VW Begins Series Production of 2012 Beetle in Mexico

Volkswagen announced that it has commenced regular production of the 2012 Beetle at its factory in Puebla, Mexico, where its predecessor was also built. To mark the occasion, Germany’s Federal Foreign Minister Dr. Guido Westerwelle, Mexican President Felipe Calderon, and Board Member for Production and Logistics at VW Passenger Cars Hubert Waltl visited the plant in Puebla.

“The Beetle is a strong symbol of our brand. It combines the emotional heritage of the original Beetle with the future of Volkswagen,” said Hubert Waltl .

“The new Beetle and the engine plant we are building in Silao represent the great confidence we place in Mexico as a manufacturing location. As one of the main manufacturers of compact class vehicles, Volkswagen de México is a key building block in our growth strategy for North America” the VW official added.

The Puebla factory is the largest automotive plant in Mexico. It already supplies North and South America with the new Jetta and the Golf Variant. It employs 15,000 workers and its annual production in 2010 was 435,000 units.

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Lamborghini Sues Las Vegas Business for Using its Raging Bull Logo

Italian supercar maker Lamborghini has unleashed a snarling pack of lawyers against the owners of an exotic car showroom, merchandise gallery and restaurant at the Palazzo resort in Las Vegas.

Lamborghini’s lawsuit claims that the companies that operate Dal Toro Exotic Car Showroom, Merchandise Gallery and Ristorante Italiano have been using the brand’s raging bull logo.

The Las Vegas Sun reported that the lawsuit states: "Brashly, defendants prominently display a large and striking Lamborghini bull-in-shield protected design mark at the entrance of defendants' premises and a Lamborghini protected type mark within defendants' exotic car showroom”.

Lamborghini's trademark infringement action filed in a Las Vegas court this past Wednesday also states that Dal Toro has been selling “knockoff” products and accessories at its stores.

“Defendants’ advertisement, promotion and sale of the knockoff products is part of a sophisticated and elaborate scheme to target Lamborghini, to create products that are similar in appearance to well-known Lamborghini products, and to trade upon the goodwill and reputation associated with Lamborghini and its high quality, distinctive product lines, including by deliberately misleading the public and the trade as to the authenticity, source, affiliation or sponsorship of defendants’ operations and products.”

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Tata to unveil millionaire car in Nepal

Kathmandu, July 14 (IANS) Within three weeks of launching in Nepal 'people's car' Nano, the least expensive car in the world, the Tata Group is now seeking to consolidate business in the Himalayan republic by unveiling its millionaire's car, the Tata Aria.

Sipradi Trading, the sole dealer of Tata vehicles in Nepal, this week began marketing the luxury car in its three versions, the Aria Pleasure, Aria Prestige and Aria Pride.

Unlike the Nano that cost under NRS.5 lakh in Nepal during the introductory offer and could be booked with a down payment of only NRS.10,000 - less than Rs.7,000 - the Aria is intended for the other end of the consumer spectrum.

The lowest price is NRS.47.9 lakh while in India the same model would cost about NRS.24 lakh.

The sizeable difference in prices in Nepal and India is due to the whopping 240 percent taxes imposed by Nepal, including customs duty, VAT and other taxes.

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New Photo Gallery of U.S.-Spec 2012 Mercedes-Benz M-Class

Mercedes-Benz’s all-new 2012 M-Class (or ML) makes its on-the-road debut in the U.S. this week so the German company decided to drop a new batch of images for our viewing pleasure.

The Stuttgart firm’s new luxury SUV enters the 2012 model year in the U.S. with a choice of two models. First up is the diesel-powered ML350 BlueTEC delivering 240 horsepower and 455 lb.-ft. of torque, while averaging 20mpg in the city and 25mpg on the highway.

The second choice for U.S. buyers is the gasoline-fueled ML350 4MATIC equipped with a brand new direct-injection 3.5-liter V6 rated at 302 hp and 273 lb.-ft.), with an estimated fuel economy of 17mpg city and 22mpg highway.

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Kelleners Sport Tunes the BMW 1-Series M Coupe to 410HP

German aftermarket firm Kelleners Sport is one of the first official tuners to get its hands on the new BMW 1-Series M Coupe and offer a complete conversion. Named KS1-S, the modified 1 M Coupe’s turbocharged straight-six now delivers 410-horses, or a good 20% more than the standard car, and just 10HP short of the E92 M3, while torque is increased from 450 to 550 Nm or 405.7 lb-ft.

As a result, the power to weight ratio drops from 4.4kg per HP in the stock model to 3.8 kg per hp in the KS-1 S.

Visually, the KS1-S differs from the standard 1 M Coupe thanks to new aerodynamic parts designed to minimize drag and increase downforce at high speeds, as well as the quad 83 mm exhaust pipes.

Kellener’s 1 M Coupe now rides on new 20-inch alloy wheels shod in tires size 245/30 at the front and 265/30 at the rear.

The company also worked on the suspension settings and added an adjustable coil-over system, which gives the driver the opportunity to adjust both rebound and compression independently.

Changes were also made also in the interior with two-tone black and white perforated leather and alcantara covering the dashboard, door panels and front and rear seats.

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Siemoneit Racing’s VW Golf R Black Pearl with up to 530HP

While VW’s 270-horsepower Golf R hatchback is hardly underpowered, the engineers over at the German tuning firm Siemoneit Racing felt like it could use some extra ponies.

Siemoneit Racing calls its tuned VW Golf R the ‘Black Pearl’for obvious reasons- and it offers customers a choice of two performance packages. The first boosts the 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine’s output from 270HP and 320Nm to 355-horses and 485Nm (357.7 lb-ft) through thanks to the updated ECU software, custom exhaust and a new air intake system.

The second and more comprehensive package transforms the Golf R into a 530-horsepower monster by further tweaking the engine software, and adding a larger turbocharger, a new intercooler and a different exhaust system.

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It Came From eBay Hell: Triumph TR3 with an Italian Body and an American Heart

Much like Christine in the Stephen King novel of the same name, this 1957 Triumph TR3 Special began life as nothing more than a…car. Since then it’s mutated into this thing that sports a faux-Ferrari body and a Chevy 350 V8 under the hood.

All that remains of its British donor car are the number and chassis plates, front suspension, windshield wiper motor, tail lights and fuel filler cap. The “coachbuilt body”, as the eBay Motors seller describes it, is a combination of hand-worked aluminium and glass fibre.

There’s also an Edelbrock manifold and carburettor, TH350 transmission and a Ford 9” limited slip differential. There’s also an integral roll bar, four-link rear suspension and wide 275/50R15 rubber.

The seller would like us all to, “Please note the superb quality of the craftsmanship this car has been constructed with, particularly the very high quality of the wiring.” That’s his emphasis, not ours.

Still, if you would like to buy this, “authentic piece of American Vintage Motor Sports History” you can for the low, low asking price of US$19,500.

Though to be honest a car that’s spent twenty-five years in a shed gathering rust dust with a wannabe Ferrari 250 GTO body affixed to it isn’t my idea of a good investment. You can check out our full gallery bellow.

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