Maruti Suzuki Sells its 10 Millionth Vehicle in India

Suzuki's local Indian affiliate, Maruti Suzuki India Ltd, reached an important landmark this week with the production of its 10 millionth vehicle in the Indian domestic market.

The milestone model was a red Suzuki Swift that was delivered to customer in Coimbatore from the company’s Manesar assembly plant near New Delhi. The automaker has been active in India since December 1993 and attained 5 million domestic sales in February of 2006.

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Skoda Celebrates Production of its 14-Millionth Vehicle, wants to Sell 1.5 Million a Year by 2018

The Czech auto brand that could has built its 14 millionth vehicle some 107 years after Vaclav Laurin and Vaclav Klement, the founders of Skoda, began producing their first cars in 1905.

The milestone vehicle is a special edition ‘Laurin & Klement’ Superb that is designated for delivery to a German customer.

“This celebratory car is an impressive expression of our growth strategy,” said Skoda chairman Winfried Vahland. “We are expanding at a high speed. Almost two thirds of the 14 million cars built by the company were produced and sold in the past 20 years, four million of which were produced in the past 5 years alone.”

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Defender of the Faith No More: Land Rover to Build Iconic 4x4’s Successor in India

If there’s one car the British industry can be proud about (apart from the Mini), it’s the Defender. Land Rover’s 4x4 has been in production since 1949 and, even though it evolved somewhat over the decades, at heart it was always the same.

And even though Land Rover has licensed the manufacture of some derivatives and clones of the Defender in countries such as Turkey and Brazil, it was always built in Solihull, UK.

In three years’ time, this tradition will come to an end as Land Rover's owner Tata Motors has decided to manufacture its 2015 replacement at its Prune plant in India and export it from there to the rest of the world.

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Form an Orderly Queue: Receivers Say More Buyers Show Up for Saab

This is your daily update on the story that is the survival of Saab. Today, we receive news that yet another party is interested in acquiring the Swedish car company, the third in as many days.

Swedish newspaper Dagens Industri confirms last month's report that Indian conglomerate Mahindra & Mahindra is also interested in Saab. Mahindra, which already owns Korean carmaker SsangYong and wants to become “India’s first global cult brand”, joins China's Youngman group and Turkish private equity firm Brightwell Holdings in bidding for Saab.

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Cadillac Refocuses on Global Markets, is Preparing Right-Hand Drive CTS-V

With around 34% of the world's population driving on the left hand side of the road, in countries like the United Kingdom, Australia, India and Japan, any automaker that aspires to go global needs to produce right-hand drive (RHD) vehicles.

With only a few exceptions like the fifth generation Seville (built from 1998 to 2004), Cadillac has for the most part shied away from RHD markets. But this is about to change as the wreath and crest brand is getting more serious about increasing its presence in markets outside of North America.

Aside from the product presentations like the new BMW 3-Series rivaling ATS sedan that will eventually be offered with a diesel option as well, Cadillac is also getting ready to introduce right-hand drive models.

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Suzuki Moves Ahead without VW and Signs New Diesel Engine Deal with Fiat

Regular readers will no doubt remember the clash between the Volkswagen Group and Suzuki Motors with the Germans refusing to let go of their 19.9 percent equity stake in the Japanese company and Suzuki taking the matter to the international court.

While the issue remains unresolved, Suzuki has already moved on and today, the company announced that it is further expanding its business relationship with the Fiat Group, which also owns Chrysler.

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