Due to the absence of drive through food outlets in our city, we couldn’t try this out while the Chevrolet Beat was in our garage a few weeks ago. Chevrolet Beat owners – do you get into such mischievous moods behind the wheel of your car? Or is it only the ‘cocktail green’ color cars that influence?
Archive for May, 2010
Talented Argentinian image manipulator Jorge L. Fernández has posted on his website a rendering of the VW Polo sedan (Vento) likely to be christened “Bora” in his country. The bigger difference however in their country, the TSI engines could feature on the brochure, whereas the Indian salesman will only be aware of the no-frills 1.6 petrol engine.
The Polo sedan is more or less a mini Jetta. It is smaller in size, has smaller engines and is less expensive as well.
The Polo sedan is mainly for the emerging markets like India, Brazil, Russia and other countries in South America. Given VW’s lust for body styles, we expect two-door and station wagons to breed out of the same platform, not necessarily for the Indian market.
We are all aware of the fact that General Motors India would be launching the Wuling range of Commercial Vehicles in the country next year after a 50% buyout of the company by Chinese major SAIC.
Now one thing was clear that these CV’s would not carry the ‘Wuling’ badge as the Indians are in the dark as far as Wuling is concerned and wouldn’t click with our buyers who are not very comfortable with China manufactured goods.
What inside sources now tell IAB is that these Commercial Vehicles would carry the Chevrolet Logo (bowtie) and could be sold under the Tavera sub brand.
This is a good technique by GMI as the Tavera is a well known name in India & is quite popular in the taxi market. This way people would be assured of the fact that these commercial vehicles would receive proper service backup & thus the CV’s would find better acceptance in the Indian Market.
Tata seems to be doing some last minute testing (at speeds of easily over 100kph) on the Venture which should be launched within a month or two. We say that because Tata hasn’t bothered to retain any camouflage on the vehicle. Spied here is the vehicle which looks pretty identical to the one shown at the Auto Expo.
The Tata Venture is a much bigger vehicle compared to the Ace Magic. It is wider and longer than the Magic. It has thicker wheels and more headroom. It is powered by a 1.4-liter Normally Aspirated indirect diesel engine that’s found on the basic Tata Indica.
The Tata Venture is going to be positioned higher than the Maruti Eeco MPV meaning its price could start at 4 lakh rupees. The vehicle’s flexible cabin allows Tata to sell it with either 6 or 8 seats. The middle row can collapse with a touch of the button, so no more muscle flexing to accommodate rear seat passengers. It is said that Ratan Tata helped design the windows and seat.
The Venture measures 3.9m in length, 1.5m in width and is 1.8m high. The dimensions of the vehicle are perfect both transporting people inside the city and out on the highway. The interiors are not plain or like a commercial vehicle. Two-tone beige interiors with roof-mounted blowers keep the cabin cool yet practical.
You get features that you don’t find on the Ace Magic like for example power steering, power windows, reverse parking aid, keyless entry with engine immobilizer, and rear wipers. Safety is given more importance with the addition of collapsible steering system and side impact beams.
With the naturally aspirated 1.4-liter diesel engine, the question we’re asking is will the Tata Venture be able to pass emission tests to be eligible for release in tier 1 cities?
We will be launching other variants on the Maxximo platform over time.
M&M’s automotive sector president Pawan Goenka told Livemint when asked about the future of the Maxximo platform. To know what that mystery vehicle is, click here.
Indian Designer Ramesh Gound has come up with a smart design solution to escape horrendous traffic jams in big cities. His design concept consists of a two similar motorcycles which can be attached together to make a car. When there is traffic jam, the car can be split into two bikes again and the two commuters can slip through the traffic with ease on their bikes.
Ramesh Gound submitted this concept for his Diploma Project at the National Institute of Design and this project was funded by Renault Design India. Gound was fueled by the ‘buy one, get one free’ bargaining mentality in India.
It’s interesting to find designers drawing inspiration from the cultural influences of India and ending up with radical designs like this. The viability of such smart concepts for production is something only time can answer.
click through to see image gallery
Indian Autos Blog aficionado Bharat Iyer is the craziest 17 year old car freak you can come across. He probably knows 10 times more than what we knew about cars when were preparing to exit teenage.
Bharat attended the Yetival conducted in Delhi yesterday at the Skoda Boutique showroom and got to learn a tonne about the upcoming Yeti. Here’s a list of things he learned about the car that you possibly didn’t know.
Over to you Bharat.
The Yeti according to them will be coming by Sept/Oct this year but I sense it’ll be here much before that. Going by what was said at the event, there will be two variants – Ambiente and Elegant. There will also be a fully loaded Laurin & Klement variant.
The top of the line diesel Yeti could be priced around 18 lakh. The Laura’s 1.8 TSI will power the petrol model while the 2.0-liter diesel making 140bhp will be the diesel power source.
The vehicle will have hill descent control and also an automatic 4-wheel drive control unit which channels power to the four wheels depending on the terrain. Bi-Xenons and fog lamps with cornering facility will be present.
The vehicle comes fitted with 17-inch alloy wheels and the rear bench on this car is very versatile. It can be completely removed to increase boot space, it is a 40:20:40 (like on the Honda CR-V) split, so it can also be arranged as a four captain seater. The rear seats can be inclined and pushed back as well.
The car will come with roof rails and beige interiors.
Volkswagen has initiated trial production of the Polo sedan in Chakan. As per a report on Autocar India, the Polo sedan will be christened Vento and will be priced close to the Honda City.
The Polo sedan will merely not be a Polo with a boot. It will also have a slightly longer wheelbase with increased equipment. The vehicle will have split seats made out of higher quality cushion. Gadgets from the Jetta could appear on the Polo sedan, which will also be manufactured in places like Russia.
The VW Vento, according to the same report will come with two engine options – a petrol and a diesel. Both engines displace 1.6 litres and both produce 105bhp. However, the diesel makes 255Nm of torque while the petrol can only manage 158Nm.
When Indian Autos Blog contacted the company’s spokesperson Kurt Rippholz regarding this development, this is what he said -
We started trial production (of the Polo sedan) some weeks ago and series production (mass production) will begin in 3,4,5 or 6 (3 to 6) months time.
Will the Polo sedan manage to send the extremely popular Honda City running for cover when it comes out in the second half of 2010?
