India’s Tata Motors has certainly made an impact on the motoring industry recently, having acquired both Jaguar and Land Rover as well as introducing the ultra inexpensive Nano.
Well the Indian auto giant is about to gain some new competition in its home land, with Malaysian carmaker Proton announcing plans to sell its Savvy, Saga and Persona models to the burgeoning Indian market.
The three models are currently undergoing field trials and technical evaluation to ensure they can cope with Indian roads and conditions.
Currently, the Indian market supports over 1.5 million new car sales annually, making it the world’s second fastest growing passenger car market.
Proton is currently negotiating a joint-venture in India to manufacture and market its cars by early 2009.
“We are looking at a number of possible joint venture partners in India with a strong focus on marketing,” said Syed Zainal, managing director of Proton Cars.
It is also developing highly efficient alternative fuel technologies such as compressed natural gas (CNG) for models sold in India.
“Our cars are CNG compatible, which is widely accepted and used in India. We may bring CNG and develop other fuel options through our engineering subsidiary, Lotus, depending upon the results of the current feasibility study,” Syed Zainal said.
Over 75 percent of cars sold in India are hatchbacks and compacts, ideal for a company like Proton who have set a target of doubling total sales volume to 300,000 units by 2010 through the new market.
In 2007, the EU used 7.7m tons of oil equivalent (TOE), which accounted for 2.6 percent of all fuels used for road transport that year. This is half of the 2010 target of 5.75 percent usage of biofuels, which means that Europeans will need more imports and to increase production if this target isn’t changed. Europe’s leader in biofuel use is Germany, burning more than 4 million TOEs, followed by France (1.4 million), Austria (0.4 million) and Spain (0.35 million). EurObserv’ER published a report on EU biofuel use under sponsorship of the European Commission as well as the European Agency for Environment and Energy Control. Get it here.[Source: Eurobserver]
GM thinks that it has learned the lesson not to fall behind on technology and will not make that same mistake again. It’s for this reason that the Volt is such a massive deal for the automaker. Depending on how the next few years play out, though, we’ll either look back on Ford and realize just how smart the company was or just how deeply its head was stuck in the sand. It seems that Ford believes it has a solid position in hybrid technology and doesn’t see an immediate need to be a leader in the development of a plug-in. Instead, the Blue Oval is content to sit back and let cross-town rival GM and Toyota take the lead. In the meantime, Ford will continue to churn out hybrid versions of its Escape SUV and will introduce a new Fusion hybrid shortly. Hopefully, Ford will be able to play catch-up if the PHEV technology proves popular, otherwise, it could find itself in the same position as GM currently finds itself: as a technology-laggard.[Source: Bloomberg]
Click above image for pic galleryOntarioStreetCar caught sight of a transporter loaded with Detroit Muscle being used in the filming of the fourth installment of The Fast and the Furious saga, innovatively titled, Fast and Furious. This is one truck we’d gladly hijack with a crew of accomplices driving tuned Civics, as it’s hauling, at minimum, a pair of Chargers, a Chevelle SS, and the wicked Torino GT you see above. Not included in the attached gallery are studio shots of Vin Diesel with a Grand National and yet another Chevelle, both of which you can see at OntarioStreetCar. The F&F films may be light on plot, but they’re long on car porn, and we can say, without a hint of embarassment, that we’re totally going to see this movie. Thanks to Jesse for the tip!
Click above image for the 2009 Dodge Challenger brochure var digg_url = ‘http://digg.com/autos/2009_Dodge_Challenger_brochure_Embrace_the_retro’; In the gallery below, you’ll find the full brochure for the 2009 Dodge Challenger, and yeah, there’s some good stuff to be found in there. We’re particularly fond of the R/T Classic package (above), which gets a coat of B5 Blue, 20″ torq-thrust lookalikes, T/A-style stripes, and the old-school script Challenger badge on the front fender. Unfortunately, while Chrysler was cooking up the retro badging, they neglected to order up some nouveau Fratzogs to really finish off the look, so the Ram-head shield sits on the hood, instead. Too bad. As for the rest of the car? Badass. There are some pretty cool stripe and wheel options to be had regardless of trim level, plus what’s sure to be a bevy of aftermarket parts from Mopar and other third parties. Finally, Chrysler’s offering a factory R/T Track Pack that, in its most aggressive form, combines the 6-speed Tremec with 20″ wheels and a 3.91 rear axle ratio. Bring money for tires. Ford is the king of leveraging its heritage to keep the Mustang interesting. Chrysler has a shot at doing the same thing here with the Challenger. From the looks of things, it’s off to a good start. That R/T Classic? Yeah, we could roll like that. Thanks to Challenger64HEMI for the heads-up!
Last year we told about the first SAE Formula Hybrid competition organized by Dartmouth College and the Society of Automotive Engineers. Now electric car advocacy group Plug-In-America is helping to provide funding for student teams from California colleges and universities to take part. Plug-In-America is actually distributing the funds provided as part of an incentive program from the California Air Resources Board. Last year Plug-In-America provided $12,500 each to teams from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and UC Irvine to participate in the 2008 event which occurred in early May. Last year, we spoke to Jeff Turner from the McGill University team in Montreal, Quebec as they prepared for the 2007 event. The McGill team repeated their 2007 overall victory this year. As teams prepare for 2009, Plug-In-America will be offering allows of $15,000 to student teams from California in the hopes of inspiring engineering innovation. [Source: The Auto Channel]
It has been said that a well maintained car talks volumes about the owner. Not only will the car reflect characteristics, neatness etc…but will provide many benefits to the owner, driver, other road users and even the community!
Nearly two months after the announcement by General Motors of its equity investment in Mascoma, the Massachusetts company has announced the location of its first commercial cellulosic ethanol plant. Mascoma CEO Bruce Jamerson and Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm announced a plant would be built near Sault Ste. Marie in northern Michigan. Mascoma will be collaborating with Michigan State University and Michigan Technical University to further enhance its processing technology for turning biomass into liquid fuel. MSU will offer help with the pre-treatment technology for the cellulosic biomass and identifying renewable crops for feedstocks while MTU will help with sustainable forest management practices. The Sault Ste. Marie plant will primarily use wood waste from the forestry industry in northern Michigan as a feedstock. Michigan has passed legislation creating allows for Centers of Energy Excellence. The new law will make Mascoma eligible for a allow of $15 million dollars for the new plant. The plant should be operational by 2012 producing 40 million gallons a year of cellulosic ethanol. [Source: Mascoma]
Because certain subsidies and incentives allow many gas stations to sell ethanol for less money than regular gasoline, the fuel is becoming a popular choice among motorists, even if their cars are not certified for flex-fuel use. All cars sold in the U.S. today are capable of accepting small doses of the alcohol fuel, as up to ten-percent of normal gasoline may be ethanol. Of course, the fuel is available in higher concentrations for cars which have been designed to use it, with E85 - eighty-five-percent ethanol, fifteen-percent gasoline - proving one of the most popular combinations. Apparently, though, the lower price of the fuel has attracted the attention of those looking to save a few bucks on each fill-up. In fact, this article indicates that many users are mixing their own blends right in their tanks. This trend has prompted some gas stations to allow a choice of ethanol mixtures for drivers who want to use it, right from a single pump. Manufacturers warn that using alcohol fuels in cars not certified for them could cause permanent damage, so be sure you know what you’re doing before breaking those rules.[Source: AP via The Detroit News]
If you think that gas prices are high in the U.S., think about that the average price for a gallon of gas in Germany is $9.40. Yikes. Since the record high prices in the States are causing some people to change their lifestyles, imagine how Europeans feel. Bet they’re pretty upset, right? One man was ticked off enough to send his 1995 BMW 3 Series out in a blaze of glory. That’s right, after parking the Bimmer on the lawn of the Convention Center in Frankfurt, he doused the car in gasoline and torched it in protest of high gasoline prices.The car was already nice and crispy by the time firefighters arrived. At this point, the local authorities are still think abouting what, if anything, to charge the man with. Interestingly, various environmental laws were likely broken which could send the perpetrator to jail for up to five years.[Source: AP via WIBW.com]
