Indian Autos blog

Opel has equipped its Agila hatchback with a Start/Stop system as part of the Agila’s upgrade to the Euro 5 emission standard and a Co2 optimization package. The Agila is basically the Suzuki Splash (Maruti Suzuki Ritz in India) hatchback, re-modeled and re-badged as an Opel for sale in Europe by Opel. The car is powered by a 1.2-litre petrol engine producing 94 bhp.

The incorporation of the Start/Stop system on the Agila will help it spew out fewer Co2′s and also make it sip lesser fuel. A Start/Stop system basically prevents a car’s engine from consuming fuel whenever its not required. The Start/Stop system cuts off the engine whenever the car’s transmission is in the neutral position and the clutch pedal has been released. To bring the engine back to life, one needs to just depress the clutch pedal and voila the engine’s running again.

A Start/Stop system proves highly advantageous in city limits by shutting of the engine whenever the car’s idle, thereby decreasing fuel consumption.

Start/ Stop systems are slowly gaining ground in India with UV’s such as the Bolero and Scorpio fitted with the system having found reasonable success. Maruti has plans to make its lineup of cars more eco-friendly by fitting them with LPG and CNG kits. Maruti could look at bringing in Start/Stop systems on its petrol powered cars in the future to improve their efficiency and decrease emissions. They have to find a way to explain the benefits of this system which is not very expensive.

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By Shoeb R Kalania, Vaibhav Bastwadkar

The Hyundai Verna Transform was launched at Intercontinental The Lalit, Near Mumbai International Airport, Andheri East yesterday evening. The vehicle, which we’ve frequently reported, was launched in Korea last year and pretended to be only a Korean market facelift.

The pricing for the vehicle in Mumbai is similar to the outgoing Verna. The petrol models are priced between 6.87-7.67 lakh while you can buy the diesel for between 8.26-9.66 lakh.

The event began at around 8:45pm (delayed due to heavy rain and thick traffic) and Mr. HW Park MD &CEO was called on stage to provide details about Hyundai and its progress in India. Mr. Arvind Saxena Senior Vice-President (Marketing and Sales) followed Mr.Park to decode the Verna Transform. All details like the changes in body, engine options were discussed in detail.

During the presentation, it was revealed that the design of the exterior was done in keeping “Stylish, Trendy, Sporty” in mind. Keywords for the interior were “Luxury” and “Utility.”

Though there are no airbags, safety features like ABS, EBD and a unique clutch lock system are provided. The Verna is the only Diesel car in its class to offer Automatic transmission.

All this was followed by a short dance performance by one of the finest group of dancers in Mumbai. The TV commercial of Hyundai Verna Transform was played and it was evident that the car would come out on stage any minute now.

The Verna Transform was launched! driven out of a cloud of smoke by Mr.Saxena and his co-passenger Mr. Park.

A photo opportunity was followed by a session where the Hyundai management fielded questions from journalists. Dinner was served, people feasted till their hearts were content. We then head back home.

The big bad Bugatti Veyron has finally arrived in India and Exclusive Motors in New Delhi would be its official partner in India. Exclusive Motors already is the ‘exclusive’ dealer for Lamborghini and Bentley in India. The Bugatti Veyron comes with a 8.0 liter W16 quad-turbocharged 1,001 hp engine mated to a 7-speed DSG gearbox and the word ‘acceleration’ would be an understatement for its 2.5 second 0-100 kmph sprint.

Though Bugatti’s official website doesn’t mention the name of the its Indian dealership, but said it was located at Hotel Samrat, New Delhi. We guess Exclusive Motors would be selling the Bugatti Veyron from its Lamborghini boutique located in the same Hotel. It is to be noted that the Bentley boutique of Exclusive Motors is located adjacently at The Ashok Hotel.

Sources say that the first Bugatti Veyron in India has already been delivered to a Mumbai based real estate tycoon. We all know Bugatti Veyrons come only in a two-two paint job, this Bugatti is Black and the second color is not known so far. The Bugatti Veyron is said to cost between 16 to 17.5 crore Rupees including all taxes and duties. Soon two more Bugattis would be delivered to a South Indian business magnate.

Since Bugatti Veyron comes only as a left hand drive model, Bugatti is said to have requested the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) to exempt the Veyron and permit it to ply on Indian roads. Would this mean other exotic marques like the Koenigsegg, Pagani, Spykar and all could come to India as a LHD version on a special basis. We wish DGFT could allow relatively cheaper, affordable muscle cars like the Mustang and Camaro to come in to India with special permissions.

One disturbing fact that we stumbled upon is that Bugatti’s official website and Bentley’s official website have a badly disfigured map of India (India without Jammu & Kashmir, precisely) on their pages.

The horsepower paparazzi have an interesting catch to share that Indians will be interested in. The 2011 Chevrolet Captiva with the nose of the next-gen Chevys was spied, undisguised, in an unknown location.

The grille of the new Captiva is carried over from the Aveo RS concept. The headlamps and bumper have also tagged along from the concept which once again signifies GM doesn’t build show cars for the heck of it. Their concepts are built for the production line.

Under the hood, a new 2.2-liter CRDI engine will find a friend in a 6-speed manual transmission. The new engine generates more horsepower and twist and exhales fewer emissions.

The Captiva facelift should make it to India by Diwali 2011. That’s more than a year away because GM will introduce the new Aveo sedan next year and could follow it with the next gen Aveo U-VA which are more significant launches. On the heels of the hatch, the SUV could see daylight.

The Captiva is a CBU brought from Korea. Despite being a CBU, it is positioned in the mid-size SUV segment that’s seeing a lot of action in India. The introduction of the BMW X1 could send many impatient customers to Chevrolet showrooms.

We have long been awaiting the launch of the 90 hp Fiat Grande Punto Diesel which was showcased at the 2010 Auto Expo in New Delhi.

We called up Fiat regarding its launch and they said -

We will launch the “Fiat Punto 90hp” in India on the 16th of July. We will not call it Sports

The Fiat Punto 1.3 liter Multijet diesel engine came only with an ordinary turbocharger and produced 76 hp. This engine along with an unpleasant gearbox played spoilsport on the Punto’s drive. Now Fiat would give an upgrade to Punto’s 1.3 liter Multi-jet engine by adding a VGT (Variable Geometry Turbocharger) from the Linea sedan.

With the addition of the VGT, the Grande Punto’s power would be boosted to 90 hp and torque to 209 Nm. We expect Fiat to slightly tweak the gearbox to bring down the tall gear ratios and induce some linearity in the gear ratios. There would be no external differences between the Punto 90 hp and the regular Puntos but for the ’90 hp’ badge beneath the variant’ badge (Emotion). The car could also come with clear lens rear tail lamps.

The 90 hp Fiat Punto could be priced slightly higher than the ordinary Punto and we guess Fiat would be offering the 90 hp engine only on the top of the line ‘Emotion’ and ‘Emotion Pack’ variants.

An increasing number of news outlets report on another possible small car on the Figo platform for India. Reportedly codenamed B156, the new small car will be smaller than the Figo with a lower displacement engine.

The video here showcases the Ford “Start” concept unveiled in China in April. It was Ford’s first concept car in years. Featuring a 1-liter, 3-cylinder Ecoboost engine, it is mated to a 6-speed manual transmission. It looks like a proper starting point for a sub-Figo small car, in our view. The video is over a month old, but it does the job of explaining the Start for those in the dark.

Hyundai’s 800cc car (H800/HA for simplification) could take another 1.5 years before it hits the Indian market, a Hyundai official who wished not to be named, revealed today to Economic Times.

Hyundai’s unnamed official -

Considering the fact that the car has been designed and developed keeping in mind the Indian market, the next Auto Expo in 2012 will be the ideal platform to unveil the car.

Hyundai, according to our sources, has started testing prototypes of this mini car on the roads of Chennai. The vehicles are heavily camouflaged. Despite all the hiding, it can’t but flaunt its close resemblance to the Hyundai i10, which is the smallest hatchback in the Hyundai range in India.

We expect Hyundai to manufacture well over 50,000 cars a month in its Chennai plant in the first year. Demand for a 2.5 lakh rupee car is definitely going to be more than 50k cars a year.

Hyundai could also consider throwing in a LPG tank into this model right from the beginning. It took them some time to transplant LPG tanks into the affordable Santro and Accent. A diesel engine is also a good option but could such a small car take the pounding of a diesel engine? More importantly, will the passengers sitting inside its tiny body shell feel very comfortable? How much refinement can you expect in a low-cost diesel engine?

The diesel engine will bump up its price taking it closer to the i10′s territory. Cannibalization and confusion is the last thing Hyundai wants in the small car market that is more a fruit salad than anything else.

The 2012 Auto Expo attracts a lot of people, but that can also work against Hyundai. You don’t want to launch a vehicle at that event thinking it’ll attract the interest of a million people only to realize on the show days that a Tata, Mahindra, Chevrolet or Suzuki to snatch the thunder. Too many things happen at the Auto Expo and unless you have a groundbreaking car like a Nano, you can’t be sure about anything.

Hyundai has launched the new refreshed Hyundai Verna Transform sedan in New Delhi and we had posted pictures of the refreshed Verna Transform about an hour ago. Hyundai India is very confident the Verna Transform would transform (excuse us for the pun) the fate of the slow selling sedan. The Verna Transform has been priced between 6.56 and 9.22 lakhs.

H W Park, MD & CEO, Hyundai Motors India Ltd -

The Verna Transform is all set to boost Hyundai’s already superior line-up of products in India by raising the benchmark in the sedan segment, even further. The car’s distinctive sporty styling and dynamic features complement the refined power and thrilling performance that the Verna brand stands for. We are confident that the new Verna will prove to be very popular with car enthusiasts and will transform ownership into a thrilling experience.

We studied the Verna Transform thoroughly and here we have summed up the Hyundai Verna’s ‘transformations’.

click through to get a complete overview of the new Verna Transform