A 10 lakh Hyundai could well be a brand building exercise. We analyze why.
One of India’s leading auto portals Carazoo, is reporting that Hyundai will launch the i30 hatchback in India by the end of this year. While such an outright claim can’t be taken seriously, Carazoo has backed this case by describing engine options and even the price details in their story.
No test mules have been caught testing; no reports of the car reaching ARAI have been emerged; none of the Hyundai officials have ever spoken about it. Counting in these elements, the Hyundai i30 is certainly not on the cards.
The car, according to their report, will be the next i series vehicle in India. It will be launched in both petrol and diesel variants and priced around 9 to 12 lakh rupees.
Hyundai, they say, would offer the vehicle with steering mounted audio control, iPod connectivity, anti-lock braking system (ABS), airbags (6 airbags in total), electronic stability program (ESP), traction control (TC), electronic brake force distribution (EBD).
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The new Fiat Palio has a new fascia and different dashboard
Italian auto manufacturer Fiat has finally decided to bring in the facelifted Fiat Palio to India by April 2010. Launched in Latin America back in January 2009, the new Fiat Palio looks better and has a well designed dashboard.
The Fiat Palio’s sales figures read a sorry tale and merely a facelift or crisper dashboard will not lift hopes. Fiat’s understood the shortage of power under the hood and, according to reports, will transfer the Punto’s 1.2-liter 68bhp petrol engine to the Palio.
Fiat will continue to use the 1.3-liter Multijet engine on the Palio which already is tuned to meet BS 4 norms.
Fiat’s senior staff member -
Although the Palio has become an old model now, it continues to serve our strategic purpose of being the entry level model in our range, while complementing the Punto. It was, hence, essential to infuse some refreshments to the model to keep it under production.
Nissan’s 1.6-liter 200bhp Micra could give Indians a rare opportunity of buying a hot hatch
Update – Our photoshop manipulator SRK has been pressed into action. He will use these meshes to sketch to a solid 2D car in the coming days.
If you are Nissan, you don’t want to be viewing this.
CAD drawings of the next generation Nissan Micra have leaked online, and more importantly come to our attention, thanks to our reader from Taiwan, Hung Su.
The next generation Nissan Micra will be manufactured in five locations in and around Asia. In India, it will be manufactured starting from May 2010 at the Oragadam plant in Chennai. Rumors indicate two direct injection petrol engines will be offered (1.0-liter, 1.2-liter), which will be first in its class.
The Micra will compete with the ranks of Hyundai’s i10, Suzuki’s A-Star and Chevrolet’s Beat.
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The N300 series van will help GM penetrate the Maruti Omni and O2 segment vehicle
By around 2011, Wuling’ N200 and N300 series vans will be sold in India, which marks GM’s entry into the LCV segment in India.
The LCV segment is populated with names like Force, Tata Motors, Mahindra, Piaggio etc. But as GM is going to sell minivans initially, they would have to compete with the likes of Maruti’s Omni and Tata’s Ace Magic. GM will equip the vans with fuel efficient diesel engines.
Wuling, which operates under directions of GM, is also said to be secretly developing a small car that will be slotted under the Chevrolet Spark in the future in India. Though there is no official confirmation of such a launch, GM officials overseas have spoken about the strategy adopted for the low-cost product which will use a lot of tried and test components from previous generation models.
Wuling’s vans are already sold in North Africa, South America and the Middle East as Chevrolets. GM could use the same ploy in India as it enjoys a good status among utility vehicle buyers through the Tavera.
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Cruizing along the highway that consists of the Corolla, Civic and Laura
At the Paris Motor show in October 2008, GM revealed a compact sedan (in the American sense) named Cruze. A year later, the Cruze was launched here in India. Surprisingly, GM India chose to sail the diesel version before the petrol and only the manual version was decided to go with it. With just one engine option, hopes were not very high and the trusted Civic and Corolla, formed a ruthless opposition.
With Skoda Octavia, Toyota Corolla Altis & Honda Civic peeping from the top in the upper mid-size segment of the Indian automobile market, the Chevrolet Cruze has rattled the ladder with 1,100 pre-launch bookings giving rise to a possibility of a scary fall to those on the higher levels. Taking full advantage of the customers in the festive mood, the Cruze missile it seems, has hit the target.
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Who said the Suzuki A-Star was just for the urban commute? Two Suzuki A-Stars finished a 2,112 mile journey through New Zealand, just to prove that statement wrong. While providing a comfortable drive, the Altos scored high marks in the fuel economy department.
The first A-Star was a 5-speed manual transmission and it returned a mileage of 63.8mpg (27.12 kpl). The other car was a 4-speed automatic variant which sipped fuel and returned an average of 56.5mpg (24 kpl)
Both the cars came strapped with the 1.0-liter KB Series engine manufactured here in India.
click through to read the press release
YO Explor ER accommodates an extra battery pack for extended range
After the success of YO Smart and YO Speed, The Electrotherm Group, makers of YObykes, have launched two new models YO Electron and YO Xplorer this festive season.
Their extra-range variants YO Electron ER and YO Xplor ER were also launched. Both of these are zero-pollution, environment friendly economical models
These two new launches run on rechargeable battery and a 250 W motor. Once the battery is fully charged YO Xplor ER can travel up to 105-110 km whereas YO Electron ER can cover 95-100 km. Both these models have the option of an extra battery which enhances range by 70-80 km.
click through for features and specifications
Mahindra’s Rodeo is pitched at youngsters who are seeking a stylish buy
With the festive season on and two new products in its stores already, Mahindra Two Wheelers is aiming at selling 7,000 scooters this month.
Mahindra has launched these products keeping in mind more than one category of customers. The Rodeo has been designed for the youngsters whereas the Duro is said to be suitable for the families.
All these models have been manufactured by the same Taiwan-based scooter manufacturer SYM with a 125cc engine.
These three products give you a gas mileage within the range of 50 to 58 kmpl under standard conditions and therefore said to be value for money products by the company. As of now, the company has around 300 dealerships and 80 service centres and is targeting customers in urban and semi-urban areas.
click through to view the Rodeo and Duro Image Slideshow
