Mercedes-Benz has inaugurated India's first 'Mercedes-Benz Studio' in Gurugram, Delhi NCR, establishing a new global brand experience format in the country. Located at DLF One Horizon Centre, the studio is designed to bring the luxury automaker closer to customers in key metropolitan areas through experimental and immersive interactions. The opening ceremony also featured the Indian debut of the CONCEPT AMG GT XX supercar and the launch of the Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 e-bike range, developed in partnership with EMotorad.

The studio offers more than a traditional showroom, housing a curated vehicle display alongside a design and material library, a Mercedes-Benz lifestyle collection and exclusive Mercedes-AMG X adidas merchandise. An exclusive Lavonne Café enhances the experience, serving 16 patisserie creations inspired by the brand's design language, featuring sculpted lines and a luxury palette of black, silver and gold. This innovative space allows visitors, from enthusiasts to families, to discover the brand at their own pace within a warm, modern luxury environment that embodies the 'Welcome Home' promise.

This Gurugram studio is part of a worldwide initiative that has established similar destinations in over 14 leading cities across four continents, following the first studio in Copenhagen. Each location is tailored to its city's character within a global framework, ensuring market-specific execution while maintaining brand consistency. The primary objectives include raising awareness among new audiences, deepening long-term customer relationships and reinforcing the brand's presence in India's premier metropolitan markets.

The studio concept is integral to the 'Welcome Home' narrative and coincides with Mercedes-Benz's 2026 celebration of ‘140 Years of Innovation’, commemorating Carl Benz's original patent. These physical destinations serve as convergence points for culture, innovation and urban life. At prime global locations, customers can engage with the latest products, exclusive events, and strategic partnerships, allowing genuine immersion in the Mercedes-Benz brand within their familiar urban environments.

The initiative strategically strengthens urban brand leadership by creating visible touchpoints where brand perception is formed. Visitors can book test drives prior to their visit through the Mercedes-Benz India website and purchase collection items and F1 merchandise at the studio. The collaboration with Lavonne Café results in precision-engineered patisserie, with each creation plated and finished to reflect the automotive brand's aesthetic, including metallic lacquers and signature colour tones.

The CONCEPT AMG GT XX, finished in sunset beam orange, showcases the brand's sensual purity design philosophy with a dynamic fastback silhouette and six circular deep red taillights. The AMG e-bike range, assembled in India by EMotorad, includes City, Track and Rallye editions, all featuring a 250W motor and 25 kmph assistance speed, requiring no registration or insurance in India. Pre-orders are open with deliveries starting mid-September 2026, supported by EMotorad's service network across 55 locations.

Santosh Iyer, Managing Director & CEO, Mercedes-Benz India, said, “Customer engagement with luxury has been evolving, as they desire specially curated spaces to enjoy spending time; experience the latest products, connect with the brand and immerse in an unmistakably familiar ‘Welcome Home’ feeling synonymous with Mercedes Benz. Mercedes Benz Studio presents this unhurried discovery, spending quality time, experiencing elevated culinary delight, making visitors feel welcome and interacting in novel, experimental ways. We are equally excited to showcase our alluring cars in the heart of the city, where customers can experience them in a relaxed and inspiring setting. We are confident ‘Mercedes-Benz Studio’ will create an immersive brand experience for customers as we plan to expand this concept to other metropolises gradually.

“The Studio opens with a distinct AMG flavour for enthusiasts. The CONCEPT AMG GT XX showcases Mercedes-AMG redefining standards of performance with groundbreaking technologies and innovations, underlining an entirely new dimension of a sustained electric future for customers. The launch of AMG F1 PETRONAS e-bikes in India is a natural extension of the AMG brand. These world-class F1 e-Bikes will enable more AMG enthusiasts to connect with the brand’s unique DNA of performance, design and craftsmanship.”

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Honda Cars India has partnered with CSB Bank to provide vehicle financing schemes for customers across India. The agreement enables buyers to access car loans with interest rate options on purchases of the Honda City, Honda Amaze, Honda Elevate and Honda ZR-V through participating Honda dealerships and CSB Bank branches.

The partnership encompasses financial products including loans for new vehicles, pre-owned car financing, refinancing options and future electric vehicle financing support, subject to lending criteria and customer eligibility. The initiative targets buyers in semi-urban and rural markets ahead of the festive season.

As per the agreement, CSB Bank has been empanelled as a preferred financing partner for Honda Cars India. The two organisations will execute joint promotional campaigns across dealership locations, bank branches, and digital platforms, overseen by a joint coordination team.

Kunal Behl, Vice President, Marketing & Sales, Honda Cars India, said, “With this partnership, we aim to make vehicle ownership more accessible and affordable for our customers right from day one. By combining Honda’s strong dealership network with CSB Bank’s convenient financing solutions, we can offer a simple, quick and hassle-free car-buying experience. This collaboration is an extension of our efforts to provide easy and accessible finance options while enhancing the overall purchase and ownership experience for our customers. We look forward to enabling more customers to bring home their dream Honda this festive season, while expanding access to finance across semi-urban and rural markets.”

Narendra Dixit, Head - Retail Banking, CSB Bank, said, “Finance plays a critical role in enabling customers to turn their aspiration of owning a vehicle into reality. As an important component of the automotive ecosystem, financing needs to be convenient, accessible and tailored to the diverse needs of customers. At CSB Bank, we see significant potential in building strong partnerships across the automotive value chain and leveraging our financing capabilities to make vehicle ownership more accessible. Our partnership with Honda Cars India is an important step in that direction, enabling us to bring our customer-centric financing solutions closer to customers across markets, including semi-urban and rural India.”

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Tata Motors, one of the leading passenger vehicle manufacturers, has launched the Aeris, a replacement for its Tigor sub-four-metre compact sedan, with introductory prices starting from INR 529,000 for petrol variants and INR 629,000 for CNG variants. The Aeris will be available in five trim levels comprising Smart, Pure, Pure+, Creative and Accomplished.

Tata Motors stated that the Aeris will be sold to retail consumers, while fleet operators will continue to receive the older Tigor model under the Xpres brand name.

The exterior of the Aeris maintains a notchback roofline, accompanied by a lower grille, LED headlamps with integrated daytime running lights, LED tail-lamps, wheel arch cladding, chrome door handles, a dual-tone roof and a shark fin antenna. The car is available in six paint options: Nitro Crimson, Dandeli Drizzle, Pure Grey, Daytona Grey, Dune Glow, and Pristine White.

The sedan retains a 1.2-litre, three-cylinder Revotron engine in petrol and CNG formats. In petrol specification, the engine generates 86 PS of power and 113 Nm of torque, mated to a five-speed manual or a five-speed automated manual transmission (AMT). The CNG variant produces 75.5 PS and 96.5 Nm of torque, offered with the same transmission options. The CNG configuration employs a twin-cylinder tank design to preserve 419 litres of boot space. The petrol tank capacity measures 35 litres, while the CNG system features a 70-litre water-capacity tank.

Cabin equipment includes ventilated front leatherette seats, a digital video recorder dashcam, a blind-view monitor, a dual smartphone deck with wireless charging, and an AMT rotary gear selector with paddle shifters. Infotainment is delivered through a 26.03 cm touchscreen paired with a 12.7 cm digital instrument display, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto compatibility, and a six-speaker audio setup. Additional interior features consist of automatic climate control, rear air-conditioning vents, and 65-watt USB Type-C charging ports.

The Aeris measures 3,995 mm in length, 1,684 mm in width, and 1,532 mm in height, with a 2,450 mm wheelbase. The chassis uses an independent MacPherson strut front suspension with coil springs and a semi-independent closed-profile twist beam with dual-path struts at the rear. Braking systems consist of front discs and rear drums, with wheel sizes ranging from 14-inch steel wheels on base models to 15-inch alloy wheels on higher trims.

Safety equipment fitted across all variants includes six airbags, an Electronic Stability Program suite, ABS, hill-hold assist, a 360-degree camera, a tyre pressure monitoring system and Isofix child-seat anchors. The CNG variants incorporate an electronic control unit, direct CNG ignition startup, leak detection sensors, and reinforced rear crash structures around the fuel cylinders.

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American electric vehicle and software company Lucid Group has announced French market pricing for its Gravity SUV and Air sedan models prior to their debut at the Paris Motor Show, scheduled for 12–18 October in Hall 7.1.

The company outlines four trim configurations for the Lucid Gravity SUV in France. The entry-level Gravity Touring features a 568 PS powertrain, an 89 kWh battery pack providing a WLTP range of up to 545 kilometres, and a starting price of EUR 95,900 including VAT.

The Gravity Touring Plus incorporates seven-seat capacity along with soft-close doors and acoustic glazing, priced from EUR 99,900 including VAT. The Gravity Grand Touring, priced from EUR 120,900 including VAT, utilises a 123 kWh battery pack and an 839 PS output, reaching 100 kmph in 3.6 seconds with a WLTP range of up to 739 kilometres.

The flagship Gravity Grand Touring Ultimate trim includes three-chamber air suspension, rear-wheel steering, a 22-speaker audio system, and driver assistance features, priced from EUR 148,900 including VAT.

The Lucid Air sedan range in France comprises four variants. The Air Pure model, priced from EUR 86,900 including VAT, uses an 88 kWh battery pack delivering up to 831 kilometres of WLTP range with energy consumption rated at 11.8 kWh per 100 km. The dual-motor all-wheel drive Air Touring offers up to 780 kilometres of range and starts at EUR 100,900 including VAT. The Air Grand Touring model provides a range of up to 960 kilometres, with pricing starting at EUR 131,900 including VAT. The range-topping Air Sapphire features a three-motor powertrain producing 1,251 PS, reaching 100 km/h in 2.0 seconds with a top speed of 330 kmph and a range of up to 694 kilometres, priced from EUR 252,900 including VAT.

Lawrence Hamilton, President of Europe, Lucid, said, "Lucid prioritises the customer journey as it enters the French market at the Paris Motor Show. French customers will be able to experience Lucid Gravity and Lucid Air firsthand and see how our technology delivers exceptional range, efficiency, performance and space."

Lucid plans to display the Gravity Grand Touring and Air Grand Touring models at the trade show, with ordering and availability details to be released separately. The company will conduct a press conference on 12 October with Lawrence Hamilton and Pierre Guignot, General Manager of the Emil Frey France Import Division, following a partnership agreement with Emil Frey France to manage import and operational activities across the country.

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Chinese automotive major Geely Auto has announced that its Monjaro EM-i plug-in hybrid SUV achieved a Guinness World Record for the fastest crossing of the Black and White Desert in the Sahara by a plug-in hybrid production SUV.

The announcement took place during the Monjaro EM-i Product Capability & Core Tech Deep Dive event following a continuous 188.6-kilometre drive from the volcanic terrain of the Black Desert to the chalk-white landscape of the White Desert in Egypt.

The crossing served as a testing platform across five evaluation areas – handling and stability, steep-slope ascents, cross-axle recovery, ride comfort over rough surfaces and acceleration at a low state of battery charge. The vehicle is constructed on Geely’s GEA Evo new-energy architecture and utilises the GEEA 3.0 electronic structure to coordinate power delivery across its drive systems.

The Monjaro EM-i features Geely’s e-AWD Intelligent Electric AWD System, which alters front-to-rear torque distribution between 100:0 and 50:50 ratios. The system functions alongside traction control algorithms to reduce wheel slip by up to 50 per cent on low-friction surfaces.

Suspended by a Continuous Damping Control system that adjusts up to 50 times per second with a 20-millisecond response time, the EM-i Super Hybrid powertrain combines a 1.5-litre turbocharged engine with electric drive units to output 250 kW of power and 667 Nm of torque, achieving a claimed zero to 100 kmph acceleration time of 5.83 seconds. Thermal management systems regulated component temperatures across the engine, battery and power electronics during the desert run.

The Sahara driving programme was attended by media representatives and automotive commentators from Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Kazakhstan, Mexico and Peru. Geely Auto reported export sales of 110,094 vehicles in August, marking a 205 percent increase compared to the same month in the prior year. The company plans to present the Monjaro EM-i at the Paris Motor Show in October as part of its ongoing international product rollout.

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