BMW Art Car Collection on show in the UK.
The Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) in association with BMW, the Mayor of London and the London 2012 Festival, will take up a landmark car park in Shoreditch for two weeks starting from July 21st to August 4th for a unique exhibition of the BMW Art Car Collection for the very first time in the UK. The exhibition is part of the London 2012 Festival,, which is a 12-week nationwide celebration running, that will run up to 9 September 2012, bringing together best of the artists from across the globe with the leading ones from the UK.
The collection, initiated over 35 years ago, features BMW cars transformed by some of the world’s leading artists including: Alexander Calder, Frank Stella, Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol, Ernst Fuchs, Robert Rauschenberg, M.J Nelson, Ken Done, Matazo Kayama, Cesar Manrique, Jeff Koons, A.R Penck, Esher Mahlangu, Sandro Chia, Jenny Holzer and David Hockney.
ART DRIVE! THE BMW ART CAR COLLECTION will showcase cars by 16 international artists over six floors in the NCP Car Park on Great Eastern Street in Shoreditch.
The BMW Art Car Collection was started when French racing driver and auctioneer Hervé Poulain invited his friend Alexander Calder to design a car that meets with the artistic excellence to 'an already perfect object'. What came out, was a racing car that competed in the Le Mans 24-hour race long back in 1975, and this is how BMW Art car came into existence. Since then some of the greatest names in contemporary art have added to the collection creating a wide range of artistic interpretations.
David Hockney’s 1995 Art Car paints the inside of the car on the outside, revealing everything from internal engine parts to a dog in the back. The famous American painter and graphic artist Robert Rauschenberg did the photographic transfers of Ingres paintings while Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein used the canvas of the car to portray the essence of speed. Well-known for its support for innovation and new talent across the contemporary arts, the ICA has sought out some exciting emerging names in design from the East End to help deliver this project, including Julia, Loop.pH and My Beautiful City. The ICA is delighted to be working with LOCOG, BMW and the Mayor of London’s office on this prestigious project. Art Drive! presents an exciting opportunity to reach new and larger audiences.
Chevrolet Corvette turns 60 Years Old
The Chevrolet Corvette is a sports car that was first launched in the year 1953, as a convertible designed by Harley Earl and was introduced at the GM Motorama in the same year. Since then the car is in the market with its six generation history and have now completed 60 years. As Chevrolet is celebrating the 60th anniversary of the Corvette, it allows the car enthusiasts to take a tour back into the history of the vehicle. The car was originally launched as a XP-122 concept but received a critical acclamation resulting in the soon production of the car.
The demand of the car was such that Chevrolet had to increase the initial production from 150 to 300 models of the car in the year 1953. As the vehicle was getting an overwhelming response, GM decided to move the production of Chevrolet Corvette from Flint, Michigan to the St. Louis, Missouri plant which was equipped with machineries meant to handle the construction of the advanced sports car.
This shift of manufacturing increased the production of the vehicle from 300 units to 3,640 units for the year 1954. As the car has crossed six generations along with sixty model years, Chevrolet has recorded the sales of the Corvettes more than 1.5 million.
B-Class Mercedes-Benz Electric Version
The new generation Mercedes- Benz B- Class will be soon coming to the United States of America. Not all but at least one of the Models of the line will be definitely launched in the American states soon. According to the inside source at the Mercedes Benz's parent company the Daimler AG, the electric version of the compact MPV will be sooner or later available for sale in the American States starting in the year 2014. According to the source, the B Class EV will use the battery packs, an electric motor and other components of the car that have been sourced from Tesla Motors which have earlier supplied the electric powertrain for the second generation Smart ForTwo EV.
The initial plans of Mercedes were to offer a hybrid version of the B-Class with an internal combustion engine that would act as a range-extender but later plans changed and the company decided to manufacture a pure-electric model that would me more feasible looking at the current scenario. The zero emission vehicles are more reassuring and possess higher incentives than the vehicles that come into the category of range extenders and use high priced fuels. The second generation B-Class’s EV version has not been revealed yet but the pictures of the vehicle are wired on net.
Honda India Has to Bring the Diesel Cars to Sustain in Market
Although, the month of June has been rigid for many automakers, but the company, which has to actually take it in all seriousness is the Honda Siel Cars India (HSCI). And the reason is quite apparent that they are the only automaker exists in India, which doesn't have a diesel car portfolio. And who can deny the fact that the surge in petrol prices have compelled consumers to go towards diesel cars, despite a considerable higher price than that of the petrol models.
Recently out sales report clearly states that the June has come out as a huge setback for the company. Where in the June 2011, it sold 3,455 units, this year it has come down to 2,677 units. However, if looked at the accumulative sales of Q1, this might certainly give them a sigh of relief, but won't help in fighting out the real BIG problem. In fact Honda too has observed the whole situation, and this has made them speed-up their diesel engine plans, which has been said to be first fitted in its compact cars.
They revealed a 1.6-litre common rail i-DTEC engine at the Tokyo Motor Show for the first time, which will be further downsized to accommodate into the Honda Brio. The Honda Brio is the first model which will have a diesel heart in India and later on other cars will follow the suit. Other than the Honda Brio diesel, Honda is working on an MPV too using the Jazz platform for the markets like India, which will have the diesel engine as well.
New R&D Centre from Mahindra 2 Wheelers
In a bid to reach the top of the ladder in the competition among the two wheeler manufacturers, every company is taking some or the other step, be it launch or upgradation or anything else. Bajaj Auto, Hero MotoCorp, Honda Motorcycles & Scooters India, TVS, etc. have been ramping the news recently. So how could have Mahindra two wheelers stayed behind. So here’s Mahindra opening up a new research and development centre in Pune. The inauguration was held yesterday with quite some show. This new R&D centre is the third largest of all two wheeler R&D facilities present in India. During the inauguration, Mahindra 2 Wheelers also talked of what it has in store for two wheelers along with announcing what developments would take place at this research and development centre.
The first model launch coming our way is Mahindra Rodeo RZ 125cc, a scooter, which will be first launched in south India in around next three weeks. Next to come are three new motorcycles from Mahindra, which probably will take them at least 12 months to launch. The first to come will be Mahindra Stallio; as per what the company has to say, Mahindra Stallio will be another smile factor this festive season. The company says, it will launch Stallio before festive season. Speculations are for Diwali! Mahindra Mojo will see light somewhere around the first quarter of next year, that is, January to March 2013. However, the third bike still remains a mystery.
The new R&D centre will have a centre for developing engines and then testing them, a design studio, Computer Aided Engineering/Computational Fluid Dynamics facilities. It has been quite long now that Mahindra 2 Wheelers has stayed out of the limelight; to stay in the competition, high time that Mahindra comes back to focus. And with these steps of new R&D centre and new launches coming up, seems Mahindra 2 Wheelers have a realization of this. It is not just new launches that the company is talking of, they are now gliding with new technologies that can build a better future for them. The Chairman and Managing Director of Mahindra 2 Wheelers, who was present at the event, along with Anoop Mathur, said that the company’s aim is to reach a level of Rs. 20,000 revenue by the year 2020.
They already have recruited around 200 engineers, and have files around 12 patents. Mr. Anand reveals that the engines of 110 cc and 300 cc displacement are almost prepared, as per the leaked info, one of these could be the engine of Mahindra Mojo and the other of Mahindra Stallio. Out of the products, what is most awaited is Duro. The company is developing Duro micro-hybrid, a two wheeler which can claim the highest fuel efficiency, much more higher than the other scooters on Indian roads. Also, Duro micro-hybrid will be the first scooter with Micro Hybrid Technology. With already having invested Rs. 100 crore, the company is yet ready to and has fix plans to invest another Rs. 500 crore in the coming 5 years.
Fourth Generation Renault Clio Officially Revealed
Renault Clio was launched 22 years back as a replacement of ‘5’. The car is on sale in more than 115 countries around the globe with a sale of 11.5 million cars in these counties. The fourth generation of the supermini have been unveiled after it made a public appearance at the Paris Motor Show in September. The most interesting thing about the Clio 4 is that it has been designed completely in the supervision of the company's chief designer Laurens van den Acker.
As per the Chief Designer, the new Renault Clio is conceived as a piece of sensuous sculpture which stimulates desire. The fourth generation Clio comes with an exclusive five- door model which has the rear door handles concealed near the C-pillars.
The details about the exterior dimensions of the Clio 4 are still not known yet the company explained that the vehicle has a lower ride height and wider tracks than the replacing model. Other information which the company gave is that the vehicle 100kg lighter than its predecessor. The interior of the Clio 4 sports an elegant design that comes sculpted in a shape of an aircraft wing.
The new Clio will come with a 'clever' sound system integrated in all the variants of the vehicle along with front door loudspeakers and Bluetooth-equipped radios. A lot of attention is being given to the new personalization programme started by the Renault which allows the buyers to customize the look of their car from the color touches to the front grille, rear and side door inserts, to the dashboard, door panels, steering wheel, gear lever, air vent surrounds, upholstery materials and even the floor mats inside.
The Clio 4 will be launched this fall with two engines, a new 0.9-liter three-cylinder turbocharged Energy TCe petrol delivering 89hp and 135Nm of torque and a 1.5-liter four-cylinder turbo diesel with 89hp of output.
Renault plans to enhance the range in the future with a new 1.2-liter four-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine coupled to a new six-speed EDC transmission. The new Clio will be manufactured at Renault's plants in Flins, France and Bursa, Turkey.
Fiat 500L Minivan available in Italy and Europe
The new Fiat 500L Minivan will now be available for booking orders in Italy and major European markets from July, 2012. Though the deliveries are scheduled for the month of October, but the new photos and the videos of the minivan have been wired on net. It has been speculated that the sales of the new Fiat 500 will start in more than 100 countries around the world during the year 2013.
The second addition in the Fiat 500 family is five seater, tall B- segment model which has a large MPV like figure and an overall look of an SUV. The ride height has been raised in the minivan which promises to be a more spacious version of the 500 city car that also maintains the vehicles chic styling.
As the new Fiat 500L has been built on the platform of Punto, under the sheetmetel of the minivan one can find a developed engine called as 'Small Wide' by Fiat. The vehicle is 4,410mm long with a width of 1,780mm and a complete height of 1,660mm. The new Fiat 500 is 594mm longer than the three-door 500 along with an increased width of 153mm and an increment in the height by 175mm. At the same time, the new 500 is 32mm longer, 99mm taller and 9mm slender from the waistline of the higher scaled and expensive Mini Countryman.
The Italians claim that the vehicle can easily accommodate five passengers who are two meters tall, along with their luggage (boot space- 400 litres). European market will have a choice of three engines, including Fiat's 0.9-liter two-cylinder TwinAir turbocharged petrol with 104hp, 1.4-liter naturally aspirated petrol rated at 94hp and a 1.3-liter turbo-diesel delivering 84hp. Fiat is planning to enhance the range with a ‘Natural Power’ model which will have a Turbo TwinAir engine converted to run on compressed natural gas. No specific information has been provided as to which engine will be used in the North American specification model of the Fiat 500L.
New Mahindra Bolero Maxi Truck Launched With POWER-STEERING Option
Behind all that buildup of the Compact SUV Renault Duster, which was launched yesterday, there is one thing that most failed to spot, the launch of the facelift version of Bolero Maxi truck from Indian auto giant, Mahindra & Mahindra. The all new Bolero Maxi Truck is the newest addition to Mahindra’s pick-up portfolio, priced at Rs. 4.08 lakh (ex-showroom, Karnataka). The all new Bolero Maxi Truck now goes more stylish in looks, gets the power-steering option and better interiors.
And being powered by an MDI engine, it produces a great power and retains the off-roading capabilities. Arun Malhotra, Sr. VP- Sales and Customer Care, Automotive division for Mahindra & Mahindra said that with the power steering option, the all new truck would serve the needs of businessman and stand operators by providing an efficient cargo movement and driving comfort , even when they are on the longest trips.
He further adds, "With a comprehensive portfolio of products we hope to further consolidate our leadership position in the commercial vehicle industry," The Ashok Leyland Dost has the other LCV, which was launched some time back with the power-steering option, so it will be interesting to watch the competition, and above all, we hope these vehicles to change the game of LCV in India. We wish them good luck.
