Reborn Datsun Brand Teases First Model, an Affordable Micra-Based Supermini

The first new car to bear the Datsun badge has just been teased by Nissan, and predictably, it won’t get your heart racing, because it has been designed with a low price point in mind first, then the rest…

However, looking at these two teaser shots, one could see a funky supermini, with clearly Micra roots, at least in terms of the overall proportions, and definitely very similar underpinnings. Currently unnamed, the project goes by the internal designation ‘K2’, and should sell well in the “emerging markets” of the world, but it is primarily aimed for the Indian market.

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Nissan Shows Versa Nismo Performance Package Concept

Who would have imagined that so many would have such an imagination with Nissan's low-cost compact sedan, which is sold under three different names worldwide including the Versa, Sunny and Almera, and has also spawned a Renault doppelganger called Scala?

After India's DC-Design studio luxed-up the Sunny, Nissan's own Nismo performance and motorsports division presented a supposedly (but not really) sported-up concept that will soon enter production on the sidelines of the Super GT International Series Malaysia 2013.

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DC Designs Crafts the Rolls-Royce of Nissan Versa Sedans

No one in their right mind would ever look for excessive luxuries in a car like the Versa that Nissan brags has the lowest MSRP for a new model in the States, nor would they attempt to make a premium vehicle out of it, or would they…

Well, actually, someone has tried to give the Versa, which is also known as the Sunny in other markets including India, a far more luxurious character. That someone is none other than Dilip Chhabria of DC Designs, who took a look at what premium manufacturers like Rolls Royce and Mercedes-Benz have to offer and applied a similar formula (on a lower budget) to the Versa / Sunny.

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Nissan Officially Teases New Dacia Duster-Based Terrano SUV

Just yesterday, we brought you news about Nissan's plans to rework and re-badge the Dacia Duster into a new small SUV named the Terrano. Now it's official with the Japanese carmaker also releasing a teaser sketch previewing the looks of the new model that is scheduled to launch initially in India before the end of the year.

The single rendering suggests that Nissan, a partner of French automaker Renault that owns Dacia, will apply a new fascia together with a re-sculptured hood and profile lines to the Duster, but we'll have to wait for the actual car to see the changes as sketches can be deceiving…

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DC Design Turns Renault Duster into a Lux Crossover for Only €5k or $6.5k

Following last week’s teaser photo, Indian coachbuilder and styling firm DC-Design has released the full set of images with its interpretation of the Renault Duster (known as the Dacia Duster in Europe).

Called the DC Duster, the SUV has received a complete overhaul on the inside, with the Indian aftermarket company adding materials like faux wood and artificial leather and fitting the car with a multimedia infotainment system for the rear right passenger.

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BMW Group to Produce MINI Models Outside of Europe for the First Time Starting in India

Why did the elephant cross the road and meet the MINI? Well, because the BMW Group has decided it's time the British brand expanded its wings and fly over to India where production of the firm's cars will begin later this year at the BMW plant in Chennai. Read more »

India's DC-Design to Give the Dacia Duster a Conceptual Makeover

The Renault Group's Dacia Duster SUV is the latest object of Indian coachbuilder and styling firm DC-Design's affections, as the company has just issued a teaser image of a new concept model it will soon release in the flesh. Read more »

Tata Nano Too Cheap for Its Own Good, Improved But Pricier Models Planned

The world’s cheapest new car, the Tata Nano, has not enjoyed the success the Indian carmaker envisioned when it introduced it in 2008. Since deliveries began in July 2009, only 229,157 Nanos were sold in India, although the plant that makes it has a capacity of 250,000 units a year. Furthermore, in March 2013, sales dropped by a staggering 86 percent from a year earlier. Read more »

Look at These Indian Kids Drive Around in a Real-Life Ferrari F430!

We had to rub our eyes and watch this video a couple of times just to make sure that what we're looking at here is real and not made up. If you're wondering why, just ask yourself, how many times have you seen kids – again, not teenagers, kids…- riding around in what looks and sounds to be a real Ferrari F430 (unless it's a very good replica) ?

This is the first time we've seen something like this, and one hand, we're completely dumbfounded by the recklessness of the adults supposedly supervising the two young boys, but on the other hand, there's also a little devil inside us saying, "wow, these youngsters are sure lucky…".

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VW to Hire 50,000 Workers by 2018, Mostly Outside Europe

Volkswagen plans to employ 50,000 people by 2018, in its quest to become the world’s largest carmaker. Currently, Europe’s biggest automaker has around 550,000 employees worldwide. Most of the new jobs are expected to go outside the Eurozone, which has been affected by economic uncertainty for the past few years. Read more »

Ford in Trouble in India for Offensive Ads that Show Women Tied Up in a Boot

Three upcoming print ads for the Ford Figo that surfaced on the Internet in India are giving the Blue Oval a bad name in the country, and since this is being reported elsewhere, in the rest of the world as well. That's because two of the three ads, which are the work of JWT India, are depicting women in demeaning poses with sexual connotations. Read more »

Aww, Ain't that Cute? Mini-Me Bugatti Veyron Clone Built on a Suzuki

With 1,001PS (987hp) and a top speed of 408.47 km/h (253.81 mph) for the base model, and 1,200PS (1,184hp) and an even higher maximum speed of 431.072 km/h (267.856 mph) for the Super Sport, what's not to like about Bugatti's Veyron hypercar?

Well, you can start with the fact that production is limited to a few hundred cars, but what we really dislike about the Veyron is its $1.7 million + price tag…

While you won't be surprised to learn that other gearheads feel the same, you may lift an eyebrow after seeing what some people will do about it.

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Nissan Allegedly Looking to Clone Dacia Duster SUV, Looks Like a Mini Patrol

A pair of digitally rendered photos showing the Dacia Duster SUV with a Nissan fascia and rear end surfaced on Facebook today. According to the IndianAutosBlog site, the pictures are "3D mock-ups from a design lab" that were intended "strictly for internal circulation and study purposes", but somehow ended up on the web.

While we won't completely rule out the possibility that the renderings may have been made by someone outside the company, given the Renault-Nissan Alliance's past, there could be truth to these photos as many Dacia models are marketed under different brands around the world.

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Audi R8 Coupe Burns to the Ground During Mumbai Supercar Meeting

As it appears, Ferraris and Lamborghinis aren't the only mid-engine supercars to go up in flames. The same happened to an Audi R8 coupe that was trailing a phalanx of other supercars participating in the 'Parx Supercar Show 2013', in the city of Mumbai in India.

Predictably, many by-standers and passengers of other cars were filming the ride and were able to capture the moment when the Audi R8 started to smoke and the driver and his co-passenger jumped out to save themselves. Fortunately, no one was hurt.

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India's Big Daddy Customs gets Creative with Tata Sumo Grande

The blue-colored gem you're looking at in these pictures is the XENON concept based on the Indian market Tata Sumo Grande crossover and it was made by local replica and coach-builder Big Daddy Customs.

In contrast to the two previous models from Big Daddy Customs that we've shown you on these pages and which include a Chevrolet Optra-based replica of the 1967 Ford Mustang Eleanor and a Tata Safari-based clone of the Range Rover Evoque, the XENON is a unique project commissioned by Tata itself.

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Jaguar XF Saloon Now Made in India as Well

For the first time in its history, the Jaguar-Land Rover group has commenced production of the Jaguar XF outside the United Kingdom at its facility in Pune, India.

The premium saloon is assembled from components sourced from the company’s Castle Bromwich plant in Birmingham, UK, alongside the alongside Land Rover Freelander 2 vehicles which have been in production at the Pune factory since May 2011.

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VW’s Budget Brand Ready to Launch with 3 Family Cars, Supermini and Possibly an SUV

One would think that 12 brands, which are currently owned by Europe’s number one and the world’s number three automotive group, would be enough. Apparently, they are not: VW Group executives must have had their fingers crossed behind their backs when they recently vowed to put an end to their brand shopping spree.

While VW is not going to buy another carmaker yet (as far as we know, at least) it is getting ready to launch a new global budget car brand that will compete with the likes of Dacia, Lada and Chinese companies like Geely.

It’s a shrewd move by the Germans as, by the end of 2012, entry-level cars costing up to €10,000 (US$13,000) will account for a global sales volume of 13 percent, or 8 million units.

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Man Behind Dacia Logan Tasked With Creating Renault’s New US$5,500 India Car

The Indian new car market is far from negligible, accounting for 2.6 million registrations annually. Suzuki, with its Maruti subsidiary, offers cars starting below 250,000 rupees (US$5,600) and practically rules the market with 1 million sales per year.

Renault-Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn is determined to get a bigger slice of the pie than the measly 3 percent the two brands command with their models that are made at the local Chennai plant.

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Fiat Group to Launch Jeep Brand in India Next Year

After China, the Fiat Group is eyeing another major emerging market to launch its Jeep brand, that of India. The Italian carmaker's Indian arm, Fiat Group Automobiles India Private Limited (FGAIPL), announced on Thursday that the Jeep brand will be introduced in the country towards the end of 2013. Read more »

Nincompoop Jumps Under a Speeding Train, Makes it Out Alive

There is a very thin line between ballsy and brainless. In this case, our vote goes to brainless.

For their own ill-advised reasons, a group of young men who may or may not be from India or one of the surrounding countries, are watching and at the same time, filming one of their man-friends getting ready to perform a daredevilish act.

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