Car Made of Gold

India’s Tata Group on Monday unveiled a Nano car – made with gold and silver, and studded with precious stones – worth an astronomical over Rs 22 crore.

Tata Nano Catches Fire

For only US$2,000, the Tata Nano city car is the most affordable  production car you can find on the planet. And given its relatively cheap price tag, nobody will ever mistake the Nano for one of the fastest and sturdiest cars out there.

These days, the Nano has been on-fire in the news lately, and we mean that literally. After three separate incidents were reported last year of a Nano going up in flames, we now have the fourth case.

According to an Indian news report, this Nano inexplicably burst into flames for no apparent reason. The owner of the car, insurance agent Satish Sawant and his chauffeur – don’t ask us why a Nano needs a chauffer – escaped the incident without any injuries, although they were as dumbfounded as the rest of us as to how the Nano – a car that was only recently purchased – caught fire just like that.

“I have no idea what happened. A motorcycle rider overtook me and told me that the vehicle was on fire. The engine was behind me and I did not realize that the car was on fire,” Sawant told reporters.

The good thing from this incident is that both owner and driver managed to get out of the car before it barbecue’d to the ground. The bad thing is that these Nano-on-fire incidences are steadily increasing and if Tata doesn’t figure out a way to fix this problem, they may have a Toyota-sized problem on their hands.

Tax Break for New Auto Purchase

The Internal Revenue Service announced recently that taxpayers who buy a new passenger vehicle during 2009 may be entitled to deduct state and local sales and excise taxes paid on the purchase on their 2009 tax returns.

If you have brought a new car, truck or SUV, this deduction could enable you to buy now and get cash back later on your 2009 tax return, an attractive incentive.

This is particularly good news for autoshoppers shoppers. The deduction applies to any new vehicle purchased after 2/16/09 and before 1/1/10.

Naturally, there are some restrictions and exceptions. To get all the facts, contact the IRS or consult your tax advisor.  The tax benefit to a purchaser will depend on individual tax circumstances and may be reduced or eliminated based on the purchaser’s modified adjusted gross income. Customers should consult their tax advisors or the IRS to confirm processes and the amount of tax deduction that they may claim.

Lexus

Toyota has a full-blown crisis on its hands. As has been widely reported, sticking gas pedals and potentially dangerous floor mats caused Toyota to recall 5.3 million vehicles since last fall, including some of its most popular models. The floor-mat problem led the company to call back models from its high-end Lexus brand, hitherto renowned for quality and reliability. These problems has been compounded by a long-delayed and less-than-reassuring response from Toyota.

Consider the problems themselves. In August, a Lexus ES 350 was weaving wildly and at high speed through traffic on a highway near San Diego until it struck another car, veered off the road entirely, crashed through a fence, hit a dirt embankment and soared more than 100 feet before crashing. The passengers, off-duty police officer Mark Saylor, 45, his wife, his 13-year-old daughter and his brother-in-law, were killed. Just before the crash, a passenger had dialed 911 and reported that the gas pedal was stuck and the car was out of control.

Toyota attributed the problem in the Lexus to a floor mat. In November, the company said in a letter to customers that “no defect exists in vehicles in which the driver’s floor mat is compatible with the vehicle and properly secured.” The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration immediately denounced Toyota’s explanation as “inaccurate and misleading,” saying the problem was “related to accelerator and floor-pan design.”

Toyota’s credibility is also on the line. The damage to Toyota’s reputation is incalculable. The damage to its brands isn’t: That’s apparent in the weak January sales figures Toyota released Tuesday.

Toyota shares were over $90 as recently as Jan. 19. They closed Tuesday at $78.18, which strikes me as a modest decline under the circumstances. If I owned shares, I’d seize the chance to get out. Toyota has a vast infrastructure and a long history of quality and innovation. But its floor-mat and gas-pedal nightmares are likely just beginning.

Ford Fusion Hybrid

DETROIT, Nov 17 (Reuters) – Ford Motor Co’s  Fusion mid-size sedan was named Motor Trend magazine’s 2010 “car of the year” on Tuesday, adding to the perception that changes to the No. 2 U.S. automaker’s vehicle lineup are gaining traction.

The Fusion was chosen best of 23 new or significantly upgraded vehicles that were eligible for the award after a week of testing, Motor Trend said.

Motor Trend said the full range of Fusion models was impressive to the judges, from the four-cylinder entry level vehicles to the all-wheel drive sport and hybrid versions.

The Fusion, which has become one of the top 10 selling vehicles in the United States and was redesigned for 2010, exceeded its previous annual sales peak earlier in November. The car was launched initially by Ford in 2006.

Ford posted a nearly $1 billion third-quarter profit that surprised Wall Street analysts this month and is the only large U.S. automaker not to reorganize in bankruptcy with U.S. government support in 2009.

The automaker’s shares reached a more than two-year high on Tuesday, a day after billionaire investor George Soros’ hedge fund disclosed taking a 7.3 million share stake in Ford during the third quarter.

U.S. 2009 sales of the Fusion were up 15 percent through October at 148,045 but trail Toyota Motor Corp’s (7203.T) Camry and Honda Motor Co Ltd’s (7267.T) Accord in the mid-size sedan segment, one of the key areas in the U.S. market.

Dearborn, Michigan-based Ford has looked to set itself apart from U.S. rivals General Motors Co [GM.UL] and Chrysler Group LLC, which reorganized under government-funded bankruptcies this year, and increasingly uses Toyota and Honda as benchmark competitors.

Ford’s sales of the Fusion surpassed the previous full year sales record of 149,552 vehicles earlier in November. That record was set in 2007.

Sales of the vehicle have helped keep Ford’s U.S. sales declines for 2009 slower than the drop in the industry overall. Through October, Ford’s U.S. sales are down 20.4 percent for the year, while the industry is down 26 percent.

Ford shares were up 22 cents, or 2.5 percent, at $8.93 Tuesday on the New York Stock Exchange. Earlier on Tuesday, the stock reached $9, a more than two year high that is also a nearly 29 percent rise since Ford posted its third quarter earnings in early November.

Several  governments, including USA< Australia, Canada, India  and China, have come out with policies to encourage their citizens to buy gas sippers.

Advantages of Small Cars

1. Fuel economy, easy on the purse.
2. Easy Parking
3. Low initial cost
4. Low maintenance cost
5. Less congetion on road
6. Less polution

Here we have  listed number of popular Small Car Models below.  Click on the link for a detailed review.