If you thought 8,100 Etios sedans in 7 days was awesome. Wait till you here this: Toyota Kirloskar Motors (TKM) has registered a mind-boggling 12,000 orders for the Etios within just 15 days of the launch. That is nothing like we have heard before
On the launch, TKM set a target of 70,000 units for 2011. But at this rate the company will achieve that target in less than 3 months. These numbers sound even more huge when you take into consideration the fact that the production hasn’t even started and not a single car is on the road. It is supposed to begin on the 20th of this month at Toyota’s plant near Bangalore. The waiting list has already stretched to over 8 months! Book a car now and it will come in August next year.
These numbers are just too hard to believe. Who is buying this car? Are these really individuals or has the car entered the fleet market? Because make no mistake this is an IDEAL fleet car. It’s inexpensive, very spacious and crucially it’s economical. If it has entered the fleet market then that is so not the target customer of Toyota.
Are you waiting for the BMW X1? Are you from Mumbai? Then I am afraid I have rather bad news for you. You will have to wait a bit longer. Oh No! The launch isn’t delayed or anything; Let me explain:
IAB visited BMW’s Mumbai dealer – Navneet Motors to see whether the car has arrived in the showroom or not. Much to our surprise, the store manager informed us that they have sold out all their quota of 100 cars and the similar situation is faced by Infinity Cars (the other Mumbai dealer). These are the only 2 dealers of BMW in Mumbai.
By digging in a bit deeper, we found that that they are not taking any further orders for the X1 and will commence a new round of booking in April next year.
If this is not the usual ‘sales guy’ talk then BMW has managed to achieve something fantastic. They have managed to sell a major consignment of the cars before its official launch.
BMW recently overtook Mercedes for the top spot of luxury manufacturer in India. The X1, as we and everyone else predicted, is just going to widen that gap.
Autocar India Editor, Hormazd Sorabjee has revealed in a tweet on his twitter page that Maruti Suzuki is set to launch the Kizashi luxury saloon in January 2011, in the Indian car market.
The Kizashi is Suzuki’s flagship model internationally and is also the most expensive Suzuki product worldwide. The Kizashi will carry the distinction of being the most expensive Suzuki product in India as well.
The Kizashi will be powered by a 2.4 litre petrol engine pumping out 185 bhp and 230 Nm, of power and torque respectively. The car is available internationally in both manual and automatic options, but we will have to wait and watch as to which transmission option is launched in India and at this point, the automatic transmission is the anticipated one. The Kizashi is also available in an All Wheel Drive (AWD) variant internationally, but it is highly unlikely that this version will be launched in India.
The Kizashi will be brought in through the Completely Built Unit (CBU) route initially, but Maruti could consider local assembly from Completely Knocked Down (CKD) kits, if the sales volumes are good. The Kizashi could be priced between 17-24 lakh rupees.
It will also be interesting to see whether the Kizashi is badged as a Maruti Suzuki or simply Suzuki like Maruti Suzuki’s lone CBU offering, the Grand Vitara. The car may carry only the Suzuki badge as the Maruti badge is too closely associated with all the small car offerings from the Maruti Suzuki stable.
Autocar India Editor, Hormazd Sorabjee has posted the launch date and the ex-showroom Mumbai prices of the new Audi A8 on his twitter account. He has stated that, the car will be launched in India on the 10th of January 2011.
The first variant of the new A8 to hit Audi showrooms across the country will be the 4.2 litre FSI V8 petrol producing 367 bhp of power and 445 Nm of torque. The V8 petrol will be followed up by the 3.0 litre TDI V6 diesel producing 247 bhp of power and 550 Nm of torque.
The flagship variant of the A8 range, the 6.3 litre W12 pumping out 493 bhp of power and 625 Nm of torque will be launched in the latter part of next year.
The Ex-Showroom Mumbai prices for the new Audi A8 are:
4.2 FSI V8 Petrol – 91 lakh
3.0 TDI v6 Diesel – 76.5 lakh
The new Audi A8 will be launched in India only in the long wheelbase specification.
Entry posted on December 17, 2010 by
Shrawan Raja;
Read More on Tata
We will increase prices for all passenger vehicles except the Nano and the newly-launched Aria by 1-1.5 per cent from January due to higher input costs.
Tata Motors’ Vice-President (Commercial, Passenger Cars Business Unit), R Ramakrishnan said at an event recently.
Entry posted on December 16, 2010 by
Shrawan Raja;
Read More on Ford
Coming close on the heels of the Figo’s immense popularity with over 58,000 units sold in past eight months, this industry-wide recognition truly establishes it as a performance car.
A happy Michael Boneham (President and Managing Director of Ford India) comments after winning receiving the Indian Car of The Year award (ICOTY) for the Ford Figo last evening.
The first thing that comes to mind while talking about diesel hatchbacks is turbo lag. It is the inborn characteristic of a diesel engine to wake up after a particular RPM and then rush to work. People who buy a diesel car have to put up with it, or somehow, alter their driving style to work around it.
Though it is not correct to say that the Micra diesel suffers not from the turbo lag phenomenon, it is precise to say the well-mated gearbox almost entirely fixes this problem. The acceleration is consistent for a diesel engine, right from 1,000 RPM to till about 3,500 RPM. If you need to accelerate more, up shift and load the engine to come back into the torque band.
The noise levels gain strength as you accelerate but at no time is it unbearable. On cold winter mornings, the Micra responds to power with a slightly annoying diesel clatter. Once the engine is up to temperature, it responds normally and is ready to impress.
SAIC-Wuling Hongtu MPV (N200 in some cases) was spied by our regular reader Sagar Parikh with Gujarat plates. The vehicle was spotted testing in city traffic. Initially believed to be the Wuling Sunshine, the low-cost MPV, on close observation, gave away a few clues despite heavy camouflage.
We have understood that these vehicles could be badged as Tavera variants. They however will sport the Chevrolet bowtie.
This vehicle is expected to take on the Maruti Eeco and Omni. By the look of things, General Motors will offer luxury variants for passenger application as well.
The basic model is expected to come with a 1.2-liter 85bhp petrol engine. It will also be interesting to see if a diesel engine will be fitted to the Hongtu. GM can use the 3-cylinder diesel engine from the Beat to make it cost effective and fuel efficient. This van is less than 4 meters long and qualifies as a small car in India.
The “Chevrolet Tavera N200″ is what we’ve decided to call it and it must be on the market next year.
