New Mercedes Benz SLK Class launched in India

     Mercedes Benz today launched SLK Class sports car at New Delhi priced at Rs. 61.9 lakh (ex-showroom, New Delhi). At the launch, Mr. Debashis Mitra, Director Sales & Marketing, Mercedes-Benz India said the 3.5L SLK 350 is one of the most revolutionary products from Mercedes stable.

Press Release
Mercedes-Benz opens Newer horizons in India with the launch of the New Roadster SLK 350 BlueEFFICIENCY
· SLK pioneered the Roadster segment in the world. With the SLK, Mercedes-Benz reinvents the Roadster yet again; introduces the world’s first Magic Sky Control
· Rated as one of safest cars in its class: Awarded the Euro NCAP 5 Star Safety Ratings
· Combines fun with responsibility: Powered by 3.5L engine; yet implementing BlueEFFICIENCY measures which ensures optimal performance and environment compatibility
Delhi– Mercedes-Benz India today unveiled the exemplary and stunning New generation SLK 350, showcasing its distinctively aggressive design and an impressive sporty architecture, mirroring the sharp lineage of the SLS-AMG and the SL Class. Adding another highlight to Mercedes-Benz India’s luxury car portfolio, this engineering marvel introduces the ‘MAGIC SKY CONTROL’ panoramic vario-roof for the first time ever. Blending sporty inspiration with unrivalled safety, the New SLK embodies the luxurious performance of trend setting technology.
Mr. Debashis Mitra, Director Sales & Marketing, Mercedes-Benz India: “The New SLK 350 is one of the most revolutionary products to come from the stable of Mercedes-Benz! Demonstrating the rich blend of sophistication with the latest in design and technology, the car is a testament to our continued endeavor to offer a thrilling experience to our customers. With its powerful innovative features and state of the art technology, the car proves not just to be an exhilarating experience to the driver but also a visual delight, consolidating its status as a benchmark product world over.”
For the first time ever – MAGIC SKY CONTROL
Proving yet again its leadership in technological advancements, this stunning roadster takes its pioneering concept of the vario-roof to a New level, with the introduction of the world’s first ‘Magic Sky Control’ panoramic vario-roof. The third generation of the SLK family offers its driver a never before advantage, as this meticulous design breakthrough transforms the roadster into a coupé at the touch of a button. Blending harmoniously into the overall design, the roof offers a brighter and more natural interior, offering a spectacular view of the skies.
Supreme design mirroring leadership in technology
Designed to be thrilling, powerful and yet royal, the SLK 350 boasts of sleek lines and shapely contours demonstrating its supremacy with a bolder look. With symmetrically arranged headlamps and bumpers, the contours of the car invoke the car’s all powerful character, as the hallmark Mercedes V-Shape adds the final finishing touch. From the side and from the front, the car is sculpted to rise and glide likes a powerful machine, exuding its lively, sporty presence. With authentic sporty trimmings, sweeping lines and stylish seating mechanisms, the interiors of the SLK have been intricately crafted to offer the pinnacle in luxury and comfort.
Ingenious material mix and high levels of safety
The striking New SLK 350 impresses with the New BlueEFFICIENCY technology, unleashing a slew of revolutionary features for the most tempting driving experience. Designers and engineers have integrated superior maintaining the edge in new age technology accompanied with stylish designs. Safety is an important benchmark for every Mercedes vehicle. The SLK 350 has achieved the much coveted 5 stars in the Euro NCAP Crash Rating making it the epitome in safety. The third generation of the powerful trend-setter will make use of a whole host of the latest assistance systems to support the driver. These include the drowsiness detection system ATTENTION ASSIST which predicts the level of driver attentiveness to provide an early warning of overtiredness. The parking guidance system PARKTRONIC aids in representing the recommended parking manoeuver.
SLK-Class: Engine specifications
The New SLK-Class is equipped with a V6 engine and a capacity of 3.498cc with a 306hp output and 360Nm torque making its engine a force to reckon with. The exemplary efficiency is coupled with a torque that offers a high level of responsiveness making this roadster impressive in every aspect.
Priced at Rs. 61.9 Lakhs (Ex-Showroom Delhi), the New SLK 350 will be retailed through Mercedes-Benz Dealerships across the country.

Hero MotoCorp unveils Impulse dirt bike and Maestro scooter at London

     India’s largest two wheeler manufacturer Hero MotoCorp has unveiled two models at the logo unveiling ceremony in London. The two vehicles are a dirt bike named ‘Impulse’ and a scooter named ‘Maestro’.


     The Hero Impulse is a dirt bike with engine capacity of 150cc. It is basically the Honda NXR and we guess Hero MotoCorp would have bought the license from Honda to manufacture and sell the product in India.


     The bike has maximum power of 13.8 Bhp at 8000 rpm and maximum torque of 13.6 Nm at 6000 rpm and is coupled to a 5 speed manual transmission.

Hero Impulse/Honda NXR specs and features:


Fuel tank capacity: 12 Liters, 2.3 Liters reserve
Front Suspension: Telescopic with 180 mm stroke
Rear Suspension: Monoshock with 150 mm stroke
Saddle height: 830 mm
Max. Ground Clearance: 244 mm
Dry Weight: 119.1 Kg
Wheel Base: 1353 mm

     The bike will be available in Black, Vibrant Blue Metallic, Sports Red, Leaf Green Metallic and Vibrant Orange colours.

     The Hero Maestro is the scooter which will be positioned as male-specific gearless scooter. Hero has another product ‘Pleasure’ which is positioned as female-specific product. More details of ‘Maestro’ have not emerged but expect this 110cc scooter to have lot of resemblance to the Honda Aviator.

Hero Motocorp unveils its logo at London

     We in our earlier post had mentioned that Hero Motocorp will unveil its logo at London on 9th of August. Hero Motocrop has unveiled its brand new logo in London in a grand ceremony in the presence of Ranbir Kapoor, Shah Rukh Khan and Akon.


     The logo consists of Hero with capital H and rest of the letters in lowercase. The logo also consists of a triangle, a parallelogram and a trapezoid all put together form “H” representing Hero in 3D.


     Ranbir Kapoor has been pulled by the company as the brand ambassador and A R Rahman has composed new anthem for the brand.


     The company also unveiled a dirt bike named Impulse and a scooter named Maestro at the ceremony.

Volkswagen Up to debut at Frankfurt Motor Show 2011

     Volkswagen’s new entry-level city/minicar will debut at the Frankfurt Motor Show this year. Volkswagen says, "Something small is coming up!"


Here is the teaser ad of Volkswagen Up…

Audi City E-tron Concept

     Audi City E-tron concept was spied in Berlin. The City E-tron concept is the spiritual successor of the Volkswagen L1 Concept. The City E-tron is a two-seater with seats positioned one behind the other. The City E-tron runs on electric power, however a plug-in hybrid is not ruled out. The City E-tron concept might debut next month at the Frankfurt Motor Show.

Source: worldcarfans

Mahindra’s design issues

     We have never seen a good looking vehicle from Mahindra, except the Bolero, thanks to its bold front grill.

     Right from MM 540 International to today’s Xylo, Mahindra vehicles have not be able to turn heads. Many of you might argue for Scoprio’s design, but we should tell you, the Scorpio was a hit because it was the first off-roader cum SUV in Indian market with rounded contours. Tata Safari was big flop because of its engine. The Scorpio’s other success secret was its engine.

     Coming to the latest W201 SUV design, Mahindra has put some effort to make it stand out from its competitors. The unique door handle design and huge rear wheel arch are some of them to mention. But by the front picture of W201, which was posted on a facebook fan page, the vehicle did not impress us honestly.  It is still premature to say that as we still have not seen the complete picture of the SUV. Let’s wait and see if Mahindra could indeed pull out a head turner. 

Hindustan Motors launches Veer pickup truck

     India’s oldest automobile maker Hindustan Motors is looking for a comeback. The company has launched Veer pickup truck based on the good old Ambassador platform. The Veer pickup truck is priced at an inaugural offer of Rs. 3.30 lakh (ex-showroom, Kolkata) for the diesel variant.

     The Veer Pickup truck has been announced for the Kolkata market which will soon spread to other parts of the country. The vehicle has payload capacity of 800 Kg and is available in both diesel and CNG versions. The vehicle can also be ordered at a drive-away chassis.


     The launch of Veer pickup has not come as a surprise for us as we had posted some spy pictures of this pickup truck in our earlier post.