It was only a year ago that the company unveiled a diesel variant of its hatchback — Micra and now its mid-sized sedan, Sunny, too will be available in a diesel avatar. The Sunny diesel will be available in two variants – XL and XV which are priced at Rs.7.98 and 8.78 lakhs (ex-showroom delhi) respectively.

Under the bonnet beats a 1.5-litre, 4 cylinder K9K heart that churns out 85bhp and 200Nm torque. Equipped with a 5-speed manual transmission and features like ABS, EBD, BA and airbags, this roomy sedan boasts of a fuel efficiency of 21.64 km/l. With 47 dealerships across the country, Nissan plans to cash in on the diesel variant of the car as petrol prices head north. Having already sold 3000 petrol sedans this year, a diesel variant will surely get those sales figures going, something that Nissan looked forward to ever since they first came to India

Honda Siel Cars India has launched a newer version of the Honda City with enhanced looks and better features. The new City will get a chrome front grille, restyled front and rear bumper and brand new taillights, not to mention 10-spoke alloy wheels. The car will also be longer by 20mm and have a higher ground clearance by 5mm.

The interiors will receive a re-designed front centre control panel fitted with chrome, and new Blue Meter Graphic. Added features include Cruise Control, turn indicators on the outside rear view mirrors and integrated advanced audio system.


To keep customers happy there will be a wider selection of variants to choose from - 5 variants in total including Corporate, E, S, V MT/AT and V (sunroof) MT/AT. All variants will have the same 1.5 litre i-VTEC engine producing 116bhp. Safety features will include ABS with Brake Assist, Dual SRS air bags, pre-tensioner seat belts and G-Force Control Technology.

The car will also come in new colour options such as Carnelian Red Pearl and Sparkling Brown Metallic. Bookings for the next generation City have already started and deliveries will begin in 2012.

With the successful completion of the inaugural Indian F1 Grand Prix, we couldn’t help but wonder, when would we get an opportunity to drive at the track. And it seems the nice folks at Mercedes India were listening to our wishes as they invited us for an event at the Buddh International Circuit where we could drive their cars and get a first-hand feel of the F1 circuit and how their cars behaved on India’s first world-class race track.

The day began with a briefing session about the safety features present in all Mercedes products and how the professional Instructors would demonstrate all those features and their functioning in the safety of a racetrack and most importantly the do’s & don’ts for us when it was our turn to drive on the track.

After the briefing, it was time for a demo lap with the instructors driving the car and demonstrating the features, as well as giving us tips about the various parts of the track. And finally it was our turn to drive the car and the track proved to be a challenging one with enough cresting curves and other technical details in its design to make sure that it remained a challenge for even the best of drivers. Our only gripe at the end of the day? We got to do too few laps, we can’t wait to go back and spend some more time there.

Cochin based tuning company – Pete’s automotive have recently launched Stage 2 and Stage 3 tuning packages for the 1.8 TSI engines found in vehicles like the Skoda Laura, VW Passat, and Audi A4, which can now be tuned from 160 to 400 bhp depending upon the tuning stage.

Developed with the technical assistance from JBS - Autodesigns and Custom Code, UK, Stage 2 offers a performance tweak of almost 200bhp from the stock 160 to 320-340bhp, while Stage 3 takes the figure ranging up to a whopping 360-400bhp. The performance upgrade till 360bhp can be done without having to change the stock clutch and engine internals.

This is great news for the hardcore car enthusiasts considering that Skoda Laura RS was launched only a couple of months ago with a 1.8-litre, 160bhp TSI unit.

After trying out all their options, Saab recently filed for bankruptcy in Swedish courts. Once an active part of General Motors, the 74 year-old manufacturer had been in troubled waters due to a cash crunch and had to shut down their Trollhatan plant in March last year as its supplier refused to provide them any more components until the company paid off all its debts. Several attempts were made to stay afloat, the most recent one being Youngman and Pang Da – two Chinese companies who had signed a MoU to take control giving them some hope. But it is said that the deal fell through when GM disagreed to the tie-up on the grounds that the Chinese would copy their technology if the brand would be sold to them. With no solution in view, Saab CEO Victor Muller put in the bankruptcy papers just a couple of hours before the court was due to give a on the company’s reorganization which indicates that Saab is the latest brand to bite the dust.