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 launched the Thar AC version at its Mumbai headquarters for Rs 6.75 lakh, ex-showroom Mumbai along with the highly customised Thar Expedition that would cost more as per the customisation.

• Mahindra and Mahindra also unveiled the Adventure calender for 2012 starting this July. With single day as well as multiple day events, motorsports participation and a Mahindra off-road championship, Mahindra is going from strength to strength in its off-road arena.

• SBI is the largest financer for passenger car segment in India on basis of its 11.25% car loan offer. With an average loan amount of Rs 3.5 lakh, the bank is working towards online sanctioning of loans,

• Mercedes M-class facelift was launched yesterday in Delhi with the AMG kit CBU at Rs 66 lakh ex-showroom. Only this model will be available for the first six months after which the India assembled CKD M-class will be available for Rs 56.9 lakh ex-showroom, Delhi.

• Honda Siel's Indian partner, Usha International, is unhappy with Honda's valuation of their share for buyout. Saying that the shares are being grossly undervalued, the Siddharth Shriram led company is planning to increase its shareholding using the next rights issue.

• Tata Motors' global sales figures were flat for April as the increasing demand for Jaguar and Land Rover was dampened by the falling commercial vehicle sales.

• Karnataka Inspector General of Police has served a 31^st May ultimatum for car owners to remove the window tints on their cars. Offenders are liable to be fined and their cars seized for removal of tints. Till 31^st, the police will campaign for educating car owners about the new ruling and will suggest them to remove tints without fine.

• Volvo is planning for the long wheel base (LWB) S60 for the Chinese market after global leaders like Audi, BMW, Volkswagen have opted for LWB models for China. Volvo already has the LWB S80 on sale in China.

• A leading global car manufacturer is developing a system where the driver is induced by the car to have a power nap by using aroma-therapy and music. Initially targeted for the trucker segment, the technology may trickle down to passenger cars. A 20 minute power-nap is said to enhance concentration and reduce stress while driving long hours.

• Porsche is showing off the 918 Spyder after the final finishing touches that include the 917 inspired black and white paint scheme. The 500bhp 4.0 litre V8 hybrid combines with two electric motors is expected to do a 0-100kmph in 3.1 seconds and a top speed of about 320 kmph. The approximately Rs 4.5 crore car, in spite of its performance is expected to return a whopping 33 kms per litre.

• General Motors USA has decided to stop advertising on Facebook after analysts saw a very little impact on consumers. This is contrary to what US car manufacturers in India are doing - for example, the Blue Oval is investing heavily in the web medium to reach out to a wider audience.

• Formula One plans of a French GP have become dicey after the supporting Sarkozy government lost elections. The new government is not keen on subsidising the event as proposed by its predecessors citing the need of funds to combat the economic crisis in the EU.

• Another setback to Bernie Ecclestone has come after the Singapore market, where F1 was to offer its Initial Public Offering (IPO), is not very enthusiastic after the depressed stock markets. If the IPO is not conducted by June, you have to wait to buy your stake in F1 till next year.

• Sea Lion, claimed to be the fastest amphibious car by its creator Marc Witt, is capable of clocking 200 kmph on road and around 100 kmph in water. You could own the water proof amphibian racer for about Rs 1.35 crore without taxes in US.

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.

Focussing on its lifestyle off-roader Thar and the customer responses from various avenues, Mahindra has offered the Thar AC to the Indian customer at Rs 6.75 lakh, ex-showroom Mumbai. Carrying the same 2.5 litre 105bhp diesel engine as the Thar, the Thar AC is aimed at comfort coupled with a rugged macho machine. The electronic engine immobiliser has also been offered to increase safety of the open top Thar.

A fully customised Thar AC, called the Expedition was also showcased. With added costs as per the customisations, the Expedition offers rock-sliders, snorkel, roll-cage front bull bar with integrated towing winch and a host of other accessories for the off-roading enthusiasts.

Mahindra motorsport and adventure division head, Mr. Bijoy Kumar unveiled the event calender for 2012 with marketing senior vice-president Mr. Vivek Nayer. Starting July, the event list includes Great Escapes, popular one-day off-roading and multi-day escapes to Ladakh, Rajasthan, Kerala etc. The country's largest TSD, the Monsoon challenge will set off from Bangalore this year while Mahindra also anounced a Mahindra Off-roading Championship this year.

Looks like a very busy year ahead for the off-road enthusiasts.

• 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.

Production in the Satpur factory of Mahindra and Mahindra got disrupted as a major fire broke out in the Scorpio section of the Nashik plant, early morning today. The fire was brought under control by the Mahindra fire fighting unit along with 25 fire engines brought by the Nashik Municipal Corporation.

M&M spokesperson said, “The fire was successfully contained in the logistics area of the Scorpio section, within the premises without any casualties. The operations in the first shift has been suspended as a safety measure. The company is currently investigating the cause of fire and the extent of damages”.

The M&M nashik facility produces around 300-350 vehicles a day including Scorpio, Xylo, Bolero and Verito. The production is expected to resume in the second shift.

• 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. 

Mahindra has decided to export the XUV500 after satiating the immense domestic demand for the SUV. Among the initial markets that the XUV will be exported to will be Australia, Chile and Italy. The left-hand drive version has been developed, which takes care of the majority of world markets. The XUV is already being exported to South Africa, one of Mahindra's biggest export markets. 

Mahindra is now producing 4000 units a month of the SUV, up from 3000 per month, and the final target is 5000 units monthly. The company is still in the process of delivering cars from the 'lottery' that was held a few months ago due to excessive demand for the vehicle.

• XUV 500 will be launched soon in Italy, Australia and Chile. M&M has been working real hard to comply to the international rules and regulations.

• Porsches will now be officially imported in to India by Volkswagen Group Sales Pvt. Ltd. As per the new contract, with immediate effect. Precision Cars had been the official importer of Porsches till date.

• Audi is gearing up for the launch of the new revamped A4 sedan early next month. The new car complies with the design ideology of the new A6 and A8. Audi plans to pip the BMW by launching just ahead of the up-coming new 3-series.

• Ssangyong, recently taken over by M&M, continues testing the Rexton in India. The Mercedes ML 270 based compact SUV would be pitched above the XUV in the Indian market.

• Maruti's net profit went down in the first quarter of 2012. There was a 28per cent dip in profits despite 17 per cent increase in sales.
• Skoda India launches the "You drink, we drive" program as a part of its Corporate Social Responsibility program. Skoda will provide chauffeurs on request to its customers.

• For the Ferrari lovers; the Enzo Ferrari museum has opened at the very estate where the iconic sports car racer and maker was born in Modena, Italy. Built with an investment of 18 million Euros, the state of art museum will be a Ferrari paradise.

• Chrysler group essays a comeback story. After being almost bankrupt in 2008, the first quarter profits have grown four-fold from $116 million in 2011 to $473 million in 2012.

• BMWs Olympics fleet revealed. BMW will supply about 3000 cars for the event.

• For those who could not have a glimpse of the stunning one-off Aventador J in Geneva, Lamborghini has released a video of the roadster.

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.