Indian Autos blog

Many of us expected big things from the Polo and we weren’t disappointed. We expected the Volkswagen Polo to be a striking, well-engineered and comfortable vehicle. And it was.

Here’s our thoughts packaged as a TV advertisement for South African viewers. Who here expecting snow on a hot Monday afternoon? At most, we’re expecting is the temperature to stay below 35 degrees today in Chennai.

General Motors India is coming strong & confident in the Indian market. India’s 1st 4 door electric car the E-Spark will roll out from the company’s plant at the end of this year. It does not stop there. GM India would be introducing electric vehicles based on the lines of the upcoming Chevrolet E-spark.

GMI tied up with Bangalore based electric car company REVA last year & made it clear that they are exploring the possibility of incorporating electric drivetrain technologies in several Chevrolet models. Karl Slym (President & MD GMI) said the success of electric cars both in India and globally would depend on its affordability and its eventual utility for the end consumer.

The company will gauge the success of the e-spark in India after which it would bring in more electric products. Slym said that the idea behind e-Spark was to see the viability of replicating the same model on its other cars as well. The aim is too see if such products find market acceptance.

Karl Slym in a press statement said that they would want to fully support the customer who buys such a product & plans are in place in terms of supporting consumers for setting up charging points within their own premises.

The company is also in talks with the Government on incentives such as making charging points for EV’s in parking lots, free parking for EV’s & having pay & charge stations. Some state governments have recognized this fact & thus the e-spark will initially be launched in Delhi-NCR & Karnataka only.

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Tata Motors will launch its seven-seater crossover vehicle Aria in the coming months, reports Telegraph. The company is also planning to export the vehicle, but isn’t planning to do so immediately.

The Tata Aria (spied last month) is a cross between a MPV and a SUV. It will have a 2.2-litre direct injection common rail diesel engine that powers the Safari and Sumo Grande. Likely to carry a price tag between Rs 12 lakh and Rs 14.5 lakh, the Aria will be most sophisticated Tata vehicle.

A senior Tata Motors official -

The Aria should be launched most likely in May or June. We are going according to our plans. As for exporting it, we will make all our cars available outside the country depending on their need or relevance

The Tata Aria will also be sold in the US, the UK and Europe in the next decade. It is expected to carry a wide range of powertrain options, crucial if Tata needs to get off to a good start in the European countries.

Locally, the Aria will have features that the Toyota Fortuner, Ford Endeavour and Chevrolet Captiva benefit from. The Aria will try offering all the comfort but at a much lower price tag. Four wheel and two wheel drive options will be offered, possible on all the variants.

The province of Moselle in France says Tata Motors should explore setting up a manufacturing plant for the Tata Nano in the region as it could help it achieve the target date of 2011 for European foray.

Daimler’s Smart city car is being manufactured at Moselle and leading Canadian automobile components maker Magna also has its unit stationed in the region.

Moselle Development Agency Director General M David Malingrey -

Tata Motors should take a look at the Moselle province for establishing manufacturing and logistics units for Nano cars. By the end of this month, we are planning to contact Tata Motors in India with a proposal to look at the investment opportunities here for the Nano.

The cost of land in Moselle is around 10 euro per square meter, one-tenth of what is land costs in Germany and Luxembourg. The province is knit well to major centres via road, air and river transportation. There is availability of raw materials such as steel and plastics that are required to build a car, and Mercedes A-class, Mercedes Evobus, Opel and Ford Focus are being manufactured in less than 150km away from the province.

Mahindra will sell the Logan in India without the Renault or Logan badge, the company revealed moments ago at a press conference. The company which once said “the era of sedans is over” with the introduction of the MPV Xylo, will get into manufacturing a tweaked Logan and sell it as a Mahindra product.

Mahindra will continue to manufacture the Logan, and in the near future, a sub 4-metre version, and Renault will receive royalty for each car sold in the process (royalty per-car arrangement). This is a small fee that will be a percentage of the value of each car sold to the customer.

Mahindra is also working on the platform to bring out a sub four-meter SUV in 2012. This SUV could sport a 1.5-liter three-cylinder CRDi engine.

The Renault association will be used on the Logan till the end of this year hinting no major changes to the product will happen till December 2010. Mahindra will sell the Logan with a different name 18 months from now, and when that transition happens, the product will go through a sea of changes, possible with new features, interiors and engines. The car will be serviced across India by the existing dealers of Mahindra.

Mahindra is allowed to build the Logan for the next five years in India. It has ruled out the introduction of new variants from the Logan platform immediately. Renault will purchase the Logan from Mahindra and sell it in South Africa.

More to follow. Stay tuned.

BMW emerged as the leading luxury car brand of India in 2009. This obviously was a set back for Mercedes Benz that for years has been known as the ultimate luxury car brand in India. Mercedes made it clear that their sales were low because of the fact that the E class was getting phased out and customers were waiting for the new E-Class.

Now that India has the new E, the BMW 5 series seems to be in trouble. In the 1st 3 months of 2010 the E class has beaten the 5 & has helped Mercedes stay ahead of BMW.BMW has taken this seriously & has decided to launch the next gen 5 series in India ahead of schedule.

The F10 BMW 5 Series will officially be launched in the Indian Market on the 30TH of April. BMW had originally planned a July launch but considering the circumstances that would have been too late. The new 5 was launched in Europe just a few months back & India is not far behind!

BMW has shipped the CKD kits in record time in order to start assembling the new 5 at its Chennai Plant ahead of schedule. The company will 1st bring the high end variants-535i & 530d & then gradually launch the lower spec variants.

We also expect a formal announcement by the company at the launch regarding the new President of BMW India. Dr. Andreas Schaaf (formerly head of sales & marketing BMW Korea) will replace Peter Kronschnabl who would move to BMW Russia. The new President is suppose to take hold of the company starting May.

The current 5 has huge discounts going for it as the new 5 is just a fortnight away. The Mercedes E class sure has a tough rival gunning for it!

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Renault is all set for a new innings in the Indian market. Its Joint Venture with M&M has not really worked out with the Logan selling only 1/10th of the number of units that was initially planned per month. The Logan might be upgraded with a new sub 1.2litre engine along with an under 4m length & relaunched with a lower price tag but beyond that, there would be no car coming from this JV.

Renault will take on the Indian market independently. It will set up a dedicated distribution network and will be bringing a brand new portfolio of contemporary products. The Fluence sedan that was showcased at the Delhi Auto Expo will be targeted at the Honda Civic customer and the Koleos SUV will take on the Toyota Fortuner.

But more importantly it will bring the small car-Clio into the Indian market. The next gen Clio which would make its international debut in 2012, is based on Nissan’s V platform, the same one that is used by the Micra. This would be an advantage for Renault as it would get a ready-made base for the car thus saving costs.

Platform sharing has always been an advantage for companies as it saves costs. Giants like GM,Ford,VW have raked in millions owing to this technique. Nissan & Renault sell products of the same segment in the global market & have had a success as both the companies maintain their own DNAs.

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Maruti Suzuki has never been able to sell its high end car- the Grand Vitara, despite revisions in our country. This is because Indian customers shelling out above 10 lakh rupees are very particular about the brand they purchase. Maruti does not enjoy a high end image and has always been known as the maker of cheap & affordable hatchbacks. But it is betting big on its upcoming D segment sedan the Suzuki Kizashi.

Suzuki officials say that it is the most substantial Suzuki ever built. The car was displayed at the 10th Auto Expo in New Delhi & it did garner a lot of interest. It does not have jaw dropping looks but it is a smart and very lively-looking sedan.

Company officials confirm that the car will hit the Indian market at the end of this year. It will be imported as a CBU from the company’s Sagara plant in Japan. Officials also said that they might consider importing it as a CKD at a later stage if volumes are justified. The car is expected to be priced between 12-15 lakh.

This means that the car would compete with the Honda Civic & Toyota Corolla & not the Accord & Camry with which it competes in the US. It will be powered by a 2.4 liter petrol engine pumping out 188 PS of max power & 230 NM of torque. The car also comes with an optional 4 wheel drive system which can be manually operated by a button. It has a 6 speed manual transmission & there is also a CVT (Automatic) transmission on offer.

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