By Ragav Ramesh
The long wait is over and Honda Siel Cars India, have confirmed that by 2012, diesel engines below 2 litre capacity would be introduced to the Indian market. Currently HSCI sells only petrol cars in India. Globally Honda has only one diesel option, which is a 2.2 litre diesel engine used in Accord and CR-V.
During the SIAM annual conference last week, one of HSCI senior officials said -
The small diesel engine will be ready for European models by 2012. We’re thinking of bringing this to India after that, though with modifications. It is likely to be used in cars below the Accord and CR-V, like the City, Jazz and the new small car.
On the sidelines of Toyota recently launching their Corolla Altis diesel and dominant Fortuner diesel, Honda is under huge pressure to bring in their diesel variants for Civic, CR-V and even City to survive in the Indian market. We are just hoping that it happens soon, before it’s too late!
By Ragav Ramesh
These images suggest that the old dull looking headlamp cluster of the facelifted Passat, is changed to telescopic lights which seem to be borrowed from its cousin brother, the Audi A4. We see a lot of chrome in the front and for the first time Passat is going to get LED daytime running lights.
Overall the car is going to look (not become) much bigger and muscular and definitely will seek better attention compared to the current model. Anyhow these comments are based on the photoshopped images that many say is close to the real deal. We will have to wait and find out when the final product is on display at the 2010 Paris Motor Show later this month.
In India we expect the 2011 Passat to get launched immediately after its European launch due to lack of attraction of the present Passat over Skoda Superb and Honda Accord.
By Kaustubh Shinde
Looks like The States has to wait for more than a decade to get their hands on the new Swift. The last time they got a new Swift was way back in 2001. Reports have confirmed that the on again-off again plans of Suzuki to launch the new Swift in the US markets have finally been put to a halt and the new Swift is not reaching the US shore until 2011.
Part of the reason for the delay is the rising cost of yen. At the current dollar-yen relationship, Suzuki would have to jack up the price of the swift to make any profit. The auto giant refuses to do so as they have already slashed their marketing budget considerably.
Another part of the reason is the VW-Suzuki alliance. The German and the Japanese auto giants are competing more or less the same target market. As the result, both of them are trying to find synergies in their products which could be leveraged to bring down the cost.
Steve Younan, head of product development and business development at American Suzuki -
Once the product strategies are aligned, we could give a green light to the launch
Back home as well, the two auto giants are leveraging on their alliance with rumors circulating that Maruti-Suzuki may manufacture cars for VW. While Suzuki is understood to be an expert in small cars, Volkswagen has more experience in larger cars and diesel engines. So could we expect the 1.2 TDI in our Swift as well?
By Kaustubh Shinde
The fanaticism for Honda in this country is immense. Every new model that they launch has been a hit. You can measure the fan-boyishness with 2 simple facts:
* In a FE sensitive market, a petrol guzzling SUV like CRV was a hit.
* In a cost sensitive market, the over priced Jazz found its buyers.
Honda knows how to bend the market the rules and where to find its buyers
BUT
Recently, with stiff competition from other auto majors like Chevrolet, Skoda, Hyundai and Toyota, their sales have been flagging. To combat the downturn, the company has adopted a new strategy of expanding its dealer base.
Jnaneswar Sen, vice president, marketing, Honda SIEL India Ltd -
By having more dealers, we want to get closer to the customer
The company currently boasts 117 dealerships across 71 cities. It plans to increase it to 150 dealerships across 90 cities by the end of 2012. This expanded dealer network will come in handy as the Auto giant gears up for the launch of its first low priced hatch. The hatch will be priced below 5 lacs to attack the market which is currently reigned by the biggest auto-manufacturer in India, Maruti-Suzuki.
By Kaustubh Shinde
After bringing you spy pics of the ambitious project undertaken by Pune-based Force motors, we have some more good news for you. Prasan Firodia, the managing director of Force Motors, has stated that the planned SUV will be launched by this year’s end.
Prasan Firodia, the managing director of Force Motors -
A substantial part of the vehicle has been developed in-house using indigenous expertise. We are targeting the final months of this (calendar) year or the early months of next year
Force motors (formerly known as Bajaj tempo), has been eying the rural SUV market for quite sometime. Currently, this market is ruled by the Tata Sumo and Mahindra Bolero.
The Force SUV is expected to be powered by a Daimler OM646 engine. It is a 2,148 cc engine which produces near to 148 bhp (also used in Mercedes Sprinter LCV). Moreover, in order to keep the cost down, the company has sourced certain parts from China and Taiwan. This SUV will be manufactured in their Pithampur plant in Madhya Pradesh sporting a price tag between 10-15L.
Looking at Force’s current portfolio which includes Trax, Judo, Gama and the limo Force Cruiser, we expect the new SUV to be a through rugged off roader which will be a good fit even in concrete jungles.
Four dealerships of Tata Motors in Delhi will open bookings for the Nano during the second week of September, reports India Today.
The company had stopped registering bookings last year and since then it has turned its attention towards delivering vehicles.
A Tata Motors dealer -
Even though there is no formal announcement we have already received the go-ahead for re-opening the bookings for the car
Deliveries of the freshly booked Nanos are said to begin in the first week of October coinciding with the festive season.
India Today also mentions the diesel model will come eight months later. A CRDI engine is expected on the diesel model, most likely to be the smallest diesel engine with CRDI technology to enter mass production.
Nissan has managed to sell 1,182 Micras in the Indian market last month. The company began its journey in July and in 15 days was able to deliver about 1,000 cars.
The majority of the Nissan Micra buyers have opted for the top-end (XV) model and forced Nissan to alter the schedule at its production plant. 3,600 Micras have been booked thus far in India and with an increasing dealership count and presence on the road, the Micra is destined only for bigger numbers in the coming months.
click through to read the press release
