India Automotive

For a mere Rs 3 crore (plus import duties), you can have the world’s most ostentatious luxury car – the Maybach Zeppelin 62

According to the sales and marketing wizards at Mercedes-Benz, this is apparently the right time to announce a limited-edition variant of the world’s most ostentatious luxury car. Hence, the German carmaker has announced the Maybach Zeppelin, which will make its official debut at the upcoming Geneva Motor Show this year.

According to Mercedes-Benz, the new Maybach Zeppelin will be a worthy successor to the 1930s car of the same name, which was the company’s top-end luxury model at that time. The new car would, of course, feature the highest quality paint and the best materials, and only 100 cars will be built for worldwide distribution.

The Maybach Zeppeli...

Tata Motors and Corporation Bank have tied-up with a view to providing retail financing facilities for Tata cars. Under the agreement, financing facilities would be available at all 1,073 branches of Corporation Bank and 329 of Tata Motors’ sales touch points.

Tata Motors and Corporation Bank plan to co-organise various sales promotion activities aimed at promoting Tata cars and making the car buying process easier for potential customers by simplifying the loan disbursement process.

Customers will be able to get loans of up to 85% of a car’s on-road price, for a period of up to five years, at 11.75% interest per annum.

Most car dealerships in India are in deep trouble these days. Given the lack of easily available and affordable consumer finance, car sales are going down and dealers are facing inventory pile up and profits are declining. The severity of the situation is, of course, different for different car dealers but up to 100 or more car dealerships across the country could be facing closure over the next few months.

According to the Federation of Automobile Dealers Association (FADA), more than 50 car dealerships across India were shut down in 2008 and more could follow suit this year...

Yes indeed, the Skoda Octavia is 50 years old this year!

While it’s only spent about a decade in India, the Škoda Octavia is actually 50 years old this year, the first Octavia having been produced back in 1959. The original Octavia was the eighth model produced by Škoda.

The car currently sold as the Laura in India is sold as the Octavia elsewhere in the world. This car was launched in February 2004 and was given a facelift in 2008. According to Škoda, the company has, till date, sold more than two million units of the Octavia worldwide.

Global economic recession? What’s that again…?!

In an environment where most carmakers are struggling to cut their losses, iconic Italian supercar manufacturer Ferrari has actually posted record profits. The company, which released its 2008 financial results recently, posted a profit of US$441 million – an increase of 27% over the year-ago period.

Sales were up 2%, with 6,587 Ferrari cars delivered to customers worldwide in 2008. The US remains Ferrari’s biggest market, though Eastern Europe is said to be catching up fast. India, for now, is nowhere in the picture.

‘The economic climate in 2009, still remains very uncertain as the crisis takes its toll across the globe and it is hard to say how the situation will develop from here,’ says Ferrari Chairman Luca di Montezemo...