November 5th, 2008
under General Motors.
The world-renowned General Motors is once again in the news. This time with its new fuel-efficient vehicle Chevrolet Cruze, which is the talk of the town of Seoul. Manufactured indigenously at GM Daewoo’s plant in Korea, the Cruze comes with a 1.6 liter gasoline engine resulting with 140horsepower and will be marketed as Lacetti Premiere, in Korea. Showcased last month at the Paris Motor Show, Cruze will open its doors to the customers at the price range of 11.15 million won to 16.5 million won in South Korea. GM’s Cruze will be on the roads of the Europe in 2009 and of the US in 2010. GM Daewoo predicts stiff rivalry from Hyundai and Kia in South Korea but is still confident of resisting the competition.
Size: 4600mm long, 1790mm wide, 1475mm tall, with 2685mm wheelbase of 1.7 inch wheels having 215/50R17 tyres.
Engine specifications: 1.6 liter ECOTEC, able to produce 114hp at 6400rpm and 152Nm of torque at 4200rpm.
Outlooks in the interior are optional coloured dashboard matching the seats – blue/red, or black-blue/black-red.
Contemporary feature: ECU through GMLAN
Available colour ranges: white, silver, silverish blue, grey, blue and black
Price: 11,550,000 won – SE manual version; 17,700,000 won – 6-speed automatic CDX version
November 5th, 2008
under Hyundai.
The much-awaited Hyundai R-Engine, the brainchild of Hyundai is all set to get shape by 2009. Coming in two models Tuscon and, Sonata, the new diesel R-Engine will be available in 2.0 and 2.2 liter capacity sizes and efficiency range in power output of 184ps/392Nm and 200ps/436Nm respectively. The power plant is assured of 1800-bar fuel delivery due to the inception of third generation railsystem with piexo-electric injectors. Other features that embark Hyundai R-engine are electronic variable geometry and turbocharger and advanced engine control unit. The engine is expected to feed the SUV vehicles and large saloons.R-Engine is designed to encompass
- 16 valve dual overhead camshaft
- Lower balance shaft
- Serpentine belt with isolation pulley
- Plastic- head cover, intake manifold and oil filter housing
- Targeting Euro-5 emission , a close-coupled diesel particulate filter and a highly efficient gas recirculation
November 5th, 2008
under Mitsubishi, Tata Motors, Thailand and Toyota.
If winter comes can spring be far behind?…… thus wrote Shelley. It’s has been a Tom and Jerry episode for the Tata now. Close on the heels of evacuating the Nano plant from Singur, Kolkatta, Tata now faces another breakdown in the lands of Thai. Tata’s proposed eco-car venture has come to a jolt, with lot of hindrances. The project, originally finalized in March-April and supposed to begin instantly, has been brought to a sudden halt by the Tata itself. Initiated as a project with 7.32 billion baht, Tata was bracketed along with Mitsubishi and Toyota. All these three companies enumerated tax incentives ranging to an approximate half billion dollar; the Thai Board of Investment is behind this deal. The initial production target by all these companies is 1,00,000 cars each. The Thai Media predict that Tata’s eco-car may get into the roads by 2010.
However, it is quite interesting to note that Mitsubishi has chalked out to feed the local market with 10% and exporting the lion’s share. In case of Toyota and Tata, both devised the plan to have a balanced market – 50% each for export and local market. Tata’s softpedalling with its eco-car is presumably an echo of its reverse gear with Nano. Nevertheless, automobile experts opine in different way. Thai’s eco-car has mandatory specifications, which are stringent to be adhered to – 1.3 liter for gasoline engine, 1.4 liter for diesel engine, fixed mileage and exact pollution emission control. Tata is on the verge of devising strategies to adopt these specifications.
It should be remembered that Tata landed into Thailand by joining hands with Thonburi Automotive Assembly on 70:30 basis. The project mooted by Tata was to serve the Thai automotive industry with assembling and manufacturing parts for some 35000 vehicles a year. Figures speak a lot in papers but why is Tata’s drive in a jig-jag has no guessing. Perhaps it’s a sort of Hopkins’ “miles to go………” to land in ideal destination.
November 5th, 2008
under Toyota.
An evolution in the car industry is in the offing…… Much emphatic and better designed than the ones on road now. Exquisitely crafted to suit the contemporary passion, devised with luxuries beyond imagination and fancy. Toyota Prius, a heavenly abode on wheels, as Toyota claims, carries many facelifts, which are new and inventive in the automobile industry. A classic and generic vehicle to drive.
- New grille treatment and headlight clusters.
- Conventional gear shafter in the center stack in place of the dashmounted one.
- Larger petrol engine and electric motor
- Lithium-ion batteries in contrast to the nickel-metal hydride batteries
- Faster acceleration
- Extended space inside
- Challenging mileage with 94 mpg
- 1.8 liter four-cylinder gasoline engine ( a step-up from the existing 1.5 liter
- Increase horsepower from 75 to 100. With the new electric motors, an enhanced total output of 160 horsepower from 110.
Yet, the Auto Press has got different picture to depict about Prius 2010. From the reports gathered on unanimity, the car seems to possess larger body, larger gasoline engine and effective electric motors. The report further indicates that the proposed model is set to retain the existing shape, though with certain modifications. Prius 2010 will give an breath of relief to the prospective owners, by way of plain rear view, without the horizontal bar. To crown the features, the report briefs, Prius 2010 will be easily adaptable – plug enabled power that can be drawn from any domestic power outlet.
Toyota stamps its supremacy and passion by manufacturing Prius 2010 in the US itself. This, observers feel, is the resultant desire to dominate the US market by displaying the privileged price-tag. The car is expected to hit the showroom yards in the ensuing Detroit Auto Show in January 2009. In the meanwhile, reports about Prius 2010 have already occupied the columns of popular articles. Consumer Guide illustrates the size of the car with an increase of 3-4 inches longer, an inch wider and as heavy as the existing one. Car and Driver focuses the life of battery through lithium-ion-batteries.
Several other features that will bring Prius to the limelight may be the Continuously Variable Transmission, Safety-wise, Antilock brakes and six air bags, and finally more important Electric Stability Control.
The other side of the coin depicts the rumours spearheaded against Prius 2010. The top most of such sensations is the tickling sense of the price factor of Prius 2010. It is believed that Prius may be sold higher than the current model though both models would be on sale. The implication behind this is to compete Honda’s Insight. Toyota is exploiting this strategy to deal both models simultaneously, for beholding the cost of the hybrids. The company has evolved the dealership plan to have two different dealerships separately. And one on Camry and Highlander hybrids while the other one with a five-door model and a smaller model with Yaris chassis.
There has been a hue and cry over the everlasting decay in the environment. Everyone admits that automobile industries “contribute” a large in polluting the environment and at the sametime engineers, technologists and environmentalists search a permanent solution for this perennial problem. Amidst these nuances, General Motors is leading the way with the introduction of a vehicle operated with LPG and bio diesel. Legendry General Motors is craving a coveted model which will boost the company’s market share from a paltry 4% to 10%. According to the company’s sources, it is estimated that the company will be able to derive jatropha, backed up by the Gujarat-based Central Salt and Marine Chemicals Research Institute (CSMCRI). The company would carry out biodiesel engine testing from an 80-acre land. This scheme is in line with the company’s on-going project at Bhavnagar .
Anticipating positive feedback, the company has given nod for Chevrolet Spark, Chevrolet Aveo and Chevrolet Aveo U-VA. The engines for these models will be built in Bangalore and will serve the nation in respect of rising petrol prices and need from greener India. The ultimate factor governing this model- cost- is that it will be 10% higher than the ones being sold now.
The hunting ground for the fuels to feed these models will be Thailand (for CNG) and Korea (for LPG). The company has a corpus and annual investment of $6-8 billion in advanced engineering. The India Science Lab (ISL) has mooted the “pre-competitive research” , jointly with Ford, Nissan and Toyota. As a result, Collaborative Research Lab (CRL) has come to the fore at Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur at an investment of Rs.5 crore. Apart from the existing science lab in Israel, General Motors will soon launch another one in China.
With a view to increase its market share, General Motor’s major objective now is to double its market share. So far, GM Technical Centre, India (GMTC-I) fulfills the technical requirements of the company- project engineering, powertrain engineering, manufacturing and designing. Now as an expansion activity, GMTC-I has included embedded software development and controls with huge investment. GM has its own goals regarding small cars and the company is on its way to stake its claim in small cars.
Of course, General Motors’ vision is not a matter of general concern, but it is a matter of Great Concern.
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