Car Throttle

Well, here it is all you global warming deniers, guys who think that Ralph Nader is some sort of Communist plot to take away your God-given Hemi, gearheads who think that "the libruls" are going to force you to drive a hideous little car with no power and no fun: The Tata Nano EV Concept. Tata has been rumored to be working on an EV version of the Nano since the day they announced the car. The normal version has been almost universally reviled by the carraratti, and wholly embraced by the greenies, granola munchers, neo-Luddite techno-lovers et al. Yes, yes car wonks. The one world socialist/communist/fascist government will soon be mandating that you HAVE TO purchase a Tata Nano EV once you've turned over

Jaguar and Land Rover have been doing quite well for themselves lately in terms of a new introductions. The new Jaguar XF mid-size sedan has been a hit product, the range-topping (and high profit margin) XJ is coming, and at Land Rover sales of the Range Rover have held up better than expected. It appears that those combined factors are helping the Jaguar and Land Rover to move from red to black. In the world of business as well as fashion, black is always in. India's Tata Motors, who owns the two British luxury brands, recently reported sales and financial results for the quarter ending September 30th. In that that time, sales for Jaguar Land Rover increased by about 23%, for a total of 44,300 vehicles compared to

The process of obtaining the Progressive Insurance Automotive X-Prize is currently being attempted by a whole host of teams eager to win the prize.  The previous competition, the Ansari X-Prize, was successful in achieving the goal of a non-governmental organization launching a manned reusable space craft twice in two weeks. That is all with a final prize of $10,000,000 - a small figure compared to the hundreds of millions (billions, really) spent on developing alternative fuels technologies. Now the final list of contenders has been announced, with the number being narrowed down to 43 contenders. The teams selected represent 18 states, 10 countries and six different types of propulsion: hydrogen, biodiesel, ethanol, electricity (battery power), compressed natural gas and solar power (whatever that means exactly). Some of the

Jaguar is on a product renaissance as of late! The XK and XF have  been hit products and it looks like the recently-introduced XJ flagship is following in those footsteps as well. We've never quite seen a Jaguar lineup like this! Hopefully, it will be enough to bring the brand to profitability. If this all-star lineup of cars can't, nothing can. Even under Ford's ownership, it is has been long rumored that Jaguar was planning an XE roadster to compete against Porsche's highly successful Boxster. Nothing ever came of it as it was delayed over and over again. Now Jaguar is being managed right and it looks like it finally could make it's way to production. Ratan Tata, head of Tata Motors (the company that owns

Jaguar has secured hundreds of millions in grants from the European Union and the British government to produce "green" vehicles. That has led to speculation and rumors about a range-extended model of the next-generation Jaguar XJ. That seems pretty certain for production. There has also been rumors of an XE Roadster. Well, speculation is rampant that Jaguar could be readying a range-extended powertrain for an XE roadster as well. Things are getting interesting. Could Jaguar really be significantly worried about competition from Tesla and Fisker (particularly Fisker in terms of product). It certainly seems like it.  It's an impressive feat to be sure for those two to be considered as real competition for the established automakers. Now with Daimler's investment Tesla has a very good shot

Tata's Nano: the little car that could. Certainly looks like it; the Nano is taking India by storm. Truly a people's car in the truest sense; the Nano car nobody (including me) thought was likely to be produced at such an incredible price. As you may have heard, Tata has used a unique process in the way it's selling the Nano. Order forms have been sold to various distributors who collect the orders. This includes people who will finance the car, like the State Bank of India (SBI). The SBI is estimated to be reponsible for over 25% of orders. Tata says it has sold over 500,000 of these forms since April 1st (the date they went on sale), with nearly all translating into sales. The company estimates that by

As of Monday March 23rd, Pre-orders for the Tata Nano are being accepted, at a starting MSRP of 100,000 Rupees, or roughly $2,000. This makes this the least expensive new car offered in the world. The 5 seater is powered by a 624cc rear mounted gasoline engine, but the basic version doesn't offer safety or comfort items we seem to take for granted, like airbags, air conditioning, or electric windows. Demand for this car will be very strong, and Tata is not expected to keep up with demand for the first three to four years. According to an article in the Financial Times, Tata Motors has started work on plans to launch the Nano in the US in a change of strategy made possible by the