india tweets

Indian cars are going electric, and globally.

An electric Tata Indica is going to be launched in Norway in September 2009, since that country has adequate infrastructure for electric cars. The car will run on Lithium-ion batteries and can do 175-200 on a full charge.

Reva's awkward-looking, cramped 2-seater, which was India's first electric car, is also going in for a dramatic makeover in collaboration with Dilip Chhabaria.

In a first for an Indian built vehicle, Reva Electric is unveiling two distinctly different models at the Frankfurt Motor Show, the world's largest automotive stage, next week. The NXR is a three-door four-seater meant predominantly for India and emerging markets, and the NXG is a svelte two-seater sports car for Europe. The former is to go into production in early 2010 and the latter in 2011.

Expecting more such pleasant shocks!

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Photo source: Zigwheels

At least Toyota and Honda believe that “small” should not be classified on the basis of length.

This is in sharp contrast to the views of the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) that has been demanding that, no matter what the capacity of the engine, cars must be classified as small only on the basis of their length. Presently, cars that are four metres or less in length and having a 1,200 cc petrol or 1,500 cc diesel engine are classified as small, and attract a lower 8% excise duty against 20%, plus Rs 20,000 additional levy for big cars.

The Japanese automotive giants, however, have sought to make fuel efficiency and automotive safety the sole criteria for classifying a car a small. The fixation with length needs to be shed, they say. SIAM is in a fix.

Even as India's airlines are being "grounded" due to slower economic growth and high ATF prices, cars are flying off assembly lines.

Sales in August have zoomed from 96,082 in July to 1.2 lakhs, a whopping 25.5% jump, on top of a 31% growth in July. And the festive season is yet to come. Demands for new models has ensured that sales have shown an increase for the seventh straight month.

India has also zipped past China to become the third largest exporter of autos, despite its own market being just 19% of China's. Between January and July, India exported 2.3 lakh cars, vans, SUVs and trucks, registering a growth of 18%, while Chinese exports skidded 60% to 164,800 units.

May be that's one reason why China's growls on its border with a petrified India are getting increasingly dangerous.