Indian Autos blog

Thanks to our Jaipur reader Samant, we’re able to bring you information on the highly talked about Tata Magic Iris. Tata Motors has launched the vehicle only in Jaipur and the vehicle will soon follow in other cities. The company has launched the BS3 edition of the vehicle which means it can only be registered in smaller cities (cities like Chennai and Delhi register only BS4 emission compliant vehicles).

When Tata Motors was contacted regarding this development they said ads have already started appearing on the local newspapers since the 29th of last month. In the latest edition of Dainik Bhaskar, a local daily, an authorized dealership has advertised the vehicle in Hindi listing some of the features, including the ex-showroom price. We have added the english translation for readers who come from other parts of the world.

In Jaipur, the vehicle costs Rs.2,11,900 (including registration fees and taxes). Booking have opened and a representative from the dealership conveyed to us that delivery of the vehicle will take a minimum of two days if the other formalities like insurance are completed immediately.

English translation of the advertisement –

Presenting Magic Iris

New avatar for public transport

Attractive starting price Rs 198,000 only

Attractive offers on Finance on minimum down payment

611cc, single cylinder water-cooled BS 3 (emission norms compatible), 11hp diesel engine

Smooth cable shift gearbox – 4 forward, 1 reverse

Steering – mechanical, rack and pinion

12-inch radial tires

Seating capacity – driver+ 4 passengers

Hard steel roof and stylish dashboard

The Skoda Yeti was a star attraction of the 10th Auto Expo in New Delhi. The Skoda stall was crowded with people who were trying to catch a glimpse of this good looking SUV. Of course the cute yet abominable creature-the Yeti proudly stood beside the SUV!

It almost crushed me when I tried taking a close-up snap of the Superb Combi. Moving on -

Skoda is pretty serious about the Yeti and even displayed it (along with the creature!) at the Lakme Fashion Week in Mumbai last month to generate some interest. Now the company is taking the car for an India tour like its pals Toyota, who can’t stop showing the Etios twins to the people of India.

The Yeti tour kicked off in Chandigarh on April 15th & will cover the Punjab & Delhi NCR region this month. Skoda plans to take the Yeti to other cities too. This is a good marketing strategy which generates customer interest & brand awareness.

click through to read more

Spied testing in an undisclosed location, the 2011 Chevrolet Aveo U-VA is being put through some rigorous testing in a hope to capture the market that’s dominated by the likes of the Suzuki Swift. If that’s not grueling enough, think of the competition lying ahead. The Toyota Etios, Honda 2CV and many others are just waiting to slice the new Aveo into pieces, if it has any shortfalls.

One major shortfall that will be addressed on the 2011 Aveo when it comes to India is the lack of a diesel engine. The 2011 Aveo will receive a 1.3-liter diesel engine which will be manufactured here, so costs are expected to remain under control.

We have already shown you the futuristic cockpit of the 2011 Aveo. If you take a look at related posts, you’ll discover a lot more information and spy shots posted previously.

The next generation Hyundai Accent/Verna you see here, could be launched in India by the end of next year sporting a 1.6-liter petrol and 1.5-liter diesel engine (same engine block, added technology). It could be built at Hyundai’s Chennai facility and would present itself as an alternative to the Honda City, if our guesses are right. The engineering under the vehicle could be exactly the same as the Hyundai i20, but we have no confirmation.

Spied in China, the next generation Hyundai Accent/Verna is reportedly waiting under dust sheets for an unveiling at the Beijing Motor Show. This spy picture doesn’t reveal anything more than what we’ve seen previously. IAB has tracked every move of the 2011 Hyundai Accent/Verna. We almost became an unofficial website to this car, which to us is a very important model for Hyundai India who is perceived as a budget hatchback manufacturer.

The vehicle could undergo a cosmetic makeover suiting Indian tastes when it arrives here next year. Similarly in the US, Hyundai could tweak its looks to suit regional preference.

On first glance, the Hyundai RB looks like a cross between the Avante and the next generation Sonata. We have already seen the beige interiors in the previous shots which Indians will adore. Hyundai has applied its trademark fluidic design sculpture on this compact sedan which is already gaining ‘mini Sonata’ as its other name.

A 1.6 GDi that produces 140bhp could make it on to the RB soon. Also allegedly in the works is a hybrid powertrain.

We’ll wait for the official photographs before making more comments.

Mercedes Benz will soon launch a stripped down C-Class as an answer to the highly sought after BMW 3 Series corporate edition in India at around 26 lakh rupees. Mercedes Benz was a company which until the first week of January 2010, said it is happy to see BMW launching cheaper variants which will in turn help it retain the “Premium” status in India.

Guess it changed its mind.

We’ve got to laud BMW. It has redefined the word “Premium” with cars like the new 3 Series and the upcoming X1 which will quite surely be the cheapest BMW sold in India. We would like to see Mercedes Benz react to this, though we aren’t sure if Mercedes has a product that can be sold at that price point.

If BMW can price the 5 Series aggressively, then it has all the chances to extend its lead in that segment as well. With the entry of the X1 by December 2010, the Bavarian will eventually sell more cars than the Stuttgart based company, which needs to come out with a magic formula to stop the transfer of power.

Audi, which rock are you under?

click through to read more

BS Motoring has posted what it claims is the first visuals of the Tata Nano diesel that’s scheduled to voyage into the Indian market in the coming months.

BS Motoring has written that a heavier engine has been placed at the rear which sits lower than the petrol Nano. The bottom half of the Nano diesel’s rear is design differently.

Tata has made it public at the Auto Expo 2010 that Bosch is working with Tata Motors to develop this diesel engine. It will probably be a 1-cylinder direct injection 650cc motor that can produce about 30 bhp of power. The gearbox isn’t expected to change, the gear ratios however will to accommodate the extra torque. The engine is termed CRS 1.1 (CRS stands for Common Rail System) and could have a single plunger in its fuel pump. The Tata Nano diesel should be slightly noisier, and we expect the company to take counter measures by supplementing sound deadening material.

Ratan Tata has said to the media in the past that the Nano diesel will be available “sooner than expected” and BS Motoring has gone a step ahead by stating it’ll hit showrooms before the end of 2010!

click through to read more

Full credit to our friends at Goa on Wheels for snapping these images of the new Suzuki Wagon R somewhere in Goa. For the first time ever, we get to see the new and old Wagon R parked next to each other.

We’re also thankful to BS Motoring for listing out the features on the new Wagon R. By new, we just don’t mean a facelifted model. This is the newest Suzuki Wagon R (4th generation), modified partially to suit the Indian taste. Suzuki has done this with the Splash (Ritz), just like how VW did it to the Polo.

MSIL had spent more than Rs. 290 crore on the new Wagon R, which will be launched on the 23rd of the this month in three variants of which the top-end model will have ABS and Airbags.

The new Wagon R is expected to come with a 1.0-liter K-Series engine that’ll deliver about 60bhp and mated to a 5-speed manual transmission. The new model is expected to be more spacious and handle better. Prices will not be revealed until launch, but speculations suggest it’ll start at 3.3 lakh rupees.

click past the break to see more images of the new Wagon R

Thanks to our pal at Carplace Brazil, we’re able to bring you spy shots of the facelifted Ford Figo (known as Fiesta in Brazil) spied in a parking lot.

We’ve not heard any complaints with respect to the Ford Figo’s styling. But then as humans with evil tendencies, we’ll manage to pin-point something. One form of media published Ford didn’t execute the Kinetic Design language thoroughly, from bumper to bumper.

As the Figo is a refurbished Mk 5 Ford Fiesta and built to a low price, Ford couldn’t stretch the design beyond a point. Overall it was a good job by Scott Strong and his team.

You’ll appreciate the design team’s effort only after you glance at this hideous thing which Brazilians will buy as the facelifted Ford Fiesta later this year. This could beat the Hyundai Accent/Elantra to the line as the worst possible model refreshment of 2010.

Was the man behind the facelift of this vehicle teaching geometry in China to primary school children before he got picked up by Ford? I see a hexagon, rhombus and ellipse on its front-end. He’s perfectly executed it to make it look exactly like a Chinese copy car.

How many shapes, figures can you spot?