Indian Autos blog

Piaggio India has launched the 0.5 tonne Ape Mini truck and has priced its new four wheel light commercial vehicle at Rs. 1.74 lakhs across all of India. Regular readers would remember we had brought spy pics of the Ape Mini few months ago.

The Ape Mini is said to return 29 kms to the liter, thanks to its incredibly fuel efficient engine and comes with a 15-month warranty and 5 free services. We expect a passenger version of the Ape Mini 4-wheeler to follow soon.

Ravi Chopra, Chairman and Managing Director, Piaggio India -

We have consistently gone to the market with our customers in mind. We are confident that the ape mini will outclass others in the half-tonne four-wheeler segment.

Piaggio India is one of the leading players in the light commercial vehicle segment with the Ape three wheeler having more than 10 lakh customers so far. With the Ape Mini four wheeler Piaggio would be take the fight right to the doorstep of Mahindra Gio and the soon to be launched Tata Ace Zip (Penguin).

Bugatti Veyron is all set to enter India at a whopping price tag of 12 crores Rupees through its sole dealer Exclusive Motors, New Delhi. We had already brought this news to you months ago and broke the news that Exclusive Motors would be the official dealer.

The Bugatti Veyron is expected to be launched on the 28th of October and sources say there are already four confirmed orders for the supercar. The Veyron would come only as a Left Hand Drive and the car maker has specially made a request to Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) to exempt the Veyron and permit it to ply on Indian roads as a LHD.

Satya Bagla, MD, Exclusive Motors

The car is slated for launch soon but we cannot disclose its price. There are a few customers for Bugatti, but again their identities cannot be revealed now.

We hope Bugatti’s entry into India prompts other supercar manufacturers like Pagani, Spyker, SSC and Koenigsegg to enter the Indian market soon.

Tata Motors has hinted that it would plug in the gap between the Nano and the Indica Vista. The new car on the anvil could compete with the Maruti Alto. The Nano is priced below 2 lakhs and the Indica range starts at around 2.8 lakhs and the huge gap between the models could be filled by the Dolphin small car.

Carl Peter Forster, MD and CEO, Tata Motors -

There is some white space between the Nano and Indica and we could be looking at it.

The Tata Dolphin (we hope its just the codename and Tata doesn’t name the car that way) would lead the company’s new design language heavily inspired by Jaguar. Tata’s products are beginning to look world class and is definitely a lesson which other Indian manufacturers like Mahindra should learn. When Tata launches this product it could really take its competitors for a ride.

The Maruti Alto enjoys monopoly in this space and has absolutely no rivals in any form. Though the Maruti Alto is cheap it is certainly not value for money and this has prompted various car manufacturers like Tata to enter this segment. Other manufacturers developing an Alto rival are Nissan, GM and Hyundai. Ford is also said to be contemplating an Alto-rival.

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Ford’s EcoBoost engine technology was introduced a year ago in the US and has met with great response. These engines sport 20% better fuel efficiency and 15% lesser emissions . We plan to introduce this kind of EcoBoost engines in India as well.

President & MD of Ford India, Michael Boneham on the ‘Ecoboost’ engines (Ford’s family of turbocharged direct injection petrol engines) to Economic Times.

The video shows an uncamouflaged 2012 Honda Civic test mule which we had brought spy pictures of earlier.

The Honda Civic when it was launched in India went of to a flying start thanks to its futuristic styling. But sadly the car’s styling aged in a short time and lost out to arch rival Toyota Corolla and now with the raging Chevrolet Cruze, the Honda Civic’s time is almost over and is due for replacement.

The 2012 Honda Civic in the video would be launched internationally next year and could find its way to Indian shores to take on the Corolla, Cruze and the Laura. The USP of the 2012 Civic however would not be its styling but its interiors which seem to have been inspired by the CR-Z. and possibly a diesel engine.

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Here we have a rendering of the Mahindra World SUV, which seems to have been in development for ages. The Mahindra World SUV (codenamed W201). The World SUV which is expected to be the first Mahindra to built as a monocoque structure, would be ready for launch by mid 2011 and would be Mahindra’s big ticket to ‘conquer’ international markets.

Coming to the looks of the car, the W201 is incredibly huge and has an imposing presence and could easily rival the Ford Endeavour and Toyota Fortuner. The car’s headlamps would look sharp (like the Kia Sorento) and have day time running lamps.The car would run on giant JK Tyre Elanzo 235/55R17 rubber.

When IAB had a close encounter with the World SUV we were pleased with the quality of plastics and felt it was good for a Mahindra and now after experiencing the Tata Aria we feel the quality of plastics in the W201 would leave a lot to be desired. Hopefully Mahindra addresses this issue on the final production version atleast.

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Ford India is having a great time in the Indian market with the astounding success its small car offering, Figo. The Ford Figo’s sales have been growing steadily since the day it was launched and now the hatchback has replaced Tata Indica as the 5th largest selling car in India.

The Figo has put Ford India in the ‘Top 5′ for the first time in India. These are signs of good times ahead for Ford. The Tata Indica which has been within the ‘Top 5′ regularly for the last ten years has been (finally) beaten by Ford’s new entrant.

Nigel Wark, Executive Director (Marketing, Sales & Service), Ford India -

Our object was to go after providing a high value for money product in the marketplace and that has grown Ford’s reputation here. Figo was a big step as it helped Ford Motor Co. to get away from the niche to the mainstream segment. We are not complacent (after getting in to the top five), we will seize this opportunity by continuing to boost dealerships and increase service network.

Ford India is not likely to rest with the success of the Figo and is planning to get even more aggressive in India. The American car manufacturer is planning to launch 8 new models in the next 5 years and would be rapidly expanding its dealer and service network.

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After making a lot of noise with its unconventional looks & innovative marketing campaigns all across Asia and Europe, GM’s funky looking hatchback the Spark (sold as Beat in India) is all set to make its debut in the Australian Market.

The Spark will wear the Holden badge and will be called the ‘Barina Spark’. Interestingly the Aveo siblings (3 door hatch, 5 door hatch & Sedan) are called the ‘Holden Barina’ in Australia.

The car will be positioned as an entry level model and will be competing with cars like the Hyundai Getz. It will be powered by a 1.2 liter 4 cylinder petrol engine (power output is still unclear) mated to a 5 speed manual transmission. The engine is pretty economical too, returning 42 MPG (17.8kpl)and CO2 emissions of 119g/km.

The Barina Spark scores full marks in the safety department with six airbags & ESP as a standard feature. Fog lamps and alloy wheels also come standard.

John Elsworth, Director of Sales, Marketing and Aftersales at Holden -

This is a very style-conscious market and with Barina Spark we have a really fresh and energetic design that breaks the ‘cute car’ mould. It’s fun, fuel efficient and offers class-leading safety features and value for money in the best Holden tradition.

The car will be showcased at the Australian International Motor Show in Sydney next week where all the details will be unveiled and it goes on sale in the country by the end of this year. The company hopes to garner quite a few numbers with this hatch that is expected to be priced under 13,000 AUS $.