The new UK-built John Cooper Works Convertible will take centre stage on the Mini stand at the Geneva motorshow in February. Priced at a hefty £23,470 and on sale at the end of March, the convertible features the same chassis and powertrain tweaks as the JCW tintop.
That’s an awful lot of money for a Mini. What do I get for my life savings?
You’re right – that kind of money can get you into some pretty amazing metal these days, as you’ll see in the latest issue of CAR. What your money does buy is some pretty decent performance figures. The breathed on 1.6-litre blown engine stumps up 208bhp at 6000rpm and a chunky 206lb ft of torque at a low 1800rpm, enough to slingshot the car to 60mph in 6.9seconds and onto a top speed of 146mph, while returning 39.5mpg and 169g/km (JCW hatch 6.5seconds, 148mph, 40.9mpg, 165g/km).
So it’s brisk - anything else?
The six-speed transmission has been beefed up, as have the disc brakes and you get an entire alphabet of electronic trickery to prevent you torque steering into the scenery – you get EBD Electronic Brake Force Distribution, CBC Cornering Brake Control, EDLC Electronic Differential Lock Control, DSC Dynamic Stability Control (with Hill Assist) and DTC Dynamic Traction Control. There’s also a Sport button, unique to the JCW cars, that brings in the turbo boost lower down the rev range, reduces steering assistance and sharpens throttle response, and a bespoke steering wheel and instrumentation. And don’t forget that body kit and a whole stack of JCW badging…
Yes, there’s no mistaking it for anything other than the JCW model, is there?
Indeed. As well as the logo on the boot, grille, brakes and door sills, your nifty new ragtop comes with bespoke 17” alloy and the JCW aero kit. It’s not subtle, and it’s pretty expensive – in these cash-strapped times we reckon it’s the ultimate test of brand loyalty
Comet bright enough to observe with binoculars and possibly the naked eye
During the next few weeks, a fine comet bright enough for observation in binoculars and possibly even with the naked eye will provide a fine skywatching target when weather permits.
Comet Lulin will be closest to Earth on Feb. 24 and prime viewing will occur than and on surrounding nights. For sharp-eye viewers with dark, rural, skies, the comet is expected to be visible as a dim, fuzzy star.
People living in cities and suburbs are not expected to see the comet with the naked eye, but binoculars and telescopes will reveal its cloudy head and perhaps a striking tail, too. Comets are unpredictable, however, so it's impossible to say how bright this one might become.
HTC has just updated their old HTC Touch Cruise devised released last year with a new mobile device which shall have the same name with an additional new feature called Footprints. The HTC Touch Cruise with Footprints features a new and more compact design, the same GPS feature, and other mobile functionality that makes the phone worth of using the same HTC Touch Cruise name. But what makes this new HTC Touch Cruis different from its predecessor is a new feature called Footprints which can be used for capturing special moments in a digital postcard using the phone.
The HTC Footprints is an application that allows users to add notes and audio clip about that special moments, whether remembering the name of the place where the event took place, complete with geo-tagging using the phone’s GPS feature or simply adding important people in the photo. Geo-tagging the photos they took using the HTC Touch Cruise would enable users to flip through them to retrace their, well footprints. And this footprint feature works whether users are indoors or outdoors.
The HTC Touch Cruis also functions as an advanced in-car navigation system. Users just need to place the phone in a car cradle and the phone will become a GPS-like navigation device complete with turn-by-turn directions and a sleek touch-screen interface.
Other features of the HTC Touch Cruise Footprints will give us a 2.8-inch QVGA display, WCDMA/HSPA/900/2100MHz/HSDPA 7.2Mbps connectivity, Windows Mobile 6.1 OS, HTC TouchFLO 4-way navigation wheel, a 3.2MP camera with fixed focus, 512MB internal memory, microSD memory card support, Bluetooth, WiFi, and GPS.
The HTC Touch Cruise Footprints is slated for a Spring 2009 release.
What would you get if three major players in the mobile phone industry team up together? Well, a thin flip phone called the Motorola Stature i9. And those three players happen to be Motorola, Sprint and Boost Mobile. Motorola is releasing the Stature i9 phone first to Boost Mobile, followed by Sprint Mobile shortly thereafter. So, what do you get from the Motorola Stature i9? Tons of features as follows:
Like we said, the Motorol Stature i9 is thin and slim, measuring 15mm and features touch-sensitive exterior flip. It has a 3.1 megapixel camera with flash and auto-focus, easy to use external keys that provides quick access to mobile content including access key to the phone’s music player and integrated GPS2. Speaking of music, the Stature i9 provides support for an optional removal memory to house your music files and phots. What’s exciting about this exterior keys is the ModeShift technology which illuminates the phone based on what application you are using. The Motorola Stature i9 also features haptic feedback and hands-free reliability using stereo Bluetooth wireless technology.
Now for our usual technical specifications rundown, the Motorola Stature i9 features:
2.13″ x 4.10″ x .60″ dimensions
2.2-inch internal TFT display
2-inch internal TFT display
OpenWave 7.2 Internet browser
175 minutes talk time
iDEN 800/900 MHz for Nextel Direct Network
The Motorola Stature i9 retails for $199.99 with a two-year service contract from Sprint Nextel, and $299.99 through Boost Mobile.
Renault has just issued these first photos of the new-for-2009 facelifted Clio supermini. It's three years since the French car was launched, so Renault's given it a thorough mid-life makeover to bring the Clio in line with the latest looks from big bruv, the Megane range.
That means a prominent new front bumper/spoiler arrangement, with reshaped headlamps and a very slimline, pencil-thin grille just below the diamond badge. Most of the air intake now sits below the reg plate. The rear is less different, but most noticeable are the repositioned, triangular foglamps in the corners of the rear valance.
The Clio GT (pictured) is a new warm hatch version that will fit in between the Clio Dynamique and Renaultsport. Although we won't know more engine details until the Geneva motor show on 3 March 2009, we do know that it shares the 197-inspired twin exhaust pipes (though not centre-exit), drilled aluminium pedal caps and a lip spoiler.
Renault Clio facelift: what else is new?
Details are pretty sketchy as Renault is storing up most of the Clio story for the Swiss car show. However, it is promising a range of upgraded engines which will major on eco credentials and a generous spec when UK sales start in May 2009.
Renault has also teamed up with TomTom to provide what it calls a budget sat-nav system that costs less than £500. Although integrated into the Clio's dash, users will be able to update the Carminat system via the interweb.
Sounds like Renault's fighting back to reclaim options spend from the legions of buyers who've turned their backs on manufacturer-spec, pricey sat-navs
Ever been pootling around the Nürburgring in your Zonda and found it was a mite lacking in grunt? Of course you have. So you - and a couple of other like-minded Zonda owners no doubt – get on the blower to Horacio Pagani and ask him to see if he can spice things up a touch. As you do. The quite splendid result is this, the Zonda R, easily the most extreme road/track car to make it into production.
Spill the technical beans then…
The central monocoque is fashioned from an ultra-light and stiff carbon-titanium composite and powered by a mind-mounted Mercedes-Benz AMG V12 racing engine. The 6.0-litre powerplant is dry-sumped and delivers 739bhp at 7500rpm and 524lb ft at 5700rpm. The handcrafted unit is bolted directly to the chassis to enhance torsional rigidity. It powers the rear wheels through a magnesium-cased XTRAC 6-speed sequential paddleshift-actuated transmission that can swap cogs in just 20milliseconds. A self-locking rear differential ensures all that muscle is handled as effectively as possible – that and a 12-stage Bosch motorsport traction control system.
There’s more?
Much more – unusually, the throttle bodies are mechanically operated, the beautifully intricate hydroformed exhaust system is coated in ceramic, the entire body is fashioned from carbonfibre, while every screw, nut and bolt is made from titanium. The cabin is a small work of art in its own right. As well as being beautifully built, the two-seat cabin is functional too – those Toora seats are FIA homologated and comply with latest HANS standards, and the five-point safety belts and CrMo roll-cage are fitted as standard.
How heavy is the R?
The whole thing weighs just 1070kg – just a little more than our long-term Renaultsport Twingo – for an eyeball-flattening power-to-weight ratio of 690bhp per tonne. And because it’s aimed at track performance, the double wishbone suspension and aero package is fully adjustable and the brakes are vast – 380mm carbon-ceramic Brembo discs at each corner with six-pot callipers up front and four-pot units at the rear.
Let’s talk performance.
Well, it’s shattering, no matter which way you look at it. Pagani claims the R will hit 60mph in 2.7seconds and it has a top speed in excess of 215mph depending on the aero setup, which can be tuned to generate 1500kg of downforce. Impressive on-paper figures, but given our past experience of Pagani’s – they are some of the most dynamically brilliant cars we’ve ever driven – we expect the F to be absolutely mind-blowing on the track. The only thing holding us back is the price – we’ve done a quick whip round the office but we’re a few pennies short of the £1.27million asking price… here’s hoping Snr Pagani will do a journalist discount.
Cartridge Revolution
The cartridge refilling and remanufacturing industry is set for a revolution with the entry of global players, investment by Indian players in quality manufacturing, and increasing customer awareness.
Six months ago, Venkatesh Srinivasan quit his plum post as vice-president at HDFC Bank to become a franchisee for the world’s leading cartridge refilling and remanufacturing (CRR) retail chain, Cartridge World (CW).
Explaining the reason behind choosing the slightly odd business, Srinivasan says, “I always wanted to be an entrepreneur. So when my brother returned from the States and told me he wanted to launch a business, I joined in. We spent a good one year researching various unique business opportunities, and after much ground work I zeroed in on CRR. The penetration of CRR in India is so low as compared to the global average, and the price differential so wide between OEM and non-OEM supplies, that we saw a huge
opportunity.”
Srinivasan has been proved right in his instincts. Within six months of launching the store in Mumbai, his business is now close to achieving operational break-even. “Next month we should break-even operationally. Our business is growing at 20 percent month-on-month, and at this rate we will hit a monthly turnover of Rs 10-12 lakh with a 25 percent net margin,” he discloses.
Srinivasan is not alone in his optimism about the potential of the CRR business. His peer in Kolkata, Amit Mehta, is so bullish about the business that within a span of 10 months he has opened two stores—the first one in January 2007 and the second in July. Plans are afoot to open two new stores within next six months. Mehta, who was engaged in his family business of tobacco export prior to taking the CW franchise says, “Quite honestly, I am surprised by the opportunities in this business. I didn’t expect to start the second store so soon but the word of mouth is so strong that we had customers coming from far-off areas to refill cartridges. Hence we decided to take the store close to the customer. Customer response also suggests that they are looking at a cost-effective and quality alternative to exorbitantly priced OEM supplies.”
Riding on this new breed of entrepreneurs like Srinivasan and Mehta, the $350 million Cartridge World is planning an aggressive expansion in India. The company intends to have 50 stores by the end of March 2008 and 250 by 2010. CW is one the fastest-growing retail franchises in the world with 1,575 stores in 52 countries, with one third of them located in the US alone.
“India is the fastest-growing market for us, and a largely untapped market. We are already ahead of our targets in India, and at this pace we see the country emerging as an important geography contributing 10 percent to our targeted global revenues of $600 million by 2010,” informs Mike Fuller, managing director of Cartridge World Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa.
Adds Naveen Rakhecha, CEO, Cartridge World (South Asia), “The success of CW in India can be gauged from the fact that within a year of starting operations we have several of our partners doubling their franchise with us. There are at least three companies which have set up a second outlet, out of which Amit is now looking at expanding it to four.”
Independent cartridge remanufacturers are also seeing growing customer awareness and acceptance of their products, and are readying major expansion plans.
Chennai-based Black Magic has lined up investments worth Rs 15 crore over the next couple of years to expand its manufacturing capacity, increase footprint and build the brand. The company plans to up its capacity from 10,000 units per month to 25,000 by 2008. “A large chunk of the capacity addition will happen in the color remanufacturing segment which is expected to take off in a big way. We plan to double our footprint to 20 cities and spend a significant amount in brand building. We also have export ambitions,” says Gopi Varma, managing director, Black Magic.
Another remanufacturer who is bullish about the industry’s future prospects is Bangalore-based Quick Prints which recently inaugurated a 20,000 sq ft facility at an investment of Rs 2 crore with the capacity to manufacture 40,000 HP and Samsung cartridges. The company is also eyeing the export market in a big way and has tied up with two companies in Europe which will source Lexmark and Brother remanufactured cartridges.
Low Penetration
Worldwide, CRR contributes nearly 30 percent of the $60 billion worth of after-market cartridges sold, amounting to a staggering $18 billion and growing at a robust 20 percent. While in the US the non-OEM cartridges constitute 25 percent of the overall demand for after-market supplies, in Western Europe it’s as high as 32 percent, according to Lyra Research.
In India though the CRR industry has failed to make a major dent so far thanks to the lack of quality standards and an organized industry. The Indian after-market cartridge segment is estimated to be around Rs 2,400 crore, and growing at 35 percent, of which nearly 35 percent is contributed by non-OEM supplies. Regrettably, a large chunk of this market is made up of counterfeits and low-quality refills. Quality CRR players have managed to capture only 5 percent of the overall market.
“The most unfortunate part of the Indian CRR industry is that it’s not organized. The industry has been dominated by fly-by-night operators using spurious inks and spares which has created a bad reputation for the entire industry. Organized players too haven’t been unable to create a strong national brand for their products,” says Deepak Jalihal, managing director, Soft Tree. According to him, out of some 15,000 CRR suppliers in the country, only 110 remanufacturers and 250 refillers are serious players with quality brands, proper manufacturing facilities and trained manpower. Printer vendors (OEMs) have exploited the unorganized status of the industry to label it as counterfeit, thus creating a strong negative bias among customers.
Seeds of change
To address this, serious players have now formed an industry association called ICRRA (Indian Cartridge Remanufacturers and Recyclers Association) with a three-point agenda—to provide respectability and legitimacy to the business, lobby with the government and other influential industry bodies to promote the industry, and infuse quality standards to make it world-class. “The entire emphasis of our association is on ensuring the adoption of the best-quality standards. We would make it compulsory for our members to have ISO 9000 and 1400 certifications. They will also have to implement STMC (Standardized Test Methods Committee) certification, a global standard for testing and evaluating the performance of toner printer cartridges,” says Jalihal, who is also the secretary of ICRRA. Also, the lure of the Indian market is attracting several global players to the arena, and this could help create a positive perception of the industry.
Static Control Components (SCC), the worldwide leader in the manufacture of spares and inks that go into the remanufacturing of cartridges, has already announced aggressive India plans. The company makes some 13,000 different parts including drums, inks, casings and chips for 1,200 different toners and cartridges which are supplied to remanufacturers.
“India is immensely attractive on two counts—one, its vast, cost-conscious population that is fuelling the demand for CRR, and two, its lower labor cost and large technical resources which makes it a potential export hub,” says a spokesperson for SCC India.
The company already has two offices in India at Mumbai and Delhi, and plans to open offices in more cities soon. It has a large budget dedicated to the marketing of CRRs, and has been holding joint customer seminars with its partners to enhance customer awareness about the price-performance benefits of remanufactured supplies. It is also planning to rope in large stationery suppliers like Kores, Camlin and Prodot to sell remanufactured cartridges from local players.
SCC has also collaborated with ICRRA to provide technology training to manufacturers to improve their manufacturing processes and the quality of their products. ICRRA members will be provided rigorous training at the company’s UK center in cartridge remanufacturing.
Changing customer perception
The entry of retail chains like CW, Office Depot and Staples is expected to provide further credibility to the CRR industry and create positive customer awareness. While Staples has already signed an MoU with Indian retailer Future Group to open shop-in-shops at their Big Bazaar and other outlets, Office Depot has entered into a similar agreement with Reliance Retail. Both these office supplies specialty chains sell a large number of CRR products.
“Undoubtedly, the entry of retailers like Office Depot and Cartridge World will change the negative perception among customers about the use of alternative supplies. The presence of companies like SCC will help improve quality processes and bring them on par with global standards,” says Manoj Khanna, president, CMDA, one of the oldest associations representing the interests of the computer media industry, and also a remanufacturer selling under the CompuCover brand.
Varma also expects big retailers to boost the local remanufacturers. “Bigger retailers will eventually source products from local manufacturers, and this will help in creating a strong ecosystem.” Agrees Rakhecha, “Mass retailing is contributing to creating a positive customer perception which then creates a positive influence in tapping corporate customers. That’s the reason we have been focused on the retail customers in our first year. Our retail franchise requires partners to have stores on a hi-street and on the ground floor to ensure good visibility. We are already seeing the number of footfalls and repeat customers increasing at our outlets.”
Srinivasan says that the CW strategy is working. “Recently, a top manager from Shopper’s Stop came to refill a Canon cartridge for his personal printer from our store. A fortnight later we got a call from them evincing interest in signing up a contract for regular supplies. Today, the company is one of our largest enterprise customers.” Srinivasan is also running a pilot with his erstwhile employer HDFC Bank in the use of CRR. “Currently, HDFC has agreed to experiment with CRR in two of its branch offices. If they find the price-performance satisfactory they would sign up for an enterprise-wide contract with us,” he discloses.
Remanufacturers are trying every marketing trick in the book to convince the customer. Says Varma, “We have to go all-out to undo the bad reputation of the industry caused by the negative campaign run by printer vendors. We offer all our customers free repair or replacement in case there is printer failure due to the use of our products. But we haven’t had any such instance in our history.”
Varma has recently bagged a very large contract from Reliance Money for its offices throughout the country. L&T is another blue-chip company that has a rate contract with Black Magic for the last three years. “Our hard work is finally paying off. Enterprises are getting convinced about the significant cost-performance benefits of CRR, and there is a growing acceptance of it,” he adds.
Even the government sector, one of the highest consumers of printing supplies, is turning receptive to the use of recycled cartridges. “Many government departments use CRR but they are not sourced through the official channel. Just like in the developed world, the government should make it mandatory for all its offices to allow the remanufactured products category in their tenders; this will further encourage the industry and provide a level-playing field,” says Jalihal.
Remanufacturers also see India emerging as an export hub for CRR with the right policy impetus from the government.
The availability of a large pool of technical skills and low labor costs favor India as an outsourcing hub for the remanufacturing of cartridges. According to analysts, the labor cost of manufacturing a toner cartridge in Europe is around $5 while the same toner if made here can cost as low as 25 cents.
“In Europe the salary norm for a skilled worker is around $15 per hour. With the best of manufacturing processes a single resource can manufacture not more than three toner cartridges in an hour. In India the same resource will cost Rs 5,000 per month,” explains Jalihal. He believes that such high cost arbitrage creates a strong case for outsourcing to India. “We expect that large remanufacturers around the world may see value in creating captive manufacturing bases here. That way they can partake in the domestic growth story as well as enjoy the benefits of low-cost exports. This will then help create a strong ecosystem,” says Jalihal.
Black Magic is also seriously looking at exports. “We have begun selling our products in Saarc countries. For exporting to Europe and the US you need to have scale, which we are currently building. By 2010 we plan to have a strong export focus,” adds Varma.
Industry watchers believe that the Indian CRR industry needs to take a factory outlook to manufacturing building scale and employing quality processes; currently they operate more like workshops. “What we probably need is an SEZ similar to China which has developed Zhuai as the global manufacturing hub for CRR. There are more than 500 remanufacturers in the city, with many facilities producing more than a million units every month,” says Jalihal.
Many in the industry believe that providing an industry status could help in eradicating the menace of counterfeits, and that once the industry is recognized, regulatory compliance will ensure adoption of best practices.
However, to do that, Jalihal says that the government needs to change its regulation of not allowing the import of used empty cartridges—an essential for recycling. “Current laws don’t allow for the import of used empty cartridges because they are classified as e-waste,” he informs.