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Indian diamond merchant gives 600 new cars to his staff

NEW DELHI — India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi helped a diamond merchant present hundreds of new cars as gifts to his employees on Thursday. Six hundred employees of Hari Krishna Exporters, a diamond trading company run by Savji Dholakia, received cars made by Indian manufacturer Maruti Suzuki, while around 1,000 more staffers were offered gifts of cash deposits and apartments in a huge outdoor ceremony in Surat, Gujarat. Indians often give each other gifts in the run-up to Diwali, a major Hindu festival celebrating the triumph of good over evil that this year falls on Nov. 7. Modi addressed the prize-giving in his home state of Gujarat via video link, as well as presenting some of the employees with car keys in the capital New Delhi. Dholakia is famous across India for giving lavish gifts to his employees at Diwali, including hundreds of apartments in 2016's ceremony. The showroom value of the 600 cars would be more than $2 million. Gift-giving in the latter part of the year when several Hindu festivals are celebrated provides a major boost to India's economy. The gifts were part of a program targeting staff who have given loyal service to the diamond trader. "The aim of this program was to reward employees' loyalty and dedication towards the company," Dholakia said in a Facebook post.Reporting by Alasdair Pal Related Video: Image Credit: Reuters Auto News Weird Car News Suzuki

New Suzuki Swift Sport to be lighter and torquier

The Suzuki Swift Sport has been one of the most interesting hot hatches of the last decade, well at least outside the United States. Its first iteration was released in 2005, leaving behind its crummy Geo Metro guise in favor of something more in line dynamically with the segment best. Though it may have been an underdog from day one, the Swift Sport proved itself to be both fun and reliable The new car promises to up the ante with a stiffer structure and a footprint increased courtesy a 20 mm-longer wheelbase and a stance that's 40 mm wider and 15 mm lower. Power comes from a turbocharged 1.4-liter four-cylinder Suzuki cheekily calls the Boosterjet, ditching the old 1.6-liter naturally aspirated inline-4. The downsized, intercooled 138-horsepower turbo engine gives the Swift Sport only four more horsepower than the old unit, but there is a lot more torque available and at lower revs. Another major improvement is a weight loss of nearly 180 pounds -- definitely a big deal in a small car like this -- as the new model tips the scales at less than 2,140 lbs. Suzuki says the feel of the six-speed manual shifter has been improved, too. "It's lighter, sharper, quicker. It's more aggressive and emotive, but we've also refined the elements that make it practical to use every day," said Suzuki chief engineer Masao Kobori. "The clutch feel, the manual transmission shift throw, the seats and steering wheel -- everything that puts the driver at the heart of the experience." Sounds neat, though with Suzuki gone from the U.S. market, it'll remain forbidden fruit for American customers. On the other hand, you can apparently rent these in Germany. Nurburgring rental anyone? Related Video:

Junkyard Gem: 2005 Suzuki Aerio SX Suzuki Works Techno

Americans started buying new Suzuki cars with the debut of the 1985 Chevrolet Sprint and continued doing so through the era of the Geo/Chevrolet Metro and Tracker. Sales of the Samurai mini-SUV took off during the late 1980s, and the Swift sibling to the Metro became available here starting in 1989. The Suzuki American dream— at least the part involving four-wheeled, highway-legal vehicles— came crashing down in 2012, but the 2000s gave American Suzuki fans some interesting-yet-affordable machinery. We got the Kizashi (the side marker lights of which make great jack-O-lantern eyes) and the Suzuki Works Techno package for the Reno and the Aerio in 2005. I found a Reno SWT in California a few months back and figured that would be the first and last Suzuki Works Techno car I ever saw, but then this Aerio appeared in a Colorado car graveyard not long after that. The first two Fast & Furious movies proved to be a tremendous cultural influence on youthful car buyers, and Suzuki created the SWT package to cash in on the hunger for "carbon fiber" and "horsepower" in an affordable package. You didn't get anything that made the car go faster when you checked the SWT box, but you did get alloy wheels and "carbon fiber-styled" stuff all over the place, including the license-plate frame. The SX was the top-of-the-line Aerio in 2005, selling for (well, asking for) $15,449 with front-wheel-drive. That's about $20,900 in 2020 dollars. The hatchback version had some minivan/CUV-ness to its shape. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. In most of the world outside of Japan and North America, this car had Liana badging. Perhaps the most famous Aerio/Liana of all time was the original Reasonably Priced Car on Top Gear UK, a 2002 Liana saloon. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Nobohiro "Monster" Tajima drove a modified-beyond-recognition Aerio hatchback up Pikes Peak in 2001, but it got knocked out by mechanical woes. We can't say what knocked out this Aerio, but it wouldn't have been the interior scent— not with three "Relax" Car-Freshner Little Trees on the job. Sadly, the Relax scent is no longer available. Whatever happened, it involved the car breaking down on a Colorado highway and getting the dreaded "red tag" from the CSP. I see quite a few of these tags on junkyard inmates.