Two images of a 2011 VW Touareg replica have been leaked online, about 10 weeks ahead of the car’s official unveiling.
The photos have been published on a Dutch website Autoweek.nl and show a rounder and more cohesive vehicle. The design paradigm is aligned closely with many of the VW models of today. You can see a tinge of the Polo in the car’s front-end.
The new Touareg is built on the Porsche Cayenne’s platform. The next generation Audi Q7 will also rely on the Cayenne for its base. Expect a range of TSI and TDI engines on the new vehicle.
A 240-horsepower 3.0-liter diesel, and 290-horsepower 3.0-liter supercharged V6 are expected to be available at launch time.
The next-generation Volkswagen Touareg will most probably be introduced at either the Geneva Motor Show in March, or the New York Auto Show in April. We don’t know if VW will immediately bring the new model to India as they launched the existing Touareg only a few weeks ago.
Will Paul Di Resta cook up sterling performances for Force India? He better!
McLaren boss Martin Whitmarsh spilled the beans on Force India’s reserve driver at the Mercedes GP livery launch in Stuttgart a few days ago. Paul di Resta will be Force India’s reserve driver in 2010 and even appear in official practice sessions.
Force India has a technical and managerial partnership with Mercedes for the 2010 season. Whitmarsh believes di Resta even has a chance of driving for Force India later this season and would push hard.
McLaren boss Martin Whitmarsh -
Paul will be running I believe in the majority of the Friday sessions for Force India, so it’s a great opportunity for him. I’m happy for him. He’s going to push like hell to make his case to have a race drive at Force India during the course of this year
Paul di Resta competed in the German DTM races recently. He turned eyeballs at the young driver’s test in Jerez last year in December.
The Mercedes Benz S 350 L and S 350 L CDI will help them maintain market share
I don’t know what is quick, the speed of these beauties launched today or the speed at which the Mercedes is launching cars in India.
If you remember we covered the launch of GL-Class (The Big Macho SUV) & SL 500 (Fastest Limousine produced in India) couples of weeks back. Following that we covered the launch of V6 (Petrol & Diesel) versions of new E class few days back and to our amazement we were covering the launch of new S Class avatars today.
The launch was in typical Merc fashion, very subtle, classy and professional but the Launch of beauties Merc S 350 L and Merc 350 CDIL Blue Efficiency made the hall livelier.
click through to read more
The Ford Figo could be priced to take out the Suzuki Swift
Goa On Wheels is reporting Ford will launch the new Figo in the 1st week of February in India. Ford’s latest offering is good to drive and has huge volume of boot space. The Figo is powered by either a 1.2-liter Duratec engine or 1.4-liter Duratorq engine that is used on the Fiesta.
The Figo relies on an older platform and shares common parts with other Fords in the Indian lineup. What this means to the customer is competitive pricing and better reliability.
We’ll bring you the second part of the test drive in the next two days where we’ll discuss the ride quality, engine, gearbox and handling. Stay tuned.
click through for official Ford Figo images
The next generation M-Class is expected to be more fuel efficient
The next generation Mercedes Benz M-Class debuts this year at the biannual Paris Motor Show which takes place in October. The current M-Class has not disturbed sales of its competitors in India and the new one promises to change its stance.
The new M-Class will share components with the R-Class and G-Class. It is also said to come with a diesel-electric powertrain which should also sell in India given Mercedes’ concern for the environment. The regular models will also be fuel efficient and environment friendly. You can choose the 4-cylinder diesel, V6 diesel or the V6 petrol. If that isn’t enough, a V8 petrol engine will come with the AMG badge and dual turbochargers.
The Chinese Wagon R is not very far away from what we’re going to get
As India awaits a facelifted Suzuki Wagon R with a BS4 compliant 1.0-liter K-Series engine that promises to be more powerful, more fuel economical and less polluting, China is also spitting distance away from receiving its new Wagon R.
Spied at a dealership, the new Wagon R’s front-end is similar to the Indian version. The Wagon R has a neatly designed “hide and seek” tail gate. The rear view mirrors look like ears. The rear spoiler adds smoothness to the rear-end. The 5-sided stop lamps integrated into the rear bumper doesn’t.
There are no clear shots of the interiors. What we can infer is the new vehicle will get a redesigned steering wheel dressed in beige.
The biggest difference between the Indian and Chinese version is under the hood. Our neighbors love acceleration and speed, so they get a massive 1.4-liter petrol engine that outputs 90hp and 112Nm of torque!
Cars like the Tata Indigo Manza will hit European stores later this year
Tata Motors is looking for ways to bring its line-up of cars to Europe. The first cars will be shipped in by the end of this year. Tata is planning to debut a total of eight models in Europe and the United Kingdom this year, according to Autocar India.
Let’s see – Tata Nano, Tata Indica, Tata Indica Vista, Tata Indigo Manza, Tata Sumo Grande, Tata Xenon, Tata Aria.
This list seems the most logical one.
Tata Motors Vice Chairman Ravi Kant -
We need to be selective, but seven or eight types of vehicle would be about right. We would be engineering cars that are not just for India. We want to put the philosophy of the Nano into effect
Tata Indica and Indigo will hit UK shores this year. Tata will also bring the Nano Europa and Aria to Britain in the next few years.
Tata Motors earlier withdrew its Indica hatchback sold under the name Cityrover, from the UK after it recorded consecutive months of poor sales.
Tata has to rework some of its models to comply with European norms. The company claims even after the rework the vehicles won’t loose its competitive edge in pricing.
With this move, REVA could produce electric cars from Italy as well
Fiat’s Sicily plant which once was believed to have attracted attention from Tata Motors, is now being connected to the world’s largest electric vehicle makers REVA.
The REVA Electric Car Company wants to franchise its business. It wishes to setup plants across the globe rather than having one base.
Keith Johnston, Reva Electric car company -
Our strategy is to regionalize the assembly of electric cars, and we are seeking venture partners who can access expertise and funds around the world. We are involved in several early stage discussions and no decision has been taken with regards to locations or partners
Reports indicate REVA could jointly bid for the plant with Simone Cimino, a Sicilian financier.
The Sicily plant produces Fiat Panda and Lancia Musa. Fiat has decided last year to shut down this plant as production costs rocketed towards the moon. Some 2,500 employees are said to be affected by this move.
The Sicilian government is keen to reduce dependence on oil and its agenda is mostly got to do with electric vehicles and setting up a proper infrastructure for them.
