Countries like China and India are a hotbed for the auto industry, and every major automaker is looking to improve its standing in the emerging markets while they're still on the ground floor. Low-cost micro cars are all the rage in the East, and Nissan/Renault is looking into getting a piece of that action by producing a Nano fighter. Nissan Motor India Director Neeraj Garg told The Times of India that while higher priced sedans and SUVs are also scheduled for India's booming auto market, a low-priced hatch is also on the wishlist if the pricing is right.
Company officials say that the low-cost transportation could be among six new products scheduled for India by 2012, and with the country's low-cost labor, Nissan/Renault could also export any vehicles it makes there.
We've heard the styling of some Italian cars being referred to as sensual before, so it comes as little surprise that the Italian styling firm Pininfarina's interest was piqued when it heard that a young Indian's car designs were inspired by the ancient love-making guide Kama Sutra. Ramesh Gound, a student of the National Institute of design in India says, "When I thought of what the world associates with India, it is Kama Sutra that came to my mind. After studying Kama Sutra, I realized its essence and my theme emerged -- two objects coming together and moving in one direction with a force of passion." He adds, "the exteriors of the body curve and become part of the interiors of the car." Yeah... so it sounds like his studies into Kama Sutra proved useful. For all of his hard work, Gound was rewarded with an internship at the famous Italian design house.
Click above for more high-res images of the Toyota iQ
Toyota has been working on an affordable small car that will be cost-competitive in emerging markets, and Autocar is reporting that India is being considered as a destination for production. India makes sense due to its low-cost labor, and with competitors like the Tata Nano going for as little as $2,500, the world's biggest automaker will need to cut cost everywhere it can. There is no word as to exactly what vehicle would be produced in India, but one option is Toyota's production iQ from Geneva, which is scheduled to begin production later in 2008. Toyota is looking for initial sales of the iQ to crest 100,000 units.
Click on the image above for pictures of the Brutale 910 R
Volkswagen may not be the only auto manufacturer interesting in a storied Italian motorcycle maker. Hot on the heels of its purchase of Jaguar and Land Rover, rumors are swirling that Tata may be considering purchasing a stake in MV Agusta. According to a few Indian and Italian sources, Ratan Tata, chairman of the Tata Group, is reportedly in talks with Claudio Castiglioni, the man running the show at MV Agusta.
Tata's involvement with MV Agusta could inject a unique flavor to the Indian conglomerate's portfolio, which has already been boosted by its acquisition of the two aforementioned classic British marques. A healthy injection of cash could do wonders for MV Agusta as well, considering what it has already proven capable of even in its currently meager financial position.
It's a common test-driving practice to attack a corner a bit aggressively and "see what she can do." A swan dive was the answer a driver in India received from a four-door Suzuki/Maruti Swift DZire during a test session. The car skidded out of control, hit a large rock, and then tumbled into the Shambhavi River. The attempt to emulate the Amphicar wound up more like an impression of Alvin, unfortunately. All four occupants were injured and ended up in the hospital, while the car itself appears to be a total loss upon its winching to shore. Reckless driving has been cited as the cause, although with a name like Swift, it's possible the driver was just trying to follow instructions. We wonder if driver training in India is as dismal as here in the United States, and judging from the looks of the car, we're inclined to think that the injuries were due to a lack of seatbelt use. Thanks for the tip, Rahul!
For the aggressive driver, the horn can prove to be a powerful ally, but it can also annoy the snot out of everybody around them. In Mumbai, India, the noise pollution emanating from the auto-sax is so bad, the heavily populated city decided to have a no-honking day. Here in the States we have a special "day" just about every day of the year, but seldom do we mobilize 2,000 volunteers to ensure the occasion is honored. Mumbai did just that, as the un-paid help toted signs reminding the city of 1.5 million to keep their hands off the horn. While volunteers put the clamps down on every day horns, the fuzz get involved if someone had a tricked-out aftermarket honk.
To prove a point about noise pollution and physical and mental well-being, the folks over in Mumbai also celebrated World Health Day. We can't see how being stuck in traffic with Tatas, bicycles, cows, and elephants and not being able to release stress by honking can be good for anyone.
Click to view more of the Ferrari Magic India Discovery in hi-res
As the pair of specially-prepared Ferrari 612 Scagliettis make their way across the subcontinent in the Magic India Discovery tour, news has emerged that Ferrari plans to enter the growing market there by 2010. The reports emanate from India's Economic Times, which quoted tour coordinator Gabriele Lalli as saying that Maranello was preparing a sales and marketing network in the country with an eye towards opening there in 2010.
Currently there are a few dozen Ferraris in India (aside from the promotional 612s) that were purchased from Ferrari's dealership in Singapore. Sponsoring the Magic India Discovery is Tata, whose close relationship with Ferrari's parent company Fiat may come into play as the Prancing Horse gallops towards India. Until then, we've compiled a big gallery of more than 50 of the latest high-resolution images from the Magic India Discovery tour, which you can view by clicking on the thumbnails below.
For the time being, you have to live in India to buy a Tata Nano. The new people's car is slated for domestic consumption only for now, but that doesn't mean you can't unleash your inner Nano shopper. That's right, Tata's website now allows anyone to customize their own version of little fun-sized runabout. While the car's feature set is limited by necessity -- loading it up with options would run up the price, which would in turn defeat its purpose -- you can do a fair bit of personalization. The standard car gets brighter colors, while the ironically-named Luxury trim features more muted hues. From there, depending on the trim level, you can add foglamps, a number of wheel designs, and best of all -- decal packages! Throw on some racing stripes and crank up the IndiPop; 30-horsepower never looked so fast!
Click above (if you must) for more of the Maruti Suzuki Swift DZire
It's a shame that more of Suzuki's line-up isn't as well designed and executed as the nimble little Swift hatchback. But we swear, this was not what we had in mind.
Maruti Suzuki India Ltd., the country's largest automaker and majority owned its the Japanese parent company, has taken the wraps off of the ironically named Swift DZire today, initial spy shots of which we lamented several months ago. Rather contrary to its name, we're left wondering what's so desirable about a trunk that it's worth butchering erstwhile attractive hatchbacks. The resulting conversion ends up looking like the hatch version, only with a tumor growing out the back. Maruti calls its "The Heart Car", but we'll go for the bypass, thank you very much.
More details are available at the DZire micro site, in the press release after the jump, and images in the gallery below for those with bizarre fascinations.
Ford has issued a press release confirming that it has sold both Jaguar and Land Rover to Tata Motors for an approximate price of $2.3 billion, which comes under some numbers as high as $2.65 billion that were being tossed around yesterday. The rumor that Ford will contribute to pension funds associated with the brands is also true, as it confirmed that $600 million will be dropped into the retirement coffers of the brands once the deal closes. It is, of course, subject to regulatory approval in a number of countries, but the automaker expects the deal to be done by the end of the following quarter. As part of the deal, Ford will continue to supply powertrains, stampings and other unnamed vehicle components to Tata for "differing periods", as well as R&D research, environmental and platform technologies, and even accounting services, among others. Clearly the ties that bind Jaguar Land Rover to Ford are strong and will take some time to undo. Judging from the press release, it seems all parties involved, including the employees of Jaguar Land Rover, are pleased with how the deal went down, and for the time being both brands will be run business as usual during the transition period.
Potential buyers interested in the upcoming Mahindra & Mahindra Appalachian pickup truck will get a sneak-peek of the new machine at the upcoming SAE World Congress, April 14-17 in Detroit, Michigan. The most interesting part of this news, though, is that the vehicle on display will sport a diesel/electric hybrid drivetrain, which could be the first and only such system sold in the U.S. The standard diesel Appalachian truck is expected to come with a 2.2-liter four cylinder diesel engine putting out between 140 and 150 horsepower along with 300 lb. ft of torque. Expected to sell in the low $20,000 range and be available in both two and four-door versions, Mahindra could potentially re-ignite the small truck market abandoned long ago by American automakers. With the hybrid option coming in at around $5 grand more, before any available tax credits are applied, we think that this upcoming Indian truck will make some waves here in the states when it goes on sale in 2010.
General Motors can claim about three percent of the car market in India, and it wants more. Tata's $2,500 Nano will still be the lowest priced new car in the world, but GM wants to offer something less expensive than its $7,350 Spark for Indian buyers. Group Vice President David Reilly points out that while a sub-Spark would be inexpensive, competing directly with the Nano is not something GM intends to do. If a bargain basement GM were developed, it could be leveraged in other markets besides India – it seems feasible that it'd be easily ported to the also-emergent Chinese market.
Three quarters of cars sold in India are small vehicles, and if the General can ratchet up its market share with a new model, the gains in other new markets with explosive growth could help further offset the sluggish performance of sales in the United States. To help achieve that goal, another manufacturing plant is currently underway in Pune, and should be fully up and running by the end of this year. There are also plans for an engine plant in India, though no details are forthcoming yet.
It's been sporadically reported over the past few months that BMW is considering offering a new microcar to battle it out with the smarts and Toyota iQs of the world. An Isetta revival seems plausible, but in markets outside of Europe and the U.S., the determining factor for consumers is price.
BMW might be looking to India to launch its newest breed of mini mobility, something that would be similar in size to the recently released Tata Nano, but come equipped with more of the luxuries normally associated with the German marque.
The PTI News agency originally reported on BMW's initial exploration into this new vehicle, and our friends over at World Car Fans contacted BMW for more information. According to BMW's spokesperson, there are no plans to compete with the Nano, but the automaker is exploring "the future [of] mobility," a wonderfully canned answer from a PR department if we ever heard one.
Follow along past the break to watch the entire video
While Bajaj is primarily known for its line of retro-style scooters in America, Bajaj is a major player in their home country of India in the motorcycle market. Their flagship model, the Pulsar, is a very respected motorcycle in India, and thanks to a tip from sanyam, we're able to show you this awesome video of the Pulsar in action. Good videography, professional stunt riding and well planned choreography make quite a display, even when the riders are mounted on machines with a mere 200cc of engine capacity. In case you were wondering, that 0.2-liter manages 18 horsepower, which looks to be plenty to have fun with, and it makes bikes like the Ninja 250 even more desirable. We wish that more small-bore sportbikes were available on our shores, but buyers have historically flocked to the much faster and more expensive middleweight class.
Videos such as this one make us glad to be internet-addicts, 'cause you know that corporate lawyers would have a hard time approving an ad in the U.S. Check the video after the jump.
It's becoming increasingly apparent that India's largest automaker Tata cannot be stopped. On the verge of finalizing a deal to acquire Jaguar and Land Rover from Ford, Tata is now rumored to be interested in buying a stake in one of the most beloved performance marques of all time: Ferrari. We stress that this is a rumor, because it stems from a quote given by Tata's chief Ratan Tata to Italy's L'Espresso in which he reportedly said that he's always dreamt of being a fighter pilot (takeover of Bob Lutz?) and participating in the shareholding of Ferrari.
The reason this rumor has some legs is that Tata already has an established relationship with Ferrari's parent company Fiat. It's on the board of Fiat and has some engine supply deals with the Italian automaker. Fiat owns an 85% stake in Ferrari with an option to purchase an additional 5%. Could Tata, the maker of the world's least expensive auto, one day have a stake in the company that builds some of the world's most expensive and exotic autos? We wouldn't bet against Tata at this point.
It's been sporadically reported over the past few months that BMW is considering offering a new microcar to battle it out with the smarts and Toyota iQs of the world. An 
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