New Honda City 2017 official teaser released, Scheduled to launch on 14th February

Honda Cars India has released the official teaser video of new City which is scheduled to launch on 14th February 2017 and will receive cosmetic changes along with additional features. Potential buyers can now book the car from any of the company's dealership by paying a token amount of Rs 21,000.

The teaser video shows the new LED headlamps with L-shaped daytime running lamps and round-shaped LED fog lamps, which looks similar to the current Honda Accord Hybrid. The 2017 City will also get revised bumpers, new chrome finished grille and 16-inch diamond-cut alloy wheels. The rear-end will get new tail lamps and boot-mounted rear spoiler with LED brake light. The design silhouette will remain same.

Official Teaser

Thieves Steal $3.7 Million Worth Of Engines At Land Rover and Jaguar Factory

Thieves steal $3.7 million worth of engines from Land Rover and Jaguar ’s factory in Solihull, England. The thieves allegedly cruised right by by security cameras in two trips, using a stolen big rig. 

In an official statement, the company gave to the Birmingham Mail - 

We can confirm that we are working closely with West Midlands Police to investigate the theft of engines from the Solihull manufacturing plant. A reward is on offer to anyone who has information which leads to the successful recovery of these engines. It would be inappropriate for us to make any further comment whilst this investigation is ongoing.
The story being reported by local publications in England is that the alleged thieves rolled into the Solihull factory with a big rig cab at 10:30 p.m. Tuesday night, peacefully made it through a security gate, hooked the truck up to a trailer loaded with engines and simply exited the facility.

The Solihull Police have released a statement saying “an articulated truck is believed to have entered the site twice, each time hooking up to trailers carrying the engines and then leaving again through the gate,” but did not speculate on whether or not they’re dealing with an inside-job situation.

As Coventry Telegraph quotes an anonymous witness who said that the truck was filled to the brim with motors:

How they got the lorry in and out so quickly is quite some story. We heard the lorry came in at 10.30pm on Tuesday through gates at D1 then drove to the Lagoons depot. We were told a trailer was attached and was full of new engines. That lorry was in and out of the plant in six minutes.

Later that night the same lorry came back and did it all over again. It attached another wagon and then it drove out past the security guards and that wagon was not seen again all night. But we have heard that the driver had the yellow documents he needed so he could show the security guards on the way out, without having to be searched.
Which engines were stolen specifically, or how much exactly Jaguar Land Rover is offering as a reward for their recovery remains unclear but the Solihull factory produces the Range Rover, Range Rover Sport, Discovery and Jaguar F-Pace.

The Solihull Police say they have found and seized the stolen trailers, but not the engines that were inside. Obviously, anyone with information that could lead to a resolution is encouraged to contact the Solihull Police.

Budget 2017-18 Impact On The Indian Automotive Industry

Every year when it is time for the Union Budget, there is a tonne of speculation and expectation on what various sectors can expect. But truth be told that's usually more of a wish list rather than realistic expectations. In the case of the automobile sector it has traditionally been a demand for the reduction of indirect taxes that hurt the industry's growth prospects.

The Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers or SIAM has always lobbied for the same, but now with the Goods and Services Tax or GST promised to arrive soon, there was no scope for any excise or other duty to be tweaked. So to be honest the auto industry expected nothing that was specific to the sector itself - barring a log standing expectation that there will be huge incentives to bring in more environmentally friendly vehicles - electric or hybrid - to India. That has not happened. So the reactions are mixed.

So has there been any cheer for the industry at all? Yes - and in fact in a big way. Budget 2017-18 has laid out a very clear set of themes. The two large initiatives are aimed at putting more money into the rural economy - especially after demonetization and a renewed focus on infrastructure development. The latter sees a marginally higher allocation of Rs 64,000 Cr for highway development in particular. Another item that has seen mention in previous budgets and sees clarity is the specific outlay for the development of coastal roads -for better connectivity to ports and coastal villages. Under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojna roads work accelerated to 133 km roads per day in 2016-17 against 73 km per day during 2011-14. These allocations will be good news for makers of heavy machinery and construction equipment like JCB or Tata Hitachi and also CV makers like Tata and Ashok Leyland.

But it is the farm-friendly policies like that the Finance Minister has announced that will really benefit the auto sector. This is even truer in the case of manufacturers of farm equipment like Mahindra and Tafe. Allocation for rural sector for Fiscal Year 2018 is Rs 1,87,200 cr, which is a record, and represents an increase of 24 per cent In fact the allocation under MNREGA increased from Rs 38,500 crore to Rs 48,000 crore. And it will no doubt benefit the two wheeler brigade that sees a chunk of sales coming from Tier 3 towns and rural India, like Hero and HMSI. Pawan Munjal, Chairman and Managing Director, Hero MotoCorp, said "Clearly government spending in schemes such as MNREGA & Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna is highest-ever. This is a boost for core sectors such as rural, agriculture, steel, manufacturing etc and will convert into increase in consumption in rural India."

After all the primary impact of demonetization on the auto industry was really seen on rural sales. These measures will help overcome some of that. YS Guleria, Senior VP- Sales & Marketing, HMSI said, "With almost 50% of two-wheeler demand coming from rural and semi-urban India, Budget 2016 should have a positive impact for the industry going forward." The rural thrust is also good news for makers of LCVs and mini trucks like Eicher, Tata and Mahindra for the same reason, as this also comes on the back of a good monsoon, and reasonably good earnings in the agro-economy.

Roland Folger, MD & CEO, Mercedes-Benz India says, "This budget tries to narrow the gap between rural and urban India. By allocating a greater amount to transportation, airports and highways, the focus will be greater on infrastructural development. This will help the auto sector's growth during the long-term."

Minister Jaitley's tweaking of tax slabs will also likely benefit the two wheeler sector, as income below Rs 2.5 lakh is now non taxable, and income between Rs 2.5-5 lakh now sees the tax outgo halved to 5%. This means more disposable income in the hands of several buyers. Now that will surely not translate into a rush of people heading into bike showrooms, but it will allow more to hasten their purchase decisions. It is also likely to spur demand for second hand two wheelers and cars, which would have a positive impact on new vehicle sales too.

Even the car makers are expecting a positive push to sales though. The Income tax rate cut from 10% to 5% for individual tax payers earning under ₹ 5 lakh per annum will create a positive sentiment among likely first time buyers for entry level and small cars. However, there is nothing substantial for R&D for automotive industry, EV and Hybrid vehicles, which is a dampener. We look forward to the implementation of GST for the automotive sector in the months to come to offer the much needed stimulus to the auto industry and encourage buyer sentiment and consumer confidence." said Guillaume Sicard, President, Nissan India.

The auto industry is disappointed that its long-standing demand for incentive-based fleet modernization has no mention in the budget. But on the whole the industry is pleased - since the last few budgets have brought no incentives for the sector anyway.

The evolution of Ferrari from 1947 to now

Ferrari is the world's most powerful brand according to an independently branded business valuation consultancy calledBrand Finance. In May 2012 the 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO became the most expensive car in history, selling in a private transaction for US$38.1 million to American communications magnate Craig McCaw.

However, Ferrari has come a long way since the 1947 125 S with a 1.49-liter V12 engine to the 6.3-liter V12 LaFerrari that has a hint of hybrid technology and with a difference of 800 in horsepower between 1947 125 S and 2014 LaFerrari.

from then and now there were a lot of Ferraris that were unveiled, with some selling for millions now. Following is a quick infographic on the evolution of some of the more popular Ferraris from 1947 up until the 2014  LaFerrari.

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Honda India Recalls Over 41,000 Cars Over Takata A

The Takata impact continues to hit Indian car consumers with Honda India announcing the latest tranche of recalls of some vehicles made in 2012.

The vehicle to be most affected by the recall is the previous generation Honda City with 32,456 units that were produced in 2012. Meanwhile, Honda produced 7265 units of the Jazz, 659 units of the Accord and 1200 units of the Civic.

The Takata airbag issue involves defective inflator and propellant devices that may deploy improperly in the event of a crash, shooting metal fragments into vehicle occupants. Around 42 million vehicles are potentially affected in the US alone, in addition to the 7 million and counting that has been recalled worldwide.

In a statement, Honda Car India Limited said that the replacement will be carried out free of cost at the automaker's dealerships across India. The replacement of inflators for the affected models would begin immediately and the company will communicate with customers directly.

Honda further said that customers can check whether their cars are covered under this campaign by submitting their 17 characters alpha-numeric Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) on the special microsite which has been created on the company's website.

This, however, isn't the first time Honda Cars India has recalled its vehicles in the country. Back in July last year, Honda had issued a massive recall involving 1,90,578 vehicles to replace Takata passenger front airbag inflators. The vehicle list not only the Jazz and all sedans from Honda, but also the CR-V as well. The company had then said that the initiative is a part of Honda's precautionary global recall campaign.

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Ford is against the Trump Travel Ban Policy

Ford Motor Company's top two executives executive, chairman Bill Ford Jr. and CEO Mark Fields came out against the travel ban imposed this weekend by President Trump.

In a Email sent to ford employees chairman Bill Ford Jr. and CEO Mark Fields said "Respect for all people is a core value of Ford Motor Company, and we are proud of the rich diversity of our company here at home and around the world. That is why we do not support this policy or any other that goes against our values as a company."

The executives also mentioned that they were unaware of any Ford workers affected by the travel ban, which suspends all refugees and also restricts entry into the United States from certain countries.

"We will continue working to ensure the well-being of our employees by promoting the values of respect and inclusion in the workplace," the Ford and Fields statement said.

The Trump administration said the executive order is needed to fortify national security. It triggered protests at airports around the country over the weekend and drew opposition from some government and international leaders. CNN reported that the Justice Department would not enforce the order in court, according to a directive from Acting Attorney General Sally Yates. Trump fired her hours later.

Meanwhile, the United Auto Workers also came out against Trump's policy. In a statement, union chief Dennis Williams said: "We must protect national security while remaining true to the very values that have made us a great nation. UAW opposes discrimination of any kind and denounces any policy that judges people based on their religion or nation of origin."

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Volvo S90 And V90 Scores 5-Stars In Euro NCAP Crash Test

Volvo has now become the first car maker to score a full six points in Euro NCAP's (European New Car Assessment Programme) autonomous Emergency Braking for Pedestrians (AEB Pedestrian) test procedure for the S90 saloon and V90 estate.

The two new cars Volvo S90 saloon and V90 estate also achieved an overall five-star rating, thus surpassing the best overall score of any model tested last year. Furthermore, with this score, now Euro NCAP's top-three best-ever-performing cars are all Volvos. Interestingly, the Volvo XC90 was the first car from any manufacturer to score full points in the Euro NCAP Autonomous Emergency Braking Car to Car rear-end tests (AEB City and AEB Interurban).

The Euro NCAP's AEB Pedestrian tests are designed to check the performance of pedestrian-detection systems using three road-crossing scenarios, all of which would result in a fatal collision if the AEB system did not intervene. Volvo's success in the Autonomous Emergency Braking tests is aided by the advanced City Safety system, which is standard in all new Volvo cars. The system works by identifying potential hazards on the road ahead, such as vehicles, pedestrians, and cyclists in certain situations, day and night.

Malin Ekholm, Director of the Volvo Car Safety Centre at Volvo Cars Group, said, "We work hard to ensure that our cars fulfill all safety requirements and pass all testing procedures that the rating agencies develop. Our main focus is and always has been real-life safety. Autonomous Emergency Braking systems, such as our City Safety offer, also represent a clear step forwards on our journey toward fully autonomous cars, which we see as a key element to reducing traffic fatalities and injuries."

You can read the full crash test results here - Volvo S90 Volvo V90 

Watch the full crash test - Full Video

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