Indian Autos blog

IAB was busy checking out the car market for the last two days and we got to drive the new Hyundai Verna Transform. The Hyundai Verna Transform was launched on the July 23rd 2010 and has been criticized for the bad makeover Hyundai has given the Verna.

How wrong were we. The Verna Transform’s new looks does work and it works well. Pictures of the Verna Transform don’t do justice to the car, in the flesh the new Verna Transform really looks ‘transformed’.

The looks

> The new facelift is all concentrated at the front. The headlamp now looks sporty and is shaped like an eagle’s head. The headlamp has been detailed well and in contrast to the old Verna, the new headlamps looks better.

> The grille is the most controversial part. We hated it when we got to see it first but in the skin the grille doesn’t really look that awkward and it kind of gives the Verna Transform the slight aggression.

> Side indicators have been moved to the rear view mirrors and look classy.

> The air damn has been nicely done and the symmetrical grille pattern on the air damn looks really good.

> The rear tail lamps are actually changed. The tail lamp now protrudes out and feels chunky and this departs from the old Verna’s dull smooth styling.

> The faux-diffuser at the lower end of the rear bumper looks good and the exhaust pipe is neatly integrated into the bumper.

The interiors

> At first glance nothing but the music system looks to have changed but there are a few minor changes. Though these don’t drastically increase the appeal of the Verna’s dull interiors, it helps in slightly refreshing the interiors.

> The blue backlit instrument panels, clock and climate control display looks upmarket and looks pleasant.

> The music system looks much better than the older which which looked like a cheap plasticky aftermarket equipment.

> The faux-wood panels still remain and spoils the otherwise average interiors.

> Space has been Verna’s strength always. No change to the cabin means the Verna Transform retains the spacious airy cabi as the old one.

Click through to read more about the drive and comparison with rivals Fiesta and Linea

We had brought you news about Mahindra planning to launch a facelifted Xylo MPV soon. Mahindra & Mahindra has announced that the Xylo would be getting the Micro-hybrid technology and we expect Mahindra to offer the Micro-hybrid on the new facelifted Xyloby the end of 2010.

Micro-hybrid is nothing but Mahindra’s trade name for the Start-Stop system. The system would automatically turn the engine off if it idles for too long say at a traffic signal. The system automatically fires the engine back to life once there is a slight dab on the throttle. This system is a boon inside the city where lots of fuel is wasted idling away at signals and the system reduces the fuel consumption of the vehicle considerably.

Pawan Goenka, President, Mahindra & Mahindra -

We plan to launch the Xylo micro-hybrid before the end of the year. There are about 50,000 micro-hybrid vehicles from the M&M stable plying on the roads now.

The Xylo has been criticized for its ugly looks and poor handling. Mahindra would be looking to freshen up the looks of the Xylo by giving a new radiator grille with its signature ‘walrus tooth’ center and revised headlamps. The interiors also could be freshened up a bit. There could be a few minor technical modifications apart from the micro-hybrid addition.

The micro-hybrid feature could also be extended to the shortened 5-seater Xylo which we are expecting would hit the market by mid-2011.

Renault-Nissan has announced that it has signed a pact with Indian bike maker Bajaj on Thursday, 8 July 2010 for developing a small car (the Ultra Low Cost- ULC car). This announcement from Renault-Nissan has put an end to all the rumors about the ULC small car project being dropped due to a rift between the two companies.

We had reported yesterday that there wouldn’t be a joint venture between Renault-Nissan and Bajaj on this front but it wold be more like a MoU bet ween the two companies. It would be more like an OEM agreement.

While Bajaj would be in charge of designing, developing and manufacturing the ULC small car, Renault-Nissan would take care of branding, marketing and distribution. Renault-Nissan would also be exporting the car to other developing countries once the car is launched in India.

The Renault-Nissan-Bajaj small car would hit the market sometime in 2012 and could be priced at 1.17 lakh Indian Rupees (US$ 2,500). The ULC small car would be pitted against the Tata Nano.

Click through to read more

Currently, we are doing due diligence for Ssangyong. After this, we will decide whether to bid for the company or not.

Pawan Goenka, M&M’s automotive sector President on Mahindra’s bid for troubled Korean carmaker Ssangyong. Mahindra would finally decide on July 20th, 2010 whether to place the bid or not.

We had already reported about French carmaker Peugeot planning to enter India soon. The carmaker is reportedly planning to setup a factory in Andhra Pradesh and is said to be in talks with the Andhra Pradesh government which would be offering lucrative tax exemptions and other fiscal incentives to the Peugeot-Citroen group.

Now we have another development to Peugeot’s Indian story. A tie up between Peugeot and Hindustan Motors is also rumored to take place soon. Hindustan Motors could help Peugeot fasten its Indian entry and HM India could initially manufacture engines for the French company till its sets up its own engine plant (like it did for Ford India).

An anonymous Peugeot official -

PSA Peugeot Citroen can confirm that a project team is working on India as a strategic market. Our team is working actively on the project and has many contacts to build its conclusions.

Peugeot is planning to invest 4100 crore Rupees in phases for its Indian operations. Peugeot could also bring the Citroen brand to India and Citroen badged cars could be positioned slightly above Peugeot so that Peugeot-Citroen can cater to a wide range of customers.

Peugeot is planning to launch a new small car and a compact sedan for developing markets and the company could use India as the production base for all markets, like what Nissan is doing with the Micra hatchback. Peugeot is said to be planning to roll out 1,00,000 cars out of its India plant by 2014.

Audi yesterday began producing the Q5 compact SUV in India and this itself is proof that the German luxury carmaker is not going to stop with just assembling sedans.

Audi is internationally developing the Audi Q3 mini-SUV (rendered above) which would be based on the Audi A5 platform. The Audi Q3 which is slated for a 2011 release would be manufactured at Martorell in Spain. The Q3 mini-SUV would compete with hugely successful BMW X1.

Audi India is reportedly making aggressive plans to become the number one luxury car brand in India by 2015. Audi has set itself a target of producing 6,000 cars annually in India.

BMW India would be launching the X1 by January 2011 and BMW hopes sell huge numbers of the X1 mini-SUV in India. The BMW X1 could be priced between 23 to 28 lakh Rupees and such competitive price would be mainly because BMW would be assembling the X1 in India.

Audi India is reportedly charting out big plans on bringing the Q3 mini-SUV to India as soon as it is launched internationally to take on the BMW X1. Audi could also assemble the Q3 at its Aurangabad facility.

The Audi Q3 would take on the BMW X1, Honda CR-V, Nissan X-Trail and possibly the India-made Land Rover Freelander. Mercedes Benz could also join the race soon with a mini-SUV with a three pointed star on the bonnet.

Cars like the Audi Q3 and BMW X1 are the only way in which luxury car makers like Audi and BMW can sell a sizable number of cars in India.

Nissan today unveiled a revised X-TRAIL in Japan. The vehicle goes on sale in Japan by the 16th of this month.

The facelift is across the range and Nissan has added a 6-speed automatic transmission the Clean Diesel X-TRAIL 20GT variant.

Since the time the latest generation X-TRAIL was introduced (August 2007), the vehicle has been on the top of the sales charts in its category.

Coming to the list of changes, Nissan has been partial to the car’s exterior giving it a new front grille, front bumper and headlights. The combination taillights have been switched over to LEDs to enhance visibility.

On the inside, larger meters, and a vehicle information display provide data like current fuel consumption, upcoming maintenance schedules and various other information. A glove compartment is provided with refrigeration.

The new X-Trail also gets a new feature which Nissan terms as “Advanced Hill Descent Control” which allows you to set the speed depending on the road you’re traveling or the type of terrain you’re putting your vehicle through.

click through to view the image gallery

Volkswagen India has a very potent hatchback in its hands, the Polo. The Volkswagen Polo’s build quality matches cars that are several segments higher. The bold crisp look of the Polo and the VW badge has fetched a considerable amount of bookings despite its high price tag.

The Volkswagen Polo received a decent number of bookings and VW India is not able to meet the demand for the Polo. The Polo has a waiting period of 4 to 6 months currently and there are a number of customers who are growing impatient and canceling their bookings. That’s the saddest thing that can happen to a carmaker.

Volkswagen India has delivered 4,500 Polos so far and it has an order backlog of over 10,000 currently.

The Volkswagen Vento would be reaching showrooms by the end of this year and we feel the Vento (if priced well) could run off to become a huge success and get a large number of bookings. This could further add to Volkswagen’s woes as order backlogs would continue to increase leading to losing customers because of long waiting periods.

VW India could also delay the Vento’s launch till they clear the order backlog for the Polo sufficiently.

Neeraj Garg, Director, VW India -

Waiting period for the Polo is four-six months. Whatever commitments we make to the customer, we’ve been able to honour that. There have been few cancellations by customers, around 30 to 40 from time to time. Immediate ramp-up is definitely not possible right now, because our plans are made accordingly. There will be no change in the short-term. In case we continue to have similar order bookings, we will build much higher capacities as quality gets matured.

Waiting periods play a very crucial role in any car market especially in the Indian small car segment, where the competition is cut-throat severe. VW can’t afford to lose Polo customers to the Ford Figo or Chevrolet Beat just because it can’t ramp up production and deliver cars faster.

Ford India hit the bulls eye with the Figo which is dashing to the 25,000 bookings mark. Ford did the wise thing by adding a second shift for the Figo’s production. The company even began exports of the Figo to South Africa.

Has Volkswagen India bitten more than what it can chew with the Polo?