Sunday, 30 September 2012

Vespa Scooters Return to Indian Roads


Vespa, isn't the name familier with Indians. Yes it is, we used to have LML Vespa few years back which has now been turned off.. 

Piaggio the largest two-wheeler maker in Europe will be re-launching its Vespa Scooters to India. Piaggio is now bringing back the vintage look scooters to India after a gap of 13 years. 

"We are doing a comprehensive and exhaustive research in India as to what could be the product line for the next few years," Piaggio Vehicles India MD Ravi Chopra said.

"We will be clear about what should be the road map for Piaggio in India in the next few months," he said. 

"We have to get into mass market scooter segment that is the large chunk of the market. If we don't exploit at the right time, then I think we will miss out on the opportunity," said Chopra.

Vespa first entered the Indian market in 1960s with collaboration with Bajaj Auto but it ended in 1971 as India Gandhi's privatization program came into place. It again entered in 1980s when it partnered with LML Motors to produce its famous P series scooters. This partnership ended in 1999 because of disputes between both companies. It has now entered the Indian market independently with its vintage look scooters.

Vespa has launched four versions of its vintage scooters.

1- Piaggio Vespa LX 125 
Price- 68,000/- approx   (depending on the city)

2- Piaggio Vespa S 150
Price- 78,000/- approx   (depending on the city)

3- Piaggio Vespa LX 150
Price- 82,000/- approx   (depending on the city)

4- Piaggio Vespa LXV 150
Price- 88,000/- approx   (depending on the city)




Do you think Vespa can succeed in India?

Indian scooter market is growing at a very good rate which is 15-20% every year and Piaggio thinks that this is the right time to enter Indian market. Company thinks that the growth in Indian market will cross global sales in coming 2 to 3 years.

2.2 Millions scooters were sold in 2011-12 in India, Honda is the current leader in Indian Scooter Market with 44% market share. 

Vespa scooters are priced higher than the scooters are sold in India. Why would someone will pay more 15-25% to buy Vespa?
- Vespa scooters come with vintage look which mixes with advanced technology.
- Vespa is well known company in India so it should not have troubles branding its name.
- Indian Consumers are now open to spend a little extra if it is fashionable.
- It has the great look which can not be compared.

Company has invested 32 million euros (210 crore) in its all new plant in Baramati which has the capacity to make 1,50,000 units annually.

Tuesday, 25 September 2012

Apple: iPhone 5 Price and Launch in India

Apple's iPhone 5 is the most anticipated phone of 2012, it has already sold more than 5 Million units worldwide and counting. It has some improved features than iPhone 4S. It is much faster than it's predecessor.

The phone is 18% thinner than iPhone 4S, 20% lighter than iPhone 4S. The phone runs on iOS6 and is powered by Apple A6 processor making it 2 times faster than iPhone 4S. The phone is priced at $199 for 16GB, $299 for 32GB, $399 for 64GB in US

Rupee value has gone down and looking at that the cost of iPhone 5 should be much higher than we would have thought. The expected price of iPhone 5 in India should be between 45,000 to 50,000 INR.

We will update you once the official launch date and price in India are announced.

Check-out the official video of iPhone 5:

Mahindra launched one of the smallest SUVs Quanto at the price of 5.82 Lakh and going up to 7.57 lakhs.

It is powered by 1.5 litre diesel engine, churning out a peak power of 100 bhp with a maximum torque of 240 Nm. The SUV has an ARAI certified mileage of 17.2 km/litre. The Quanto is built on a body-on-ladder chassis borrowed from the Xylo MPV.



It is available in four variant C2, C4, C6 and C8, which will be available in price range of 5.82 lakh to 7.57 lakh.

Friday, 21 September 2012

ICC T20 World Cup Schedule & Fixtures

ICC T20 World Cup 2012 is all in action so here is the Schedule & Fixtures.














League Matches:



Date
Match
Venue
Result
Man of the Match
18th Sep
Tue 19:30
1st T20- Group C: Sri Lanka vs Zimbabwe
Mahinda Rajapaksa Int. Stadium, Hambantota
S.L. won by 82 runs
Ajantha Mendis 6 wickets
19th Sep
Wed 15:30
2nd T20- Group B: Australia vs Ireland
R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo
Aus won by 7 wickets
Shane Watson 51 runs & 3 wickets
Wed
19:30
3rd T20- Group A: India vs Afghanistan
R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo
India won by 23 runs
Virat Kohli 50 runs
20th Sep
Thu 19:30
4th T20- Group C: South Africa vs Zimbabwe
Mahinda Rajapaksa Int. Stadium, Hambantota
S.A. won by 10 wickets
Jacques Kallis 4 wickets
21st Sep
Fri 15:30
5th T20- Group D: New Zealand vs Bangladesh
Pallekele Cricket Stadium, Kandy
N.Z. won by 59 runs
Brendon McCullum 123 runs
Fri 19:30
6th T20- Group A: England vs Afghanistan
R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo
Eng won by 116 runs
Luke Wright 99 runs
22nd Sep
Sat 15:30
7th T20- Group C: Sri Lanka vs South Africa
Mahinda Rajapaksa Int. Stadium, Hambantota
S.A. won by 32 runs
AB de Villiers 30 runs
Sat 19:30
8th T20- Group B: Australia vs West Indies
R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo
Aus won by 17 runs (D/L)
Shane Watson 41 runs
23rd Sep
Sun 15:30
9th T20- Group D: New Zealand vs Pakistan
Pallekele Cricket Stadium, Kandy
Pak won by 13 runs
Nasir Jamshed 56 runs
Sun 19:30
10th T20- Group A: England vs India
R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo
India won by 90 runs
Harbhajan Singh 4 wickets
24th Sep
Mon 19:30
11th T20- Group B: West Indies vs Ireland
R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo
Match Abandoned
-
25th Sep
Tue 19:30
12th T20- Group D: Bangladesh vs Pakistan
Pallekele Cricket Stadium, Kandy
Pak won by 8 wickets
Imran Nazir 72 runs



Super Eights: 

27th Sep
Thu 15:30
13th T20- Sri Lanka vs New Zealand
Pallekele Cricket Stadium, Kandy
S.L. won the Super Over
Tillakaratne Dilshan 76 runs
Thu 19:30
14th T20- England vs West Indies
Pallekele Cricket Stadium, Kandy
W.I. won by 15 runs
Johnson Charles 84 runs
28th Sep
Fri 15:30
15th T20- Pakistan vs South Africa
R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo
Pak won by 2 wickets
Umar Gul 43 runs
Fri 19:30
16th T20- Australia vs India
R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo
Aus won by 9 wickets
Shane Watson 72 runs
29th Sep
Sat 15:30
17th T20- England vs New Zealand
Pallekele Cricket Stadium, Kandy
Eng won by 6 wickets
Luke Wright 76 runs
Sat 19:30
18th T20- Sri Lanka vs West Indies
Pallekele Cricket Stadium, Kandy
S.L. won by 9 wickets
M. Jayawardene 65 runs
30th Sep
Sun 15:30
19th T20- Australia vs South Africa
R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo
Aus won by 8 wickets
Shane Watson  70 runs
Sun 19:30
20th T20- India vs Pakistan
R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo
India won by 8 wickets
Virat Kohli 78 runs
01st Oct
Mon 15:30
21st T20- West Indies vs New Zealand
Pallekele Cricket Stadium, Kandy
W.I. won in super over
Sunil Narine 3 wickets
Mon 15:30
22nd T20- Sri Lanka vs England
Pallekele Cricket Stadium, Kandy
S.L. won by 19 runs
Lasith Malinga 5 wickets
02nd Oct
Tue 15:30
23rd T20- Australia vs Pakistan
R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo
Pak won by 32 runs
Raza Hasan 2 wickets
Tue 19:30
24th T20- India vs South Africa
R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo
India won by 1 run
Yuvraj Singh 2 wickets


Semi Finals: 

04th Oct
Thu 19:00
Sri Lanka vs Pakistan
R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo
S.L. won by 16 runs
Mahela Jayawardene 42 runs
05th Oct
Fri 19:00
West Indies vs Australia
R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo
W.I. won by 74 runs
Chris Gayle 75 runs


Final: 

07th Oct
Sun 19:00
West Indies vs Sri Lanka
R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo
W.I. won by 36 runs
Marlon Samuels 78 runs

Wednesday, 19 September 2012

Mercedes-Benz B Class Launched in India

German luxury car maker Mercedes-Benz how entered the under 25-lakh segment by launching its B Class Sports Tourer.

"The growth in the luxury car segment has been flat in the first eight months of the year. We sold around 7,500 units last calendar year and this year too, we are likely to end up with the same numbers," Mercedes Benz India Director (Sales and Marketing) Debashis Mitra told reporters here. 

B Class will be launched in two variants B180 and B180 sports both in petrol version at a price of 21.49-lakh and going upto 24.87-lakh (ex-showroom Mumbai).



Mitra, however, said the recently announced measures to perk up the economy may change the situation a bit adding the luxe car market is all about sentiment. 

He said the premium segment or the Rs 25-30 lakh segment has, however, clocked good growth and the segment has seen competition as well. 

"The B-Class marks the start of a new innings for Mercedes-Benz India. This is the first of Mercedes-Benz's compact cars and will be followed up by the A-Class next year. We have other models also in pipeline over the next few years," says Peter Honegg, managing director & CEO, Mercedes-Benz India.

Tuesday, 4 September 2012

Kamaal Dhamaal Malamaal Theatrical Trailer

Looking at Priyadarshan's past films it should be a good comedy and trailer looks very much to that level. It surely deserves a watch.