Ford is reportedly pairing up with Google to create a joint-venture for the development and manufacturing of autonomous vehicles.

Whether we, as driving enthusiasts, like it or not, there is no escaping the fact that autonomous cars are the next big thing in automotive evolution. Every carmaker worth its name is hard at work perfecting its own self-driving car, but Silicon Valley has clearly taken the lead in this race. So it only makes sense that they team up and make use of the resources of the other.

Now, according to a report from Yahoo Autos, Google and Ford are forming a partnership to build self-driving cars, a move that pairs one of the world's top automakers with one of the pioneering companies developing robo-car technology. The partnership is slated to be announced at the Consumer Electronics Show taking place in Las Vegas next month, the report stated, citing multiple anonymous sources.

Ford spokesman Alan Hall said the automaker would not comment on speculation.

"We have been and will continue working with many companies and discussing a variety of subjects related to our Ford Smart Mobility plan," Hall said. "We keep these discussions private for obvious competitive reasons, and we do not comment on speculation."

Meanwhile, the two companies ASME Standard  have the connections and have laid the groundwork. Last year Google’s self-driving car group teamed up with Roush to develop and build a self-driving pod. Roush is building a test fleet of pods in Livonia, which are shipped to California where there is no snow to worry about.

In January, Chris Urmson, director of Self-Driving Cars for Google, said the Internet company's goal is to have driverless cars available on the market within five years. Still, experts say it will be many years before fully self-driving cars are actually available to the general public, with a slew of technology, regulatory and legal issues yet to be ironed out.

Courtesy : Zigwheels

Initial details about the Honda Civic Type S are reported to have been leaked by anonymous sources

Japanese car manufacturer Honda is working on the Type S version of the all-new Civic that will reportedly be a 2017 model, according to theCivicX forum. It’s scheduled to go on sale sometime between late fall 2016 and early spring 2017.

Under the hood, the car is expected to be powered by a detuned version of the turbocharged 2.0-litre four-cylinder engine of the Type R from where it will inherit many components. Mated to a six-speed manual transmission, the engine will generate power somewhere in the region of 223 and 233PS. The manual transmission is said to be an exclusive for this new Honda offering.

The Civic Type R will be commercially available in omega replica most of the established as well as emerging markets. However, it is not very clear, yet, which body styles will benefit from the Type R treatment, but the hatchback will get it for sure.

In the meantime, the regular Civic Sedan and Coupe will be a 2016MY and Honda apparently has plans to sell all three body styles (sedan, coupe, hatchback) in all markets.

All this information though is simply based on rumours and speculations, as Honda is yet to confirm any of its plans in this regard.

Courtesy : Zigwheels

Stefan Pierer, CEO of KTM, has revealed that the company will build Husqvarna motorcycles at its plant in Austria and introduce them in Europe and the US from 2017. Initially, the engines and components for these bikes will be sourced from India.

The bikes will use 125cc and 390cc engines. They are likely to be based on the 401 Vitpilen and 401 Svartpilen motorcycles, which were unveiled at EICMA in 2014.

Later, KTM is likely to introduce the Husqvarna brand in emerging markets as well. One of these markets is India. Additionally, the company is considering the production of Husqvarna bikes in India.

India is a production hub for KTM's bikes under 500cc. The company has a partnership with Bajaj Auto and uses the Indian company's plant at Chakan, Maharashtra to build 125cc, 200cc and 390cc motorcycles for global markets.

Bajaj Auto holds a 48% stake in KTM. The partnership has given KTM access to a low-cost production hub. 

Courtesy : Team BHP

Audi is expected to reveal its hydrogen fuel cell-powered Q6 h-tron concept SUV soon, possibly as early as the 2016 Detroit Auto Show in January

Volkswagen, Audi’s parent company, has had an awful year; its emissions cheating scandal has severely tarnished the group’s image and it is going to cost Volkswagen a lot of money to make this right. In such a scenario, it only makes sense that it would want to show off some of the work that the group has been doing for the promotion of sustainable methods of powering a car. That is precisely why it’s believed that Audi will show off a hydrogen fuel cell SUV concept at the Detroit Auto Show in January 2016.

As per a report from Autocar, an Audi spokesperson refused to reveal the identity of the fuel cell car that will be making the trip to Detroit in January, but all signs point towards a conversion of the Q6 e-tron electric SUV. The all-electric e-tron Quattro concept made a big splash at the 2015 Frankfurt Motor Show a few months ago, where Audi unveiled the SUV as an obvious move against Elon Musk’s Tesla Model X.

While the e-tron packs a traditional electric powertrain, the so-called Audi Q6 h-tron will feature a new hydrogen fuel-cell powerplant similar to the Audi A7 Sportback h-tron Quattro. With the engines already in place, all the Audi engineers would have to do is swap the low-mounted batteries with the fuel cells, and they'd be ready. The Audi Q6 h-tron will wear only minor visual modifications from its Q6 e-tron brother, and fit into the Audi Q6 lineup alongside conventional gas-powered engines.

There’s no confirmation as yet from Audi but, either way,  we’ll find out for sure next month.

Courtesy : Zigwheels

The new engine family from Mahindra features three petrol and three diesel engines; capacities range from 1.2 to 1.6 litre.

Way back in March 2013, we broke the news that Mahindra is working on an all-new engine family that will be featured in its future range of vehicles. This new engine line-up will be seen in offerings from Mahindra as well as in models from the SsangYong brand sold in India and overseas. The carmaker has invested around USD 800 million in development of this all-new engine range. This range will include three main derivatives, with more sub-derivatives under each, depending on power and torque output and other specifications.

The new engine family includes three petrol and three diesel engines with capacities ranging from 1.2 to 1.6 litre. Developed on a modular architecture, the base 1.2-litre motors will be three-cylinder units, while the higher capacity 1.5- and 1.6-litre engines will have four cylinders.
The new set of engines use common parts and have a common 'bore center spacing' to optimise manufacturing costs. They are also being developed to be capable of clearing emission norms as high as Euro VI for use in international markets. While the engine development is an undertaking between Mahindra and its Korean affiliate, it's the parent company that will take the lead in this ambitious programme. Hence, the bulk of the development will be carried out in the Mahindra Research Valley (MRV), the company's state-of-the-art R&D facility outside Chennai.

The first set of engines from this range was launched internationally in the SsangYong Tivoli crossover. This model gets the top of the line 1.6-litre four-cylinder derivatives in both petrol and diesel versions, called e-XGi160 and e-XDi160 respectively. The 1.6-litre petrol delivers 126bhp while the diesel is good for 113bhp. These engines are mated to Aisin-developed six-speed manual and automatic gearboxes.

The recently unveiled KUV100 is the second model to benefit from this engine family. Mahindra has christened this range as the mFalcon engine range. The KUV100 gets the 1.2-litre versions of these engines. The three-cylinder 1.2-litre petrol is dubbed G80 while the 1.2-litre diesel powerplant is called D75. The G80 gets an aluminium block with dual-VVT setup and a plastic intake manifold, variable oil pump and low friction seals. It generates 81.8bhp of power and 11.73kgm of torque.  The D75 gets advanced turbo charger and like the G80, comes with some plastic parts to reduce weight. This motor also features an advanced fuel pump, plastic intake manifold, next generation turbocharger, and advanced thermostats and churns out 76.43bhp and 19.37kgm of torque. Both powerplants are likely to be mated to a five-speed manual gearbox in the KUV100. An AMT gearbox will be offered, but at a later stage.

Mahindra has confirmed that the third derivative in the family, the 1.5-litre setup, is under development and will be introduced in a future Mahindra product, which is still some time away.
The KUV100 will be launched on January 15, 2016 and bookings for the model are open now. The KUV100 will be offered in four variants. Mahindra will offer a safety pack with dual airbags across all variants. ABS will be standard across all trims of the new compact SUV.

Courtesy : Autocar