Volvo Adds Automatic Steering On Upcoming XC60 Crossover

The automatic emergency braking is still limited by the direction the car is moving. Sometimes brakes aren't enough and a collision may still be unavoidable if the driver can't steer clear. But Volvo's new safety feature should help.

The Swedish automaker Volvo will be introducing an updated versions of its blind-spot monitoring system and City Safety suite of driver assists, as well as a new feature called Oncoming Lane Mitigation, on the new XC60.

The City Safety system primarily consists of automatic braking and detection of people, large animals, and vehicles. With the addition of automatic steering, the system will be able to not only apply brakes to avoid a collision but steer out of the way if the brakes aren't sufficient. It works at speeds up to 100 kmph, and Volvo's blind-spot monitoring system, which until now has simply alerted the driver to vehicles alongside, will also take advantage of automatic steering. If the car detects a vehicle in the lane the driver is steering toward, the car can apply opposite steering force to prevent hitting the car.

Unlike those two features, which are updates to existing functions, the Oncoming Lane Mitigation feature is all new. If the Volvo detects that the driver has crossed into a lane of oncoming traffic, it will be able to recognize oncoming vehicles and steer back into the correct lane. This feature works at speeds up to 140 kmph.

These emergency steering systems will be introduced on Volvo's upcoming XC60 crossover. The XC60 will make its official debut at the Geneva Motor Show, along with details on availability. In the meantime, though, Volvo has provided a couple of teaser shots of the crossover, seen above in the gallery. Not much is shown, but it will have the similar square-shouldered, upright fascia and D-pillar taillights of its corporate cousins.
   
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Maruti Suzuki Ritz Discontinued In India

Maruti Suzuki has discontinued the Ritz in India. The Ritz was among the company's popular selling hatchbacks but has seen little growth in terms of sales in light of competitors. Launched in 2009 in India, the Ritz has made an impression both in the domestic and international markets. In India, the company has sold around 4 lakh units of the car and it's now that Maruti Suzuki announces the end of the road for the hatchback. Confirming the development, A Maruti Suzuki India spokesperson said: "As part of refreshing our product portfolio, we continuously review our portfolio and introduce new models." The company also stated that the car will not be available for the fleet market either.

The company's recent launches - Baleno, Vitara Brezza and Ignis have been a hit in the Indian market. Both the Brezza and Baleno still have a long waiting period to its name and the Ignis too is bringing in the moolah. The compact segment is where Maruti Suzuki has made strides in and with cars like the Ignis, Baleno, Celerio, Swift and Dzire, the company witnessed a growth of 25.5 per cent by selling 55, 817 units.

This is just a way of moving ahead with times. With the new-gen cars from Maruti Suzuki taking over, the discontinuation of the Ritz was inevitable. The company had tried to revive sales of the car by launching a limited edition version called Elate in 2014 but it didn't see sales zooming. If you own one though and are now worried about the spare parts for your car, rest assured Maruti Suzuki will make them available. The spokesperson said that "Maruti Suzuki is committed to ensure availability of spare parts and service for next 10 years,"

This is not the first car that Maruti Suzuki has discontinued. There was the Estilo too remember, It's great to see Maruti Suzuki taking stock of its product line-up and slimming it down or replacing the products with new-gen models. The company's next launch is the Baleno RS and the bookings for the car have already begun. We'll also see the new-gen Swift come to India this year. The company will also add the Vitara Brezza petrol in its kitty which means it's a big year full of launches for the company.

Hyundai To Launch 8 New Models In India, Read Here - https://goo.gl/ZD16CM

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Hyundai To Launch 8 New Models In India

Hyundai Motors has planned to expand its market in India by launching eight new products by 2020, a top company official said recently.

"During the National Dealer Conference in Seoul, South Korea, we had announced new products for the Indian market for the next four years from 2017-2020 for a strong market leadership with sustainable growth," Hyundai Motor India, Managing Director, and CEO, Y K Koo told reporters here.

"We will expand and strengthen our product line with eight new launches equipped with new technologies out of which, three will be new segment products and five will be full model change, apart from regular product enhancements and facelifts," he said.

Besides the introduction of new models, Koo said, the company would introduce new technologies in domestic market such as "mild" and "full" hybrid, "automatic manual transmission" and "turbo gasoline engine."

Stating that India ranks third in sales, globally for Hyundai after China and United States, he said, "We have a very strong commitment towards Indian customers."
"Accordingly, in Auto Expo in February 2018 we will showcase our strong hybrid IONIQ and in the second half of 2018, of the three new segment products we want to introduce a new family-oriented concept and design-led product, followed by a sub-4 meter SUV in first half of 2019."

Referring to the company taking up digital campaign following the launch of upgraded hatchback "Grand i10," the CEO said, it was for the first time the company tried an "innovative" method for a national launch.

"I am happy to share that all of it was well received by our customers. We got four lakh plus likes on (social networking site) Facebook in just 24 hours and as we speak, we have crossed 71,000 inquiries and bookings are nearly 8,500", he said.
On the Corporate Social Responsibility initiative, he said, the company has adopted 33 government-run ITIs and five polytechnics.

"Near our factory (in Sriperumbudur) we have completed three Dream Village projects with the last one being inaugurated on February 3, 2017.

This year, we have ambitious plans to adopt 60 villages in the Sriperumbudur block," he said.

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Elon Musk Thinks Unions Are Bad For Tesla

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has shared the results of his own investigation into factory working conditions at the carmaker, following accusations by employee and union advocate Jose Moran made in a Medium post earlier this month.

Musk’s lengthy email was sent to all Tesla employees, and addresses all areas of concern raised by Moran, including safety, compensation and work hours. The Tesla CEO said claims about improper safety controls are unfounded, based on investigation of both Moran’s specific team and the factory in general. In fact, Musk says the company’s accident rate is less than half that of the larger auto industry on average.

Musk also charts compensation, factoring in equity-based compensation and benefits to display a considerable pay advantage vs. the big three automakers. Of course, that depends on stock remaining stable or improving through vesting periods. Regarding work hours, Musk said that the company has dropped overtime hours by 50 percent since last year and hopes to continue to improve those numbers through Model 3 production.

Curiously, Musk also concludes with a section on “Fun,” in which he discusses non-tangible employee benefits on the road map like frozen yogurt stands distributed throughout the factory, and an electric roller coaster intended to help employees get around the Fremont campus in a unique way – including an “optional” loop the loop.

The full email, obtained by Autoculture, is included below:

For Tesla to become and remain one of the great companies of the 21st century, we must have an environment that is as safe, fair and fun as possible. It is incredibly important to me that you look forward to coming to work every day. For that, we must be a fair and just company – the only kind worth creating.

This is vital to succeed in our mission to accelerate the advent of a clean, sustainable energy future. The forces arrayed against us are many and incredibly powerful. This is David vs Goliath if David were six inches tall! Only by being smarter, faster and working well as a tightly integrated team do we have any chance of success. We should never forget the history of car startups originating in the United States: dozens have gone bankrupt and only two, Tesla and Ford, have not. Despite the odds being strongly against us, my faith in you is why I am confident that we will succeed.

That is why I was so distraught when I read the recent blog post promoting the UAW, which does not share our mission and whose true allegiance is to the giant car companies, where the money they take from employees in dues is vastly more than they could ever make from Tesla.

The tactics they have resorted to are disingenuous or outright false. I will address their underhanded attacks below. While this discussion focuses on Fremont, these same principles apply to every Tesla facility worldwide.

Safety First

The workplace issue that comes before any other is safety. If you do not have your health, then nothing else matters. Simply due to size and bad luck, there will always be some injuries in a company with over 30,000 employees, but our goal is simple: to have as close to zero injuries as possible and be the safest factory in the auto industry by far. The Tesla executive team and I are absolutely committed to this goal.

That is why I was particularly troubled by the safety claim in last week’s blog post, which said: “A few months ago, six out of eight people in my work team were out on medical leave at the same time due to various work-related injuries. I hear the ergonomics are even more severe in other areas of the factory.”

Obviously, this cannot be true: if three quarters of his team suddenly went on medical leave, we would not be able to operate that part of the factory. Furthermore, if things were really even worse in other departments, that would mean something like 80% or more of the factory would be out on injury, production would drop to virtually nothing and the parking lot would be almost empty. As you know firsthand, we have the *opposite* problem – there is never enough room to park! In fact, we are working at top speed to build more parking. Also, hopefully our darn BART train station will open before all hell freezes over!

After looking into this claim, not only was it untrue for this individual’s team, it was untrue for any of the hundreds of teams in the factory.

That said, reducing excess overtime and improving safety are extremely important. This is why we hired thousands of additional team members to create a third shift, which has reduced the burden on everyone. Moreover, since the beginning of Tesla production at Fremont five years ago, there have been dedicated health and safety experts covering the factory and we hold regular safety meetings with operations leaders. Since the majority of the injuries in the factory are ergonomic in nature, we have an ergonomics department focused exclusively on this issue.

The net result is that since January 1st, our total recordable incident rate (TRIR) is under 3.3, which is less than half the industry average of 6.7.

Of course, the goal is to have as close to zero injuries as humanly possible, so we need to keep improving. If you have a safety concern or an idea on how to make things better, please let your manager, safety representative or HR partner know. You can also send an anonymous note through the Integrity Hotline (this applies broadly to any problems you notice at our company) or you can email safety@tesla.com.

Compensation

At Tesla, we believe it is important for everyone to be an owner of the company. This is your company. That is why, unlike other car companies, everyone is awarded shares and you get to buy stock at a discount compared to the public through the employee stock purchase program. Last year, stock equity grants were increased significantly and it will happen again later this year once Model 3 achieves high volume.

The chart below contrasts the total comp received by a Tesla production team member who started on January 1, 2013 against the total comp received over the same period at GM, Ford, and Fiat Chrysler. A four year period is used because that’s the vesting length of a new hire equity grant. I believe the equity gain over the next four years will be similar. As shown below, a Tesla team member earned between $70,000 and $100,000 more in total compensation than the employees at other US auto companies!

Work Hours

Another issue raised in the UAW blog was hours worked. First, I want to recognize how hard you worked to make our company successful. Those hours mattered to you, to your family and to our company, and I can’t tell you how much I appreciate them.

However, the pace needs to be sustainable. This is why the third shift was established and why we created alternate work schedules based on feedback from various teams in the factory.

These changes have had a big impact. The average amount of hours worked by production team members this year is about 43 hours per week. The percentage of overtime hours has declined by almost 50% since the super tough time we had last year achieving rate on the Model X, which is probably the hardest car to build in history. What an amazing accomplishment! It is also a lesson learned, which is why Model 3 is designed to be dramatically easier to manufacture.

Fun

As we get closer to being a profitable company, we will be able to afford more and more fun things. For example, as I mentioned at the last company talk, we are going to hold a really amazing party once Model 3 reaches volume production later this year. There will also be little things that come along like free frozen yogurt stands scattered around the factory and my personal favorite: a Tesla electric pod car roller coaster (with an optional loop the loop route, of course!) that will allow fast and fun travel throughout our Fremont campus, dipping in and out of the factory and connecting all the parking lots. It’s going to get crazy good 🙂

Thanks again for all your effort and I look forward to working alongside you to create an amazing future!

Elon

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Maruti Suzuki Launched Limited Edition Ertiga 2017 | Price & Specification

Maruti Suzuki has launched a Limited Edition version of the Ertiga in the country with prices starting at ₹ 7.85 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi). The Maruti Suzuki Ertiga Limited Edition is available on the mid-level VXi and VDi variants and comes with cosmetic additions to the exterior and interior.

The limited edition Maruti Ertiga has essentially added a bunch of accessories to the model. You get chrome body side moulding, new alloy wheel design, chrome fog lamp bezel and 'limited edition' badging on the tailgate. Inside, the cabin has been spruced up with black interiors, premium dual tone upholstery with quilt stitching; wood inserts on the dashboard, center console and door pad. You also get a front center armrest, white ambient lighting, and cushion pillows. The complete set of accessories cost a premium of ₹ 16,990.

The Maruti Suzuki Limited Edition is being offered in three color options - Exquisite Maroon (all new), Silky Silver and Superior White. Other features on the MPV remain the same, and the model continues to draw power from the 1.4-liter K-Series petrol engine tuned to produce 94 bhp of power, while the 1.3-liter DDiS diesel motor churns out 89 bhp of power. Both engines come paired to a 5-speed manual transmission, while the petrol also gets a 4-speed auto box.

Introducing the Ertiga Limited Edition, Maruti Suzuki - Executive Director Marketing and Sales, RS Kalsi said, "Ertiga is a complete MPV package which offers space, versatility, technology and convenience. The all-new features of Ertiga Limited Edition highlight the company's focus on building a customer connect through product differentiation while creating delight. Customers have always loved the Ertiga for its elegant style, contemporary looks and flexibility. This Limited Edition will further strengthen brand Ertiga."

Since its launch in 2012, Maruti has managed to sell over three lakh units of the Ertiga in the country and the model continues to remain one of the more popular selling MPVs after the Toyota Innova Crysta. Apart from the Innova, the Ertiga also locks horns with the Honda Mobilio and Renault Lodgy in the segment.

Maruti Suzuki Ertiga Limited Edition Prices:

Limited Edition VXi: ₹ 7.85 lakh
Limited Edition VDi: ₹ 8.10 lakh

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Porsche 911 R Limited Edition arrives in India

Porsche Centre Bengaluru welcomed a new model in the 911 range this week, with the arrival of the limited edition 911 R. The exclusive model, which was purchased by a Porsche collector in Bangalore, is the only one of the 991 units produced globally, delivered in India. However, Porsche India did not reveal the price for this limited edition 911 R.

Engine:

The 911 R features a 500 hp naturally aspirated engine and six-speed sports transmission. At work in the rear is a six-cylinder flat engine with a displacement of four liters, similar to the 911 GT3 RS. The racing engine generates 460 Nm at a speed of 6,250 rpm, capable of breaking through the 100 km/h barrier in 3.8 seconds and achieving a top speed of 323 km/h. Combined fuel consumption in the NEDC is 13.3 kmpl.

Design:
From the exterior, the 911 R bears greater resemblance to the 911 Carerra than any other model. Characteristic details such as the rear body, front and rear apron and nose bear similarities to the 911 GT3, hinting that it originates from the motorsport department in Flacht, Germany The body is comprised of lightweight components that originate from the 911 GT3, which can be altered for road use.

A retractable spoiler, familiar from the Carerra, and a rear underbody diffuser specific to R models provide the necessary downforce in place of the fixed rear wing. The center of gravity is altered in the 911 R as the bonnet and wings are made of carbon, alongside a roof made of magnesium. The rear windscreen and side windows are constructed from lightweight plastic, which enhances the vehicle's overall weight, resulting in the 911 R as the lightest model of the series, with only 1,370 kilograms.

Features:

Inside, the driver sits in a carbon bucket seat with fabric center panels in Pepita tartan design, a nod to the first 911 in the 1960's. A 360-millimeter "R-specific" GT steering wheel and R-specific short gearshift lever on the clutch panel enhance the active driving experience. Carbon trim strips in the interior with an embedded aluminum badge on the front passenger's side indicate the limited number of 911 R. A typical feature of GT vehicles are the pull straps as door openers.

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Which car you should choose to buy Diesel or Hybrid?

If you’re looking for a fuel-efficient car, there’s a good chance you’ll be trying to choose between a diesel and a hybrid. But which is best? The truth is, it depends on the type of driving you do. Diesel and hybrids both promise excellent fuel economy, but they reward different types of driving.

Diesel

Diesel cars are much quieter than they used to be, but they’re still not as relaxing at low speeds as petrol or hybrid cars. Instead, it’s on the motorway that diesel come into their own. For starters, they tend to be quieter on the motorway than they are in town. But diesel also require fewer revs than petrol or hybrid cars to maintain a steady cruising speed, making them much more efficient on long journeys.

Hybrid

Most hybrids combine a petrol engine with an electric motor. This motor can power the car on its own at low speeds, while the energy that’s normally lost when you touch the brakes is used to recharge the batteries that supply the electric motor with power. As a result, hybrid cars are great for drivers who live in cities or spend a lot of time in traffic. However, on faster roads the petrol engine has to do all or most of the work, meaning a hybrid is likely to be no more efficient than a conventional petrol car on longer journeys.

Some manufacturers are now offering plug-in hybrids that have bigger batteries that you charge up via a conventional power socket when you get to your house or office, and these models can go much farther on electric only power. However, they also tend to cost thousands of pounds more than conventional hybrids to buy.

The Decision

If you do a lot of motorway miles then, a diesel car will suit you better. But if you do most of your driving in town it’s worth considering a hybrid car. Just bear in mind that hybrids are more expensive than conventional petrol cars, and the money you save on fuel may not be enough to offset this higher purchase price.

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Mercedes-AMG To Release 3 Special Edition Models Celebrating Its 50th Anniversary

2017 is the 50th anniversary of the founding of the legendary German tuning company AMG. Originally founded in Affalterbach, Germany, in 1967, the division is now the wholly-owned performance arm of Mercedes-Benz. In order to celebrate, Mercedes-AMG is rolling out three new special edition models of the at the 2017 Geneva Motor Show in March.

The first model is the Mercedes-AMG GT C Roadster Edition 50. It's based on the standard AMG flagship, which means it packs a 4.0-liter twin-turbocharged V8 making 550 horsepower and 502 lb-ft of torque. The Edition 50 is essentially an appearance package that adds matte designo Graphite Grey Magno paint and black chrome accents on the side skirts, front splitter, air intakes, and rear diffuser.

The interior comes in a contrasting black and silver theme. There are silver touches throughout and the seats get special Edition 50 badging. The AMG Interior Night Package is standard and adds black steering wheel spokes, shift paddles, and door sills. Overall, it's a sleek and relatively subtle package. There will be 500 examples worldwide, with just 50 coming to the US.

2018 Mercedes-AMG C43 Coupe with AMG Performance Studio Package 

Then we have the Mercedes-AMG C43 Coupe and Cabriolet with the AMG Performance Studio Package. Like the Edition 50, it's essentially an appearance package that includes a number of gray and black accents inside and out. The radiator grille uses black accents rather than chrome, and the trim on the splitter, rear bumper, side skirts, and spoiler are all blacked out. Inside the flat-bottomed steering wheel is finished in Nappa leather and microfiber.

2018 Mercedes-AMG C63 Cabriolet Ocean Blue Edition

The final car is the Mercedes-AMG C43 Cabriolet Ocean Blue Edition. Each of the 150 models produced will get a top and certain interior accent bits in the unique ocean blue hue. The color extends to the trim on the bumper, wheel center caps, and contrasting stitching in the gray interior. The car comes with standard features like the Mercedes Air Scarf and the steering wheel from the S63 AMG Cabriolet.

Look for all three models next month at Geneva.

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Tesla Owners Now Have An Even More Obsessive Companion App | TesLab

As some of the most technologically advanced production cars on the road, Tesla's vehicles collect a lot of potentially useful data. Unfortunately for Tesla's diehard fan club of early adopters, the company's in-house app doesn't offer a simple way to get at much of that data. So two obsessive Tesla owners took it upon themselves to build their own, much more robust companion app called Teslab.

Teslab connects your smartphone to your Tesla Model S or Model X and starts combing through all of the available data to like speed, braking, etc to build a complete picture of your overall driving efficiency. The app will show those efficiency stats overlaid on a map so you can see when your vehicle was efficiently sipping power and when you were just burning through battery range with a leadfoot. The app can show your efficiency for a single trip as well as actual miles vs. battery miles and the amount of money you saved by not using internal combustion, and it will even show how "phantom drain" affected your range while the car was sitting idle.

On the surface, the app aims to at least alleviate range anxiety with a clear picture of the factors affecting that range in the first place. But the co-creators from development studio HappyFunCorp hope that by handing over vehicle data (which includes potentially sensitive location information pulled from the phone) Tesla drivers will eventually help make all connected cars a little smarter. Teslab hopes to use all that information to analyze how things like weather and road conditions affect battery range and eventually make your Tesla talk to your connected home.

"We thought, what if we could build a framework for what the connected car could be," Teslab co-creator Ben Schippers told TechCrunch. "What if Tesla gave us enough access to our individual cars that we could build a community around what we envision the connected car of the future could be, across all connected cars?"

While the app is still in beta, Schippers says they already have "a huge percentage of the Model X and Model S owners" signed up, and the flood of new Tesla owners expected to come with the release of the Model 3 later this year will add another huge source of data. But the real goal for Schippers and company will be to get all the other big automakers on with a similarly powerful platform.

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Microsoft Collaborates With Tata Motors To Revolutionize In-Car Connectivity

Tata Motors Ltd and Microsoft India on Thursday announced a strategic collaboration on the technology front to make driving more personalized experiences for the customers, the companies said in a joint statement.

The first vehicle showcasing the vision of the enhanced driving experiences will be unveiled at the Geneva International Motor show on March 7, they said.

"Using Internet of things, Artificial Intelligence, and machine learning technologies, we will provide vehicle owners in India and across the world a safe, productive and fun driving experience," Anant Maheshwari, President at Microsoft India, said.

Tata Motors CEO Guenter Butschek said at a press conference that he saw the tie-up creating new revenue opportunities for the company as car buyers increasingly look for value-added services.

Maruti Suzuki Ignis Gets Over 10,000 Bookings within 6 days of its Official launch

Maruti Suzuki, a giant name in the Indian car making industry, has got the perfect example of expectations meeting reality. The Indo-Japanese company’s latest model, Ignis, has got a superb start in the domestic automobile market with an outstanding figures of 4,830 unit sold within the first 20 days of its launch. The car had received over 6,000 bookings even before it was officially launched, with the numbers rising up to 10,000 within 6 days of its official launch on the 13th of January.

The Maruti Suzuki Ignis stands out in the crowd with its unique, and exceptional as well, design elements. Despite being a compact car, the Ignis is a lot more than just a conventional boxy hatchback with a uniquely designed tail section and a butch front. The interiors get an integration to the latest Android Auto and Apple CarPlay. Apart from this, the car gets a customizable interior as well as the exterior kit, something that is yet to be seen in other company’s car in the same segment.

Mechanically, despite having a rather small stature, the Maruti Suzuki Ignis is powerful at heart. The car is powered by the same set of engines that has now become a standard in Maruti Suzuki cars. The petrol trim gets a 1.2-litre K-series engine which makes the highest power of 82 bhp at 6,000 revolutions per minute and a maximum torque of 113 Nm at 4,000 revolutions per minute. The diesel variant is fitted with a 1.3-litre DDiS mill which is capable of making a maximum power of 74 bhp at 4,000 revolutions per minute and peak torque of 190 Nm at 2,000 revolutions per minute.

The Maruti Suzuki Ignis is in direct competition with the Mahindra KUV100 and is sold through the 200 premium Nexa dealership across 121 cities in India.

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2017 Honda City face lift has been launched at an introductory price of Rs. 8.50 Lakhs

There is no doubt that Honda City has always been one of the most popular cars in India, ever since the launch of the third generation City in 1998. The current model is the sixth generation iteration of the City and gets a host of updates to the exterior as well as the interior.

Exterior

The Honda City facelift will get an updated front end with a new grille, new bumper, and redesigned headlamps. In all probability, the headlamps will be LEDs and so will be the fog lamps. Also, the car will get LED DRLs, making it look fresher and bolder.

At the rear, the tail lamps too will be LED units and there will be a spoiler with LED stop lamp as well. The City facelift will also have new diamond cut 16-inch alloy wheels.

Safety

As far as safety is concerned, dual airbags, ABS and ISOFIX mounts for children will be standard fitment across all trims. The higher trims will get up to six airbags which include side and curtain airbags.

Engine Specifications

The engines and dimensions! The city will continue to be powered by a 1.5-litre iVTEC engine with a CVT and a 5-speed manual transmission option and a 1.5-litre iDTEC engine with a 6-speed manual transmission. The CVT variants will get paddle shifts like the current model on sale as well. The overall dimensions of the car remain the same.

Price

The Honda City facelift will have five trims, which are the S, SV, V, VX and the ZX, where the VX and the ZX will be the top trims. We estimate that the prices for the City facelift would begin from ₹ 9 lakh for the base petrol variant and go up till ₹ 13 lakh or so for the top of the line diesel variant. As far as competition is concerned, the Honda City facelift will be going up against the Maruti Suzuki Ciaz, Skoda Rapid, Volkswagen Vento and the soon-to-be-launched new-generation Hyundai Verna.

All New Audi A4 Diesel Variant launched at Rs 40.20 lakh In India

Audi India has launched the diesel version of its A4 sedan at Rs 40.20 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi). Earlier, the German luxury car manufacturer launched the petrol variant of the Audi A4 in September 2016. The A4 sedan has been the best selling product for the company. It is now up to 120 kg lighter than its predecessor due to the adoption of the intelligent material mix.

Speaking on the launch Audi A4 diesel variant, Rahil Ansari, Head, Audi India commented: "It is never an easy task to design a successor to a bestselling model, but that is precisely what makes the whole process so very exciting. With the all-new Audi A4 35 TDI, we are yet again setting the bar a notch higher. The all-new Audi A4 35 TDI is a groundbreaking synthesis if technology and aesthetics. The technology available on the earlier Audi A4 has been redeveloped so that it yet again defines the benchmark in the segment With a tremendous response received on A4 30 TFSI, we are now introducing A4 with a diesel which is even more powerful than the previous generation A4. Whether its efficiency, drivability or high-class infotainment, the new Audi A4 35 TDI once again raises the bar in its segment."

The Audi A4 comes equipped with high resolution 8 inch MMI touch with navigation, Audi Smartphone interface with Android Auto and Apple Carplay, Audi’s Virtual cockpit with 2 display, 3 spoke steering wheel with paddle shifters, automatic climate control, LED interior lighting as standard equipment and company’s Parking Aid Plus with rear view camera. In terms of safety, it comes packed with 8 airbags, traction control and ABS with EBD (Electronic brake force distribution).  

Speaking of the exterior, the all-new Audi A4 borrows its design cues from the models like the TT, Q7, and the R8. In terms of dimensions, it measures 4.73 meters in length with a wheelbase of 2.82 meters, a width of 1.84 meters and is 1.43 meters tall. The diesel variant the same designed as seen on the 2017 Audi A4 petrol version that includes newly designed LED headlamps, single-frame grille, sloping roofline, redesigned alloys, and compact LED taillamps.

Under the hood, the Audi A4 diesel variant is powered by a 2.0-litre TDI four-cylinder engine, which is good to churn out 187 bhp with 400 Nm of peak torque when paired with a 7-speed STronic gearbox. This Audi can accelerate from 0 to 100 kmph in 7.7 seconds with a top speed of 237 kmph. Audi India claims an ARAI certified fuel efficiency of 18.25 kmpl and is 7 percent more than the previous generation of the model.

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Peugeot Buys Ambassador Brand For 80 crores From Hindustan Motors

Ambassador, the iconic Indian car brand that till less than a decade ago carried both the Prime Minister and the common man, is being sold to French car maker Peugeot.

The C K Birla Group-owned Hindustan Motors formalized the deal for Rs 80 crore on Friday. Production of Ambassador cars had stopped around three years ago.

"We have executed an agreement with the Peugeot SA Group for the sale of the brand Ambassador, including the trademarks... We intend to use the proceeds from the sale to clear dues of employees and lenders," a CK Birla Group spokesperson said.

The car's absence of looks was never in doubt. But in an era of limited choices, the spacious four-wheeler was the preferred choice for most Indians who could afford it. Even today for many, the car remains synonymous with memories of their fonder and younger days and a marker of a more innocent India.

The Ambassador brand was introduced seven decades ago when Hindustan Motors launched the Morris Oxford series II (Landmaster) in a new avatar with minor changes.

It quickly became a national icon and continued to dominate Indian roads till the 1980s, when the Maruti 800 exposed its inadequacies.
From 24,000 units a year in the mid-1980s, sales slumped to less than 2,500 units in 2013-14.

Peugeot had a brief three-year presence in India in the mid-1990s when the Peugeot 309 was assembled and sold by PAL. Last year, Peugeot Citroen announced plans to re-enter India by 2018. The company had earlier this year formed a JV with CK Birla Group for the Chennai plant. The tie-up was to make use of the Hindustan Motors plant in Chennai as its production unit. The Chennai plant currently produces vehicles for Mitsubishi and has a capacity of manufacturing 12,000 units a year.

Bengaluru Techie Makes India’s First Driverless Car With Tata Nano

An autonomous vehicle or self-driving cars are no longer a science fiction India,  as this technology is already being tested on the roads. And now the news is rife that Bengaluru-based techie Roshy John, who is practice head, robotics, and cognitive systems at TCS, along with his team is developing India's first driverless car.

According to Roshy's blog on YouTube, it was Roshy who witnessed a near-death experience while returning to home from airport in a taxi as the driver was sleepy. John then made the drive sit in the rear seat and took the steering wheel in his hands to drive home safely. And that was the time when he thought of inventing an autonomous vehicle within his capabilities.

In his blog post, Roshy said that he had no clue from where to start. And five years later, "I selected Tata Nano because it is a rear engine vehicle, it has so much of place for sensors and actuators, and it is a cute little car," he added.

As per a report that appeared in Times of India, John purchased a Nano to test the software in 2011. Daimler, Nissan, General Motors, BMW, Google, and Tesla are investing big bucks in developing driverless cars across the world.

John along with his 29-member team worked on the software and algorithms in their free time and created a 3D model to test it. Creating an algorithm using a custom cluster (multiple computers), the team were able to read all parameters of the engine.

The car is also equipped with wheel encoders to measure the speed of the wheel, multiple lidars to identify obstacles around the car, HDR cameras, and GPS. The data was processed by the software to make the car 'drive' like a human. Apart from this, pedal robots have been attached to the accelerator, brake, and clutch and connected them to the software.

And once John will receive permission from the traffic police, this autonomous Tata Nano car will be tested on Indian roads.

Tesla Motors To Enter Indian Market with Model 3, In This Summer 2017

US-based electric car major Tesla plans to enter the Indian market during this summer, according to company's Chief Executive Elon Musk.

"Hoping for summer this year," Musk tweeted in a reply to a query on by when Tesla could launch its vehicles in India.

Last year in April, the company had stated that it planned to enter India with its Model 3 in 2017 while it began global rollout of the vehicle in late 2016.

Model 3 is Tesla's most affordable car yet and achieves 215 miles of range per charge while starting at $35,000 before incentives. The company's others models include Model S and Model X.

In a visit to the company's plant last year, Minister of Road, Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari had offered Tesla land near major Indian ports to facilitate exports to South and South East Asian countries while asking the company to make India its Asia manufacturing hub.

In September 2015, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had visited Tesla's facility in San Jose and showed the keen interest in some of their path breaking inventions, particularly in the renewable energy sector which can have multiple applications in remote rural areas.

In 2014, Tesla had said it was keen to enter the Indian market and even identified the country as one of the possible locations to set up a manufacturing plant in Asia.

It, however, said high duty on imported vehicles and lack of a separate category for electric cars prevented it from selling vehicles here despite having a huge potential.

Kia Motors To Start India's First Car Manufacturing Plant in Andhra Pradesh

South Korea's Kia Motors Corp is close to finalizing Andhra Pradesh as the site for its first factory in the country, as it speeds up efforts to start production in the fast-growing market, a source familiar with the matter said.

Reports of Kia looking to pick a site have been doing the rounds for a while, but an official with the Andhra Pradesh administration had told Reuters last year that the state was the frontrunner given its proximity to Tamil Nadu - home to plants of Kia's affiliate, Hyundai Motor Co.

The Korean firms, jointly the world's No.5 car maker, are chasing new business after missing targets over the past two years. And now, there are worries sales to the United States, one of their biggest markets, could be affected by protectionist trade policies under President Donald Trump.

India, however, remains a bright spot, with Hyundai - the country's No.2 automaker by sales - reporting growth there. Kia is hoping to leverage its affiliate's supply chain network built over nearly two decades to gain a foothold in the market that is tipped to become the world's third largest by 2020.

This month, Kia is likely to choose a site in the district of Anantapur, Andhra Pradesh, for its factory, the source said, adding the state had offered about 600 acres (242.81 hectares) of land to the automaker.

A second source also said that Kia was likely to pick Andhra Pradesh as its factory site. The sources did not want to be named as they were not authorized to talk to media.

Kia intends to produce small sedans and small sport utility vehicles at the plant from July 2019, although the plan is subject to change, a third person said.

The CEO of Kia Motors, Park Han-woo, said the automaker was in the process of picking a site for an Indian factory, without giving any details on location.

"Preparations are going well. We are ready to break ground on the factory anytime," he told Reuters on the sidelines of an industry event in Seoul on Tuesday.

Maharashtra and Gujarat have also been wooing Kia for the factory, Reuters reported last year.
Kia is likely to compete with its affiliate Hyundai, Tata Motors, Honda Motor Co and Maruti Suzuki India Ltd in India, a market skewed towards cars costing less than 47000.

Hyundai is one of a handful of successful foreign car makers in India. Japan's Toyota Motor Corp is trying to expand in the country and this week announced a partnership with Suzuki Motor Corp, which dominates the Indian market via its Maruti Suzuki venture.
"Kia cannot afford to miss the India market," said Ko Tae-bong, an auto analyst at Hi Investment & Securities.

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