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India turns the screw on luxury car makers

Land Rover will still be sending CKD to India despite the rise in import duty India’s economy is growing almost exponentially, as a result of which it has a big, rising middle-class with much the same aspirations as the middle-class in the West. Those aspirations include the accumulation of status symbols considered worthy of representing their success and new wealth, none more so than a good set of wheels. So it’s no surprise that the mainstream luxury car makers – Jaguar, Land Rover, Mercedes, Audi and BMW – are ready, willing and able to provide exactly what India’s middles classes are looking for.

Mini Rocketman concept (2011): a guided tour

Anders Warming, Mini's new chief designer who took over from Gert Hildebrand in December 2010, spoke to CAR about the new Rocketman concept car at the 2011 Geneva motor show. Here's the Danish designer's guided tour to the Rocketman - and thoughts on Mini design in the future. CAR: Mini Rocketman: tell us about the front view Anders Warming: 'The front view of the car has to be instantly recognisable Mini, but it also has to have a face that really tells you that the brand is going to the future. That’s why we are emphasising the light rings around the headlamps: the icon of a Mini, but now with LEDs.

Chrysler scraps paper owner’s manuals, shifts to DVDs

Chrysler Group is replacing its traditional owner’s manuals with DVDs and an abridged printed guide in an effort to reduce costs and save 930 tons of paper annually. Chrysler will see “substantial savings” from the shift away from paper manuals, which often had more than 500 pages, spokesman Bryan Zvibleman said. He declined to say how much will be saved by the change, which is taking effect with 2010 models.