Indian Autos blog

GM engineers from three countries designed EN-Vs and all three look quite similar

But it shows what cars will be like if you walk into a GM showroom in 2030.

GM showcased the EN-V, or “Electric Networked-Vehicle” developed with its joint venture partner SAIC Motor Corp in Shanghai yesterday. The futuristic vehicle will be on display during the World Expo which is to be held in Shanghai from May through October.

The EN-V seats just two and can network with other cars to help avoid accidents and ply routes that are jammed with heavy traffic. The vehicle will certainly not hit showrooms in the next ten or twenty years. The technology however is not that far away from appearing on everyday cars.

Made of light weight materials like acrylic and carbon fibre, the EN-V weighs less than 500kg.

Alan Taub, Global Vice President of GM Research and Development -

The future of how we move around in urban areas like Shanghai can combine the best of personal mobility and public transit. There is a better solution and it is called EN-V. It demonstrates that we have both the knowledge and the ability right now to create a way to move people that not only ensures a ‘better city’ but also offers people a ‘better life

The EN-V is just one-third the length of a passenger car and runs on battery power which gives it a range of 40km on a single charge. Its environmentally-friendly nature will make it the ultimate means of transport for the person living in a congested urban area, which according to GM will make up 6 billion worldwide.

GM and SAIC designed three such vehicles in three different parts of the world. Xiao (Laugh) was designed by GM Holden’s design team in Australia, the Jiao (Pride) was created by designers at GM Europe, while Miao (Magic) was designed at the General Motors Advanced Design Studio in the US state of California.

click through for press release

The Financial Times is reporting Ford Motor will finally sign a deal to sell its Volvo cars business to Zhejiang Geely Holding Group of China before the beginning of next week.

Geely is reported to pay a whopping $1.8bn for Volvo. Another $750m of working capital is being raised by the Chinese company to continue operations without any breaks.

Roughly half of the financing for the overall deal would come from banks in Europe and the remaining funds will arrive from China. Though the above details reflect reality, last minute glitches could always happen postponing the signing of the final agreement.

Roughly $500m will come from Swedish banks while another $500-$800 million will come from European banks. The rest of the money will be sourced from China and in-house.

The remainder will come from Chinese banks, local governments and Geely itself.

Freeman Shen, Geely’s head of international operations -

We want to be careful not to damage the Volvo brand

The deal will be one of the biggest in recent times and the largest a Chinese manufacturer has ever been involved in. Geely will run Volvo as a completely separate company and will not dilute the Swedish marque’s brand image.

The Mahindra Xylo 4×4 will improve road grip and aid vehicle stability

Mahindra’s Xylo MPV, according to Business Standard was designed to house a 4-wheel drive system. When we attended the launch of the Xylo in 2009, Mahindra made it clear that the Xylo could be fitted with a four wheel drive system and the car’s architecture permitted even the use of a petrol engine.

Business Standard now has pictures of the Xylo 4×4 which was part of the Mahindra Great Escape event that concluded recently in Khimsar, Rajasthan. The vehicle is undergoing its final round of testing and it managed to conquer the course without shedding a drop of sweat.

According to sources, the Mahindra Xylo’s part time 4wd system uses an advanced version of the Borg & Warner system. It could be a real-time all-wheel drive system like the one found on the Honda CR-V, where the system finds ways to provide maximum road grip and stability rather than off-roading traits.

The Xylo 4×4 would be India’s first MPV with 4×4 technology when launched. Maybe in India, the Xylo 4×4 would not have a market. In places like South Africa, people could line up outside Mahindra showrooms for one.

The Toyota Prius isn’t related to Prius industries though both same a common name

The Delhi High Court has dismissed Toyota’s petition seeking exclusive rights over the “Prius” trademark in India. The Delhi HC dismissed Toyota’s plea seeking an order that prevented Prius Auto Industries, a high-profile automotive supplier, from using their trademark.

The court has also asked Toyota why they had waiting for all the six years (since the trademark was approved for Prius Industries to use) before filing a case.

The High Court also disagreed with Toyota’s plea stating that the buyer of Prius Industries’ components would confuse the products with the Toyota hybrid car. Toyota believed that buyers of the Prius Industries’ spare parts would think they came from Toyota.

Why did Toyota get into this tussle over the name in the first place? A potential Prius customer, who is shelling out almost 30 lakh to procure this hybrid car, would be educated enough to understand that a components supplier cannot manufacture/be related to one the world’s most acclaimed automobile. If Toyota is very doubtful, it should think of the connection that can take place in the customer’s mind between Land Rover and Land Cruiser. Both make SUVs and both are expensive.

The Chevrolet Captiva’s is slowly finding its own set of problems which need fixing now

GM Daewoo has announced a recall of the 45,957 Captivas and 12,604 Cruzes manufactured in South Korea between April 1, 2006 and December 31, 2007.

GM launched the Chevrolet Captiva in India during January 2008 and we suspect some of the cars sold to customers could have come from the 2007 lot. Considering the Captiva is a CBU shipped from the Korean factory, GM has all the reasons to be cautious with this one.

So far, GM is recalling affected cars only in Korea and soon plans to begin the operation in other markets.

Anonymous GM Daewoo official -

GM plans to recall the models with the problems in other countries. But every country has different rules and standards and each GM operation will decide the size and timing of recalls of those cars depending on their own situations

We don’t know what the nature of the problem is and whether it is a life threatening one. If GM is casual with the recall, which could lead to catastrophic results, it gives more reasons for customers to opt in for the Toyota Fortuner or the the Ford Endeavour.

The Land Cruiser finds more aggression in the form of the 5,600 euro Delta kit

The 4.5-liter V8 turbo diesel engined Toyota Land Cruiser found another party wanting to customize it with flashy equipment

The transformation isn’t just skin deep. The ECU gets tweaked as well and the result is an added 36hp (322hp in all) and 80Nm of extra torque (720 Nm after modification)

Delta is also offering a high-performance braking system to compensate for the extra power, but that is completely optional. The ground clearance has been increased by 30mm and larger, flashy alloys substitute the stock wheels.

The total cost of the kit – A cool 5600 euro!

According to reports emerging online, we can expect the Fiat Linea T-Jet in India by mid-2010. The 1.4-liter T-Jet petrol engine can give either 120PS or 152PS, the former will most likely be the Indian version’s rating.

The advertisement is not recent and considering Schumacher has moved to Mercedes, this Ad is no longer relevant to the die-hard Schumacher-Ferrari fan.

But for those looking forward to the high-power sedan this year, you’ve got a good excuse for turning up the volume and clicking the play button.

The Skoda Laura gets a new diesel engine with CRDI technology

Skoda will fit its Laura and Superb vehicles with a 2-liter CRDI engine that appears when you open the bonnet of the VW Passat.

The PD engine found in the bay of those cars at the moment don’t meet the Bharat Stage IV norms that is the norm starting April 1, 2010 in 13 cities across India.

CRDI engines are slightly more powerful, less noisy and better at power delivery. The Skoda saloons will no doubt benefit from the magic of CRDI technology. Prices are not yet announced and the launch of the new models is expected in the coming days.