This has come to our notice just now.

Royal Enfield has just finished conducting a four day road show in Thailand. It was organized to showcase the range of Bullet motorcycles and to seek interested distributors in South East Asia.

Apart from distributors, the company is also looking for parts suppliers to help raise production and reach its targets. The Chennai based company is planning to ramp up production to 100,000 units over the next three years and export its motorcycles to other markets as well. The parts for these motorcycles have to come from somewhere, no?

One more small car from Maruti, now as a CKD

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The outflow of small cars from Maruti’s stable is ridiculously constant. It announced the new Zen Estilo last week, and within no time, focus has shifted on to another small car for India.

The new “eco” small car will be made in Thailand to benefit from the tax sops the government offers for vehicles following certain regulations (sub-1,300 cc, delivering fuel efficiency of 20 km per litre and under 120 grams of CO2 emissions per km). Our very own Tata is putting together a small car which will also fall under the eco category.

Moreover the Indo-Thai free trade agreement assists in sourcing componenets at a much cheaper rate now. The same has prompted Maruti to source CKD (Completely Knocked Down) kits of the eco car from Thailand and assemble it locally.

Though the details are not clear, could it be an all new small car to take on select variants of the Nano? With the 800 retiring next year, one finds it hard it to believe it will be anything else.

Inside Line is reporting Toyota’s working on a hybrid version of the current generation Corolla.

The 1.8-liter four cylinder engine is getting married to a motor and battery pack. The operation is being performed in Thailand where recently a Camry hybrid was also unveiled. The Thai government encourages hybrid vehicles and their development, offering financial boosts.

According to Autocar UK, in ten years time, every major Toyota would be hybridized in the interest of fuel economy and qualifying for benefits in developed countries with lower emission values. This applies to even the Hilux, which shares its architecture with the Innova and the soon to be launched Fortuner.

A Innova hybrid would not be a bad idea at all.

Light cars like the Aygo would forgo their advantage if they had a battery pack mounted. Such cars could go the fully-electric route.

Coming back to the Corolla hybrid, it will be interesting to see if they launch it in India, and it along with the Prius could make Toyota the first brand to take a major step in the hybrid front in India.

The next generation Nissan Micra/March will be manufactured in key developing regions of the world. Reports in the media state the new compact car intended for maturing markets like India, Africa and parts of Europe will debut in Thailand in March 2010.

The new Nissan small car will not only be manufactured in India, but also in Thailand, China, Mexico and an unnamed location.

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Honda’s mini-Jazz will be manufactured in India and Thailand, but specifically meant for the Indian market. Just like how the Accord was designed for the Americans and the City was built for the Thai market, the new mini-Jazz will be India’s turn in Honda’s book.

Codenamed 2CV, the mini Honda car will also be built in Thailand as part of the eco-car project.

What are the needs of an average Indian car buyer?

we try to crack the code and help Honda. Click through to read more

Tata Motors to go ahead with Thai eco-car project

Contrary to recent media reports, Tata Motors reaffirmed its stand on the eco-car project in Thailand. The company announced it will stick to original plans of manufacturing a sub-1,300 cc mini car by 2012 which has nothing to do with the Nano, specially for the Thailand market.

The car engineered to suit local needs, will share little or nothing in common with the present line-up.

Reports written in Thai newspapers recently suggested Tata would alter its investment plans original due to poor economic conditions. The eco-car project is a government initiative to attract car makers from around the world to set up facilities in the country and make eco-friendly cars.

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The Thai-assembled Toyota Camry hybrid which was displayed yesterday in a special ceremony will reportedly ship to India next year.

The Toyota Camry hybrid has its own tail lamp, headlamp and bumper, the three chief features apart from the ‘Hybrid Synergy Drive’ badge setting it apart from the regular petrol model. 9,000 of these cars will roll out of the Gateway plant in Thailand in the first phase with local deliveries scheduled in August.

This is not the first time we’re showing you a hybrid Camry on Indian Autos Blog. Don’t think so? Check out the Toyota Camry HC-CV from the Melbourne Motor Show earlier this year.

The automobile engineering under the skin of this Camry is surprisingly still hidden from the media. Whether the U.S Toyota Camry‘s 2.4 liter-engine producing 147 horsepower at 6,000rpm and 187Nm of torque at 4,400rpm, paired to a 30kW (40 horses) electric motor with 270Nm of torque goes for the Thai Camry is anybody’s guess.

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Volvo S80 2.5FT debuts in Thailand

The Volvo S80, Volvo’s flagship sedan is now available in Thailand with an E85 compatible engine. The Volvo S80 2.5FT is the first mass produced car in Thailand with an E85(Ethanol- 85%, Gasoline 15%) compliant engine. This comes after the Thailand Government decided to commercialize E85 fuel. ie- you can buy E85 from the local fuel station.