Home grown utility vehicles major Mahindra will soon launch Ssangyong vehicles in India. To remind, last week Mahindra completed the purchase of majority of stake in the South Korean automobile manufactures Ssangyong Motors.
Before launching the Ssangyong vehicles in India, Mahindra wants is top 100 vendors to visit South Korea to integrate sourcing operations of Ssangyong’s vehicles in India. The company has already invited its top vendors such as Sona Steering, JBM, Lumaz, Lokesh, Minda, Varroc, Visteon and Delphi.
The company sources said, new business opportunities will be explored and also look for communisation of parts to improve production practices. Some of the parts could be exported to South Korea from the local manufacturers.
Ford India has crossed 1,00,000 engine production mark from its new plant in Chennai which was opend 14 months ago. The engine plant started its operations in January 2010.
Ford has invested $500 million at the Chennai’s Maraimalainagar plant which has a capacity to produce 1,50,000 engines per year. The plant produces five 'Duratec' petrol engine variants and one 'Duratorq' diesel engine variant for Ford vehicles. The plant is important for Ford’s future prospects in domestic as well as overseas markets.
Ford India President and Managing Director Michael Boneham - "This world-class manufacturing facility reinforces our intent and commitment to compete with great products and powertrains in all segments." The report mentioned that Ford is confident that the next 100,000 engines will be produced at an even faster pace.
The Automotive India forum member Shona 210 could snap a picture of Ssangyong Rexton being tested in Delhi with the badges covered with tapes. This means we can expect the Rexton SUV to be launched in India very soon. The Rexton is based on the earlier generation Mercedes M Class. The powertrain for Rexton has also been licensed from Mercedes Benz. Will Mahindra get an access to the Benz engines for India? We will have to wait and see.
The Rexton is powered by Mercedes sourced 2.7 liter diesel engine that procures power of 165 Ps on manual transmission and 186 Ps on automatic one. The Mercedes Benz T-Tronic transmission help boost power by over 20 Bhp. The torque stands at 340 Nm on the manual and 402 Nam on the Automatic model. Safety features such as Airbags, ABS and ESP could be expected for India
After the unveiling of Dost – the first vehicle from Ashok Leyland Nissan JV, the two companies are planning to launch 2 more commercial vehicles in the next two years. First one will be Nissan logoed a body type product which will hit to the Indian streets next year. The second one to be followed will be Ashok Leyland badged commercial vehicle with little more payload capacity.
The Ashok Leyland and Nissan joint venture took of as a Master-Cooperation Agreement in October 2007 for vehicle manufacturing, powertrain manufacturing and technology development. An investment of Rs. 2300 crore has been done jointly by the two companies. The JV has identified three platforms in the commercial segment, covering applications up to 7.5 tones Gross Vehicle Weight. The engines will be manufactured for Euro III and Euro IV standards.
Swedish hypercar manufacturer Koenigsegg has launched the Agera hypercar in India priced at Rs. 12.5 crore (ex-showroom, New Delhi).
The main competitor of Agera in India is Buggati Veryron which is priced at Rs. 16 crore. The Agera is powered by a 4.7 litre aluminum V8 with twin turbo superchargers developing a colossal 910 Bhp of maximum power and maximum torque of 112 Kgm at 5100 rpm situated in the middle of the car.
The Agera hypercar does 0-100 Kmph in just 3.1 seconds and to 200 Kmph it takes 8.9 seconds. The estimated top speed of the car is 390 Kmph and weighs 1290 Kg.
The company has developed a new kind of interior illumination called ‘ghost light’ that uses invisible nano tubes to increase the visibility of the instrument cluster. Only 16-20 cars will be built every year.
Volkswagen launched it Passat with new Blue Motion Technology. So what is Blue Motion Technology? Blue Motion technology reduces the carbon footprint of the car drastically and enhances fuel effecieny and still maintains the fun for driving.
The Blue Motion Technologies incorporated in the all new Passat
Optimized Gear Ratios:
The smart technology helps the manual and DSG transmission to optimize for longer ratios, early upshifts and delayed downshifts for increased energy efficiency for smarter drivability.
Auto Start Stop:
The Auto Start stop mechanism works mainly during city traffic. The engine automatically turns off when you take the foot off the clutch in case of manual transmission. In case of DSG transmission the engine shuts of when you take the foot off the accelerator. With the depressing of the clutch (manual transmission) or accelerator (DSG transmission) the engine restarts automatically. In the process precious fuel is saved automatically.
Brake Energy Recuperation:
During braking, the kinetic energy is converted into electricity and stored in the battery. So the act of braking recharges the battery – the more you brake, the further you can go.
Gear Shift Indicator:
This feature helps the driver to shift gears at optimum time preventing the energy loss while shifting gears. This inturn adds up to the fuel efficiency.
The first vehicle from the Ashok Leyland and Nissan Joint Venture has rolled out in the form of ‘Dost’ – a1.25 ton payload capacity LCV.The Dost LCV bears Ashok Leyland logo and will be manufactured at the company’s Hosur plant.
The Dost LCV will be available in three versions and both in BSIII and BSIV versions. According to the company, Dost has been positioned as contemporary and powerful yet fuel efficient product. The LCV will be distributed through 25 dealer networks initially when launched in Q2 this year.
The Dost LCV has been produced with 100% localization and will be priced competitively when launched. Along with the technology, Nissan has shared its production system, process and engineering with Ashok Leyland and also involved in vehicle design. The LCV will also be exported to other markets from next year.
Nissan Motor senior vice President and the JV chairman, Dr Andy Palmer - " The earthquake in Japan has not affected the im-plementation of the LCV project. We have combined the leading edge technol-ogy of Nissan with ALL's delivery capability to complete the project in a cost effective manner".
Hinduja Automotive vice chairman and Chairman, Nissan Ashok Leyland Powertrain, Dr V Sumantran - " Entry into the LCV market will open a new chapter in the 64 year old history of ALL. We have developed a product that embodies Japanese quality at Indian cost".
The company sources said, new business opportunities will be explored and also look for communisation of parts to improve production practices. Some of the parts could be exported to South Korea from the local manufacturers. 
