By Invitation : Ucal Rolon National Road Racing Championships'09 - Round One by Navroze Contractor

The first round of the Ucal Rolon Championships was held at the Kari Speed way in Coimbatore. The track is situated in a beautiful location sixteen kilometers from Coiambatore and the weather these days was much cooler than expected. I was there to cover the Super Bikes class, and specially the Red Rooster Racing team, and how they go about their business.

Every racing event has some drama, and this one particularly had high drama, to put it mildly. Andrew Morris and Mathew Lim from Red Rooster racing had come down from Singapore. Joe Raja Singh and his honcho Muju were there in tech team. Amit Sandill had his hands full throughout the weekend with logistics that are needed to run a racing team with four riders. K. Rajini, Preetham Dev Moses, and Sameer Venugopal rode Yamaha R6 while was on his Honda 600. Rajini, Preetham and Rohit had reputations to protect. They have raced internationally and so, all eyes were on them. The programme was rather over packed with events. Small bikes with many classes, 600 Super sports, one-liter super bikes, plus a series of go-cart races, all were accommodated in the weekend. Such a tight schedule requires a high degree of organization and time management. That all the events were pulled of, though with minor irritants was an achievement of the organizers.

For full story click here : By Invitation : Ucal Rolon National Road Racing Championships'09 - Round One by Navroze Contractor

Hyundai Verna : Good value for money says Varun Gopalia

Varun Gopalia is an Ahmedabad-based businessman who loves long-distance-driving all over India....

How long have you had your Hyundai Verna CRDi?2 years
Why did you choose the Hyundai Verna CRDi? Which other cars did you consider at the time?Its best in the class. Ford fiesta, Logan, desire
Has your Hyundai Verna CRDi lived up to what you expected from Hyundai ? YES
What do you have to say about the overall performance of the car?Its really nice a very good value for money.

For full story click here : Hyundai Verna : Good value for money

Luxury and premium car sales dip by 7.59 per cent in May 2009

Even though premium carmakers, rolling out high-end and niche cars, continued to do brisk sales in the Indian market for the past few months, the global recession and other factors have began take its toll on them. Even though carmakers like Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen et al are bearish about the American and other developed markets, their sentiments were hitherto quite bullish towards emerging markets like India due to the growing number of nouveaux riches. But since January 09, banks and other financial institutions have begun reducing the car loan disbursals to even high-profile customers, thereby hampering the sales of the automobile companies. While Mercedes Benz saw its sales plunging by The 34.18 per cent in May 2009, BMW's sales dropped by 22.48 per cent in the same month.

For full story click here : Luxury and premium car sales dip by 7.59 per cent in May 2009

Small cars emerge top- selling models during FY 2008-09

Even as the Indian auto industry witnessed bloodbath during FY 2008-09, some cars , especially the small ones, managed to buck the downtrend and gave record numbers to carmakers. The robust volumes of models like Hyundai i10 and Santro, Maruti Alto, Swift (both hatchback and sedan) and Wagon R, Tata Indica and Indigo, simply demonstatres the fact that the Indian small car market is immune to the worldwide slowdown in auto sales. In fact, a lot of global auto biggies like Suzuki, Hyundai, Nissan are earmarking India as their small car hub.

For full story click here : Small cars emerge top- selling models during FY 2008-09

Audi to appoint 4 new dealerships during 2009

The Indian arm of German auto titan, Audi AG which is aiming to sell atleast 1,500 units during this financial year, has firmed up its plans to scale up its distribution network in the country and has reaffirmed its intentions to specifically target underpenetrated tier-II and Tier-II cities. Believing in the core brand value Vorsprung durch Technik, the company is eyeing to become the most successful premium brand in India in the coming years and corner at least 30 per cent of the luxury market share by 2011. Currently having 11 dealerships in major cities, it will soon be appointing new dealers in Lucknow, Jaipur, Coimbatore and Nagpur during CY 2009.
For full story click here : Audi to appoint 4 new dealerships during 2009

Tata Motors and Ashok Leyland get grace periods for bus supplies from government

According to media reports, commercial vehiclemakers Tata Motors and Ashok Leyland, which are supposed to supply buses to various state governments under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) programme by June 30, 2009, may get a grace period in case they are not able to deliver by the deadline. It was reported earlier that Tata Motors has grabbed a major chunk of bus orders under JNNURM. Out of the 7,815 buses ordered by various state governments under the programme, India’s largest commercial vehiclemaking company will be supplying 4,689 buses.
For full story click here : Tata Motors and Ashok Leyland get grace periods for bus supplies from government

Mazda Aqua-tech Paint System maintains world-class low CO2 emissions levels

Mazda Motor Corporation announced the successful launch of the newly developed Aqua-tech Paint System for vehicle body painting at its Ujina Plant No.1 in Japan. The innovative new technology achieves the world’s highest standards for limiting emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOC) contained in paint as well as carbon dioxide (CO2) gas generated from the energy consumed during the vehicle painting process.
For full story click here : Mazda Aqua-tech Paint System maintains world-class low CO2 emissions levels

Benchmark Cars appointed Mercedes dealer in Ahmedabad

Mercedes-Benz India has inaugurated its new showroom and authorised service center, Benchmark Cars at Ahmedabad in Gujarat showcasing the powerful roadsters from their enthralling AMG range the SLK 55 AMG & the SL 63 AMG. Benchmark Cars, the only dealership in the state of Gujarat, was inaugurated by Dr. Wilfried Aulbur, Managing Director and CEO, Mercedes-Benz India and Sanjay Thakker, Chairman, Benchmark Cars.

For full story click here : Benchmark Cars appointed Mercedes dealer in Ahmedabad

GM India to ramp up its Chevrolet OK outlets to 50 by end-2009

On the sidelines of holding a regional launch of the LPG version of its Spark model in Jaipur, Genereal Motors India has said that it is increasing its chain of used-car outlets (Chevrolet OK) to over 50 by the end of this year. The cars offered through CHEVROLET-OK, outlets will go through a strict, 110-point checklist by GM India trained engineers, a thorough vehicle reconditioning program, besides a detailed history check. Chevrolet-OK Cars will be sold with a 1-year / 15,000 km limited warranty, along with three labour-free services for Chevrolet cars. GM India also sated that in a sector that is largely unorganized and very often unreliable, the Chevrolet-OK Cars program will assure customers safety and surety of purchase and complete transparency of operations. The pre-owned program from Chevrolet has since become operational in 9 outlets across 6 cities, with three outlets in Delhi and NCR, two outlets in Mumbai and one each in Pune, Hyderabad, Jalandhar and Ludhiana.
For full story click here : GM India to ramp up its Chevrolet OK outlets to 50 by end-2009

Goodyear India DuraPlus Long Drive Rally across 22 cities ends

In its bid to commemorate the launch of its newly-launched DuraPlus tyre, Goodyear India has recently rolled out the ‘DuraPlus Long Drive Rally’ in collaboration with Big FM. In the rally, two cars fitted with DuraPlus tyres with Big FM RJs traveled across India proving a true test of the performance of the tyre on Indian roads. The month long rally culminated in the city on June 11, 2009 after covering 22 cities across length and breadth of the country. Delhi witnessed a great show with famous Big FM RJ’s creating a buzz of entertainment for the crowd present at the venue.To add more fervor and excitement to the rally, Goodyear India along with Big FM organized radio jingle contests at various cities.

For full story click here : Goodyear India DuraPlus Long Drive Rally across 22 cities ends

Peugeot wins Le Mans 24-hours race, Karthikeyan dislocates shoulder before the race begins

Narain Karthikeyan managed to rule himself out of the 2009 Le Mans 24-hour race by dislocating his shoulder while jumping over the pit wall in the moments before the start was given. It was a sad moment for the Indian A1GP driver and for India as well. The endurance 24- hours race which got kick-started on June 13 at 3 p.m. local time on the Circuit de la Sarthe, Le Mans in France finally finished on June 14 with 32 classified finishers from a total of 55 who had qualified on Thursday for the final 24 hour race.
for full story click here : Peugeot wins Le Mans 24-hours race, Karthikeyan dislocates shoulder before the race begins