The milestone model was a red Suzuki Swift that was delivered to customer in Coimbatore from the company’s Manesar assembly plant near New Delhi. The automaker has been active in India since December 1993 and attained 5 million domestic sales in February of 2006.
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The milestone vehicle is a special edition ‘Laurin & Klement’ Superb that is designated for delivery to a German customer.
“This celebratory car is an impressive expression of our growth strategy,” said Skoda chairman Winfried Vahland. “We are expanding at a high speed. Almost two thirds of the 14 million cars built by the company were produced and sold in the past 20 years, four million of which were produced in the past 5 years alone.”
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And even though Land Rover has licensed the manufacture of some derivatives and clones of the Defender in countries such as Turkey and Brazil, it was always built in Solihull, UK.
In three years’ time, this tradition will come to an end as Land Rover's owner Tata Motors has decided to manufacture its 2015 replacement at its Prune plant in India and export it from there to the rest of the world.
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Swedish newspaper Dagens Industri confirms last month's report that Indian conglomerate Mahindra & Mahindra is also interested in Saab. Mahindra, which already owns Korean carmaker SsangYong and wants to become “India’s first global cult brand”, joins China's Youngman group and Turkish private equity firm Brightwell Holdings in bidding for Saab.
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With only a few exceptions like the fifth generation Seville (built from 1998 to 2004), Cadillac has for the most part shied away from RHD markets. But this is about to change as the wreath and crest brand is getting more serious about increasing its presence in markets outside of North America.
Aside from the product presentations like the new BMW 3-Series rivaling ATS sedan that will eventually be offered with a diesel option as well, Cadillac is also getting ready to introduce right-hand drive models.
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While the issue remains unresolved, Suzuki has already moved on and today, the company announced that it is further expanding its business relationship with the Fiat Group, which also owns Chrysler.
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Making a whole lot of money, even in this unpredictable economy, is admirable, even if it occasionally makes you unpopular. After all, as they say, you can judge a man by his enemies, right?
In this case, it would be hard to do so, as if you throw a stone in any of those 170 countries, there is a good chance it will land on the head of someone Clarkson has enraged with his comments.
The presentation of the latest generation of the Swift hatchback in late 2010 brought the development of a new Swift Dzire, a test drive version of which was caught on camera by a reader of Indianautosblog, a couple of weeks (if not days) before the official launch.
We don't have any official information in our hands yet, but it looks like Suzuki has kept the same wheelbase as the hatch simply extending the rear overhang and adding a tiny boot.
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It’s that sense of humor which is a trademark of famous car TV show Top Gear that has often landed them in hot waters. This time, though, their “Christmas Special” episode almost caused an international diplomatic incident between Great Britain and India.
Last July, Top Gear producer Chris Hale wrote a letter to the Indian High Commission in London, asking for permission to film an episode in the country.
“Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May will travel across India in three cars filming a light-hearted road trip… there will be spontaneous interaction between the presenters and their environment, and potentially people they meet along the way," Hale wrote in the letter.
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The Sail is a five door sub-compact hatchback that has been developed at GM’s Technical Center in Bangalore to ensure that it will meet the needs of the Indian buyers.
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The Indian automotive industry, on the other hand, is best known as the country that manufactures the world’s cheapest car, the Tata Nano, which may or may not lose the title to the Bajaj RE60.
While Italy is safe for now (…), India will soon have its own sport car thanks to DC Design’s Avanti that was launched at the 2012 New Delhi Auto Expo.
Founded by former GM designer Dilip Chhabria, DC Design is mostly known for its one-off prototypes. The Avanti, however, is a production ready sports car that will be manufactured at the company’s brand new plant at Talagon near its existing Prune facilities.
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However, with ex-showroom prices ranging from 24.9 lakhs or about US$47,000 / €36,700 for the MINI Cooper to a whopping 95.9 lakhs or US$181,000 / €141,200 for the BMW M5 (and which do not include applicable sales tax or handling charges), even the cheapest MINI will remain hoisted from the reach of the vast majority of Indian buyers.
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Designed in cooperation with Suzuki's Indian partner Maruti, the XA ALPHA borrows several styling cues from the Swift such as the profile window line and the blacked out A-pillars.
The five-door model measures 4 meters in length, which makes it a little bit longer than the current Swift (3,850mm long).
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The Defender Concept 100 and Defender Concept 100 Sport, as the three-door hardtop and open-top versions are named respectively, are identical to the revised models launched at the 2011 Los Angeles Motor Show save for a couple of differences.
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The concept features Hyundai’s “Fluidic Sculpture” design language, though we can't see the exterior winning any beauty contests, and that's probably an understatement…
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DC Design is named after its founder, Dilip Chhabria, a graduate of California's Art Center College of Design who previously worked for General Motors before opening the Mumbai-based company in 1993.
One of the company's most publicized projects –albeit for all the wrong reasons- is the Rolls Royce Coupe, nickname "The Black Ruby" (see here).
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We've already brought you the official announcement and photos on the EcoSport, but now we have the first videos as well as a batch of live pictures from the New Delhi show, courtesy of India-based website Motorbeam.
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The EcoSport is based on the B-segment Fiesta platform with its exterior sporting several styling cues from the Evos concept that was displayed at the 2011 Frankfurt Motor Show. Highlights include a very large, trapezoidal grille at the front, while the back we find a tailgate-mounted spare tire.
“EcoSport has a tough, robust attitude that says ‘I can play with the big boys’”, says Ford’s chief designer J Mays. “But it also makes you want to play. That’s why it’s so appealing. EcoSport is perfect for crowded urban streets and inspires you to seek adventure away from the city too.”
Now, the “auto” in its name has taken in the broader sense of the word since up until now, Bajaj has been manufacturing mainly three-wheel models and passenger carriers along with motorbikes.
Today, at the 2012 Auto Expo in New Delhi, it unveiled its first four-wheel car, the RE60 that according to managing director Rajiv Bajaj, is aimed mainly to owners of three-wheelers who want to upgrade their ride.
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In today's news, Bloomberg reports that Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd, a maker of SUVs and a flagship company of the Mahindra Group, which is a multinational conglomerate based in Mumbai, India, is in private talks with Saab's administrators.
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