The arrival of the new Amaze has given Honda a shot in the arm. The carmaker sold 9,789 units of the Amaze in May 2018, which is the highest monthly sales figure for a Honda in India yet. The early success of the compact sedan also helped boost Honda’s monthly overall sales by 41 percent, compared to May 2017. The carmaker has disclosed it has received over 15,000 bookings for the new Amaze until now and has prioritised production of the compact sedan to meet the demand.

With four engine-gearbox options on offer, including a new diesel-CVT, it is interesting to see the early booking trends. The petrol-diesel sales split is 64-36, but the big news is the increase in the uptake of automatic transmission Amazes. As per the initial bookings, the manual-automatic split is 74-26. Remarking on the development, Rajesh Goel, senior vice president, and director, Honda Cars India told Autocar India, “The automatic share in Amaze bookings has gone up significantly. In the petrol volumes, the current booking trend for the petrol-CVT is 24 percent in comparison to the outgoing Amaze which was at 7 percent for the petrol variants.” Also noteworthy is that the new diesel-CVT combo has also found a fair number of buyers with nearly one in three Amaze diesel customers opting for the convenience of an automatic. The diesel-CVT makes up 11 percent of total Amaze bookings.

According to dealers we spoke to, customers are attracted to the compact sedan for its looks and the flat face, which is now common on all new Honda cars. While the petrol-manual in mid-spec S trim is the version in most demand (19 percent of all bookings), in general, customers are opting for higher V and VX versions. The trend is sure to have Honda officials consider the top-spec VX trim for introduction on the automatic versions as well. So far, the automatics can only be had in mid-spec S and second-from-top V trim. The manual versions, on the other hand, are available in four trims – E, S, V, and VX.  

Though Honda has said it will utilise its full capacity to meet customer demand at the earliest, the waiting period for the Amaze is well above 40 days even in key markets.

Patent images of the all-new BMW Z4 – announced by the brand back in 2015 – have surfaced online. These images show the car's swept-back headlights, flat rear lights and wide kidney grilles. They reveal every angle of the car's styling to remain true to that of the 2017 concept. The automaker previously confirmed a 2019 unveil of its new Z4 at Pebble Beach in August – a month before its specifications are to be announced at the Paris motor show.

The upcoming Z4 model is expected to go on sale in March 2019 and has been caught by cameras during testing for more than a year. The latest sighting showed the car wearing production-spec bodywork covered by a light camouflage. The new sports car sits on smaller-diameter wheels than previously spotted cars, which suggests that the spotted car is a lower-spec model. An earlier video showed the car cornering at pace, wearing winglets on its nose (suggesting that BMW was assessing the car's performance when under load).

On a mechanical level, powering the new Z4 will be a choice of BMW's latest turbocharged petrol engines. The Z4 sDrive30i will get a turbocharged 2.0-litre four-cylinder that produces about 251hp, while more powerful variants will get the turbocharged 3.0-litre six-cylinder unit shared with the M240i, producing about 355hp. Both engines will come with standard rear-wheel drive and a ZF eight-speed automatic gearbox.

BMW's decision to equip the Z4 with the same rear axle as the M3 and M4 suggests its hardware will be compatible with their 430hp, twin-turbo, 3.0-litre straight-six or the M2’s 370hp, turbocharged, 3.0-litre six-cylinder engine. These motors get a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission driving the rear wheels. This also indicates that the Z4 would have an M variant, which will get bespoke bodywork and a more focused chassis set-up.

The Z4 shares parts with the upcoming Toyota Supra and is similarly expected to be offered with a hybrid drivetrain. Such a drivetrain would likely come with four-wheel drive. The car's relation to the Supra is part of Toyota and BMW's decision to co-develop a new sports car platform.

While the Z4 will be a convertible, Toyota's new Supra will be a spiritual successor to the original Supra and as such will be a hardtop – as shown by spotted development cars. Inspiration for the new Supra's design has been taken from the striking FT-1 concept, first seen at the Detroit motor show in 2014.

Ducati has launched the Monster 797 Plus at Rs. 8.03 lakh (ex-showroom, India). The new variant comes fitted with a flyscreen and passenger seat cowl as standard.

The Monster 797 Plus gets a LED positioning light, LED tail lamp and a USB power socket. The bike is mechanically identical to the standard Monster 797. It is based around a tubular steel trellis frame featuring 43 mm Kayaba upside down forks at the front and a Sachs monoshock at the rear. 

The 803 cc, twin-cylinder engine that develops 72 BHP @ 8,250 rpm and 67 Nm of torque @ 5,750 rpm is mated to a 6-speed gearbox. Braking duties are handled by twin-320 mm semi-floating discs with 4-piston calipers at the front and a single 245 mm disc with a 1-piston caliper at the rear. ABS comes as standard. The bike rides on 10-inch lightweight alloy wheels shod with Pirelli Diablo Rosso II tyres.