Speeding was fingered as a possible cause  of what is believed to be Japan’s most expensive ever road accident when up to $4 million-worth of supercars ended up in a crumpled heap on a highway.

Eight Ferraris and a Lamborghini — plus a Toyota Prius were among thevehicles involved in the crash, which witnesses said happened when a speeding car slid across a wet road surface.

Television footage showed mangled Ferraris — many of them racing red — and debris spread over some 400 metres (yards) of the east-bound side of the Chugoku Expressway, the main trunk road in southern Honshu.A pack of about 20 supercars was travelling in convoy on Sunday morning on a stretch of wet highway when the leading Ferrari slid into a guardrail, police said.Those behind slammed on their brakes, but for many of them it was apparently too late.”I’ve never seen such a thing,” highway patrol lieutenant Eiichiro Kamitani told AFP by telephone. “Ferraris rarely travel in such large numbers.”Kamitani said 10 people — five men and five women — sustained slight injuries, in the accident. “It is highly possible that they were driving in couples.”"Many of them were probably on their way to Hiroshima,” some 130 kilometres (80 miles) to the east, for a gathering of supercars there, said Kamitani.”Speeding was possible but we have yet to determine the exact cause,” he added.

The Prius and a second Toyota also caught up in the 14-car smash were not thought to be part of the supercar pack. The three other vehicles involved in the accident were all Mercedes-Benz.An unidentified male eyewitness told the TBS network: “A group of cars was doing 140-160 kilometres (85-100 miles) per hour. One of them spun and they all ended up in this great mess.”The speed limit on that section of the highway was 80 kilometres per hour.”The front car crashed into the left embankment and bounced off toward me,” another man told public broadcaster NHK.One of the Ferraris was reported to be a F430 Scuderia, a model with a top speed of 320 kilometres per hour.

Kamitani said the lead Ferrari was being driven by a 60-year-old self-employed man from Chikushino, near Fukuoka, on the southern island of Kyushu.Japanese media said the total cost of the pile-up could run to 300 million yen ($3.8 million), with new Ferraris retailing at more than 20 million yen each and Lamborghinis costing anything up to 30 million yen.

Supercars are not necessarily owned by the super-rich in Japan. Many owners are young people who save up their earnings to satisfy their dream, according to media.

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According to Wadhera, the new electric powered car would be able to carry four passengers and include features similar to ordinary vehicles.”It’s gonna be a four seater car. We have developed it be like a proper car with space, power and other features.

Though the price was not disclosed by the company, Wadhera said the car was being developed as a cost-effective electric vehicle in the country.”Electric cars are a bit on the high side of price due to technology. But we are trying to develop it as a very cost effective vehicle,” Wadhera said, adding that even the mileage per charge would be more in the new vehicle.

Currently the company sells nearly 50 units per month of its offering — Reva-4.

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NEW DELHI

Priced between 395,000 rupees ($8000) and 510,000 rupees at showrooms in New Delhi, the Brio–powered by a 1.2-liter gasoline engine–would compete with Maruti’s Swift and Ritz, Hyundai’s i10 as well as Toyota Motor Corp.’s Etios Liva and Ford Motor Co.’s Figo.A model poses next to a Brio hatchback at the Indonesia International Motor Show in Jakarta, July 22, 2011.”We have been able to launch the Brio at a competitive price due to our efforts to control costs, maximize production efficiencies and minimize impact of currency fluctuations, and we have achieved this through higher localization,” Takashi Nagai, president and chief executive at Honda Siel Cars India Ltd., told a press conference. Honda Siel Cars is 99.9% owned by Honda, and 0.1% by India’s Siel Ltd.

Honda Siel sources 80% of the Brio’s parts locally, which it aims to increase to 90%, Mr. Nagai said, adding that the company has no immediate plan to introduce a diesel variant of the car.”Our customers have mostly been in bigger cities so far. With the Brio, we expect to reach out to customers in smaller cities as well,” he said

The Brio will add to Honda’s Jazz hatchback, the City, Civic and Accord sedans and the CR-V sport-utility vehicle in India.Small cars comprise about 70% of all passenger vehicles sold in India, sought after because of their cheaper price tags and higher fuel efficiency. The last couple of years have seen a rush of new hatchback models in the country introduced by Toyota, Ford, Volkswagen AG and Nissan Motor Co.

The onset of the Indian festive season makes it an opportune time for Honda to introduce its new model. Rising fuel prices and interest rates have crimped demand for autos in India, but companies expect sales to recover during the festival months of October to December, which are considered auspicious by many to make new purchases.

Honda recently also cut prices of Jazz by up to 23% to bolster demand for the premium hatchback.Mr. Nagai said the company will consider exporting the Brio to neighboring countries such as Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan in the near future. Honda has already started exporting Brio’s parts to Thailand, where it already ships parts of City and Jazz models, he added.

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Nissan has now said it wants to increase the number of models that will be produced at this plant. The next model could be the diesel variant of the Sunny which according to Nissan India’s CEO Dinesh Jain will be launched very soon.

Nissan’s plans to expand production in its Chennai plant does not completely indicate an upward shift in its sales in India. More than 80 per cent of the Micra hatchbacks built in India are exported. The Sunny will probably have a larger share in the Indian market. To boost its sales in India Nissan is now planning to increase the number of its showrooms to 100 by 2013.

Nissan also sells the Teana sedan and the X-Trail SUV in India which are being imported as complete built units.

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Several top selling cars of the Japanese car manufacturers including Honda Jazz, Honda City, Honda CRV, Honda CRZ and Honda Civic manufactured during 2005 and 2007 are being recalled.Though it is not clear as to how many people actually take their cars to the manufacturer for rectifying the problems, but given the media coverage, people actually taking their car for free repair is going to be considerably high.

Just a couple of years ago the company had recalled as many as close to 90000 Honda’s hot selling CR-V SUVs. At that time too, the recall was for some faulty power window switch.But the largest recall is not affiliated with Honda. Another Japanese car manufacturer Toyota has the distinction of recalling largest number of cars for malfunctioning gas pedals.

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Accessed through a special set-top box, the service is due to launch in the UK within six months, following its launch earlier in the US.

Google’s executive chairman Eric Schmidt will outline the plans when he gives this year’s MacTaggart lecture at the Edinburgh Television Festival.

According to the company, Google TV will allow people to search all of the content on the TV and the internet by using a single click.

The service will also allow viewers to switch between the TV and the internet on their main screen without having to adjust any cables.Smartphones and iPhones can be used instead of a remote control top change channels and people will even be able to use their own voice to conduct searches.The service also has a special version of YouTube in high definition.

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The Koleos SUV model will be launched in the segment below Rs 20-lakh, where it will compete with cars likes Honda CR-V, Chevrolet Captiva, Ford Endeavour and Toyota Fortuner.

“By 2013, we are eyeing a market share of 2.5%, and five per cent in the long term. During phase one, we will open exclusive dealerships in 14 cities to cover around 55% of the market.

“During phase two, we will be present in 30 top cities to cover around 70% of the market and by 2012, our dealerships will be present in 75 cities in India to cover 89% of the market with 100 dealerships,” Renault India’s Vice-President (Sales and Marketing) Len Curran said on the sidelines of launching Fluence, its luxury sedan.

The Renault Fluence has been launched in India, in both petrol and diesel versions. The petrol version comes with a 2.0 litre engine couples with a CVT automatic gear box, while the diesel version has a 1.5 litre engine matched to a six speed manual gear box.

Renault already has a very strong presence in India, with investments of about Rs 5,000 crore in setting up an alliance Greenfield facility for manufacturing 400,000 cars per year, a global technology and procurement centre, in Chennai, a full-fledged Renault Renault Design Studio in Mumbai and a global logistics centre in Pune.

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The rise in demand of its Classic range of bikes has prompted the Chennaibased company to accelerate its expansion plans; new models to hit the road by 2013.

Unlike any other major bike brand in India, there’s a certain something that the Royal Enfield carries with it. Some refer to it as the the aura of Royal Enfield. Some, the Royal Enfield mania. While others refer to it as the Royal Enfield culture.

But, the waiting period of more than a year for two of Royal Enfield’s topselling models Classic 350 and Classic 500 is driving the customers mad.

Now, with the demand far outstretching their production due to capacity constraints, the Chennaibased company is going full throttle to roll out its expansion plans to address the rising demand for the past 18 months.

Every Classic 350 and Classic 500 gets absorbed months before they hit the production line at the Tiruvottiyur plant in Chennai. The company is not only planning to increase the production capacity from 50,000 units last year to 100,000 units here, but also thinking about setting up a new plant three times the size of the existing one.

Siddhartha Lal, managing director and CEO, Eicher Motors, said: “Our initial plans were to set up a 150,000 unitayear plant but we believe that this capacity will get used up in two or three years. So we are now hiking the capacity to 250,000 units a year. Finer details like the location and investment are yet to be finalised.”

This intiative, the brand’s loyalists believe, should have been planned a year back. New Delhibased Eicher, the commercial vehicle making company, is the holding company of Royal Enfield.

The company had increased production by 50 per cent to 6,000 units a month from 4,000 units in March. It plans to invest Rs 65 crore on expansion.

“We have been carrying out expansion at Chennai. Last year, we added a significant portion but this year despite continued demand we will not be able to add more than 10 per cent,” added Lal.

The unlisted twowheeler company is talking to governments of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu for greenfield expansion, which could entail an investment of more than Rs 300 crore. There has been, however, no confirmation on this front by the company.

According to sources, the company plans to add 150,000 units capacity in the first phase and another 100,000 units per year in the next phase to cater to the demand for at least the next 57 years.

Royal Enfield sells five models in India and witnessed a growth of 8.74 per cent during the last financial year at 54,475 units. The growth was largely restricted due to the company’s inability to expand production.
Royal Enfield sells only 10 per cent of the total sales figures of Hero Honda by far the country’s biggest bike maker but industry experts believe that there was no brand which could be on par with Royal Enfield.

“For decades Royal Enfield has developed bikes which are very different in their character and unique. The positive for the company is that it has further enhanced that character which has no doubt attracted more buyers,” said a senior executive of a bike making company.

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“We have sold 72 of the 77 limited edition One-77 car across the globe. Now only five are left and an Indian luxury car enthusiast has shown interest in buying a One-77 car,” said Bill Donnelly, sales and service director at Aston Martin. He however declined to name the buyer of the uber luxe car

Donnelly further said, “India represents a new opportunity for us. The decision to bring the Aston Martin brand to India is driven by a strong level of interest and enthusiasm from potential customers in an emerging luxury market. We expect 25 per cent of total sales to come from Asia and Middle East in next five years.”

Expanding sales in West Asia, India and China have provided us new market opportunities with business in Europe and the US–our primary markets, stagnating, he said. Aston Martin sells 5,000 units per annum, globally.

In India, the company expects to sell around 50 cars across its portfolio by end of this financial year. Twenty cars are already on Indian roads, bought through individual importers. The United Kingdom headquartered Aston Martin will compete with other brands such as Ferrari, Maserati and Volkswagen AG’s Lamborghini, who also have introduced their luxury cars in the Indian market

Aston Martin has appointed Performance Cars, a division of Mumbai headquartered Infinity Cars has been appointed as dealer of the British marques. “We have received 20 bookings for various models of Aston Martin,” said Lalit Choudhary, managing director at Performance Cars. Infinity Cars also has a dealership of BMW. Aston Martin will open a second dealership in New Delhi by the end of May.

The company will sell the V8 Vantage, priced at Rs 1.55 crore, the Rapide at Rs 2.15 crore and the One-77 for Rs 20 crore, ex-showroom. Other models to be sold in India are V12 Vantage, DB9 Coupe, DB9 Volante, DBS Coupe among others. However, Aston Martin does not intend to introduce the small car Cygnet in India at present. “We might introduce it later, since the car needs to be homologated as per Indian conditions,” added Donnelly.

Aston Martin was in 2007 sold to American businessman John Sinders, Kuwait’s Investment Dar and Adeem Investment by its erstwhile owner Ford Motor Company.

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Volvo Auto opened its first dealership in March 2008 and currently markets its products through its dealerships in New Delhi, Mumbai, Chandigarh, Coimbatore, Hyderabad, Kochi and Pune.

Also in 2010, Volvo sold 130 cars in India, while the country’s overall luxury market saw sales of around 13,000 units. Volvo Auto India Managing Director Paul de Voijs said by conservative estimates, the Indian luxury car segment will touch about 140,000 to 150,000 units by 2020.

He added, “We are very optimistic the market will continue to grow and gradually we will also become a significant player.”

In 2010, luxury car sales contributed 0.6 per cent of the total car sales (2.2 million). Further, in January and February, its share increased to 0.7 per cent of the total car sales in India. According to rough estimates, the total car sales in India would touch 2.5 million by the end of this year. We expect by the end of 2020, luxury car sales would be 3 per cent of the total car sales in India.”

To expand its portfolio, it launched its latest S60 sedan, which will be available in both petrol and diesel variants, priced between Rs 27 lakh and Rs 34 lakh (ex-showroom Chandigarh) in Punjab which is one of the potential market for the company. The new car boasts of unique features such as the “world’s first pedestrian detection technology” with full auto brake, advanced Control with Torque Vectoring, Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC), and Laser Assisted Automatic Braking – City Safety, Turn with steering lights (Active Bending Lights) among others.

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