Range Rover

The newly-released Nano -- the world's cheapest car -- pictured at the Tata auto-maker's plant at Pimpri near Mumbai. The Nano went on sale on Thursday, with dealers and the company behind it confident of strong demand despite a slump in global car sales amid the world economic downturn.

NEW DELHI, April 9 -- The much-awaited bookings for the world's cheapest car Nano which worth 2,000 U.S. dollars starts Thursday across India for a limited period of 17 days, local media reported.

Tata Motors states to accept application forms of 300 rupees (6 U.S. dollars) each for the 624-cc jelly-bean shaped Nano and a booking amount ranges between 2,850 rupees (57 U.S. dollars) and 4,110 rupees (82.2 U.S. dollars) among different banks.

Online booking for the Nano, the first such option in India, are also available with cost of 200 rupees (4 U.S. dollars)


The newly-released Nano -- the world's cheapest car -- pictured at the Tata auto-maker's plant at Pimpri near Mumbai.

Tata Motors itself has sold over 75,000 booking forms from its 218 outlets across the country so far while booking agent State Band of India has distributed hundreds of thousands of applications only a day after Nano's commercial launch on March 23.

Ravi Bhattacharya, sales manager of auto dealer Autolink Delhi said that ever since the car was commercially launched, his outlets received at least 100-200 unique inquiries daily. His firm has decided to deploy additional sales-people to handle the expected rush for the bookings.

Other dealers say almost half the customers visiting their showrooms to check out the Nano are buying forms, with most of the inquiries related to the top-end variant.


The newly-released Nano -- the world's cheapest car -- pictured at the Tata auto-maker's plant at Pimpri near Mumbai.

According to Tata Motors, waiting time for the high end with power windows and air conditioning priced at less than 3,000 U.S. dollars could be shorter, since the company will make more of these cars than the 2,000 U.S. dollar base version.

A total of 20 billion rupees (400 million U.S. dollar) has been invested into the Nano project with five years of research and development. But the company, which had to shift its upcoming Nano factory last October after some protests over farmland acquired for the project, has earmarked just 100,000 vehicles for the first phase.
(Xinhua)

Luo Wenyou, a collector of classic cars, cleans the floor in his classic car museum in Beijing, April 9, 2009. Luo's classic car museum with more than 160 classic cars, is scheduled to open in late May.


Luo Wenyou, a collector of classic cars, checks his collection in his classic car museum in Beijing, April 9, 2009. Luo's classic car museum with more than 160 classic cars, is scheduled to open in late May.


Luo Wenyou, a collector of classic cars, cleans one of his collection outside his classic car museum in Beijing, April 9, 2009. Luo's classic car museum with more than 160 classic cars, is scheduled to open in late May.


Luo Wenyou, a collector of classic cars, cleans one of his collection in his classic car museum in Beijing, April 9, 2009. Luo's classic car museum with more than 160 classic cars, is scheduled to open in late May.


Luo Wenyou, a collector of classic cars, arranges one of his collection in his classic car museum in Beijing, April 9, 2009. Luo's classic car museum with more than 160 classic cars, is scheduled to open in late May.

Details regarding the 2010 Opel Astra are pretty ambiguous at this time, but the guys over at Auto Motor und Sport have just revealed some new unofficial specs of the upcoming model. As you can see for yourselves, the car features a low hood and front fascia in order to meet European pedestrian crash safety regulations. A large grille with aggressive headlights corroborated with fog lamps placed on the outer edges of the front bumper contribute to the sporty appearance of the car.


Technical details are again fairly scarce, but the aforementioned publication says the car will come with a 1.4-liter naturally aspirated petrol unit as standard, with maximum output of around 90 horsepower and CO2 emissions of 120 g/km. In order to bring fuel consumption to the lowest possible level, the
Click to enlarge [2010 Opel Astra Unofficial Photos and Specs - pic 2]
2010 Astra will also boast several technologies aimed at this goal, including a stop/start system to idle the engine while not in motion.
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At a Chrysler press event this morning to introduce the new 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee, company president Jim Press revealed this image of the next-generation Chrysler 300 interior. He said it hinted at “great products coming from the new Chrysler.”
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