Recently Fiat ended its joint venture with Tata Motors at the retail level wherein Fiat branded models were sold at 166 Tata-Fiat showrooms across 126 cities. The joint venture continues to exist in the manufacturing level but Fiat is working on a new retail plan of independent dealers.

A few days ago the second Fiat Caffe outlet was inaugurated in Pune where the company also launched its new limited edition Punto sport model. At the launch Mr. Enrico Atanasio, Fiat India commercial head mentioned that India and China are the two main markets for the company. Currently Fiat’s market share is 0.6% in India and the plan is to raise it to 1.5% in the coming months.

The officials are working on the strategies to achieve this goal. He also mentioned that Fiat has a 6% market share in places where they have their own manufacturing unit but Fiat India will have to wait till this target is reached.

Fiat India wants to set up 80-100 exclusive dealership in 66 cities within the next 18 months, though initially they would concentrate on the top 35 cities only.

Currently Fiat India has only two main products in their portfolio. Introduction of new models can help them improve numbers. A car below the Punto is necessary to realize this ambition. Launching the Fiat Viaggio is another option though it may not lead to rapid increase in dealer footfalls.

[Source:  theeconomictimes.indiatimes.com]

Now the French car maker seems to be directing its designers and engineers to work on a project for churning out an entry-level car which would take on the likes of  Maruti Alto, Hyundai Eon, Chevrolet Spark, etc. Currently Pulse is the cheapest offering from Renault in India, which is nothing but a rebadged Nissan Micra.

Renault will engineer its own low cost car and has appointed Gerard Detourbet, Renault’s low cost car specialist, as the managing director for its project. The new platform will be cheaper and smaller than the current V-Platform of Nissan on which the Micra and other models are based on. The vehicle is codenamed i2 and could be launched as a Datsun model as well.

Renault is all set to launch the Duster in India in the next few months. A new sedan which would be based on the Nissan Sunny is also being worked upon and would see the light of day soon.

Renault wants to take its European tag away and make people recognize that it is a global brand and can offer products in every segment at affordable prices.

[Source: hindustantimes]

In fact, it has clocked so many orders that it has run into a typical Maruti problem of ‘increased waiting period’. While the company has clocked 32,000 orders, its factory can only roll out 6,000 units in a particular month.

There are various success factors working in favor of the Ertiga. But the biggest one by far is the value that it offers for the price it asks. Sure, the Ertiga affects everything right from existing MPVs like the Xylo and Innova to the upcoming ones like Nissan Evalia, Chevrolet’s Njoy and Mahindra’s mini Xylo. Even some expensive hatchback like the Jazz and i20 might bear the brunt of the cheap price tag of the Ertiga.

But the Ertiga hurts Toyota India the most of all manufacturers for two reasons:

• Although the Ertiga is technically not a direct rival of the Innova because the Innova is a much bigger MPV, it is pretty obvious that some prospective Innova customers may have been lured to the Ertiga because of its price tag. The Ertiga has the same wheelbase as the Innova and the two offer very similar levels of room. Maruti is clearly outselling the Innova for the next 6 months.
• The Ertiga might have had a much bigger impact on Toyota India’s fortunes. Many of us are intrigued by the concept of mini MPV which the Ertiga has presented in India for the first time. But Toyota already had the Avanza which is exactly like the Ertiga in every possible way. The Avanza is a very successful mini MPV in South-East Asian market but Toyota India was always hesitant to bring this product to India because it was not designed for India.

If Toyota India would have managed to bring the Avanza before the Ertiga, who knows, may be Toyota India would be sitting on 32,000 orders by now. But one should not count out the difficulty in explaining the differences between the two MPVs to the customers.

Cannibalization is always a possibility when you have two people movers that don’t have the versatile features like design, power, handling or sportiness sedans and hatchbacks enjoy in varying amounts. When was the last time you heard of a sporty MPV or a stylish MPV? Differentiating the Innova and Avanza could have been tricky but if Toyota had pulled it off, the story could have been interesting. Its not too late, this is a marathon race and the finish line is not in sight. Toyota can use the Etios platform, but has the Ertiga’s brilliance in its brief life triggered the company into action?

A lot of people may think that with the Ertiga sitting on 32,000 units, its game over of most other MPV. But the way I see it, the games have just begun!

[Source: profit.ndtv.com]

We are talking about the uber luxurious hatchbacks that are bought more for their style than practicality. Mercedes India is charting out a strategy to introduce the A Class. The Beetle and the Fiat 500 are already present in the market.

One potential contender we see heading to the Indian shores is the Volvo V40 – a hatchback from Volvo which is touted to be the most important car Volvo has launched in the last 20 years.

Volvo has high expectation from the V40 because it has the ability to change the fortunes of the company. The car has finally hit production lines in UK and the speculators are expecting a massive demand for the same. The V40 will compete against the Audi A3, Mercedes A-Class and the Mini.

Any firsts?

Besides paying the highest possible level of attention to safety standards, the Volvo V40 is also the first model to be fitted with a pedestrian airbag that deploys to minimize the risk of head injury for cyclists or pedestrians who are involved in a collision with the car.

The V40′s Indian angle

Our conversation with Mr Tomas Ernberg, Managing Director, Volvo Auto India revealed that Volvo India is planning to launch a compact model in the beginning of 2013. Our guesses are that he was talking about the V40 which we have comprehensively covered over here.

Post-Ford era

Volvo is making great strides to make up for the time that it has lost to the Germans under the ownership of Ford. The company wants to move further upmarket and gain more market share at the same time. Currently, the Swedish manufacturer is busy working on developing an all new successor for the legendary XC90 while S60 and XC60 are pulling in customers from rival brands. Volvo needs to overhaul the S40 and launch a crossover on the V40 platform to compete with more strength.

The company recently hired Mats Fagerhag (lead product developer for Saab) to head up its alliance office, which seeks out partnerships with suppliers and third parties. At Volvo, Fagerhag will work with suppliers to create new relationships after Volvo split from former parent Ford.

[Source: autoevolution.com & leftlanenews.com]

But BMW is about to introduce something quite surprising (well ‘shocking’ is the right word) in the Chinese market.

Luxury marquees are very fastidious about their image. In fact, the make sure that they drape every slightest negative term such as ‘stripped out’ with extremely positive words like ‘Corporate Edition’. But then again, they have to because they are not selling cars, they are selling aspirations.

But whose aspirations would lead them to buy this BMW X1 Beggar’s Edition? According to ChinaCarTimes, BMW will soon launch a BMW X1 ‘Qi Gai Ban’ which translates into ‘Beggar edition.’ As the name suggests, it does not have much in terms of equipment. The headlamps have been replaced with simple units. The head lamp washers have been ditched and so is the tail lamps braking light.

On the inside, the steering mounted controls, GPS/Entertainment console, leather trimming, automatic gear box – all of them gone!

Not surprisingly, this BMW X1 Beggar’s Edition is 3 lakh cheaper than the previous entry level BMW X1 in China.

BMW has been known to create some really interesting advertisement for their cars. It would be interesting to see how BMW China manages to market this model.

[Source: ChinaCarTimes.com via BitAuto.com]

Brihanmumbai Muncipal Corporation (BMC) is carrying out a drive in which you would have to pay a 4.5% octroi on your vehicle if it is being used in Mumbai and registered outside. Vehicles bearing the registration number MH 01, MH 02, MH 03 belong to Mumbai, any other number conveys that your vehicle is registered elsewhere and might attract the eyes of the officials.

It is mandatory for every vehicle to pay an octroi fee before being registered in the city. Usually people purchase the vehicle and get it registered in Thane or Vashi as it saves them anywhere around Rs.10,000 to Rs.20,000.

New car owners will have to take care that they pay the octroi amount before getting the vehicle within city limits. In case you buy a second hand car and the previous owner hasn’t paid the dues, you’ll be responsible for it. BMC had earlier carried out a similar drive and collected around Rs. 3.25 crore. This time the officials expect to collect around Rs. 10 crore with this initiative.

Rajiv Jalota, additional municipal commissioner also said that “If they don’t pay the octroi, then they will be fined 10% of the car’s cost. They may even face criminal case against them”.

What is yet to be understood is on what basis the vehicles are fined.

[Source - Hindustantimes.com]

We first sensed that GM India is going to infuse changes into the Spark when we spoke to GM India’s Vikas Jain at the 2012 Delhi Auto Expo. Jain said the Spark needs a look change and customers are happy with the performance. He stressed on keeping costs in check and didn’t sound very optimistic about Smartech technology for the Spark’s 1-liter motor.

A camouflaged Chevrolet Spark was spotted doing its testing near Paud Road, Pune. Unfortunately, no frontal pics are available as of now. But I am sure IAB’s eagle-eyed viewers would snap one soon.

There are many speculations in the automotive community that this camouflaged Spark is actually a diesel variant. But sadly, Mr Jain also told us that there are no plans to introduce a diesel Spark in India.

Over the years, the Spark has seen many changes to the powertrain and to the interiors. As the Daewoo Matiz, it was an 800cc hatchback. Since it turned into the Chevrolet Spark, the looks of the car have remained pretty much the same. The new rivals like Hyundai Eon and the upcoming Maruti small car are miles ahead of the Spark in terms of design. As a result, Hyundai is clocking 8,000+ units of the Eon every month.

With Maruti all set to bring in an 800 cc entry level hatchback to replace the Alto F8D, the little Spark is definitely feeling the heat. Let’s not leave out the entry of the Datsun brand in India. A facelift could inject some life in the sales figures.

For now, we cannot comment on how soon would this facelifted model be available in showrooms because there is hardly any official information available. But as always, we will keep you updated on the latest happenings in this direction.

Source: Adi_K from Team-bhp.com

But there is an another Audi in the pipeline. Yes, we are talking about the facelifted Audi Q5 which made its official debut at Beijing Motor show. Design wise, the all new Audi Q5 features

• Revised six-point grille
• Refreshed headlights
• Slightly updated front bumper

Mechanically, the new Audi Q5 features an electrical power steering unit instead of an hydraulic one. The chassis has been modified for increased ride comfort.

Audi India currently offers the Q5 in a myriad of petrol and diesel options. While there is no confirmation from Audi’s side, we have a very strong feeling that the new updated version of these engines will debut with the all new Q5. The set of engines include:

Petrol Engines

• 3.0-liter TSFI with two state of tune 272PS and 329PS.

Diesel engines

• 2L TDI with 150 horses
• 3L TDI with 240 horses
• 3L twin turbo TDI power with 313 horses

Audi India may choose to continue the 2.0L TSi engine as an entry level variant of the Audi Q5. Audi India assembles the Q5 in the Aurangabad plant and most of the operation is CKD.

We can expect the facelifted Audi Q5 to be immediately launched after the much-awaited Audi Q3. Or Audi may choose to give us the new Q5 as a Diwali Gift.

Source: TeamBhp Member – TheRagingBull

Fiat India is in the process of expanding its new dealership network after the break-up with Tata Motors on the retail front. Fiat is also working on bringing up more Caffe outlets across India, right now it is present only in Delhi and Pune. There are only 12 Fiat Caffes around the world and India already has two of them!

Fiat Punto Sport Image Gallery

The Punto Sport is powered by the same 1.3-liter Multi-jet diesel engine that produces 93PS @ 4,000 RPM and 209Nm @ 2,000 RPM and is equipped with a VGT (Variable Geometry Turbocharger).

Extras on the Fiat Punto Sport

• Chrome door handles
• Chrome exhaust tip
• Sporty decals on the body
• Metallic pedals
• Red stitching on the seats
• Door sill that has Punto written on it
• ORVM painted in red

The Fiat Punto Sport calls to mind a special edition Renault executed with the Logan dubbed Logan Play Edition.

It is available in a choice of three colors (Red, Black and White) and has features introduced on earlier models such as steering mounted controls, Follow Me Home headlamps, leather wrapped steering wheel and gear knob, electrically adjustable ORVM units, steering-mounted controls for audio and phone and many more.

On the safety front the Punto Sport has ABS with EBD, dual front airbags and engine immobilizer. Refer the brochure below for the full list of features.

Fiat Punto Sport Brochure

Fiat Punto Sport Brochure

Sources inside Tata Motors tell us that the new Safari will be launched in a phased manner across India as the production lines have to churn out both the new and old Safaris with some capacity constraints. Tata manages to shift about 1,000-1,500 units of the Safari every month.

The new Safari was showcased at the 2012 Delhi Auto Expo sporting the current model’s powertrain but with a restyled body and improved interior. The new Safari is bodied on the Aria’s X2 platform and is not a monocoque like the Mahindra XUV500.

Tata Motors has started getting vocal about the new Safari. It has begun presenting spin-offs on its platform such as the Expedition variant showcased at the Expo and variants for special forces at the DEFEXPO held earlier this year. The company is also keeping its fans on Facebook guessing by featuring photographs of the car off-roading and jumping off crests.

Our sources tell us Tata will continue to sell the Aria as the flagship model and will not load the Safari with every feature. The model shown at the Auto Expo will reach the showrooms lacking high-end features like LCD display with navigation and steering-mounted controls for phone control.

Tata is said to price position the Storme slightly above the older Safari. The company has adopted the similar strategy in the past, cars such as the Vista and Manza have occupied positions higher than their predecessors. In the case of the Storme, that trend is expected to continue.