Japanese two-wheeler manufacturer Yamaha, who is riding the success wave with the FZ series and R15 motorcycle, has put three scooters (50 cc Neo, 115 cc Fino and 135 cc Spark) on test in India. Yamaha has also put these models on display across select dealerships in India.
This is nothing new considering they have been they have already spoken about it before and in a Pune dealership, some scooters have found fans already.
Scoop -
Our sources close to Yamaha tell us a scooter with a capacity of close to 125cc (either Fino or Spark) will be positioned as the market leader Honda Activa alternative. It will be about Rs 2,000 cheaper than the Activa with three or four extra features. The scooter could be launched during the time of Diwali.
The Honda Activa enjoys a 55 percent market share and it would take more than just price undercutting to displace it from the top.
The Indian scooter market is vastly populated with gearless scooters in the 100-125 cc range. Close to 12 lakh units of these easy-operation vehicles were sold in our country last year.
After the futile primo stint of the Italian giant in our country, it was the group of die hard Fiat aficionado’s (includes us here in Indian Autos Blog) who had the belief in the company to defy all odds and kick back. These die hard fans never gave up prating about Palio S10 (1.6) & Palio Adventure, be it clubs or forums or bars.
Every time one talks about these offerings, one goes into seeing himself behind the steering of these machines and revving them hard. It was the pure sound of the engine and exhaust which made the youths go crazy about it.
It was such models Fiat was known for and not the Palio 1.1. The major chunk of the brand’ followers are youngsters, when Fiat announced its comeback, they were the one who flooded blogs and forums and followed magazines to see them again revving the new Linea and Punto.
Fiat launched the Linea, it stirred everyone by it Italian design; all the young maniacs queued up to lay their hands on its steering.
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Its been several decades of Maruti Suzuki dominance in Indian market. Till today, they’ve only marketed cars that were developed by parent company Suzuki in various segments for international markets. While that’s been the case with every overseas car maker in India, most of them including the likes of Honda and Toyota are currently working on a small car that is specifically for the Indian market, developed by Indian engineers.
The Maruti Suzuki YP8 belongs to that category of cars. Modeled for the harsh Indian conditions and requirements, the prototype of the desi YP8 is taking shape at the company’s facility in Gurgaon. It will utilize the Suzuki Swift’s platform and the Ritz’s K-Series engine that displaces 1,200 cc.
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VW’s iconic Beetle will be sold in India by the end of this year. The company will deploy the Beetle as a premium hatchback that rivals the Fiat 500. Though prices will only be announced during the launch, it is estimated to be around the 15 lakh mark.
VW is not expecting the Beetle to sell in large numbers. The company knows this vehicle is more of a brand building tool which should help the Polo, that debuts at the Auto Expo 2010, in its initial stages.
The VW Beetle was shown to the visitors at the Mumbai International Motor Show in January this year. The market study had begun at that point and so has the wait.
The Beetle is manufactured in Mexico and it will be brought into India as a CBU. With the 1.9-liter TDI engine and a 5-speed transmission, the Beetle makes a style statement than anything else for VW and its buyers.
You would need to have a sharp eye and a good knowledge of Skodas to crack this. The Skoda Fabia facelift is what a bunch of lazy engineers can come up with.
The facelifted model is scheduled for the release next year and its front fascia is similar except for the wider lower grille.
A similar change is anticipated to the rear bumper. Inside, the car is rumored to stay largely the same. In India, this is the car expected to come with fresh engines.
Maruti will relaunch the Suzuki SX4 with a new 1.6-liter 106 bhp petrol engine that meets the Bharat Stage-IV standards. That makes it just 8 bhp short of the all-new Honda City. Torque would be between 165-175 Nm.
The 106 bhp SX4 will also be offered with an automatic transmission during the upcoming Diwali festive season. Automatic transmission are beginning to gain popularity in India. Automatics are not preferred by many car buyers in India, but in the premium models, it is compulsory to have one variant of late.
The new Suzuki SX4 will don a slightly revised front grill among many other changes. Its interiors will also be tweaked a little.
The rapidly ageing SX4 gets some additional muscle, this time from an external source. Maruti has signed Bollywood actor John Abraham as the brand ambassador of the revamped Maruti SX4. John Abraham appeals to both young men and women, who is also the target audience for the SX4.
Sources tell Indian Autos Blog that the upcoming small car from Honda (Code: 2CV) could use a 1.1-liter petrol engine. It is learned that the engine could share common parts with the locally-built 1.2-liter engine used on the Honda Jazz. The use of Honda’s cutting-edge VTEC technology was not confirmed.
Sources add the car will be launched in 2011 and is engineered to outrun the Swift and Ritz from the Suzuki stable.
The source says Honda has not looked into the diesel option even for this small car. Whether or not a diesel option will be added at a future date is still to be learned.
The tale of Renault’s losing battle in India continues to take new turns and shortcuts to reach a nearest dead-end. First, Mahindra dropped-out of the three-way JV in Chennai. Leave alone Logan’s sub-1000 sales figures, due to the the poor economic state, Renault was left in a bit of a soup, car sales of the brand was affected globally.
Yesterday, Renault’s official has communicated with DNA and confirmed it will defer its investment on the Chennai plant.
Renault country general manager India operations Marc Nassif -
Renault would defer its investment in the assembly line for its cars — till the economic situation improved. Our commitment to invest in the Chennai facility and India remains undiluted.
The Renault-Bajaj ULC has also faced its quota of problems. One party wants the vehicle to compete with the Tata Nano directly, while the other wants it to be positioned elsewhere. Apart from this dilemma, nothing else about the product, its development or progress has made headlines anywhere.
Sources tell us Renault might not extend its relationship with Mahindra beyond the under-performing Logan in Nashik. Mahindra has said slight modifications to the product could enable it to qualify for lower excise duty, but no breakthrough has been reached. With speed breakers popping up everywhere and now even in the JV down south, one cannot but think Renault would pull the plug in India.
Nissan is however confident of its plans and it has assured us about the Micra and a sedan based on it, which will roll out of the Oragadam plant next year. Nissan will also build three other cars in India and import niche models, the first of which is the 370Z, possibly at the Auto Expo.
