CARBLOGO

India's goal of becoming the global small car hub could be hampered by labour issues, acute shortage of skilled workers and slow pace of expansion by auto component makers, according to market research firm JD Power. In its report 'India Automotive 2020: The Next Giant from Asia', JD Power said the country's ambition to become a global small car production base confronts some serious manpower related obstacles such as lack of skilled labour force, high labour cost and workers' low efficiency and productivity. "The risk of union-related labour problems is omnipresent in India, since many labour unions are affiliated with political parties. As a result, local politics frequently interferes with business operations," the report said. According to the report, "unions use their influence to promote manual labour rather than automation in Indian plants for creating more employment, resulting in longer production cycles, greater variability in quality ...

Just how gingerly do you have to drive a race car around the track when it's a classic Ferrari valued conservatively at $9 million? Roger Mandeville, 69-year-old former IMSA champion, thought about it for a few seconds. You don't pass another driver in the center of a turn, he said, and "if you're not sure he's seen you, you don't go." Mandeville has taken the Ferrari out for a spin this weekend at Barber Motorsports Park for the Legends of Motorsports event, as well as two other classic cars from the famous Collier Collection in Naples, Fla. Of the three Collier cars brought to Barber, Mandeville will only be driving one in a race today - a 1971 Porsche 908/3. The Ferrari, which could have been bought back in 1964 for around $6,500, won't be competing since it's in a class with much newer and faster cars. But the Collier crew isn't adverse to putting its pricey museum pieces on race tracks, said Scott George, president and CEO of CH ...

A love of motor sports runs deep in Central Indiana. But for blacks, the motor-sports tradition here has been less prominent, with only a few black race car drivers having competed at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. That could change this year, with the first black driver in the Indianapolis 500 mentoring a young black driver in a developmental IndyCar racing series. Willy T. Ribbs, who competed in the 500-Mile Race in 1991 and 1993, is the co-owner of a Firestone Indy Lights car that will be driven by Chase Austin, a Kansas native trying to make the transition from stock cars to Indy cars. If he qualifies this week for the Firestone Freedom 100 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Friday, Austin will make history of his own as the first black driver to start a Firestone Indy Lights race. Ribbs has been down similar paths: He broke the color barrier in open-wheel racing in 1991, becoming the first African-American to compete in the Indianapolis 500 by securing his spot with...

Domestic car sales up 13%, bikes 23% in April Domestic car sales up 13%, bikes 23% in April Domestic passenger car sales jumped by 13.18 per cent to 1,62,825 units in April from 1,43,862 units in the same month last year. According to the figures released by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) today, motorcycle sales in the country during the month grew by 23.39 per cent to 8,09,565 units from 6,56,096 units in the corresponding month last year. Total two-wheeler sales last month increased by 26.44 per cent to 10,43,970 units from 8,25,632 units in April, 2010. Sales of commercial vehicles jumped by 8.22 per cent to 53,202 units from 49,162 units in the year-ago period, SIAM said. Total sales of vehicles across categories registered a growth of 22.80 per cent to 13,38,564 units in April as against 10,90,041 units in the same month last year, it added.

Sales of commercial vehicles (CV), or trucks & buses, jumped by 8.22% to 53,202 units in the month under review from 49,162 units in the year-ago period, SIAM data showed today. India's car sales slow sharply in April India's car sales slow sharply in April ndia's domestic passenger car sales rose at the slowest pace in nearly two years in April, as a series of interest rate increases, rising fuel prices and higher prices of the vehicles kept potential buyers at bay at the start of the financial year. Car makers in India sold 162,825 vehicles in the local market in April, compared with 143,862 units sold in the same period a year earlier, according to the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM). Sales of commercial vehicles (CV), or trucks & buses, jumped by 8.22% to 53,202 units in the month under review from 49,162 units in the year-ago period, SIAM data showed today.

Car sales in India posted the slowest growth rate in 22 months in April this year at 13.18% as rising interest rates and declining consumer confidence impacted automobile sales across the country. According to figures released by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) today, domestic passenger car sales stood at 1,62,825 units in April, as against 1,43,862 units in the same month last year."The April, 2011, sales growth rate was the slowest since June, 2009, when the growth rate was 8.23%. Consumer confidence is low as economic parameters are wobbly at the moment," SIAM Senior Director Sugato Sen told reporters here. He said interest rate hikes, coupled with the increase in prices of vehicle due to rising commodity prices, have also contributed to postponing of purchases. Total sales of vehicles across categories registered a growth of 22.80% to 13,38,564 units in April as against 10,90,041 units in the same month last year, SIAM said. In the passen...