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Written by Abhinav Sharma
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Saturday, 17 October 2009 11:49 |
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Guys guys, let's take a break from the cars and everthing else automotive not for long but just for a few hours. Enjoy this Diwali with family and friends and keep it safe. We'll be back in a few hours with more stuff automotive just for the people who know how to have fun with their cars. Just like us. Happy Diwali from us www.bhp-guru.com - Indian Automotive Spirit 
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Last Updated on Tuesday, 20 October 2009 10:52 |
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Sichuan Tengzhong Owns Hummer Now |
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Written by Abhinav Sharma
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Monday, 12 October 2009 20:12 |
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GM’s iconic Hummer brand has been acquired by a Chinese heavy construction equipment maker for about $150 million, marking another step in the long march by China to develop a world class local automobile industry. In my opinion, 150 Million bucks is basically trash for acquiring a brand of this level from GM but then the Hummer as a brand was already trash since the recession and Americans seen becoming more intelligent than they ever were. Things have changed, people seen driving a hummer were not exactly liked or I am looking for another word here. It was almost as if the oil crisis was blamed on the owners of these vehicles and the Suburban and the Yukon. Well the recession is almost over and Americans are back to what they do the best, filling up truck tanks for 2 dollars a gallon gasoline. Hummer is gone to China and JLR has come home to India. JLR is lesser of the two evils anyway. Much less actually becuase it has Jaguar inside which is a car albeit a sports one at that. Ratanji will agree. Anyway, coming back to the Humvee, the deal, which was announced on the General Motors website, stipulates the manufacture of all Hummer brand vehicles will continue at its U.S. plants until 2011, ensuring 3,000 workers will keep their jobs. Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Co. will take 80% and a Chinese entrepreneur from Sichuan province in China’s interior, Suolang Duoji will take 20%.
Tengzhong was an obscure private company until it made headlines in June announcing it was in talks with GM to buy Hummer. Initially the official Chinese press conveyed Beijing’s displeasure over such a deal, claiming that the purchase of the gas guzzling Hummer brand was not in keeping with the country’s goal of cleaning up its environment. However insiders said that what really rankled the authorities was that Tengzhong did not seek approval from the central government before making the bid. All overseas investments require the government’s blessing, and Beijing is particularly sensitive to how attempted overseas purchases would be perceived by a world that is increasingly wary of the country’s growing economic might. Though Tengzhong has no previous record in assembling cars, it will have a couple of years to learn things from the inside before attempting to move operations to China.   |
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Last Updated on Wednesday, 14 October 2009 21:15 |
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Tata Indigo Manza Launched, Existing Indigo Discontinued |
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Written by Abhinav Sharma
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Wednesday, 14 October 2009 20:56 |
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Tata Motors have launched the New Indigo Manza Sedan which is based on Tata's J300 platform on which the Vista is also based. The Indigo Manza in true Tata tradition is huge really compared to the outgoing car, I can only wonder what will be the size of the next generation Indigo that will be out possibly when this becomes obsolete. If you see the trend, cars are actually getting larger in India and smaller and smaller in the developed world. The present Indica Vista almost looks like a bus from the rear, okay not a bus but definiitely a van. Manza is aimed straight at the Dzire and I am just waiting to see the Dzire sales figures in October. The Indigo is both better looking and larger than Dzire and its loaded to the teeth. The icing on the cake is that it undercuts Dzire straightaway being priced at Rs 4.8 lakh, ex-showroom, Delhi. In fact it undercuts the Ikon, Dzire, Logan and the Accent, which is awesome. I have a sweet spot for Tata possibly because of the alliance they have with FIAT and god knows who even thought of a car that looks like Dzire (and is called the Dzire, holy hell what were they thinking), offence fully intended. Anyway...Two new FIAT engines are being offered, they are new to the Indigo, and they also power the Fiat Linea. The 1.4 multi-point, fuel injected Safire petrol produces 88.5 bhp@6000 rpm and around 116 Nm of peak torque at 4750 rpm. The 1.4 Quadrajet 90 on the other hand produces similar power at 4000 rpm , yet produces nearly 20.4 kgm of torque at 1750-3000 rpm. Both engines can haul this nearly 1200Kg car to a top speed in excess of 160 kph. Four variants are being offered - the Aqua, Aura, Aura (ABS) and the Aura +. A new infotainment system using Blue5 - a bluetooth system based on FIAT's Blue & Me will be on offer. This will be standard across the Aura variants, along with stereo controls on the steering wheel, while a 2-DIN music system will be standard on the Aqua variant. ABS will be standard on the last two variants, with the Aura+ also featuring twin driver-passenger airbags as standard.
The Indigo also features more space on the inside and outside, while benefitting from better quality materials, fit and finish than before. The boot is also large at 460-litres and offers a wide loading area. The prices of the car range from Rs 4.8 lakh, ex-showroom, Delhi for the basic Aqua petrol variant to Rs 6.75 lakh for the Aura+ diesel variant. The Mumbai prices range from Rs 4.9 lakh to Rs 6.85 lakh. All Specifications Here. See the car in flesh here in these pictures.
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Last Updated on Saturday, 17 October 2009 11:37 |
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The Beige Attack, What Now? |
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Written by Abhinav Sharma
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Monday, 12 October 2009 16:24 |
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What is going on? We are getting converts. I mean great cars are getting their interiors done up in Beige than the regular black and grey. The recent to succumb to the Indianness-middleclass choice was GM who were trying really hard to sell the Spark and Aveo - UVA. Spark gave in to the 'Indian' pressure about 2 months back and since then it has been selling like there is no tomorrow. Sales have simply doubled for this little car. Today I saw the advertisement for the UV-A saying "now with 'stylish' beige interiors'" and below this punchline was a picture of the seats and dash and door panels all horribly "yellowed and beiged". I said to myself, something is gone horribly wrong in the minds of the Indian customer. In my opinion, we are seriously buying cars that offer the beige interior trims over grey. This trend though disturbing is a boon for the car manufacturers. GM has registered solid sales and so did Zen Estilo and WagonR when they converted. i10 has been such from day one and now Santro too is beige, though a lesser imposing version of it. Even the Swift did it when Maruti launched the Glam Edition. I have seen such a car in my building. I saw the doors open once and heck the door panels were horrifying (all bright and all). I mean c'mon Maruti, Swift would be the last car to get the beige treatment I thought. It was a little sports car in my eyes and little sports cars are sporty and black and smart from inside, not beige. It also had the el-cheapo 'Glam' written at the back below the Swift sticker and was beautifully calligraphed. Utter disastrous I think, excuse my limited vocabulary for this particular subject, there wasn't so much beige around before anyway, so I'll take time to brush up. The problem with this bright colored dashboard is that it reflects a lot of sunlight in the day making it very difficult to look out from the front. You are actually seeing more of your dashboard reflection than the reality in front on the road. Drive an i10 and you'll know what I am talking about. Anyway, as long as we are made to think that we are driving a super luxury marque just by the interior colors, it does not really matter, as long as the sales are good. I just hope, when I am in the market for a new car, I have the choice of black. I really doubt I would.
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