Nice New Renaults

Mahindra Renault Logan is a sports utility vehicle (SUV) launched in India by the joint venture between the Indian auto maker Mahindra & Mahindra and French auto maker Renault. Logan is not performing up to the expectation level of the company Mahindra Renault. Recently the two partners were engaged in discussions to change the strategy with regard to Logan in the country. The collaboration may go through some changes in coming days.

It has launched Logan in India in several variants. These include Logan, Logan Edge, Edge Connect, and Play. The versions of it available in the country nclude Ma.4 GL Petrol, 1.4 GLE Petrol, 1.6 GLX Petrol, 1.6 GLS Petrol, 1.5 DLE Diesel, 1.5 DLX Diesel and Mahindra Renault Logan 1.5 DLS Diesel.

It has overall length of 4250 mm, overall width of 1740 mm and overall height of 1525 mm. The car, with ground clearance of 172 mm, has boot space of 510 liter. The 4 door SUV can sit 5 persons. The 1461 cc engine of the vehicle delivers maximum torque of 16@2,000 (kgm@rpm).

It offers mileage of 19.2 km/liter on high ways, 13.8 km/liter in city and overall its offers mileage of 15.3 km/liter. The SUV can deliver the maximum speed of 142 km/hour. The high-end 1.5 DLS Diesel has features like air conditioner, power windows, power door locks, power steering, driver air-bags, central locking, tachometer, child safety locks, front fog lights, rear defroster, FM radio and CD player.

The French auto company Renault manufactures cars, tractors and trucks. The company has an alliance with the Japanese auto maker Nissan. It has ownership of Automobile Dacia and Renault Samsung Motors.

Mahindra & Mahindra is a leading sports utility vehicle maker of India. The company is part of the Mahindra Group, one of the major corporate houses of India. Mahindra Group has presence in various sectors like automotive, financial services, IT and infrastructure.

Mahindra & Mahindra has launched many successful SUVs in the Indian auto market. These include Bolero, Xylo and the best seller of its segment Scorpio. The company launched Logan in collaboration with Renault.

Today, Renault is one of the most successful French automobile manufacturing companies, but when it started in 1899, it was obviously just a new player in the market. But, soon they built great rapport and in 3 decades the company progressed steadily. In 1928, company had offered about 45,809 car units, ranging from small to very large cars. However, smallest cars were much liked by the customers. Roadsters as well as Torpedoes were also launched in the market at low prices. During Second World War, Company suffered a bit as German Nazis took control of Renault.

Post World War, Renault offered its rear engine 4CV model in the year 1946. During 1951 – 1960, company had offered a 2 liter 4 cylinder car known as Renault Fregate. The introduction of Renault Dauphine helped in expansion of the company in Africa as well as North America as it became one of the largest selling cars in France.

However, the car could not get success in North America and the model was outdated by early 1960s. Renault offered its two models Renault 4 as well as Renault 8 in order to gain its lost fortune back in 1961 and 1962 respectively. The R8 was conventional type whereas R4 was offered with revolutionary front wheel drive system. This model was produced till 1992.

In 1981, Renault 9 model, which was a 4 door sedan, was awarded with European car of the year. For its leading class qualities, the Clio III model from Renault also received European car of the year in 2005. Renault has targeted to sell about 20,000-40,000 electric cars by 2011. Let us see how far they succeed in their impressive venture.

Though visions of “Papa” and “Nicole” are etched into the mindset whenever most of us hear the name “Renault Clio”, make no mistake this is a car that has come a long way since it burst on to the scene in 1991.

Sixteen years on the standard (non-Sport) Clio is not so much ‘chic and sexy’ as ‘quiet and practical’ – its even ballooned in size and now ranks more as a ’super midi’ than a ’super mini’ presumably so an older Nicole has room for her husband and 2.4 children.

Nevertheless what it lacks in youthful exuberance it makes up for in comfort and reliability – in fact in an Auto Express customer satisfaction survey in 2007, the Renault Clio received recognition as the 49th most satisfying car to own, a welcome boost for the manufacturer which has rarely had the most outstanding customer reputation.

And we all know what reliability means – yes, cheap car insurance. Or at least that’s the theory.

Unfortunately that doesn’t come as standard like its electric power steering so I suggest you shop around with a car insurance comparison tool. Searching specifically for Renault car insurance should help you save cash.

The petrol versions of the Renault Clio have superior handling to the diesel models when pushed to the limit, mainly due to the reduced weight.

Safety measures are good too, with up to eight airbags available, along with a seat belt load limiter for the front seats. In fact, the Renault Clio earned a maximum five-star rating for adult occupancy and a high four-star rating for child occupant safety in the Euro NCAP ratings, making it one of the safest small cars around.

It’s clear the Renault Clio has matured and is now arguably more desirable than ever.

In 2005, Formula One saw Ferrari fade out of sight, as the works Renault team dominated the early part of the season, and Fernando Alonso forged a clear championship lead. In the latter part of the season McLaren were significantly the stronger team, with consistently better results and a win tally of 6 from 7 races. However their early record of poor reliability had meant that catching Renault in either Drivers’ or Constructors’ Championships was a tall order.

For a while it looked close between Räikkönen and Alonso, but by Brazil Fernando Alonso had become Formula One’s youngest ever champion. The Constructors’ Championship looked even more likely for McLaren, widely regarded as the faster car and with reliability much improved.

However a retirement for Juan-Pablo Montoya in the season finale at Shanghai secured the Constructors’ title for Renault. One statistic proved the two teams’ dominance: they together won all but one of the races, the controversial US Grand Prix, (in which neither of the two teams participated) which was Schumacher and Ferrari’s only win of the year.

Arguably, the final small specialist racing team disappeared with the September 2005 purchase of Minardi by Red Bull to be renamed as Scuderia Toro Rosso and run as a separate entity alongside Red Bull Racing. Jordan had been bought by Russo-Canadian steel company Midland early in 2005 and was renamed Midland F1 for the 2006 season. In June 2005, BMW bought a majority stake in Sauber, which became their factory entry. The Williams team ceased their partnership with BMW as a result, entering a commercial arrangement with Cosworth instead.

From 2006 manufacturer teams have an unprecedented level of involvement in the sport. Honda also bought BAR. 2006 was the last season with two tyre manufacturers: The two manufacturers at the time were Japanese manufacturer Bridgestone and French company Michelin. In December 2005, the FIA announced that from the 2008 season, there would be only one tyre supplier. Five days later, Michelin announced it would quit Formula One at the end of the 2006 season as it did not want to be in Formula One as the sole tyre supplier, leaving Bridgestone as the sole supplier from 2007.

Renault and Fernando Alonso established early leads in both the Constructors’ and Drivers’ Championships. The Spanish World Champion achieved six wins (including four consecutive victories) in Bahrain, Australia, Spain, Monaco, Britain, and Canada. Teammate Giancarlo Fisichella won his third career race in Malaysia. Schumacher won the United States Grand Prix (his fourth consecutive victory at Indianapolis and fifth career victory there) and the French Grand Prix. He also won the German Grand Prix at Hockenheim, with Alonso finishing 5th.

Jenson Button achieved his first Formula One career victory in the Hungarian Grand Prix. Alonso had a mechanical failure whilst leading in the later stages of the race whilst Michael Schumacher retired after a collision with Nick Heidfeld. However Schumacher was promoted to 8th place in the standings (having been classified 9th following a retirement three laps from the end) because of Robert Kubica’s disqualification in his first race. The Polish driver had finished 7th in the BMW Sauber.

Felipe Massa won the next Grand Prix in Turkey, so for the second race in a row, Formula One had a debut winner. Fernando Alonso extended his lead over Michael Schumacher by two points after he managed to finish a tenth of a second ahead of the German in second place.

Schumacher managed to reduce Alonso’s lead to only two points after winning the Italian Grand Prix, while Alonso suffered an engine failure in the late stages of the race. Despite a fourth-place finish for Alonso’s teammate, Giancarlo Fisichella, and a flat-spotted tyre causing Felipe Massa to score no points, the race also saw Ferrari pull ahead of Renault for the first time in 2006. Polish driver Robert Kubica took his BMW Sauber to his first ever podium finish, in only his third race, but the race results were largely overshadowed by Schumacher announcing, during the post-race press conference, that he would retire at the end of the season. Afterwards he did say that he would hold a position in the Ferrari F1 team for 2007, though he did not disclose what.

Three weeks later, with his victory at Shanghai right ahead of Alonso, Schumacher drew level on points with him him at the head of the championship. Schumacher officially lead the World Championship for the first time in 2006 after the race, as he had won 7 races compared to Alonso’s 6. Massa did not finish the race, and Renault gained again the lead in the constructors’ championship thanks to Fisichella’s third place.

A week later at the Japanese Grand Prix, Felipe Massa took pole ahead of Michael Schumacher in second and Fernando Alonso in fifth. Schumacher quickly took the lead and set about gaining a five second lead, which continued until after the second round of pit stops. However, Schumacher’s engine failed with 17 laps to go, forcing him to retire and handing Alonso the win ahead of Massa.

At the final round, the Brazilian Grand Prix, Massa again took pole. Drama in qualifying saw Michael Schumacher have a fuel pressure problem[24], meaning that he started down in 10th, while Alonso began in 5th. In the race, Schumacher had yet more bad luck, suffering a puncture just a few laps in. He recovered to finish fourth, while teammate Massa became the first Brazilian to win his home Grand Prix since Ayrton Senna, in 1993, and Alonso finished second to secure his second successive championship, adding the record of the youngest man to secure back-to-back titles to his ever-increasing list of records. Fisichella finished 6th for Renault, meaning that the French outfit secured their second successive title.