Image – Suzuki Twin city car has no connection to the story.
We’ve just completed a piece on the Maruti Jimny/Gypsy revival and how desperate Maruti is to hold back 50% share in the Indian car market.
It is clear that Maruti Suzuki engineers are working on a new small car that will coexist with the Alto. Maruti will position this car by selling variants that will undercut the Alto. It could be the perfect competitor for the Tata Nano which is anything but a one lakh rupee car.
The vehicle is understood to be formed on an existing small car platform. While there are so many small cars in Maruti Suzuki’s portfolio, it’s common sense that the Alto’s platform is best suited for a car that’s going to sit at the bottom of the product line-up.
Codenamed YE3, the new small car will also serve as a replacement for the Maruti 800 once it is phased out. The retirement plans for the 800 are already in place. Twelve major cities in India don’t sell the 800 anymore.
We expect the design of this car to share similarities with the Cervo (pictured). A 2-cylinder K-Series engine which is rumored to debut on the Alto this year will perform duties under the YE3′s hood. This morning we reported on the emergence of a brand new highly efficient 660cc petrol engine in Japan. Can this engine make it on to the YE3?
This is a challenge for Proton and we hope it can partner a company which is willing to invest and provide maintenance services. This is an important factor as it will have a significant impact in the Indian market.
Malaysia’s International Trade and Industry Deputy Minister Mukhriz Dr Mahathir hints Proton will utilize an existing service network in India. Is Nissan going to be sharing shop floor space with Proton?
Image – Proton Savvy
By Shoeb R Kalania and Shrawan Raja
The ruler of Indian roads once upon a time, the Hindustan Ambassador is slated to bounce back with smart changes in 2011. Hindustan Motors plans to revamp the Amby brand and churn out new variants which it hopes will draw people back into their showrooms.
The task was assigned to Onio Design based in Pune to re-design and add life to the bulky, slow and tired guy.
A conclusion has been reached apparently. The Ambassador is going to be reduced in size by making the boot smaller. By doing so the vehicle can access excise benefits which will help reduce prices by a fair margin. The overall length of the Amby will be under four meters.
The new Ambassador will be actually made to look even older in terms of exterior styling. The design would remind us of the Landmaster/Oxford series 2 (which is a good thing). It will have a dash of chrome and retro styling.
A number of variants with engine options ranging from 1.5 to 2L will be available. Also expect CNG/LPG versions. But please don’t expect an Ambassador with cutting edge technology. The Ambirod by DC Design from Auto Expo 2008 is not going to be replicated.
So what we will get is the same old Amby with refreshed look and feel. It will be interesting to see how HM markets the product. They opened a Facebook page last year to collect feedback. By listening to customers and enthusiasts, HM will hope to bring out something unique that all of us aspire to own. Can HM do a Fiat 500 or a Mini?
By Kaustubh Shinde
The recent launch of the Mahindra Thar – a car meant for a Sunday adventure, has caught the attention of the largest Auto manufacturer in India – Maruti Suzuki. The company is said to be working on a mini SUV on the lines of a Suzuki Jimny (Gypsy for Indians).
Maruti claims that this will ‘almost’ be a new model with 4 doors and a diesel powerplant. We suspect the next generation Jimny will be manufactured in India. The vehicle could be powered by the 1.3-liter Multi-jet engine and could be under four meters long.
Senior Maruti Suzuki official -
We’re looking at how to strengthen our portfolio and are identifying new gaps. We’re actively looking at the small SUV space. This will have to be a four-door diesel model, as a petrol two-door SUV will not click with the Indian consumer. We’re working on an almost new concept for this.
The other cars that the company seems to be working on include
• new small-car in the Alto segment or a possible Alto replacement
• MPV possibly based on the RIII concept.
• the SX4 diesel variant
• new Swift
• Swift Dzire facelift
• And finally the Kizashi sedan
This frenzy of launches are in progress as Maruti wants to get back 50% market share that it lost in the last few years to other manufacturer.
By Kaustubh Shinde
The Kia Picanto is no new bird to the Indian Market. And although you may have never heard about this car over here, I am sure you have sat in it at least once in your life. Yes, it is nothing but a Hyundai Getz in Kia clothes.
But the 2012 model which is set to debut at Geneva Motor Show in March 2011 tells a different story. It seems that the Kia has decided that this entry level hatch needs to be mature and in tune with the current time; being just a vanilla offering is no good anymore.
The new Picanto features a design language and platform that is borrowed from its elder sister – Hyundai i10. The rear of the car is borrowed from the Hyundai Verna hatch that debuted at the Guangzhou Motor Show. The wheelbase is slightly longer than the current model. The power is provided by a four new powertrains with displacement ranging from 1.0 to 1.2L which are essentially the Kappa engines of i10.
So will this car replace the elder sister i10 in the Indian Market? We know that the i10 was recently refurbished due to which it is doing pretty good sales numbers. But product cycles are getting shorter day by day and Hyundai has told IAB that two years down the line, an i10 diesel variant could be on the market. The diesel variant could debut on the next generation i10, which could be this Picanto with cosmetic alterations.
By Shakti Budhiraja
Come February Honda will update the Accord with a facelift. There isn’t significant change on the new model, you need a microscope to spot changes. Instead of facelift, we describe it as interior and exterior improvements.
On cosmetic front, there is the new Honda family grille with horizontal slats seen on the current City. The City’s plain gray grille is reworked with chrome to make it look up-market and soft. With a redesigned bumper, the front looks curvy than masculine.
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Japanese media are reporting that Suzuki, after a gap of 16 years, will introduce a new engine in the Japanese market that will be the most fuel efficient at 27km/l, an improvement of about 20% over the existing engine.
It is said that this all new 660cc petrol engine will be prime mover of many mini cars such as the future Alto and Wagon R. The new engine is suitable for Suzuki’s kei cars found in large numbers all over Japan.
Maruti Suzuki is working on a small car that will serve as the 800′s replacement, perhaps in 2012. There are two options on the table for this mini car – either use a 2-cylinder derivative of the new K-Series engine or fit this highly efficient 660cc engine to the small car.
Image – Fiat’s two-cylinder engine.
Maruti engineers are working hard on the R3, a three-row multi-purpose vehicle that will try diverting Toyota Innova customers into Maruti Suzuki showrooms next year. Some reports point at an end-2011 while others predict an early 2012 as starting date of R3′s production.
Whichever the case, we expect Maruti Suzuki to showcase the production model at Auto Expo 2012. Test mules must be out on the roads by June or July this year.
More news comes from overseas publication Go Auto Australia. We have already reported on the exports possibility of the SX4-based R3 from India. Maruti Suzuki manufactures the Alto (A-Star) for the entire world. The R3 MPV might be one such high-volume export project going to places as far as Australia.
Within a year or so from the local launch, an export specification model will be ready meeting stringent crash test standards and Euro 5 emission standards. Maruti Suzuki will nix the R3 badge and the 1.2-litre K-Series petrol and 1.3-litre Multi-jet turbo-diesel engines sending drive to the front wheels are likely nominees under the hood.
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