Aikawa said finding a buyer for the plant would be relatively easy because demand for cars in the buoyant U.S. market was strong

TOKYO: The president of Japan's Mitsubishi Motors Corp said on Monday the automaker's move to pull out of U.S. production was not related to labour costs or foreign exchange rates, but strictly due to dwindling output in recent years.

The automaker's President and Chief Operating Officer Tetsuro Aikawa was speaking at a news conference after the company confirmed plans to end already-dwindling production at its sole North American plant, in Normal, Illinois, and serve the U.S. market from plants in Japan and Thailand.

At its peak in the early 2000s, the Normal plant built more than 200,000 cars a year. Last year, production of the Outlander SUV totaled 69,178, according to Mitsubishi Motors.

Courtesy : ET Auto

The showrooms aim to deliver a tailored buying experience to customers; first model to retail will be the Maruti S-Cross.

To deliver an upmarket buying experience, the Maruti Nexa dealerships will focus on aspects right from design, lighting and tech used in the showroom, to loyalty programs and rewards for customers. What's beneficial is that customers can take deliveries of their cars from inside the showrooms; a specialised area has been allotted for this.

In terms of tech, managers at the Nexa outlets will have iPads that customers can use to configure their cars. They can browse through models, variants, colours, check out accessories to go along with it, and even have a look at finance schemes. Customers can also download the NEXA Owner’s App — a smartphone application that allows the user to recall service history, emergency support, accessory purchase, event updates, booking and manage service requests. The loyalty programme designed for Nexa customers is called MyNEXA, and it offers rewards through co-branded credit cards and tie-ups with other lifestyle brands.

Maruti has hired around 1,000 managers in this initial phase, and says the number will go up to 2,500 as the Nexa network expands. The brand has set a target of selling 2 million units by 2020, and premium models are likely to be big contributors to those sales. The S-Cross is slated for launch in August and will retail exclusively out of Nexa showrooms. One could also expect Maruti’s upcoming YBA compact SUV to be sold through the Nexa network.

Courtesy : Autocar

Honda's grand pricing plan may not have worked out, but the 650 is still a motorcycle to watch for

First, the good news. At long last, the wait for the Honda CBR650F is over. The 649cc, in-line-four Honda CBR650F will officially launch in India in about ten days from today. Now, the bad news: it will be priced way higher than expected. That said, we still can’t help but feel excited at the prospect of seeing another four-cylinder sports-tourer around.

The motorcycle’s inline-four produces 86bhp and 63Nm, and is mated to a six-speeder. The sports-tourer has a steel twin-spar frame and aluminium swingarm, and is equipped with a 41mm fork up front and a preload adjustable monoshock suspension at the rear. ABS will be standard. The 650F will only be available in the red-white-blue Honda racing livery, for now.

Honda showcased the motorcycle at the 2014 Auto Expo, and its appeal was enhanced by its expected pricing, which was supposed to be around Rs 5.5 lakh. This would’ve helped Honda undercut the Benelli 600GT, and made the 650F the most affordable four-cylinder powered, faired motorcycle in the country. The pricing would have also meant that the twin-cylinder Kawasaki Ninja 650 and the four-pot Benelli 600GT would have had to contend with a rapidly gaining Honda in their rear-view mirrors.

But Honda’s plan for an aggressively priced motorcycle took a nose-dive after the company reportedly failed to meet the originally planned level of localisation for the 650F. So, while the CBR650F will be assembled in India, localisation is expected to be only around 5 percent. The result? The price is expected to get yanked to around Rs 8 lakh.

While the price hike has dampened our enthusiasm a bit, Honda can possibly take consolation from the fact that the current prices of litre-class bikes is nearly double the cost of the CBR650F. And, a capable Honda 650cc should find takers who won’t really mind the revised pricing.

Courtesy : Top Gear.

Scramblers are all the jazz these days, with every manufacturer trying to slice a piece of this time-travelling pie. The latest manufacturer to enter the retro-themed scrambler motorcycles market is the Iconic Japanese motorcycle maker, Yamaha.

This all new scrambler style Yamaha, christened the XSR700, builds on Yamaha’s Faster Sons philosophy and pays homage to design icons of the manufacturer’s past such as the XS650 whilst showcasing tomorrow’s technical features. Underneath the XS650 inspired design this retro street bike comes with the latest chassis technology. The light, slim steel and easy customizable backbone-type frame under the retro body utilises the 689cc engine as a stressed member. The motorcycle is available in two colour options: Forest Green and Garage Metal.

Adding to the aesthetic of the XSR700 are a slew of retro-fitted additions such as two-texture leather seat and easily customizable sub-frame, aluminium tank, vintage style headlight, taillight, an all digital instrument cluster, mesh cover, short muffler and front fender stay & radiator cover carved out of aluminium.

The 689cc inline 2-cylinder engine, capable of delivering 74.8 PS of power and 68Nm of torque, features Yamaha’s special ‘crossplane philosophy’, claiming to develop linear torque for outstanding acceleration.

Courtesy : Motoroids

Tata Motors has organised a free monsoon check-up from July 28 - August 2 across any of its dealerships in the country

Keeping cars in perfect shape especially during monsoon is something Tata clearly understands extremely well. And to ensure just that for all its customers, Tata has organised s free monsoon check-up from July 28 to August 2. 

Customers can get their cars serviced at any of the 585 dealerships across the country. Aside from the free check-up, they can also get their cars serviced and avail a discount of 20 per cent on genuine parts and service charges. In fact, the Sanand-based car maker has also tied-up with 25 suppliers to avail a discount of 10 per cent on lubricants. Since tyres connect a car to the road, it is extremely important to have them in good shape. Tata will also offer special benefits for those who intend to purchase tyres and batteries. 

Speaking about the camp, Mayank Pareek, president, Passenger Vehicle Business Unit, Tata Motors said, “We believe that after-market services are imperative to enhance customer experience. This service camp is specially targeted to help our customers overcome issues that are resultant of the monsoons. Sales and service from Tata Motors is evolving and adopting a customer centric approach, creating new benchmarks and identity for the company.”

Tata isn’t the only car maker to organise such a monsoon camp. Fiat too has a similar monsoon camp organised for all its customers. 

Courtesy : Zigwheels