The Nissan Juke, unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show in March 2010, has been launched in Japan at 8.71 lakh rupees. The Juke is the smaller crossover in Nissan’s line-up (consisting of Qashqai and Murano) which uses a 1.5-liter diesel engine making 114 PS and 150Nm of torque.
What about its chances in India? We’re confused, so a monologue was in order.
Pessimism -
This 1.5-liter, 4.1 meter long mini SUV won’t make in-roads in India even if it is brought in as a CKD. The only viable option would be to manufacture it locally bringing the price of the vehicle to around 10 lakh. For 10 lakh rupees, would one go for the tried-and-tested Mahindra Scorpio or a mini SUV like Juke? The decently equipped Tata Safari variant is also not a long way away from this price band. Remember, Nissan is a company that is literally unheard of for affordable passenger/utility vehicles in India.
Conclusions from studies conducted in India might have prompted them to develop a mini SUV on the cheaper V-Platform.
Optimism -
I mean, look at that thing. Have you seen something like this before? With those curves, it could serve as a Kim Kardashian double in Hollywood. It’s a cartoon character for the GenNext. A cartoon character that’s grown up into a young and admirable Hollywood star. How long are we going to buy the age old Scorpio and Safari? Isn’t change good?
Based on the Nissan B-Platform, it shares underpinnings with cars like the Renault Duster which is developed for BRIC countries. If that can come to India in 2012, why not this? Nissan, why are you having second thoughts? I want mine in cherry red.
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Thanks to Total Car Hungary, we can now show you head-on and cabin shots of the 2011 Suzuki Swift. While the technical specifications are unknown, we believe that the 2011 Swift has grown by around 15 inches in length. The interiors have also been thoroughly revamped and the nose is adopted from the Suzuki Kizashi, which is the Japanese car maker’s new design language.
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Click HERE to see VW’s 150cc performance motorcycle testing in India
Click HERE to see VW’s 150cc performance motorcycle testing in India
Click HERE to see VW’s 150cc performance motorcycle testing in India
Going by the spy-shots, Hyundai seems to be working on its version of the Kia Venga Supermini. The car in the spy-shots looks like the MPV based on the Hyundai i20 platform. The car may bear the tag of the Hyundai ic25.
The ic25 looks to have very few and minor changes when compared with its sibling, the Kia Venga. From the spy-shots the changes appear to be merely cosmetic as there are only new headlamps, bumpers, radiator grille and tailgate when compared with the Venga. The car will also be carrying quite a lot of the Kia Venga underneath it such as the suspension and engines.
The engine options could consist of Petrol as well as Diesel motors from Hyundai’s enormous portfolio of engines. The ic25 is expected to be positioned as a premium MPV offering from Hyundai and so will be positioned above the Kia Venga. The car is expected to be unveiled at the Paris Motor Show in October this year.
With the competition in India also gearing up to launch new products in the MPV space over the next few years, could Hyundai bring this car to take on the competition from other rivals in the soon to hot up MPV segment in India?
Volkswagen last year revealed the facelifted version of the Tiguan at the Chinese Motor Show, but with this new rendering and spyshots of a Tiguan testing with camouflage, it is clear that the Chinese Tiguan was specially for the Chinese market.
Volkswagen could bring in this next generation version of the Tiguan into India in order to give fight to competition like the Toyota Fortuner, Ford Endeavour and the Chevrolet Captiva.
If priced around the 20-lakh mark, the Tiguan could move some of the endlessly waiting Fortuner customers towards Volkswagen showrooms. With the advent of the BMW X1 later this year, the queues will only become longer.
The new global Tiguan will feature the new Volkswagen family front end as sported by the Polo (5th Gen), Golf (6th Gen), New Touareg and the recently updated Phaeton. The rest of the car will feature minor and subtle enhancements to improve the overall styling and looks of the car.
The engines for the new Tiguan will be significantly updated, in order to comply with the new, stricter Euro V emission norms.
Venkata Chaitanya runs a highly reputed company in Hyderabad. He recently began following Indian Autos Blog, and decided to share his views on the Nissan Micra which he saw at the local dealership. So, here is Venkat’s two dents on the Micra for India -
It is floods in India. Before you scratch your head, let me clear the air – I am talking about the floods in the Indian Auto sector. I’ve never witnessed of so many cars gushing on to the Indian roads, especially small cars.
It was raining in Hyderabad on Friday and the clouds just happen to clear. I head out to check the all new Nissan Micra. The orange car was standing on the left side of the showroom grabbing everyone’s attention. The car is pretty neat and built well.
Goodies like Start/Stop button, Automatic air-conditioning, Airbags, keyless entry and so on impresses me. The boot is pretty decent considering Micra to be a city driven car. A few talks with the onlookers reveals some feel that Micra is looks like a well-shaped bubblegum.
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Nissan has indicated that it will be sourcing 35,000 more Pixo (rebadged, slightly different A-Star) cars from Maruti Suzuki for sale in European markets. The initial agreement between Nissan and Maruti Suzuki was for the supply of 50,000 Pixos to Nissan by Maruti Suzuki. But, due to an increased demand after scrappage schemes being offered to dispose off old cars and get new ones, Nissan is facing a shortage of Pixos for sale.
The recent alliance between VW and Suzuki could affect Nissan’s procurement of the Pixo from Maruti Suzuki. Nissan will need a similarly sized car to replace the Pixo, perhaps from another manufacturer.
It could source the Twingo from partner Renault, re-badge it and sell it as the new Pixo, given that the current Nissan Pixo and Renault Twingo share almost the same dimensions.
Also, the Twingo has a possibility of hitting Indian shores as well, given Renault’s plans to launch small hatchbacks here.
BMW has hit the record figure of one million units produced with its X5 SUV. This landmark was achieved when the BMW manufacturing facility in Spartanburg, South Carolina rolled out the one millionth car. The one millionth X5 built by BMW, is a 2011 model year xDrive 35i with a Sapphire Black paint job and a cabin upholstered with Cinnamon Brown Nevada leather.
The one millionth BMW X5 is going to be delivered to a person in China, which could in a few years time have a large number of collectors chasing after it just for the sake of the one millionth X5 tag attached to it.
The BMW X5 can be bought for a price of about 60 lakh rupees in India.
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