Hero Honda seems to be in a mood to cash in during this festive season to the maximum possible extent. After the long awaited Karizma ZMR last month, HH have launched new variants of Hunk and their best selling model Splendor+ which has crossed sales of over one crore units.
With its muscular styling and high power engine, the Hunk has created a lot of interest among youth, particularly college students in India. The New HH Hunk variant consists of body colored rear view mirrors, grey colored rear grab rails, handle bar, foot rest and side cover and red colored rear shock absorber springs. The bike also has a Bull insignia on the side panels adjacent to the fuel tank.
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The Chevrolet Spark EV could be priced around 3.5 lakh rupees
REVA, the Bangalore-based electric car maker has sold just over 3,000 EVs around the world just before unveiling the NXG and NXR at the Frankfurt Motor Show. That makes REVA the largest maker of electric vehicles in the world.
Come next year, GM India could pip REVA and occupy the top spot, with heavy assistance from REVA themselves. GM India claims it will sell not hundreds, but thousands of Spark EVs in India.
The skeleton and panels including the dashboard and furniture will remain the same. Changes will be made inside the structure as the IC engine will be done away with and instead an electric powertrain supplied by REVA will guard the space.
The customer will be given the option of either the high powered lithium ion battery unit or the cheaper Lead Acid option. Depending on his choice, the car could cost up to 3.50 lakh rupees.
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Based on the mesh drawings of the new Nissan Micra leaked online yesterday, Headlight magazine has published colored shots of select angles. While the car isn’t all that good looking, one must also understand it will look different in flesh and an image editing program cannot replicate every detail.
We’ll have to wait for spy shots or leaked images to decide how appealing the vehicle is.
The practicality of the Cruze SW is more appreciated by the European buyer
Edit – We’ve just learned that this image is fake and is picked up from another website and photoshopped. We’ll try and be more careful next time when someone sends something in.
Our regular reader Sunil Sharma from Ranchi sent us this image today morning. One look at it and you can’t mistake it for anything else.
The station wagon variant of the Chevrolet Cruze might not make it to India, but the European and probably American customer prefers such a type of model. He sees more practicality in a wagon. He is more likely to go camping with his family on the weekend where he needs a vehicle that can carry all the gear. A large family will go in for a station wagon since it meets multiple demands and suits almost every kind of driver.
Chevrolet is also said to be working a hatchback version of the Cruze (just like how SRV was derived from the Optra) which would also be available only to the European buyer.
Note – You can read our 30+ posts on the Chevrolet Cruze by visiting this link.
Will the surprise car at the Auto Expo be the small car prototype?
After the launch of the i20 diesel and automatic, Hyundai has not been much in the news. At least not for the right reasons as labor and the lack of free trade agreement between India and European countries forced Hyundai to shift a major chunk of the i20 production to Turkey.
Now, the company has revealed exciting details. We’ll give them numbers for easier assimilation.
1) Hyundai i40 -
Hyundai claims the i40/new Sonata YF will arrive in India “Sooner or later” but no date has been decided. We expect the Sonata YF to be brought in a CBU and compete with the likes of the Camry, Accord, Superb and Teana.
2) Hyundai’s surprise car -
Hyundai India says it will display “a surprising product” at next year’s Auto Expo in Delhi. We suspect this will be a prototype of their small car scheduled for 2011. This will be a repetition of what happened in the 2008 edition of the Expo with the Suzuki A-Star concept followed by production later in the year. This time at least we expect the concept to stick closer to the prototype version.
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Toyota’s small car isn’t going to wear contrasting clothes. It will be one for the Indian on a budget.
We are yet to know if Toyota’s small car will be sold in India under the Daihatsu brand, but what Mr.Sandeep Singh, Deputy Managing Director of Toyota Kirloskar Motors informed us during the refreshed Camry launch in Bangalore earlier this year was it will compete with cars in both A and B-Segments in the later part of 2010.
Toyota’s small car, unlike Ford’s compact Figo, does not rely on any existing car or platform. The low cost car has been scripted from scratch, which in the initial stages will be offered only with a petrol engine. A diesel engine and sedan variant also is in consideration, but we don’t expect to see it right away.
Mr.Singh also told us the design of the car will not be radical; it will not look very unique compared to the existing crop of budget hatchbacks in India. The small car, which will be made using Tata Steel, is designed to suit the Indian buyer to the maximum possible extent. Into this small car project, Toyota has placed all the knowledge gained in their ten year stint in India. But that does not mean this car is solely for the Indian market. It will be sold in similar markets around the world.
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They say trial production of new Nissan Micra begins next month in Chennai
Reports claim Nissan India will soon begin trial production of the much awaited next generation Nissan Micra in its Chennai plant. The Micra will be produced for domestic and international customers starting May 2010, employing about 1,500 people.
Reports claim Nissan plans to produce about 30 units in the trial run next month.
According to Nissan Motor India spokesperson, the Micra hatchback is based on the global compact car platform and will debut in the Geneva motor show in March 2010. Nissan would follow the Micra up with a sedan using its platform and later on, a MPV as well.
The factory, which is currently under construction, will be able to produce 200,000 units annually when complete. Cars built here will be put on a ship that sails to the European markets and UK.
Another piece of information about this project is that Unipress, Tenneco Exhaust India and Tacle India are going to be some of the suppliers for the Nissan small car project.
Suzuki is celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Swift in Germany by introducing a new model badged ‘Limited 25′ which is of course a limited edition.
Turn signals integrated into ORVMs, aluminium wheels, chrome grille are few decorators
Alcantara seats, aluminum wheels, chrome grille, and an electrically-folding mirrors with integrated turn signals, exhaust aperture, and special decorative elements are some of the ‘Birthday’ decorations for the vehicle.
The birthday edition comes loaded with a 1.3 ltr gasoline engine producing 92 hp and mated to a 5-speed manual transmission. It is a regular 5 door version available for 15,700 Euros. The three color options available on the special edition are “Cool White Pearl Metallic,” “Cosmic Black Pearl Metallic” and “Supreme Red Pearl Metallic.”
Suzuki will sell only 700 units of the Swift limited 25.
IAB wishes a Happy 25th Birthday to the Suzuki Swift.
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