With the luxury car and mid-size car market growing rapidly, it makes sense that the BMW group has introduced its MINI brand to India.

MINI has brought four models with them for their Indian debut: the MINI Cooper, the MINI Cooper S, the MINI Cooper Convertible and the Clubman. Kay Segler, senior vice-president of MINI brand management and business coordination said, “We are not looking at volumes initially in India. We are looking to build the MINI brand. The MINI cars will feature 1.6 liter petrol engines. There is no plan of diesel engines for time being.”

MINI has looked at making this move in the past, but up until now has felt that the country and market were not ready for them. “More Indians are traveling and living abroad, they have network overseas and are more aware of trends,” Segler said. For the time being the cars will be distributed from three exclusive MINI dealers, two of them are in New Delhi and one will be in Mumbai.

All of India’s MINI’s will be assembled in the UK with no talk of an Indian assembly plant in the near future. The Indian prices for the MINI will range from Rs 24.90 lakh to Rs 31.99 lakh.

[Source: MyDigitalFC]

As we anticipated, DC Design has unveiled India’s first supercar at the 2012 Delhi Auto Expo. Dubbed Avanti after Studebaker Avanti in the Tintin comics, the supercar may be affordable but doesn’t exactly meet what we’d consider supercar standards.

It may at the very least look the part of being an exotic supercar, but the performance leaves a lot to be desired. In order to keep it affordable at around $56,000, DC Design’s Avanti will initially come with Ford’s four-cylinder, turbocharged powerplant with a mere 265-hp. They still anticipate to build a model with a 400-hp turbocharged Honda V6 engine but pricing for that model hasn’t been announced or estimated. Both engines are mated to a six-speed, dual-clutch transmission.

The supercar weighs in at 3,440-lbs with an aluminum body and fiberglass body panels. The engines are currently being prepared out in the United Kingdom and imported to India for final installation onto the vehicles.

DC Design is still sticking to producing around 200 Avanti’s a year with aspirations to build 2,000 a year – if demand is there.

GALLERY: DC Design Avanti Supercar

[Source: WorldCarFans]

Maruti Suzuki, India’s largest auto company, is set to unveil the new XAα concept car at the 2012 New Delhi Auto Expo.

While earlier reports suggested that the new concept will eventually replace Maruti Suzuki’s highly successful Jimny SUV, Maruti Suzuki managing director and CEO Shinzo Nakanishi explained that, “the Concept XAα is designed for a market of customers with a young urban lifestyle.” While the Jimny is sold to the masses as a cheap, practical, and rugged offroader, the XAα aims to be a chic, urban lifestyle SUV for the younger generation.

A production version of the XAα will be launched next year but details are scarce. Maruti Suzuki has confirmed that two-wheel-drive and four-wheel-drive options will be available with a petrol or diesel engine. As a tax break is given to smaller vehicles, the length of the XAα will likely be less than 157 inches.

Maruti Suzuki will also unveil a second SUV called the Ertiga. The automaker aims to introduce the new products in quick succession to take advantage of India’s growing market and to remain as the leading automaker for the country.

Nakanishi says, “India is set to become one of the top automobile markets of the world. This may become evident as early as the next Delhi Auto Expo. Maruti Suzuki will lead India’s automobile growth and evolution by strengthening its compact car portfolio, entering new segments, and creating new product categories across fuel options.”

GALLERY: Maruti Suzuki XAα Concept

[Source: Left Lane News]

DC Design is scheduled to unveil India’s first supercar at the upcoming 2012 Delhi Auto Expo that’s just around the corner. This is the same firm that was responsible for the Rolls-Royce inspired Phantom DC Concept coupe back in 2006.

The supercar will be a limited edition, low volume vehicle assembled at DC Design’s facility in Pune, India. They anticipate deliveries of the vehicle to begin by the end of 2013.

Details are bleak, but what we do know is that it will probably be powered by a V6 engine sourced from Honda with a custom turbo setup to give it over 400-hp. The power-to-weight ratio will be the focus for this supercar, as DC Design is aiming to have it weigh less than 3,400-lbs.

Right now DC Design is aiming to have 300 vehicles built and if there is enough demand they’ll produce up to 3,000 vehicles a year. Despite being a “supercar” DC Design hopes to price it around $55,000.

We’re sure more details will be revealed once the 2012 Delhi Auto Expo starts on January 5th, 2012.

The Tata Nano was supposed to be a cheap, simple car built for the people, but so far it has caused nothing but problems for the Indian automaker.

First it was an electrical issue that caused the Nano to catch fire which was the catalyst for a recall of 70,000 Nano’s. Now a faulty starter motor that the manufacturer says needs to be replaced is plauging the Nano.

Tata says that this recall is not actually a recall at all, as it was not spurred by customer complaints, but rather by Tata engineers designing a better starter which they feel all early model Nano’s should utilize. The recall will affect over 140,000 vehicles and is the largest recall in Tata’s history.

Suzuki is working closely with Fiat to increase their supply of diesel-powered cars in India.

The two have been working together since 2003 when Suzuki started offering a Fiat-sourced 2.0-liter diesel in their Sedici/SX4 duo. That partnership flew in the face of another deal between Suzuki and Volkswagen that has since imploded.

Recently rising gas prices in India, where Maruti-Suzuki  has a commanding grasp of the auto market, have meant that demand for diesels is outstripping supply. Consequently, a new deal between Suzuki and Fiat will ramp up production from the previous 280,000 Swifts per year to 380,000.

The Swift is the best-selling car in India, and will likely take an even bigger share in January when the increased production will take effect. The diesel version is so popular that Maruti-Suzuki actually raised the price to encourage consumers to opt for the less popular gasoline powered version.

[Source: Left Lane News]

The world’s least expensive car, the Tata Nano’s original purpose in design was to be a modern Ford Model-T, mobilizing millions of families in India.

Despite the Nano’s noble intentions, only 1,200 examples were sold in the month of September when initial projections expected a rather optimistic 20,000 vehicles per month. A new approach may be the remedy and that’s exactly what Tata hopes to achieve with its new Nano commercial.

Targeting India’s young, active, and likable college students, the ad features American idioms sprinkled throughout that frankly sound a little contrived.

The Nano boasts a passenger space increase of 21 percent. Tata also shows off the Nano’s acceleration (good for passing trucks on Indian highways) as well as ride quality and ground clearance capable of fording a spring creek. The Nano’s A/C is so strong that one buddy decides to hibernate, allowing everyone else to enjoy a popular college pastime that involves black markers and camera phones. Finally, the twisty and mountainous roads to the weekend getaway help to demonstrate Nano’s best-in-India 25 km/liter petrol mileage as well as its short turning radius.

See the commercial for yourself after the jump

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Tata Sons has named Cyrus Mistry as its next CEO, as current CEO Ratan Tata prepares to retire. The unmarried, childless Tata named Mistry as CEO of the holding company responsible for Tata’s numerous divisions, among them their automotive sector which owns Jaguar and Land Rover, along with the namesake Tata Motors brand.

“The appointment of Cyrus P. Mistry as deputy chairman of Tata Sons is a good and far-sighted choice. He has been on the board of Tata Sons since August 2006 and I have been impressed with the quality and caliber of his participation, his astute observations and his humility,” said Tata, in a statement.

Mistry’s father is Tata’s largest individual shareholder, with an 18 percent stake in the Indian conglomerate. He is currently head of another Indian corporation, the Shapoorji Pallonji group, and will assume full responsibilities in December, 2012 when Tata steps down.

[Source: Automotive News]

The world’s cheapest vehicle has just gotten a whole lot (little bit?) better, with Tata announcing a batch of upgrades for their economical Nano. The 624-cc engine now makes a ferocious 37.5-hp, giving it a max speed of 65-mph.

In addition to the performance increase, the Nano also got its suspension reworked which included a new anti-roll bar in the front and a redesigned steering mechanism. The biggest improvement though is that the Nano Standard now comes with power-assisted brakes. Prior to this refresh, power-assisted brakes were only offered on some of Nano’s more luxurious models.

On the inside, buyers have a trio of colors to choose from for interior trim – beige, black and gray while the exterior colors have expanded to a portfolio of 10 choices. Those 10 colors are worth mentioning just for their names: Pearl White, Rouge Red, Aqua Blue, Neon Rush, Serene White, Meteor Silver, Mojito Green, Papaya Orange, Sunshine Yellow and Champagne Gold.

Hopefully these will help increase Tata’s Nano sales. They originally projected (or rather, hoped) to sell around 20,000 to 25,000 vehicles a month but saw only 1,200 leave dealer lots in September. Maybe it’s not paying off to be the world’s cheapest vehicle.

A report by Roland Berger Strategy Consultants claims that by 2015, Brazil will be the world’s third largest auto market, with China and the United States occupying the first and second slots respectively.

Brazil will displace Japan as the third largest market, as sales are expected to double to 6.6 million vehicles by 2020. The report also claims that Chinese and Indian auto makers will export vehicles to Brazil en masse and could grab 10 percent of the market by 2020. Volkswagen, Ford and Fiat have long enjoyed market dominance in Brazil, but a flood of cheap cars from China and India could radically alter the balance of market share in an economy where merely having a car is seen as a major step-up from two-wheeled transportation.

[Source: The Truth About Cars]