Eid-ul-Adha Mubaruk from team AUTOMARK
Local assembled Suzuki Heavy Bike Inazuma 250cc launched in Pakistan
Pak Suzuki is planting new seeds into the soil of Pakistan by locally assembling their already existing Suzuki Inazuma. Launching ceremony of the locally assembled Suzuki Inazuma 250cc was held last night at Serena hotel, Islamabad. The bike was previously manufactured and assembled in Japan only but seems like Suzuki found out a feasible way of locally assembling it.
Suzuki Inazuma is a four stroke, liquid cooled 248cc engine motorbike with a fuel capacity of 13.3 liters. With coil springs fitted both at the rear and front, the bike is quite comfortable and smooth at bumps and jumps.
Surely no change in the specifications will be done but the quality will be questionable as local manufactured products lack the quality, the case applies to all the automakers operating in Pakistan. In regards to the price it is expected to be lower than the already attached price tag of PKR 725,000.
Pak Suzuki aims to get huge orders from security institutions of the country as they have been playing an active part in attaining discipline for the state and the need is felt by the automaker. If you notice bike fever has increased considerably over the couple of years and KPK traffic police was nowhere behind. The KPK police recently gave handful of brand new Suzuki Inazuma to their police. Although Suzuki Inazuma stands lowest in the power league bikes but still has enough power to eat many 125cc and 200cc.
Cloud-Based Warning System Could Curb Wrong-Way Driving Deaths
Cloud-Based Warning System Could Curb Wrong-Way Driving Deaths
What if there were a quick and simple system that alerted all drivers when someone was driving the wrong way down the road?German automotive supplier Bosch aims to better warn wrong-way drivers, both those actually driving the wrong way and those near the cardriving the wrong way, using a cloud-based software application.
The premise is that Bosch provides a software application that constantly checks avehicle’s movements against what it understands as the permitted direction on any given road. Imagine itlike any other GPS software, but with a specific focus on which way the car is moving. If the information gathered from the vehicles doesn’t line up with the way they should be driving, that’s when an alert goes out to both that driver and any oncoming drivers utilizing the system.
According to Bosch, radio alerts in Germanyaboutwrong-way driverscan take several minutes to go out, by which time the danger’s already come and gone for most folks. A statistic they quote says that one third of criticalincidents caused by wrong-way drivers occurs within the first 1,650 feet or so, meaning that an accident’s already happened in these cases before there’s ever a radio-based warning. Thus the cloud-based system they’re working on, which would alert folks much faster.
One potential flaw in the system: It’s only as good as the number of vehicles using it. Part of the way it detects and alerts folks of wrong-way drivers appears to be tied up in information gathered anonymously from nearby vehicles. This also would be completely ineffective for anyone driving around without the software application, or without “an unbroken connection to the internet,” which is something it requires to function.
The service is scheduled to launch in 2016, and will be made available for as many “infotainment” devices as possible, in hopes of casting awide safety net. In the meantime,don’t drive downstreets the wrong way. That could help too.
Yamaha Pakistan launches YBR125G motorcycle
Pakistan Yamaha Motor on Saturday launched the YBR-125G sports model at the PC Hotel, Lahore at a price tag of Rs 1,32,400. It will be available at select authorised Yamaha dealerships within next few days.
Already winning the motorbike market by recommencing their assembly here in Pakistan, Yamaha received huge appreciation with the launch of their YBR-125. In records where a country has more than 1.7 million bikes on road due to lack of proper transportation system turn out to be a great opportunity for bike assemblers.
Keep in mind the increasing demand due to increasing population, Yamaha has launched another new model YBR G. With soon to be launched in Karachi too, the bike sis no doubt a beauty.
The arrogant look it gives from the front proving that it has the capability to eat up almost most of the bikes on roads; Yamaha surely has made another huge step in the motorbike market.
With the already success of the previous model launched by them, Yamaha is confident enough that the all new YBR G is going to have a sales figure higher than the previous model.
Good times await you with the new Yamaha YBR125G, a 125cc 4 stroke OHC engine motorcycle designed specially for on road convenience and off road adventure.
In relation to the price it is true that Yamaha is not at all exploiting the customers and providing them the best price till now. Also the latest model is set to have a price tag of 132400 PKR.
Pak Suzuki Motors introducing back CNG fitted cars in Pakistan by next few months
It has been largely believed that the government banned installation of CNG kits in zero meter cars due to shortage of compressed natural gas. The shortage of CNG was seen largely because of the increasing prices of oil and people therefore opting for alternates. The unavailability of CNG due to the huge increase in demand forced the government to finally ban CNG kits in zero meter cars.
Pakistani automakers had stopped booking of CNG versions of Mehran, Alto, Bolan, Coure and Corolla when government banned imports of CNG kits and cylinders in January-2012.
Suzuki on the other hand has been trying to lift this ban and through sources it has been revealed that the automaker has been able to convince the government. To all those out there, it’s a good news as Suzuki is going to start providing CNG kits in their zero meter vehicles. Suzuki is the one who is going to benefit the most out of it as compared to Toyota and Honda for obvious reasons.
Through sources it has been revealed that Suzuki is going to start installing CNG kits in Mehran which will later be followed by Cultus. About the Wagon R, Its showed that it’s not going to be provided anytime soon but you never know when there is a change of plan by the automaker.
The allowance of CNG kits to be installed in zero meter Suzuki cars is a double-edged knife, one showing that CNG is going to be available whereas the other edge gives a hint of increasing oil prices, not in the international market but in Pakistan only.
The market sources said that consumers, who used to rely on factory fitted CNG vehicle, would now feel happy after the government decision to allow car assemblers to install company fitted CNG kits in cars, like CNG Mehran.
Please discuss your views on lifting this ban by the government and share your thoughts of what can be done by the government in this matter.
Motorcycle Rickshaws banned in Sindh once again
Transport system has to be improved especially for citizens of Karachi
The Sindh High Court has once again banned motorcycle rickshaw in the sindh, the news is not new. Ban on Qingqi/motorcycle rickshaw has been so causal; now the topic seems to be boring.
Motorcycle rickshaws are found in large population in major cities of Pakistan such as Karachi and Lahore. Interesting thing about motorcycle rickshaw is that they are not being registered like other proper public transport vehicles. Being unregistered means that they don’t have any proper records with the government and which also proves that they don’t have laws to stop them.
Travelling in a motorcycle rickshaw is nothing but just being selfish to yourself and the society. Have you ever noticed that these Qingqis create huge amounts of noise and air pollution? We are already deprived of fresh air and then these Qingqis add up to more. The seats you get to sit on are nothing but a source of pain. Not only this I would also add up that there is no safety for the passengers, at least for the ones who are sitting at the back side of it. If a car behind you has fail brakes, you’re nothing but dead.
Any educated individual is not going to have issues with Qingqis. The issue is not with the type of transport but the issue is with the whole transport system. There must be some regulation on them. It’s a norm of our country that we let things get out of control and then start planning and controlling, why not just start controlling from the very beginning.
Transport system has to be improved especially for citizens of Karachi. The transport mafia should be handled and strict actions must be taken against them but unfortunately the government falls ill with a one day transport strike.
SHC must think about the class which travels in these motorcycle rickshaws is, instead of banning them, these Qingqis should get registered as none of them is. Not only this but there should be a limit and a proper stand for Qingqis because currently to be honest they are more than they are actually needed.
Foreign automakers plan to enter local market on rising deman
Pakistan’s car market has been dominated by Japanese automakers for decades, but a mini-economic revival looks set to attract new players from Europe and Korea into the mix.
Despite heavy taxation on imported vehicles, enthusiasm for owning a car in Pakistan has remained undented – thanks in part to underdeveloped public transport in the country’s sprawling cities, but also the social status it brings.
Toyota, Suzuki and Honda car assembly plants already work around the clock in Karachi and Lahore – yet customers can still wait for up to four months for new vehicles to be delivered.
Now demand for cars in the country is accelerating even more quickly, as economic growth has reached its fastest pace since 2008 while renewed investor confidence and easing inflation have spurred consumer spending.
Keen to cash in, a delegation from German auto giant Volkswagen visited the country in recent weeks, according to Pakistani officials and German diplomats.
Miftah Ismail, the chairman of Pakistan Board of Investment who took part in the talks, said Volkswagen was not the only company expressing an interest.
“There are a number of other companies from (South) Korea and Europe that we are talking to who are thinking of setting up assembly plants in Pakistan,” he said, without naming the firms.
US and European cars dominated Pakistan’s roads in the early years after it gained independence from Britain in 1947.
But fuel prices made their compact, efficient Japanese rivals more popular and from the 1960s onwards manufacturers like Toyota, Suzuki and Honda gained a stranglehold on the market.
Italy’s Fiat made a brief foray in the 1990s, while South Korea’s Hyundai as well as Daewoo-owned Chevrolet tried – and failed – to gain a foothold in the 2000s before the financial crisis forced them to exit.
Because Pakistan charges heavy duties on imported cars less than three years old, Japanese companies with in-country assembly operations can set prices significantly above the regional average.
The bottom-of-the-range Suzuki Mehran costs the equivalent of $6,300 in Pakistan but sells for around $3,900 in neighbouring India. The most popular Corolla 1.3 sedan starts at Rs1.6 million ($16,000), but buyers have to wait months or pay $1,500 for prompt delivery.
The news that Volkswagen was exploring options to enter the Pakistani market has excited car enthusiasts, who are tired of high prices and limited choices.
“I think it is a great idea because Volkswagen cars are value for money and reliability,” said Romano Karim, a fan of the classic Volkswagen Beetles from the 60s and 70s that can often be seen on Pakistan’s roads.
Haji Mohammed Shahzad, chairman of the All Pakistan Motor Dealers Association, added that having Volkswagen in the market would help drive costs down.
“The monopoly of big three could be broken if Volkswagen produces at least 20,000-25,000 cars annually,” Shahzad said.
Global auto giants are attracted by Pakistan’s booming economy, which the International Monetary Fund predicts will grow by 4.5 per cent in the next financial year.
Investor confidence in the medium-sized economy of $232 billion has improved since a new business-friendly government led by Nawaz Sharif took power in 2013, with Karachi’s share market among the world’s top 10 performers in the past year.
The country is also undergoing a major construction boom driven by Chinese investment after President Xi Jinping visited Islamabad in April to unveil a $46 billion investment plan known as the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.
Car sales have also boomed thanks to the growth of car leasing and financing facilities. Sales in the 11 months to May this year rose 30 per cent from a year earlier, according to Pakistan Automotive Manufacturers Association.
Next Toyota Prius Plug-In Hybrid To Have 50 To 55 KM Of Range
Cars with plugs have been on sale since December 2010, and a second generation will start arriving next year.
But while long-range battery-electric cars–the 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV and an all-new 2017 Nissan Leaf–grab attention, another vehicle on the way could be equally important.
That’s the second generation of the Toyota Prius Plug-in Hybrid.
In general, journalists dislike anonymously sourced stories. They don’t let readers evaluate the source, and they offer less accountability if the information proves to be incorrect.
Green Car Reports publishes such stories only with great care–but this is one of the times we’re willing to do so.
Within the last month, we heard from an industry source that the next Toyota Prius Plug-In Hybrid will have “30 to 35 miles” of rated battery range.
If that’s true, it will change the game significantly.
Our source is an executive in the auto industry who’s deeply familiar with the current and future universe of battery-electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles.
We trust that source, and are satisfied with the source’s explanation of how the Toyota information was obtained.
The all-new, fourth-generation Toyota Prius hybrid is expected to launch within the next few months, as a 2016 model.
Toyota itself has said that the plug-in hybrid version of the next Prius will lag the conventional hybrid model by roughly a year.
Production of the current 2015 Toyota Prius Plug-In Hybrid ended last month.
But while that car garnered sales of more than 40,000 units over four years, it was hardly beloved by plug-in car advocates.
The plug-in Prius had just 11 miles of all-electric range, and its battery and motor were marginal enough that it couldn’t complete those 11 miles on the relatively gentle EPA test cycle without switching on its engine after 6 miles.
Its 11-mile range, in fact, was the lowest of any car with a plug sold in North America.
Despite that distinction, the plug-in Prius was awarded single-occupant carpool-lane access in California. Still, Toyota heard the grumbling.
“We have been listening very carefully to Prius [plug-in] owners over the past two years,” said Satoshi Ogiso, Toyota’s chief engineer and the man in charge of developing the next range of Prius models, to reporters in August 2013.
“[We] are considering their request for additional all-electric range,” he concluded.
And if the next Prius Plug-In gets that 30-to-35-mile range rating, it will go from the lowest electric range of any car with a plug to the second-highest range of any plug-in hybrid known today.
Its range will exceed those of the Ford C-Max and Fusion Energis, the Hyundai Sonata Hybrid and future Kia Optima
Hybrid, and the now-withdrawn Honda Accord Hybrid.
It’ll also surely exceed the rated ranges of luxury plug-in hybrid SUVs coming this year from BMW, Mercedes-Benz, and Volvo, with Audi and Mitsubishi piling in next year as well.
And it’ll get significantly closer to the all-new 2016 Chevrolet Volt, which GM says will receive a range rating of at least 50 miles.
It remains to be seen whether Toyota aims to sell as many Prius plug-ins it can, or simply offer the car to get specific credits under California’s zero-emission vehicle mandate.
But the all-new Prius is expected to be better-looking, and sportier, and offer improved driving dynamics, while retaining the Toyota reputation for high quality and reliability.
Add to that an EPA fuel-economy rating of 50 mpg or more, plus 30 miles or more of electric range, and you’ve got what sounds like a very competitive new entry in the plug-in car world.
source:greencarreports