Indian Auto Blog - Maruti, Hyundai, Tata, Honda, Toyota, Skoda, Hero Honda, Bajaj, Yamaha

Maruti Ships Nissan Pixo To UK

noreply@blogger.com (Admin) — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 01:30:00 +0000

Maruti Suzuki has announced that it has it has already shipped out 30,000 units of the A-Star to be sold by Nissan in the UK under the name Pixo. Just like its initial shipment of 2,000 units in April, all the cars have been exported from Maruti’s dedicated port at Mundra in Gujarat.

The 5-door hatchback car, which has been contract- manufactured by Suzuki Motor Corporation’s Indian arm for Nissan’s left-hand drive markets in Europe, essentially a rebadged and restyled version of Maruti Suzuki A-Star. The car fitted with a 1.0 litre petrol engine and has 5+1 gear box had initially graced the roads of Netherlands and Denmark. Maruti has bagged the order from Nissan to make and export 30,000 Pixos (which is scalable) in the current financial year and a special vessel, Euro Spirit, will ferry the consignment.

Maruti Suzuki plans to export one lakh units of A-Star, of which 30,000 are under contract with Nissan, 60,000 will be sold as Alto by Maruti itself and 10,000 by Suzuki in Latin America, Algeria, Australia and some rich African counties. Just like the A-star, Nissan Pixo is being solely manufactured at Maruti’s state-of-the-art facility at Manesar near Gurgaon in Haryana.

Audi India To Launch A4 With 170bhp Diesel

noreply@blogger.com (Admin) — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 01:30:00 +0000

Audi India is planning to introduce a more powerful diesel engine in the A4 to compete with the BMW 320D. The engine Audi is planning to launch in the A4 is the 170bhp 2.0 litre diesel. The current 140bhp diesel in the A4 is quite down on power infront of the Bimmer. However, Audi is concerned about the diesel particulate filter (DPF), which is better suited for Bharat Stage IV fuel but that will be available only in 2010 and only in the metros.

Maruti A-Star To Be Exported To Africa & South America

noreply@blogger.com (Admin) — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 01:30:00 +0000

Maruti Suzuki plans to take the A-Star to new markets, such as Africa and the Latin America. Maruti is looking to tap new markets for exports, as the demand is shifting towards compact cars globally. This would help Maruti meet its target of exporting 1.5 lakh cars, across all models, in the current fiscal, two times that of the year ended March 2009. Maruti exports doubled to 15,978 units in the April-May period led by A-Star.

Pitched as an export product, A-Star is already being shipped to France, Italy, the UK, the Netherlands, Germany and other major markets in Europe by Maruti. Maruti had developed A-Star originally for Europe, where it is sold under various brands, such as Alto, Pixo and Celerio, in different markets. Maruti will now sell the car in Algeria, its biggest market in Africa, besides Chile, Mexico, Malaysia, Sri Lanka and Nepal and around 50 other markets, where it has sales and distribution network.

Fiat Postpones Bravo India Launch

noreply@blogger.com (Admin) — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 01:30:00 +0000

Fiat has postponed the launch of the Bravo in India, due to the sudden downturn in the auto market. If launched, Bravo would have attracted nearly 100% import duty, just like its three-door hatchback Fiat 500 (which costs above Rs. 13 lakh) in India. The Fiat Bravo and Fiat Brava are small family cars produced by the Italian automaker from 1995 to 2001. The name was revived for 2007 with an all-new replacement for the Stilo, the new version will use only the Bravo name and is not available with three doors.

Fiat and Tata Motors will not launch models in segments where they would have to compete with each other. However, they will jointly cooperate with each other and be interdependent on each other’s forte. While Tata Motors taps Fiat’s technology and support as well as the share of the numbers that the Linea and Grande Punto make. Furthermore, it also gets to manufacture cars in Fiat’s brand new Ranjangaon plant. Fiat on the other hand gets access to the Tata Motors’ huge sales and service distribution network in India.

Audi India To Expand Dealership Network

noreply@blogger.com (Admin) — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 01:30:00 +0000

Audi India plans to increase its dealership network in the country and aims to grab 30% share of the luxury car market by 2011. Audi currently holds 20% share in Indian luxury car segment. Audi has entered into dealer partnership with Bangalore-headquartered Jubilant Motors for appointing dealers in Southern market.

Maruti Swift Dzire Highest Selling C-Segment Car

noreply@blogger.com (Admin) — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 01:30:00 +0000

The Maruti Swift DZire was launched in March 2008, and though we find the car quite weird looking it has set the sales chart on fire with average monthly sales of 5,000 units. Maruti sold 61,952 units of the Swift DZire in the last fiscal. The sedan version of the hatchback Swift is available in both petrol and diesel variants and has replaced its phased out entry-level sedan-Esteem. The car is giving its competitors, Mahindra-Renault’s Logan, Tata Motors’ Indigo and Hyundai Accent a tough run for its money. Infact the DZire is such a massive success, it is predicted to be best selling car of 2008-09.

The demand for DZire has been way beyond the company’s expectation at about 5,000 units a month. This is especially higher than other models in the same (A3) segment, with record bookings of about 1,500-2,000 units every month. About 65% demand for Swift DZire is for the diesel variant. Maruti Swift Dzire is equipped with advanced features which make it an enticing buy. Unlike the Maruti Swift which is made in several countries, Maruti Suzuki plans to build the Maruti Swift Dzire exclusively in India. However the Maruti Swift Dzire may be exported to several countries.

Skoda Laura Sets Golden Quadrilateral Record

noreply@blogger.com (Admin) — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 01:30:00 +0000

A team from Auto Bild set a new record for navigating the Golden Quadrilateral highway network. Three teams of two journalists from the magazine drove a new, unmodified Skoda Laura 2.0 TDI PD L&K for over 5941km, non-stop. The drive was flagged off from Hotel Trident, Gurgaon at 0318hrs on the 6th of June. The car passed through Delhi, Agra, Allahabad, Varanasi, Kolkata, Bhubaneshwar, Vishakapatnam, Chennai, Bangalore, Pune, Mumbai, Ahmedabad and Jaipur before finishing in Gurgaon, again at the Trident Hotel.

The drive was certified by the FMSCI (Federation of Motorsports Clubs of India) and the partners participating in this journey were Shell (Oil & Lubricants), Map my India (Navigation) and Trident Hotels (Hospitality). The Shell Helix Ultra engine oil lived up to its reputation with the engine of the car started at the flag-off and switched-off only at the flag-in after 75 hours and 32 minutes, giving no problems throughout the trip.

The drive broke the existing national record of driving the Golden Quadrilateral set in a Toyota Corolla which stood at 87 hours and 50 minutes. Observers from FMSCI, the official motorsport body of India and affiliated to the FIA, were in the car at all times to monitor times, fuel and route. A high frequency GPS tracking system employed in the car that mapped the journey, while another touch screen based GPS navigation system ensured the drivers stayed on the correct route. The drive also set the record for the most fuel efficient drive around the Golden Quadrilateral consuming a total of 586.46 litres of fuel. This gave an average of 10.26kms per litre at an average speed of 78.65kms.

TVS Apache To Be Launched In US

noreply@blogger.com (Admin) — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 01:30:00 +0000

TVS Motor will launch the Apache RTR 160 in the US this year, the world’s most developed automobile market. If TVS Motors enters the US, it will be the second indigenous company to foray into that market, the first being Royal Enfield. Another Indian company, Mahindra & Mahindra plans to introduce its flagship Scorpio SUV in the US next year.

TVS Motors has cleared the mandatory technical and emission tests for its bike and plans to launch it later this year. TVS has held negotiations with Classic Motorworks, an importer and distributor of two-wheeler in the US, which already distributes Royal Enfield Motorcycles - Bullet, Classic and Croma in the US.

TVS will start shipping bikes in the next few months. TVS is not expecting big volumes, but looking at high brand leverage in the US, a predominant high-end big bike market like the Triumph, Harley Davidson, Honda, Suzuki and Yamaha. TVS has presence in a few overseas markets, including a 300,000-units a year manufacturing facility in Indonesia, and also sells its bikes, scooters and mopeds in Latin America, South-East Asia and Africa.

Royal Enfield To Launch 2 New Bikes In 2010

noreply@blogger.com (Admin) — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 01:30:00 +0000

Heavy-weight motorbike maker Royal Enfield on will launch two models by early next year and plans to expand its overall production capacity by over 35% by 2010. At present, Royal Enfield is evaluating possibilities for launching the two bikes with two different engines, twinspark 350cc and 500cc engine with EFI technology.

Royal Enfield is also increasing its production capacity to 60,000 units per annum by 2010 from the existing 44,000 bikes a year at its facility in Chennai. They would also invest Rs 25 crore in enhancing capacities and launching new products by 2010.

2009 Best Engine Of The Year Award

noreply@blogger.com (Admin) — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 01:30:00 +0000

Porsche’s direct injection 3.8-litre flat six has taken ‘Best New Engine of the Year’ at the 2009 International Engine of the Year awards. The engine was commended by the judges for managing to attain an increase in power through greater capacity while achieving reduced fuel consumption and carbon dioxide emissions.

Here are the results in full : -

2009 Engine of the Year - VAG 1.4-litre Twincharger (Golf, Scirocco, Ibiza FR/Cupra)
Best New Engine of the Year - Porsche 3.8-litre flat-six (911)
Green Engine of the Year - VAG 1.4-litre Twincharger (Golf, Scirocco, Ibiza FR/Cupra)
Best Performance Engine - Mercedes 6.2-litre AMG V8 (SL63, E63 etc)
Sub 1-litre - Toyota three-cylinder 993cc (Aygo)
1-litre to 1.4-litre - VAG 1.4-litre Twincharger (Golf, Scirocco, Ibiza FR/Cupra)
1.4-litre to 1.8-litre - BMW-PSA 1.6-litre turbo (Mini Cooper S, Peugeot 207)
1.8-litre to 2-litre - VAG 2-litre TFSI (Golf GTI, Scirocco, Audi TT)
2-litre to 2.5-litre - Mercedes 2.1-litre diesel (BlueEfficiency E-Class and C-Class)
2.5-litre to 3-litre - BMW 3-litre twin-turbo diesel (335d, 535d etc)
3-litre to 4-litre - BMW 4-litre V8 (M3)
Above 4-litre - Mercedes 6.2-litre AMG V8 (SL63, E63 etc)

Maruti Grand Vitara 2.4L Coming In July

noreply@blogger.com (Admin) — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 01:30:00 +0000

Maruti will launch the Grand Vitara with a more powerful engine in the first week of July this year. The more powerful Grand Vitara will get a 2.4L VTT petrol powerplant with 160bhp on tap and will help the SUV comply with Bharat IV norms. The Maruti Grand Vitara site reads “New Grand Vitara 2.4 litre Coming Soon In First week of July”.

Fiat Grande Punto Test Drive & Pictures

noreply@blogger.com (Admin) — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 07:11:00 +0000

Checkout Fiat Grande Punto Multijet Test Drive Review and Fiat Grande Punto Picture Gallery.

Mahindra Scorpio Micro-Hybrid Technology

noreply@blogger.com (Admin) — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 01:30:00 +0000

Mahindra launched the new mighty muscular Scorpio successfully. The Scorpio has always been aggressive in its looks and Scorpio’s dominance on Indian roads is a well known story. But this time around, there’s a surprise in store for everyone, as this bully has a soft corner.

The revolutionary new Micro Hybrid technology makes Mahindra’s Scorpio really gentle. On the environment that is. This technology allows it to intelligently switch off the engine when not required. Thus going into standby mode after few seconds of engine idling, ready to spring back to life the moment it’s needed again. This ensures you burn less fuel and reduce emissions. Providing much needed relief to the environment, our lungs and our wallets too.

In a nutshell, the Micro Hybrid technology : -

• Switches off the engine when the Scorpio idles for a preset duration (*2 seconds in Scorpio VLX, 5 seconds in Scorpio M2Di)
• Switches the engine back on, the instant your leg depresses the clutch pedal
• Burns less fuel, thus reducing pollution and helping to conserve the environment

Mahindra deserve credit for taking the lead in implementing Micro Hybrid technology, an innovative and affordable step towards sustainability. We’re sure many will follow in the footsteps of this first Micro Hybrid car in the country.

Bajaj Plans Africa & Europe Entry

noreply@blogger.com (Admin) — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 01:30:00 +0000

Bajaj Auto is exploring markets in Africa and Europe for its motorcycles, particularly the Boxer, CT100 and the Pulsar. The company, which exported more than 6 lakh motorcycles, is seeing rising sales of the low cost Boxer and CT100. Bajaj is taking a step ahead in registering the Pulsar brand name in countries before it begins marketing the motorcycle.

“We have had instances in the past where companies had registered the Pulsar brand in their names when they realised we were coming. So, we are selling the bike under the Pulse brand in Iran and as the Rouser in the Philippines,” Ashok Saxena, general manager of Bajaj Auto’s international business said.

Tata To Sell Nano In U.S

noreply@blogger.com (Admin) — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 01:30:00 +0000

Tata Motors hopes to offer the Nano, dubbed the world’s cheapest car, in the United States within two years. Tata plans to offer the European version of the Nano, which costs about $2,300, in 2011. Tata Motors is also working to develop cars that run on fuels other than gasoline such as clean diesel, biofuels and batteries.

Maharashtra Government Hikes Vehicle Tax

noreply@blogger.com (Admin) — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 01:30:00 +0000

The Maharashtra Government’s move to hike motor vehicle tax has caught premium carmakers and dealers off guard. Quite unlike the past, when it was 7% for all vehicles, it has now been revised as a three-tier tax structure in the recent State Budget. The 7% will now be applicable to vehicles costing under Rs 10 lakh, going up to 8% for those between Rs 10-20 lakh and 9% for vehicles priced at over Rs 20 lakh.

Maharashtra, largely led by Mumbai and Pune, accounts for 30% of total sales of Mercedes cars. Prices, on an average, range from Rs 26 lakh to Rs 70 lakh, which means that they will now be dearer by Rs 52,000 to Rs 1.40 lakh thanks to the hike in motor vehicle tax.

Peugeot Looking To Set Shop In India

noreply@blogger.com (Admin) — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 01:30:00 +0000

Peugeot has begun evaluating locations for its car project in India. It has kicked off negotiations with the Andhra Pradesh government that has offered to allocate around 800 acres of land near Hyderabad. Peugeot is looking at an investment of Rs 1,500 crore for the project. Tamil Nadu is also on the company’s radar, amid expectations that Peugeot will roll-out low cost cars in emerging markets like India by 2010. It is also not clear whether the French auto major will bring in the Peugeot or the Citroen brand first.

The state offered a Rs 300 crore cash compensation to Tata Motors for re-locating Nano from Singur and setting up an integrated plant here. To sweeten the deal, it offered 1,000 acres of free land in Hyderabad, Vizag, Hindupur and Tada in Nellore district, and a slew of fiscal incentives making investment on the project virtually free.

Toyota Camry Facelift Launch In July

noreply@blogger.com (Admin) — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 01:30:00 +0000

Toyota will launch the 2010 Camry in India in July this year. The facelifted Camry was first shown at the 2009 North American International Auto Show. The changes in the facelifted Camry will mostly be cosmetic and include new front grill, new headlights, new fog lamps, indicators on rear view mirrors, 10 spoke alloy wheels and Aux input for audio system. The new Camry will be available in two new colours namely Dark Green Mica Metallic and Beige Mica Metallic. Only 400 cars are allotted to India for 2009.

Maruti Swift Petrol To Get K-Series Engine

noreply@blogger.com (Admin) — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 01:30:00 +0000

Maruti Suzuki will soon launch the K-Series powered Swift. The Swift petrol is currently powered by a 1.3 litre engine derived from the Esteem. The G13B engine is not only outdated, it has poor driveability too. But Maruti is not replacing the engine for power or torque. April 2010 will see Bharat IV norms come into effect and Maruti’s G-Series engine won’t be Bharat IV compliant. Thus Maruti will copy-paste the engine into the Swift petrol from the recently launched Ritz.

The 1.2 litre K-Series engine will help in two ways. Better mileage and lesser duties. The Indian Government gives excise benefits to petrol cars having engine capacity less than 1200cc. So that will amount to 4% excise duty reduction on the Swift petrol, the Swift diesel already gets this benefit. Can we expect a reduction in the price of the Swift petrol? Your guess is as good as ours.

Ford To Launch Endeavour Facelift

noreply@blogger.com (Admin) — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 01:30:00 +0000

Ford India will give the Endeavour a minor facelift by the end of the year. The facelifted Endeavour will also have a Automatic transmission variant. Restyled headlights, rounded tail lamps and a new chrome radiator grille are the major highlights of the facelift. Competition in the SUV segment is heating up with the Honda CR-V, Chevrolet Captiva, Mitsubishi Outlander and the upcoming Toyota Fortuner.

New Bajaj Scooter Launch In 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Admin) — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 01:30:00 +0000

Bajaj Auto is developing a new scooter in a joint venture with a Chinese company. However the new scooter is atleast two years away from launch. Knowing Bajaj and their punctuality we doubt the scooter will be launched on time. Bajaj view Activa as the most successful scooter in the Indian market and will postion the scooter against the Honda Activa. Bajaj has started making bikes from its facility in China. The first shipment of 1,000 bikes made in China have been shipped to Nigeria through India.

Land Cruiser Diesel Launch On 9th June

noreply@blogger.com (Admin) — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 01:30:00 +0000

Toyota will launch the LandCruiser Diesel at Mumbai on 9th June, 2009. Just like the petrol version the diesel LandCruiser will be bought in through the Completely Built Unit (CBU) route from Toyota’s parent plant in Japan. The diesel version of LandCruiser Prado is built on ladder frame, and would be powered by a 4.5-litre V8 diesel generating 282bhp of power and a 662NM of torque. Running on 285/60/R18 tyres this monster SUV will be equipped with a six-speed automatic transmission, with four-wheel drive.

According to a senior representative of Toyota, the company has already began a feasibility study on this segment and would be chalking out robust strategies to make its prices competitive.

Identical Twins Blame & Evade Parking Tickets

noreply@blogger.com (Admin) — Sun, 31 May 2009 01:30:00 +0000

Swiss officials say they are powerless to act against identical twins who have run-up hundreds of parking tickets and blamed each other for the offenses. They cannot punish Harold and Michael Lengen, 38, for parking offences committed while driving around Winterthur as they are identical twins and it is impossible to rely on visual evidence to prove who was driving the car when they got the ticket. In the last year alone the twins have collected 29 parking tickets on a car which they both share. But every time they refuse to pay them and tell courts that the other was driving.

Toyota Land Cruiser Diesel Launch In June

noreply@blogger.com (Admin) — Fri, 29 May 2009 01:30:00 +0000

Toyota will launch the Land Cruiser diesel in India in June, 2009. The diesel Land Cruiser will be powered by a 4.0 litre V8 with 286PS of power at 3600rpm and 650NM of torque at 1600rpm. The engine is mated to a 6-speed automatic transmission.

The excise duty structure for CBUs will make the car cost around Rs. 80 lakh. With competitiors like the Audi Q7, BMW X5 and Mercedes M-Class, selling the Land Cruiser Diesel won’t be a easy task for Toyota dealerships.

Ford To Launch Small Car In India By 2010

noreply@blogger.com (Admin) — Wed, 27 May 2009 01:30:00 +0000

Ford India said troubles with its parent in US will not affect its planned $500 million investments for India, and added that the Ford Fiesta hatchback would hit the market by early 2010 with localisation as high as 85% to keep the price competitive. Ford’s small car for India would come with petrol and diesel engines, both falling within the small car definition of the government to avail lower excise benefits i.e. petrol engine under 1200cc and diesel under 1500cc with overall length below four metres.

Ford India is making efforts to ensure that its new small car, that is being designed and engineered for the Indian market, is attractively priced considering it faces tough competition from players like Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai and Tata. Ford India also plans to export the car. The US auto major that posted a record $14.7 billion net loss in 2008 globally had announced the half-a-billion dollar investment for India last year to double annual production capacity to 2 lakh units and make 2.5 lakh petrol and diesel engines.