Tata cut costs by minimising components, particularly steel, and taking advantage of India's low production costs. Because of its size, it uses less sheet metal, has a smaller and lighter engine than other cars, smaller tube-less tyres and a no-frills interior. The company has applied for 34 patents to cover its innovations. "We shrunk it, made the engine smaller and used fewer materials but we haven't taken any shortcuts in term of safety or emissions," Mr Tata said.

The car will be sold first in India from the second half of this year, with an initial annual production run of 250,000, but it is expected to be made available in Latin America, SouthEast Asia and Africa. It could find its way to Europe in a few years but enhancements to meet higher standards would raise the price considerably.

As if the car itself wasn't enough, BMW is offering these fortunate fifty Neiman Marcus customers the pinnacle of the "ultimate driving experience." Each gift opportunity features an exclusive European adventure in which the purchaser takes delivery of their new M6 Convertible directly from the factory and drives on to tour the Bavarian countryside. And for the serious BMW- enthusiast, each customer will have the opportunity to meet with the automaker's famous car designers, and be given a private tour of the BMW factory in Munich. Also included in the package are two round-trip business class tickets on Lufthansa(R) to Munich, Germany, gourmet meals, and luxurious accommodations for four nights. Upon completion of the trip, their new vehicle will be shipped back to the States for immediate delivery. The trip is scheduled for Spring 2007.

Bold and uncompromising, the BMW Individual M6 Convertible stands alone. The unmistakable roar of its 5.0-liter, V-10 engine delivering 500 horsepower at your command and the precision handling, M Variable Differential Lock, and Electronic Damping Control make every trip extraordinary. Its on-board computer, GPS navigation, and Voice Command System merge driver and auto into one intelligent entity. At the heart of this incredible machine is a Formula 1 inspired, V-10 engine with 10 individual throttle butterflies capable of revving up to 8,250 rpm thanks to its sophisticated design and knock control systems. Coupled to a seven-speed Sequential Manual Transmission with Drivelogic(R), it can launch you from 0 to 60 mph in just 4.5 exhilarating seconds.

OBVIO said that gas-ethanol engines would power the initial versions of its 828 and 012 microcar designs, planned for production in 2007. But the 828E and 012E equipped with advanced electric drive systems will not be far behind, says OBVIO ! President Ricardo Machado, who announced he would export the electric cars to North America.

"It is clear to me that electricity has a big future in the auto industry," said Machado. "OBVIO !'s business model of 100 percent outsourced supplier relationships allows for the speed and flexibility to incorporate a new drive system powered by electricity by our second model year."

Machado says there are several suppliers that are negotiating to provide electric drive systems for the 828E and 012E. Targeting a price of $49,000 and $59,000 respectively, the cars will have plenty of power, capable of reaching a top speed exceeding 120 mph for a range of up to 200-240 miles per charge.

The car’s interior space has no front seat - just a space built to house the driver’s own wheelchair so all he/she has to do is simply roll in through the extra large car doors and into position. The wheelchair locks into place, within easy reach of the car's controls which are centred around a joystick. It’s light years away from the current options for disabled drivers, which involve having to hoist themselves into the driver's seat of standard cars.

The world premiere of the "zaZen" marks the beginning of a new era in vehicle design. The smoothly contoured, transparent, one-piece roof dome is made of Bayer's high-tech transparent Makrolon(R) polycarbonate. The lightness of the roof construction ties in with the surface coating of the "zaZen" - a white mineral shade based on the Bayer raw materials, Desmodur(R) and Desmophen(R). The gloss is made with millions of tiny precious Swarovski crystals protected by a self-healing polyurethane clearcoat.

The name of the new concept car - "zaZen" - has been carefully chosen by Rinderknecht: "After all, Zen - borrowed from Buddhist teaching - is a special form of perception: You only get there if you are prepared to give up preconceived ideas." Both partners went out of their way to emphasize that a concept car presented at a motor show can only be a snapshot taken from an unceasing development process. For example, the work on the switch-on/off transparency for three-dimensional forms is always ongoing.

The number 640 in the new moniker denotes the total hp rating of the tweaked V12 engine, up 60 hp from the outgoing Murciélago coupe's V12 thanks to a bump in displacement from 6.2 liters to 6.5 liters. Lamborghini says the added power shaves 0.4 seconds from the zero-to-62 mph sprint, bringing it down to a scant 3.4 seconds.

A convertible version of the Murcielago, introduced last year, retains the 6.2-liter 580-hp V12. It has a removable fabric top: When it's installed, Lamborghini advises keeping the speed under 100 mph.

A more aggressive front bumper with reshaped air intakes and a large spoiler underneath distinguish the 2007 LP640 from previous Murciélagos and make the bold design of the outgoing coupe even wilder. A redesigned rear diffuser encompasses twin exhaust pipes, and the taillights are now all red.

A 6.5-litre V12 engine lies at the heart of the LP640, where LP stands for 'longitudinale posteriore', which refers to the V12 unit mounted lengthways behind the cockpit.

With deeper and wider cylinder bores than the previous 6.2-litre V12, the new 6.5 ups power to an imperious 631bhp at 8,000 good-for-the-soul revs per minute.

Coupled to a new six-speed gearbox, which can also be ordered with Lambo's e-gear sequential paddle shift, the LP640 howls from 0-62mph in 3.4 seconds - 0.4 seconds quicker than the 6.2-litre model.

And it's helped on its way by an electronic launch-control device called, rather brilliantly, Thrust.

Inspired by its unique aviation heritage, Saab produced one of the sensations at this year’s Geneva Show with the Aero X concept - a two-seater sports coupe that breaks with automotive design convention both outside and inside to make a unique statement in performance car design. First, there are no doors…or windscreen pillars. That's because the Saab Aero X adopts a cockpit canopy, just as you would see on a Saab jet aircraft. It offers the Aero X pilot full 180 degree vision, and also facilitates entry and exit from its low-slung cabin. Thrust for the all-wheel drive Saab Aero X also comes from a powerplant with a difference. The 400 bhp, twin-turbo, BioPower V6 engine is fuelled entirely by bioethanol, a sustainable energy source that is kinder to the environment by cutting fossil CO2 emissions. The 'green power' of this advanced engine gives new meaning to the phrase 'performance with responsibility'.

An onboard radar system, automated acceleration and braking controls, and a night-vision display are among the features that Mercedes describes as the most advanced available in cars today.

The Distronic system's 24-GHz radar sensors initiate the car's acceleration and braking according to a preset speed and distance from a car in front of you. While creeping along in stop-and-go traffic, I didn't have to apply either the brake or gas.

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The function took some getting used to. After setting the system to maintain a distance of about 170 feet from cars in front of me, it took a lot of nerve not to apply the brake manually when I was humming along at over 90 mph and saw that traffic had come to a dead stop just a few hundred feet away. But in time I learned to trust the Distronic system enough to force myself to keep my feet flat on the floor while the car gently decelerated from high speeds to a dead stop -- without plowing into the car ahead of me.

Although the show car isn't a runner, it was designed on the Gallardo's platform with production feasibility in mind. If the response to the concept is amply enthusiastic, look for the Miura as a 2008 or 2009 model with a 6.5-liter version of the Murcielago's V-12 engine. While the original Miura's motor was transversely mounted, the new one would have a more conventional longitudinal configuration. Expect more than 650 hp and a price north of $350,000 if and when the Miura appears.

In the spotlight: Chevrolet's 2006 Z06 Corvette sports car. It is a breathtaking reminder that driving is, and ought to be, glorious fun.

The Z06 is a higher-performance version of the already high-performance Corvette. And what's great about it is the same thing that's great about the Corvette generally. You get stunning acceleration, handling, braking, steering and style in a car you can comfortably drive every day for a price the exotic foreign guys can't touch.

Heck, even the exotic Detroit guys can't beat it, dollar-for-dollar.

"We wanted to do a car that could compete with a lot of the supercars out there at $200,000 or $400,000, but one you could actually afford," says Harlan Charles, Corvette product manager.

Called Eliica, short for Electric Lithium-Ion battery Car, it boasts a neck-snapping 0-100kmh time of just four seconds and a 0-160kmh time of seven seconds, which means the Eliica accelerates faster than a Porsche 911 Turbo.

Professor Hiroshi Shimizu, of Japan's Keio University, believes his team can make the electric car popular. He feels that the movement towards stricter emissions laws will favour these zero emission vehicles.

"If we continue producing current levels of CO2, we will face a global-warming crisis well before 2040, a long time before fossil fuel reserves run out. We need to halve these emissions now," he says.

Earlier this year, at Italy's Nardo high-speed test track facility, the Eliica recorded a top speed of 370kmh. Shimizu says the car would break 400kmh on a smoother surface.

No reason for the extra set of axles is given, though perhaps they’re needed when the vehicle is traveling at its top speed of 230 mph, which actually was reached one day last year at the Nardo in Italy. The Eliica takes 10 hours to charge and will travel 125 miles on a charge. It can accelerate to 62 mph in 4.1 seconds, after which we imaging you’d need to recharge it again. The team’s goal is beat the top speed of the Bugatti Veyron and produce 200 units of the Eliica for people like George Clooney and that ex-Baywatch babe who still drives an EV1.

OK, forget all you know of Holland, the tulips and wooden clogs and windmills, and replace it with this Audi-powered supercar. The £143,000 Spyker C8 Spyder borrows the S8's 4.2 liter 400-hp V8 and puts it to good use at the rear of a splendidly-finished and unique-looking frame (unique in a good way). A better power to weight ratio than a Modena or GT3 helps the C8 Spyder hustle to 60 in about 4.5 seconds, but the gearbox isn't really suited for such a powerful machine; first and second gear are very short short, and the overall tight stack yields 4000 rpms for a 100 mph sixth-gear cruise, not that anyone should ever drive that fast, anyway.

Strapped in with the four-point racing harness there is no way the driver can reach the handbrake, for instance, you need to have a co-pilot. You can't see the front of the car either, which makes manoeuvring it rather stressful, and the turning circle - I am not exaggerating - is about the same as a stretch limo's. Also, the steering is way too light, and, oh yes, the brakes don't seem to do much.

The car will be officially a concept, but BMW will hurry it into production as a rival to the new Porsche Cayman S, a coupe version of the Boxster. Like its predecessor, the Z3-based M Coupe, it will be built at BMW's Spartanburg factory in the South Carolina. But unlike the boxy M Coupe, the Z4 coupe will be a more conventional fastback coupe, with styling similar to the Xcoupe concept of a couple of years ago.

The Z4 Coupe will be powered by BMW's 255-horsepower, 3.0-liter, inline six-cylinder gasoline engine. There also will be an M version with a 3.2-liter inline six from the M3, upgraded to 360 hp.

The problem is not the quality of the Phaeton--it's the quality of the VW badge. And it's the mediocre reputation Volkswagen dealers have, especially when compared with the better reputation of Audi dealers, who are located right across the showroom floors. But perhaps more than any other factor, the Phaeton's sticker price is driving people away.

VW is known for cheap, populist cars, and always has been. Put it this way: if General Motors decided to build a $70,000 Saturn, would you buy it? Neither would we.

The Cayman S's muscular 3.4-liter, flat-six cylinder engine propels the car from 0 to 60 mph in a quick 5.1 seconds and to a top track speed of an impressive 171 mph. The engine is equipped with the same VarioCam Plus variable valve timing system as found on the 2005 911 Carrera. It allows the engine to produce its maximum torque of 255 ft. lbs. between 4,200 and 6,000 rpm.

This engine power is transmitted through the Boxster S's standard six- speed manual transmission that has been enhanced for the Cayman S with shortened and more precise shift travel. Offered as an option, the five-speed Tiptronic S automatic transmission system has been tuned specifically for the new model, incorporating unique electronic and hydraulic control maps.

The Maybach Exelero high-performance show car unveiled to the world for the first time this week is a remarkable car with an even more remarkable story behind it. The 700-hp V-12 biturbo two-seater is a unique custom model produced for tyre manufacturer Fulda Reifenwerke, which is using the Maybach Exelero as a reference vehicle for a newly developed generation of wide tyres. The German manufacturer of luxury cars built the unique model as a modern interpretation of its legendary streamlined sports car from the 1930s, thereby forging a link with the historical predecessor, which at that time was likewise based on a powerful Maybach automobile (SW 38) and used by Fulda for tyre tests.

Here's the beef backing that brag: The 7.0-liter LS7 engine will produce at least 500 horsepower at 6200 rpm and 475 pound-feet of torque at 4800 rpm. Revving just slightly past its 7000-rpm redline through base Corvette six-speed gearing, it'll hit 60 mph in first in well under four seconds. The chassis is --drum roll--all aluminum. Magnesium and carbon-fiber parts also are used to help contain the total curb weight to under 3150 pounds. That'll put the new Z06's weight-to-power ratio below both the GT's 6.3 pounds/horsepower and the Viper's 6.8. Aero tuning reduces total lift and balances the front and rear lift coefficients while increasing the base Vette's 0.28 drag coefficient to 0.34.

Voted as the most anticipated car of 2005, the new Audi A6 is a showcase of design breakthroughs. Starting with the visible, the A6 is the first to wear the striking new face destined to be worn by all Audis from this day forward. Underneath the hood beats an all-new V6 engine with direct injection technology for more efficient operation. Pumping 255 horsepower from only 3.1 liters, it's as powerful as it is efficient. Top it all off with Audi's secure, performance-enhancing Quattro all-wheel-drive system and the new A6 becomes the most noteworthy automobile to receive this award.