MARUTI CHALLENGE?

The Aston Martin Vulcan is a car model launched in 2015 by Aston Martin at the 2015 Geneva Motor Show. It is a rear-wheel drive, track-only sports car that runs on a new 7L V12 engine mounted on an aluminium alloy chassis and carbon fibre body delivering 800 brake horsepower (600 kW). The Vulcan is fitted with carbon ceramic brakes, magnesium torque tube with a carbon fibre propeller shaft, limited-slip differential, Xtrac 6-speed sequential gearbox and has a kerb weight of 1350 kg. The Vulcan is designed by Aston Martin's creative officer Marek Reichman, taking inspira- tions from Aston Martin current models Vantage and DB9. The Vulcan is to be a limited edition vehicle; only 24 cars will be made priced at $2.3 million each.

POWERTRAIN

Engine 7.0 L V12 engine 800 brake horsepower (600 kW)

TRANSMISSION

6-speed sequential

DIMENSIONS

Kerb weight 1,350 kg (2,976 lb) Hyundai started India production nearly two decades ago and has two factories in India that make cars for the domestic market and for export to Europe and elsewhere.

The firm trails only Maruti Suzuki India Ltd in sales in India, and has an extensive service and dealer network that gives it an advantage over global rivals that have struggled to build market share including General Motors, Toyota Motor Corp and Volkswagen.

Kia's South Korea factories accounted for 57% of its sales last year. It also has plants in China, the United States and Slovakia, and its first Mexico factory began production earlier this year.

For the time being most cars sold in India are small. Hyundai sells several lowpriced vehicles in the country, which could present a challenge in terms of market positioning for Kia, which would not want to cannibalise Hyundai sales.

Hyundai shares parts and vehicle underpinnings with Kia, which Hyundai bought at the height of the Asian financial crisis in 1998. Differentiating their brands has been a challenge, as they compete in similar segments and markets. REUTERS

The size of Kia’s investment has yet to be decided, one of the people said, declining to identify which models will be produced at the factory. Kia is best known as a maker of relatively inexpensive cars, like the Rio sub-compact.