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]

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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Renault is in development of an ultra low-cost vehicle, along the lines of the Tata Nano. While the Nano is currently suffering from some awful sales numbers (initial projection of 20,000 a month but only saw 1,200 units sold in September), CEO of Renault/Nissan Carlos Ghosn is convinced that an extremely affordable vehicle would be a good segment for Renault to venture into when approaching emerging markets.

According to reports from La Tribune, Gérard Detourbet, the head of Renault’s low-cost division, will be responsible in developing an engine and platform for a vehicle next year that will have a starting price of 2,500€ ($3,300). While Renault is already offering multiple low-cost vehicles in Brazil, it is possible that the new car will not wear a Renault badge, but the badge of sub-brand Dacia (seen above) instead.

[Source: Left Lane News]

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]

Look for the little green car in this video. No, not that one. See it?

It’s just another day in Bangladesh (according to the comments), one of the many South Asian countries with more notorious drivers than the last 6 Nicholas Cage movies. After the bus knocks over the other one, the little green car ejects itself from the scene of the crime like a wayward booger. It appears to be a tuk-tuk, traveling alongside the bus without enough time to stop its puny self.

We hope nobody was seriously injured, though Mr. Tuk-Tuk Driver may have to wipe down his seat. Click the jump to see the whole video.

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The Tata Nano has had a roller coaster start to its life. It garnered great interest when it was launched as the cheapest new car in the world, costing around $2300.

That certainly helped push sales, with Tata selling 9000 units in July 2010. However, after a few vehicles caught fire and concerns over its safety became public, sales took a plunge and resulted in just 509 units sold in November.

Now it seems Tata has addressed the safety and reliability concerns for its city runabout, and along with good finance deals to tempt more people into their showrooms, Tata is now doubling production to met demand. Their hope is to sell 20,000 units per-month for the next fiscal year. Only time will tell if their plan works out.

There are no plans for a North American launch anytime soon.

[Source: Autocar]

If the maker of the world’s cheapest car does move ahead with plans to sell it here in the U.S., the sticker price won’t be the $2,000 figure that the car retails for in its home market of India.

Instead, says Tata Motors chairman, Ratan Tata, the Nano city car would likely range between $7,000 and $8,000. Tata made the comments recently at an event held at Cornell University, where he is an alumnus.

The reason for the higher price, says Tata, is that the car, “…will still be, in comparative terms, a car that the U.S. would accept.” In other words, it will have far more equipment than the base $2,000 Nano, which doesn’t even come with heat or air conditioning.

Previously, Tata had said the company would have the Nano on sale in the U.S. by 2012.

[Source: NYT]

There is such a thing of having too much of a good thing. Like gold… especially when it is on a Tata Nano. The most basic car on the road just got pimped to celebrate the 5,000th anniversary of Indian jewelry.

Tata Group, the company that makes the Nano, employed Titan, one of its subsidiaries, to make the very first pure gold jewelry car which will be launched in April/May 2011 under the name Goldplus Nano. The campaign to promote the flashy ride started in November when Tata asked the public to send in designs. Thirteen designs came in and the winner was announced December 24^th.

The winning design will be immortalized on the Nano and will be made out of pure gold at the Titan manufacturing plant in Hosur, Bangalore. The contests purposed was to drum up positive attention for the car, which saw sagging sales in the latter part of 2010.

[Source: International Business Times]

India’s Mahindra will buy troubled Korean carmaker Ssangyong for $463 million, with Mahindra gaining a 70% stake in the company. The deal is expected to conclude in March, 2011.

“Together with its financial capability, Mahindra offers competence in sourcing and marketing strategy while Ssangyong has strong capabilities in technology,” Mahindra President Pawan Goenka said in the statement. “We are committed to leveraging the combined synergies by investing in a new Ssangyong product portfolio to gain momentum in global markets.”

Ssangyong, a maker of SUVs, trucks and minivans, faced a sales crunch when those segments fell out of favor with consumers during the economic crisis. Ssangyong’s most recent products, namely the Rodius, have been pilloried in the press for their bizarre designs, which some have labeled as the world’s ugliest cars.

[Source: Wall Street Journal]

In the latest installment of the Mahindra/Global Vehicles Soap Opera, it appears that the first order for U.S. spec trucks, now called Pik-Ups has been placed, according to a statement released by GV.

Mahindra and Global have been battling each other in court, regarding a contract clause which stated that the former could wash its hands clean of the deal if the trucks didn’t meet U.S. EPA emissions certification. Now that they have, Mahindra still wants to rescind the contract between it and GV, but there’s evidence to suggest that the company’s argument won’t hold up in court, partly because Mahindra submitted its EPA paperwork a number of days after the June 11 deadline passed and also the fact that GV has already invested considerable effort and $100 million in setting up a distribution network for the trucks in the U.S. As a result of all this, it looks likely that Global Vehicles will retain exclusive rights to sell the trucks.

Said GV’s CEO John Perez “We trusted Mahindra when they said they wanted to cap their losses if the vehicle couldn’t be sold here. We patiently waited and accommodated Mahindra through years of delays and kept an extremely powerful distribution network intact while the factory worked through the complicated task of meeting U.S. emissions standards. We did this because we believed we were all working toward the same goals. Now Mahindra is trying to change the rules. We delivered our end of the contract, and we’re ready to get down to business.”

Although the GV/Mahindra saga is far from over, the announcement of a $35 million initial purchase order by GV, suggests that after a long period of virtual stalemate, things appear to be finally moving forward.