Indian Autos blog

Looks like Yamaha could pip Honda in making the world’s first hybrid motorcycle.

Introducing the Yamaha-Toyota “Prius” powered by a 20bhp petrol engine coupled to an electric motor.

The hybrid motorcycle dubbed Prius, will use a water-cooled engine – the 250cc horizontal single-cylinder through a smart ECU, sends power to the wheels and the generator, which will give the battery juice.

The vehicle is still in the testing phase with improvements incorporated based on the continuous feedback.

If your browser cannot display the above slideshow, view the images directly at the Fiat Grande Punto Evo Image Gallery

The outflow of small cars from Maruti’s stable is ridiculously constant. It announced the new Zen Estilo last week, and within no time, focus has shifted on to another small car for India.

The new “eco” small car will be made in Thailand to benefit from the tax sops the government offers for vehicles following certain regulations (sub-1,300 cc, delivering fuel efficiency of 20 km per litre and under 120 grams of CO2 emissions per km). Our very own Tata is putting together a small car which will also fall under the eco category.

Moreover the Indo-Thai free trade agreement assists in sourcing componenets at a much cheaper rate now. The same has prompted Maruti to source CKD (Completely Knocked Down) kits of the eco car from Thailand and assemble it locally.

Though the details are not clear, could it be an all new small car to take on select variants of the Nano? With the 800 retiring next year, one finds it hard it to believe it will be anything else.

Suzuki Motorcycle India will launch an entry-level motorcycle in the next fiscal year.

Entry-level motorcycles are those with engine capacities more than 75 cc and less than 125 cc. Even a layman knows this segment is dictated by Hero Honda, who has 80% of the pie in its lunch box.

In the next fiscal, Suzuki will also import completely built units (CBUs) of its 1,000 cc GSX-R model encouraged by the success of the Hayabusa and Intruder, which cost Rs 12.5 lakhs each, and together sold about 100 units since their launch 8 months ago.

Photoshop savant SRK has brought out the next generation Suzuki Swift scheduled for 2011 exclusively for Indian Autos Blog readers.

After careful analyzing spy shots of the vehicle taken around the world, SRK claims no concrete changes will occur to the existing design. Our sources have also said the future Swift will retain its character and offer similar levels of fun, a main reason for its success, in the next iteration also and increased practicality.

It will grow slightly to open up more space for rear passengers and possibly to contain battery packs for the hybrid variant made for the U.S market.

Toyota’s small car -

Indeed this is big news. It will be the first time a company in India is launching cars under a sub-brand.

Toyota has not introduced many cars in India. Look at their international line-up. It has so many cars that if you ask one of Toyota’s own engineers, they would not know how many they made.

Speaking to the humble man who heads Toyota in India, Mr.Nakagawa was finding my questions a little humorous at the new Camry’s launch in Bangalore exactly a month ago. I asked him questions like whether or not the iQ was on the Indian platter and if the Hilux (based on the Innova’s architecture) would reach here. I even asked him if the Aygo, Yaris and the Prius could make sense in India, since I felt those cars were cool (no, I don’t know what market survey is and yes, I do know they can always go wrong).

Toyota was sure their future small car could do a great deal of damage to their competitors’ bottom line. They were not willing to share details except that it would not look very unique and only a petrol engine would be fitted initially.

Now, BS Motoring reports more than one small car donning the Daihatsu badge would arrive in India. The big question here is if the new small car could also be among the Daihatsu arsenal.

Dato Akira Okabe, senior managing director and member of the Toyota Motor Corporation board -

We may look at launching more than one compact car model for the (Indian) domestic market. Our current market share in passenger vehicles is 3 per cent. In the next four years, we hope to sell three times our current volumes. And by 2015, our rate of growth will be in double digits.

Toyota’s entry-level SUV plans -

The recently launched Fortuner is priced at 18.75 lakh and the company is looking at bringing in a SUV that will be priced well under 15 lakh. This will mostly be an option for those looking for more fun, quality and character in the Safari-Scorpio segment. The next generation Safari and Scorpio are getting ready to see the light mostly by the end of next year and improvements in quality and technology could make it a little bit more difficult for the Toyota SUV to exercise dominance right from the start.

With the Frankfurt Show coming up in a couple of weeks, it is apt to name this a season of teasers. The latest – an image of the upcoming Fiat Grande Punto Evo, which already has been revealed unofficially by the “bhp paparazzi.”

Wicked.

The Punto Evo is expected to come with Fiat’s Multiair engine. The dashboard is a bit more creative and the bumpers and lights have been altered.

In India, it would be a good idea to offer more powerful engines in the form of the Punto Evo, since it serves as a distinct car and inline with the international model scheme.

We could be wrong.

Yamaha is planning to launch a new variant of FZ but not for common people. This time Yamaha is preparing a model for our very own police force.

Although this plan is in its initial stages and nothing has been finalized, this exciting model is in the pipeline. The technical specs of the bike would remain the same but there would be some changes made to the bike considering the needs of the police force.

As can be seen in the image the bike would be equipped with red and blue beacons and might have some gadgets to fit the needs of the police.

Although the finished product might have been frozen in as soon as the planning phase is complete, Yamaha would be taking constant inputs from the police in case they find something not suitable.