No, German police aren’t about to enlist a Chevrolet Corvette among their fleet of patrol cars. Rather, this particular Corvette, dressed in police livery, has been built to help promote safe and legal vehicle modification. The car was presented at this past weekend’s Essen Motor Show, and it’s the latest modified car to join the...
Aston Martin is building just 24 examples of its 800-plus-horsepower Vulcan supercar, and three of them have been bought by customers in the United States. The first U.S.-bound car, a stunning burnt orange example, was recently delivered to businessman Bernie Moreno in Cleveland, Ohio. Moreno, who runs a number of dealerships including Aston...
The calendar, famous for its nudity, has not disappointed this time either but has a very different selection of women as opposed to the usual supermodels that grace its pages. For its 2016 edition, the calendar is moving away from its overtly sexy aesthetic to an exceptionally inspiring one as the supermodel lineup has been replaced by powerful women of achievement -- like tennis superstar Serena Williams, actress Amy Schumer, director Ava Duvernay, singer and activist Patti Smith, blogger-turned-actress TaviGevinson, and even 65-year-old author Fran Lebowitz.
The result is a stunning collection of black-and-white portraits captured by renowned photographer Annie Leibovitz that depicts these female luminaries -- some clothed and some stripped down to almost nothing.
Leibovitz said the Italian tire manufacturer's annual calendar would be "a departure" and it certainly is, considering the only model featured is Natalia Vodianova, who is also known for her philanthropy.
But who said that substance and sexiness are mutually exclusive. We are certainly not complaining
For more pictures from the calendar, click.
Revealing further details about the company's plans to expand the reach of its automatic variants, executive director (engineering) of Maruti Suzuki India, CV Raman told Financial Express, "We are watching the market; we will definitely bring in these technologies. We want to make sure that each of the segments where we are, we do offer this kind of technology."
The company is also planning to make the technology more appealing for the masses as well. "We are making sure that some two-pedal technology is available in each segment, so that people have the choice. We are also trying to make it affordable," said Raman.
The Alto K10 and Celerio use a Magneti Marelli-sourced AMT unit. The sales of the automatic versions comprise close to 25% of the total sales of the models since their launch. In the case of the latter, the AMT variants account for about 40% of the total sales. The success has encouraged Maruti to extend the technology to other models and recently, the company launched the WagonR AMT.
Typically, the auto gear-shift variant of a Maruti Suzuki model is priced around Rs 30,000-R50,000 higher as compared to manual transmission variant while a CVT variant (a higher version of automatic) has a price difference of around Rs 90,000-R100,000 than the comparable manual transmission variant.
Maruti is likely to keep AMT technology to the mass market models while the premium offerings are expected to get the CVT technology.
VW India finally wakes up
According to a report in Autocar India, Volkswagen India has admitted to the Ministry of Transport that around 3,14,000 cars were carrying the 'defeat devices' or software that was designed to allow cars to cheat on emission tests. With the German automaker continuing to sell cars in India despite the whistle being blown over this controversy, the number of affected cars in all likeliness is expected to go up.
President and Managing Director, Volkswagen India Private Limited, Andreas Lauermann went on to tell the website that the company's solution for most of the engines affected by the diesel emissions scandal is the same as the one used in Europe.
Fix: Same as Europe
Earlier last month, the CEO of VW Matthias Manduuml;ller had let out the corrective measures that will be adopted to fix the faulty engines. He had said that Germany's Federal Motor Transport Authority has signed off on a software update to fix vehicles carrying the affected 2-liter diesel engines that were installed with the cheating software. The regulator has also given the "basic go" to a fix for the 1.6-litre vehicles that will involve replacing an air filter cartridge and grill. Details are yet to be finalised on a software fix for 1.2-litre motors.
The carmaker claims neither solution will impact engine performance or fuel economy. However, these claims are unverified as of now.
Indian pollution norms still unclear
Another website has reported that the Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI) recently investigated some of VW's diesel models in India and found "significant variations" between the laboratory test figures and the actual on-road emission levels. The affected cars are said to include all cars powered by the EA189 diesel engine family, blanketing cars sold by the Volkswagen, Skoda and Audi brands.
However, it remains to be seen whether these cars are flouting the Indian norms. Allegedly, these cars are emitting three times more NOx than the permitted level in India; though that figure touches 40 in America.
The final decision in this case is expected to come out soon as the VW officials are set to meet the government representatives this week.
Meanwhile, the National Green Tribunal has also recently sought response from the central government and Volkswagen Group on a plea seeking a ban on manufacture and sale of Volkswagen's cars in the country for allegedly flouting emission norms. It has asked them to reply by December 23.
