Indian Autos blog

Ford India has struck gold with the Figo which is managing 6,000-7,000units a month. Since the Ford Figo’s launch, it has sold more than 17,000 units.

Ford had recently began engine exports form it Chennai plant to Thailand and South Africa. Soon after Ford has considerably cleared the delivery backlog of the Figo, Ford would begin exports of the Figo. The first overseas market for the Figo would be South Africa.

Ford would also be exporting the Figo to other Asian markets.

Michael Boneham, President and MD, Ford India in an interview with Rediff -

The Ford story is not about supporting the domestic market, but overseas too. I am excited. In the very near future, we will be sending the first load of Figos to South Africa. That is the first overseas market. In the next 3-4 weeks, we will announce the names of other markets where Figo will be going. They are mainly in the Asia Pacific and Africa region and a couple of other areas as well.

Boneham indicates the company would not be solely concentrating on the small car segment. Depending upon the market growth and response Ford India could launch new products.

Ford India’s future vehicles -

> European Ford Fiesta sedan

> Ford mini-SUV, sub-10 lakhs, based on the Figo

> Ford Endeavour next gen

> Ford compact MPV

> Ford Focus

Here’s a spyshot of the hatchback version of the Hyundai Accent (Verna in India). The spyshot is only of the monocoque of the car and from the image it is clearly evident that it will be a 5-door hatchback. There could also be a 3-door version of the car. The car will be based on the platform of Kia’s Cee’d hatchback.

The chassis in the image appears as if the the car could be a re-badged version of Kia’s Cee’d hatchback. The car could also be a re-skinned version of the Kia Cee’d. The car apart from the platform will share a lot of its mechanicals with the Kia Cee’d such as engines, suspension and other chassis components. The Kia Cee’d has a range of petrol and diesel engines consisting of 1.4-litre and 1.6-litre Gamma petrols, a 2.0-litre Beta petrol and 1.6-litre and 2.0-litre turbodiesel engines. The Hyundai Accent hatchback could be offered with some or all of these engine options when its launched.

The Hyundai Accent hatchback is unlikely to be launched into the Indian market, since Hyundai already sells the i20 here and if it is launched here it would be priced above the i20 at around 8-lakhs, which would make it extremely nonviable.

But considering that Kia is coming to India in the future, it could consider this option. By then the market for bigger hatchbacks would have opened up.

The battery is the heart of a car’s electrical system and proper care is essential in order to ensure that the battery is in good shape. A car’s battery has to perform two functions namely: supply the starter motor with enough electricity, so that it can start the car’s engine and supply current to electric accessories of the car such as the music system and lights, when the car’s engine isn’t running.

A car’s battery is inactive when its engine is running, since the alternator supplies the current required by the car’s electrical system. The alternator also replenishes the current lost by the battery in starting the car’s engine.

The main constituent of the insides of a car’s battery is the electrolyte of the battery, which is generally Sulphuric Acid. The electrolyte of the battery helps the battery to hold its charge. If a car’s engine fails to crank or cranks too sluggishly for the engine to be started, checking the strength of the battery’s electrolyte can help to ascertain whether the car’s battery has a problem or not.

All the cars these days are equipped with maintenance free batteries which enable one to know the specific gravity rating of the battery by just looking into the sight glass of the battery. The specific gravity is the measure of weight of an acid, when compared with weight of an equal volume of water. The ideal specific gravity range for a car battery’s electrolyte is 1.230 to 1.300. If a battery has a specific gravity rating which is below this range, it would not be able to store the current required for starting the car’s engine.

The strength of a battery’s electrolyte reduces as the battery gets old. When a battery shows a specific gravity reading of between 1.200 and 1.230, it may still have enough energy to help the starter motor crank the engine except during cold weather, when the starter motor would require more power than the battery would be able to supply. But, if a battery’s specific gravity rating falls to a value below 1.200, it will not have sufficient energy in it to start the car under any condition.

The sight glass of a maintenance free battery shows three different indications namely: a green dot inside a black border, black and clear or light yellow.

1. Green dot inside black border – Specific gravity of the battery is between 1.230 and 1.300 and the battery is in good shape.

2. Black – Specific gravity of the battery is between 1.200 and 1.230 and the battery could cause starting troubles in cold weather.

3. Clear or light yellow – Time to replace the battery with a new one.

If you are replacing your car’s old battery with a new one, replace it with a maintenance free battery as it eliminates the need to constantly keep inspecting the battery to check whether it is in proper shape or not.

To keep your battery terminals in good shape and to avoid corrosion of the terminals, it is a good idea to spread a light coating of petroleum jelly onto the battery terminals once in a while.

Just a hypothetical case. Imagine if Mahindra had this on their showroom floor, would you spend your money to buy one?

Click HERE to see the vehicle
Click HERE to see the vehicle
Click HERE to see the vehicle
Click HERE to see the vehicle

Chinese manufacturer Zotye Auto, which had tied up with Premier India to launch the Premier Rio in India, has acquired rights for Fiat cars in China and they have started producing remodeled Fiat Palios and Sienas with ‘Zotye’ badging.

These car gets a thoroughly revised styling and don’t look similar to the Fiat Palio and Siena at all. The cars features two petrol engines, a 1.3 liter producing 99 hp and 126 Nm of torque and a 1.5 liter producing 119 hp and 147 Nm of torque. The cars come with three transmission options, a 5-speed manual, 5-speed automatic and 4-speed sequential shift tranny.

Zotye Palio’s exterior looks refreshing. The cars interiors get a huge makeover and draw inspiration from the European Ford Fiesta. The Chinese Palio is loaded with safety features like Dual-airbags, ABS with EBD.

The Zotye Siena’s exterior is a ‘sad’ interpretation of the Volkswagen Polo at the front and an Audi at the back. The side profile looks like a disfigured form of a Ford Crown Victoria (the cop cars that we see in Hollywood).

The Premier Rio mini-SUV is nothing but a rebadged Zotye 2008 which again is nothing but a rebadged Daihatsu Terios. Then would these Zotye Fiat cars come to India as a Premier then? Chance-less! Zotye is licensed only to sell these modified Fiats in the Chinese market. That comes a huge sigh of relief for us.

click through to view the image gallery

General Motors India along with its Chinese partner SAIC is on full swing developing new products for the Indian market across all segments. We have kept you updated about all the developments at GM India and the company’s plans.

GM had announced that it would be developing a Tata Nano rival with the low cost manufacturing expertise of its Chinese partner SAIC. But now reality must have hit GM hard as the company has announced its new car would be priced at around 2 lakh Rupees, which would put in the Alto’s segment.

Karl Slym, President and MD, GM India -

SAIC, our 50% joint venture partner in India, is very advanced on such low-cost manufacturing and we will use its expertise (in developing the 2 lakh rupee car). A lot of money is wasted in duties and logistics if one were to import components from China. Our endeavor is to use low cost supply base in India.

We had speculated about the Chevrolet Sail coming to India and now Karl Slym has confirmed GM India’s plans of bringing the Chevrolet Sail hatchback and sedan to India soon. The company had conducted extensive car “clinics” for the Chevrolet Sail last month in Chennai and a few other cities. Slym stated in these “clinics”, customers showed good response to the Sail variants.

Karl Slym also confirmed that the electric version of the Chevrolet Spark has been abandoned after the company broke ties with Reva as the latter was acquired by Mahindra. He also stated an electric car could be developed in the USA with Indian engineers altering the car to suit Indian markets.

Volkswagen recently bought 19.9% stakes in Suzuki. The German carmaker made a very smart move by buying stakes in Suzuki could create opportunities for VW to jointly develop low cost car models, which is the Japanese marque’s strength.

Volkswagen is planning to develop its next generation of small cars and compact crossovers/SUVs with Suzuki as the latter is best known for its frugal engineering and packaging. Volkswagen’s joint venture with Suzuki could help both the brands and also VW’s sub-brands, Skoda and Seat.

Volkswagen’s small car UP which is expected to be a very low cost city commuter, is already being developed and at this stage VW could do with Suzuki’s know-how on cost effective packaging and low cost manufacturing techniques. The next gen Alto could be based on the VW UP but that would definitely not come to India.

What we feel is that, this would pay Volkswagen huge dividends in India where Suzuki has a strong presence and the VW small car could be made by Suzuki and hence guaranteeing its success in India.

Other Suzuki models Volkswagen would be interested in, are the SX4 and the Grand Vitara. The next generation Suzuki SX4 could be used by VW to develop a small crossover which could be used by Volkswagen for the next gen VW Tiguan and Crosspolo, the Audi Q1, the Skoda Yeti successor and the Seat Tribu.

The next generation Grand Vitara could be jointly developed by both the companies and this could form the base for the Volkswagen SUV that could fill the gap between the Tiguan and the Touareg. This could be a Passat SUV and is dubbed the VW416. This platform could also be utilized for the Audi Q3 mini SUV and the upcoming Skoda Bigfoot.

Except for next gen Alto that could be based on the Volkswagen UP, the other cars that are mentioned above would come to India, if the joint-development exercise goes well.

Possible products that could jointly be developed by VW & Suzuki -

> Volkswagen UP – Next gen Suzuki Alto (only for Europe)

> Next gen Suzuki SX4 Crossover – next gen Volkswagen Tiguan – Audi Q1 – Skoda Yeti next gen

> Next gen Suzuki Grand Vitara – Volkswagen Passat SUV – Audi Q3 – Skoda Bigfoot

Volkswagen will showcase the Vento sedan for the first time in India on July 6 in an event in Delhi. A few days ago, we speculated on this, and even expect VW to speak about the Polo 1.6-liter petrol model during this occasion.

VW will launch the Vento in September-October 2010. Prices, features, variants and related information will be relayed then.

With extra leg room, better seats and equipment, customers disappointed with the Polo’s shortfalls will find the Vento convincing. VW will offer both petrol and diesel engines.

1.6-liter petrol and diesel engines should be offered right from the start. The petrol engine will come with an automatic transmission (six-speed DSG gearbox, hopefully), while the diesel will only be available with manual transmission.

click here to see the complete image gallery of the VW Vento