Indian Autos blog

Speaking to Indian Autos Blog yesterday afternoon, Mr.Jnaneswar Sen, Vice President – Marketing, Honda Siel Cars India Limited, clearly expressed that many popular international models aren’t sailing to Indian shores in the near future.

Mr.Jnaneswar Sen, Vice President – Marketing, Honda Siel Cars India Limited, -

We have no plans for European Honda Accord. We test our global models in India (a standard procedure followed with almost every popular international model, we learn). If you come to our plant, you will see Odyssey and Stream here. We have no plans of launching these vehicles locally.

When asked if the Euro Accord was playing home to a diesel engine, he said -

These are only speculations, and I don’t want to comment on speculations.

Given the sales of Honda Jazz are dull and there were talks of a more powerful and comfortable variants, we asked Mr.Sen about them. Listen in to what he said -

The 1.5-liter Honda Jazz makes no sense for India. The enthusiasts may like such a vehicle. If we increase the displacement, the product cost as well as the excise duties will go up. The A/T model overseas is coupled to bigger engines, like the 1.3 or 1.5-liter engine. The Indian model, quite possibly the only one, comes with a 1.2-liter engine and the volumes are low.

After hearing to what Mr.Sen had to say, we can safely conclude that many of the next generation Hondas will make it to India and Honda wouldn’t prefer tweaking the existing line-up of vehicles from another country to suit Indian buyer’s preferences. We also think Honda will request their HQ in Japan to take India into consideration as a potential market when they’re designing internationally popular models.

Although we have been studying the scope of launching EVs in India, it hinges on a lot of factors like the government’s support in terms of providing infrastructure, incentives, etc. Right now, the cost equation for Volt is not there. Although we are in talks with the government for assistance and other incentives to develop infrastructure for such products, we don’t expect any sort of support in the near term.

Ankush Arora, GM India vice-president (marketing, sales and after sales) speaking to wheelsunplugged.com on Chevrolet Volt and its prospects in India

Land Rover’s upcoming compact crossover-coupe Range Rover based on the stunning LRX concept displayed at the 2008 Detroit Motor Show will come to India shortly.

The new Compact Range Rover would be the first ever Land Rover to come only as two-wheel drive (2WD) avatar. Land Rover, which is the last word in off-roaders has always been manufacturing four-wheel drive vehicles since its inception in 1978. The new car, which is a cross between a crossover and a coupe, is slated to be the sportiest and most efficient Land Rover.

Phil Popham, MD, Land Rover -

Land Rover has announced that the all-new compact Range Rover will be available in 2WD. This is good news for the company and for our customers. A 2WD option is just one way in which we are developing our vehicles efficiency whilst adding to the Land Rover range and expanding our customer base.

The Compact Range Rover is the result of Land Rover moving towards a green future. This car which does away with the 4WD which would result in a lighter and more fuel efficient car. This new product is also an attempt to bring in new customers to the brand.

This car is slated for its European release in 2011 and could soon be brought to India. The Tata ownership of Land rover would ensure that the Indian market get new compact Range Rover soon. The car can be expected to reach Indian shores by 2011-12.

Land Rover is also reportedly working on a diesel-hybrid vehicle, ‘Range-e’ which has an 3.0l V6 diesel mated to an 8-speed transmission.

Here are the leaked official drawings of the upcoming Fiat Palio. The drawings of body-panels clearly show the shape of the next generation 2012 Palio. The new Palio would be launched in Brazil in May 2011 and Argentina in January 2012, according to Noticias Automotivas. Fiat India could bring the 2012 Fiat Palio to India in the first quarter of 2012, perhaps at the Auto Expo.

Indian Autos Blog has been continuously following the development of the 2012 Palio and we had numerous spy shots and renderings of the car. We can clearly see that the design of the new Palio is inspired by the Fiat Grande Punto. The shape of the headlamp, the vertical tail-lamps, the rear windscreen and the boot-lid are like the Punto’s.

These are internal prints of Fiat and the design of the 2012 Palio looks very close to the rendering we showed a few weeks ago. This upcoming Palio, codenamed ‘Project 326′ is confirmed to be developed on the new Uno platform hence putting the current Palio’s platform to rest.

Fiat India could launch the 2012 Fiat Palio with the advanced Multiair engine probably in its 1.0-liter guise. The new Palio could also be offered with small frugal engines. If priced properly, the 2012 Fiat Palio is the key to Fiat re-gaining its lost glory in India.

There has been widespread speculations in East-Asia about Toyota Motor Corporation shifting its production base for international exports from Thailand to Indonesia.

All these speculations angered Thailand’s Board of Investments (BOI) which accused Toyota of damaging investor confidence in the country by the moving its production base to Indonesia.

We had brought you news about Toyota expanding its Toyota Fortuner production in Indonesia to cater to the local markets and exports market like Philippines and the Middle-East.

Toyota has clarified that it wouldn’t be moving out of Thailand. And the CKD units of the Toyota Fortuner for India would continued to be brought from Thailand.

This is also good news for thousands of customers awaiting deliveries of their Fortuners in India as they could be getting their Fortuner SUVs sooner. Once the Indonesian factory is ready, the Toyota Thailand’s plant needs to cater only to a fewer export markets then. So this could result in more number of Fortuners manufactured, implicating lesser waiting periods.

Even after Toyota has closed down the bookings of the Fortuner SUV temporarily, thousands of people are still flocking to Toyota showrooms inquiring about the Fortuner.

A technologically advanced automobile like the Prius reaches customers faster than Fortuner in India.

Skoda India is keen on entering the ever-growing small car segment soon. The Volkswagen owned Czech car-maker which entered the Indian market in the year 2001 with the rock solid Skoda Octavia, cemented its position as premium car maker in India. Now Skoda India is getting more ambitious as it has hinted that it would be making more affordable cars (small cars) for the Indian market.

Thomas Kuehl, Sales and Marketing, Skoda India -

All this while, we have been in the high level of the lifestyle. People like our cars (but) we need to be a little more affordable.

Skoda is in the process of developing the small car and this could be sold both in the Indian market as well as the European market. The new small car which could be christened the ‘Joyster’, would be built on Volkswagen’s upcoming UP! small car platform. The Skoda Joyster could also compete with the Tata Nano Europa in the future, as Skoda is perceived as a ‘value’ brand in the Europe.

The Skoda small could share the small frugal 1.0l TDI diesel engines and a sub 1.0l petrol with the VW UP!. As both the smallc ars are based on the same platform the Skoda small car could be built at VW’s high capacity plant at Chakan, Pune. The car could be priced between 3 to 4 lakh Rupees.

It would be interesting to see how VW manages the Skoda Joyster and the VW UP! selling in the same market at a close price range. VW India says both the brands complement each other rather than eating into each others sales, but would they still be complementing each other even in the small car segment?

Click here to see Indian Autos Blog’s exclusive Skoda small car rendering

Hyundai Motors India Limited may be launching the Santa Fe crossover SUV in India by September 2010, reports Indian Cars Bikes. The Santa Fe has been expected in India for quite sometime, and it was confirmed earlier that 2010 will be its year of introduction. But now with the Toyota Fortuner’s booking being temporarily closed, Hyundai could cash in on the vacuum in the market to gain a foothold in the attractive premium-SUV segment.

The Santa Fe is a very capable SUV and is a worthy competitor to the Toyoyta Fortuner whose main selling factor is its road presence and the diesel engine than the Toyota badge. The Santa Fe is wider than the Toyota Fortuner and the Ford Endeavour, the same length as the Fortuner and only 70mm shorter.The Santa Fe is bigger than both the CR-V and the Captiva.

Hyundai could most probably use the same 2.0l CRDi diesel engine used in the Sonata Transform in the Santa Fe. The Santa Fe comes with electronically controlled all-wheel drive system and the handling characteristics and the plush interiors of the Santa Fe would give it the edge over its competition.

The only thing that would be going against the Santa Fe when it is launched is that the Hyundai badge, as the company is known only for making small cars. This is the reason for the sluggish sales of the Hyundai Sonata. Also Hyundai SUV’s history in India can be described as tragic.

But what Hyundai could do with the Santa Fe is that it could assemble it here in its Chennai plant and price it extremely well around Rs. 15-17 lakhs and then the buyers simply cant ignore the Santa Fe.

Skoda is contemplating development of an SUV bigger than its Yeti. Skoda plans to use the Volkswagen Group’s B6 (PQ35) platform which underpins the Volkswagen Tiguan and which will also form the basis for the future Audi Q3 mini-SUV for this vehicle. The Skoda SUV will be developed as a rival to the seven-seater Mitsubishi Outlander and will be christened the Skoda Bigfoot.

The Skoda Bigfoot will be a seven-seater SUV similar in size to the Volkswagen Tiguan. It will have aggressive and muscular design cues and styling elements in order to make it look like a purposeful SUV. It will also be equipped with a range of powerful diesel and petrol engine options from the VW group’s engine portfolio and will be offered standard with Skoda’s 4 Motion 4-wheel drive system.

The Skoda Bigfoot is expected to be launched sometime in 2013 and it could make its way to India soon after that considering its younger brother, the Skoda Yeti is to be launched in India by the end of this year. If Skoda decides to launch the Bigfoot in India, it will have to price it around the 20-lakh mark in order to find Big takers for its Bigfoot SUV.