Tatas show Zest for road race

Mumbai, Aug. 12: Tata Motors today launched its first passenger car in four years as part of efforts to boost its share in the difficult domestic market. Called Zest, the base petrol variant for the compact sedan sports a price tag of Rs 4.64 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi), while the diesel variant starts at Rs 5.64 lakh.

Zest will compete with the Hyundai Xcent, Honda Amaze and segment leader Maruti Suzuki Swift Dzire in this sub 4-metre sedan segment.

For Tata Motors, the launch is crucial as it has been losing market share in the highly competitive passenger vehicle segment. For the first quarter ended June 30, its market share stood at 4.2 per cent from a little more than 10 per cent a couple of years ago.

The company is planning to launch two vehicles every year till 2020. As part of this product strategy, Zest will be followed by the hatchback Bolt later this year.

The Zest will be sold in over 470 company outlets from today.

It is being manufactured at the Pimpri and Ranjangaon Plant in Pune on a new platform. The car will be available in four trims in petrol and five in diesel. The range will come in six colours.

“Both the petrol and diesel versions come with their unique segment-firsts and we are confident it will delight our consumers with its design, driving pleasure and great connectivity features,” Ranjit Yadav, president of the passenger vehicles business unit, said today.

Lamborghini unveils Aventador Roadster at Rs.4.77 crore

Lamborghini has introduced its open-top luxury super sports car, Lamborghini Aventador LP700-4 Roadster, in the Indian market to cater to the super-rich.

The car is priced at Rs.4,77,50,000 (ex-showroom Delhi). It will go on sale from mid-2013 at Lamborghini dealers nationwide, Lamborghini India said.

“The Roadster is the most exciting super car that embodies performance, design, technology and engineering excellence which has captivated the imagination of auto enthusiasts across the world. The Aventador Roadster will not only wow Lamborghini fans with its innovations, but will also further develop our presence in the emerging Indian super-luxury sports car segment,” Andrea Baldi, Sales Manager, Southeast Asia & Pacific said, while launching the super car.

“India is slowly accepting the super cars as a mode to realise aspirations and we are hopeful of the success we can achieve here. We believe that our portfolio of legendary super cars has what it takes to satisfy the discerning Indian market,” he added.

“The luxury car market in India has seen a fair amount of growth in the last few years, and continues to grow at a significant rate each year. The emphasis has shifted from pure price consideration to design, quality and pleasure,” said Pavan Shetty, Head of Operations, Lamborghini India. The car can immediately be recognised by the unique profile of its upper area, which extends along newly-designed geometric lines from the removable roof to the engine hood.

It accelerates from 0 to 100 km per hour in just three seconds flat and has a maximum speed of some 350 km per hour.

In 2012, Lamborghini India maintained growth momentum with a 21 per cent increase in sales.