Lexus, Toyota’s luxury car arm, is known for making cars that your grandfather would approve of. Formed 20 years ago, Lexus unashamedly took on the very best from Germany, and across the world, with a beautifully executed combination of Japanese technology, reliability and quality. Well, two decades on, the LFA aims to take it up a notch – or two. This is a Lexus that your grandfather simply wouldn’t understand.

The LFA has a front-mid mounted 4.8 litre V10 that produces 550 horsepower at 9000rpm, which powers the rear wheels through a rear-mounted six-speed Automated Sequential Gearbox (ASG) – all of which propels the car to 100km/h in a scant 3.7 seconds. And if that doesn’t establish its supercar street-cred, the extensive use of carbon fibre, not to mention carbon ceramic brakes, certainly will. Oh, and one more thing, only 500 will be made and sold in 2011, so you better start saving now – you’ll need to, as the LFA will cost the equivalent of Rs. 1.7 crores in the US, which, of course, means that it’ll cost you more than twice that if you’d like the pleasure of driving one on Indian roads.

The naturally aspirated, and surprisingly compact, V10 produces a staggering 115bhp per litre, courtesy of a high compression ratio of 12:1 – achieved through low friction internals and optimized intake and exhaust flow. Of course, being a Lexus, it exceeds Euro 5 emissions norms. Toyota has also used its textile weaving heritage to develop some absolutely extraordinary and intricate carbon fibre looms – in order to create not only the panels, but also the material in-house.

In the words of Chief Engineer Haruhiko Tanahashi, “The LFA is a thoroughbred supercar, a machine engineered to achieve a single goal – to deliver a supreme driving experience. Over the past decade we have pushed every boundary in pursuit of this goal and I believe we have created the most driver-orientated car we possibly could.”

The LFA certainly looks the part, with a purposeful face, and a multitude of vents and grilles from front to back – not to mention a rear wing that rises out of the bodywork and three exhaust tips that shoot out at you from the center of the rear diffuser. The interior is where Lexus typically excels, and the interior of the LFA appears to be straight out of the Starship Enterprise.

It’s good to see that the worlds’ largest carmaker can take a bold step such as this in today’s environment – they clearly want everyone to know that they can not only effectively spread the eco message better than everyone else, but the manic supercar one as well.

Suzuki have been teasing show goers with a concept car named Kizashi for several years now. The car has evolved from its initial outlandish shape to a progressively more production ready, but still attractive, sedan.

Fortunately, the final production version retains a clean, yet aggressive, front-end. The rear features what looks like an integrated ducktail spoiler on the boot-lid, not to mention dual exhaust tips that are nicely moulded into the rear bumper. The interiors are sporty, and of seemingly very high quality.

The Kizashi is launched with Suzuki’s 2.4 liter, 4 cylinder, petrol engine that produces 185 horsepower at the front wheels. It does, however, come with the option of all-wheel drive and a 6-speed CVT transmission. Plus, a thumping V6 isn’t far away either. It also comes with a multitude of high-end standard features such as keyless ignition, 8 airbags, stability control, ABS, electronic brake force distribution, dual-zone climate control with rear seat vents, and much more.

The car will be showcased at the Auto Expo in January in New Delhi – following which it will be launched in India sometime next year. While Suzuki aim to differentiate the Kizashi on the basis of technology, value-for-money, and driving dynamics in the West, its remains to be seen how they’ll position the car in the Indian market – and, more importantly, how Indian buyers will respond to a premium Maruti Suzuki.

Ducati, the legendary Italian bike manufacturer, has joined the big-bike bandwagon in India, along with other manufacturers like Yamaha, Honda, Suzuki, and even Harley Davidson. The Italian icon has partnered with Precision Motor India Pvt. Ltd. to set up its first flagship showroom in Mumbai.

“We are very excited about the Mumbai opening. We believe India will play an increasingly relevant role in the motorcycle industry, and we are pleased to be among the first to recognize it and be an active part of the development in the market,” said Cristiano Silei, VP Sales, Ducati.

Following this initial launch, the company plans to expand its dealership network to other metropolitan cities – starting with Delhi, which is expected to be up and running very soon, followed by Hyderabad, Bangalore, Chennai and Kolkata.

On offer would be the entire range of superbikes, such as the Desmosedici RR, which is effectively a Moto GP bike for the road, as well as the Monster, Multistrada, Sport Classic and Hypermotard, which will be priced between Rs. 9.6 lakhs to as much as 43 lakhs.