The Supreme Court has directed Tata Motors Ltd to replace a defective car and pay Rs 3,000 as compensation to the purchaser of the vehicle. A bench headed by Justice B N Agarwal dismissed the Tata Motors' petition and asked the company to replace the defective car as it created noise beyond the permissible limit.

Market leader Maruti Suzuki today previewed a new sedan, Swift DZiRE, to be launched on March 29 priced below the company's existing car SX4. The image of a hatchback and styling of Swift is carried forward to the Sedan. The new car will be available in both petrol and diesel variants, Maruti Suzuki India Ltd Executive Officer (Marketing and Sales) Mayank Pareek told reporters here.

Country's largest car maker Maruti Suzuki India, better known for its compact cars, has zipped past competition, including Honda and Hyundai, in the mid-sized sedan segment this fiscal on the back of its successful model SX4.

The trial production of the Tata Motors small car 'Nano' would start from June-July this year and commercial production commence about two months later, Tata Motors Managing Director Ravikant said.

Small is big at the Auto Expo 2008 opening Thursday. The star undoubtedly will be the Rs.100,000 ($2,500) Tata car to be unveiled Friday, but Maruti grabbed Wednesday's honours with a preview of its A-Star concept car.

Apart from A-Star, Maruti Suzuki also Wednesday showcased two other concept cars - Splash and Kizashi.

The much talked about "People's Car" from the stable of Tata Motors and costing all of Rs.100,000 ($2,500) would be finally unveiled at the eight-day Auto Expo, beginning here Thursday morning.