Entry posted on April 18, 2011 by
Shrawan Raja;
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Talking to Indian Autos Blog at the new Fiesta unveiling in Delhi, top Ford India officials fielded questions on the future platforms and the Fiesta hatchback.
Fiesta hatchback for India?-
Ford appreciates the kind of response the Fiesta hatch has generated among Ford enthusiasts in India. Facebook pages have been filled with questions on the Fiesta hatch, and Ford has taken note of it. But instead of the hatch, Ford says the demand for them to deliver a premium sedan is huge. Ford officials reiterated the confused positioning the hatch’ introduction will create in India as the Fiesta Classic is now costing less. The hatch Ford wants to sell is the Figo. The Fiesta hatch might not be part of the eight products to India by mid-decade.
Tonnes of information on the Indian GP was revealed recently. First of all, the Jaypee International Race Circuit is renamed to Buddh International Circuit to pay homage to Gautam Buddha.
The pricing of the tickets was also revealed to the general public. The tickets will be out soon at a price of Rs. 5,000 to Rs. 30,000 for different locations around the track. There will be 25,000 – 29000 general tickets of the main grandstand for sale.
I doubt the company organizing the race has stuck to its philosophy of ‘making F1 available to masses in India’. While Rs 5000 may not seem much for a F1 ticket, it certainly out of reach for students and college goers who are extremely interested in F1. Probably, they can have a student’s discount
The time table of the race was revealed. Here are the details
It is a 60 lap race of 5.137 Km per lap. The schedule is:
• Friday 28th October 2011
o Practice Session 1 – 10:00 AM to 11:30 AM
o Practice Session 2 – 2:00 PM to 3:30 PM
• Saturday 29th October 2011
o Practice Session 3 – 11:00 AM to 12:00 Noon
o Qualifying Race – 2:00 PM onwards
• Sunday 30th October 2011
o Final Race – 3:00 PM Onwards
So who all are going to be there to witness the First ever Indian Grand Prix?
Supercar manufacturers coming to India is old news. But the same manufacturers expanding their foothold in the country is certainly a new one. Lamborghini is one such manufacturer which is really ‘bullish’ on the Indian market.
Lamborghini had only dealership in India which was in Delhi being managed by Exclusive Motors. In an effort to bump up the presence, Lamborghini has appointed Autohangar as its dealer in Mumbai to cater to the western markets.
Autohangar is famous for their Mercedes dealership in Mumbai.
The company is also planning on an aggressive strategy to capture the Supercar market in India. According to a company sources, India has a special allocation of 8-10 Aventadors, the company latest supercar with 700 horses under the bonnet. Sources also reveal that there is a queue of buyers for Aventador and they are happily willing to part with 4 Cr to own one.
Our good friends at TheAutomotiveIndia have spied the latest Nissan Sunny (possibly badged Almera in India) in Chennai. The car was spied with minimal camouflage. The sunny is going to be the next game changer for Nissan India.
After establishing a foothold in the hatchback market with the Micra, Nissan will launch the Sunny in the C+ segment to rival the Honda City, Fiat Linea, Maruti SX4, Ford Fiesta and the likes. Nissan is also bumping up its sales network to support the growth. The company would add 23 new dealerships this fiscal.
Have a look at the video and let us know what you think about the Sunny.
Entry posted on April 16, 2011 by
Shrawan Raja;
Read More on Ford
The Classic variant presented last week seemed like a Fiesta built for the BPO operators and that was a tad disappointing to see given the Fiesta’ driver-seat USP. But day before yesterday was a different story. I spent just ten minutes with the new Fiesta and it gave me a good feeling. This is what a Fiesta should really be like. It looks nothing like what you see today in India because it sticks to Ford’s tradition of being a fun to drive car. At least it seems like it.
Ford now sells 3 versions of the Fiesta in India – the Figo is the previous generation Fiesta, the Classic is a sedan on that platform and the new Fiesta is the current generation model.
Consider yourself blessed when you get a glimpse of an Aston’s Million Pound Car – One 77 in India. At least that was the feeling we had when we attended Aston Martin’s Press conference held in Mumbai yesterday.
As we speak, Aston Martin is announcing its entry into India at its first dealership in Mumbai. Aston Martins will be sold in Mumbai by Infinity cars who also operate a popular BMW dealership in the city. The showroom will be put up at Kemps corner and the after sales office will be located in Worli.
The Mumbai dealership is open from today while the Delhi dealership will begin functioning from May. Featured in many Bond movies, Aston Martin is not a mass-market brand as only 55,000 cars are on the road today. According to Aston Martin, its cars stand for Power, Beauty and Soul. Having increased its presence to 43 countries now, Aston sees serious potential in emerging markets.
The Vantage and Rapide models are on display at the dealership now. Except Cygnet, all other Astons will be sold here.
Aston Martin Prices (ex-showroom Mumbai)
One 77 – 20 crore rupees (no typo here, I promise)
Rapide – 2.15 crore rupees
Vantage – 1.55 crore rupees
20 cars have been prebooked already and 20 are on Indian roads, bought through individual importers. Aston has high hopes on the 4-door Rapide model. Though its fuel economy figure stands at 3.6 kmpl, it isn’t going to matter to the buyer. The only thing bothering him and keeping him awake at night is the six month waiting period.
Back in 2010, we spotted a NV200 testing in Chennai. According to Kiminobu Tokuyama, Managing Director and CEO of Nissan Motor India, after the launch of the global sedan – the Sunny, Nissan will launch another vehicle in 2012, which is expected to compete with Toyota’s Innova.
All hints point at the Nissan NV200 because the Nissan Serena was never caught testing on the Indian roads and the MPV on the V-Platform might not be suitable for our market.
