General Motors draws on global designers for the new Chevrolet Corvette

For the first time, General Motors studios across the world have submitted design studies for the next-generation Chevrolet Corvette.

Late last year, Ed Welburn, GM's vice president of global design, invited GM's 10 styling studios to submit design proposals.

Some "were absolutely phenomenal," Welburn said. "There is a lot to pick from. The direction that we take is very important, and the decision has not been made."

Global input on the Corvette's design is one of several steps GM is taking to attract buyers in Europe, where the car has little appeal, and young U.S. buyers who favor imports.

"We have challenges in the States with the Corvette," Welburn said in an interview at the Geneva auto show. "The average age of the customer is really rising."

The current average age of a Corvette buyer is 54, according to the Power Information Network, a unit of J.D. Power and Associates.

Corvette sales are in a tailspin. Last year 13,934 were sold in the United States, down 48 percent from 2008.

The current Corvette debuted in the 2005 model year. Prices range from $49,880 for the base coupe to $107,830 for the ZR-1. Both prices include shipping.

A redesign is due in two to three years, industry sources say.

Corvette critics often cite the sports car's size, saying it looks big. They also point to what they say is a cheap-looking interior.

Welburn admitted the interior has a problem: "The execution, materials selection--it's got to be a much better interior. Our customers desire that."

Welburn said today's Corvette is about the same size as the Porsche 911, but the styling makes it look bigger. "We have to develop a design that feels trimmer, meaner, to go along with the incredible performance that the car has," he said.

In addition to styling, content, pricing and marketing strategy are under discussion, he said.

"It is a key time in the development of the Corvette," Welburn said. "There is a lot of debate and a lot of study on the bandwidth of Corvette."

But, he added, "It can't mutate into something that gets so far away from Corvette that it is no longer a Corvette."

Maruti Cervo Priced Between Rs. 1.5 Lakh to 2 Lakh

Maruti 800 will soon be replaced with its revamped version - Maruti Cervo. Maruti Cervo will be viable for sale in India, after April 2010, when the new emission norms come into force. Maruti claims that the new car would give stiff competition to all the other existing and upcoming small car models in India.

The all new Maruti Cervo will have a 660 cc engine, embedded with 54 bhp, power. Maruti Cervo will be launched as a 5-door car model and it will be the cheapest offering from Maruti Suzuki. Maruti Cervo also features 4 speed auto gearbox, a K6A DOHC engine with VVT and Bluetooth capability. The interiors will resemble that of Maruti Swift with enough head space, leg room and comfy boot space. Maruti Cervo is likely to hit the Indian market in the second quarter of the year. And Maruti car lovers will have to wait while the company plans to release final pictures of the car and its interiors.

Priced at Rs. 1.5 lakh to Rs. 2 lakh, the all new Maruti Cervo is set to hit Indian roads and create ripples in the small car industry. It is slated to be the perfect challenger to Tata Nano; currently the cheapest car in the world.

Russia unveils 20-billion-dollar plan to save car industry

The government unveiled a plan to invest almost 20 billion dollars over the next decade to transform the embattled Russian car industry into a major global player.

Some 584 billion rubles (19.6 billion dollars) of state funds will be invested in the car industry to 2020, Industry Minister Viktor Khristenko said after a cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.

"Our end goal is to have in this country a modern auto industry which includes the whole supply chain up to the end product," Putin said, according to a transcript of his remarks on the Russian government's website.

"We need to work hard to make the national auto industry more competitive," he added.

Russia's auto market, before the global financial crisis considered to have the best growth prospects in Europe, shrunk 49 percent in 2009. It has begun to stabilise but in January, it was still down 37 percent compared with a year earlier.

Worst hit by the crisis has been Russia's biggest carmaker Avtovaz, builder of the Lada car and employer of more than 100,000 people, which officials admit has been pushed to the brink of bankruptcy by the crisis.

Putin praised Russia's success in attracting virtually all the world's top auto manufacturers to invest in the country and manufacture their brands at Russian plants.

Including investment by foreign auto companies, the government expects a total of up to 1.2 trillion rubles (40 billion dollars) to be invested in the auto industry by 2020, Khristenko said.