Suzuki Motor Corporation has achieved accumulated Japanese domestic mini vehicle sales of 25 million units as of 30 April, 2021.
Since launching the Suzulight, the first ever mass-production mini vehicle in Japan in October 1955, Suzuki has been providing distinctive products that meet customer needs, including mini vehicles such as the Jimny in 1970, the Alto in 1979, and the WagonR in 1993. In recent years, Suzuki has launched the Spacia in 2013, and the Hustler in 2014, achieving accumulated Japanese domestic mini vehicle sales of 25 million units in 65 years and 7 months.
Mini vehicles are favoured by many customers for their economically efficient and easy-to-drive characteristics. They are used as a “practical necessity” for everyday family usage such as commuting, school trips and shopping, as well as a useful work vehicle carrying people and goods of private stores, local workshops and farms.
Additionally, in rural areas where public transportation is difficult to use, mini vehicles have replaced buses and trains and serve a vital transport role in local communities.
Suzuki will continue providing value-packed products that exceed customer expectations.
Sharper, dynamic, power-packed: First flash of the new Polo GTI.
Just in time for the traditional GTI weekend meet on Lake Wörthersee, which is again unable to take place due to COVID-19, Volkswagen is offering a first peek at the new Polo GTI. The compact sports car is based on the new Polo that was recently presented, and will become the premium version of the product line. This GTI model also represents pure dynamism and expressive design – the success factors of the GTI concept. The official world premiere of the new Polo GTI will take place at the end of June 2021.
“Once a GTI, always a GTI” – that’s how fans of the sporty Volkswagen models with the “magic three letters” continually express their loyalty. GTI – pure fascination and excitement. The success story continues, with the new Polo GTI in the starting blocks. Traditionally, it is the sportiest model in the Polo series. With its high-torque front-wheel drive, dynamically tuned sports chassis and expressive design, it really stands out from the crowd. Moreover, it fulfils the promise of exceptional driving dynamics in combination with exceptional everyday usability.
The legendary GTI meet at Wörthersee Lake The GTI meet can look back on a long history. GTI fans met for the first time in 1982 in the Austrian municipality of Reifnitz/Maria Wörth. Over the years, the event not only attracted car enthusiasts, but also became a true folk festival under the simple but powerful motto “GTI”. Each event lasts four days, from the Wednesday before Ascension Day to the following weekend.
Subaru Corporation today announced that Subaru’s all-new global battery electric SUV will be named “Solterra” and it is scheduled to go on sale in 2022.
Solterra is Subaru’s all-new, all-electric C-segment-class SUV and it will be the first Subaru vehicle to be built on the battery electric vehicle (BEV) dedicated e-Subaru Global Platform.
The e-Subaru Global platform, which has been jointly-developed by Subaru and Toyota, enables to roll out various types of EVs efficiently by combining multiple modules and components, such as the front, center and rear of a vehicle. While the two companies have brought together their knowledge to create a completely new platform, Subaru have aimed to realize superior passive safety and vehicle stability, which Subaru has always been pursuing, also in this BEV dedicated platform.
Not only the platform, the SUV “ Solterra” has also been jointly-developed by Subaru and Toyota, and wide range of collaboration includes product planning, design and performance evaluation. In this development, the two companies combine their respective strengths, such as Subaru’s long-accumulated all-wheel-drive technology and Toyota’s outstanding vehicle electrification technology, to create a new SUV with attributes that only an all- electric vehicle can offer.
The name “ Solterra” was created by joining the word “Sol” and “Terra”, the Latin words for the “Sun” and the “Earth” respectively. Subaru gave this name to the EV to appreciate mother nature and further advance the form of coexistence with it, together with our customers, and to represent our commitment to deliver traditional Subaru SUV’s go-anywhere capabilities in an all-electric vehicle.
Solterra will be joining the line of Subaru SUVs, Ascent, Outback, Forester and Subaru XV and go on sale by the middle of 2022 in the markets including Japan, the United States, Canada, Europe and China.
Luca de Meo, Renault Brand CEO, and the Renault brand team have participated in the first ever Renault Talk, a brand-new all-digital event during which they discuss their vision of the wider group.
The new direction, unveiled by the team, presents Renault Group as an energy transition leader, at the forefront of the latest technology and services, operating in a more sustainable and responsible manner as part of its ‘Nouvelle Vague’ (New Wave). A people-centric brand, Renault is entering a new era as it delivers enhanced modernity to the European automotive industry.
The ‘Nouvelle Vague’ will turn Renault into a brand focussed on technology, services and clean energy, by engineering smarter everyday vehicles and mobility solutions that are more sustainable. This is in line with the DNA as a company that changed with the times throughout the 20th century with innovative, modern vehicles. In 2021, more than ever, Renault strives to meet market expectations of responsible, carbon-free, safe and scalable mobility solutions that are in line with customer needs.
During Renault Talk #1, Luca de Meo restated the direction set for the brand, at the heart of the Group’s Renaulution plan:
As industry leader of the energy transition, the Renault brand will be the greenest brand in Europe as of 2030, with nine out of 10 cars on sale being electrified.
At the forefront of technology and services, the Renault brand is shaping the future of urban mobility, primarily via the ‘Software Republique’. More than 2,000 engineers from five industry-leading companies will bring their shared expertise in cyber security, artificial intelligence, data processing, software, and microelectronics, in order to deliver turnkey mobility solutions for cities and communities.
The Renault Re-Factory – Europe’s first circular-economy hub – marks a move towards a more sustainable and responsible model, with up to 120,000 vehicles (EV included) recycled or upcycled every year. Nearly 80 per cent of strategic recycled materials will be reused in new batteries. By 2030, Renault will become the world’s best automotive manufacturer when it comes to the percentage of recycled materials in new vehicles.
Renault is taking its ‘voitures à vivre’ to upper segments: Seven models will be released in the C and D segments by 2025, all of them electrified, with the All-New Arkana marking the beginning of this offensive. The next generation Megane E-TECH Electric, a vehicle that embodies the future of connected and full-electric cars, is also set be launched in the near future. Lastly, ongoing improvements to E-TECH hybrid technology will continue to provide upcoming C- and D-segment vehicles with the very best in efficiency and dynamic driving experiences.
NEW ERA, NEW LOGO Throughout its history, the Renault brand has undergone several changes to its visual identity. But one thing has remained unchanged since 1925: the instantly recognisable Renault diamond, a true brand icon.
The latest version of the Renault logo was created in 1992 before being slightly refreshed and reworked in 2015. As a brand deeply rooted in a modern, international market, this all-new logo brings a more modern and vibrant feel and serves a key purpose of portraying the Renault brand as more relatable and built on people-centric values. A streamlined design without typography or brand signature, the logo is an open-ended shape, reflecting the brand’s openness and transparency.
The new logo was co-designed with Landor & Fitch consultants and will be phased in as of next year on all Renault brand vehicles and throughout the Renault network. By 2024, the whole Renault range will bear the new logo.
During the Renault Talk, Gilles Vidal, Renault Brand Design Director, unveiled an image of the logo as it will appear on the back of the new Megane E-TECH Electric, which will come to market in 2022.
Gilles Vidal also presented two interior visuals that show a revisited and enhanced onboard experience, including:
High-tech onboard systems and the latest, most up-to-date screens Increased space with more storage compartments for extra comfort and convenience Redesigned lines, spaces, and materials that embody a new era
ALL-NEW BRAND EXPRESSION According to Arnaud Belloni, VP of Global Marketing for the Renault brand, the ‘Nouvelle Vague’ is also reflected in the brand’s advertising.
Imbued with a creative and modern edge, they incorporate some of the brand’s most iconic pieces of memorabilia: the Renault Fuego, covers of cult classics like ‘Johnny & Mary’, or the Renault-Gitane cycling jersey featured in a recent advert for the Captur E-TECH Hybrid.
The new brand identity is already an underlying feature of Renault’s advertising campaigns and communications. It will be deployed across the brand’s websites from June.
THE RENAULT E-TECH HYBRID OFFENSIVE With more than 10 years of experience and almost 400,000 vehicles sold to date, Renault is a leader in the European EV market. Building from its expertise in pure-electric vehicles, Renault has extended its EV range with hybrid and plug-in hybrid versions of its core market vehicles.
With more than 150 patents to its name and having leveraged the brand’s experience in Formula One, E-TECH hybrid technology is as unique as it is modular. In both hybrid and plug-in hybrid versions, it provides the best in energy efficiency and driving pleasure while also reducing CO2 emissions and fuel consumption.
This revolutionary piece of technology debuted on three of the brand’s core vehicles in 2020 as a way of making the EV experience something for everyone:
Clio E-TECH Hybrid
Captur E-TECH Plug-in Hybrid
Megane Sport Tourer E-TECH Plug-in Hybrid
In 2021, the E-TECH range is set to expand with the release of the All-New Arkana and Captur E-TECH Hybrid, plus the Megane E-TECH Plug-In Hybrid, totalling an electrified range of six E-TECH hybrid and plug-in hybrid vehicles.
Gilles Le Borgne, EVP, Engineering, Renault Group, has confirmed that the brand is preparing for the future by extending the scope of its E-TECH hybrid technology to future generations.
Upper segments – especially the C-SUV segment – will see the arrival of a brand-new 1.2-litre three-cylinder engine combined with an electric motor, for a 200hp hybrid vehicle in 2022 and a 280hp in plug-in hybrid four-wheel drive vehicle in 2024.
Establishing a new product takes its own time, more so if we are talking about EVs. When it comes to the MG ZS EV, the connected EV has found many homes in European nations since it entered the continent in 2019. Not only UK, the ZS EV’s sales in the world’s top EV adopting nation – Norway have also been on a strong trajectory.
In April 2021, car sales in leading EV adoption nation Norway comprised of 55% EVs – the best ratio in the world. Including plug-ins, the figure exceeded 80%.
The top selling EVs in Norway during April 2021 (and YTD Jan-April 2021) are:
Volkswagen ID.4 – 1,824 (2,684 YTD)
Tesla Model 3 – 4 (2,570 YTD)
Audi e-tron – 668 (2,450 YTD)
Polestar 2 – 469 (1,730 YTD)
Nissan LEAF – 313 (1,678 YTD)
Mercedes-Benz EQC – 378 (1,591 YTD)
MG ZS EV – 187 (1,047 YTD)
BMW i3 – 225 (716 YTD)
The sales figures for MG ZS EV which notched 7th position overall in Norway so far this year are consistent across the European region. Similar trends were seen for the ZS EV’s sales in The Netherlands, Iceland, and Denmark alongside other regions. Europe has recently become the largest EV market across the globe. Sales of electric cars in Europe soared 137% year on year to 1.4 million units in 2020.
EV sales jumped 41% to 3 million electric cars in 2020 globally, revealed IEA’s Global Electric Vehicle Outlook 2021. The report suggests the cascading economic recessions, triggered by the pandemic did not have much impact on the electric car buyers even as the global automobile market contracted 16% in 2020.
The MG ZS EV turns out to be a truly affordable, family-friendly EV. It is also the first affordable EV to achieve a Five-Star Euro NCAP rating with its comprehensive safety equipment. The ZS EV can zoom from 0-100 kmph in as little as 8.5 seconds. You can further charge it up to 80% in 50 minutes at any of MG’s super-fast charging stations. The carmaker also provides a home charger for free to its customers. The internet-based EV also ensures that you can access MG’s next-gen technology suite i-SMART seamlessly. A panoramic sunroof and PM 2.5 filter further provide delight in the cabin. In India as well, the EV market has doubled in 2020. The MG ZS EV found 1,500 buyers during the financial year April 2020 – March 2021.
Spinny has witnessed rising demand for preowned cars through its contactless digital modes. As a full-stack used-car platform, Spinny sold 9,100-plus used cars till 2020, with a 38% referral purchase rate. More than 70% of used cars are purchased by those under 40 years.
Out of the 1,200 used cars sold each month since January 2021, 70% have been via home test drives and deliveries – a testimony to the trust in the quality of its cars and the information available online. In Bengaluru, about 80% of cars were sold via home drives. While almost 70% are first-time car buyers who earlier relied on public transport and shared cabs, more than 20% of car buyers have been women.
Spinny was the first to offer a completely contactless car buying and selling experience via #WithExtraCare – an initiative with home test drives and home delivery. Spinny 360 is an industry-first feature providing a 360-degree, detailed view of every Spinny Assured vehicle available in each city’s inventory. For people selling cars, Sellright by Spinny offers an assurance of the best price, instant online quotes, free doorstep inspection and instant payment without middlemen.
The new normal has seen a rise in demand for pre-owned cars priced between Rs 4 lakh and Rs 6 lakh. Compared to 2020, there has been a 400% rise in queries and a 10% jump in sales from women car buyers. Going by the Company’s survey, 71% of buyers cited its contactless experience as the key reason to choose Spinny, besides the quality as well as its fair and fixed pricing of cars.
Presently, Spinny has hubs in Noida, Delhi (two), Gurgaon, Pune, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Chennai, Ahmedabad and Kolkata. One report estimates that the used-car market will reach up to 7.2 million annual units by 2022. A recent survey by Deloitte notes that 77% of consumers wish to limit public transport usage while 70% seek to altogether avoid ride-hailing options and 79% intend to own a vehicle. But trust and transparency barriers need to be overcome in the used-car segment.
According to Spinny CEO & Founder Niraj Singh, as per a survey conducted earlier, barely 4% of people were satisfied with their used-car buying experience. Such revelations spurred Spinny to keep trust, transparency and simplicity as one of the hallmarks of their customer buying experience. Its full-stack model means the platform has end-to-end ownership of every step while buying or selling a car for each customer. Beginning with a customer’s first visit to its portal to the test drive and financing options, Spinny manages all processes.
Our top-of-mind concern as we foray into new cities is to maintain and indeed further the quality of our buying and selling experience. Our emphasis on quality and the extra mile we go as a customer-centric service brand has helped us earn credibility and consumer trust. With the ongoing pandemic, it is evident that every decision needs to be backed by strong safety and social distancing measures and Spinny sets the industry standard in safety and convenience to create an delightful car buying or selling experience for our customers.”
To address quality and trust issues plus pandemic-related concerns, Spinny launched many initiatives. These include Spinny 360, Fixed-price Assurance, Spinny BuyBack, 5-Day Money-Back Guarantee and 1-Year Warranty. These have set new industry benchmarks in safe, simple, contactless car buying and selling experiences, making ownership more economical and feasible than rental/subscription models.
Fixed Price Assurance eliminates needless price negotiations, limiting the number of interactions for buying a used car. This is a game-changer as worldwide negotiations are the norm in the segment. Spinny Buyback offers a guaranteed future resale value for 6, 12 or 18 months from the purchase date. Sellers also receive the best price for their old car. Buyback values are calculated as per the car year, make, fuel type and market trends.
While customers can get finance and have the car delivered home, the first step is choosing from more than 1,200 inspected, preowned cars (2012 make or later) listed online. A virtual tour helps them make an informed choice from their home. Next, the customer books the home test drive of a fully-sanitised car, which comes with a customer safety kit. A 200-point inspection check ensures transparency and quality in car details.
Once the decision is made, the requisite documents are uploaded along with payment details. After the payment is processed, the car is delivered to the buyer’s doorstep backed by a ‘no questions asked, 5-day money-back guarantee’.
Meanwhile, tailwinds in the used-car segment have grown stronger in recent years. The auto sector’s transition to BS-VI norms in April 2020 boosted the value proposition of preowned cars. Today, social distancing requirements continue driving greater demand for used cars.
Bell Sport & Classic is proud to unveil the ultimate expression of its exceptional in-house restoration expertise, an authentic remastering of one of the rarest period Ferrari racing cars ever: the 330 LMB.
The result of a joint development programme between Bell Sport & Classic and the business’s owner, the project’s vision was to build an authentic 330 LMB, blending originality and the utmost attention to detail with the very latest restoration techniques and sympathetic enhancements in order to create the perfect, remastered machine.
Built to be used and enjoyed on the road, this one-off car is based on a Ferrari 330 GT 2+2, and pays respectful homage to the original 330 LMB – of which only four were built in period for competition purposes – with a bespoke alloy body hand-crafted using templates taken from Chassis 4725, the only right-hand-drive example ever made.
With all components either period-correct or made from scratch by Bell Sport & Classic’s expert team, 330 LMB Project represents the perfect showcase for the company’s skills, a case study that demonstrates the new benchmark-setting levels of finish for Bell Sport & Classic’s restorations.
Rarer than a 250 GTO The Ferrari 330 LMB (Le Mans Berlinetta) was developed by British-born Ferrari racing driver and engineer Mike Parkes to compete at the 1963 Le Mans 24 Hours. Based upon the Ferrari 250 GTO but with a more powerful 390bhp, 4.0-litre, Colombo V12 engine, it also had a 20mm-longer wheelbase and redesigned aluminium body.
With just four examples made – three left-hand drive, one right-hand drive – the 330 LMB is a highly significant Ferrari, rarer even than the hallowed 250 GTO, of which almost 10 times as many were produced. A trio of 330 LMBs competed at Le Mans in 1963. However, the example entered by Colonel Ronnie Hoare’s British Maranello Concessionaires Ltd team was the only one to go the distance, with Mike Salmon and Jack Sears finishing fifth.
As Ferrari was preparing to transition to mid-engined configuration competition cars, the 330 LMB was destined to become Maranello’s last front-engined race car of the era and did little racing in period. Today, however, the highly prized and exceptionally valuable 330 LMB can often be found at the sharp end of the historic racing field.
An unfinished vision The origins of this remastering project can be traced back more than a decade. “The story begins with Edward Carter, an Essex farmer who was a huge Ferrari enthusiast,” explains Bell Sport & Classic Managing Director Tim Kearns. “Ed wanted to add a 250 GTO recreation to his collection but was steered away by one of the pre-eminent 330 LMB experts, Terry Hoyle. Having intimate knowledge of Chassis 4725, the original right-hand-drive LMB, Terry had another idea: ‘There are many 250 GTO recreations – you should do an LMB instead’.”
In November 2010, a donor right-hand-drive 1964 Ferrari 330 GT 2+2 was purchased by Ed and a vision formed: make the recreation more use-able on the road, but with a racer’s character. Nuneaton-based RS Panels was tasked with shortening the chassis and creating a bodywork buck. In addition to a comprehensive set of photographs Terry Hoyle had of Chassis 4725, a trip was even taken to New York to capture cardboard body patterns, measurements and more images of the original 4725 car. Tragically, Ed Carter was never to see the project completed, losing his life in a road accident in September 2015, and for the next two years, the car lay dormant.
Bell Sport & Classic picks up the baton In 2017, the owner of Bell Sport and Classic stepped in to rescue the project and the car found a new home at the company’s workshops in Markyate, Hertfordshire. It was here that a single overarching goal was set: use the project as a test case for Bell Sport & Classic’s restoration skills, establishing a new benchmark in the industry.
With restorations of period Ferrari, Lamborghini and Aston Martin being Bell Sport & Classic’s core business, it was also agreed that the 330 LMB project represented several unmissable opportunities. Firstly, to respectfully complete one man’s vision, creating what is thought to be the only 330 LMB remastering in the world – but to sympathetically enhance it, producing a unique one-of-one road car that blended originality, authenticity and the very latest restoration techniques, a machine as close to perfection as possible.
Given its collective knowledge, experience and enthusiasm of more than sixty years for the Ferrari marque, the Bell Sport & Classic team was perfectly placed to undertake the substantial amount of work required to complete the project to the highest possible standards.
The project has been headed-up by Elliot East, who has been restoring classic cars and classic Ferraris since the early 2000s working for many of the industry’s leading Ferrari specialists. Bell Sport & Classic’s engineering department is led by Attilio Romano, a former member of the Ferrari factory technical team in Maranello, who ran HR Owen’s Ferrari technical department for 22 years.
Building the body beautiful When the car arrived at Bell Sport & Classic, the wings and roof were already attached; however, the dashboard was not fitted, and the door skins were incomplete. “As they were, the doors were spot-on for an original LMB. They felt super-light, but they lacked the more substantial road car weight we were looking for,” explains East. “So, we reworked them again and again, but very subtly, strengthening every single aspect including the hinges, the skins and the window frames until we got the perfect weight.”
Many of the parts required to complete the body simply could not be sourced anywhere in the world, at least not to the high quality demanded by Bell Sport & Classic. So, the only solution was to fabricate them in-house.
“We spent more than a year searching for window catches; in the end we made them ourselves to ensure we were happy with the fit and finish. Our engineering department also made the aluminium fuel filler cap from scratch,” reveals East.
Other numerous items fabricated by the Bell Sport & Classic team relating to the bodywork include the straps and the bonnet’s finishers. While an off-the-shelf Lusso windscreen was perfect for the front of the car, the rear Perspex screen had to be created in-house. As with the headlamp covers, the team first cut aluminium to shape, which was used to develop a former, via which the perfectly finished Perspex items were fashioned.
“Three years of work has been lavished on this car. And, as with all our customer restoration projects, we have applied painstaking detail to every aspect. Everything is hand-built and unique,” continues East. “It was a delicate balance to achieve, deploying modern restoration techniques to make the new LMB as comfortable and as road-useable as possible, without sacrificing any of its race-bred character.”
The project was subjected to a complete ‘dry build’. This process involved the team fitting all the trim pieces, such as door handles and windscreen surrounds along with glass, to the bare metal body to ensure that the fit of these components would be perfect after the car came back from the paint shop.
Once the team was happy with the level of quality achieved, the body was painted classic Rosso Corsa red over a painstaking ten-week period. Finally, white racing roundels were added, as they would have been in period at the Maranello factory before the assault on Le Mans back in 1963, and a pair of Scuderia Ferrari emblems painstakingly hand-painted on each front wing as they would have been in period.
The heart and soul of the 330 LMB To take the Colombo V12 engine to full LMB specification, Bell Sport & Classic’s engineering department converted it to a dry-sump specification and increased the capacity from 2953cc to 3967cc. “An extraordinary level of work was required to complete the process. Items such as the camshafts, timing case, water pump, oil and fuel tanks, oil filler tubes and caps had to be specially created for the car,” explains Attilio Romano.
The six carburettors are bespoke commissions in place of the Weber 42s fitted to the engine in period. The fuel rail and linkages are also bespoke creations. Once complete, the fully rebuilt engine was run-in and tuned on the dyno, and the result is 390bhp at 7000 rpm and 300 lb/ft of torque at 6000 rpm – precisely the same as in period. The only specification change has been the addition of a cooling fan, a modification that reflects the car’s road-bias.
At the start of the project, a five-speed transmission from a Mk2 330GT in Switzerland had already been sourced. While the original race cars were equipped with four-speed gearboxes, Bell Sport & Classic retained the five-speed unit as a sympathetic enhancement to improve the car’s road manners and use-ability.
The transmission was fully rebuilt using specially-manufactured selector forks and fitting all new synchros and hubs while Bell Sport & Classic’s engineers have also equipped the car with a bespoke prop shaft. The entire suspension system was stripped down and fully refurbished. The configuration features upper and lower wishbones with coil springs and telescopic dampers at the front.
A more road-focused set-up is deployed at the rear, featuring a five-bar linkage with leaf springs and a coil-over ‘helper’ damper, compared with the Panhard rod and Watts linkage of the period competition car. A rebuilt limited-slip differential completes the package.
Competition Lusso interior As the original LMB 330s were built to race twice around the clock at Le Mans, few concessions were made to comfort. Their functional cabins were bare-painted in silver Hammerite with a wrinkle finish dashboard and black Corduroy seats. In keeping with Ed Carter’s vision for a ‘GT version’ of the 330 LMB, Bell Sport & Classic’s team strove to create a correct interior that would still be authentic but provide a touch more comfort for road use.
“In the 1980s, the original 330 LMBs were retrimmed in ‘Competition Lusso’ style,” reveals East. “So, we selected this specification, keeping the black Corduroy seats and ‘wrinkle’ dash but adding carpets and trim detail. With race-focussed instruments and dials, the car retains a very period motorsport feel, while delivering a true GT experience on the road.”
The car’s beautifully fashioned aluminium gear lever turret, featuring the classic open-gate and tall gear lever, looks exactly as it would have when it left Maranello in 1963. However, like so many other components on the car, this exquisite cabin centrepiece was made entirely from scratch, on-site.
Sympathetic upgrades include a high torque starter motor, electronic ignition, electric fuel pumps and an electric cooling fan. The 330 LMB project also benefits from hidden modern voltage regulator and electric washer motor, along with a full fire system and welded, leak-free fuel tank inside an external riveted tank.
Tim Kearns, Managing Director of Bell Sport and Classic,said:“This remarkable 330 LMB remastering is an outstanding showcase for the incredible talent that lies within Bell Sport & Classic. The dedication they have put into this very special project over the last three years is outstanding, with every component either restored, rebuilt or created from scratch, blending the very latest restoration and engineering techniques with a selection of sympathetic upgrades.
“The result is a unique case study that pays homage to the original and demonstrates the new benchmark-setting levels of finish for Bell Sport & Classic restorations. I am also proud that we have, at long last, completed one man’s original vision. For us, this 330 LMB project is very much a one-off but it represents so much more than a remarkable car: it is a rolling showcase for the attention to detail and craftsmanship we put into every restoration, and one thing is for sure, we will be revealing many more of those in the coming months.”
Swedish luxury car maker Volvo Car India today announced that it would be increasing the ex-showroom prices of its luxury sedan S90 and premium SUVs, XC40, XC60 and XC90. Effective May 3, 2021, these models will see an upward price change ranging from Rs. 1 lakh to Rs. 2 lakh.
The decision comes in the backdrop of rising input costs and weakening of the Indian currency. The last price hike by the company was announced in 2018 and thereafter it has maintained the price line for all its products. The decision comes as a result of increased cost in production, a volatile forex situation over the years and the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the routine business set up.
Mr. Jyoti Malhotra, Managing Director, Volvo Car India “Our commitment to the Indian market and our customers is reflected in the fact that while the Indian auto industry went through price escalation across the spectrum, we at Volvo Cars maintained the prices of all our products for three years since 2018. We are however now faced with a situation where rising input costs leave us with no other option but to share some of these costs with the customer. We may have to relook at the prices and take further increase later in the year, depending on how input costs develop. As an organization focused on safety, we will continue to keep our promise towards our customers and prioritize their safety & well-being.”
Following are the new ex-showroom prices effective from May 3, 2021:
Volvo S90 D4 Inscription: Rs. 60,90,000
Volvo XC40 T4 R Design: Rs. 41,25,000
Volvo XC60 D5 Inscription: Rs. 60,90,000
Volvo XC90 D5 Inscription: Rs. 88,90,000
No change in price for the newly introduced compact luxury sedan S60 has been announced. The ex-showroom prices will continue to be as follows:
It’s curtain-up for the new Skoda Fabia. On Tuesday, May 4, Skoda Auto will unveil the fourth generation of its successful small car. The DOX Centre for Contemporary Art in Prague will serve as a spectacular backdrop for the entirely digital world premiere. Skoda fans worldwide can move freely through a virtual pavilion and discover fascinating details about the Skoda Fabia’s success story. From now until the start of the stream on Tuesday evening, Skoda will gradually reveal new areas of the pavilion at https://fabia-skoda-virtual-event.web.app/start. The world premiere will also be broadcast on the Skoda Storyboard and the car manufacturer’s social media channels (Youtube and Facebook).
Skoda will present the fourth generation of the Fabia, based for the first time on the Volkswagen Group’s Modular Transverse Toolkit MQB-A0, 22 years after its debut. It boasts a convincing price-performance ratio, outstanding safety and a high level of comfort and build quality. With its even more dynamic and emotive design, the Skoda Fabia has all the prerequisites to continue the model series’ success story.
The digital presentation format allows viewers to tour the show as if they were in a real exhibition; they can move freely around the virtual pavilion and view the exhibits. During their tour, guests can meet Skoda Auto Board Members including Chairman of the Board Thomas Schäfer and Martin Jahn, Board Member for Sales and Marketing, as well as experts from the Skoda Design team led by Oliver Stefani. To make these encounters as realistic as possible, the Skoda representatives have each created an avatar.
The tour leads users to the various presentation areas in the DOX. In the inner courtyard, numerous LED walls are installed for the action programme and the roof terrace becomes the ‘NEXT LEVEL’ terrace – reflecting the Czech car manufacturer’s current programme for the future. These two areas will be where the new Skoda Fabia is unveiled following Thomas Schäfer’s welcoming speech. After the show, 360-degree views of vehicles will be accessible in the virtual pavilion. Later, a recording of the presentation and additional videos will be available in the airship above the ‘NEXT LEVEL’ terrace.
A three-dimensional model of the DOX was created for the virtual pavilion to stage the world premiere of the new Skoda Fabia. This is to give visitors the impression of being at a live event. The Centre for Contemporary Art is located in the Prague district of Holešovice and is a former factory that has been architecturally transformed into an impressive and ultra-modern space. The DOX premises creatively reinterpret the core characteristics of the Skoda Fabia: user-friendliness, suitability for everyday use, Simply Clever ideas and emotive design. The premiere is rounded off by a tape art concept designed exclusively for the new Fabia. Colourful adhesive strips are used to create artistic backgrounds and illustrate the walkthrough of the location. The tape artists were inspired not only by Skoda’s design language with crystalline elements but also by the driving experience in the Fabia and Simply Clever ideas as well as the extraordinary architecture of the DOX.
Sir Stirling Moss, Goodwood Revival, Goodwood Estate, Chichester, West Sussex, UK – 16.09.11
The legendary Sir Stirling Moss, who passed away at Easter 2020, will be commemorated at Goodwood’s headline motorsport events in 2021.
It was at the Goodwood Motor Circuit that Moss took part in, and won, his very first motor race, on 18 September, 1948, a day after his 19th birthday. In the years that followed, Moss contested 56 races at Goodwood, winning 21 of them and finishing on the podium a further 13 times. Goodwood was the scene of four of Moss’ seven Tourist Trophy victories; two for Ferrari and two for Aston Martin, including clinching the British marque’s world championship title in 1959. Tragically, it was also the scene of his career-ending accident on 23 April, 1962.
One of the founding patrons of the Festival of Speed, and a regular competitor at the Revival, it’s little wonder that Moss became a favourite of the fans, who christened him ‘Mr Goodwood’. Given his racing record – winning in almost everything he drove – it is fitting that Moss should be remembered at the 2021 Festival of Speed presented by Mastercard, the theme for which is ‘The Maestros – Motorsport’s Great All-Rounders’.
This weekend marks the anniversary of the 1955 Mille Miglia, which Moss won with the invaluable help of co-driver Denis ‘Jenks’ Jenkinson. The daring duo completed the epic 1000-mile race in 10 hours, 7 minutes and 48 seconds, at an average speed of 99mph – a record which will stand in perpetuity. Honouring this achievement at the Festival of Speed, Mercedes-Benz will be displaying the fearsome 300SLR ‘722’ in which the pair competed, and which is rarely seen outside the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart. Mercedes-Benz will also be bringing a W196 Formula 1 car of the type Moss used to win his first Grand Prix, at Aintree in 1955.
The Goodwood Revival in September will host perhaps the largest ever gathering of Moss’ competition cars, celebrating his life and career in a way that sadly wasn’t possible in 2020. Returning for the parade will be ‘722’ in what will be one of its last public outings for many years. Assembling on the track with it will be the Lotus 18 in which Moss defeated the mighty ‘Sharknose’ Ferraris at both Monaco and the Nürburgring in 1961. Returning to Goodwood will also be the Rob Walker Racing Ferrari 250 GT SWB which Moss drove to his last Goodwood win, at the Tourist Trophy in 1961.
Many of the Moss parade cars will also be racing in earnest again during the Revival, including the Aston Martin DB3S in which he finished second at Le Mans (in the Freddie March Memorial Trophy), and the Nürburgring 1000km-winning DBR1 (Sussex Trophy). Also invited to compete in those two races respectively will be his Reims-winning Jaguar C-type and Cooper T49, while a real rarity, the Ferguson P99 four-wheel-drive Grand Prix car which Moss piloted to victory in the International Gold Cup in 1961, will join the grid for the Richmond Trophy.
The Revival will also be the setting for the second running of the Stirling Moss Memorial Trophy. Formerly the Kinrara Trophy, this race was renamed for Goodwood SpeedWeek presented by Mastercard in 2020 and will now become a permanent fixture on the Goodwood calendar. Contested by Jaguar E-types, Ferrari 250s, Aston Martin DB4 GTs and AC Cobras, this has been described as ‘the most beautiful race in the world’, taking place as the sun falls on the Friday night of the Revival weekend.
Finally, the 78th Members’ Meeting in October will see the third running of the Moss Trophy for GT cars of a type which raced up to 1962 – a fitting way to keep the Moss name alive at Goodwood’s most exclusive race meeting.
The Duke of Richmond said: “Stirling and his wife Susie were such an important part of the Goodwood family for so many years. All of us here felt his loss especially keenly as we weren’t able to commemorate his incredible life as we would have wanted last year. We hope that fans at our events around the world will join us in celebrating his racing career and bidding farewell to ‘Mr Goodwood’ in 2021. Stirling’s supreme skill and love for his sport will continue to be remembered at Goodwood for many years to come.”
Power Drive 