Indian Autos blog

One of our regular Russian readers sent in information that goes out to all the Fabia fans in India. The hatchback can now be fitted with LED foglamps from a popular company Milotec for € 300.

Milotec also offers an aggressive body kit for the Fabia, pictured above. Their side skirts, wing mirrors, bumper, alloy wheels are all fine, but why remove the Skoda logo atop the grill? That kinda puts us off.

Confusion and plenty of it surrounds the Ford’s new small car for the Indian market. As the name denotes, it is an all-new car developed from ground-up. We also construe that it is not a different looking or revised version of an earlier Ford model.

We discussed exhaustively how Ford’s new small car isn’t similar to or the Fiesta hatchback either, barring its Verve-based design connection. The new photoshop illustration from the Brazilian artist portrays how the face of Ford’s new small car would look like. The remaining car would be different, the one shown here appears like a shrunk Ford Fusion to me, the actual car would be have its corners rounded, shorter and simpler.

Spy photographers are unnecessary if you look at what Simon Gregg, a follower of Car Magazine has just caught on his cam- That’s right, he snapped a production model of the 4-door Aston in a parking lot without ANY camouflage. Take a bow Simon.

The car spied here could be one of the final prototypes before the actual car is shown at the Frankfurt Motor show in mid-September. The naked prototype finished in black, has its interiors soaked in red.

Poised to take on the 4-seat-4-door contenders like the stylish Porsche Panamera and the Mercedes Benz CLS, the Rapide is fitted with a 6.0-liter V12 engine that makes 470bhp and 600Nm of torque. Power will be directed to the rear wheels through a six-speed ZF automatic transmission with Aston’s Touchtronic control.

The Aston Martin Rapide will arrive at showrooms around the globe in 2010. Don’t expect it to cost any less than $200,000.

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Note – The Opel Agila is a re-badged Suzuki Ritz/Splash. Opel, General Motors and Suzuki were involved in the development of the vehicle, thus Opel is authorized to sell it in select outlets with its logo.

Italy is in the group of countries which implements the scrappage scheme. Customers looking for a new car can exchange their old scrap car for cars like Opel Agila White Edition which filled with gadgets is value than ever before.

The Opel Agila White edition comes with Electronic Stability Program, traction control system, 4 airbags, climate control, stereo, multifunctional steering wheel and electric rear view mirrors.

This is apart from the white overalls, the reassuring tall boy stance and airy cabin.

Could the Opel Agila White edition prompt Suzuki to launch a Splash White edition?

Now that the production of the F430 is over, Ferrari can fully focus on the replacement car, the Ferrari F450, which is expected to debut this fall at the Frankfurt Motor Show.

The newest set of shots confirms the presence of a diffuser. The Ferrari F450 will be laid out on a wider track.

The F450 will make use of a modified F430′s chassis and body. Codenamed F142, the 4.5-liter V8 engine that produces 585 horsepower, which is more than the outgoing car. Power transfer is performed through the open-top California’s double-clutch gearbox.

The controversial Kinetic Energy Recovery System could be lifted from Ferrari’s Formula 1 pit garage for the F450, which is yet to be confirmed. The KERS system accumulates energy from the wheels during braking.

Our friends in Argentina have made a collection of renderings on the upcoming Chevrolet Viva which in truth is the next generation model of the Aveo. In India however, we are yet to see the facelifted version of the existing Aveo and floating rumors of a possible 2010 Auto Expo launch gives us some hope.

Developed by the Brazilian division of GM, the Chevrolet Viva was spied on many a occasion. It was caught during the Nurburgring rounds followed by a cold weather run. The car could reach a Brazilian production line by the end of 2009 and who knows, India maybe in its list of places to visit next year.

The Chevrolet Viva as it will be called in Brazil, shares its underlying structures with the new Spark. The 1.4 and the 1.8-litre petrols will find their place under the bonnet.

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Toyota today unveiled its flagship SUV internationally, the legendary Land Cruiser in a glittering function at the Hotel Grand Hyatt, here in Mumbai.

Presided over by Mr Hiroshi Nakagawa MD TKM , Mr. Vikram Kirloskar Vice Chairman of TKM and his team Mr Sundeep Singh DMD TKM and Chief Engineer TKM, Mr.Sadayoshi Koyari, the event kicked off with a audio-visual on the history of the Land Cruiser. The presentation depicted every generation of the Land Cruiser and the how the vehicle evolved to reach this stage.

Next, Mr. Hiroshi Nakagawa introduced the members in the dais followed by another presentation by the company’s chief engineer who brought out the features and technical details of the vehicle. Once that was over, the car was driven on to the stage followed by the photo session and question and answer session.

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In case you missed it, you can catch the details and specifications of the Chevrolet Spark LPG from last week’s Delhi unveiling. The LPG version of the Chevrolet Spark came hours after GM filed for bankruptcy, it provided a stage for the Indian management to make it clear that the local operations is insulated from the international developments.

GM India launched the LPG variant of their hot selling Spark today at The Taj Lands End Mumbai. The mother company filed for bankruptcy last week, is clear on moving towards filling its range with smaller and more fuel efficient cars like the Chevrolet Spark.

Mr Karl Slym, President and MD of GM India, spoke about the ‘New GM’ which the Indian wing would be very much be a part of. He added that the Cruze, a D-Segment competitor similar to the Optra, which he had taken for a drive at the Indian plant in Halol, would reach showrooms in the next few months and a mini car shortly afterward.

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