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Skoda Fabia R2 Rally Car– Details Specifications Features
Ford Motor Company CEO Addresses Indian Media And Employees Via Video On Figo Anniversary
Breaking: Ford Figo Will Be Exported To Mexico, South Africa And Nepal
General Motors India Engines On Sale For Other Car Makers

Skoda Fabia R2 Rally Car– Details Specifications Features

Posted: 09 Mar 2011 03:38 AM PST

Skoda has shown amazing level of growth ever since its introduction in the market, with cars like Skoda Octavia, Skoda Superb , Skoda Laura and Skoda Fabia, While the first three belong to the sedan category, the fourth one is from the small car segment. The most recent addition to their Indian line-up was Skoda Yeti SUV.

Moments back we received the official press release about a new Fabia rally car which has been introduced and will be used the R2 rally category. Named as Skoda Fabia R2, the car presents exceptional piece of work including attractive graphics and minor body changes. In cooperation with independent motor sports specialist Impromat Car, Skoda has developed this car. It gets improved driving dynamics, optimized in accordance with the demand in motor sports.

Skoda manager for sales and marketing for the Central and Eastern European region, explains: "It's great that from now on, we're offering a rally vehicle for a wider range of customers looking for a reliable and affordable race car. Given our successful tradition and development in motor sports beyond the Czech Republic, the new Fabia R2 is just a logical result of our activities. I'm sure that the model will be as successful as the Fabia Super 2000 already is today. We are convinced that Fabia R2 will help us establishing our positions both in the field of sports as well as in business,"

This is indeed a very important car for this Czech manufacturer as the brand is one of the most successful brands in rally sports and we wish to see how many titles this car manages to bag.

Skoda Fabia R2 Rally Car Specifications

Technical Data of the Fabia R2:

Engine: naturally aspirated engine 1.6 l 16V / 132 kW

Displacement: 1,598 cm³

Maximum output in kW at rpm: 132 / 7,500

Maximum torque in Nm at rpm: 194 / 5,500

Engine electronics: Magneti-Marelli

Drive: Front wheel drive

Gearbox: sequential five-gear transmission by Sadev

Skoda Fabia R2 Rally Car Price

The price of the new Fabia R2 is around 62,000 EUR which calculates to a mind boggling Rs.39 Lakh.

Official Press Release

New Skoda Rally Car Fabia R2

Model for broad use in the rally category R2
Developed by a motor sports specialist in cooperation with Skoda
Another element of the motor sports activities of the company

Prague, March 8^th, 2011 – With the Fabia R2, Skoda is introducing a new rally car in the market, which is to be used in the rally category R2. The car was developed, extensively tested, and prepared to its use in rallies for almost two years. In principle, the Fabia R2 is based on the series model of the popular small car, but there are significant differences in its engine, undercarriage, axle kinematics, and gearbox. Compared to the series model, the undercarriage was changed considerably and the axle kinematics was adapted for its application in motor sports. Furthermore, the Fabia R2 possesses a sequentially operated gearbox. Under the hood, a powerful 1.6 l 16V engine puts out 132 kW. The maximum torque amounts to 194Nm at 5500 rpm. The price of the new Fabia R2 is around 62,000 EUR.

In cooperation with Skoda the independent motor sports specialist Impromat Car was responsible for the development of the car. Impromat Car will also assume the distribution of the vehicle. An important task was the optimization of the driving dynamics for the use in motor sports. For that purpose, the undercarriage was designed according to rally specifications. And with great success: in February of this year, the homologation by the FIA was approved. Last year, the car also appeared in the role of the pace car at the Rally Bohemia and at the Barum Czech Rally.

Jan Hurt, the Skoda manager for sales and marketing for the Central and Eastern European region, explains: "It's great that from now on, we're offering a rally vehicle for a wider range of customers looking for a reliable and affordable race car. Given our successful tradition and development in motor sports beyond the Czech Republic, the new Fabia R2 is just a logical result of our activities. I'm sure that the model will be as successful as the Fabia Super 2000 already is today. We are convinced that Fabia R2 will help us establishing our positions both in the field of sports as well as in business," Hurt concluded.

The Fabia R2 is another important element in the mosaic of motor sports activities of the Czech manufacturer. Skoda is among the most successful brands in rally sports today and won the prestigious International Rally Challenge (IRC) series as well as numerous other national titles.

Ford Motor Company CEO Addresses Indian Media And Employees Via Video On Figo Anniversary

Posted: 09 Mar 2011 02:31 AM PST

Ford India President and CEO, Michael Boneham addressed the media in Delhi today on the occasions of first anniversary of Ford Figo in India. Today he announced that Ford Figo Exports Will Start To Mexico next week and soon the exports to South Africa and Nepal will also start. On this occasion, the President and CEO of Ford Motor Company (Global CEO, Ford), Alan Mulally, addressed the media and employees via a recorded video. We bring you the exclusive video from the event in this post.

In his video Mulally mentioned the following important points:

Since Launch last year, we have sold over 80,000 cars in one year
Figo has earned more than 20 awards in this one year time
Figo is fastest selling and most awarded car in Ford India's history
We are exporting to more than 50 markets from our world class facility in Chennai
Thanks to customers, dealers, suppliers and employees of Ford India
Our Ford Figo is a rock star in India and Asia Pacific
We have plans to launch 8 New vehicle in India by the mid of Decade (2015)
Figo is a game changer for us
Thanks You, Happy Birthday Figo and Namaste !

Ford Figo Anniversary

Check out more -

Ford India News

Breaking: Ford Figo Will Be Exported To Mexico, South Africa And Nepal

Posted: 08 Mar 2011 11:17 PM PST

Ford has been quite successful with its small car Ford Figo in India. Just one year back, in March 2010, the car went on sales in India with both the MPFI petrol and CRDI Diesel engine options for a very competitive price. In one year Ford has sold more than 75,000 units of the cars in just one year and won a lot of prestigious awards in India. Today at the first anniversary in Delhi, Ford has announced the launch of Figo in Mexico, South Africa and Nepal. It's the first Indian car to be exported to Mexico. On this occasion the Ambassador of Mexico was present and expressed his happiness over this news. The exports will start next week in a batch of 1500 cars which will be sent to Mexico from the Ford India's Chennai Plant.

At the event, Michael Boneham, President, MD of Ford India quoted:

The phenomenal Figo has taken Ford to a new level in India. Our manufacturing operations have grown so much that we have doubled our workforce in the last two years. Overall Ford's business in India now have over 10000 passionate employees. Today, on this auspicious anniversary, we are thankful to everyone of them, and especially our customers, dealers and suppliers for making this possible.

The Figo will go on sales on South Africa and Nepal in July 2010 and October 2010 respectively. Ford Figo has won about 20 Indian Auto Industry Awards and honors in last one year making it the Most Awarded Car of the year. After the current expansions, Ford's Chennai plant capacity has been ramped up to 2 lakh units annually and a state-of-the-art engine plant as well.

General Motors India Engines On Sale For Other Car Makers

Posted: 08 Mar 2011 08:54 PM PST

General Motors once had enjoyed the place of the world's largest manufacturer with over 25 brands under it then and even today with only 7 subsidiaries left, it manages to retain the spot for the world's seconds largest automobile manufacturer after Toyota. Whether its racing or passenger or commercial vehicles, the American manufacturer has always proved itself in front of the masses with the technological innovations it brought along.

As far as the Indian Automobile market is concerned, the brand's strategy of launching Chevrolet all alone has done a tremendous work and brought stand to it. Lately the company opened a facility at Talegaon having a capacity of 3 lakh units per annum and is capable of producing engines in displacement range from 1 Liter to 1.5 Liter.

chevrolet-beat-new-engine

The news is that this plant is expected to produce engines for other car markers who are interested enough. This is supposed to be a very important move as it would drastically improves the company's profits.

As reported by Business Standard, GM India President and MD Karl Slym said, "I have always been open and I am happy to buy or sell engines as long as it makes business sense to partners. So we are open to sell our engines to anybody."

The localization of the new SMARTEC engine, which comes with Chevrolet Beat has been successfully done while the new 1.0 Liter CRDI diesel engine could be launched anytime soon. So now it is to be seen whether the engines for sale approach works for this automobile giant or not.

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