2010 MotoGP season buzz

With half the MotoGP 2009 season already underway, its that time of the year now when the interesting buzz about the 2010 rider-shifts starts erupting. The first bit came in the form of the brave rumor indicating FIAT Yamaha rider Jorge Lorenzo's shift to the Repsol Honda factory team for 2010. But that seems to be over now, with Lorenzo most likely continuing alongside Valentino Rossi - making sure he has atleast the same (if not better) equipment levels as Rossi to continue their battle for supremacy.

The second bit of news comes in the form of Bautista's confirmed seat for the Rizla Suzuki team. The 250cc championship contender will take advantage of the fact that Suzuki have received a dispensation from the rookie rule which usually forces new entrants to sign with satellite teams. This will earn him a factory seat - something that he has been desiring for quite some time now. Since his current partners, Aspar, are trying in vain to convince him to join their MotoGP operations, it seems that their two bikes would find the reins under Tony Elias and Hector Barbera!

Tony Elias' Gresini seat on the other hand will be filled 250cc category's racing wonder Marco Simonchelli. His team mate will be none other than Macro Melandri - who will make a comeback to the Gresini team after having spent the last two years at Ducati and Kawasaki respectively. In spite of losing factory support this year, the Italian rider has proved his worth in almost each and every race he has participated in, and hence, looks forward to a successful comeback with the San Carlo Gresini outfit.

Stay tuned to the Motoroids Blog as we bring you more exciting news from around the paddock. For other interesting news, reviews and features, download the absolutely free Motoroids2 e-magazine for www.motoroids.com now!

Image Credits: MotoGP Press

Transformers bikes to be auctioned

Los Angeles will feature the auction of the choppers featured in the latest Transformers movie. The bikes will go under the hammer this weekend. The machines featured alongside the Hollywood siren Megan Fox are prominently featured in the movie.

One of these bikes, built by Big Bear Choppers of California, is expected to be valued between 75,000 and 300,000 dollars. Auction ends Saturday 3.00am UK time and one can bid online.

VW Beetle set for India debut

Volkswagen India is all set to launch their iconic Beetle in the country in around three months time. The Volkswagen Beetle enjoys the distinction of being longest running and mass produced car of a single design in the world’s history.

The car will be imported through the CBU route from VW’s Mexican plant. Owing to the 110% import duty, the iconic car is likely to retail for around 20 lakhs. The Volkswagen Beetle is currently undergoing testing in the country.

The Beetle will powered by a 1.9 litre TDI engine mated to a 5-speed gearbox. It will also come fully equipped with features like ABS, traction control, front and side airbags, parking sensors, rain sensors and cruise control.

Venom GT to be faster than the Bugatti Veyron?

The debut supercar from any low-volume ultra-exclusive supercar maker (read Ascari, Koenigsegg, Pagani) is preceded by claims to beat the best 0-100 acceleration and top-speed figures. Following the trend, American tuning firm Hennessey, better known for tinkering with Cadillacs, Corvettes and Dodges is now planning a supercar, to be introduced at the next Geneva Motor Show.

The mid-engined two-seater, christened the Venom GT will be powered by a V8 dishing out a claimed 1,200bhp. Hennessey claim that the new car with so much power and a kerb-weight of less than 1100 Kg will take no more than 2.4 seconds to hit the 100kph mark from a standstill and should be good for a top speed of 272mph.

Those figures could easily shame a Veyron, but as you would assume, its easier said than done. Hennessey have made some real tall claims, let's see whether they manage to live up to them.

Ferrari 458 Italia Ringtones

There is hardly any petrolhead who is not fascinated by the sound of a roaring V8 with the Ferrari emblem on it! For all such enthusiasts, here are a few sounds clips of the new Italian steed, the F458 Italia. Available in MP3 and iPhone formats:

1. Off The Mark:


2. Acceleration:


3. Overtaking Maneuver:


4. On The Track:


5. On Board:

Tata eyeing Pininfarina?

The economic downturn is in the process of claiming famed Italian design house and coachbuilder Pininfarina as its latest victim. The automobile design marque is currently owned by parent company Pincar. Pininfarina’s 50.7% stake is up for grabs and Pincar has already hired a bank to help find potential buyers.

According to unconfirmed reports, Pincar is not willing to let go of its complete stake. It is also being reported that the sale of its majority stake in Pininfarina is an outcome of a debt agreement with banks towards the end of 2008.

One name that is currently doing the rounds as a potential buyer is Tata Motors. Pininfarina had earlier designed the Tata Indica and the lately the Prima concept car. Tata Motors which is on a brand acquisition spree, has already bought Jaguar and Land Rover and it is likely that the Italian design marque may also be in its kitty.

Pinninfarina has collaborated with various automobile manufacturers in the designing of cars. Some of its well know creations like the Ferrari California and 599 GTB, Alfa Romeo Spider, Maserati Grantourismo and Quattroporte, which are currently in production.

New Indica Vista Ignis variant with 1.4 petrol engine

Expected Launch: September 2009
Expected Price: 4.5 to 5.5 lakhs (On-Road)
The Indica Vista hasn't done as well as expected in the market thanks largely to customers not having faith in the Tata brand. So Tata has decided to give the Vista a new lease of life by plonking in Fiat's 1.4 litre petrol power-plant from the Grande Punto. The Vista currently comes with a 1.2 litre engine variant which is a tad underpowered for the car. It was introduced just to keep the car inside government's skewed excise cut parameters for cars with petrol engines smaller than 1.2 litres. The Ignis will be the only Indica variant which wont be eligible for the excise cut driving up its price.

The 1.4 litre engine is good for 90 bhp and 115 Nm of toque. Expect the price to slightly undercut the Swift petrol by 10-20,000 rupees. At that price the Vista will be a sensible alternative to the Swift thanks to better (much better) space and practicality, drivability and value. The engine being a Fiat unit, it will also be as reliable. The top-of the range Aura variant is loaded to gill with a 2-DIN stereo with bluetooth connectivity, steering mounted controls, electronically adjustable mirrors, chunky 175 section 14 inch tyres and last but not the least ABS and 2 airbags.

Devon GTX to attempt the Nurburgring record

Fed up of all the criticism that Yanks don't make a good handling car, the Americans have decided to teach a thing or two to their European brethren by attempting to lay claim to the holy grail of handling, the Nurburgring-Nordschleife lap record in this car.
What you see here is the Devon GTX in its final production spec. It looks like the Ferrari 599 GTB from some angles and the Alfa 8C Competizione from some others. However it might well be one up on both of them in some ways. It is a proper Supercar with a bespoke interior replete with gull-wing doors n all. It borrows the humongous V10 from the Dodge Viper, tuned to develop upwards of 650 horses.

Devon's attempts are not to be taken lightly though, just last week the GTX lapped Laguna Seca in a record breaking 1m35.075s. Currently, 'the king of the 'ring' record is held by the Radical SR8 which did it in 6m55s.

New Lancer on its way!

A few days back we told you about HM's plans to launch the Mitsubishi Lancer Ev0-X in India, early next year. But if you are already disappointed by the speculated Rs.40-lakh price tag, then Hindustan Motors might put the smile back on your face!

Come Auto Expo 2010 and you may see HM-Mitsubishi's new Lancer gracing its exhibit. Designed to reflect the familial connection with the Evo-X, this model, if launched in India will replace the existing Lancer Cedia line-up. Doing duty under the new hood will be the 1.8-litre MIVEC petrol engine. There would be a frugal 2.0-litre diesel powerplant too.

This model is loaded with all the latest safety and dirver aids along with the fun quotient that one can associate with a 'Mitsubishi Lancer', albiet with less than half the horses.

Scoop! Hyundai's new SUV for India

Wondering where the Hyundai Tuscon suddenly disappeared? Well, to start off, the SUV never took off on the sales charts which in the past couple of years, forced the Korean car maker to give it the axe-treatment. However, with the overall SUV market showing a healthy growth now, Hyundai has now decided to make a re-entry into this segment.

And it looks good too! Seen here are the scoop pics of the Korean car maker's entry level SUV. As you can see, the car sports an aggressive stance as compared to the Tuscon that was sold here. Hyundai's recent philosophy of rating quality higher than quantity are evident from this new vehicle. The car will be powered by a 2.2-litre engine for India. The 2010 Tuscon is based on the 'ix-onic concept' which Hyundai showcased a few months back. Expect this SUV to go on sale in March 2010 and may be renamed as a the iX35 to gel with their 'i' naming convention.

Asian Road Racing Championship round in Chennai

Finally there’s something for Indian bike racing aficionados to cheer about. The fourth round of the Petronas Asian Road Racing Championship will be held in the country. The earlier three races of the season took place at Malaysia, Japan and Indonesia in the month of April, May and June respectively. In each round, two races are held in the 600cc and 115cc engine (underbone) category. The fourth round is scheduled to take place from 3rd to 6th September at the Madras Motor Sports Club race track in Irungattukottai, Chennai.

Dilip Roggers, Preetham Dev Moses, and K.Rajni have reportedly confirmed participation in the 600cc class. India is set to host an international race event after more than a decade’s gap. The Petronas Asian Road Racing Championship is one of the important biking events in the Asian continent.

For passes contact:
Madras Motor Sports Club,
123/1, Guru Mansion,
TTK Road, Alwarpet,
Chennai 600 018
You can also drop in a mail at mmsc_chennai@yahoo.co.in or info@madrasmotorsports.in

A-Star achieves 1 lakh milestone

Maruti Suzuki India has rolled out 1,00,000 units of the A-Star. According to R.C.Bhargava, Chairman, Maruti Suzuki India, the car is doing well in the export market and the company is planning to export over 75,000 units of the A-Star by the end of this fiscal.

Bhargava also revealed that Nissan has increased its order of Maruti’s small car to 54,000 units for the current fiscal from 30,000 units. The A-Star is sold in the European market by Nissan with the branding Pixo. The country’s largest car manufacturer claims to have already exported over 50,000 units of the A-Star.

Global Car Sales First half of 2009

1. Toyota 3,564,105 units -26.0%

2. General Motors 35,52,722 units -21.8%

3. Volkswagen 31,00,300 units -5.1%

4. Hyundai-Kia 21,53,000 units - -

5. Ford 21,45,000 units -30.6%

6. PSA Peugeot-Citroen 15,86,900 units -14.0%

7. Honda 15,86,000 units -21.6%

8. Nissan 15,45,976 units -23.2%

9. Suzuki 11,52,000 units -10.2%

10. Renault 11,06,989 units -16.5%

Volkswagen seems to have survived the recession well as have Hyundai and Suzuki to some extent.
While Ford, Toyota and Nissan and of course GM have suffered huge losses in volumes.

Hyundai pips Ford to become the 4th biggest car maker in the World

The Korean automobile manufacturer, Hyundai-Kia group has managed to outsell the American giant Ford in global automobile sales by roughly 8000 units, in the first half of 2009.
It has been a rapid rise through the sales charts for Hyundai who was ranked way down in 11th place, just a year ago.
Hyundai attributes its growth to build products suited specifically to local markets. But that doesn't quite seem to be the case. It's new 'i' range of cars (i10,i20,i30...) are more or less same all over the world. In fact its the Genesis which shows us the real secret behind Hyundai's worldwide success. Hyundai targets excellence in quality and engineering as opposed to perfection targeted by its German and Japanese counterparts and delivers products that are 90% as good as its rivals at 60% of their price. It is this fantastic 'value for money' proposition that is responsible for Hyundai's resounding success.

The Yamaha Fazer 250 story - more information

The question that everyone's been asking after reading about the possible launch of the Fazer 250 on Motoroids is when exactly are they going to introduce it. Well, the 10th Auto Expo is just around the corner, and there cannot be a better platform for the Japanese company to launch the big bike. They'll also showcase what they have in store for the coming years for India.

The Fazer is selling well for Yamaha India with a waiting period of well over 30 days. If a well-styled 150, priced so optimistically can sell so well, we don't think the blokes at Yamaha will have much problem introducing a bigger engine in the same bike for a higher price. And a well styled half-faired bike, with a fuel injected 250cc torquey single, priced in the region of Rs 1 lakh sounds like the perfect offering for someone who wants an all-rounder. FI would mean that the bike won't go breathless, be it while scaling the altitudes of the Himalayas, or while cruising through the highways at sea level - a virtue that's perfect for touring. The well-sorted dynamics and wide rubber on the Fazer would mean that it'll be a great corner carver for the weekends as well.

Yamaha are also planning to increase sales in the 100cc segment as nothing below the Gladiator is moving out of the showrooms. Yamaha are looking very keenly at the scooter segment as well. We have a fair idea of what exactly they want to do in those two segments. Stay tuned for the updates..

Click here for the first part of the Yamaha story about the Fazer 250

Click here to read about Yamaha India's scooter strategy for India.

Visit www.motoroids.com to download India's first bike e-magazine, absolutely free!

GM speaks for the first time after the economic downfall!

General Motors, President and CEO, Fritz Henderson, during a product announcement revealed his plans of bringing the American automobile marquee to its former glory.

According to Henderson the days of inadequate cars are over. He stated that GM can’t afford to build rubbish small cars. He also revealed that the money spent on pick-ups and full-size utilities will instead be used to make sure that the economy needs of users are met. The American automobile manufacturer’s prime focus and spending will be on cars and crossovers. He further added that doing a bunch of average products wouldn’t win them anything. “We have a lot of interesting things coming” were his specific words.

The President and CEO also got questioned on ‘His plans to make GM great’. He answered “By being great in the market.... Not by having the most competitive discounts in the market, but by having the best cars, promoting them the best, by differentiating and doing what made GM great in the past: great styling... Value that people don’t expect... We should blow people away with what they get for the money.
Answering on questions related to profitability and balance sheet, Henderson revealed that cash flow will be positive next year. Admitting that the culture of GM needs change, Henderson said that The ‘New GM’ will be a much more nimble business outfit.

GM is also inviting questions on Twitter via @gmblogs. Go ahead and make the most of it!

Super Scoop! India-spec Ninja 250's production pics revealed

Tired of waiting for the Ninja? Done reading the speculations about the naked/street/modified versions of the Kawasaki pocket rocket? Well, here's the real deal! Motoroids have the latest pictures of the production ready, India-spec Ninja 250.

Seen here for the first time in India, are the pics of Bajaj's production ready version of the Kawasaki quarter litre motorcycle! And as you can see, the Indian authorities have once again managed to degrade the beauty of this Japanese machine by forcing the loud front number plate in the most ungainly position ever. Yet to come is the all-so-important saree guard which will deteriotate its sporty stance further.

The headlights of the new bike won't probably be as functional as the superb projection-beam headlamp of the Pulsar 220, but do the job of endowing the front with oodles of style rather well. The blinker lamps as well as some other body panels will be locally manufactured, making sure you don't have to pay through your nose if ever you drop this Kwacker. We love the angular, chiselled styling of the RVMs and the big wave rotors up front add a lot of oomph to the visuals apart from promising great stopping power for the Ninja. From whatever little we can decipher from these low-res images, the fit and finish of the bike seems to be top notch. Bajaj have done the right thing by not tinkering with the styling of this machine, and it'll be one of the sportiest and the most well-proportioned machines on Indian streets when it makes its debut.

Motoroids have many more pictures and much more dope on the Ninja 250. Stay tuned for more more insights on probably the most awaited bike in India. We'll be back as soon as we are done analysing the pictures and have found out where those high-performance components are coming from.

Visit www.motoroids.com to download India's first bike e-magazine - absolutely free!

Winners and Losers of July

Lets take a look at winners and losers in the monthly sales for the month of July 2009
Small Cars:

Winner
Maruti's small cars (48,000 units sold), especially the Alto, WagonR, Ritz and Swift doing unbelievable numbers while the Zen Estilo and A-star aren't doing so well. The 800 still soldiers on with 2796 units.
Good news from Tata delivering all the 2475 of the Nano's produced in the first month, but the Indica tag is losing steam with just 8563 sold.
Niether the Punto(1840) nor the Jazz(1037) have sold as much as was expected.
For Hyundai it has been business as usual with its small hatches doing a steady 20,000 units.
GM, despite the bankruptcy in the US, is managing to sell its monthly quota of the 3000 odd Sparks it makes every month.
Skoda is in deep trouble with the Fabia managing to sell a measly 369 units inspite of being generally praised by the press.
Ford surprisingly still sold 85 units of the Fusion.
Stay tuned for monthly sales analysis of other segments...

Loser

Shock News! Michael Shumacher cancels F1 return

Seven times F1 champion Michael Schumacher isn't filling in for Felipe Massa anymore! In a shock disclosure he said that the injuries sustained due to his bike accidents in recent past are too severe to withstand the extreme stress which is an integral part of F1 racing. Here's what the Champion had to say.

"Yesterday evening, I had to inform Ferrari President Luca di Montezemolo and Team Principal Stefano Domenicali that unfortunately I'm not able to step in for Felipe. I really tried everything to make that temporary comeback possible, however, much to my regret it didn't work out. Unfortunately we did not manage to get a grip on the pain in the neck which occurred after the private F1-day in Mugello, even if medically or therapeutically we tried everything possible.

The consequences of the injuries caused by the bike-accident in February, fractures in the area of head and neck, unfortunately have turned out to be still too severe. That is why my neck cannot stand the extreme stresses caused by Formula 1 yet. This are the clear results of the examinations we did on the course of the past two weeks and the final examination yesterday afternoon. As there were no improvements after the day in Mugello, I decided at short notice on Sunday to do that thorough examination already yesterday.

I am disappointed to the core. I am awfully sorry for the guys of Ferrari and for all the fans which crossed fingers for me. I can only repeat that I tried everything that was within my power. All I can do now is to keep my fingers crossed for the whole team for the coming races."

We are sad. Check out http://www.michaelschumacher.de for more information.

Visit www.motoroids.com to download India's first bike e-magazine. Absolutely free!

Toyota Fortuner to be launched on 24th August

How much? 20-22 lakh (expected On-road price).
That means it will go head on against the market leader, the Endeavour. It will be a couple of lakh rupees cheaper than the Captiva and the Outlander and a whopping 6 lakh rupees cheaper than the Honda CR-V.

engines:
a 2.7 Petrol, 160bhp, 241Nm
and more importantly a 3.0 Diesel, 163bhp, 343Nm

What to expect? Bulletproof reliability, good off-road ability and a lot of Fortuners on the road by the end of the year!

Valentino Rossi rides at the IOM:TT!

Valentino Rossi! The demigod of motorcycle racing gets his dose of the holy tarmac at the Isle Of Man TT! Check this video as Valentino Rossi rides alongside the legendary Giacomo Agostini...



And here's MCN's (Motorcycle News) take on the same lap:

MOTOGP: Stoner to go underground!

Casey Stoner - one of the vital contenders for this year's MotoGP Championship, has been diagnosed of a secret illness which has been leading to his chronic fatigue for the past few races. The Australian will hence take a break from the MotoGP championship for at least the next three races.

While addressing the media, Ducati Boss Livio Suppo said: “Casey is very sorry that he is not able to race, especially as he feels the bike is very competitive. But he said he needs to fix this problem and come back at full strength for Estoril. It is one thing to stop if you are struggling but even more difficult when you know you are capable of winning.”

With Stoner's temporary retirement, Ducati satellite rider Mika Kallio will be promoted to race for the factory team, alongside Nicky Hayden for the next three races of Brno, Indianapolis and Misano. His current team mate Niccolo Canepa on the other hand will be joined by Ducati's WSBK rider Micheal Fabrizio.

Image Credits: Motogp.com