TOYOTA GOING TO SET TRD SHOP IN INDIA

TOYOTA is planning to introduce its in-house performance tuning shop – TRD (Toyota Racing Development) in India early next year. The range will be showcased at the Delhi Auto Expo next month in January.

“We will either launch it (TRD) at the Auto Expo or around three months after that. We will share all the relevant information at the Expo as we confirm our plans for the Toyota range in India. The approvals from our head office (in Tokyo) have just come,” Mr Sandeep Singh, Deputy Managing Director of Toyota Kirloskar Motors told Business Line. Also involved in motorsports, TRD offers accessories and performance parts such as superchargers, suspension kits, brake pads, sport exhausts for most Toyota models like the Corolla, Camry, Land Cruiser and Fortuner.

Currently, in-house performance versions are offered only by the luxury carmakers in the country, such as BMW's ‘M' models, Mercedes-Benz's ‘AMG' range and Audi's ‘RS'-badge models.

“With so many luxury and sports car companies coming to India, and the F1 this year, the excitement around motorsports is on a high . This may be a good time for car companies to offer options of more customised and stylish variants as a differentiator in a market with many options,” an industry expert said.

Mass segment carmakers do not yet offer a performance line in India, but many have such a range in other markets or have tie-ups with external tuning firms. In-house tuning divisions include Ford's SVT, Nissan's Nismo and Mitsubishi's Ralliart.

This development follows news of Toyota bringing in its luxury brand – Lexus, to India. To be launched by 2013, Lexus will have a separate sales network and give tough competition to Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Audi. Over 15,000 luxury cars were sold in India last year and the 20,000 units mark is expected to be crossed in 2011.

Source - thehindubusinessline

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SPY SHOOTS OF BMW FACELIFTED X1

The facelifted BMW X1 was caught by spy photographers for the first time outside their test facility in southern Germany.

The facelifted X1 is right on time as the compact SUV . we can expect a restyled model to arrive by the end of 2013 since production started at the year of 2010 in India.

The BMW X1 car has newly designed front and rear bumper portion as well as a new design inside the headlamps. The rear tail lights in these photos are the same but they will change later in the development.

Source - worldcarfans

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AUDI IS GOING TO CHANGE THEIR DESIGN LANGUAGE

AUDI is working to change their design language to establish a greater variety of design cues for its expanding range of saloons, SUVs and sports cars.

Speaking at a recent event, design director of AUDI, Stefan Sielaff confirmed Audi is developing a new styling language that will attempt to give their three model lines (sedans/wagons, crossovers and sports cars) a unique identity.

For example, AUDI sedans could get a sloping grille while crossovers would have a more upright one. This sounds like a minor change, so it will be interesting to see what the design team comes up with.

AUDI is also going through a major project to define how its electric e-tron cars will look in the future.

So far the e-tron concepts have followed the proportions of traditional, IC-engined cars. But Sielaff says there is a view that the EV’s styling should reflect the different nature of the power -train.

Source - worldcarfans

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2014 MITSUBISHI OUTLANDER

Mitsubishi has showed its plug-in hybrid SUV concept at the Tokyo Motor Show.

The new concept PX-MiEV is “very close to the production design of the next Outlander. Just change the wing mirrors and it’s almost the finished car.”

The PX-MiEV II previews a new four-wheel drive range-extender system that uses two electric motors, one to power each axle, and a 2.0-litre, four-cylinder petrol engine.

Alternatively, the petrol motor can act purely as a generator for when the battery reserve is low but pure electric mode is still most efficient.

Mitsubishi sources confirmed that the power train would definitely make it into production and that it was a global vehicle.

Source - autocar

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TRIUMPH IS GOING TO LAUNCH 7 NEW BIKES IN INDIA

The British icon in motorcycle manufacturing ‘ TRIUMPH ’ is going to launch their bikes to the Indian market. But at that point of time, we were left with absolutely no hint on what are the products for Indian soil. I was, in fact waiting for a long time to know about that.

The company is all set to launch its bikes in all classes namely supersports / roadsters, touring / adventure, cruisers and classics as well. The company has expressed interest to launch as much as seven models under the Triumph umbrella. That’s a good number actually. We’ll have bikes ranging from 675 cc to 2300 cc.

Commenting on the launch of these models, Mr. Ashish Joshi , Managing Director, Triumph Motorcycles India said, “We deliberated over the range of bikes to bring into India and decided to bring in these models to showcase the Triumph range. We have bikes which can cater to different needs – from 675cc Super Sport bike the Daytona 675 to 2300 cc Rocket III. The Indian market offers good potential and as a company, we are confident that each of our seven models within its individual category will be a trailblazer in very short time ; similar to other markets we are present in”.

These models will initially brought to India in the CKD form and would be assembled in a plant here in India. But, presently the company has no plants in any part of the country. So, the hunt has begun. This would enable the poor Indian customers too save on the heavy duty fare paid.

The Triumph models that are coming to India are Bonneville, Speed Triple, Street Triple, Tiger 800XC, Daytona 675, Triumph Storm and the Rocket III.

One more news is that Triumph is more likely to showcase all these 7 model in the Delhi Auto Expo 2012.

They don’t give any price hint about their bikes.

Source – bike advice

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TRD EDITION OF TOYOTA ETIOS LIVA COMING SOON IN AUTO EXPO

TRD ( TOYOTA RACING DEVELOPMENT ) they are going to launch motorsports series in india .

The launch of the i1 Racing Series is another example to prove that motorsport is seen as having a promising future in India. The i1 Series could be what IPL is to cricket involving big names from Bollywood. Joining the bandwagon soon is TRD with a similar kind of racing league that could be called Etios Motor Racing series. The Indian middle-class family car is going to be joined by its cousin who calls the Stig its best friend!

TKML will provide the cars & engines for this one make series.TOYOTA RACING DEVELOPMENT in the process of getting FIA approvels for the series.

An IAB reader captured these images two days back at the Buddh International Circuit. The reader could not tell us the technical differences between the TRD edition and its road-going cousin , it was brought to the track for a photo shoot.

Source – indianautosblog , bs motoring

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HONDA TO LAUNCH 1.6 LITRE DIESEL ENGINE FOR EUROPEAN MARKET.

HONDA showcased too many new technologies at the TOKYO MOTOR SHOW , HONDA also showed a new 1.6 diesel engine for European markets .

This 1.6 litre engine capacity with outputs of 120 hp at 4000 rpm and a peak torque of 300 Nm at 2000 rpm. Honda has said that this new 1.6 diesel engine will be the lightest in its class which will also be highly fuel efficient. Honda 1.6 liter diesel engine will have emissions of less than 100 gms of CO2 per km.

Honda may launch new HONDA CIVIC powered by this 1.6 litre engine & its scheduled to for 3^rd quarter of 2012 in india.

source - rushlane

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