Rail-based business travel drops as government advised

Business travel taken on trains has decreased for the first time in five years despite increased awareness of the market and its environmental benefits. A survey of transactions from April to June show that receipts for rail journeys dropped by 175, 250, or 14%, compared to this year’s first quarter and 2% down from the same quarter last year. The sector has seemingly been replaced by air transport as corporate travel picks up, with air transactions recording growth of 6% and ancillary revenue from insurance, visa services, baggage check-in etc up 6% compared to 2010’s Q2. In addition car hire receipts improved 10% and hotel transactions increased 8%. Overall the statistics, released by the Guild of Travel Management Companies (GTMC), showed a slower rate of growth for business travel at 4% this quarter compared to 10% growth in the first quarter.

Despite the improved air travel data, Anne Godfrey, chief executive of the GTMC said the fall was due to a reduction in travel by civil servants. “Overall growth in business travel is healthy and steady but the decrease in rail bookings is significant and would appear, as expected, that public sector cuts have impacted on this mode of transport, which has been so popular with civil servants,” she said. “Rail was the first mode of transport to recover to pre 2008 levels, with increased transactions reported in every 2010 survey and a 10% growth that year. This dramatic drop in transactions will be monitored carefully in coming months”. The results come as government has been advised by Sir Roy McNulty to remove staff from 675 train stations across the UK. It is unclear how the government will react to the consultation, which would affect mainly rural areas but some small towns and stations in London.

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Mercedes Benz cars drive mid-size luxury segment sales in India

Mercedes Benz cars are driving mid-size luxury segment sales in India. Their cars are making waves in India. The German auto giant is working tirelessly to bring the best cars to the Indian market. This seems to be the reason behind phenomenal rise of its car sales in India.

The company officially came to India in 1994 in collaboration with Telco. Traditionally, Mercedes-Benz cars have consistently catered to wealthy, rich, and super-rich consumers. The manufacturer’s name keeps on changing, but Mercedes-Benz cars remain Mercedes-Benz, for the Mercedes-Benz name has a greater brand relationship with world consumers than their manufacturer’s current corporate name – Daimler-Benz, Daimler-Chrysler, or Daimler AG.

Reports suggest that during the last eight months of this fiscal year, the Indian arm of Mercedes Benz grew by 40 per cent. A company spokesperson who was obviously over the seventh heaven due to the increased sales says, “Our sales grew by 40 per cent during the January to August period to 4,890 units in 2011 against 3,495 units during the corresponding period last year”.

Meanwhile like all other super car manufacturers, Mercedes Benz too is launching mid level sedans and sports vehicles in India to increase its sales volume. A top executive of another German auto maker Audi says, “Growth in the luxury segment is not coming from the top-end price points of above Rs 30 lakh”.

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Driverless Pod Cars Transport Passengers Around London's Heathrow Airport

Driverless cars are just catching on in this country, but they’re already zooming around London’s main airport, ferrying passengers from their people-driven cars to the terminal.

Twenty-two of these automated pods are operating at Heathrow’s Terminal 5, the shiny new terminal occupied by British Airways. They were built to replace a duo of diesel buses that formerly drove in a loop from the car parks to the terminal, pausing at various stations no matter how many people were present.

The electric-power pods, which can accommodate up to four travelers and their bags, travel up to 25 mph along 2.4 miles of paved guideways, which can be customized to fit any path. They don’t require a special railway or magnetic field — just lines that can be used for optical navigation. The pods can even maneuver through light snow, according to their manufacturer, ULTra PRT. The New York Times says the autonomous pods have not been in any accidents.

The first trials started in April, and service became fully operational this summer when the buses were removed from rotation, the Times says.

Passengers have to press "start" when they get in, to ensure efficiency and to prevent people from making the pods move while they’re empty. About 800 people per day use the pods, the Times says.

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New Autopilot Cars in the Planning

An autopilot car that can drive without a human controlling it is the auto-industry’s latest vision as it continues its quest for a future where accidents are nonexistent. The views on using technology for something like this are still mixed.

A couple of major car manufacturers, including Volkswagen, have expressed an interest in this new auto piloted vehicle, while others like Volvo remain unconvinced, insisting that humans should be in control of their vehicles at all times.

Volkswagen has plans to release an auto piloted vehicle that will be able to control driving tasks like steering and speed. This is not the first attempt at an auto piloted vehicle by Volkswagen. The company has been working on the development of a new type of automated vehicle for over six years now.

In 2005 Volkswagen won a contest for the best automated vehicle. The vehicle in question was a Touareg soft-roader which was able to drive over 200 kilometers by itself in off-road conditions.
Although the company has had some mild success with these earlier models, they mainly served to pave the way for their new and improved Temporary Auto Pilot system, also known as TAP.

This new system uses components which are already ready for production. The first vehicles in this range produced by Volkswagen were complicated and needed processors, cameras and many other technological gadgets. This new range of vehicles will run with the help of a cruise control that can adapt to different situations.

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BMW i4, i5 next to join the BMW i family: report

Following last week’s unveiling of the all-new BMW i3 and BMW i8 electric and plug-in vehicles, rumours have started circulating about the next additions to the line-up, said to be the i4 and i5.

The i3 all-electric city car and the i8 plug-in hybrid sports car will hit the market in 2013 as the first vehicles in the new BMW i family.

According to BMW Blog contributor and brand insider, Scott27, the i4 will be a smaller two-seater sports car based on the i3 with a design influenced by the i8.

“i4 would offer a plug-in electric or range-extended electric drivetrain. The idea comes from not everybody will be able to afford the i8 but here is the more accessible offer.”

Scott27 says the i5 will be a much more important vehicle for the brand, however, as it will feature a more practical, family oriented sedan layout.

“i5 is seen as the ultimate test for BMW i and will be a mid-sized four door sedan-esque coupe again using the powertrain from the BMW i8.”

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New Chevrolet launched in Windhoek

Auas Motors, the Opel, Chevrolet and Isuzu dealer in Namibia, this week officially launched the new version of one of its most popular models, the new Chevrolet Orlando and Captiva in Windhoek.
Speaking at the launch, Tim Hendon, Chevrolet brand manager at General Motors South Africa said its company launched a Chevrolet Captiva sport utility vehicle (SUV) with a fresh new look.
He added that the new Captiva ushered in a new era of design when it was first launched in the international market five years ago.
According to Hendon, the new car was designed by a fresh and youthful design team that drew on global inputs and design cues to define this mid-sized SUV for world markets.
“The design includes a number of interior upgrades, improved power trains for better performance and efficiency, refinements to the chassis, a new advanced electronics package and lower interior noise and vibration levels,” he said.
The latest Captiva is immediately identifiable by its new face defined by a dual-port grille with black honeycomb inserts, chrome surrounds and prominent Chevrolet bow-tie insignia set in a body colour grille surround.
The engine choice of the new car is now between a 2.4 litre in-line four-cylinder petrol engine or a 3.0 litre V6 direct injection petrol engine. Both are latest generation engines from Chevrolet.
“A new headlamp treatment sees the lamp clusters sweep forward into the front corners of the vehicle with polycarbonate lenses providing a smooth surface over the functional elements of the lamp cluster. The overall sleek appearance of the Captiva is defined by a swept windscreen and roof line that provide a sleek aero profile. The side view is complimented by a tight tyre-to-body relationship imparting a well-grounded appearance,” said Caroline Thomas, product communications manager of General Motors South Africa.

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Nissan to unveil their new sedan on 3rd August

Nissan India will unveil its new sedan, which is based on the same V-platform as the Micra on the 3rd of August.

Nissan had launched the Micra petrol in mid-2010 and launched the diesel version of the Micra by the end of 2010.

The new sedan is known as Sunny in the Chinese market. This new sedan will come with 1.6-litre petrol and 1.5-litre diesel engine options.

Watch this space for more updates on the new Nissan sedan.

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Hyundai Equus gets 2011 top large premium car honors

Another day, another honor for Hyundai. Competing against the Mercedes-Benz S-Class, BMW 7-Series and Lexus LS, the perennial leaders, the Hyundai Equus luxury sedan has for the first time earned the top spot on J.D. Power and Associate’s APEAL (Automotive Performance, Execution and Layout) Study for large premium cars.

It marks the first time since the survey’s inception in 1996 that a car other than a Mercedes, BMW or Lexus has claimed the large premium category. The base starting price for the Equus is $58,900.

Hyundai, which began selling cars in the United States in 1986, had its overall biggest jump in the ranking, improving from 28th in 2010 to 15th in 2011.

The study, now in its 16th year, surveys new car buyers after 90 days of ownership, asking them to rate their impression of their vehicle’s design, content, layout, and performance. Vehicles and their brands are scored on a 1,000 point scale.

The Equus totaled more than 900 points, the highest of any individual car.

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Hyundai beefing up rural network for low-cost car

Hyundai Motor India plans to add 300 rural sales outlets within the next two months as it gears up to launch its cheapest car in India by November this year.

Hyundai announced in May that it would launch a small car costing below Rs 3 lakh in November. Hyundai is gearing up to launch the small car, codenamed HA, to directly compete with market leader Maruti Suzuki’s Alto.

The new rural outlets will take its rural sales network to 1,000, apart from the standard 325 dealerships located in cities.

The country’s second largest carmaker will employ a total of about 2,000 sales executives in these rural outlets. Rural areas, according to Hyundai, are the markets that lie outside the top 40 cities.

According to Maruti Suzuki's chief general manager, marketing, Shashank Srivastava, the company has 960 standard dealerships and 3,400 ‘taluka’ outlets through which it sells the Alto, the largest selling car in the country. Maruti plans to raise the number of its taluka outlets to 3,600 by the end of 2011. Maruti gets 33 per cent of its total sales from outside the 40 main cities.

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Tata Motors luxurious Aria rolls in

Tata Motors launched the Tata Aria — the first Indian four-wheel drive crossover — a luxurious creation with the finesse of a sedan and the muscle of an SUV all blended in one car.

The Tata Aria redefines several benchmarks with its design and technologies, offering class leading features that take comfort and safety to a new height, it said, claiming that the all wheel drive 4x4 is equipped with a Torque-on-Demand System which significantly enhances all-terrain capabilities.

The feature is especially apt for Nepal where vehicles have to face harsh terrains and hostile road conditions daily.

It is also among those rare cars in Nepal to offer 36 new features with advanced safety features like the Electronic Stability Programme (ESP), which ensures the car’s stability, and six airbags (including curtain airbags) to ensure safety in emergencies.

The Tata Aria has been launched in three trim levels, all with 4x4 – the Aria Pride at the top end, the Aria Prestige and the Aria Pleasure, each in eight colour options, the company said.

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Audi A8 L W12 quattro Launched

6.3 liter W12 engine with 500 horsepower, 1400 watt Bang & Olufsen stereo with 19 speakers, quattro centre differential, aluminium space frame, a passenger cabin with lots of leather and some wood. That's the new Audi A8 L W12 quattro for you

The A8 has been the top of the line luxury car at Audi for a while now. For those of you who have not seen an A8, it is a quite a long car. Most luxury car makers first make a top of the line luxury sedan and then launch a long wheelbase version with more legroom and kit. Audi has skipped all of that and straight away launched the A8 L.

Put simply, it’s as if someone has attached a part of a very expensive living room to the back of the all new A8. And it’s quite a nice living room too. The Valonea leather in the passenger cabin is tanned with plant extracts to make it especially soft. The dashboard is finished in piano wood. Audi offers an optional wood and leather centre console that stretches from the dashboard to the centre of the backrest of the rear seats. The head restraints and gear selector lever are adorned in buckskin leather for its hard wearing quality. If you go for this option instead of a backrest between the two rear seats you can have a refrigerator with a cabinet mounted on top to keep a set of glasses. The centre console at the back comes with separate controls for rear air conditioning.

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Electric car sales appear to slow despite government grants

15 electric vehicle grants issued in last three months, fewer than half number issued in quarter before Sales of electric cars have all but stalled, despite government grants to encourage an electric revolution to cut emissions from burning petrol and diesel.

Figures from the Department for Transport show that only 215 electric vehicle grants were issued in the last three months, fewer than half the 465 issued in the previous quarter.

The figures were obtained by the research charity the RAC Foundation, which said the latest sales take the total number of battery-powered cars in the UK to just over 2,500, out of a fleet of more than 28m vehicles – a long way short of the 1.7m electric vehicles set as a target for the end of the decade by the government's Committee on Climate Change.

Andrew Fulbrook of market research firm IHS Automotive said that despite generous government grants of £5,000 for each electric car and van, the cost of new electric vehicles was still too high at £20,000-25,000, the choice too narrow, and the spread of charging points too slow to overcome "range anxiety" by drivers worried they will run out of battery power before they get home.

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Maersk Line orders world’s biggest ships

Denmark’s Maersk Line, operator of the world’s largest container ship fleet, on Monday took a big gamble on future market growth when it signed a $1.9bn order for 10 ships that will be the largest vessels afloat.

The triple-E ships are to be built by South Korea’s Daewoo Shipbuilding and will each have a capacity of 18,000 20-foot-equivalent units, the standard measure of container capacity.

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The vessels take the title for the world’s biggest container ships from Maersk Line’s own E-class ships, which each carry 15,500 TEUs.

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Ben Bostrom Set for MotoGP Debut

Ben Bostrom is living the dream this weekend aboard the LCR Honda RC212V in the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix, but it's a sleepless dream that's kept him up at night.

The 37-year-old MotoGP rookie took most of the questions in the pre-race press conference for the 10th round of the MotoGP World Championship at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. Last year's AMA Superbike race winner thanked LCR, Michael Jordan Motorsports, and American Suzuki, then spoke of what he expected of his double duty weekend.

"Yeah, it's definitely going to be a big weekend," he said on a stage he shared with World Champions Casey Stoner, Dani Pedrosa, Jorge Lorenzo, and Nicky Hayden. "Just walking up those stairs is pretty special. It's an honor to sit with these guys. And actually, even have a little name tag right here. I took a photo myself to try to believe that.

"It's really an honor. Very lucky with LCR Honda. I've got to thank them with MJ, I mean Michael Jordan Motorsports. The collaboration between the two and even American Suzuki for allowing the opportunity. I want to go out there and twist the thing. It's so exciting to get a new toy to ride."

Bostrom added that it was "a dream come true. Honestly, I watch these guys because I TiVo every race and I'm becoming more and more a fan as I get older¸ which is strange. I didn't love motorcycles as much several years ago. Every day, maybe because you see the end coming more, I'm an uberfan. What can I say? So I'm there like glued to it."

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Introducing Mercedes Benz W25 Inspired Concept Car

Nowadays design and technology are moving ahead at high speeds, thus the designers and engineers have to keep up with the alert rhythm. One such project that seems to define the tempo itself is the Touch Effect by Marco Sweston of the Munich University of Applied Sciences. The whole car was penciled as a continuation of the Mercedes-Benz Silver Arrows W25.

The vehicle thereby designed for this sport has a light-weight main body with a stiff carbon frame that imparts it ruggedness, giving it an overall stability. The other core muscles for the motor-sport vehicle have been made from flexible synthetics that can be deformed using voltage differences. These have been covered partially using acrylic glass surfaces on the exterior thereby giving a visual feel of merging parts into one volume.

However, the hull has been kept a bit unveiled as to convey the impression of being light-weight. In addition to the designing part, the vehicle has features like automatic ground clearance adjustment as well as a four-wheel steering. Marko Swenson visualizes

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I want to ride my bicycle, I want to ride my bike

Somewhere near the beginning of life's scrapbook is this picture: a child detaching from the stabilizing grip of a grown-up and sailing forth alone as momentum and balance finally click and lock into the irrevocable knowledge of how to ride a bike.

It kept happening Wednesday at the Agri-Plex in Allentown, as child after child participating in a weeklong biking camp mastered gravity and conquered inertia and left training wheels behind for good.

What made it unique is that the cyclists were all special-needs children whose chances of ever riding a two-wheeled bike looked pretty dim as late as last week.

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Britons may soon fly cars!

London, July 18 (IANS) A flying car which usually finds its mention in children books or animated cartoon movies, may soon become a reality in Britain.



Aviation experts are saying a flying car could be in regular use in Britain within five years after a model was formally approved by US authorities, Daily Mail reported Monday.


The $250,000 Terrafugia Transition is a two-seater aircraft, which has a top speed of 115 mph, a range of 500 miles on a tank of fuel and requires just 20 hours training to fly.

The car, at the touch of a button, takes just 15 seconds for its wings to fold up automatically and the power to be re-routed from the propeller to the rear wheels.

It can then be driven at up to 65 mph and will comfortably fit in a standard size garage.

'It's like a little Transformer,' said Terrafugia founder Carl Dietrich, referring to the children's toys that were turned into a blockbuster movie franchise.

Although aimed primarily at buyers in the US where there are plenty of airstrips and 600 'fly-in' communities - Boeing 707 owner John Travolta being the best-known fan - more than 20 Britons have already declared an interest in the carbon-fibre vehicle.

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Positive in Fluence

IN times of economic woe and tightening of the purse strings, new car buyers are looking at value for money to sell their wares.

With Renault's history of making affordable family cars and the news they are extending and doubling their scrappage scheme, there's never been a better time to get behind the wheel of a new Renault.

And the new Renault Fluence not only provides value for money, it is one of the most spacious in its class.

The new sleek design fills the void left by the new Megane not including a saloon in the line-up.

I have to admit, I was never a huge fan of the old Megane saloon - there's no doubting it was a good car but it didn't do anything for me in the looks department.

The new Fluence definitely has kerb appeal. Renault designers have taken the challenge head on and have come up with one of the most attractive cars in the sector.

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Ford launches the all new Fiesta.

The All-New Fiesta is available in four premium trims, across eight variants – Style, Trend, Titanium and Titanium Plus, with both petrol and diesel powertrain options in manual transmission. The 1.5 L Ti-VCT Style is priced at Rs. 823,500 (ex-showroom, Delhi) and the 1.5 L Duratorq TDCi Titanium Plus at Rs. 10,42,200 (ex-showroom, Delhi).

Ford India on Thursday launched its global sedan, the all-new Fiesta. The globally evolved product brings to its segment a host of new features. The company also introduced its first-ever 1.5-litre powertrains — 1.5 L Ti-VCT and 1.5 L Duratorq TDCi engines — that will drive the premium sedan. Both powertrains will be manufactured at the company's engine plant at Maraimalai Nagar near Chennai in Tamil Nadu.

The all-new Fiesta is available in four premium trims, across eight variants — Style, Trend, Titanium and Titanium Plus with petrol and diesel powertrain options in manual transmission. The 1.5 L Ti-VCT Style is priced at Rs.8.31 lakh (ex-showroom, Navi Mumbai) and the top of the line 1.5 L Duratorq TDCi Titanium Plus at Rs.10.51 lakh (ex-showroom, Navi Mumbai). The car will be available in seven colours — diamond white, moondust silver, sea grey, chill, panther black, squeeze and kinetic blue. Ford India is offering anti-lock brake system, electronic brakeforce distribution, airbags and steering wheel audio controls as standard features among others, across all the eight variants in both options.

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Mahindra to sell 120,000 SsangYong cars globally this year

Automobile major Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd is aiming to sell 120,000 South Korean SsangYong cars globally this year, the company said on Wednesday.

"We are aiming to sell 120,000 SsangYong cars globally this year. About 55 percent of this will be sold outside (South) Korea and the remaining will be sold in (South) Korea. Last year 82,000 cars were sold," Mahindra and Mahindra president, automotive and farm equipment sectors, Pawan Goenka told reporters here.

Mahindra and Mahindra acquired the South Korean automobile manufacturer SsangYong Motor in February.

Goenka said the company will launch five new cars in India.

"We will launch five new cars in the country this year. Two cars of SsangYong - Rexton and Korando C, one SUV (sport utility vehicle) and one electric car will be launched," he said.

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