"It's raining cars in the Indian automobile market," says The Economic Times. Credit the increase in Indian auto sales to a four percent cut in the excise duty. Hyundai Motor India Ltd. has experienced a record 52.3 percent sales boost, and managing director and CEO H. M. Lheem says "The high sales have come on the back of good demand for our small cars." Meanwhile in Thailand, the theme at the 29th annual Bangkok International Motor Show is "The Environmental Auto Globalization" (i.e. surprise: green is in!). Organizers point out that the major cause of global warming "includes vehicle and fuel energy," and automakers have rolled out plenty of hybrid and electric cars. Anyway, the show is dominated by Japanese carmakers. "[T]hey sort of dominate eyespace," says reporter Meenakshi Verma, adding that it's "hardly surprising Bangkok's roads already seem dominated by pickups from that country." He points out that Thailand is "the second largest market for pickups after U.S." And after leaving the show, the Times reporter says he ended up "right in the middle of one of Bangkok's infamous traffic jams," where his informal "straw poll of the cars stuck on the road," confirmed that "pickups are the favorite mode of transport in Bangkok.

In February, we told you Chrysler was outsourcing some of its IT to Tata Consultantcy Services (yep, relation!). At that time, Chrysler Chief Information Officer Jan Bertsch promised to "keep [the employees] apprised of the outcomes of our efforts." Well, now the Detroit Free Press tells the rest of us what some of those "outcomes" are: people got fired. Everyone knew it was the plan, but now it's happened.  Chrysler is outsourcing 200 of its full-time employees, some 20 percent of its IT workforce. Ms Bertsch explains: "we thought a year ago that rather than try to cost-cut continually over time, we wanted to step back and look at our business and say, 'Where do we really need to move to service our customers better?'" Without over-analyzing that little insight into the Chrysler management paradigm, this means that recently-signed contracts with Tata and Computer Sciences Corp will eliminate the need for in-house mainframe and computer technology service. No word on how much Chrysler is saving, but Ms Bertsch assures us that "We would have never embarked on this scale of a project had the savings not been substantial." Not to worry though. "Some people will stay, some people will leave and some people will be interviewing with the new provider and perhaps be offered a position with them," purrs the "Chief (Orwellian) Information Officer." Aw.

Fact: Jaguar sold 54k cars last year. Fact: Jaguar sold 70k cars in 2006. Fact: Just-auto [via Motor Authority] says Jaguar sales "could potentially double within the next couple of years." How's that? "Forecasts compiled by just-auto map out Jag's production future for its four main models – the X-type, XF, XK and XJ – and foresee volume rising to a more sustainable number closer to the magical 100,000 mark." Sorry, but no fucking way. But wait, there's more! "Possible new models in the Jag product plan, which await the green light from Tata, could further lift this figure towards 150,000 by 2012/2013" The XJ is an albatross and the X-type is the brand's cancerous Achilles Heel. I'm just going to start playing it their way. I'm predicting that Chrysler is going to launch an unspecified new model at some future date and they will sell more cars than Toyota. Like, lots more. In the future. Lamborghini, too. Man, this is fun. Hey Farago, where's my check?

In India, Suzuki has over 50 percent of the market share. You might have heard this factoid on Wednesday's podcast, you might have read it during our coverage of the NYC auto show. I've said it for a third time because it really is quite amazing. Part of their sales success is down to Suzuki's extremely well developed small car lineup, anchored by the Swift, which is not on sale in America because Suzuki hates freedom. And import costs, currency fluctuations and low profit margins. (We do have a Swift-related car however, the fun-to-drive SX4 crossover). Back to India, where Maruti Suzuki is taking names and kicking behinds. They've just unveiled a sedan version of the normally attractive Swift hatchback, and it might just be the most awkward car of the year. There are other uglies out there like the Mercedes ML and the MINI Cooper Clubman John Cooper Works. But this might just take the cake for bizarre mass market car [outside of China]. Oh, and as if it wasn't weird enough, they're calling it the "Dzire" and marketing it as "The Heart Car." In sum, ew.

After Lexus' slow start in Japan, Toyota has announced plans to introduce India to the premium brand within the next two years. To that end, India's Economic Times reports that the flagship Lexus LS sedan and LX SUV will lead the way, followed closely by the RX CUV. Toyota is investing heavily, planning stand-alone Lexus dealerships so that Lexus can "operate from a separate exclusive entity to maintain its niche brand value." As it has in the U.S., Toyota will align Lexus to compete against the usual (German) suspects: BMW, Audi, Mercedes and Porsche. Given the country's burgeoning nouveau riche class, India appears to be a great candidate for a brand with no "real" provenance or heritage. If Tata expands Jaguar/Land Rover distribution to India– and why wouldn't they?– the great tiger will be the scene of some interesting luxury car wars over the next decade.

…and yet they're not on a plane to Vegas or ringing-up their stockbroker. Anyway, the mag's posted a roadmap of Jaguar and Land Rover's (JLR) product plans for the next umpteen years. Oh, one qualification: Tata has only committed to follow Autoweek's guide for the next five years. Might I remind everyone that the Indian automaker has guaranteed Ford it will follow JLR's five-year plan. And it will… right until it doesn't. Anyone who thinks Ford knows how to run JLR for the next five years should look at the last five years. Or ten. And I'm sure Tata's done that due diligence. The only Autoweek prognostication you can reasonably expect to deliver 100 percent truthiness is the arrivals of the new, 5.0-liter V8; the engine's development is nearly done. Autoweek estimates that the new powerplant will stump-up a reasonable 380 horses in naturally-aspirated form and nearly 500 when supercharged (the latter being a little optimistic). And without a doubt, this engine is bound for Jags and Range Rovers alike. (Well, duh.) Otherwise, the real vision for Tata's future are in Ratan Tata's brain, and he ain't sayin' nothing. Yet.

We reported earlier that Indian automaker Tata had entered an agreement to license compressed-air technology from French firm MDI. But we hadn't seen a prototype… until now. The MDI Air Car was discovered by Autoblog Green at the New York Auto Shows X-Prize display, confirming the goofiness of the concept. Think Manx dune buggy meets golf cart meets tree frog. No word yet as to how the vehicle (one hesitates to use the term "car" so loosely) will conform the 100mpg performance required for participation in the X-Prize. Although we typically embrace the use of revolutionary technologies, this one just seems way too far removed from reality… unless you want a carbon-neutral trip to the 19th hole.

Indian automaker Tata has moved one step closer to purchasing Jaguar and Land Rover. Reuters reports that the Indian automaker has secured a $3b one-year bridge loan from Citigroup and JPMorgan. The usual "sources familiar with the deal" say the loan is to "help finance a potential purchase" of the luxury brands from Ford. The principals declined to comment, but media reports from India say Tata is expected to agree to the purchase at the end of the month. (And Francisco Franco is still dead.) Tata may still balk– especially as Standard & Poors is reviewing Tata for a possible downgrade in the light of the potential increase in the company's debt load. If the sale goes through and FoMoCo's cash flow goes critical, Volvo and their 33.9 percent share of Mazda could be next.

In my recent review of the ZAP Xebra  I stuck my neck out and said: "The Xebra probably costs $3k to make. It's certainly not worth much more than that." Turns out I was being (uncharacteristically) conservative. According to newlaunches.com, a four-wheel version of the Xebra is to be sold in India as the Tara Tiny for $2450. A joint venture between India's Tara and China's Aucma, a manufacturer of electric vehicles, will result in the "the world's cheapest car;" undercutting the Tata Nano by a whopping $50. The Xebra sedan is being sold here for up to $16k. BTW, battery life for the Xebra is 4k miles, according to a poll of owners. And how do I know it's the Xebra? That fourth wheel is a good disguise, but I'd recognize that god-awful hard-shell one-piece dashboard anywhere, even half-way around the world.

Tata's prospective purchase of Jaguar and Land Rover from Ford is reportedly foundering on Tata's insistence on price guarantees for Ford engines. The Detroit News quotes sources "close to negotiations" (as opposed to?) as saying Ford is unlikely to agree to any such guarantees in light of price increases in key commodities. Garel Rhys, director of the Centre for Automotive Industry at Cardiff University, calls Tata's request "absurd, and they know it." BUT Rhys reckons it's in Tata's interest to drag-out the purchase process while it secures financing. And, perhaps, a better price. With no other offers tabled for the two FoMoCo "premier" brands, the Blue Oval Boyz have little choice but to duke-it-out with Tata. Ford's "Wish We'd Gone from Sir Anthony Bamford" deal has already been pushed past two informal deadlines. Ford now says an agreement with Tata Motors is expected "mid year." 

That's right, the Chevrolet Spark is selling like hot naan in India. The Hindu reports GM manage to put 3,691 Sparks into peoples' driveways last month, up from just 1,286 the year before. For those of you not familiar with the decade-old Spark, it's also known as the Chevrolet Exclusive, Chevrolet Matiz, Chevrolet Joy, Daewoo Matiz, Pontiac Matiz, Pontiac G2, FSO Matiz, Chevrolet Taxi 7:24 Chronos and of course the hot sounding UZ Matiz (not to mention the Chery QQ). All variations of the Spark come with your choice of 0.8 and 1.0-liter engines. In contrast to the General's fortunes, India's overall auto market has experienced a bit of contraction, moving only 7,42,027 units through February vs. 8,27,594 vehicles the previous year. A big however, however, is in order. The Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM 'natch) counts motorcycle sales amongst the totals. If you look at just motorized four-wheeled transportation devices, they're up 2.31 percent.

As we reported yesterday, Ford's sale of Jaguar and Land Rover to India's Tata Motors is far from a done deal. In light of today's confirmation that the transaction will not go through this week as predicted, it looks like Tata's reach may exceed its grasp. Reuters questions the role the British brands would play amongst Tata's lineup of commercial-duty trucks and compact to sub-compact cars. Another issue: Tata's credit rating. It turns out that Moody's and Standard and Poor's placed Tata on review for a credit rating downgrade when the Indian firm emerged as the frontrunner for Jag/Landie. Not coincidentally, Tata's stock slid ten percent during its six month courtship of Ford's cast-offs, while the rest of the Indian stock index grew by nine percent. Speaking in Geneva, Rattan Tata was quoted as saying he remains "reasonably confident" that the deal will go through. Reasonably? Uh-oh.

The Economic Times of India reports that Tata's any-day-now-they-swear $2b acquisition of Land Rover and Jaguar has been delayed by the Unite union's insistence that Jag continue to source powertrains from Ford's UK plants. (The two brands will be kept as a single package because Jag and Landie share UK-sourced powertrain components.) Ford PR flacks aren't concerned that these unresolved issues may prevent the deal from going through by the projected March fifth deadline. "There will be a strong relationship between Ford and Jaguar-Land Rover post the sale, so it's important any agreements are fully understood by all the parties and work to the mutual benefit of all concerned. However, this shouldn't be seen as a delay or issue or roadblocks in the process." This should probably be taken with a grain of salt, considering Ford previously claimed the announcement had been held back "so as not to overshadow the launch of the new Fiesta at the upcoming Geneva Auto Show." Insert mirthless laugh here.

Following its decision to spend $2b manufacturing seats on the Indian subcontinent, the Detroit Free Press reveals that Chrysler LLC is outsourcing $120m worth data crunching to India. The contract is headed for the Tata Group, whose portfolio includes Nano-maker and Jag/Landie suitor Tata Motors. Chrysler spinmeister David Elshoff said Tata will be working on dealers’ online vehicle ordering system and maintaining the company's dealer-brand websites. “The first phase of this evolution and our new partnerships will start this month and will continue throughout 2008,” Jan Bertsch, Chrysler chief information officer told her employees. “As the year progresses, we'll continue to evaluate additional opportunities… and will keep you apprised of the outcomes of our efforts." Not surprisingly, Tata’s CEO was slightly more upbeat. "The expertise and in-depth knowledge of the automotive industry and Chrysler's business, coupled with our ability to deliver certainty of results will provide sustained value to Chrysler." Does this move indicate Chrysler's desire to outsource car-building to Tata Motors? They should live so long…