Land Rover has officially unveiled the much awaited convertible version of the Range Rover Evoque with a fabric drop down roof.

Land Rover has taken the wraps off the highly anticipated Range Rover Evoque convertible. The convertible version of the highly successful Evoque gets a conventional soft top fabric roof which if controlled by a set of electric motors. Although the original Land Rover Series 1 and several Defender models have always been available with a soft top version, the Evoque convertible is Land Rover’s first ever convertible vehicle with an electrically operated roof.

The fully-automated roof stows away in a special compartment in 18 seconds, and can be raised in 21 seconds, at speeds up to 50kmph. When closed, Land Rover claims that it provides the standards of refinement and acoustic insulation ensuring interior comfort that is offered by a standard hard top version of the Evoque.

With a higher centre of gravity as compared to normal convertibles, there have been concerns of safety with the Range Rover Evoque especially when it comes to roll over safety. To make sure their passengers are as safe as possible, the Evoque convertible comes with a Roll-Over Protection Device which is essentially two aluminum bars within the bodywork that deploy within 90miliseconds if it detects danger making a survivable space for the passangers.

The Range Rover Evoque convertible is available with both a petrol and a diesel engine. Although the car is expected to make it to India, expect Land Rover to bring very limited number of units. Expect prices to be somewhere around the Rs 1 Crore mark.

Courtesy : Zigwheels

Maruti Suzuki India's entry level car Alto has become the best ever selling model in India with a cumulative total of more than 29 lakh units sold over a period of 15 years, overtaking its now phased-out M800.

Launched in September 2000, the model touched cumulative sales of 29,19,819 units in October, 2015. This was even better than what M800 -- the once bread and butter model of the company -- had achieved.

Commenting on the milestone, Maruti Suzuki Executive Director (Marketing and Sales) R S Kalsi said, "Over the years, Alto has brought happiness to 29 lakh families to become India's largest selling single brand car.

"With its success, Alto continues to remain the first choice for personal mobility solution for Indian customers."

Explaining why the model has been a success story, he said, "Alto has redefined the automobile landscape in the country. It has been the car of choice for a generation of Indians for its high fuel efficiency, low cost of maintenance and acquisition."

While the M800 took 29 years to rolex replica watches for sale achieve the total sales milestone, Alto took 15 years to achieve the feat.

Along its journey of 15 years, Alto, which is powered by an 800 cc engine, has witnessed upgrades and refreshes.

Maruti had introduced the AltoK10 powered by a bigger 1,000 cc engine in 2010-11.

Later in 2012-13, the company launched a completely new version of the Alto 800.

Maruti's small car M800, which had redefined personal transportation in India when it was launched in December 1983, had clocked over 28 lakh units cumulatively before the company stopped its production in January 2014.

The company commenced phasing out of the model in April 2010 with the advent of stricter BSIV emission norms in 13 cities in India.

Courtesy :  MSN Auto. cheap rolex replica watches

AMT variant accounts for nearly 50 percent of the 12,000 bookings the carmaker has received so far since the launch in September.

An increasing preference for clutch-less comfort among customers of Mahindra’s TUV300 SUV has resulted in a high number of buyers queuing up for the AMT variant. 

Pawan Goenka, executive director, Mahindra & Mahindra said that almost 50 percent of the total orders received for the TUV300 are for the AMT variant; a clear indicator that the convenient, but relatively expensive, variant of the SUV is a bigger draw than its competitive price.

“We didn’t anticipate such high demand for AMT. In fact one of the reasons why there is a gap between demand and supply is because our AMT production capacity is limited,” Goenka said.

The carmaker launched the TUV300 at a starting price of Rs 6.90 lakh (ex, showroom Pune), nearly Rs 1 lakh cheaper than closest rival Ford Ecosport. The TUV 300 AMT is available in two variants, T6+ and T8+ priced at Rs 8.52 lakh and 9.12 lakh respectively.

The vehicle is the first compact SUV in its class to offer an AMT gearbox in India. Mahindra has developed the new gearbox with the help of in-house engineers along with the inputs from Ricardo, Europe.  Surprisingly, it appears that the carmaker has found itself a niche while offering something unique in its class.

The carmaker has received 12,000 bookings for the compact SUV since its launch on September 10, 2015, Goenka said adding that they have reached a production rate of 5,000 units a month and plan to maintain the same. Mahindra would consider ramping up the production in the future if required after it starts exporting the vehicle.

Powering the TUV300 is Mahindra’s updated mHawk engine called the mHawk80. The engine, which is only offered in a diesel guise, displaces 1,493 cc – just under 1,500cc – and qualifies the TUV300 as a small car. Using a twin scroll turbo charger, the mHawk80 engine churns out 82.85bhp and 23.45kgm of torque.

Mahindra posted a year-on-year growth (19 percent) in passenger vehicle sales (24,060 units) in October after several months of a decline on the back of upbeat response for the TUV300, which sold 4,551 units. While Goenka expects the growth to continue in November as well, he said sales are likely to stabilize post festive season.

Courtesy : Autocar

Ducati had announced earlier that it would be launching nine new motorcycles at the 2015 EICMA motorcycle show in Milan, Italy later this month. Out of the new set of motorcycles heading our way is the rumoured low displacement Ducati Scrambler motorcycle. According to Italian website Motociclismo they have spotted the new Scrambler 400 undergoing testing. From the spy picture posted, it is difficult to say whether the new motorcycle is the 400cc variant. But the Ducati Scrambler 400 is equipped with telescopic front forks instead of upside front forks. The telescopic front forks are cheaper than the USD forks and this is kind of an indication that the above motorcycle is the Scrambler 400 given the fact that it will be cheaper. 

Powering the motorcycle will be a 400cc displacement, air-cooled twin-cylinder motor churning around 40PS of power. The motor is likely to be mated to a 6-speed gearbox while slipper clutch will most likely be given a miss. The frame for the motorcycle has been carried forwarded from the higher-displacement Ducati Scrambler. Braking will be done by disc brakes at both the ends and whether ABS will be offered remains questionable. The main objective of the Ducati Scrambler 400 is to tap into the A2 licensing structure found in the European region. The Ducati Scrambler will be the cheapest offering from the Italian manufacturer and more details on the bike will be given at the 2015 EICMA motorcycle show where the bike will be revealed. We will be at the 2015 EICMA motorcycle show, watch this space for more updates. 

Courtesy : Zigwheels

Better late than never, Audi’s all-electric supercar is coming sometime next year.

The Audi R8 e-tron has been spied testing at the fearsome Nürburgring, and there are credible, albeit unconfirmed, news that Audi plans to introduce it sometime next year. 

From its gestation till now a few things have, understandably, changed on the R8 e-tron. For example, the headlights aren't tinted, and the vertical element of the air vents for the brakes are slightly different. On the R8 shown in Geneva, the front grille was made of naked carbon fibre, but not here. You may also notice that the blades on the sides now glow bright orange and the wheels no longer have an aero cover to reduce drag.

We expect bookings for the Audi R8 e-tron to open sometime later this year or maybe early into 2016. Then the dream of an electric coupe with 456 PS and 920 Nm of torque, good for a 0-100 km/h time in the three-second range and capable of tackling the Nürburgring, will finally become a reality.

Courtesy : Zigwheels