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Best auto news from around the world.

Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Bajaj alleges TVS for smear campaign

According to a Bajaj Auto release, two people employed with TVS Motors outlets in central and eastern India have been caught red handed distributing leaflets allegedly containing misleading and wrong information on Bajaj products.Bajaj Auto alleges that due to better product initiatives taken by it, the competition have been put under 'severe pressure', driving them to completely unethical and undesirable actions.Bajaj Auto dealers nabbed Santosh Kumar Rath and Sunil Kumar Sahu distributing leaflets stating Bajaj Auto is "phasing out the Bajaj...

Saturday, October 27, 2007

TVS takes lead in DTS-i patent war

TVS motor has filed a defamation suit against Bajaj Auto in Bombay High Court and another suit in Madras High Court under the patent law. With this, TVS has taken the lead to begin the legal war with its rival, Bajaj Auto.Earlier this week, TVS filed a Rs 250-crore defamation suit in Bombay High Court against Bajaj Auto’s allegation of infringement (by TVS) of intellectual property rights on technology that is used in most Bajaj bikes. TVS has also...

Saturday, October 20, 2007

Yamaha Motor plans to launch scooters

Yamaha Motor India (YMI), a fully-owned subsidiary of the $12-billion Japanese auto major Yamaha Motor Company, plans to foray into the fast growing automatic scooter segment.Yamaha, which has several scooter models, ranging from 110 cc to 400 cc, is evaluating the right segment to foray into the Indian market. YMI managing director and CEO Tomotaka Ishikawa told ET, “We will enter the scooter market but are yet to finalise the segment and the products....

Yamaha to invest Rs 250 cr

Yamaha is investing Rs 250 crore to set up a new subsidiary in India. Yamaha plans to not only use this subsidiary to import its high-end super bikes and speciality vehicles like snow mobiles, golf carts and all terrain vehicles into India, it also plans to forge local partnerships through the new entity. Yamaha has indicated it will pump in Rs 500 crore in the new subsidiary in two years.In its application to the government, Yamaha has indicated that it is “currently in the process of identifying a partner for the proposed subsidiary company”.The...

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Hero Honda got HUNKED

The new Hero Honda Hunk 150So guys. Here is the much hyped Hero Honda Hunk. All were expecting a 160 or 180cc Bike and Hero honda has presented a repackaged CBZ Xtreme.new Hero Honda Junk..oops!.. HUNK - Looks a lot inspired from TVS Apache RTR and Flame. Hmm, looks like someone is watching TVS closely.This bike really reminds me of TVS FlameHunk uses same chassis of CBZ Xtreme but adds in some more muscle and gets rid of that ugly CBZ xtreme bikini...

While unrelenting high interest rates have stolen the growth of bike sales, it is the rural market that has borne the brunt so far while the sales in urban areas have continue to grow. In the first half of the current fiscal, sales in the entry-level 100cc segment, which is largely driven by rural demand, have come down by 21% cent compared to last year while the urban driven executive segment has still managed to grow by 11% . Sales in the overall motorcycle segment is down by 15.2 % in the same period.On the contrary, for the full fiscal year...

Sunday, October 14, 2007

Super Pulsar 150 SP

SuperPulsarDont get shocked. what u see in these pics is a Pulsar with The engine from Honda NSR 150 SP, liquid cooled two-stroke, six speed and produces 39.5 bhp.This bike is made by A bike enthusiast 'Rajkumar'. Hats-off to him for making such a awesome bike. It has great Power right from the word go and pulls strongly right through the rev range with no lag when you shift a gear. Will easily leave a RD 350 HT behind.This is the donor bike -...

Saturday, October 13, 2007

How Hero Honda made TVS, Bajaj make up

A Picture is worth a thousand words, thus goes the saying. Hero Honda chairman Brijmohan Lall Munjal’s photo-op at the SIAM meet mid-September was one such instance which had sparked off speculation that he had managed to bring rivals Venu Srinivasan and Rajiv Bajaj at the height of the TVS-Bajaj face-off last month to the negotiating table. Mr Lall has now admitted that he was instrumental in brokering peace between Mr Srinivasan and Mr Bajaj.“There...

Hero Honda ready for festive season

ero Honda Motor Company, the country�s largest two-wheeler manufacturer, said it expected sales to revive in the festival season. The two-wheeler industry had been hit the most with growth in sales falling in almost double-digit in the last few months on account of high interest rates. Last month, Hero Honda posted a 4.98 per cent growth in its sales as against its rivals, Bajaj and TVS saw a 32.10 per cent and 56 per cent decline in sales respectively. The company said that as some banks had announced rate cuts ahead of the festive season, it...

Thursday, October 11, 2007

BAJAJ vs TVS : Fight for DTS-i goes on

The Bajaj DTS-i engine is at the heart of the patent dispute that�s broken out between two of the top two-wheeler makers.Now after a lot of fireworks, Bajaj Auto and TVS Motors are trying to douse the fire and S Gurumurthy of Swadeshi Jagran Manch will play peacemaker between the two desi rivals.S Gurumurthy is heading off to Pune on October 16 to kick off the arbitration process. Gurumurthy will meet the top brass of Bajaj Auto including Chairman...

John McGuinness Honda CBR Fireblade Limited edition

Ten John McGuinness CBR 1000RR TT replicas are set to be up for sale from Fowlers Honda in Bristol to celebrate McGuinesses record-breaking win at the TT this year.The motorcycle will come with the HM Plant replica paint scheme, a black screen, headlight covers ,a rear seat cowl and Akropovic titanium silencer and Gilles titanium chain adjuster and paddock stand mounts.This CBR limited edition looks gorgeousEach motorcycle will be delivered with...

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Japanese bike makers make new plans for India

To break into the league of the Hero Hondas and the Bajajs in the country, traditional Japanese rivals Honda, Suzuki and Yamaha have decided to adopt a common strategy of building new platforms for the Indian market.The plan comes at a time when the combined market share of Hero Honda, Bajaj Auto and TVS Motors fell to 83 per cent in the two-wheeler market in the April-August period this year against 86 per cent in the same period last year.Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India (HMSI), Suzuki Motorcycle India (SMI) and Yamaha Motor India (YMI) are...

Monday, September 24, 2007

Motegi MotoGP reaction:.. Bridgestone`s delight at Casey Stoner’s MotoGP victory

Casey Stoner's MotoGP title has made Bridgestone boss Hiroshi Yamada a happy manBridgestone boss Hiroshi Yamada hailed Casey Stoner and Ducati as the Japanese tyre company celebrated a historic milestone in yesterday’s Japanese MotoGP.Casey Stoner’s sixth place in a rain-hit Twin Ring Motegi clash secured him a first premier class success after Yamaha’s Valentino Rossi’s disastrous 13th.And the Aussie also secured Ducati’s first MotoGP triumph...

2008 Suzuki GSXR 600

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Thursday, September 20, 2007

Avenger 200 Pics

New Avenger 200ccFinally here are pics of the new Avenger 200cc from Bajaj. Visually it looks same as Avenger 180. Only visual difference is the addition of Fuel-gauge and Oil-cooler.Concidering this bike packs the same mill that does duty of Pulsar 200 i expect it to be a real scrotcher. But i cant say much before i actually get a ride aboard this bling bling cruiser from Bajaj.keep a eye here for Avenger 200 test ride report. I was expecting new...

Sunday, September 02, 2007

TVS Unviels there new bikes

In their attempts at catching up with the industry leader, two-wheeler manufacturers Bajaj Auto and TVS Motor are putting together new teams of bikes and scooterettes with great speed. The fact that the two-wheeler market has experienced a slowdown has not deterred the second- and third-ranked manufacturers from planning new products. Another difference between the market leader and the two manufacturers that follow is that the investment in in-house...

Saturday, August 18, 2007

Bajaj: Riding into glory

From riding the Chetak scooter to zipping past the Pulsar 220CC, it has been an evolution for Bajaj Auto. India's second largest two-wheeler maker's origins is rooted in Bachchraj Trading Corporation, first set up to trade in a few 2 and 3-wheelers.Founded by Jamnalal Bajaj, who associated closely with Mahatma Gandhi during the freedom struggle, the Bajajs' have seen real growth starting from the sixties. Though Bajaj started off as dealers in imported 2 and 3-wheelers, it was only in 1960, that it started manufacturing, having obtained the precious...

Monday, August 13, 2007

Bajaj Pulsar 220 DTS-Fi — Injecting power and passion into your ride

The country’s top three two-wheeler manufacturers have all dabbled in developing and testing fuel-injected engines. However, up until a couple of years ago, there was no interest among these manufacturers to come up with such an engine for their bikes. Even now, the end to carburetion does not seem to be very near, though only two bikes in the market now have the feature. Fuel injection technology, when incorporated into the same bike, pushes up...

Thursday, August 09, 2007

Bajaj`s new bike Exceed

Bajaj Auto Ltd., India's No. 2 motorbike maker, plans to make 20,000 new motor bikes in September and raise output beyond 50,000 in December or January, its managing director said on Thursday. Bajaj, which is in preliminary talks with French car maker Renault on making "very competitive" vehicles in India, is betting a new motorbike will perk up flagging sales and bolster its higher-margin range. Bajaj's new 125 cc bike, called Exceed, is aimed at weaning customers from its lower-margin 100 cc bikes, which compete in an extremely...

Monday, August 06, 2007

Bike Cos get ready to face Rs 1 lakh car

Ratan Tata’s Dream the Rs 1-lakh car isn’t just making MNC auto majors like Renault rewrite their strategies, India’s two-wheeler majors are also changing there strategies. While some bike makers like Bajaj and Hero Honda have already shown their interest in entering the car market, others are planning to concentrate on performance bikes which, they think, won’t compete with cars.Suzuki Motorcycles India sales & marketing veep Atul Gupta said, “The cheaper car would impact the entry level two-wheelers. So we would aggressively pursue the totally...

Saturday, August 04, 2007

Suzuki GSX 650F

Here's fuel-injected proof that sportbikes don't have to be one-dimensional. Introducing the new GSX650F, featuring an ideal balance of sportbike excitement and all-around versatile performance. It offers crisp handling, so you can turn any winding road into a ride to remember. Its liquid-cooled four-cylinder engine is tuned for strong low-end and midrange power, for smooth and easy riding around town. Whether you're on the backroads or the open...

Vinci Sport

Vinci Sport will be powered by a transverse rear-mid engine capable of more than 200 hp. Among the technical highlights is the extensive use of carbon fiber for both the chassis and the exterior body panels. This car was styled by Ernesto Freitas for CEIIA-CE, a Portuguese engineering centre where the mock up was engineered and built, whose activities also include virtual design, CAE, rapid prototyping, reverse engineering, prototype construction,...

Resident-Evil K1200R

The Resident Evil genre started life as a video game and soon became a global success story. The first two films – Resident Evil and Resident Evil: Apocalypse – based on the mega videogame sellers of the same name from Capcom have generated a total turnover of over 600 million US Dollars worldwide to date. The third film – Resident Evil: Extinction – is produced by Constantin Film AG and will be released in Europe in September. It sees Alice (Milla...

Tuesday, July 31, 2007

Superbikes are finaly coming

Yes, they are finally here. The macho 1670cc V-twin power cruiser MT-01 and the slick 998cc R1 are already lazing around in Yamaha’s garage in downtown Delhi. By the end of next month, the Jap bike maker is going to announce the price of their super bikes.“We are putting in place the after-sales infrastructure now. It’s very important to have a solid back-up in place for these bikes. Technicians have to be specially trained to service these machines...

Engine Type 998cc, liquid-cooled, 20-valve, DOHC, inline four-cylinderBore x Stroke 77 x 53.6mmCompression Ratio 11.5:1Carburetion Fuel injectionIgnition Digital TCITransmission 6-speed w/multi-plate clutchFinal Drive O-ring chainChassis Suspension/Front 43mm telescopic fork w/adjustable preload, compression and rebound damping; 5.1" travelSuspension/Rear Single shock; adjustable spring preload and rebound damping; 5.1" travelBrakes/Front Dual 320mm...

Friday, July 27, 2007

The armchair Harley

Cross-continental comfortIn the list of things you never knew you needed, a 60kmph, petrol-powered Harley Davidson armchair capable of doing wheelies must rate pretty high. But that hasn’t stopped an American firm from creating just such a beast. Armchair Cruisers has created a whole range of motorised chairs, including the Harley-Davidson version – although the engine isn’t a thudding Harley-Davidson V-twin, but a lawnmower engine. See www.armchaircruisers.comThe...