Indian Autos blog

No, the Tata Indigo CS e-Series isn’t a combination of the 5 Series and the E-Class. No way.

What is it is a new range of Indigo CS with added equipment and style. The Tata Indigo CS DICOR e-Series is compliant to BS4 emission standards meaning it can be sold in major cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai etc.

Differences come in the form of the new grille (lifted from the Indigo XL), body colored indicator embedded ORVMs, beige interiors (adopted from the Indigo XL), Bluetooth connectivity (is it Blue&Me from the Fiat Linea?) drilled pedals and white alloy wheels.

The DICOR engine has been tuned to meet BS4 emission standards. The brochure doesn’t mention the 1.2-liter petrol engine’s emission level or whether it meets the requirement.

More information on the new model is expected in the coming days. I hope the features make the Indigo a better car to drive.

Earlier today, we stated the LPG market is well and truly alive in India. General Motors just proved us right.

Spied in the outskirts of Pune, the Chevrolet Beat test mule (identified by the red number plate) you see here isn’t just another of those regular Beats you see scooting around the city grabbing eye balls. This one’s got a LPG tank sitting behind the rear passenger seat (notice the rounded portion on the wheel arch), assisting the range and emission level of the car. Observe the rounded portion of the rear windscreen. It’s got an LPG badge too.

The Chevrolet Spark LPG had a good reception when it was launched last year and GM has sold a decent number of LPG models since then. They then offered CNG option on the Aveo and they’re about to launch the Spark EV. There has been no shortage of alternative-fuel cars from GM India, so we find no reason why the Beat LPG is has to be just an internal assessment or experiment.

The Chevrolet Beat LPG should come with the same 1.2-cylinder engine and 5-speed manual gearbox. On the LPG mode, the car will be smoother to drive, but less responsive. The added weight will show on the car’s pickup, and whatever little boot space it has will take a walk. The Beat LPG could also be sold in Europe, where it’ll join cars like the VW Polo LPG in the list of new generation LPG cars.

We aren’t sure if this is the SUV Force Motors is working on. Spy n Sketch who published these shots recently claim it could be Endeavour-like SUV that’ll allegedly be priced at around 10 lakh rupees.

No further details are available at this point, but one can expect this vehicle in the next one year. The vehicle could borrow key components from an existing passenger vehicle like the Cruiser Classic or Trax Classic. Force Motors builds the Traveller mini-bus which is a re-engineered Mercedes Benz Transporter/TI van launched in Europe back in 1977.

The engine also comes from Mercedes Benz, and the one powering the SUV could also be a derivative of the Mercedes engine. Output is expected close to 100bhp mark.

Why is this relevant to Indian readers? Because Ford will introduce EcoBoost engines on its cars here in India in the coming years. They have said that Ecoboost is an interesting technology for future Indian Fords.

We don’t know exactly which engines will receive the Ecoboost treatment, but we can fancy a guess or two. The new Fiesta and the Ford Focus should get them.

Ford will introduce Ecoboost technology (turbocharged engines with direct injection) previously reserved only for bigger engines, on down-sized 4, 3 and 2-cylinder engines as well. The latest and lowest displacement using Ecoboost will be the 1.6 liter inline-4 that will be transplanted into the C-MAX MPV.

The best news is the power output of these highly advanced motors – if tuned for fuel efficiency, a 1.6-liter engine can generate not less than 150 horsepower and if it tuned for performance, then it can put out an amazing 180 horses and 244Nm of torque.

If Ford makes a 1.2-liter Ecoboost in the future, we can expect power to cross the 100hp mark easily. This is great news for a car like the Ford Fiesta (spied testing in India), which can be tinkered to under 4-meters to qualify as a small car. If a 1.4-liter engine is the engine in question, then it can be used on the Fiesta sedan, which is also scheduled for an Indian journey the next decade.

The 2.0-liter version of the 4-cylinder EcoBoost range adds Exhaust Gas Recirculation to its existing list of technology including direct injection and turbocharging. EGR helps bring down combustion temperature thereby directly minimizing the amount of NOx produced during combustion.

Ford’s smaller three cylinder and even a two cylinder EcoBoost engines are a few years away from an automobile, but we can safely assume that at least one of these engines are for the Indian Fiesta. Could the Figo receive one too?

Here’s a video showing the capability of the soon to be launched Nissan Micra on the freeway.

We find the driver annoying, the passengers keep yapping through the video in a language we don’t understand and they get unbearably loud at one point. The saving grace is the monstrous acceleration of this small car even when it is loaded with 300kg of loud humans.

The Nissan Micra is powered by a 1.2-liter 3-cylinder petrol engine that impresses us with its performance. It doesn’t sound that bad either. We’ve tried the 1.2-liter engine on the Chevrolet Beat, the 1.2 on the Figo and the 1.2 on the VW Polo. If the footage here is anything to go by, we have much to look forward to, possibly the best 1.2-liter petrol engine offered in India.

Rediff Business is reporting that Mitsubishi will launch the much awaited Lancer Evolution in the month of June. Indians have been longing for this model, a model which IAB thinks is what Mitsubishi really stands for and should have come years ago.

Pritam Saikia, marketing head of HM-Mitsubishi Motors -

Evo X has been in the minds of the Indian consumer for a long time now. It is a fantasy sports car that has caught the fancy of speed enthusiasts in movies like the Fast & Furious where it featured. We are not looking at huge numbers. We plan to sell around 50-75 cars in India per year. It is a car that boosts the brand equity of Mitsubishi in India. It has the rally DNA that outlines Mitsubishi cars in the country

The Evo would be a CBU model meaning the asking price will be around the 40 lakh mark. For what you’re paying, you can’t get any better performance – a 2.0-liter turbocharged engine gives out 300bhp engine. 0-100kph is performed in a matter of five seconds.

The car has completed the homologation procedure in ARAI and is ready to be unleashed. Mitsubishi is looking to sell about 75 units a year in India. Perhaps the company could think of assembling it locally if the demand is high.

There’s been no official word from VW on the LPG model, but according to our alert friends in Polo Driver, who have spotted this one on the official website, the LPG model is out in Germany.

In India, the LPG market is well and truly alive even though the superior alternative CNG is threatening its existence. Due to the lack of proper infrastructure, the CNG models are offered only in select areas.

Coming back to the twin fuel VW Polo, the LPG fuel option is provided only on the 1.4-liter engine, which isn’t offered in India yet. Dubbed the Polo BiFuel, the newcomer’s 1.4-litre 84bhp engine runs on both petrol and LPG autogas. The engine cannot be started on LPG. It needs to be warmed up using petrol and immediately after it switches to LPG mode.

Thanks to the LPG tanks, the total range of the Polo is maximized to 1300km (807 miles) from the car’s 52-litre fuel tank, located in the spare wheel well in the luggage compartment. An LED-display in the instrument panel informs about the fuel being used.

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Spied testing at the Nurburgring (for interior spy shots, click here), Germany, the next-generation Suzuki Swift is undoubtedly losing camouflage with every passing day. The car’s design will be an evolution of the current model and it is supposedly arriving with the same appeal.

That’s the right way to go. Why fix when it isn’t broken?

What the similarly modeled exterior hides is a completely new platform that is designed to house other kinds of powertrains. For India however, you can expect the 1.2-liter KB-Series engine to continue its duties. We have also reported on the usage of a 1.5-liter KB-Series engine.

Variable valve timing technology will also debut on the Swift for the first time. Turbochargers will also come, but not on the Indian model. Automatic transmissions could also find their place on the new Swift which debuts at the Paris Motor Show in September this year.

As far as the diesel is concerned, VW could supply diesel engines for the vehicle so the partnership between Suzuki and Fiat could come to an end shortly. We think the 1.2 TDI used on the similar sized Polo will be a perfect fit on the Swift.

Maruti hates to throw away its cars, and with the recent upgradation of the Swift to meet BS4 standards, it is difficult for us to think of a complete phase-out anytime soon.