MPIL, a company that is known for combining technology, quality and performance
in their two wheeler, had taken an initiative to introduce someo f t h e i r p e r f o r m a n c e
d r i v e n t w o w h e e l e r i n I n d i a t h i s y e a r . S u z u k i h a s reported a growth of
47.66%
in sales in the month of
December 09
at
14806 units
compared to
9986
units same month last year. This increase of sales is attributed to the tremendous response from
the new product GS150R and ACCESS 125.Suzuki would have to constantly innovate and come
up with new products tomaintain its dominance in the segment.
9
B I RTH O F AUTOM O B I L E S I N TH E WO R L D
The History of the automobile actually began about
4,000 years agow h e n t h e f i r s t w h e e l w a s u s e d f o r
t r a n s p o r t a t i o n i n I n d i a . S e v e r a l I t a l i a n s
r e c o r d e d d e s i g n s f o r w i n d - d r i v e n v e h i c l e s . T h e
f i r s t w a s
Guido da Vigevano in 1335
. It was a windmill-type drive to gears and t h u s t o w h e e l s .
Vaturio designed a similar vehicle that was also
never built. Later Leonardo da Vinc i designed
clockwork-driven tricyclew i t h t i l l e r s t e e r i n g a n d
a d i f f e r e n t i a l m e c h a n i s m b e t w e e n t h e
r e a r wheels.I n t h e e a r l y 1 5
th
c e n t u r y, t h e P o r t u g u e s e a r r i v e d i n C h i n a a n d
t h e i n t e r a c t i o n o f t w o c u l t u r e s l e d t o a
v a r i e t y o f n e w t e c h n o l o g i e s , including the
creation of a wheel that turned under its own power. By
10
the 1600s, small steam-powered engine models were
developed, but itwas anoth er cen tur y before a full-
s i z e d e n g i n e - p o w e r e d v e h i c l e w a s created.A C a t h o l i c
p ri es t n a me d F at he r F er di na n Ver b ie st is c re d i te d t o
have built a steam-powered vehicle for the Chinese
Emperor Chien Lung inabout 1678. There is no
information about the vehicle, only the event.Since
James Watt didnt invent the steam engine until
1705, we can guess that this was possibly a model
v e h i c l e p o w e r e d b y a m e c h a n i s m like Heros steam engine-as p i n n i n g wh e e l w i t h j e t s o n t h e p e r i p h e r y. A l t h o u g h b y t h e
mid-15
th
century the idea of a self-propelled vehicleh a d b e e n
p u t i n t o p r a c t i c e w i t h t h e d e v e l o p m e n t o f
e x p e r i m e n t a l vehicles powered by means of springs,
clockworks, and the wind, N i c o l a s - J o s e p h C u g n o t o f F r a n c e
is considered to have built the firstt r u e a u t o m o b i l e i n
1 7 6 9 . D e s i g n e d b y C u g n o t a n d c o n s t r u c t e d
b y M.Brezin, it is also the first vehicle to move under its
own power for w h i c h t h e r e i s a r e c o r d . C u g n o t s
t h r e e - w h e e l e d s t e a m - p o w e r e d vehicle carried four
persons and was meant to move artillery pieces. Ithad a
top speed of a little more than 3.2 km/h (2 mph) and had
t o s t o p every 20 minutes to build up a fresh steam. E v a n s
w a s t h e f i r s t A m e r i c a n w h o o b t a i n e d a
p a t e n t f o r a s e l f - p r o p e l l e d c a r r i a g e . H e , i n
f a c t , a t t e m p t e d t o c r e a t e a t w o - i n - o n e
11
