The CarWale Daily Fuel – May 25, 2012

• Indian manufacturers that offer diesel cars are accelerating their efforts to ramp up diesel car production in the country thanks to the ever widening gap between the Petrol and diesel prices.
• The finance ministry is suggesting at least 15 percent increase in diesel and LPG as the price disparity is skewing the market structure. They say it would also help recovery of the Rupee against the Dollar which will in turn help reducing crude import costs and petrol prices and bring a balance to market and economy.
• As the rupee has slightly recovered to below 56 rupees to a dollar, and international crude prices looking at a down turn, the petrol price hike may be rolled back by a small amount. The political parties allied to the government and also opposition parties have asked the government to roll back the price hike. We hope the petrol heads will get a small breather for the time .
• Honda Siel, the rich man's car manufacturer in India, is finally moving over to diesel and is expected to launch diesel cars, early 2013. After sticking with petrol till date, Honda has lost a lot of market share to diesels and will look to regain its sales figures.
• As the aftermath of petrol price hike continues, companies like Tata, Hyundai, Maruti are offering discounts up to Rs 50,000 on petrol cars. We say, if you can, buy now, because petrol prices are not going to go down ever and diesel has to be deregulated soon.
• Nissan Micra will get its mid-life facelift soon as it has completed almost four years after its launch in 2008. The Micra will retain its curves, but what needs to be seen is how different the car will look from the Renault Pulse which is basically another facelifted Micra. 
• Nissan is planning to improve its number in Russia with Datsun cars. The low-cost cars will be manufactured in Russia in collaboration with AvtoVAZ, Nissan's Russian partner.
• Toyota has started exporting the made-in-India Etios and Liva cars to Africa positioning them as beginner or old people's no fuss cars. The Toyotas have received a warm welcome in the African markets thanks to Toyota's brand image of quality and fuel efficient cars.
• Peugeot has revealed its sedan named 301 ahead of the Paris Motor Show. With this car, Peugeot has also shifted to a new nomenclature where all model names will end with either 1(for emerging markets) or 8 (for mainstream products).
• BMW has unveiled the new face-lifted 7 Series internationally. The new car comes with revised bumpers, headlights, front grille, outside rear view mirrors. The car is 5.5 inches longer and 8 mm lower than its predecessor  with redesigned front seats, new 1200watt Bang and Olufsen audio system with the standard variants. It will also be available in Hybrid.
• A new Aston Martin codenamed AM310 was seen flying at the Nurburgring. With new lines and looks, the AM310 may be a replacement of the DB9 or DBS or both.
• Porsche tuner Gemballa has come up with a Diamond only finish as an ultra exclusive customising option. They will grind the diamonds to a size small enough to be applied like paint. Till date, diamond finishes were achieved by using metal pigments and glass crystals. We feel that the first of these cars would certainly make their way to one of the Gulf nations.

The CarWale Daily Fuel is your quick daily dose of automotive news from India and around the world. If you want to know whatever's in the news but want it short and sweet, here's your solution.