CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu is poised to become the number one automobile manufacturer in the country with a production of nearly 1.56 million light and heavy commercial vehicles per annum from 2010, according to a senior officer of the Industry Department.

Sometimes, difficult though it is to believe, disasters herald miracles. Three years ago, a bad distribution and service network had led Fiat's brand charisma to take a bruising fall from grace. Production of its automobiles, the Uno, Siena, Palio and Adventure, had dwindled from 32,000 cars in 2002 to a dismal 1,732 in 2005. Even the Gods, it appeared, had conspired against the company, as the catastrophic Mumbai flood of July 2005 brought Fiat's Kurla plant to a total standstill, nearly drowning one of India's most enduring brands in its fury.

For automobile companies, problems are mounting. With high inflation and interest rates threatening a slowdown, rising raw material costs are adding to their woes. Expansion plans of many firms and vendors are likely to be hit as already-tight operating margins are further shrinking.
Brokerage houses and sectoral analysts predict that it will be a tough road ahead for the auto sector, with tighter monetary policy and liquidity crunch setting in.

Sachin Dave & Sonali Krishna MUMBAI NANO, India's most eagerly-awaited car, might be launched without much fanfare. Blame it on inflation as Tata Motors and other carmakers are slashing or are in the process of reducing spending on publicity and advertising.

France is to slap an annual green tax on high-emission cars, such as sports utility vehicles, and extend punitive taxes to more environmentally damaging products in an attempt to revolutionise consumer behaviour and combat climate change.

With a price tag of about Rs 1 lakh, the Nano will cost about half as much as the cheapest car currently on the market. But, some environmentalists are dreading the prospect of hundreds of thousands of low-cost cars hitting polluted and over-crowded roads around the world in the next few years.

Managing Director Ravi Kant meets Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee Project cost increases to Rs. 2,000 crore Evokes worldwide interest to set up a plant MAKING THINGS HAPPEN: Ravi Kanth, Managing Director, Tata Motors, addressing the media after a meeting with the West Bengal Chief Minister, Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, at the State Secretariat in Kolkata on Saturday. KOLKATA: The Tata small car Nano is set to start trial runs by August prior to its scheduled roll-out during Durga Puja (in October) Tata Motors Managing Director Ravi Kant said.

Pune-Based Arm Of US Automotive Co Eaton Is Diversifying Into Electrical Systems Sector Our Bureau CHENNAI AFTER the new age air-conditioned Volvo buses gracing public transport system in Indian cities, it could be the turn of hybrid buses

A GROUPof British MPs is urging the government to use Tata-owned luxury Jaguar cars instead of Japanese hybrid cars that run on a mix of electricity and petrol. The campaign that could be summed up as "be British, drive British' follows Tata Motors' acquisition of Jaguar and Land Rover in April and its plans to inject about