'Inspired by Mercedes' by fashion designer Manish Arora at Mercedes Golf Trophy 2010

The 10th edition of the Mercedes Golf Trophy in India began at the Eagleton Golf Club, Bangalore with a tee-off by Dr. Wilfried Aulbur, CEO & managing director of Mercedes-Benz India. The tee-off was also attended by the presenting partners: Puneet Chaddha, managing director and head, Commercial Banking, HSBC India and Ramnath Krishnan, managing director and head Private Banking, HSBC India.

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Maruti Suzuki to up R&D headcount to 1,200 during 2010-11

Maruti Suzuki India Limited (MSIL), which had earlier decided to hire 1,000 professionals for its Engineering,Research,Design and Development Division by 2010, is now looking to ramp it up further to 1,200 in the next financial year. It is to be mentioned that currently 970 people are stationed in their R&D centre and other 30 will be roped in shortly. The company is also hopeful to strengthen its capability in developing new models from the R&D team in India. Moreover, MSI is keen to develop its in-house capability with Suzuki's support and will also act as the designing and manufacturing hub for small cars for the ASEAN region. Currently, Maruti Suzuki’s existing boffins are busy developing a made-in India car that is slated to hit the market by 2012-13.
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Maruti Suzuki aggressive overtures to maintain leadership position

With the arrival of new models and market hotting up for 2010, Maruti Suzuki the numero uno is pulling out all stops to defend its 50+ per cent market share in the domestic market. There are reports that is reportedly working on a new engine which would replace the engines (F8D) of Alto (800cc) and Wagon R (1100cc) as also indicated in a report in The Financial Express. It is expected that once the engine is replaced, the price points would be brought down significantly and help Maruti asell more of these cars. The business daily adds that the new engine is expected to be more powerful than the current one and is expected to be a revolutionary change. The engine, which has a codename – Yp3, will be available in cars by the end of 2010. While the Alto will have 2 cylinders, there would be 3 cylinders for WagonR. It is widely believed that this methodology has been envisaged after the successful run of KB series engine in Estilo (1.0 litre), Ritz (1.2 litre) and A-Star (1.0 litre). Alto and WagonR will get the codenamed engines YP3 which will replace the current F8D engine.
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Toyota files voluntary safety recall on select vehicles for sticking accelerator pedal

Toyota Motor Sales (TMS), U.S.A., Inc announced it would recall approximately 2.3 million vehicles to correct sticking accelerator pedals on specific Toyota Division models. This action is separate from the on-going recall of approximately 4.2 million Toyota and Lexus vehicles to reduce the risk of pedal entrapment by incorrect or out of place accessory floor mats. Approximately 1.7 million Toyota Division vehicles are subject to both separate recall actions.
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Tata Motors lines up multiple rollouts for its European operations

In its bid to expand its presence in the overseas markets, Tata Motors is looking to introduce a host of models in the European market in the next few years. India’s largest vehicle maker, which currents exports Indica, Indigo Marina, Safari through its own distributors in the European market, is now looking to add Indica Vista, Indica Vista EV, Aria, Indigo Manza, Nano Europa et al. The company already markets Tata branded vehicles in countries, like Italy, Spain, Turkey, is now firming up plans to introduce Tata branded vehicles in the UK, as also Norway and Denmark in 2010. It may be recalled that Tata Motors earlier withdrew its Indica hatchback sold under the name Cityrover, from the UK after it recorded consecutive months of poor sales.
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