General Motors will launch the Chevrolet Cruze by September and the new mini-car by December in India. The company intends to increase its dealerships to 250 from the current 195 before the launch, the company’s Vice-President, Mr P. Balendran said.
Archive for May, 2009
Our sources in Japan tell us Suzuki’s D-Segment Kizashi project has been put on hold. Suzuki announced it had scrapped the 3.5-liter V6 engine in favour of a 2.0-liter engine, but now that engine’s development has also been halted. Don’t expect the Kizashi in India till 2011 or 2012.
Maruti Suzuki India’s Managing Executive Officer (Engineering) has confirmed development of the 800 and Omni van to make it fit for sales after Euro IV norms come into being next year. He also stated the Indian engineers were working on a new small car based on an “existing platform.”
The Dacia/Renualt Sandero, if reports can be trusted, will be manufactured in India next year at the Nashik facility with a 1.2-liter petrol engine. It won’t be a new beginning for Renault as 100,000 of them have been dispatched from production houses around world.
If you want a fast/frightening fact, the Sandero is a fashionable hatchback based on the same platform as the Renault Logan ! Yeah, the Sandero looks like it’ll win the hearts of car buyers looking for something like the Swift or the i20, but the Logan on the other hand looks to have been inspired by a school girl’s pencil box.
The Sandero was completely developed in France and Romania and the first example rolled out of Brazil in December 2007 with a Renault badge. It’s never looked back since then, the production figure touched 100,000 last week and the Romanians had a small celebration in the plant.
The Sandero comes in many engine options- 1.0-liter petrol, 1.4 petrol, 1.5dCi, and 1.6 MPI petrol.
Source – Autokult Poland
The 2011 Chevrolet Aveo, spied by two different sources during the last week makes this the third encounter. Autoweek NL’ photographers caught the test mule during a routine cold weather test. Autoweek appears confused about the identity of this car, but we are clear. This is the next generation Chevrolet Aveo slated for release in 2010. The production car will be shown at the Frankfurt Motor Show later this year.
click through for all the images
The curtains have come down on the Barcelona Motor Show 2009 however it is always relishing to view the cars and chicks concepts in an international car show.
Tata Motors takes part in the Barcelona for the first time ever and the intention is clear, they want as many Europeans to get an idea of who Tata is and what kind of vehicles they manufacture.
A little over two months ago at the Geneva Motor Show, they placed their range on a ramp and is predicted to visit several other shows including Frankfurt this year.
Tata Motors chose to exhibit an array of vehicles including the Tata Ace electric, but the stand out of the lot was the nope, not the Nano Europa, but the orange Indica Vista. It has orange stitching on the black dashboard, doors and seats! We love the continuation of the theme to the interiors. Will that ever make it to India? Oh Tata! you’ve got to offer this as an option to your countrymen.
Barcelona isn’t spitting distance away from India so our friends at Highmotor who covered the show, have brought back some interesting shots from the Tata stall.
hit the jump to view all the interesting images
This is a rare occurrence. To me these guys were competitors and not potential partners or never have I envisaged a concept of them coming together before. Recession has forced a lot of manufacturers to tie-up with each other and develop cars and technology to shave costs. In India, recession hasn’t caused this occurrence for sure.
They say sometimes reality can be stranger than fiction.
India Automotive reports Tata Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra and Maruti Suzuki will collaborate to develop hybrid technology. They will then have the license to incorporate them into their products.
The trio will venture into making lithium-ion batteries, controller and electric motor technologies, essential components of a hybrid powertrain. The partnership will be governed by by I V Rao, R&D chief of Maruti Suzuki and additionally charged with the post of chairman of the committee on National Hybrid Propulsion Programme.
Mahindra’s hybrid vehicle dreams began with the Scorpio hybrid which is production ready. Tata Motors has the electric vehicle technology which looks promising on the Indica Vista EV and the Indica EV.
Maruti Suzuki hasn’t shown interest in developing hybrid or electric cars in the past, but this is a good place to start as hybrid vehicles are undeniably the next phase of evolution in the automobile industry. The three are committed to making the most out of this partnership and the results will be displayed during the Commonwealth games next year.
Automobile Magazine France has issued a couple of close-up high quality shots of the upcoming Fiat Grande Punto test mule. I’m almost certain the changes will be hard to spot for you, a new radiator grille and bumpers are all the exterior differences on the refreshed Grande Punto slated for a year-end release.
Over to the interiors, Automobile Magazine reports the dashboard of the 2010 Grande Punto will utilize better quality materials. Under the hood, the engine will be coupled to a start-stop system which the Fiat 500 was earlier fitted with.
click through for all the images
