Indian Autos blog

Fiat India today disclosed information on the launch of the Linea T-Jet in India to Indian Autos Blog.

The Fiat Linea T-Jet has been caught testing near Pune and earlier at the Auto Expo this year, Fiat showcased it as part of their huge pile of exhibits.

Fiat’s corporate communications team this morning said -

Our next launch is the Fiat Linea T-Jet. We will launch the vehicle during the end of August or the beginning of September.

Fiat’s Linea T-Jet, according to our sources, has been tested thoroughly in India to suit our roads, fuel quality and traffic conditions. The vehicle will have the turbocharged 1.4-liter petrol engine that can be tuned to give either 120PS or 152PS.

We’re expecting Fiat to tune it to around 120hp as fuel economy is very much a concern for a 10 lakh rupee sedan buyer.

Back in December 2009, Audi India confirmed to Autocar magazine that the A7 luxury sedan-coupe (?) will be launched in 2011 in India. The Audi A7, as its name suggests, is positioned above the A6. The A7 Sportback concept car was also shown at the Audi stall in Auto Expo 2010.

The competition for the A7 will be in the form of the Mercedes Benz CLS and BMW 5 Series GT. The vehicle will be positioned between the A6 and A8 in the Audi model portfolio. The next generation A8 will also be launched in India during the following months.

The A7 is a very different Audi. It is said that this model is more of style than practicality.

The design of the production A7 is very true to the concept car that debuted at the 2009 Detroit Show. When it comes to India next year, the A7 will be offered with both diesel and gasoline V6 engines including the new 3.0-liter TSI unit making close to 300hp. Audi’s Quattro all-wheel drive system and S-tronic dual clutch transmissions will be standard.

Engine options for Audi A7 -

- Supercharged 3.0-liter V6 with 272 PS (200 kW)
- 4.2 liter V8 with 377 PS (277 kW)
- 3.0-liter TDI with 253 PS (184 kW)
- 4.2 liter TDI with 355 PS (258 kW).

Could the A7 be priced between 55 and 70 lakh rupees?

During my visit to the VW’s plant in Chakan, Pune, I was told by them that Volkswagen has already started working on the next generation Polo in its engineering facility in Wolfsburg, Germany.

Alongside the new Polo, VW is also preparing next generation Golf hatchback that’s going to be a lot less curvy. It would evolve like how the Jetta has. It will shed many of its curves and the sheet metal will be flatter and leaner. The final product will be ready for a production line by the end of 2012.

VW India hinted that the next generation Polo will be bigger. The current generation Polo is bigger than the second gen Golf that was launched back in the 80s. The next generation Polo could be a little longer and wider. Technology and engineering found on the bigger Volkswagens will slowly find their way into the smaller vehicles, they said.

The next generation Volkswagen Polo could take another four years for a public unveiling.

Fiat had shown the CNG-powered Grande Punto at the Auto Expo in January this year. During the Auto Expo, Fiat mentioned that it would introduce the vehicle in India in the following months. After reading reports on other blogs regarding this development, we rang up Fiat to understand the situation.

This is what Fiat’s communications team shared with us -

The next Punto model will be the CNG which we showed at the Auto Expo. However, we have not specified any time frame for the launch of this model.

Motoroids has reported that the Punto CNG will be based on the 1.2-litre engine and will be available only in the ‘Active’ variant initially. They add that the vehicle will be launched in 2011.

Honda’s TV commercial for the CR-V is along the lines of what Toyota tried doing with the Innova and Aamir Khan in India. The CR-V buyer in Australia, they say, can play many roles. His car is very versatile and suits his mood, style and attitude.

Or he can switch clothes very fast!

We have no plans for Toyota Yaris. Yaris is different, segment wise and product wise. We’re focusing on Etios now.

Hiroshi Nakagawa, Managing Director of Toyota Kirloskar Motor said at the launch of the Corolla Altis diesel, which took place last week in Delhi.

Yes, yes!! Indian Autos Blog has turned two years old.

We’ve come a long way in these two years and before I begin this message, I will use this opportunity to thank all our followers for giving us immense support and encouragement. Without you, the IAB team would not get up in the morning and go haywire in front of the computer!

We’d like to thank automotive companies in India for having us in their drives and launches over the last two years. They have helped us understand better how the car industry works in India, and make some really good friends.

During this two year period, we’ve posted no less than 2,874 articles, 6,748 images and several hundred videos and word documents supplementing the news articles.

2010 has been a fantastic year for us. For our stories and coverage, we’ve been featured on BILD Newspaper (Germany), NY Times’ website (America), Newsweek’s website (Japan), Algemeen Dagblad newspaper (Netherlands) to name a few. We’ve been featured on countless other blogs, forums and websites as well.

I’d also like to thank our fellow bloggers (Motorbeam, Vicky, Motoroids, Wheelosphere, Indian Cars Bikes, Burn Your Fuel, Goa On Wheels, Velociti Magazine and Autoholiks) for us providing us with stories and other interesting insights. Your thoughts, content and encouragement is a massive cornerstone, there’s no doubting that.

I’d like to thank our overseas friends (Autoblog, Autoblog.it, Autoblog.nl, Autoblog.gr, World Car Fans, eGMCartech, BenzInsider, BMW Blog, Paul Tan, Carplace, Noticias Automotivas, Caranggoblog, Diariomotor, Leblogauto, China Car Times, Car Advice Australia, Hyundai Blog, AutoinCar, Autoten, All Cars Electric, Gas 2.0, Eurocarblog, Car Blog, Clutchd, Carscoop, Burlapp Cars) and many thousand other blogs that we follow and learn so much from every single day.

We’d also like to say a big thank you to the big guys (BS Motoring, Autocar India, Overdrive, CAR India, Auto BILD, Economic Times, Business Standard, DNA Money, Hindustan Times and Bloomberg) for giving us quotes and information to base our updates on.

I’d like to thank my mum, dad, sis, bro, granny, friends, DCode and other family members for placing faith on this project and allowing me to soldier on during the lean periods of IAB’s life when things looked very bleak.

And Jetta, I know you’re reading this. You’ve been a great inspiration to me. Thank you for being there.

I urge you to check out our international blog Steering News and motorcycle blog Indian Motos Blog which should serve as interesting reads.

That sums it up! We’re going to bring you a load of updates on IAB starting now. Stay tuned!!

Isn’t this the sub-Fabia hatchback that’s heading to India in the next couple of years? It could even be here within the next 18 months and positioned under the VW Lupo.

The smallest Skoda is being formulated for an unveiling very soon. It’ll be a re-badged VW Lupo, and there will be a reasonable level of difference between the twins. The Skoda Joyster might not have the same level of equipment, finish or refinement as the Lupo given it’s the cheaper car.

The car will be marketed as a four-seater with four doors. The name Joyster is derived from the concept of 2006. The vehicle will be a city car and will take on the likes of the Maruti Alto and Hyundai HA.

The Joyster will get the same 1.0-litre three-cylinder petrol and a 1.2 three-cylinder diesel (from the Polo) as the Lupo.

Prices should be at around 3 lakh rupees, but we’re really not sure how things will pan out.

Click here to see Indian Autos Blog’s illustration of the Skoda Joyster