Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Devendra Fadnavis inaugurated the new facility of Mercedes-Benz at Chakan, on the outskirts of Pune in India Keeping to its ‘2015 Live the Best’ philosophy, Mercedes-Benz India has invested Rs 1,000 crore to expand its existing car manufacturing facility in Chakan, Maharashtra. This move will facilitate the German Luxury car company to keep up with the increasing demands and to take Mercedes-Benz’s growth drive to the next level. The plant had an initial production capacity of 10,000 units annually which has now been doubled to 20,000 units annually. With this Mercedes-Benz becomes the luxury car manufacturer in India, with the highest installed production capacity. The new Mercedes-Benz facility has been inaugurated by the Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Devendra Fadnavis in the presence of other guests of honour including Prakash Javadekar, Union Minister for EF & CC and Subhash Desai, Industry Minister, Maharashtra. The company has started 2015 on a high with new car launch like the Mercedes-Benz S600 Guard, CLA-Class, the C 220 CDI, the new B-Class, the E-Class Cabriolet and the CLS 250 CDI. The luxury carmaker has announced that it will locally produce the GLA premium compact SUV at its Chakan plant. In Q1 2015 Mercedes-Benz also reported a 40 percent growth, selling 3,566 units and thus claiming to be the leading luxury car manufacturer in India. Commenting on this occassion, Piyush Arora, Executive Director, Operations, Mercedes-Benz India, said, "Our state-art production facility which is benchmark in quality and technological advancement in manufacturing and has been the backbone of our growth in India. The high level of refinement and implementation of advanced technology and felxible processes ensures our production quality confirms to the most stringent global Mercedes-Benz standards, and creates new benchmark in manufacturing for the luxury car industry in India. With teh sixth model now added to our local production portfolio, we are even better positioned than before to cater to the increasing market demand for our fascianting products. We will continue our local value addition and make the best of global products available for our discerning customers in India." Mercedes-Benz India’s car manufacturing plant was set up in 2009 and is spread over 100 acres in Chakan near Pune. The production facility carries an investment of Rs 1,000+ crores and has an installed production capacity of 20,000 units annually. Among the locally produced Mercedes-Benz models are popular luxury car models such as the Mercedes-Benz S-Class, Mercedes-Benz E-Class, Mercedes-Benz C-Class Sedans and the Mercedes-Benz GL-Class and the Mercedes-Benz M-Class SUVs. Imported as Completely Built Units include the recently launched Mercedes-Benz S600 Guard, Mercedes-Benz A-Class, Mercedes-Benz B-Class, Mercedes-Benz CLA-Class, Mercedes-Benz GLA-Class, Mercedes-Benz CLS-Class, Mercedes-Benz SLK-Class, Mercedes-Benz E-Class Cabriolet among others. The product portfolio also comprises the iconic off-roader Mercedes G 63 AMG as well as a wide range of other AMG performance cars like the CLA 45 AMG, E 63 AMG, SLK 55 AMG, GL 63 AMG, ML 63 AMG and the GLA 45 AMG. Courtesy: ZigWheels.

Land Rover has built a customised, one-off State Review Range Rover Hybrid LWB for Queen Elizabeth II. The open-top SUV is a joint creation by Land Rover and JLR’s Special Vehicle Operations division. The SUV lacks a roof over the rear passenger compartment and is based off the Range Rover Hybrid LWB. Power is derived from a 3.0-liter SDV6 diesel engine and an electric motor delivering a combined output of 335bhp and 71.38kgm of torque. This new Range Rover replaces the previous State Review vehicle, a 2002 Range Rover, and becomes the forth ‘state review’ vehicle provided from the manufacturer. The first ‘state review vehicle was the 1953 Land Rover Series 1. Jaguar Land Rover is the only automotive company to hold all three Royal Warrants, from HM, The Queen, HRH The Duke of Edinburgh and HRH The Prince of Wales. Courtesy: Autocar

Tata Motors has announced that it will start assembling vehicles in Tunisia with its partner, ICAR S.A., the industrial subsidiary of Le Motor SA. The company will assemble Tata Xenon pickups and light commercial vehicles, Ace and Super Ace.

The Tata Xenon is powered by a 2.2-litre, 4-cylinder diesel engine, capable of producing 138 BHP. It has a 9 blade leaf spring suspension set-up at the rear. The vehicle is equipped with air-conditioning, power steering, alarm, power windows and power mirrors. Tata Motors will offer 3 variants of the pickup - Single Cab 4x2 and Double Cab in the 4x2 and 4x4 configurations.

With the Tata Super Ace and Tata Ace, Tata Motors will try to get a foothold in the small utility segment in the country, with several application based vehicles for small businesses.

The distribution of Tata Motors vehicles and after-sales service will be provided by Le Motor SA, and the products will be available throughout Tunisia starting from September 2015.

Courtesy : Team bhp

The Q3 is Audi’s best-selling model in India, and it’s not hard to see why. While sedans still, as always, hold a lot of appeal, SUVs are clearly the flavour of the moment. And this is the most affordable of Audi’s SUVs, which has opened the brand up to newer, younger buyers – a fact the company is quite happy about (the tagline for this new Q3 is ‘Start Young’). The outgoing Q3 is also the best-seller in its segment, and even came out on top in our comparison test with its closest rivals, the BMW X1 and Mercedes-Benz GLA. Not one to rest on its laurels, however, Audi has been quick to bring the facelifted version of the car to India, and we’ve sampled it on Indian roads to see if it takes the successful formula further.

First off is the exterior design, which introduces Audi’s new family face to the Indian market. The headlamps are slimmer and, as you see on this car, will be full LED units on the top trims. The indicators at the front and rear ‘swipe’ outwards in the direction of the turn, much like in the A8 and R8. There are new 17-inch alloy wheels too, as well as three new paint shades, one of which you see here. But of course the thing you noticed first was the big new chrome-lined grille. Soon to be seen also on the all-new Q7, the wide chrome surround for the single-piece grille gives the nose a lot more presence, and combined with the angular new front bumper, it makes the Q3 look a lot chunkier than before.

On the inside, you can now get a choice of either all-black or black-and-beige upholstery. The basic layout hasn’t changed, but subtle modifications to the formula make it feel altogether more upmarket. The wood trim has been replaced by a nice textured metallic finish, and there are a lot more brushed aluminium inserts all over the cabin too.

The bigger news is the equipment list, which is an area where the outgoing Q3 did lag behind ever so slightly. It’s come in the form of a new top-spec ‘Technology’ variant, although lower trims will likely get a few more goodies too. The Q3 Technology, however, adds satellite navigation, a 20GB onboard hard drive, a second SD card slot, and a new sound system. It also gets a rear-view camera and a panoramic sunroof as standard. A smaller change is the new colour screen between the dials that gives you easier access to a lot of basic functions – like navigation directions and phone call information – without taking your eyes too far off the road. Subtler still is the new cradle for your phone in the cubbyhole between the seats that lets it use the car’s antenna to receive its signal, which saves you precious battery life. It’s the little things, you know.

Courtesy : Autocar

Hyundai has launched the Grand i10X in the Indonesian market. The Hyundai Grand i10X is a crossover based on the standard Hatchback. Hyundai India had given the Elite i20 the same treatment and launched the i20 Active few months back at almost a Rs 1 lakh premium. Crossovers seem to be the new trend with manufacturers and there is a good reason for this trend, the ease of transforming a standard car into rugged looking offering. All that a manufacturer needs to do is add a bit of body cladding, roof rails and aggression in the form of new bumpers, a pinch of change to the cars interior and there’s an all-new car to be had. Volkswagen did it with the Cross Polo, Toyota made theEtios Cross and Fiat went even further by strapping on a spare wheel on the hatch to give its Punto based Avventura even more road presence. First off is the exterior design, Other cosmetic updates on the Hyundai Grand i10X include skid plates LED day light running lamps, redesigned 14-inch alloy wheels and sporty chrome finished exhaust tip. There has been no changes made to the interior of the cars and the Indonesian-spec car gets equipped with features like steering mounted controls, Bluetooth connectivity, cooled glove box etc. Hyundai haven’t fiddled with the Hyundai Grand i10X on the mechanical front as well. Powering the Hyundai Grand i10X is the standard 1.2-litre Kappa petrol motor churning out 87PS at 6,000rpm and 120Nm of peak torque at 4,000rpm. What makes the Hyundai Grand i10X important is the fact that it is the first crossover offering for the Indonesian market. The Hyundai Grand i10X has been priced at Rs 7.5 lakh in Indonesia whether Hyundai India hasn’t confirmed yet whether the crossover be sold in India or not. Subtler still is the new cradle for your phone in the cubbyhole between the seats that lets it use the car’s antenna to receive its signal, which saves you precious battery life. It’s the little things, you know.

Courtesy : Zigwheels