General Motors Corp. may bring the next-generation Chevrolet Beat minicar to the United States in an effort to inject more fuel-efficient cars into its lineup, Vice Chairman Bob Lutz said.

GM plans to manufacture the first-generation Chevrolet Beat minicar in South Korea for sale outside of North America beginning in mid-2009. Automakers typically take three to five years to release a next-generation vehicle.

GM showed the Beat along with two other minicar concepts — collectively referred to as the triplets — at the New York Auto Show last year.

Lutz said the company may bring the next-generation Beat to the United States, but “we think it’s too late for this one.”

Hyundai India offers a path to upgrade to bigger cars

Hyundai Motor India has launched a new scheme which is designed to entice the owners of their small car products to bigger models.

The company is inviting customers who want to move on to a higher model. This is applicable to customers paying an EMI on their small car.

Customer can get his existing model evaluated which can be put in as the down payment for a bigger model.

The company then recalculates the EMI for the customer which in most cases can turn out to be lower than the original one.

Arvind Saxena, Senior V-P, marketing & sales, Hyundai Motor India spoke about this offer: “We want to see people upgrade to bigger compact cars and sedans which would be more compatible with the lifestyle of our current customers and hence we have tailor-made these scheme for all the owners of smaller hatches who were so far forced to use a smaller car because of budgetary constraints.”

Car makers General Motors (GM) and Ford have reported strong growth in the first half of this year in China, the world’s second largest vehicle market after the US, despite auto sales downturn in their home market.

The US’ largest automaker GM, said it sold 590,126 vehicles in the first six months, posting a 12.7 per cent rise over the same period a year earlier.

Ford said its sales rose 21 per cent from the year earlier period to 172,411 units. This included passenger cars produced by Changan Ford Mazda Automobile Co. Ltd., a joint venture of Chongqing Changan Automobile Co Ltd, a Ford Motor Company and Mazda Motor Company, which rose 25 per cent to 116,903 units.

Ford’s China sales grew a robust 30 per cent last year but the 21 per cent rise is still much stronger than in North America where there is a downturn for automakers.

Kevin E Wale, President of GM China, said the company’s multi-brand strategy was taking effect with new models of brands such as Chevrolet, Buick, Cadillac and Wuling receiving good “feedback” from Chinese consumers, official Xinhua news agency said.

Major US, European and Asian automakers have been investing heavily and competing aggressively in China, where sales are expanding at double-digit rates.

The soaring international oil prices have not had much impact on auto sales in China where the fuel prices are government regulated and kept at lower levels.

Japan’s Honda Motor (China) Investment Co. Ltd, said its sales in China rose 21.3 percent year-on-year to 186,991 vehicles during the first half of 2008.

The growth rate exceeded that in its home market and other overseas markets. In the first six months, Honda’s sales shrank in Japan and grew merely 4.1 per cent in the United States - its biggest overseas market.

Despite the mounting production cost and rising oil prices, the Chinese auto market would continue booming, Zhu Linjie, an official with the Honda China company was quoted as saying by Xinhua.

He said Honda was expecting 20 per cent annual sales growth this year in China - its fastest growing market worldwide.

Lamborghini was introduced by Ferruccio Lamborghini, the first car was in the year 1963 known by the name 350GTV at the Turin Auto Show. The initial Lamborghini car’s engine were transversely mounted, when Mirura was introduced in 1965, the company got a new niche to enter the world of exotic car manufacturing. The Espada Lamborghini was one such machine based on the concepts of Marzal concept car which was a 4 seater, the car was a 4 lire V12 engine having a conventional front engine layout and was capable having top speed of around 150 mph that is 240 km/h, the main important feature of this car was it had a glass taillight panel and was shelled out in 3 distinct series.

Lamborghini produced its first tractor in the year 1971. The LP500 has V12 engine and had the capacity of 4 litre same as that of Miura, the Countach prototype cars were the first ever cars that used Pirelli “P-Zero” tires. It was in the year 1996 the Lamborghini Diablo SV that is Sport Veloce was launched, the concept of this car was based on Miura SV, the Diablo was a powerful machine with 525 bhp, V12 engine having variable cam timing technology. Another model was introduced in 1996 with the name Lamborghini Diablo SVR. Lamborghini’s car designs are greatly influenced by stylish design and comfort ness. The two new Lamborghini models are Lamborghini Murcielago and Lamborghini Gallardo, the Murcielago’s bodystyle is a convertible type and Gallardo’s bodystyle is that of a coupe.

Lamborghini Murcielago has a soft folding roof which can be operated manually, it boosts a V12 engine, the machine has good efficiency and performance, its has 6,192 cc and was 6.2 liters V12 mid engine having 87 mm bore, 10.7 compression ratio, 86.8 mm stroke and also a double overhead cam, four valves per cylinder, variable valve timing or camshaft. The Lamborghini has good fuel efficiency too and produces 13 mpg on highways and 9 mpg on city roads. All of its latest models have a multi-point injection fuel system.

Lamborghini’s first car was introduced in the year 1963. All the models from Lamborghini are based on the finest quality concepts, the first ever sports car was shelled out in the year 1996 by the name Sport Veloce, the standard V12 engine used in all of its machines have variable cam timing technology which helps them to improve their performance. The Lamborghini’s Murcielago has a soft folding roof which is operated manually, the machine gives good efficiency and performance.

This futuristic super-car, complete with Batmobile-style vertical doors, has been spotted on the streets of London.

The unique machine – which boasts the memorable “CEXI” numberplate - was parked outside a fashionable boutique on South Audley Street in Mayfair.

Although based on a Rolls-Royce design, the car is understood to be a one-off private commission.

DC Design, an Indian super-car firm, constructed it for a wealthy British-based client a few years ago.

Rolls-Royce confirmed that the car was not one of their own one-off creations.

“As a bespoke firm, there have been times when we’ve carried out coachbuild jobs, but nothing quite like this,” a spokesman said.

A new lap record has been set a Germany’s notoriously tough Nurburgring by a Cadillac CTS-V.

The new performance saloon from Cadillac completed a lap in just 7 minutes 59 seconds.

Cadillac claims this is the fastest ever lap set by a saloon car driving on standard road tyres.

The CTS-V is helped by a 6.2-litre V8 engine with 556bhp.

It has enough grunt to go from 0-60mph in just 3.9 seconds, making it faster than a BMW M5 or Audi RS6.

A six-speed automatic gearbox is standard for the Cadillac cars and it is likely to have a top speed limited to 155mph when it goes on sale in Europe in limited numbers at the start of 2009.

Cadillac’s general manager Jim Taylor said: “The V-Series takes the award-winning CTS sport saloon and elevates it to a position within the club of the world’s most exclusive and capable cars.”