Archive for April, 2009

International- Skoda posts 28.2 Million Euro profit in 2009 Q1; 143,079 cars sold in 3 months

International- Skoda posts 28.2 Million Euro profit in 2009 Q1; 143,079 cars sold in 3 months

Here we have an interesting case of a brand doing well in spite of the troubled world auto makers are living in. Czech car maker and VW Group company Skoda, has posted a massive profit (OK, considering the economic downturn witnessed across the planet) of 28.2 million euro in the first quarter of 2009.

Industry experts cite the scrappage scheme adopted by European countries as the prime reason behind the feat. The scrappage scheme has encouraged customers to upgrade to new and economical car with benefits in the form of price cuts offered by governments.

It’s difficult to digest someone’s success which you haven’t tasted. We ask those idiotic bribed industry experts why the other brands have not been so successful? Why haven’t they matched this performance by benefiting from the scrappage incentives?

Car makers have something to cheer about and the people too, as they could buy a car at a price which they have and will not see. We told you about the 500% increase in Renault Logan sales in Germany sometime ago. That was because of the same reason.

Reinhard Jung Skoda Auto chairman-

The first quarter of 2009 was very hard – the impacts of the worldwide economic crisis are also leaving their mark on Škoda. But with our modern and environmentally-friendly products, we have succeeded in expanding our market share in important markets such as Germany and China

Holger Kintscher, Skoda board member-

We know that 2009 will be particularly hard for us as well as for the entire automotive industry. The prospects are still unclear however, and filled with substantial risks. Yet I am convinced that through our Scout profit improvement programme, we will succeed in sustaining our financial strength and stability and even in this period of crisis, achieve a reasonable profit

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Entry posted on April 30th, 2009 and filed under Skoda

Video: Michael Schumacher, Ferrari F430 Scuderia & Mugello circuit; You guessed it!

Ferrari & Michael Schumacher – Man and Machine in perfect harmony.

Watch a Ferrari F430 Scuderia being shown some corners by the one and the only Michael Schumacher at the Mugello circuit in Italy.

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Entry posted on April 29th, 2009 and filed under Ferrari

Rendering: 2011 BMW 5 Series Sedan

2011-bmw-5-series

Left Lane News has come up with some illustrations of the 2011 BMW 5-Series sedan, by taking clues from Spy images of the same car.

Codenamed the F10, the new BMW 5 series will have softer lines in comparison to the current E60 with more conventional-looking headlights and a cleaner front-end design. This rendering has taken design cues from newer BMW releases like BMW 5-series GT and the new BMW 7-Series.

Due to new EU safety standards, the length of the front overhang will be reduced, but the entire car is expected to grow in size and 17-inch rims will come standard.

click through for 2011 BMW 5 Series Sedan rendering image gallery

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Entry posted on April 29th, 2009 and filed under BMW, Mercedes Benz

Bugatti’s 4-door Royale heads for company’s centenary blast; Low-res rendering

Bugatti’s 4-door Royale heads for company’s centenary blast; Low-res rendering

Ferrari, what would you do now? You couldn’t tolerate a 4-door Porsche. You wished (sarcastically) Lamborghini “all the best” with their 4-door Estoque. Now with Bugatti’s 4 door Royale, are you going to be gutted, so much that you might drop your clothes in protest in front of the whole crowd at Frankfurt?

Ferrari- Mummy, it’s all going wrong.

Mummy- Why darling? (in a comforting tone) What’s wrong? The world seems just fine.

Ferrari- Noo..(with tears down its cheeks) everyone’s making a 4-door supercar (uhh..uhh.) (takes a deep breath) Giving a supercar with 4 doors is like dressing up a championship Olympic swimmer with a tube top.

Mummy- Oh dear! Where are you learning all that? You must keep your distance from Mclaren. Look what Lewis and his friends have taught you. I’m talking to Mr.Mosley right away about this.

Mr. Mosley?? About tube tops and women?? Yeah right..

:D :D

Although this article has got nothing to do with women and their inner garments, it’s just a way of putting forward how earnestly the battle field is heating up. The four-door supercar pavilion is ballooning rapidly, and surely with an announcement from Bugatti that their 4 door Royale is heading to join the champagne at the company’s 100th anniversary celebrations, it’s actually true- A supercar can have four doors.

click through to view the Bugatti 4 door Royale rendering

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Entry posted on April 29th, 2009 and filed under Bugatti, Renderings

Volkswagen India begins pre-series production of Polo

Volkswagen India begins pre-series production of Polo

Volkswagen India has started the pre-series production of its new small car – Polo at its new plant in Pune. The German Federal Minister for Economics, Labour and Transportation Dr. Philipp Rösler, visited the plant at Chakan in Maharashtra to start off the event.

The first body of the Polo took shape at the pre-series production, viz a pre-run/a trial to the official production of the Polo that will begin at the same plant this year end.

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Entry posted on April 29th, 2009 and filed under Volkswagen

Case Study- Ferrari’s ‘Laboratorio Technologico’ a.k.a 599XX + New Image Gallery

Ferrari 599XX-8

Welcome to the world’s fastest “technological laboratory” on four wheels! It’s daintily called 599XX ;) , which we thought is a leaner, meaner and a hardcore flame spitting version of the Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano. But unfortunately, it turns out that the 599XX shares only its looks with the 599 GTB and nothing else.

Why is the 599XX called a ‘technological laboratory’?

No, the driver does not have to wear a white lab coat.

This car incorporates the very best of Ferrari technology (Formula 1 and Road car expertise put together). Be it aerodynamics, electronic control, handling innovations, any technology that Ferrari is working on, its all in this car somewhere. Ultimately, its a reality check on Ferrari by Ferrari, to understand its own potential and see how far it can take its road cars.

How different is 599XX from the Ferrari GTB Fiorano?

The 599XX uses a modified 6.0L V12 GTB engine – capable of 700hp and can rev upto 9,000 Rpm. Ferrari’s engineers have carried out extensive work on the engine’s combustion chambers and inlet and exhaust tracts. Its unique black wheels covered with racing slicks transfers the power onto the tarmac. Carbon ceramic disc brakes bring the car back to rest. A new gearbox shift strategy also cuts overall gearchange times to just 60ms.

The car boasts 280kg of downforce at 200km/h and a whooping 630kg at 300km/h – thanks to the aerodynamic tweaks. The front underside of the body is completely faired-in and the vents that channel hot air from the engine bay have been moved to the bonnet.

click through for more information and Image slideshow

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Entry posted on April 29th, 2009 and filed under Ferrari

Gadget- Meccaniche Veloci Quattro Valvole CCM Timepiece By Brembo

Gadget- Meccaniche Veloci Quattro Valvole CCM Timepiece By Brembo

The word Quattro should set your heart racing as inevitably the Audi Q7 or the A6 pops up in front of your eyes. Yes, the word Brembo is Italian, it can be related to any Ferrari and Timepiece is an English word.

What you see here is no normal gadget that you can purchase at your local supermarket. Let me explain

Meccaniche Veloci Quattro Valvole CCM Timepiece design

The four dial design is intentional. Each corresponds to the hollow portion of a 4 valve cylinder head and hence the name Quattro Valvole. The strap of your Meccaniche Veloci Quattro Valvole CCM Timepiece can either be made of alligator skin or rubber. The watch comes in four colors- black, red, silver, or yellow.

Meccaniche Veloci Quattro Valvole CCM Timepiece price tag justification

This timeless masterpiece from Brembo will set you back by $15,500, which is a small price to pay considering all of Brembo’s brake manufacturing processes come together to make this watch. Water jet cutting and forging, the methods used for manufacturing a F1 car’s disc brake was employed in creating this wrist watch.

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Entry posted on April 29th, 2009 and filed under Gadgets

Breaking- Audi Q3 Concept will debut at the Barcelona Motor Show

Breaking- Audi Q3 Concept will debut at the Barcelona Motor Show

A few hours ago, an announcement has arrived from Audi confirming its presence at the upcoming Barcelona Motor Show with a new Audi Q3 concept car. This new concept will be the foundation for the production car that’s scheduled for a Spanish production line in 2011.

Apart from this flagship display the Audi R8 V10, A4 Allroad and the facelifted Q7 will occupy the stall. The Barcelona Motor Show goes on from May 9 -17.

Link- Barcelona Motor Show official website

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Entry posted on April 29th, 2009 and filed under Audi

2010 Fiat Uno caught testing in Brazil

2010 Fiat Uno caught testing in Brazil

You might be aware that Fiat is currently working on Project 327, which will be the next generation Fiat Uno, due to be out in 2010 or 2011. After the two Fiat Uno renderings featured, these spyshots here, have lots more to say.

The heavily camouflaged car shown here (allegedly a Fiat Uno) was caught testing in Brazil, which is Fiat’s home turf in terms of sales. Firstly, the car looks huge! But, you can never say, there’s every possibility of a puny car hiding under that camouflage.

We hear that the new Uno will share its platform with the next-generation Panda, will come with Airbags and other safety equipment as standard, and feature fresh interiors like the Fiat 500 (only for Europe). Elsewhere, Uno might share interiors with Fiat Palio.

Source: World Car Fans

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Entry posted on April 28th, 2009 and filed under Fiat, Spy pictures

125cc motorcycle by Bajaj-KTM in India next year

Bajaj has failed to deliver its 6 months-6 bikes promise, but if you listen to the latest development, you’ll forgive them instantly.

A 125cc motorcycle jointly developed by KTM and Bajaj (Bajaj holds a considerable percentage of share in KTM) will be displayed at next year’s Delhi Auto Expo. The 125cc motorcycle will be presented at the EICMA show, also known as the Milan Motorcycle Show in Italy, in November. The Milan Motorcycle Show attracted half a million visitors last year and is a popular show among bike manufacturers to display new products.

Information is sparse at this point. Whether Bajaj will introduce this motorcycle under the Bajaj banner, or under a separate brand of motorcycles is left to be seen.

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Entry posted on April 28th, 2009 and filed under Bajaj

IAB Advise – Wearing the right driving attitute

IAB Advise – Wearing the right driving attitute

In this latest post of the weekly Advise section, we’re dealing with a topic which many of us need to pay attention to. While driving, we have to be conscious of the responsibilities we have.

The topic of driving attitude is explained today. We take a look at the basic stuff one must remember before heading out on to the road. We guarantee you that emissions, fuel economy and savings are in their best possible position if you follow these tips.

Think money, Think fuel economy
Try to think about fuel economy before starting out for plenty of reasons. If you don’t take any action, you won’t do any good to the global oil prices (drops make an ocean, agree?).

You could rev it hard, drive like a maniac and waste fuel but on the other hand you are waiting for the crude oil prices to stabilize and keep you and your car on the road. Now how will that be possible? Every driver needs to drive responsibly to get maximum benefit from the money he invests on the car in the form of fuel.

Upset? It isn’t a good idea to let it out on the car
Avoid driving when you are angry or upset. This promotes road rage and regretful incidents. In the same way, you tend to drive faster when angry or upset and you drive with lesser attention. Even a minor accident may cause damage to your car which would lead to costly repairs. It’s your car. Take good care of it!

Public transport makes more sense than you think
Use public transportation whenever possible. This is actually the best way to save fuel and a whole of trouble. In a public transport, someone else drives, thereby reducing your work. You could take your ipod along and listen to your favorite tracks to beat boredom. If its short city commutes, there is nothing to beat public transport. You have to experience it to know about it.

click through to finish reading the other tips

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Entry posted on April 27th, 2009 and filed under Advise

Video – 2010 Audi Q7

Exactly a week ago, the 2010 Audi Q7 crossover made its global debut at the Shanghai Motor Show. We weren’t there live to cover it like our good friend Ashley from chinacartimes did.

The 2010 Audi Q7’s features have been discussed thoroughly in a previous story, but here’s the crux of it-

The 2010 Audi Q7’s changes on the outside are minimal-

redesigned grille and bumpers, LED indicators and daytime running lights, four new paint colors and new 18-inch alloys.

Under the hood, buyers will be offered three different options-

Gasoline side, there’s a 3.6-liter V6 with 280hp with 14mpg city and 20 mpg highway, and a 4.2-liter V8 giving 350hp manages 13 city/18 highway range.

The best of the lot is the new TDI clean diesel motor: the 3.0-liter V6 generates 225hp, and it beats both gas engines in fuel economy, getting 17mpg city/25mpg on the highway.

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Entry posted on April 27th, 2009 and filed under Audi

Participate in the “Road Safety Week” – An Initative by The Automotive India Forums

Participate in the “Road Safety Week” – An Initative by The Automotive India Forums

In India, every year around one lakh people die because of road accidents and the reason is quite clear- lack of knowledge on road safety and driving sense.

To create awareness among public regarding road safety, Indian Autos Blog’s friend forum - The Automotive India has come up with “The Road Safety Week” which starting from yesterday goes on until the 3rd May 2009.

As being an automotive forum, The Automotive India has started this event where all its members will bring up and discuss topics on road safety and post topics related to traffic rules, road signs, driving etiquette along with interesting quizzes through the week.

The members of TAI will also take an oath to drive safely and respect traffic rules. To make this event special, the forum’s looks have been altered to match the occasion.

By bringing about such events, The Automotive India aims to create awareness on road safety so that we have less number of road accidents and motorists can enjoy driving on Indian roads freely without any fear.

The theme of this initiative centers around the adage “Safety Isn’t expensive, Its priceless.”

This is a very good initiative by them. Indian Autos Blog would request every one of its visitors to join for this cause and spread the word – “Road Safety” to everyone. Till then drive safe and stay tuned on IAB! :)

Forum Link- The Automotive India

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Entry posted on April 27th, 2009 and filed under Announcements
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