AutoCamry for the people

PITSTOP

The Toyota Camry, once the quickest car in the country until the Octavia RS came along, is now an automatic choice. No, that doesn't mean you have to buy one, it's just that if you want to, there's an automatic transmission on offer.

Toyota Kirloskar have just unveiled the Camry with a four-speed Super ECT (Electronically Controlled Transmission). Already a player in the premium D-segment of the market, one in which demand for automatics is steadily growing, Toyota hope to make a further impression with its new model.

The company claims that the ECT will ensure a 'highly efficient gear train' and that it is designed to 'make driving more responsive and deliver seamless power'. Apart from the automatic transmission, the new model has a host of other new features.

Cruise control is now available, which should be a boon on those long highway sojourns. There is a new grille with horizontal slats and a redesigned headlamp console, with clear lenses for better illumination.

Fog lamps are also standard. Inside, a new 10-way power seat system should ensure optimum seating comfort. You also get knick-knacks such as a luggage-holding net, a rear AC duct and a foot-operated parking brake (so much for handbrake turns, though).

Safety has also been taken care of, with curtain airbags now fitted. Two new colours make an entry "� Dark Mica Red Metallic and Grayish Green Mica Metallic. The new entrant retails in Mumbai for Rs 18,57,110 "� Rs one lakh over the manual version.

The Camry has always been agreat car, now it's become all the more desirable.

Dune it Scorpio style

The Scorpio is going places. Mahindra & Mahindra have launched the Scorpio in the UAE, after successful launches in Kuwait, Qatar, Uruguay and South Africa, where the value-for-money SUV has become quite popular.

The Middle East is a major market for SUVs, so Mahindra will have their job cut out for them. Their partner in this venture will be Galadari Automobiles, which has an extensive reach in the UAE with regard to sales and after-sales service.

Rather obviously, in the fuel-rich Gulf, the Renault-engined petrol version will be launched first. The diesel-engined variant will follow later.