Venturi

Venturi  /  Venturi

A French company building exotic cars in Monaco and Columbus, Ohio (wait, where and where?), Venturi is developing the “America” — a jacked-up, two-seat electric dune buggy. The thinking, apparently, is that Americans will buy anything with generous ground clearance, hence the high-riding America roadster. With 300 hp and a whopping 54 kilowatt-hour battery pack (that’s more than twice the capacity of the Chevy Volt’s battery), the America seems likely to achieve its promised driving range of nearly 190 miles.

SABA Motors

Saba  /  Saba

SABA Motors promises to soon deliver a Tesla-like, two-seat electric roadster that accelerates to 60 mph in five seconds and reaches a top speed of 105 mph with a driving range of between 120 and 140 miles per charge. But Tesla already sells similar cars and SABA doesn’t even list a price. Even so, SABA is aggressively seeking investors.

GEM

GEM

Global Electric Motorcars, or GEM, is a small car company, but it’s owned by a much larger one called Chrysler. Now that might not exactly be a financial Rock of Gibraltar, but it’s significantly more substantive than some of the wing-and-a-prayer companies emerging in the electric car segment. GEM builds neighborhood electric vehicles — that is, glorified golf carts that you can legally drive on many urban and suburban streets with low speed limits. These simplified machines provide an affordable route to electric car ownership and are ideal for fleets (and for golf communities).

BYD

BYD (now said to stand for “Build Your Dreams”) started life as a contract manufacturer called Build Your Design, and it leads the Chinese charge into the U.S. market. As with other Chinese carmakers, BYD is finding that selling cars in the U.S. is tougher than one might guess based on the runaway success of import brands here. While the company’s products and activities in the U.S. may look inept so far, when a company has the backing of the Chinese government export machine we can expect that they aren’t going away until every Wal-Mart is stacked floor to ceiling with BYDs.

Tango Commuter Cars

Tango

If a Smart car fell into the Death Star’s trash compactor like Luke and the gang did in "Star Wars," it might well pop out looking like the skinny Tango T600. Interested DIY types can buy a kit to build one, while those more interested in driving than building can put their names on a waiting list for a fully-assembled version. No price is yet available, but the company does list a like-new used car on its website with an asking price of $150,000.

Fisker Automotive

Damian Dovarganes  /  AP

Befitting its sublimely sophisticated founder Henrik Fisker, Fisker Automotive is blessedly short on bluster and credibility-eroding unfounded claims (in contrast to some other notable electric car start-ups). Instead, the company is quietly building substance to match the slinky looks of its Karma extended-range electric prestige car. The company says it has 3,000 “pre-orders” for its cars and plans to sell them through a network of 42 dealers nationwide.

Coda Automotive

With a contract to provide electric cars to Hertz, Coda looks to be solidifying its footing as a player in the electric car business. The company plans to kick off retail sales of its new electric car in California in 2011 and will roll out sales to the rest of the country soon after. The California-based company does final assembly in the Golden State using sub-assemblies imported from China. The company’s challenge will be to interest U.S. customers in buying its unremarkably generic compact sedan for $37,400 when they can now just as easily buy one from a mainstream automaker.

Think

Think  /  Think

Think isn’t really a new company, but it’s new to most consumers because Ford never consummated its plan to sell Think City cars in the U.S. Now the Norwegian company has set up final assembly in Elkhart, Ind., using lithium-ion batteries from Indianapolis and has contracts to sell its cars to government fleets, which should provide reliable income. More importantly, Think is already delivering its diminutive four-seaters to fleet customers. Hopefully a retail price and deliveries will follow.

Tesla Motors

Tesla  /  Tesla

With the arrival of financial angel Toyota, Tesla’s immediate future is solidified as the company moves from its racy Lotus-derived Roadster to developing its $56,500 Model S luxury sedan. This baby will rocket from 0 to 60 in 5.6 seconds and top out at 120 mph when Tesla gets it into production. Doubt about that eventuality should be eased by the $30 million investment in Tesla by Panasonic and Tesla’s deal to electrify RAV4 SUVs for Toyota, giving the startup company some stability as its gears up for production of the Model S.

Wheego Electric Cars

Wheego  /  Wheego

Despite an Atlanta headquarters, Wheego thinks that air conditioning should be an option (and not a standard feature) in its Smart car lookalike electric car (and the company wants you to pay $1,995 for it!). The LiFe two-seater’s base price is $32,995, and like most current electric models it’s approximate driving range is 100 miles. Its small size, 65 mph top speed and relatively high price compared to similar cars from established brands could make LiFe tough for Wheego. The company promises to start delivering cars at the beginning of 2011.

Toyatto takes fun to masses with 200hp Scion FR-S

OYAMA, Japan -- Toyota President Akio Toyoda unveiled his company's new 200-horsepower rear-wheel-drive sporty car before thousands of fans at a Formula One race track today in his bid to spice up a brand better known for bland but utilitarian offerings such as the Corolla and Camry.

The car, to be called the Toyota 86 in Japan and sold as the Scion FR-S in the United States, has been in the works for five years and received close scrutiny from Toyoda, who is banking on the car as an affordable halo model to burnish the company's performance credentials.

The 86 hits a top speed of 142 mph and can do 0-62 in six seconds. But raw speed is not the goal, says chief engineer Tetsuya Tada. The model's true mission is multifold:

• Achieve a low price point that can lure recent college graduates.

• Strive for fun-to-drive handling with a low center of gravity.

• Strip out fancy electronic control systems and turbochargers.

• Deliver a ride that can be easily customized and tuned by car buffs.

Toyota hasn't disclosed a price or gas-mileage estimates. But the company has said it is targeting a sticker around 2 million yen ($26,000). Tada said the goal is to price the car in a range that would be affordable to recent college graduates.

Going low-tech

"A lot of cars these days are controlled by computer chips, and that leads to a sense of the car driving you, instead of you driving the car," Tada said after the 86's introduction today at the Toyota-owned Fuji Speedway outside Tokyo near the base of snow-capped Mount Fuji.

"We decided to use as few computer controls as possible. We wanted to go back to basics."

The 86 was jointly developed with Subaru, which debuts its version -- the BRZ -- at this week's Tokyo Motor Show. Toyota did the styling, while Subaru provided the four-cylinder horizontally opposed boxer engine. Subaru will build both versions at its factory in Gumma, Japan.

Toyoda -- clad in a red-and-black racing suit -- introduced the car himself by flooring a bright vermillion 86 down the straightaway at the Fuji Speedway, where some 20,000 car buffs gathered to witness the debut and participate in the annual Toyota Gazoo Racing Festival.

The car's name in Japan -- 86 -- is a nod to the popular AE86 line of Corolla-based sports cars that Toyota rolled out in the 1980s. Toyota evoked its sporty roots at the tuner festival with a parade of vintage sports cars that included Toyota fan club members driving their original 86s, 2000 GTs, Sport 800s from the 1960s and a sampling of souped up Supras.

The 86 first appeared as a candy-apple red FT-86 concept at the 2009 Tokyo Motor Show. In Japan, the production version drops the "FT," nomenclature for concepts that means "Future Toyota." In Europe, the car will be sold as the Toyota GT 86.

No design by committee Tada admits the car won't satisfy everyone, and he's fine with that. Toyota broke with a long tradition of designing by committee to deliver a car rendered by sports car enthusiasts assembled from within the company, he said. They focused on driving feel, not on numbers. "When you show a sports car to the board of directors, the first thing they ask is how fast it is, what is the lap time, how does its speed compare with rivals. Marketing initially opposed the concept, saying it's not fast enough and didn't have enough new technology," Tada said. "But what is unique about this car is that we didn't target numerical performance goals. We ignored the traditional Toyota development pattern," Tada said. "And the only reason we could do that is because there is a man on the board of directors named Akio Toyoda." Toyoda, a racing fanatic, was especially hands on in flavoring the 86 -- checking in monthly on the car's development. He often test drove the 86 and gave orders on what to fix. The new Toyota 86 gets a 2.0-liter four cylinder, DOHC boxer engine from Subaru equipped with Toyota's D-4S fuel injection system. It comes mated to either a six-speed manual or six-speed automatic transmission, while delivering 200 horsepower and topping out at 7,000 RPM. The fuel injection system has twin injectors for both direct and port injection. The car enters production next spring, and goes on sale next year in the United States. Nimble, customizable During a test drive for journalists on Fuji's short circuit, the 86 demonstrated lively pick-up, good balance and nimble handling -- all with the distinctive growling rumble of Subaru's boxer power plant. More-punishing journalists had a field day screeching and drifting through the turns. Handling is improved by the boxer engine's low center of gravity. The interior styling reflects what Tada calls "neo functionalism." It is a no-frills, utilitarian look focusing on old-school dials and switches -- with the meter cluster built around the tachometer. Some paneling is simply shiny black plastic, while other trim gets a faux carbon fiber texture. The deep bucket seats have sporty red stitching with ample side bolstering. The steering wheel is the smallest in the Toyota lineup with a diameter of 365 millimeters (14 inches). Toyota says this provides optimal steering performance and grip. The 86 seats four with very cramped rear leg room. But the back seats fold down to provide space for luggage or -- as Toyota pitches it -- racing tires and tool kits. Toyota envisions the car as being popular with the tuner crowd and aims to promote that use by making the car easily upgradeable with a plethora of accessories and add-ons.

Bollywood Movies list of 2012

Date		Movie	Genre	Director	Cast
	UN SCHEDULED	Players	Action/Thriller	Abbas-Mustan	Abhishek Bachchan,Bobby Deol,Bipasha Basu,Neil Nitin Mukesh,Sonam Kapoor,Omi Vaidya,Aftab Shivdasani,Johny Lever
		It's My Life	Romantic Comedy	Anees Bazmee	Harman Baweja,Genelia,Sanjay Kapoor,Asrani,Amar Upadhyay,Raj Zutshi,Sherlyn Chopra,Juhi Babbar
		Run Bhola Run	Comedy	Neeraj Vora	Govinda, Tusshar Kapoor, Ameesha Patel, Celina Jaitley
		Shanghai	Political Thriller	Dibakar Banerjee	Emraan Hashmi, Abhay Deol, Kalki Koechlin,Prosenjit Chatterjee,Pitobash
		Tezz	Action/Thriller	Priyadarshan	Ajay Devgn, Anil Kapoor, Mohanlal, Kangna Ranaut
		Agneepath	Action/Thriller	Karan Malhotra	Hrithik Roshan, Priyanka Chopra, Sanjay Dutt, Rishi Kapoor
		Kahani	Drama	Sujoy Ghosh	Vidya Balan
		Barfee	Romantic Comedy	Anurag Basu	Ranbir Kapoor,Priyanka Chopra,Ileana D'Cruz
		I Love New Year	Comedy	Radhika Rao	Sunny Deol,Kangana Ranaut,Tannishtha Chatterjee
		Ek Deewana Tha	Romantic Drama	Gautham Menon	Prateik Babbar, Amy Jackson, Omi Vaidya
		Shortcut Romeo	Romantic/Thriller	Susi Ganeshan	Neil Nitin Mukesh, Ameesha Patel, Richa Gangopadhyay
		Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu	Romantic Comedy	Shakun Batra	Imran Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Randhir Kapoor,Boman Irani, Ram Kapoor, Ratna Pathak Shah
		Tere Naal Love Ho Gaya	love-triangle	Mandeep Kumar	Riteish Deshmukh, Genelia D'Souza, Abhishek Bachchan, Om Puri, Smita Jaykar
		London, Paris, New York	Romance	Anu Menon	Ali Zafar, Aditi Rao Hydari
		Banda Yeh Bindaas Hai	Comedy	Ravi Chopra	Salman Khan, Govinda, Lara Dutta, Aashish Chaudhary, Tabu
		Jal		Girish Malik	Purab Kohli, Tannishtha Chatterjee, Yashpal Sharma
		Paan Singh Tomar	Crime	Tigmanshu Dhulia	Irrfan Khan, Mahie Gill
		Blood Money	Thriller	Vishal Mahadkar	Kunal Khemu,Amrita Puri
		Student of the Year	Comedy	Karan Johar	Alia Bhatt,Siddharth Malhotra,Varun Dhawan,Shahrukh Khan,Kajol
		Ghayal Returns	Action	Ashwini Chaudhary	Sunny Deol,Vidya Balan
		Housefull 2	Comedy	Sajid Khan	Akshay Kumar, Asin Thottumkal, John Abraham,Jacqueline Fernandez, Ritesh Deshmukh, Zarine Khan, Shazahn Padamsee
		Agent Vinod	Action/Thriller	Sriram Raghavan	Saif Ali Khan,Kareena Kapoor
		Kyaa Super Kool Hai Hum	Comedy	Sachin Yardi	Ritesh Deshmukh,Tusshar Kapoor,Bipasha Basu,Neha Sharma,Sarah Jane Dias,Chunky Pandey
		Ferrari Ki Sawaari	Sports	Rajesh Mapuskar	Sharman Joshi, Deepika Padukone , Boman Irani
		Jannat 2	Crime/Action	Kunal Deshmukh	Emraan Hashmi, Randeep Hooda, Imran Zahid,Esha Gupta
		Rock The Shaadi	Comedy	Navdeep Singh	Abhay Deol,Genelia D'Souza
		Ishaqzaade	Romance	Habib Faisal	Arjun Kapoor, Parineeti Chopra
		Aiyaa	Romantic	Sachin Kundalkar	Prithviraj Sukumaran, Rani Mukerji
		Teri Meri Kahaani	Romantic	Kunal Kohli	Shahid Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra, Prachi Desai,Neha Sharma
		Reema Kagti's Untitled Project	Psychological/Thriller	Reema Kagti	Aamir Khan, Rani Mukerji, Kareena Kapoor
		Pasand Apni Apni	Comedy	Rajkumar Santoshi	Ranbir Kapoor,Imran Khan,Neha Dhupia
		Rowdy Rathore	Action	Prabhu Deva	Akshay Kumar, Sonakshi Sinha
		S.O.S.-Son Of Sardar	Romantic Comedy	Ashwani Dheer	Ajay Devgn,Sonakshi Sinha
		Zilla Ghaziabad	Action/Crime/Gang	Anand Kumar	Vivek Oberoi, Sanjay Dutt, Arshad Warsi, Minissha Lamba, Paresh Rawal
		Bol Bachchan	Action/Comedy	Rohit Shetty	Ajay Devgan, Asin Thottumkal, Abhishek Bachchan,Prachi Desai
		Heroine	Drama	Madhur Bhandarkar	Kareena Kapoor, Arjun Rampal, Arunoday Singh,Shahana Goswami
		Taalismaan	fantasy Adventure	Ram Madhwani	Amitabh Bachchan
		Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai 2	Action/Romance,Thriller, Crime	Milan Luthria	Akshay Kumar, Shahid Kapoor, Kareena Kapoor,Ileana D'Cruz
		Ek Tha Tiger	Romantic/Thriller	Kabir Khan	Salman Khan, Katrina Kaif
		Joker	fantasy Adventure	Shirish Kunder	Akshay Kumar,Sonakshi Sinha,Shreyas Talpade,Minissha Lamba,Pitobash
		Raaz 3D	Thriller/Suspense	Vikram Bhatt	Emraan Hashmi, Bipasha Basu, Jacqueline Fernandez
		Dangerous Ishq	Thriller	Vikram Bhatt	Karisma Kapoor, Rajneesh Duggal
		Cocktail	Romantic Comedy	Imtiaz Ali	Saif Ali Khan,Deepika Padukone
		Yeh Jawani Hai Deewani	Romance	Ayan Mukerji	Ranbir Kapoor, Deepika Padukone
		Race 2	Action/Thriller	Abbas-Mustan	Saif Ali Khan, Anil Kapoor, John Abraham, Deepika Padukone, Ameesha Patel, Sonakshi Sinha
		Ladies and Gentlemen	Romantic Comedy	Rajkumar Santoshi	Aishwarya Rai Bachchan,Abhishek Bachchan
		Khiladi 786	Action/Comedy	Ashish R Mohan	Akshay Kumar, Himesh Reshammiya, Paresh Rawal, Ileana D'Cruz
		Bhaag Milkha Bhaag	Drama	Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra	Farhan Akhtar, Sonam Kapoor
		Koochie Koochie Hota Hai	Computer-Animated	Tarun Mansukhani	Shahrukh Khan,Kajol,Rani Mukerji,Sanjay Dutt
		Sher Khan	Action/Adventure	Sohail Khan	Salman Khan, Angela Jonsson
		Dabangg 2	Action/Thriller	Arbaaz Khan	Salman Khan, Sonakshi Sinha, Sonu Sood
		Life of Pi	fantasy Adventure	Ang Lee	Tabu, Irrfan Khan, Suraj Sharma
		Krrish 2	Science Fiction	Rakesh Roshan	Hrithik Roshan,Priyanka Chopra,Vivek Oberoi
		Gali Gali Mein Chor Hai	Comedy	Rumi Jaffrey	Akshaye Khanna,Shriya Saran,Mugdha Godse