About Sameer Contractor
Sameer ContractorConnect with this authorWith an unquenchable thirst for everything automotive, Sameer has always been the go to auto guy that his friends needed. So, it isnt exactly surprising that he chooses to do what he does. A Batman fanatic, Sameers wants to go roof-scaping on the Tumbler, while the Bat motorcycle is certainly on the cards and he plans to build one himself. An avid foodie, he has a road trip in order that will be taking him across the world in search for the best roads and the best cuisines. While his stress buster involves taking aimless motorcycle rides, do not get offended by his sarcasm.
Articles of Sameer Contractor
2020 Honda City To Be Unveiled This Month In Thailand
The next-generation Honda City has been under development for a while now, and the popular-selling sedan is now confirmed to be making its global debut later this month. The 2020 Honda City will be officially unveiled on November 25, 2019, in Thailand; ahead of the Bangkok Motor Show, while the India launch is expected to take place sometime next year. The all-new City is set to get a complete overhaul and is expected to grow in proportions. The Honda promises a sportier exterior design and it will take inspiration from the new Civic and Accord models in the automaker's line-up, also bringing a premium touch.
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New Battery Design Could Allow Electric Cars To Charge In 10 Minutes
Range anxiety still remains one of the big deterrents for the masses to adopt electric vehicles (EV), and a charging time of four to five hours does not help matters for EV demand. However, the EV industry is rapidly evolving and charging times have dramatically reduced over the years. In a big step towards charging time reduction, electric vehicle owners could soon be able to fully charge their cars in as little as 10 minutes, courtesy of new battery design. A report by NewScientist states that the new design heats the battery to increase the reaction rate.
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2021 Kia Optima Revealed For South Korea
After releasing a number of teasers, Kia Motors has revealed the all-new generation K5 sedan or the Optima for its home market - South Korea. The 2021 Kia Optima midsize shares its underpinnings with the Hyundai Sonata but gets a radical new design language that will set the tone for future cars from the manufacturer. The sedan sports the imposing new 'Tiger Nose Evolution' design language that adds the wide, three-dimensional design which integrates the grille and headlamps more organically than the previous generation model. The grille's texture has been modelled after a shark skin, while the headlamps feature a 'heartbeat' signature LED daytime running lights.
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WRC: Rally Of Australia Cancelled Due To Wildfires
The final round of the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) scheduled for this weekend, has now been cancelled due to serious bushfires that affect the northern NSW. The decision to cancel the Kennards Hire Rally Australia was taken after extensive consultation with the NSW Government, the FIA, emergency services and the local community, the organised said in a statement. The state is experiencing its worst-ever bushfire conditions, which have resulted in the declaration of a State of Emergency, a statewide total fire ban and conditions in some regions.
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2020 Skoda Octavia Breaks Cover; Gets More Tech & Practicality
The Skoda Octavia is one of the most successful nameplates for the automaker and the car has just entered its fourth generation (since the nameplate's resurrection in 1996) making its global debut at a special event in Prague, Czech Republic. The 2020 Skoda Octavia brings an evolutionary design language along with more tech, better cabin space and a larger footprint than the predecessor. It also gets a plug-in hybrid engine this time and several segment-first features that will help make the model at an attractive choice in the segment. The new generation Skoda Octavia has been unveiled just in time for the brand's 60th anniversary and marks a major step forward for the manufacturer. It also follows the same footsteps as the new Volkswagen Golf revealed last month.
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WRC2: Gaurav Gill Set To Return To Racing With Rally Of Australia
India's ace rally driver, Gaurav Gill will be participating in the Rally of Australia, part of the final round of the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) programme, set to take place this weekend. Gill competes in the WRC2 category and this will be his second outing this year after competing in the Rally of Turkey in September this year. The rally marks Gill's to racing after the unfortunate incident during the INRC round of Jodhpur back in September this year, where his rally car had a collision with the locals on a motorcycle. The Arjuna Awardee had taken a sabbatical following the incident to recover both physically and mentally, he said in a recent interview.
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2019 India Bike Week: 6 Things To Expect At Asia's Largest Motorcycle Festival
After a brief hiatus, India Bike Week is all set to make a big come back this year at a grand scale in Goa on December 6-7, 2019. The sixth edition of Asia's largest motorcycling festival promises to offer more activities, larger attractions and more exciting motorcycles to drool over. This year, the festival has tied up with Austrian bike maker KTM as one of its title partners and will be showcasing the extremely hot and insane 1290 Super Duke for the first time in India. If reports are to be believed, there will be a surprise this year with the highly anticipated KTM 390 Adventure expected to make its debut at the annual motorcycling congregation. Here's all that you need to look forward to at the 2019 India Bike Week.
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2019 Sales Expectation To Remain Low Despite High Demand During Festive Season: Mercedes-Benz India
The auto industry has been reeling through a difficult phase with sales hitting a two decade low over the past year. Carmakers, both mass market and premium have felt the pinch and while automakers did see a largely positive festive period in October this year, the overall slowdown does leave a lot to be desired. The feeling was echoed by Martin Schwenk, Mercedes-Benz India - MD and CEO, who said that the company expects lower year-on-year sales at the end of the 2019 calendar year, compared to 2018. Schwenk was speaking to carandbike on the sidelines of the recently launched Mercedes-Benz V-Class Elite, and said that despite a strong show during the festive season, the poor showing in the previous quarters will take a toll in the overall sales figures.
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China's Great Wall Could Invest Rs. 7000 Crore In India, Eyes GM's Talegaon Plant
Chinese automaker Great Wall Motors could soon invest Rs. 7000 crore in India as the company plans to set-up operations in the country, a recent report from ETAuto suggests. With more and more China-based carmakers setting shop in India, the news does come as little surprise, the massive investment plan certainly is big news amidst one of the worst slowdowns in the domestic auto sector. The report states that Great Wall will be setting up a new corporate entity, in addition to its current Indian subsidiary, Haval Motor India, which was set-up before October this year and is headquartered in Gurgaon. The new entity will make the automaker eligible for the low corporate tax rate of 15 per cent (17.01 per cent with surcharge).
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Jawa Perak Bobber-Styled Motorcycle Launch Details Out
Classic Legends will introduce the much-awaited Jawa Perak bobber motorcycle on November 15, 2019. The custom-style bobber was revealed during the brand launch about a year ago and the company is bringing its third motorcycle on the first anniversary of the resurrected Jawa brand.
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Mahindra Open To Supplying Electric Powertrains: Pawan Goenka
Mahindra Electric is open for collaborations to supply its electric powertrains to other OEMs and suppliers, said Pawan Goenka, Managing Director, Mahindra & Mahindra. The Mahindra boss was speaking at the results announcement for Q2 of FY2020. Elaborating on the electric vehicle development plans, Goenka said that the company was open to supplying its electric powertrains to OEMs or suppliers as it wants the segment to grow with more players coming on board. He also clarified that Mahindra Electric, in fact, a powertrain manufacturer and is willing to supply the technology to anyone including parent company Mahindra & Mahindra. At present, the Mahindra Electric only produces the Treo electric three-wheeler.
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Mahindra's Q2 Profit Drops By 27% For FY2020
One of India's largest conglomerates, Mahindra & Mahindra reported a 26.5 per cent drop in quarterly net profit for the period between July and September during FY2019-20. The drop in profits emerges after the automaker has been struggling to sail through the market slowdown that has limited the sales for its SUVs, cars, trucks and commercial vehicles since the beginning of the year. The Scorpio manufacturer reported a loss of 21 per cent in volumes in domestic sales with 110,824 sold during Q2 FY2020, as against 141,163 units sold during the same period last fiscal.
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Mercedes-Benz G-Class Electric Confirmed To Be Under Development
The Mercedes-Benz G-Class is an iconic SUV that is best known for its go-anywhere capability. It also turns out to be one of the vehicles that you think of when someone says gas-guzzling vehicles. With stringent emission norms and the need to look for alternative fuel sources, it is more difficult than ever to keep the G-Class legacy alive. However, that could soon change as the future of the G-Wagen family will be electric. Daimler Chairman and Head of Mercedes-Benz - Ola Kallenius has confirmed that the company will produce an all-electric version of the G-Class. Daimler's Head of Digital Transformation, Sascha Pallenberg, took to Twitter to make the announcement.
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Mercedes-Benz V-Class Elite Launched In India; Priced At Rs. 1.10 Crore
Fresh off the launch of the new G-Class 350 d, Mercedee-Benz India has expanded its portfolio with a new variant in the V-Class line-up. The new Mercedes-Benz V-Class Elite has been launched priced at Rs. 1.10 Crore (ex-showroom, India) and is the new range-topping trim on the luxury MPV.
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KTM 250 Adventure Unveiled As Brand's Smallest ADV
KTM has also silently unveiled the 250 Adventure and it will come to India as the brand's entry-level ADV offering.
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Director Rohit Shetty Brings Home The Lamborghini Urus
The Lamborghini Urus has turned out to be a money-spinner for the brand globally. The SUV has found a lot of acceptance among the uber-rich, and there's certainly a liking towards one of the world's fastest SUVs that makes it so popular. In India too, Lamborghini has sold over 50 units of the Urus in a year with the performance SUV finding home amidst a number of rich and famous. Joining this league is movie director and car aficionado Rohit Shetty that recently took delivery of his Lamborghini Urus worth Rs. 3 crore (ex-showroom). The automaker's Mumbai dealership shared an image of the director on social media with his newest prized possession that joins a number of exotics in his garage.
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Suzuki Motorcycle India Enters Pre-Owned Two-Wheeler Business With Best Value Network
Suzuki Motorcycle India has forayed in the pre-owned two-wheeler business in the country with 'Best Value' and recently inaugurated its second dealership in Bangalore. The company opened its first outlet in Delhi in 2017 for the used two-wheeler business as a pilot program, which retailed certified Suzuki two-wheelers to customers. With the Bangalore outlet, the Japanese manufacturer expands its presence in what is largely an unorganised sector. Suzuki says through Best Value, the company aims to provide a credible platform for buying and selling pre-owned two-wheelers from the manufacturer.
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EICMA 2019: Hero Xtreme 1.R Concept Unveiled
Making its global debut at the EICMA Motor Show 2019, Hero MotoCorp unveiled the new Xtreme 1.R concept motorcycle in Milan, Italy. The new concept offers a sneak-peak into the next generation of the Xtreme brand and is said to have taken inspiration by the precision of an arrow. The street-naked boasts of an aggressive stance, complete with the nose-down, tail-up design language and does look reminiscent of the TVS Apache series. Hero says, the concept is a corner carver and that would certainly be good news for the next generation Xtreme motorcycle.
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MG ZS EV Unveil Date Announced For India
Having listed the ZS EV on its Indian website earlier this week, MG Motor India will be officially unveiling the new electric SUV and its second offering for the country next month. The MG ZS EV will be unveiled on December 5, 2019, and the new electric offering is expected to hit the market during the first quarter of 2020. Morris Garages has been teasing the upcoming offering for a while now, and the model will take on the Hyundai Kona EV that was launched earlier this year.
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EICMA 2019: 2020 KTM 390 Adventure Breaks Cover
The wait is finally over! The unicorn of the Indian motorcycling scene is indeed real and has just been revealed at the 2019 EICMA Motor Show. We are talking about the KTM 390 Adventure, of course, a motorcycle that has been a part of the bucket lists for a number of bike enthusiasts over the years. As the manufacturer puts it, the new 390 Adventure has harnessed the attributes and DNA from the popular and highly rated KTM 790 Adventure, as well as the development information that comes from nearly two decades of Dakar Rally success.
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