February 2016 in ...

Jaguar Land Rover India registers 45% growth between Jan-Mar 2016; sells over 1,000 units

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