Indian Autos blog

GM’s woes in the US has no effect on its India operations, GM in India appears to be operating quite smoothly.

After the launch of Chevrolet Spark muzik and the LPG version of Spark, GM announced the new mini car, will be launched at the end of 2009. The new mini car will have multiple fuel options, using the Beat concept as its base and will be priced around 4 lakh rupees.

But note, this mini car might give in house competition to the Chevrolet Aveo U-VA.

GM feels safe in India and has recently invested more than 5000 crores in setting plants in Halol and Talegaon. The combined manufacturing capacity of these two plants is up to 3 lakh cars per annum.

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French Volkswagen Passat owners can now have the option of two special packs offered by Volkswagen – Embassy Passat and R-Line. While the ‘Embassy’ is aimed at those who seek luxury, the ‘R-Line’ would appeal mostly to the sporty types.

The truth is there isn’t any option other that fulfilling the desires of our followers, who are growing constantly in number all the time.

Indian Autos Blog is looking for a writer who knows about the auto world. We are looking for someone who can contribute everyday devoting an hour or two towards the blog.

You need to have the following if you are to be an eligible person for this post

1) Unshakable passion for automobiles

2) know a thing or two about cars and bikes

3) Is willing to learn and grow in the process

4) Decent writing skills. You need to know basic English.

5) Two hours of time to dedicate completely to the blog

You can be a student, a working professional or anything else. We will keep our gates open for the next four days.

You need to add the following details in your request -

1) You need to give us your name, contact details such as your email address and phone number. If you have any previous experiences, accolades in any automotive related competitions, do not forget to mention it.

2) Tell us why you think you would be suitable for this job. One word and one line answers won’t do any good!

3) Which car do you think should be chosen as the Indian Car of the Year 2009 and why.

Mail in your answers to notjustshrawan[at]gmail.com

Honda Cars India today launched its much anticipated model, the Jazz, in a sparkling function here at the Hotel Taj Lands End, Mumbai. This model is known as the Fit in other countries.

The Honda Jazz is powered by a made for India 1.2-liter iVTEC engine giving out 90bhp power and 110nm of torque. The mileage figures given to us by Honda for the Jazz are between 16.5 to 18kmpl.

With maximum space for passengers and luggage as the intention, the Jazz has been very cleverly put together, acres of space even for the luggage once the rear seats are folded. Otherwise, passengers will find it hard to complain as the cabin is airy and comfortable, offering generous knee and shoulder room irrespective of where you are seated.

The function was set into motion by the very talented stand up comedian Veer Das with his witty humor cracked up the room effortlessly. Honda India’s CEO Masahiro Takedagawa spoke about Honda’s performance in India and the various awards they secured in the recent past including the ICOTY and the JMD awards.

From there the event continued with the A/V presentation showing how the Jazz, through various stages, made it to production. The marketing head Ms Amrita Kaur took to the stage and explained the key features of the Jazz.

Honda targets to sell the same number of Jazz as the City for a start. The Jazz is pitched to the youth, who are in need of a car that reflects their lifestyle and attitude. Available in 6 colors, the Jazz comes in three variants- Jazz (7.43 lakhs), Jazz Mode (7.73 lakhs), Jazz Active (7.78 lakhs) ex-showroom Mumbai.

Renault‘s electric car would be the first of many such affordable alternate fuel cars from the mainstream car companies.

But what’s intriguing is its design, could Renault-Bajaj’s $3000 car take the same design route? This looks like something which we’ve never seen before. Probably something so different should give the Bajaj ULC a distinct identity apart from the most fuel efficient car title, that is.

But we should also remember that it is going to be a low-cost car, and we sense the design would be left simple and functional.

We came away impressed after driving the BMW X3, what we missed, we knew very clearly. The interiors could have been a touch better. The car also needs to be more capable off-road and let’s not leave out the lack of generosity in knee room at the back. This should be fixed in the 2010 version as it grows a little bigger in size.

Promotor speculates the 2010 BMW X3 would borrow elements from the X1 concept. The flat nose is in the interest of better pedestrian safety ranking while the larger kidney grill is keeping with the modern design language.

The 2010 X3 has earned titles like the most popular car in Germany, so BMW will not try too many things with this model. The basic stuff has to remain, while only the shortfalls listed in the beginning needs to be addressed to unleash a killer car.

Rumors have surfaced on the possibility of the Tata Nano sold and serviced by Chrysler’s network in the U.S.A. The U.S-spec Tata Nano could host a 3-cyl engine that should produce twice the power of the Indian version with an array of safety devices like airbags, ABS, ESP and re engineered crumple zones to pass U.S crash test requirements as mentioned by Ratan Tata during the car’s launch in Mumbai and recently in a press conference.

Station wagon, 2-door and convertibles might eventually make the cut, but only after gauging the feedback of the regular car in the unpredictable U.S market.

We don’t have any more information on this topic, but the Tata-Fiat deal isn’t going to stop with India and that’s for sure. During the Nano launch, Tata Motors’ boss Ratan Tata stressed on how the Indian company is cooperating with Fiat on a Brazilian plant that will manufacture commercial vehicles.

For a start, the Xenon pickup truck will be manufactured in Brazil and sold with a Fiat logo, while bigger and more powerful vehicles were not ruled out in the future.

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Contrary to recent media reports, Tata Motors reaffirmed its stand on the eco-car project in Thailand. The company announced it will stick to original plans of manufacturing a sub-1,300 cc mini car by 2012 which has nothing to do with the Nano, specially for the Thailand market.

The car engineered to suit local needs, will share little or nothing in common with the present line-up.

Reports written in Thai newspapers recently suggested Tata would alter its investment plans original due to poor economic conditions. The eco-car project is a government initiative to attract car makers from around the world to set up facilities in the country and make eco-friendly cars.

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