Toyota Prius has been the world’s best selling hybrid, since its launch in the international market in 1997. The Prius has sold more than two million units since then. It was a bold move by Toyota’s Indian arm to launch the Prius in March 2010 in the wake of global recalls which affected the Prius as well.
Toyota Kirloskar Motor Private Limited (TKM) launched the Prius Hybrid with a sales target of 12 units per month, and now Toyota is awestruck by the response to the Prius Hybrid. Toyota has received over 80 bookings for the Prius in three months, which is more than double the company’s projected sales numbers.
Toyota has delivered 45 cars till now. The majority of the Prius buyers are industrialists, doctors and corporate executives aged between 35 & 50 years. The Prius has been priced at Rs 26.5 lakh and Rs 27.86 lakh (Ex-showroom, New Delhi).
The first hybrid car to be launched in India was the Honda Civic Hybrid which barely created any impact on the Indian consumer. Honda was forced to discontinue the Civic Hybrid after clearing stocks by offering a discount of 8 lakh rupees. The car failed to live up to Honda’s expectations. There could have been several reasons for its poor performance, but many hold the looks of the car, different from the normal Honda Civic accountable.
But Toyota, with its Midas’ touch in India, has got it right with the Prius Hybrid as the model enjoys a great deal of popularity all over the world.
The success of the Prius clearly marks a change in the Indian car market, with well-to-do Indian consumers willing to shell out the extra money for a technologically advanced environment-friendly (debatable) car.
Mitsubishi and its Indian partner Hindustan Motors have been dormant for too long in India. The only products that did well for them were the mid-size Lancer and the butch-looking Pajero. Other potent products like the Lancer Cedia, Montero and the Outlander managed to find not many takers.
In the coming months, HM-Mitsubishi is planning to regain its lost glory by introducing a number of cars into the Indian market, including the iconic Lancer Evo X. Lancer Evos have dominated the rally arena for the last few decades and Mitsubishi India is going to bank in on this stellar reputation to manage better sales in India.
Mitsubishi had plans of introducing the Evo IX (the Evo version of the Cedia sold in India) but as they had better priorities like getting rid of rodents in their factory, they chose to wait for the Evo X to come by.
The Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X, which was introduced in International market in October, 2007, is powered by 2.0 liter turbocharged, all-aluminum inline-4 engine which produces a monstrous 290 bhp. We expect the car to come with the advanced 6-speed Twin Clutch SST transmission with paddle shifts.
Everyone enjoys driving their cars and riding their bikes, but when it comes to driving in the rains, it is a whole different ball game altogether. One needs to be very careful while driving or riding in the wet and no matter how good a driver or a rider is, the rain can change all that in an instant.
It is always a good practice to be well prepared and take it slow and steady while driving or riding in the wet.
First and foremost, avoid driving or riding when its raining heavily. It is a good idea to plan a trip and leave early so that there isn’t a requirement for one to rush or hurry up, resulting in an accident in the wet.
Listed below are some of the other tips which one must keep in mind before the rains set in and while driving or riding in the wet:
The saw-tooth grille, heavily worked hood, typical SUV lines, flared wheel arches and bulky tires are understandably present on this Mahindra vehicle as well. The vehicle’s headlamp appears to have adapted itself from the Xylo and the daytime running LED lights add elegance (hopefully they aren’t turn signals). The somewhat rounded front-end is reminiscent of the Honda CR-V.
Having no additional angles to reveal, it isn’t hard to imagine how the rest of the vehicle will add up. The World SUV is expected with every feature possible including climate control, electric seats, satellite navigation, cruise control, etc. Mahindra should undeniably offer a better automatic transmission on this vehicle. Petrol engines could also feature in the line-up, a sub 3-liter V6 petrol is what I dreamed driving on this vehicle last night on a vehicle costing 12 lakh rupees.
Mahindra are busy testing this vehicle in Chennai and millions have seen them over the past few months. The vehicle will have the Xylo’s steering wheel along with the saw tooth grille. Perhaps it could also borrow the squared gear knob?
Here’s a video captured recently of two 2011 Suzuki Swift test mules being put through their paces. After the VW-Suzuki deal, the Swift could gain access to TSI engines and DSG gearboxes. In India, we expect the new Swift to come with a 1.5-liter petrol engine and 1.3-liter diesel engine in the beginning.
Renault India has aggressive plans to launch five new models in India within the next five years, in a step-by-step and phased manner, reports Autocar India. The company does not plan to do the expansion the VW way, which did it with a big bucks investment, but rather in a slow and steady manner.
The company now after parting ways with M&M, faces the daunting task of setting up its own dealer network for its soon to be launched products, since it currently does not have a single dealer in the whole country. The company plans to have a network of 70 dealers in the country by 2013-2014.
The first Renault model in India, will be the Fluence saloon, which is expected to be launched sometime around mid-2011. The Koleos SUV will follow it up six months later. Both the Fluence and the Koleos will be assembled at Renault-Nissan’s Oragadam plant, on the outskirts of Chennai from Completely Knocked Down (CKD) kits.
Tata Motors will launch its crossover Tata Aria in India in the course of the next three months, its corporate communications team confirmed today.
The Aria was displayed as the Xover concept in Geneva back in 2005. At the Auto Expo in January this year, Tata showcased the production model.
Going by the features on-board the vehicle, the Aria is not only designed for India but also for European countries. On how many Indian vehicles will you find 3D surround sound, in-dash built in GPS, infotainment system, multifunctional steering wheel, dual air conditioning with automatic climate control and cruise control, 6 airbags and ESP?
The Tata Aria employs a 2.2-liter CRDI engine that performs duty on the Safari and Sumo Grande. It is mated to a 4X4 system with an all-wheel drive with torque on demand which according to the terrain, senses and distributes drive.
The Turkish joint venture of Hyundai, Hyundai Assan is about to commence mass production of Hyundai i20 for the European market from the Izmit plant in Turkey from June. Hyundai Assan will be holding a ceremony on June 11 to mark the inauguration of i20 production at the plant.
IAB had reported last year that Hyundai Motor India Limited (HMIL) will be shifting the majority of i20 production from India to Turkey, because of the labor unrests which were bogging down production at the Chennai plant. Also, the absence of a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between India and Europe made it unfavorable for Hyundai to continue exports from India.
The Izmit plant in Turkey has the capacity to manufacture 80,000 units of the i20 per annum and has attracted an investment of $75 million.The Izmit plant will mainly cater to the demand for i20′s from Europe. The Izmit plant will also now manufacture different versions of the i20 for European markets. The Hyundai i20 MPV is one such variant.
Hyundai will continue to manufacture the i20 to meet Indian demand at its Chennai facility.
