Maruti has no yet revealed pictures of the new car’s interiors, but says that it will be more ‘dynamic’ in comparison to the present version. The longer wheelbase will make more room for rear passengers, and the interiors will continue to be done up in black with traces of silver. The version to be launched in the UK will come with a 1.2-litre Dual VVT petrol engine and a standard manual gearbox with automatic transmission as an option.

When the Nano was launched, Tata Motors could not allow customers to test drive the car because it was not available in sufficient numbers. However, with the Sanand plant now operational, the company is trying to make up for lost time by going one step further and offering a free 15-day trial. According to industry observers, the Nano, with its low pricing and high mileage, may prove to be a major threat to Maruti Suzuki, which leads in small car sales. While Tata Motors’ market share may go up by 7 percent in another 2 years, as the Nano becomes available in larger numbers, Maruti Suzuki’s market share may fall to 45 percent.

At present, Porsche has 2 showrooms in India, and will open 5 more in Chennai, Chandigarh, Hyderabad, Kochi and Ahmedabad by the end of 2010. Porsche India Director, Mr Ashish Chordia, told mediapersons that the new Cayenne represented the perfect balance between elegant design and powerful driving dynamics, with much improved efficiency. The Cayenne S Hybrid variant can run 100 km on only 8.2 litres of fuel.

The company is also planning to launch an automatic version the Maruti A-Star. The car will be launched within the next few months, and is likely to be much costlier than the existing variants of the A-Star. With the automatic version of the car, Maruti wants to cater to the growing number of medium to large city customers looking for automatic hatchbacks, which are few in number at present.

The car comes in three variants – D-4D J, D-4D G and D-4D GL, and seven different colours – Silver Mica Metallic, Champagne Mica Metallic, Dark Red Mica Metallic, White Pearl Mica, Light Blue Mica Metallic, Super White and Black Mica. It delivers a maximum power of 88.4 PS.

TKM first launched the Corolla in India in the year 2003, and has sold over 60,000 units of the car so far. Significantly, India is the first country in Asia where the BSIV-compliant Altis Diesel has been launched.

BMW had overtaken competitor Mercedes-Benz as India’s largest luxury car maker in financial year 2009-2010, but fell behind the latter in the April-June quarter, largely because the earlier version of the 5-Series went out of production in early 2010. Now, with the car’s new version on sale, the company is hoping to regain the number-one slot in the segment.

Nissan Motor India Managing Director and CEO, Mr Kiminobu Tokuyama, said that the company would launch a diesel version of the Micra by the end of 2010, and that its next sedan would also be built on the same platform. Nissan’s dealership network in India, which is currently not very wide, will expand to 30 outlets by the end of FY 2010. While the Micra, with its competitive prices, distinctive styling and first-in-segment features, may be an attractive option for compact-car buyers, Nissan’s limited number of dealerships compared to competitors may be a deterrent in ensuring high sales.

The car is expected to be launched in 2012 at a starting price of $2,500. Nissan-Renault Director (Communications), Mr Simon Sproule, told a business daily in India that there had been no new announcements regarding the project since November 2009. He said that it had been decided at the very beginning that Bajaj, with its long experiencre in low-cost manufacturing, would produce the car, while the Renault-Nissan alliance would pitch in with its expertise in selling four-wheelers.

Mr Shuichi Nishimura, a corporate vice-president at Nissan, said during a presentation in Yokohama that the company was looking to expand its Infini series. However, he did not say if it would continue to use Toyota’s hybrid system or replace it with its own in future projects. Nissan is exploring several eco-friendly technologies including gasoline engines, hydrogen-powered fuel-cell vehicles and low-emission diesel engines.

Meanwhile, the demand for the company’s latest hatchback, Polo, continues to outstrip supply, with a backlog of over 10,000 units. Volkswagen India Director (Passenger Cars), Mr Neeraj Garg, told mediapersons that the company had delivered 4,500 units of the Polo since its launch in April 2010, and that there were very few cancellations despite the heavy backlog.

Volkswagen’s sales in India have increased by 100 percent over the past six months, though its market share in the country continues to hover around 1.35 percent. Garg said that the company’s long term goal was to achieve 8-10 percent market share.