DRIVE

Sonata among Motor Trend’s top picks

(Seoul, Korea) Motor Trend magazine named the Sonata as its number two pick among mid-sized family sedans sold in the United States.

In a ten model comparison of mid-sized sedans published in its August 2008 issue, the widely read and authoritative U.S. monthly described the 2009 Sonata as “our #1 if family comes first, only lacking the Volkswagen Passat’s verve.”

Sonata was pitted against the hugely popular Nissan Altima, Honda Accord and Toyota Camry in this survey of the most hotly contested segment in America.

“We’re very proud of this result and it’s further proof of the enormous strides Hyundai has made in design, engineering and quality control.

It’s not only a boost of confidence for us, but more importantly for prospective Sonata customers who will discover that Hyundai really does offer the best all-round value in the marketplace today,” said president of Hyundai Motor Company’s International Sales Division James Choi.

Hyundai’s Sonata was cited for its outstanding interior styling, cabin roominess and for offering the best mileage of the top five finishers. Equipped with the revised 2.4-liter Theta engine, Sonata delivers a fuel economy rating of 22/32 miles per gallon (City/Highway based on EPA testing).

Sonatas sold in the United States and Canada are built at Hyundai’s Montgomery, Alabama plant in the United States.

BoC signs MoU with DIMO

Bank of Ceylon and the Diesel & Motor Engineering Plc. (DIMO), with the entire range of Tata vehicles under their roof, signed a fresh MoU recently at the BOC Head Office.

This MoU more or less revamping of earlier MoU signed on July nine in order to strengthen the existing relationship, with prolific business opportunities opened between them. General Manager of BoC B.A.C. Fernando and Chairman of DIMO Ranjith Pandithage signed the agreement in this regard.

Picture shows Chairman BoC Dr. Gamini Wickramasinghe (third from left), and Chairman of DIMO Ranjith Pandithage (extreme right), exchanging the agreement whilst General Manager BoC B.A.C. Fernando (first from left), Country Manager of Tata Motors India in Sri Lanka Arup Baruwa (second from left) and Regional Head to the Tata Motors India in SAARC Vishvadev Senguptha (fourth from left) also in the picture.

Hero Honda says high rates hurting demand

High interest rates and tight financing in India are hurting demand for motorcycles and the industry’s growth would slow to single-digits in 2008/09, a senior official at Hero Honda Motors said on Tuesday.

“Over the year we will not see the same kind of double-digit momentum that we saw in the first quarter. We are more likely to be talking about single-digit growth for the industry,” said Anil Dua, senior vice-president, sales and marketing at India’s top bike maker.

Last month, the central bank raised its key lending rate to a seven-year high of nine percent to rein in double-digit inflation. And banks are tightening standards on retail loans such as two-wheeler financing due to rising defaults. Dua added Hero Honda, owned 26 percent by Japan’s Honda Motor Co, was on track to launch 11 models in the next 13 months. Reuters

Klevenberg initiates free service campaigns

Klevenberg (Pte) Ltd. an associate company of Brown & Company PLC initiated free service campaigns in Havelock Town, Ranala and Athurugiriya with the assistance of the Traffic Police.

These one day service campaigns were carried out with the intention of educating motorists of their responsibility towards environmental pollution. Many checks such as Diesel fuel emission tests, battery checks, charging system checks were done under this programme and reports were produced for each test.

Specialised equipment of Lucas, one of the leading brands marketed by Klevenberg, was used to execute the servicing done for more than 100 vehicles. Motorists were enthused when technical experts from the Klevenberg workshop gave free advice to motorists on general problems arisen and vehicle maintenance apart from the free gifts received. One to one counselling was given and belching vehicles were identifide and necessary advice on corrective measures were provided at no cost.

Lucas having established in UK in 1882, has remained a strong brand in Sri Lanka for well over half a century. The brand Lucas offers a total auto solution with comprehensive test equipment.

Some of the products marketed by Lucas are batteries, starter motors, alternators, wiper motors, switches, relays and fuses, wiring components, bulbs, lamps and lenses, and lighting equipment. Klevenberg pioneered the Battery Mobile Service in Sri Lanka under ‘Lucas’ when launched in 1995. Lucas is in a position to cover the entire electrical system of motor vehicles.

Company spokesman of Klevenberg stated that, “Klevenberg being the sole agent for Lucas, utilised the brand’s equipment and meters for the campaigns and provided these services under the theme ‘Total Auto Solution’.

The objective behind ‘Total Auto Solution’ is to provide convenience to customers by reputed brands and to offer them peace of mind and reliability backed by the fully equipped workshop and the fully fledged service unit of Klevenberg.”

In addition to the traditional excellence of Lucas, Klevenberg is in a position to engage in campaigns of this nature as they are sole agents for a range of reputed products of reputed brands such as Champion spark plugs and wiper blades, Simoniz Car Care range, Stanadyne diesel systems, Hartridge auto testing equipment, Britpart for Land Rover. They are also the sole agents for Delphi diesel fuel injection systems which is currently fitted to the most sophisticated and hi-tech engines such as Mercedes, BMW, Peugeot, Audi, Volkswagen, Citroen, Opel and leading Japanese makes.

New Maruti 800 and Alto arriving soon

The highest selling only brand new super fuel generating, Alto and Maruti 800 will reach the Sri Lankan market with a novel change from 25th August. Both these cars have been given the funky sports look.

There would be modified Spoilers, Fog lamps, alloy wheels, full tint and many other specialties in these vehicles.

New Maruti 800 and Alto would be available for viewing and selling to customers at Suzuki Maruti Showroom. The first 20 new owners of these two vehicles will receive special discounts by AMW PLC.