The Honda CR-V is a huge hit in the United States. Such is this smash hit that Honda is afraid to change anything in the car, and hence made some mild and unnoticeable changes and calls it the “new Honda CR-V.”
You need a trained eye to spot the differences. The honeycomb grille replaces the horizontal slabs, a reshaped bumper and new fog lamp housing are additional changes. Under the hood, the goods are the same. On the inside, you can expect some extra gadgetry but the well laid out dash and furniture would not get the nix this time.
The “new” CR-V will be announced at the 2010 Frankfurt Motor Show that starts next month.
Our friend Sam over at Autoblog tells us that the next generation Aveo is not the Agile. He breathes a sigh of relief too!
Americans. You know
Sam says the next generation Aveo is meticulously engineered to resemble the next generation Spark. He makes this statement as he happened to look at the new car last week on a special occasion.
This takes us back to the first set of spyshots that surfaced from the Nurburgring in May – is that the next generation Aveo?
Chinese car company Wuling, which is partially operated by GM, is rumored these days to be busy working on a car that will cost approximately $4,000. GM is likely to reserve this car for developing countries like India, South America, Brazil and China.
Wuling is experienced with manufacturing low cost vehicles. At present, it manufactures low cost pickup trucks and vans for China. Mostly, GM would develop a smaller capacity engine to suit this car’s profile. The interiors could be basic but vital family chromosomes like the split grille and large headlamps will remain.
The rendering above uses bits from the Smart, next generation Spark and the Nano. We expect the car to come with four doors and a platform that is fit for all kinds of small vehicles.
If we were Suzuki, the eye-catching/mind-boggling Kizashi would have been here. In fact by now, Honda would have scampered back to the drawing board to make a new Accord and Toyota would have likely slashed Camry prices. Segment leader Skoda Superb would have been discontinued, and the company would have declared competing in this segment was not viable anymore.
As we are not Suzuki, sadly, the Kizashi isn’t here. It won’t be here anytime soon we’re told. Suzuki officials have confirmed that they will take the final call on the Kizashi’s Indian inning in the next two years.
They say there would be no point in launching it here if the demands are not satisfactory, a lesson they learned by launching models like the Vitara, Versa and the Baleno.
The 2.4-liter engined Kizashi is the Japanese car manufacturer’s first time model in the segments ruled by Honda, Toyota, Mercedes and BMW. The Kizashi uses the old and effective formula – every other feature, at a price less than anything else – a similar formula adopted by the successful Hyundai in conquering European and other far away lands.
Suzuki is known for its powerful spine chilling Gixxers and Hayabusas. In Europe, you would relate Suzuki to the Alto or the fun Swift. In India, you would relate them to the 800 and Omni, two cars that bolted wheels to India. When such a car maker opts in to play in the segment where there are no prisoners, you start to question to ideology behind the move. Sure, you could give a dozen airbags and a 1000 kilograms of electronics, but would the Americans, who love their Mercs and Beemers, want to trip in Suzuki luxury sedan?
Here are a few spyshots of the upcoming Hyundai i40/Sonata YF, a wild improvement over the existing Sonata NF. These shots, apparently taken during the car’s promotional shoot, have been doing rounds all over the internet. If you are interested to know more about this car, visit our Hyundai Sonata YF category page.
After spending almost a week with the i20, this is how we sum up -
Things we dislike -
1. Soft suspension during city drives.
2. Music system sound quality could have been better.
3. Absence of a live fuel mileage meter.
4. Rear seats offering less thigh support.
5. Horn provided is inappropriate for India.
6. Seats could have been leather at least in the top-end variant.
7. Gear shifting could be better, the Hyundai Verna diesel has one of the best gear shift feel in the Hyundai line-up.
8. Rear headroom is less due to the swooping roofline for tall passengers.
9. Instrument cluster backlight dimming function not present.
10. Absence of the front quarter glass like the which could come in handy during turning.
11. Price. Due to the level of export content, Hyundai is unable to offer this car at a lower price. If they did, it would mean even more VFM.
12. Absence of bottle holders or map pockets on the rear door pads.
13. Absence of vanity mirror on the sun visor.
14. Seat belt height adjuster absent.
Things we like -
1. Awesome engine with up market feel and refinement.
2. Loaded with gadgets which are only found on the top end variants of the mid-size sedans.
3. Belongs to a breed of Euro 5 Star safety rating cars.
4. Meaty tires with alloys helping a big way in improving the ride quality and handling.
5. Awesome mileage figures, we managed to get a figure of 14.5 kmpl with a heavy foot and 18.5-19 kmpl (combined) with a nice relaxing drive.
6. Braking ability of this hatch, remember this has all wheel discs aided by ABS .
7. Very stylish design from outside, very trendy and a sure head turner.
8. Superb interior design, very different design element used.
9. Super comfortable driver and co driver seats, they just wrap around you.
10. Huge huge glove box, not seen on may Luxury cars too, can sallow a laptop, its also cooled.
11. The windshield washer spray literally thrusts water on the glass, the cleaning is exceptional and very different from any other car.
12. Audio controls on the steering – not many hatches have it.
13. Retractable mirrors, noteworthy here is the function even works when you have removed the keys out of the ignition slot.
Standard features that the Hyundai i20 CRDI Asta comes with -
1. CD MP3 player with steering mounted controls.
2. AUX and USB ports.
3. Climate controlled AC.
4. Power windows front and rear.
5. Power mirrors and Retractable mirrors
6. Two Airbags.
7. Seat height adjusters on driver side.
8. Steering wheel adjuster for reach and height.
9. ABS.
10. All wheel discs.
11. Rear defogger with washer.
12. Broad tires with nice alloys.
13. Remote locking.
14. Trendy key remote.
Back in the year 2003 Hero Honda launched its first sports bike called “Karizma” which was among the few bikes to have an engine that surpassed the 200cc mark. This bike became the benchmark and a trend setter for the motorcycle industry which led to other manufacturers like Bajaj to introduce high capacity bikes like the Pulsar 220.
The Karizma gave the Indian bike enthusiasts the feel of a sports bike which was awaited for a long time. Karizma is a well balanced combination of power, style and performance, which is still missing from other sports bikes in India.
Although being in the market for so many years, there weren’t any upgrades for the bike. Hero Honda gave it a cosmetic makeover and launched Hero Honda Karizma R (Racing edition) recently. This version had carried over the same technical specifications from its predecessor, which was a big disappointment for its fans as they expected some power and torque improvement on the bike.
The Hero Honda Karizma has been fighting a tough competition. Bikes like Bajajs’s Pulsar 220 and Yamaha’s top end YZF-R15 until now, have not finished the Zma. However, waiting for a complete knock out before bringing in an upgrade isn’t going to work and Hero Honda has realized that.
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