The CarWale Daily Fuel is your quick daily dose of automotive news from India and around the world. If you want to know whatever's in the news but want it short and sweet, here's your solution.

The CarWale Daily Fuel is your quick daily dose of automotive news from India and around the world. If you want to know whatever's in the news but want it short and sweet, here's your solution.

The CarWale Daily Fuel is your quick daily dose of automotive news from India and around the world. If you want to know whatever's in the news but want it short and sweet, here's your solution.

• Mahindra is working on the Verito facelift as the product’s life cycle is reaching maturity a bit too fast. Expected to be in line with the new Xylo and XUV design style, the new Verito should appeal to the Indian customer.
• Mahindra is launching the Thar AC version, with a factory-fitted AC. Watch this space.
• Mercedes Benz India is officially launching the new facelifted ML 350 SUV, today, in Delhi. The Blue-Tec diesel Mercedes, launched globally in January, prices will be announced by noon.
• The Tamil Nadu government scored an ace amidst policy paralysis by signing pacts with five automotive giants ensuring a total investment of Rs 5700 crore in the state and roughly 10000 job opportunities. Companies like Daimler CV, Yamaha, Nissan-Ashok Leyland, Eicher Motors and Philips Carbon Black are investing in Oragadam near Chennai which is developing as an extensive automotive hub in south India.
• India’s first online store for tyres, ChangeMyTyre.com, has started business with its launch and will deliver tyres across all major cities in India. CEO and co-founder, Mr. Neeraj Chauhan hopes to make the tyre market transparent and convenient thereby gaining big business.
• The Audi A3 Sedan, based on the A3 MQB platform will be positioned just below the Audi A4. Technically competing with the VW Passat, Skoda Superb, Toyota Camry and Honda Accord, the speculated Mercedes CLA, Audi hopes to take the segment head on.
• Mercedes Benz India is beaming after registering a 30 per cent growth in sales year on year in spite of the said global slowdown. Around 7430 Mercs went on sale compared to last year’s 5810 units.
• Hyundai is now offering the rear-view camera as standard fitment on the fluidic Verna albeit at increased cost for the customer.
• General Motors have forayed into the competition by revealing pictures of the Trax, a mini-SUV that competes with the Ford EcoSport and Maruti XA-Alpha. The Trax will be showcased at the Paris Motor Show in September this year. They will have to rename the model when it comes to India given the existence of Force Trax.
• The Mercedes Benz E-class facelift was spotted testing in Europe. Though heavily camouflaged, the new E-class gave up a few details. Integrated daytime running lights into the headlamp, re-styled bumpers and tail are some of the features. We expect this car to debut in India with its world debut as the new A6 and current ruling BMW 5-series are eating away at Mercedes’ share in the segment.
• An American military research facility is working on using the exhaust gas thermodynamics of battle tanks to generate electricity to run the on board computers and other systems as far as possible. This would improve the efficiencies and also reduce emissions. It sounds similar to the electrical turbocharger that is rumoured to debut on the next Subaru Impreza WRX.
• Porsche has denied that it will develop a sports car that will slot under the Boxster. The Pajun, which we reported just days ago will compete with the E-Class, ‘may become reality’ in five or six years.
• McLaren has developed a convertible MP4-12C. It will go on sale after the McLaren F1 successor, we imagine. 
• Eterniti Motors has garnered their first sale of the Artemis super-SUV at the Bejing Auto Show.
• The US senate has okayed the installation of ‘black boxes’ in cars from 2015 onwards. This should help settle more than a few lawsuits quickly! 
• Jay Leno has added a Tata Nano to his garage. This wouldn’t have been remarkable if his garage didn’t house over 200 cars, some of them one-offs and really rare masterpieces. 

The CarWale Daily Fuel is your quick daily dose of automotive news from India and around the world. If you want to know whatever's in the news but want it short and sweet, here's your solution.

• Volkswagen is keen on bringing its compact car Up! to the Indian market. To be positioned below the Polo, the Up! will compete with the likes of Beat, i10, Wagon-R and Figo. As a part of the Volkswagen aim to sell a million vehicles in India by 2018, the company is investing Rs 2000 crore into expansion and reinforcement of its production, sales and after-sales infrastructure in India.

• Maruti Suzuki, the automotive market leader in India, will adopt around 40 Industrial Training Institutes to generate potential employees and a talent pool to meet the workforce needs of their 18,000 crore Gujarat facility. As a part of their CSR, the adopted ITIs will also provide workforce to the Maruti Suzuki vendors and dealers.

• Mahindra will launch limited editions of the Scorpio and XUV500 for the Nampo Harvest Day Show in South Africa. Badged 'Adventure', these models will be displayed along with the Ssangyong cars at the Mahindra stall.

• BMW 7-series face-lift, to be launched in the US by the end of 2012, is expected to hit Indian shores soon after. The assembly of the 7-series has already started in the Chennai facility. With the new A8 and the upcoming S-Class, BMW would not want to stay far behind the competition.

• Formula One rookie Pastor Maldonado won the Spanish GP round after starting from pole. Excellent pit stop strategy coupled with top class driving gave the F1 season its fifth different winner in the first five races of the 2012 season. Former champion and Ferrari driver, Fernando Alonso, raced hard against the Williams, unable to overtake the race leader for ten laps in spite of being within the DRS zone.

• The Mini John Cooper Works GP is the fastest Mini ever built and will produce at least 214bhp. With race-spec suspension, brakes and an exclusive aero package, the Mini JCW GP should be fun to throw around.

• For those who were expecting Volkswagen to compete in the F1 in near future, the new VW motorsports chief, Jost Capito, is concentrating on the WRC spec Polo. However, the other marques that Volkswagen owns viz. Audi, Lamborghini, Bugatti could possibly venture into F1. We just have to wait and watch. We recently reported that Bentley will be making a comeback to endurace racing.

• Only 100 Aston Martin DBS Ultimate Edition will be produced and sold on a first come first serve basis. For those who want one of these, make it sure you ring up the nearest dealer as soon as possible - the Coupe costs US$287,576 and the Volante US $302,576. That is Rs 1.54 crore for the Coupe and Rs 1.63 crore for the Volante before taxes.

• A 1957 Rolls Royce Silver Cloud drop-head coupe is up for auction in Monaco. The rarest of the rare Rolls, one of only two made, known as the honeymoon express for its details, is expected to get at least $1.59 million.

• Bentleys, known for their big-displacement engines, have decided to go green. The Continental GT V8 gives an approved 24mpg (8.5kmpl) on the highway in UK. The economy figures have almost doubled after the V8 came in with about 70bhp less without sacrificing much performance.

The CarWale Daily Fuel is your quick daily dose of automotive news from India and around the world. If you want to know whatever's in the news but want it short and sweet, here's your solution.

BMW is now offering a limited number of examples of the 3-series 320d with an M-Sport package. On the outside, this offers the consumer the M aerodynamic package and M light wheels. On the inside, it is endowed with the M leather steering wheel with controls for the audio system. One can also opt for the BMW Navigation System Professional, a sat-nav system provided with MapMyIndia maps. Engine output and suspension settings remain identical to the regular 320d. The price of the 320d M-Sport is Rs 35.73 lakh, on-road, Thane with the sat-nav, and Rs 34.80 lakh without it. BMW joins the other two Germans in offering sporty versions of their entry-level sedan; Mercedes offers the Avantgarde trim and Audi has recently announced the addition of the S-Line sporty trim as an option to the recently-launched A4.

The CarWale Daily Fuel is your quick daily dose of automotive news from India and around the world. If you want to know whatever's in the news but want it short and sweet, here's your solution.

• Maruti Suzuki has managed to sell 2 lakh units of the Ritz within 36 months of its launch. 64000 units were sold in 2011-12 alone. 
• Skoda Auto has committed Rs 300 crore to its Indian operations as it percives India as an important market in achieving its global sales target of 1.5 million by 2018. 
• US and German car manufacturers have agreed on a standardised quick-charging system for electric cars that will enable electric vehicles to charge to 100 per cent capacity in as little as 15 minutes. This is a real shot in the arm for electric cars and their manufacturers.
• After the reported collaboration with Toyota over engine development, German auto manufacturer BMW is now in talks with Korean giant Hyundai to engineer a new generation of engines. This will work out well for both companies, as BMW will benefit from economies of scale and the knowledge that Hyundai can provide for front-engined, front-wheel drivetrains and BMW can offer diesel technology to Hyundai, whose current generation of diesels were developed by VM Motori of Italy.
• Audi may be working on a Q2 mini-crossover that will compete with the Nissan Juke in Europe - it will look like a sportier Q3 or A1 on stilts. Personalisation options will be large, in the vein of the Mini Cooper, Fiat 500 and VW's own Beetle.
• Bentley may return to the 24 Hours of Le Mans, but there is currently no time frame within which the company will return to the endurance sport. There is also a question over which class they will participate in, since sister brand Audi is already top dog in the pinnacle class of the sport. 
• Audi's new R18 e-tron racer will debut at Spa-Francorchamps this weekend. The R18 e-tron uses an energy recovery system on the front wheels under braking, and can subsequently power them during acceleration. A flywheel energy storage system has been used for storage of the energy. 

The CarWale Daily Fuel is your quick daily dose of automotive news from India and around the world. If you want to know whatever's in the news but want it short and sweet, here's your solution. 

The Japanese still are following their own standard of charging, but ports for the standardised connector are available on Japanese EVs already, so it will not complicate things. The Japanese currently lead EV sales, with models like the Nissan Leaf and Mitsubishi iMiEV finding favour with electric car buyers. 

The first of the EVs equipped with the standardised charging ports are expected to go into production in 2013. Wireless or inductive charging will make the standardisation obsolete, but this is still one step closer to making the electric car easier to live with.

• Mahindra-Reva sales have dropped after the subsidy that the government had offered ended on March 31 this year. The car now costs Rs 4-4.87 lakh. The new policy will be implemented in the second quarter of this financial year, which leaves three months of expensive electric vehicles - and poor sales for Reva. 
• The new Mercedes crossover has (finally) been christened the GLA. It will share its platform with the A and B Class, and will be slightly smaller than the BMW X1. 
• Luxury players like BMW and Mercedes are being extremely conservative with sales projections for this financial year, with both quoting between 10 and 20 per cent. Audi is positive, with a projection of over 50 per cent riding on the Q3's launch. 
• Thomas Chacko, a 62-year old motoring enthusiast, will set out to cover 25000km all over India in 80 days in his Tata Nano. He will visit significant locations like the geographic extremes of the country in all four directions, the highest motorable road and Nagpur, the geographic centre of India. 
• Land Rover has produced three lakh units of the Freelander 2 since the first examples rolled off the production line in 2007. 
• Renault-Nissan have committed to purchase 25 per cent more stake in Lada auto manufacturer AvtoVAZ, bringing its stake to 50 per cent. The purchase will be implemented by 2014 and will give Renault-Nissan an added advantage in one of the world's fastest-growing auto markets.
• Honda has found a unique way to ease traffic congestion: it has a technology that monitors the behaviour of the vehicle being driven, and analyses whether the driving characteristics will lead to congestion. It worked very well in test situations, by reducing fuel consumption by up to 23 per cent and of the trailing vehicles by 8 per cent. Now Honda plans to test it in Italy and Indonesia - we now plan to follow the test results carefully: to the best of our knowledge, there are very few things that can make an Italian driver slow down...
• Rumor has it that the next Subaru Impreza WRX/STi might have a turbocharger that runs on electricity. You heard that right: the heat from the exhaust gases will be used to generate electricity, not spin the impeller, and the electric power is what will spin the turbocharger. Less turbo lag, yes - but are we going to see (hear?) the death of the blowoff valve?

The CarWale Daily Fuel is your quick daily dose of automotive news from India and around the world. If you want to know whatever's in the news but want it short and sweet, here's your solution.