Make Nano more robust Upgrades

Tata Motors has taken a few technical measures in the Nano, post the ‘fire’ incidents involving the car. The new additions are 1) a cover for the catalytic convertor, 2) addition of a fuse in the electrical system to prevent short-circuit post any after-market fitment in the car, 3) replacement of the starter motor (in cars produced till Jan ’10). The process of taking the corrective measures in the Nanos will begin from the 3rd week of November.



While these steps are being taken to pre-empt any further technical snag in the Nano, Tata Motors group CEO Carl Peter Forster insisted that there is no ‘principle problem’ with the car. He said that there was a ‘second very intense’ investigation by an independent team into the cause of the ‘fire’ incidents. These cases happened in ‘some unusual circumstances’, says Forster like in one where there was a piece of paper found in the catalytic converter. The technical measures have been taken to make the Nano more robust, he said.

Talking about the falling sales of the Nano over the last four months, Forster said that availability of finance has posed a ‘hurdle’ in sales. He says that the Nanos sold in the initial months were mostly bought by people who are not the actual target customers of the car. The intended customers, who are mainly two-wheeler owners, are facing some problems in getting finance as many of them do not enjoy the same credit worthiness as regular car buyers. Forster says Nano sales are set to pick up again once the finance related issues are sorted out.

Tata Motors has sold over 70,000 Nanos till October end. The car is currently available for purchase in Karnataka, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. Open sales will gradually be extended state by state.

Ref : http://www.autocarindia.com/news/upgrades-make-nano-more-robust

Nissan March New Car Future

a Japanese manufacturer with head offices in Tokyo, that also runs factories across the world and has one in the UK based in Sunderland, that has the reputation as the most efficient car factory in Europe. Formerly known as Datsun, Nissan produces a wide range of cars and commercial vehicles, and also has recently introduced the Infiniti luxury brand into the UK - their own luxury brand to rival Lexus, BMW etc. Nissan has ties with French producer Renault and shares some platforms and engines.

Nissan Micra

The Nissan Micra is a Ford Fiesta sized supermini that is built at the Sunderland plant. It is the smallest of the UK Nissan offerings and is a popular choice, known for its reliability. It is known in some other markets as the Nissan March and is currently in its 3rd generation model. Prices start from £7995, and the car is available in either 3 or 5 door hatchback versions.



Nissan Micra C+C

The Nissan Micra C+C is a coupe-convertible version of the Micra hatchback with a folding hardtop that has been becoming increasingly popular in recent times. It is very definitely seen as having a "girls car" image, reinforced by TV coverage at launch on the Top Gear TV show where a fluorescent pink one was road tested. the Micra C+C competes with rivals such as the Peugeot 207 CC for sales.




Nissan Note

The Nissan Note was jointly developed with Renault and shares a lot of engines and the chassis with the Renault Modus. It is a compact people carrier with an overall length similar to a supermini, but with individual seats and a high roof line, designed for family transportation. It is available with a choice of a 1.4 or 1.6 petrol engine or a 1.5 turbo diesel unit, and costs from £9990.



Nissan 350Z

The Nissan 350Z is a 2 seater sports car available as either a coupe or convertible that builds on the heritage of the Datsun and Nissan Z cars that have been popular since the 240Z was introduced in 1969. It is shortly to be replaced by the new 370Z model that builds on the same chassis. The 350Z uses a 3.5 litre V6 normally aspirated petrol engine and the car is said to have excellent sports handling and performance and being a Nissan it is considerably cheaper than rivals such as the BMW Z4 and Porsche Cayman.




Nissan GT-R

The Nissan GT-R is Nissan's flagship model that proves just how technologically capable the brand is. It is the latest in a line of cars that came from the Japanese market Skyline model, and originally was known as the Skyline GT-R. It has always been fitted with an advanced 4 wheel drive system controlled by sophisticated electronics, and a medium capacity engine with a powerful turbocharger strapped to it, enabling easy tuning with some previous models being taken to over 1000 horsepower by their owners. The current model has 480 horsepower as standard, and competed head on with the Porsche 911 Turbo for ability, despite being nearly 40 thousand pounds cheaper.




Nissan Qashqai

The Nissan Qashqai is a crossover vehicle designed to sit between somewhere between a family hatchback, a people carrier and an off road 4x4. It has the looks of a 4x4 and an elevated driving position but in a somewhat smaller package, meaning that parking, fuel consumption etc. are all more comparable to a mid sized hatchback, and acknowledges the fact that owners are unlikely to ever take the car off road, so is based around urban capabilities.




Nissan Qashqai+2

The Nissan Qashqai+2 is a slightly larger extended Qashqai model that has as the name suggests, room for an extra 2 seats in the back making it a full 7 seat family car rather than a 5 seater like the original. In most other respects it is virtually identical to its smaller brother - engines, chassis etc, and costs a small premium over the basic model for the extra space.




Nissan Murano

The Nissan Murano is a full sized 4 wheel drive that competes with the likes of the BMW X5 and Mercedes M-Class, yet avoids the traditional chunky squared off big off-road styling which is backed up by the cars firm on-road focus. It shares the same engine as the 350Z with a big 3.5 litre V6 motor, which does hamper the sales in the diesel orientated UK market.




Nissan X-Trail

The Nissan X-Trail is a compact 4x4 that sells against the Land Rover Freelander, Honda CR-V etc. It is only currently available with a 2.0 litre diesel engine with 173 horsepower, and costs from £22340 in the UK. The current version has been enlarged over the previous model to give space for the smaller Qashqai in the range.



Nissan Pathfinder

The Nissan Pathfinder is based on the Nissan Navara double cab commercial vehicle but with a full working boot. It has the same styling, chassis interior and engines as the Navara.




Nissan Patrol

The Nissan Patrol is much more of a traditional 4x4 with full off road ability to compete with other four wheel drives such as the Mitsubishi Shogun and the Toyota Hi-Lux. It uses a separate ladder chassis to its body and several electrical and mechanical off road systems.

Toyota camry hybrid's News

Now in its fourth model year since its last redesign, the 2010 Toyota Camry received a number of mechanical and styling tweaks as part of a mid-cycle update. The Camry Hybrid's drivetrain carries over unchanged, but it does get a few more unique styling cues.

The non-hybrid Camry, whose mechanical tweaks increase highway mileage to 33 mpg in some configurations, is covered separately in Cars.com's Research section. Competitors of the Camry Hybrid include the Ford Fusion Hybrid, Chevrolet Malibu Hybrid and Nissan Altima Hybrid.

Exterior
The Camry Hybrid's tweaks are more noticeable than the regular Camry's. Its face sports a more aggressive look, with a larger center air dam that dominates the lower bumper. Fog lights sit within vertically slotted outboard sections, and last year's bladed grille has been replaced with a single unit. Both the grille and bumper differ noticeably from the non-hybrid Camry's, which wasn't the case before.

Sixteen-inch alloy wheels are standard.

Interior
The cabin carries over largely untouched. The stereo offers USB compatibility for enhanced integration with iPods and other MP3 players. Express up/down operation for all windows, a feature typically reserved for premium brands, is now standard. The car can have leather upholstery, heated power seats, dual-zone automatic climate control and a navigation system.

Rather than a conventional tachometer, the Camry Hybrid includes a gas mileage gauge. Toyota says the gauges have a new design. With the navigation system, the center display can show power flow between different drivetrain components.



Although the rear seats fold down, the trunk pass-thru is quite small. Due to the drivetrain's high-voltage battery pack, which sits behind the rear seats, overall luggage volume is less than the regular Camry's.

Under the Hood
A 2.4-liter four-cylinder running on a more efficient Atkinson cycle couples with an electric motor to produce a combined 187 horsepower. Drawing power from a dedicated battery that recharges off braking friction, the drivetrain can run solely on electric power at low speeds, and it nets an EPA-estimated 33/34 mpg city/highway.

Safety
Seven standard airbags include a driver's knee airbag, side-impact airbags for the front seats and side curtain airbags for both rows. Four-wheel-disc antilock brakes, traction control and an electronic stability system are also standard. Toyota's Vehicle Dynamics Integrated Management system proactively governs the stability and traction systems to maintain control; it's a feature unavailable on the regular Camry Hybrid.

2010 Nissan Altima

Auto loan refinancing Refinance car loan

Best Rated Used Cars Around $10,000 to $15,000

When it comes to the best used cars for bad credit customers, one trick is
to look at award winners from a few years back and see which ones have dropped
into our $10K-$15K price range.

When it comes to old Editors Most Wanted lists at Edmunds.com, for instance,
look at the 03 Dodge Dakota, or an 05 Scion XB. When it comes to the Motor Trend
Car of the Year, consider a turn of the century PT Cruiser. Remember, time is
your friend -- the Escalade is the pre-eminent bling mobile, but you have to
go back to the first year (99) to find one under $15,000.

Most auto sites routinely run features on best used cars, and the top selling
cars of today -- the Honda Civic and Toyota Camry -- show up on all of them.
Thing is, those cars generally need to be five years old to drop into our $10,000
to $12,000 range.

A recent feature on AOL Autos included the 97-02 Lexus as a top used value.
Consumer Reports noted in this year's car issue that a 98 Lexus will have fewer
problems than an 06 Mercedes. That's pretty impressive.

When it comes to more sensibly priced vehicles, experts have suggested the
99-02 Nissan Pathfinder, the 97-02 Mazda Miata and the 97-02 Ford Crown Victoria.
Among trucks, the Ford F-150 remains the U.S. standard; models from 97-02 are
quite affordable.

Platform Cars Explained

Car companies often produce different models from the same engine, chassis,
frame, etc. If the only differences are in sheet metal and styling, you can
compare models and save money.

Take, for instance, the Saturn Aura, named the North American Car of the Year
at the 07 Detroit Auto Show. It's essentially the same car as the Pontiac G6
or the Chevrolet Malibu. True, the Aura has some differences in the suspension
that designers say create better road handling performance -- but does that
matter much to the average driver, and does it really matter to the tune of
an extra $3,000 for it?

The mother of all platform bargains? Find a Chrysler Crossfire. It's essentially
the discontinued Mercedes SLK -- for $15,000 or so less.

Happens Push Cart

Some individuals are perfectly happy to get through a day and accomplish all that they set out to do, however simple or far-reaching those goals may be. I admire these folks, but I am not one of them. Chores, errands, and daily rituals, while admittedly necessary for one's own sanity, often prevent me from doing all the things I want to do. The problem is, I'm not sure exactly what it is I need to be doing. Getting out more, living more, seeing more, etc. (Key word here is "more", for those who haven't picked up on my bloated sense of self-importance). There is no set list of things I want or need to do; it's all very cluttered,

Happens Push Cart I've had a build-up of schedules, "to do" lists, and all those random things that pop up and conveniently require a great deal of attention. While I've accepted there to be a certain amount of this in my life, which is probably a good thing, my tolerance for these chores begins to wane when it occupies the majority of my time in a given stretch. Regular movie watching has been down as a result; what little of it I've done has been 20 minutes here, 40 minutes there. But it's absolutely critical that I squeeze in those little bits of movie-watching, no matter the kind of movie, because sometimes the right movie at the right (or wrong) time is just what I need. Of course, it's impossible to know it until I've seen it and internalized it. You never know when that therapeutic experience of cinema will sneak up. Some of these movies just take your mind off things, providing necessary reprieve and absurdity to counter all the reality of life. Others penetrate the very depths of your consciousness, impacting how you view and partake in all of those daily rituals. Sometimes they can even help one to appreciate those pesky errands, schedules, and jobs a little more.

CERN Take Off LHC

Geneva, 5 September 2008. A report published today in the peer reviewed Journal of Physics G: Nuclear and Particle Physics provides comprehensive evidence that safety fears about the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) are unfounded. The LHC is CERN’s new flagship research facility. As the world’s highest energy particle accelerator, it is poised to provide new insights into the mysteries of our universe.

CERN ประกาศวันเดินเครื่อง LHC แล้ว
มีการร่ำลือวิตกวิจารณ์กันด้วยว่า เครื่องเร่งอนุภาคแฮดรอนขนาดใหญ่ หรือแอลเอชซี (LHC-Large Hadron Collider) จะทำให้เกิดอนุภาคประหลาด ซึ่งจะแปรสภาพโลกให้กลายเป็นมวลสารพิลึกกึกกืออะไรสักอย่าง
แอลเอชซีจะสร้างสภาพที่เลียนแบบการชนกันของอนุภาค ซึ่งเกิดขึ้นอยู่แล้วตามธรรมชาติเมื่อโลกเคลื่อนตัวผ่านรังสีคอสมิกพลังงานสูง นักวิทยาศาสตร์ยืนยันว่า ธรรมชาติได้ทำให้เกิดการชนกันของอะตอมแบบเดียวกับเครื่องแอลเอชซีประมาณ 1 แสนเครื่องอยู่แล้ว แต่โลกก็ยังอยู่ดี ไม่มีการบุบสลายแปรสภาพ รายงานการประเมินนี้เป็นของทีมนักฟิสิกส์ 5 คนที่ควบคุมเครื่องแอลเอชซี ขององค์การวิจัยนิวเคลียร์ยุโรป หรือเซิร์น (CERN) ในกรุงเจนีวา เซิร์นได้ขอให้นักฟิสิกส์ชุดนี้ประเมินความปลอดภัยตามรายงานของนักวิทยาศาสตร์ของเซิร์นเมื่อปี 2546 ซึ่งได้รับรองว่า โครงการนี้มีความปลอดภัย นำไปสู่การเปิดไฟเขียวให้ทำการทดลองได้

แอลเอชซี ซึ่งตั้งอยู่ในอุโมงค์ใต้ดินยาว 27 กิโลเมตร บนพรมแดนฝรั่งเศสกับสวิตเซอร์แลนด์ จะเริ่มปล่อยอนุภาคโปรตอนในวันพุธนี้ เพิ่งเริ่มกระบวนการทดลอง ลำอนุภาค 2 ลำ ซึ่งถูกปล่อยสวนทางกัน จะพุ่งเข้าชนกันในอุโมงค์รูปวงแหวนที่ว่านี้ ด้วยความเร็วเกือบเท่าแสง ตลอดอุโมงค์รูปวงแหวนมีแม่เหล็ก 4 จุด ทำหน้าที่เบี่ยงเบนลำอนุภาค เพื่อให้กลุ่มโปรตอนพุ่งเข้าชนกันในห้องขนาดยักษ์ ซึ่งมีอุปกรณ์ตรวจจับไว้คอยบันทึกผลลัพธ์ ซึ่งจะมีอนุภาคย่อยเกิดขึ้น อนุภาคจิ๋วซึ่งจะเกิดขึ้นและสลายตัวไปในเวลาชั่วเสี้ยวของเสี้ยววินาทีเหล่านี้ จะช่วยไขปริศนาของสิ่งที่ใหญ่ที่สุด นั่นคือจักรวาล และอาจตอบคำถามด้วยว่า "มิติอื่น" ที่อยู่นอกเหนือมิติของเรามีอยู่จริงหรือไม่

รายงานประเมินความปลอดภัยฉบับนี้บอกว่า ถ้ามีหลุมดำเกิดขึ้นก็จะมีขนาดจิ๋ว และสลายตัวไปในทันที เพราะขาดพลังงานที่จะทำให้มันคงอยู่หรือขยายตัวได้ รายงานฉบับนี้ตีพิมพ์ในวารสารฉบับหนึ่งของสถาบันฟิสิกส์ กรุงลอนดอนที่ผ่านมา ฝรั่งเศสได้ขอให้องค์การความปลอดภัยด้านนิวเคลียร์ของฝรั่งเศส ช่วยประเมินความปลอดภัยของเซิร์นด้วย เมื่อ 29 สิงหาคมที่ผ่านมา ศาลสิทธิมนุษยชนยุโรปในเมืองสตราสบูร์ก ประเทศฝรั่งเศส ได้ปฏิเสธคำฟ้องของนักเคลื่อนไหวที่ขอให้หยุดยั้งการทดลองนี้ นักวิทยาศาสตร์กำลังรอลุ้นว่า มนุษย์จะสามารถไขความลับของจักรวาลได้หรือไม่.

Retailers accused of hoarding before gas price rises

Ahead of a partial float of the gas price tomorrow, Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej has complained about profiteering by hoarding liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), resulting in a shortage of retail supplies. In his weekly broadcast yesterday, Mr Samak said while it was normal to expect hoarding, the practice was intolerable. ''I have to say it's ingrained in their [the gas retailers'] despicable minds to profit here and there from stocking up. I use the word despicable mind to describe these people,'' he said. ''It's the way they operate. Grab whatever they can in these last few days [before the price goes up],'' the prime minister said. With some gas stations closed yesterday, taxis and many private motor vehicles formed long queues at the few that were still open on Rama III road. Most stations on Buddha Monthon, Rarm Intra and Rattanathibes roads locked their gates and put out signs saying ''Out of gas''. Taxis queue for a refill at a LPG station on Chan road yesterday. A cutback in gas supplies is being blamed on retailers for stocking up ahead of the LPG price increase tomorrow.

— KOSOL NAKACHOL The new gas price was announced ahead of the deadline. Mr Samak said the price increase would continue well into next year before it stabilises, at which point the price of LPG should not exceed 15 baht per litre from 11.50 baht a litre at present. The Energy Ministry said the retail gas shortage was due mainly to gas shipment problems at the Khao Bor Ya terminal in Chon Buri. Yanyong Phuangrach, director-general of the Internal Trade Department, said the department has called wholesale suppliers to a meeting today. The meeting will look into factors behind the LPG shortage. The meeting will also try to determine when the shortage will ease. Mr Yanyong said the department conducted random inspections at LPG stations in Pathum Thani yesterday. Many motorists complained that stations refused to sell them gas. They suspected the stations had stocked up to sell gas at higher prices.

Gas to Under $4 a gallon and falling.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Gas prices declined for the 11th straight day on Monday, falling to a level not seen since May, according to a nationwide survey of filling station credit card swipes. Other fuel prices also continued to fall.

Gasoline: The price of regular unleaded gasoline at the pump slipped 1.2 cents to $3.958 a gallon on average, a daily survey from motorist advocacy group AAA revealed.

A second report from Lundberg Survey, Inc. showed that gasoline prices had slipped 12 cents over the past two weeks to an average of $3.9959 a gallon.

The latest Lundberg survey was conducted on July 25th.

High fuel prices have strained on American consumers and businesses, making transportation and shipping more expensive.

Average gasoline prices first crossed the $4 mark on June 7 when they hit $4.005 a gallon, according to the AAA survey. Prices rose to $3.952 a gallon on May 29 and continued to trend upward to a record high of $4.114 on July 16.

Prices stayed there for two days before beginning their retreat, following a double-digit decline in oil as investors worried that the high cost of fuel was leading to a slowdown in demand.

Ethanol: High fuel prices have caused many drivers, particularly those in states with strong agricultural industries, to switch to ethanol as their fuel of choice.

The price of E85, an 85% ethanol blend, which burns cleaner than pure gasoline and is made primarily from corn, fell 1.8 cents to $3.222 a gallon on average, AAA reported.

While ethanol is derived from renewable sources, it is less efficient than gasoline. As a result, a car running on E85 would pay the equivalent of $4.24 per gallon to get the same mileage as gas, the AAA survey estimated.

Diesel: The average price of diesel fuel, which is used to power most trucks and commercial vehicles, fell to $4.736 a gallon from $4.748, according to the AAA survey.

Diesel remained more than 60% higher than last year. And because of its use in transporting goods, high prices for diesel have affected the prices of other items.

Local prices: The AAA survey averages data from credit card swipes at 85,000 fuel stations around the country. The survey found that the number of states that suffer from gas prices above $4 a gallon fell to 14 on Friday.

Gas in Alaska, the state with the highest prices, fell to $4.643 a gallon from $4.68 last week Friday, according to AAA. The Lundberg survey, which measures gas prices by city, found the highest urban gas prices in Anchorage, Alaska at $4.43.

Hawaii, the state with the second highest prices, saw average prices fall to $4.479. California prices dipped to $4.316 on average, the AAA survey said.

Drivers in Oklahoma, the state with the cheapest gas, saw prices fall to $3.686 from $3.769 a gallon on Friday, AAA said. In Minnesota, the next cheapest state for gas, drivers paid $3.714 on average, followed by Ohio at $3.73.

Lundberg found the cheapest gas in Wichita, Kan. at $3.61 a gallon.

Drivers in Hawaii, the state with the most expensive diesel, saw prices fall to $5.372 a gallon, while diesel was cheapest in Oklahoma at $4.51, according to the AAA survey.

content by money.cnn.com

BMW Shark Nose

Classic 1979 BMW E23 733i
130k original miles.
Fuel injected Straight-six/Inline six cylinder engine BMW M30 - 3.3L, 197HP
Automatic Transmission, Power Windows, Power Mirrors, Power Sunroof, Power steering, A/C, Leather interior.

Fuel pump & filter, radiator, fan, brakes, wheels, tires - all recent work.

New Tires(less than 500 miles on them). Very high rating on tirerack.com
Firestone Firehawk Indy 500 performance tires(commonly seen on vintage Mustang, Charger, Camaro, muscle cars, Corvettes etc).
Wheels are factory early 90s E32 750iL BBS wheels.
Newer Optima Redtop battery.

Full size spare, original. Unfortunately no tools in toolkit.
Factory BMW sunroof wind guard/shield(not pictured), and a spare fuel filter included. Pioneer Cassette Deck with removeable face.

This is a clean original "Shark Nose" BMW E23.
Never been smoked in - all ash trays clean and unused.

Garage kept - nice weather weekend driver only.

.
An E28 BMW 535is. The E28 BMW 5-series cars are ridiculously cheap right now. Bulletproof mechanicals, very affordable parts, 80's BMW 'sharknose' styling, that big, smooth, torquey straight six, and with about $500 in suspension parts (and some stickier tires), some very impressive handling (not quite a 2002, but it has an air conditioner, so it's a trade-off).

World's Oldest Concours Event
Seventy-five years - the space of three generations. This is one of the reasons why Villa d’Este is the world oldest elegance pageant for automobiles. It is not by chance that this event takes place in such an evocative setting and that it is also one that BMW is proud to sponsor. The location itself is just brimming with history, adding an aura to an already heady atmosphere. We need only to recall that the Villa was built in the sixteenth century for Cardinal Tomomeo Gallio and that, after a series of vicissitudes, it was inherited by the Marquis Bartolomeo Calderara.

Among the owners of Villa d’Este were Caroline of Brunswick, wife of the Prince of Wales who was to become King George IV of England; and among those who leased it for a period of time there was even the Empress of Russia, the widow of Czar Nicholas I. With such a glorious past and a full share of posh names (a rundown of the list of the hotel’s guests will leave you duly impressed), Villa d’Este has always been the ideal setting for the Concorso d’Eleganza, an event that was typical of the epoch in which “a car in every garage” was still only a dream and that often brought fashion and engines together.

Save Power on Cars

The most interesting new project to pass through this charity clearing house has been the hybrid-electric car initiative. For those who aren’t aware, Electric Cars are those technological untenable pieces of future-tech that may or may not solve all of the world’s energy problems. Hybrid-electrics, on the other hand, are the eco-friendly and very much possible alternatives that can offer up to 100 miles of driving time per gallon of fuel.

One fantastic technology that is coming out of this initiative is V2G, or Vehicle to Grid technology. This will allow electric vehicles to transfer excess power to the power grid itself, maximizing power efficiency.

Thus far, their initial tests have produced vehicles that have an additional 30 miles per gallon of fuel efficiency over currently available hybrids.

Hack Your Taxes

Other than that warm fuzzy feeling you get for helping to save the environment, you may be wondering what’s in it for you? Well, take a look at the U.S. tax code for an moment.

Individuals and businesses who buy or lease a new hybrid gas-electric car or truck are eligible for, and can receive, an income tax credit of $250-$3,400 – depending on the fuel economy and the weight of the vehicle. Hybrid vehicles that use less gasoline than the average vehicle of similar weight and that meet an emissions standard qualify for the credit. “Lean-burn” diesel vehicles could also qualify, but currently available diesel vehicles do not meet the emissions standard. There is a similar credit for alternative-fuel vehicles and for fuel-cell vehicles.

Link : howtosplitanatom.com

Power, Beauty and Soul

Beautifully styled, the DB9 never fails to stir the soul with its unique sound, power and performance. This purebred sports car is also a technical triumph, its beauty signifying aerodynamic efficiency, its power unencumbered by weight, its devastating straight-line performance paired with exquisite handling. All great sports cars strive to balance these qualities, and the DB9 creates an experience that is both unique and unforgettable. What the driver sees, hears and feels is in harmony. The reward is total involvement: a level of engagement that truly stimulates the senses, that re-ignites a passion for driving.

But an Aston Martin is also about luxury, indulgence and enjoyment – it is a feast for the senses. Sure enough, the magnificent exterior styling of the DB9 gives way to a sumptuous, comprehensively equipped cabin, trimmed in the finest materials. Every element is perfectly conceived, from the 6.0-litre V12, to the hand-stitched seats and carefully selected interior woods. Nothing is out of place.

Link : www.astonmartin.com

Thailand-Japan pact could damage auto-parts industry

Less local appeal with zero import-tariff rate

ARANEE JAIIMSIN

A free trade agreement between Japan and Thailand could damage the attractiveness of the kingdom as an investment destination for high-technology auto-parts manufacturers from Japan with the introduction of a zero import-tariff rate, according to the Thai Auto-parts Manufacturers Association (Tapma).

Thavorn Chalassathien, the secretary-general of Tapma, said the association was concerned that there would be fewer technology transfers from Japanese advanced auto-parts manufacturers as Thailand would lose some of its appeal as a production base.

’’Why would they have to invest in the country when their products can enjoy import-tariff exemptions in the future?’’ asked Mr Thavorn.

Additionally, the FTA would not significantly benefit imports of general auto parts from Japan because prices of foreign parts were still not competitive compared to those of local products, said Mr Thavorn.

’’Parts would continue to be imported because they cannot be made domestically, or they are destined for niche markets. However, prices of imported parts from Japan would be lower as a result of the free trade agreement,’’ he said.

He said the cost of imported auto parts from Japan accounted for 25-30% of the value of parts made locally for Japanese cars in Thailand.

Mr Thavorn added that an FTA would not increase export opportunities for locally-made parts to the Japanese market because Japan was not a major export market for Thai auto-parts exporters. Malaysia was the priority market, he added.

Samart Deebhijarn, president for the Cluster of Thai Automotive Parts, said local manufacturers of high-technology auto parts, such as sensor systems, brake systems and engines, would lose business if clients opted to import entire systems from Japan at reduced prices.

In addition, Thai manufacturers of stamped-steel parts would suffer from the influx of parts from Japan once the current import tariff of between 10% and 30% was eliminated, he said.

’’Personally, I see no advantage for local auto-parts manufacturers from the free trade agreement between Thailand and Japan,’’ said Mr Samart.

However, Vallop Tiasiri, president of the Thailand Automotive Institute, said the FTA would not have a great impact on local parts manufacturers as advanced parts were already taxed at rates lower than 20%.

Under the free trade agreement, any parts for which tariff rates were higher than 20% would be cut instantly to 20% until 2011, while import tariffs below 20% would be reduced on a graduated basis, according to Mr Vallop.

Ninnart Chaithirapinyo, the vice-chairman of Toyota Motor Thailand, said local car manufacturers could buy imported auto parts at lower prices as a result of the agreement.

Ref:Bangkok Post