Maruti Suzuki Swift on a Guinness record spree

     Maruti Suzuki Swift is going to set a new record on 30th May to get placed in the Guinness Book of World Records. No, the record is not for the fastest selling car., but is for gathering of 500 cars on a single day at three different locations - Gurgaon, Mumbai and Chennai.

     Maruti Suzuki Swift completed its 5th year in India and to celebrate the occasion the company is organizing a large rally which will eventually be placed in the Guinness book of records. Maruti Suzuki will break the record made by Mazda which gathered 249 cars of a single brand.

Mahindra working on a passenger vehicle on Maxximo mini truck platform

     Mahindra & Mahindra is working on a passenger vehicle based on the Maxximo mini truck platform. The prototype of the vehicle has been already developed and is currently undergoing on road testing.

     Mahindra launched Maxximo mini truck at the Auto Expo early this year. Maxximo is priced competitively at around Rs 2.5 lakh giving a stiff competition to market leader Tata Ace. Tata Ace had been dominated the segment for a while and after the launch of Maxximo mini truck and Ape mini truck Ace dominancy has been hit, though not to a large extent.


     On the lines of Tata Ace based Magic, Maxximo mini truck based passenger vehicle will be target at mass people mover segment. Expect it to be priced at Rs 2.75 lakh.

Skoda Fabia on discount sale

     Skoda Fabia is being offered Rs 50,000 with some new features such as parking sensor, multi function display and an engine immobilizer added to it. The offer is valid for limited period and is applicable to Bangalore, Chennai, Mumbai, New Delhi and Hyderabad.


     We guess Skoda is clearing old Fabia stocks making way for the launch of new facelifted one.

New artist impression of Volkswagen Vento

     Soon to be launched Volkswagen Vento has been rendered by Jorge L Fernandez. The picture above looks very similar to the VW sketches of Vento released some days ago. Autocar India magazine had also rendered the pictures of Vento which was published in the May 2010 issue. However we feel this picture is very clear and will be very close to the actual shape of the car.

Mahindra buys 55% stake in Reva, renames it as Mahindra Reva

     Mahindra & Mahindra have bought 55.2% controlling stake in Bangalore based Reva Electric Car Company and has renamed it as Mahindra Reva Electric Vehicle Company.

     Mahindra Reva will continue the production of Reva electric cars and hopefully sell it through the Mahindra’s existing dealership network. The EV technology will slowly be incorporated in the entire range of Mahindra vehicle in the coming years.

     Reva had collaborated with GM to provide EV technology for its small cars. GM had showed its electric small car concept eSpark at this year Auto Expo which was slated for December launch. However with the Mahindra buyout, GM is expected to back out from the venture.
Press release:
Mahindra enters high growth electric car segment; acquires majority stake in REVA


• Mahindra to have 55.2% equity in REVA Electric Car Company (REVA).

• Company to be renamed Mahindra REVA Electric Vehicle Company (Mahindra REVA)

• Mahindra REVA to leverage Mahindra’s vehicle development expertise

• Mahindra REVA electric technology to be deployed in Mahindra vehicles

• Dr Pawan Goenka elected Chairman of the newly constituted board

Nissan’s next plan for India - Micra sedan

     It looks Nissan and Renault has come to India with some serious plans. After launching the Micra small car, Nissan is contemplating to launch a sedan based on the Micra. Booking for Micra has already been started and the response so far has been very good.

     Though the sedan will be based on Micra platform, technically speaking - ‘V Platform’ which is created by Nissan and Renault JV for low cost vehicles, the exterior styling will be different as compared to Micra. As seen from the picture the sedan boast a very aggressive look with some sharp edges in front and rear.

     Micra Sedan might be a late entry to the crowed Indian mid sized car market, but if priced competitively as done for the Logan, who knows it might snatch a good share of its pie from the market leaders.

VW starts Vetno production in India

     Volkswagen has started the production of its mid sized sedan Vento at its plant at Chakan, Maharashtra. Vento is the sedan version of the small car Polo which was launched couple of months back.

     Vento will be positioned to rival segment bench marker Honda City. It would be hard for VW to match a Honda product, the diesel option will surely make it a definite winner. Thanks to the competition, Honda is also considering to power its cars with diesel engines now.

     Vento is expected to be launched by August-September this year. It is expected to be priced competitively between Rs 7 to 9 lakh.