Jaguar worst car maker for brake faults: Warranty Direct reveals

If you were to believe Warranty Direct, the automotive warranty specialists, Jagaur cars are more likely to suffer brake problems. Ever since Toyota announced it is recalling several hundred thousand of its popular petrol-electric Hybrid, the Prius, with braking issues, the performance of brake systems have been in spotlight.

But an analysis of Warranty Direct’ s 80,000 policies on three to eight-year old cars showed that the Japanese manufacturer actually fares very well when it comes to brake reliability, coming 12th in a list of 36 manufacturers.

Meanwhile, 3.73 per cent of Jaguars require a brake-related garage visit in an average 12 month period Chrysler, Fiat and Peugeot are the next worst performers.

At the other end of the Scale, Warranty Direct has no recorded cases of brake failure on any car made by South Korean firm, Hyundai, while Rover and MG, both brands that have changed hands recently, also perform well historically.

Warranty Direct’s Reliability Index also revealed that, overall, the Peugeot 407 is the individual car most likely to have some kind of brake failure, with 8.6% needing repairs each year.

Next worst is the Jaguar XK8, a powerful sports car, while 7.4 per cent of Fiat’s six-seat family car, the Multipla gives cause for concern.

Just to give a heads-up on the worst ten manufacturers for brake failures we here give you the list of names of car manufacturers were they stand. Jaguar is the chart topper with 3.73 per cent brake failure rate while Chrysler stands next with 2.78 percent problems. Fiat and Peugeot stands in the list with 2.74 per cent and 2.55 per cent respectively.

Mitsubishi and Mazda share 2. 48 per cent as their brake problems rate while Jeep comes next with 2.27 per cent. Lexus, Ford and Land Rover comes up last in the list of ten with 2.21, 2.09 and 2.06 per cent respectively.

Maruti Suzuki launches Green Cabs

Car manufacturers are joining the ‘ green revolution’ by rolling out eco-friendly cars. Indian car major Maruti Suzuki is thinking ‘green’ too and launched ‘Green Cabs’ in the Andhra Pradesh. This concept will be supported by Maruti M800 AC Duo powered by LPG .

Green Cabs will be also assisted with the GPRS system which is linked to a call centre, monitoring the movement of the vehicle. Green Cabs will have lowest fares compared to other taxi fare.

The interior is enhanced with the good quality materials and convenient features. During the launch programme, Swarupchand Kothari, the promoter of the Green Cab was handed over the Key of M800 by the Andra Pradesh Transport Minister Swarupchand Kothari and R.S. Kalsi,

Chief General Manager for Sales, Maruti Suzuki.

LPG fuel is not only eco-friendly but also reduces the burden on pocket, as it is also cheaper than than petrol and diesel. Maruti Suzuki also has the duo version for its other models like Maruti Suzuki WagonR Duo and Omini LPG are great success in the Indian car market.

Free Maintenance from Skoda

Every car manufacturer is coming out with attractive offers to sustain in the car industry. The car sales have gone down tremendously giving tough time to the car manufacturer.

Skoda Auto from Germany has announced a free maintenance plan for the new Skoda customers. The offer presents maintenance three years or 50,000 kms, whichever comes first. This is the part of the strategy to increase the car sales. The global crunch has given a tough time to all the car manufacturers. The Skoda models eligible for these offers are Skoda Octavia, Skoda Superb, Skoda Laura, and Skoda Fabia. Even Volkswagen has come out with the similar plan. According to their offer, Jetta will get a free maintenance for three years or 45,000 kms, whichever is earlier.

Skoda’s all new Superb will make a grand entry for this new year with all new design, style and improved performance and a new price tag. The company will also roll out small car to India in 3 to 4 years and is expected to carry the price tag ranging from Rs 3-5 Lakh.

The New Concept of Cars

The Indian car industry is flooded with cars from every segment. We also have the world’s cheapest car Nano, which has created sensation in the car industry globally. Now the latest concept is ‘Made in India’ cars. These cars would be engineered and designed in India using technical expertise and creative imaginations. The vast pool of talented professionals and designers in India are in demand by global car manufacturers.

Car majors like General Motors, Maruti Suzuki (MSIL) and Volkswagen. General Motors truly Indian compact car is expected by 2009.Maruti Suzuki is in race to produce completely built Indian cars.. Volkswagen is still under the developmental stage for producing Indian cars.

The global car A-star, which was recently launched in India, can be called ‘Indian’ to some extent, as it was exclusively produced in India. The recent launch of A-star from Maruti Suzuki has set a new benchmark in the industry.

Six new models from Mercedes-Benz to India

The economic pressure has slowed down the growth of Indian car industry. Every car manufacturer is struggling to sustain in the market but surprisingly the luxury car segment has something else to say.  As we all know that despite the global crisis the luxury car market is experienced growth in India.

Many car manufacturers are cutting down the production and some have even shut down the plant. The new car launches are on hold, until the markets functions normally. But, one of the oldest car player from the luxury segment, Daimler (owns the Mercedes brand) is planning to launch 6 new model to India by this year end.

These luxury models would carry an expensive tag ranging from Rs 1.25 Crore to Rs 3 Crore and will be custom ordered and delivered directly from the land of Merc. At present Mercedes-Benz models for India rolls out nine models comprising sedans, coupes, convertibles, sport utility vehicles and multi-purpose vehicles.

Audi Sales High in India

Every car manufacturers are experiencing a slow growth due to the financial crunch. Many car majors are even cutting down the production and some production plant is said to be shutdown.

People are holding on to their investment and the car sales is almost stagnant, with out any growth. But despite the sales commotion in the Indian car industry, it is surprising to know that luxury car segment is segment is rejoicing sales in India.

 

Audi, renowned luxury car manufacturer from Germany recorded a sales growth of 203 percent. From Audi India’s stable Audi A4 and Q7 are the highest selling models in the country. Even other luxury car manufacturers like Mercedes-Benz and BMW also experienced a good growth during this economic pressure. This is the clear example stating that the high-class society.

Car Registration is a Trend in India

The craze for cars is changing significantly in the country. Previously people were looking only for different choices and handy car features before buying a new car. But the trend has changed were they buy cars which matches their status. They are not only looking for cars with style, loaded features and comfort but look for something beyond that.

Most recently, the trend is having gorgeous and exceptional registration numbers. The craze of auctioning premium vehicle registration numbers is gaining recognition in the country. Car buyers are all set to shell huge money to get fancy car registration numbers.

The Punjab state transport organized an auction of a unique series of car registration numbers and got an outstanding response and good profits.

A number of attractive registration numbers sold with high price tags are 0001 number sold for Rs 70,000, 0002 for Rs 80,000 and 0005 for Rs 55,000.

However, the number that brought good revenue and maximum price to the transport department was the PB-11-AK-47, that bagged a striking price of Rs 2.68 lakh and this heavily priced registration number was sold to a farmer from Ropar, as the number AK-47 attracted him.

This proves that people find different ways to make their car look unique. However, is it really worth to spend so much on the registration numbers? Again, every individual has his own taste and preferences.

Volkswagen Set to Roll-Out Caddy for India

Launch of new cars are becoming very frequent nowadays. There is a launch of new car models everyday and this year there has been numerous car launches in the Indian car market. The global car manufacturers strongly feel that India is the prospective market to succeed.

Like other car manufacturers, even Volkswagen is all set to launch its most admired Caddy in the country. This car is mainly going to be used for low-cost taxi for urban use. The reason being that there is a rapid grow in tourism industry in India and many of them would want to travel by taxis rather than self-driving.

However, these commuters sense that the cost of fuel uses for traveling to a preferred destination is almost the same to the fare of taxis. Also the taxis are becoming popular in India and even many car manufacturers are giving their best products that many of the Indians are looking for. The Caddy is proclaimed be priced somewhere around Rs 8-9 lakhs.

Volkswagen to Minimize its Production Costs

Small cars are gaining huge popularity in Indian market. The car manufacturers have understood this and are now rolling out more small cars in the country. Even Volkswagen is all set to launch its small car in India soon.

The small car would come packed with local flavour as the German car manufacturer plans a high degree of indigenization for its volume car. So this would be the first ever car that would enter the compact car segment.

The small car will enter the Indian market around 2010 and the same will be manufactured at Volkswagen upcoming manufacturing plant at Chakan in Maharashtra. The company feels that high level of local content will not only lessen the production cost of the car, but will also help preserving costs with the spare parts.

The company is planning to invest around Rs 3600 crore in setting up the manufacturing facility at Chakan. The production in this unit will start from 2009 end. Also the manufacturing plant will be used partially for the production of Skoda’s hatchback Fabia.

Many car manufacturers are realizing what the buyers are looking for and are going according to their choice.

Demand for Dzire is Increasing Speedily

Maruti Suzuki is one of the leading car manufacturers in the country. Many of the car manufacturer find it so hard to sell their cars in the market and one such car manufacturer is Maruti Suzuki where he doesn’t even have to work so hard to sell its cars.

Maruti Suzuki Swift DZire was launched six months back and until today, the car manufacturer is struggling to cater its demands for its buyers. Some of the market resources said that the booking orders for Swift DZire have been increasing rapidly. Many of the buyers are waiting for more than six months for this model.

The DZire is a replacement for the most popular Esteem that was introduced by the car manufacturer in March 2008 to keep its stable position at the entry-level of the sedan segment.

Some of the car dealers proclaimed that the demand for the sedan is exceeding more than the supply and they are finding it difficult to retain the buyers. In other parts of the country including metropolis and Tier II cities the waiting period is even more longer compared to Mumbai and Delhi.

Even though the company has doubled its production in the country still there is a such a huge demand for the DZire in the country. Due to the slow ramp-up by Maruti Suzuki DZire the overall sales performance has effected the company.