Indian Autos blog

The newly launched Tata Indica Vista will take part in the demonstration program in Norway which is scheduled sometime during this year and the next.

The Electric Tata Indica Vista will employ a drive train sourced from Canadian company TM4. It will give the car 80 bhp and 170 Nm of torque. This motor is the latest from TM4′s line with the highest possible efficiency the company has reached.

Minutes ago, Global Motors posted spy pictures of the 2009 Tata Indicruz testing in cold weather in Sweden. It is partly camouflaged, and a head on photograph brings out the design elements of the car

The raised hood line is in conjunction with European Pedestrian safety standards. The grille is attached to the hood (similar to the Mercedes E-Class) and the whole front end has a lot in common with the Indica Vista like the fog lamps, headlights and the form of the hood and the rear-view mirrors. If you look closely at the 3rd images, a crease bisecting the hood is evident, just like in the Indica Vista.

The wheels seems to have come off the Tata Safari and the wheel-wells are an eye sore- A typical Tata vehicle trait. The size of this car should be close to the Toyota Innova’s and the price should be a couple of lakhs lesser than it. On the whole, people will assess it’s looks better than the XYLO.

The Italian Auto major -FIAT has said that India will play an important role in the launch of FIAT’s low cost car brand which is expected by year 2010.

Earlier, Fiat had plans of confining the low cost brand to the European markets. Now though, FIAT is considering India as a key hub for its new brand chiefly for supply of cheap yet durable components.

Ishaque Valasseri, an IAB follower, has sent us an email with 10 images of the Tata Nano, which he photographed testing somewhere between Pune and Mumbai. We present you these images a few days after Vinayak sent us some of his Tata Nano images, snapped on the NH4.

Ishaque also informs us that the Nano’s petrol engine comes with a governor that limits engine’s top speed to 110 km/hr.

Exide, a very reputed and India’s largest lead acid storage battery manufacturer, has claimed that they would provide battery solutions for the upcoming small car. Reports suggest that the Kolkata-based company will begin commercial supply of batteries for the world’s cheapest car at the Indian automaker’s Pantnagar facility in Uttarakhand, where the first batch of Nanos will roll out from.

While the whole range of Fiat models and few chips of Tata Indica Vista is been outsourced from this plant, it is now reported that the all new Tata Indigo would roll out completely from Ranjangaon. As mentioned earlier it is believed that The new indigo will get a 1.4-litre 16 valve twin cam Fiat petrol engine and a 90HP Fiat’s Quadrajet motor which comes in the Linea.

Ferrari on Monday became the first formula one team to reveal its 2009 car – The ‘F60′, named in celebration of the fact the Italian marque is the only to have contested all sixty seasons in the sport’s history. It was launched with a low-key event at Ferrari’s Maranello headquarters.
TATA logo makes appearance in the car’s side panels (near the rear wheels)

State-run Indian Oil Corporation plans to set up the country’s 2nd hydrogen fuel-dispensing station in the vicinity of the Commonwealth Games Village before 2010 for catering to more than 100 government vehicles to be used for demonstrating the usefulness of the fuel. The station will dispense a mix of hydrogen and CNG in the ratio of 20:80. In the initial phase, Indian Oil is targeting CNG vehicle which can be run on hydrogen fuel mix with a little modification. However a completely new engine (Fuel Cell) is required for using 100% pure hydrogen as fuel.