LYCOS RETRIEVER
Autos
built 658 days ago
Autos have to install a taximeter according to laws in various parts of India. Many do not have one... and even among those that do, some drivers refuse to turn them on. Hiring an auto often involves bargaining with the driver. But auto-wallahs across India are often accused of fleecing money by installing faulty meters, taking a longer route to the destination and demanding multiple times the fare early in the morning or late at night, or at times when other means of transport are not available. Fares can also double if the destination is an isolated place (charge for returning empty). Auto-wallahs generally defend themselves against such accusations by blaming the government for its negligence of market realities while fixing the distance-based fares. Passengers unfamiliar with the local language are considered particularly vulnerable to overcharging.
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Autos for Auction Inc. was created so that a larger percentage of the proceeds from a sale of donated vechicles would go back to the deserving charities, as the donor intended. Working with Contra Costa County Public Auto Auction and the local wholesale-dealer-only auctions, Autos for Auction Inc. uses its knowledge of the market conditions to get the maximum price for vehicles donated to a charity.
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Auto rickshaws have been modified in India to carry more passengers and are called share autos. Office commuters find this version more economical since the fare is shared by more people. Competition among 'share' auto-wallahs has led to the virtual standardization of fare per passenger based on their destination. Shared autos vary in both name and size from place to place. They are called "Phat-a-phats" in Delhi (which are actually variants of what were once horse-driven vehicles), "Shuttle rickshaws" in Ahmedabad, "Seven (7)-seater autos" in Hyderabad, "Tum-tums" in Pune and "Polaamboo vans" in Chennai. These large share autos shuttle over a distance of 10 to 15 km to gather a substantial number of commuters.
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In addition to the 60 Alternative Fuel Autos currently being offered, auto engineers are working to include a diverse range of highly fuel-efficient technologies in new vehicles. Today, every model for sale is available with some kind of fuel-efficient technology, such as fuel injectors, four-cylinder engines, variable valve timing, continuously variable transmissions, cylinder deactivation and more.
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Autos ... feature commercials on the back of their canopies. Autos in Mumbai and Bangalore have advertisements of consumer review portal, MouthShut.com. Certain autos are equipped with locally-made music systems that play tracks from latest musical hits in volumes above normal levels.
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"The autos category, along with real estate and travel, has enjoyed the deepest, most sustained experience among all verticals in the shift online," said Peter Krasilovsky, Marketplaces program director for The Kelsey Group. "For the auto industry, the Internet represents an ongoing battle between third-party sites, OEM sites and dealers. There is unlikely to be a winner-takes-all outcome. But who gets the upper hand depends, in part, on utility to consumers, ability to create a brand and degree of local interaction."
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