After the Maserati range and the Bentley Continental GT, April 15th will witness the third exotic car brand launch of the month. The grand launch of Aston Martin will be hosted in the presence of top officials at Nariman Point, Mumbai. Mr Michael Van Der Sande, Chief Commercial Officer, Mr Marek Reichmann, Director of Design will preside over the event.
It is rumored that Aston will reveal prices of its entire range of models. The vehicles will be distributed here by Performance Car (Division of Infinity Cars Pvt. Ltd, a popular name in the luxury car business).
Indian Autos Blog is among the privileged few holding an invite to the event. As usual, we’ll bring you live updates and interesting tidbits from the launch floor. Stay tuned to IAB!
The extremely aggressive marketing strategy around the K Series engine is finally starting to bear fruit. Owing to this specific engine, Maruti has been able to pump life into low volume models such as Estilo and Ritz. Shashank Srivastava, chief general manager (marketing) at Maruti Suzuki India – Estilo’s sales have doubled to 5,000 units per month while Ritz sells 3,500 units of the petrol variant against the earlier average [ Read More ]
Peugeot has released pictures of the Chinese market 508. For the European market, Peugeot had showcased their car last year in Paris. We expect the 508 landing here shortly to be visually similar to the Chinese model. Under the bonnet, Peugeot will provide a wide range of petrol and diesel engines ranging from 1.6- to 2.0-liter in displacement. Engine options for the Indian market is still unclear, a diesel engine is a must if it has to successfully counter the force of the 20 lakh rupee Passats and Superbs.
Entry posted on April 12, 2011 by
Shrawan Raja;
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Audi has featured headlamp and tail lamp designs of the Q3 on its teaser campaign ahead of the reveal at Auto Shanghai on the 19th of this month. The junior crossover will be Audi’s reply to the BMW X1, which has taken off into outer space in India and European countries.
2012 is going to be a busy year for Audi India as it will receive two hot-selling models in the new A6 and Q3 services of which are needed if it wants to bridge the gap to arch rival BMW, who managed to push 1000+ cars into the Indian market last month alone.
The Q3 will be powered by the 4-cylinder, 2.0-liter TDI engine, a common sight in modern VW group vehicles. Audi will assemble the Q3 at its Aurangabad facility alongside the A4, A6 and Q5 vehicles. The company has to position the Q3 in the 25-30 lakh rupee price bracket if it wants to give serious competition to the X1. A petrol engine option will also be provided, but the growth driver will unmistakably be the oil burner.
Entry posted on April 12, 2011 by
Shrawan Raja;
Read More on Audi
New teaser sketches of Audi’ small sedan – the A3 – has been released. The Audi A3 debuted in the concept guise last month in Geneva and immediately there were reports from the show that Audi was looking to position it under the A4 here in India to take on the Hyundai Sonata YF, Honda Accord, Skoda Superb and Volkswagen Passat.
The sketches also have hints on the future car’s cockpit. Autocar reports the wheelbase will be 2630mm and the final product will be wider and lower than the current A3. The production variant reportedly bows in during Geneva 2012 sporting the usual crop of petrol, diesel and electric powertrains. We expect Audi to offer the A3 in India with the VW group’s 2.0-liter TDI diesel engine in the 20-25 lakh rupee price band mid-decade.
The Volkswagen Polo sedan was primarily for the Russia and India and it was said the company was studying similar markets for its introduction.
Apart from China, we now know Malaysia could be in that list as the new Passat and Vento were caught testing in Port Dickson. The Vento (known as Polo in Russia) is based on an extended Polo hatchback platform and comes with a pair of 1.6-liter engines.
Power-loving markets like China and Malaysia might gain access to the racy TSI engine from under the Polo’ hood.
Indian Autos Blog has learned that Volkswagen is averse to the idea of executing a sub-4 meter Vento even in the future as the customers in India believe “they have arrived” with the purchase of this German sedan. A sub 4-meter variant would dilute the Vento’s image.
We scratched our heads when Rajiv Bajaj said “I am repeatedly telling you that we are developing a four-wheeler (ultra low-cost car) and not a car. There is a lot of difference between a four-wheeler and a car. The four-wheeler is under development stage and is likely to hit the market by 2012.”
Shoeb R Kalania wasted no time in getting back to his computer and did up a 4-wheeler bringing together the DNA of an autorickshaw, small city car and a scooter. Bajaj’s first attempt at a mass-market product was the Chetak which moved millions from A-B, so the knowledge gathered from that historic product will be of much use on the 4-wheeler.
We assume plenty of simple components will be carried over from the 3-wheeler division. We expect the ULC to have the dimensions and layout of a Tata Nano with a tiny turning radius.
Bajaj begins production of the ULC next year in Aurangabad where it previously manufactured scooters. The same facility will also roll out three wheelers. Both personal and commercial applications of the platform will be explored.
TheAutomotiveIndia, after getting our attention with Ford Fiesta spyshots, now have more to show. One of their forum members have caught the Hyundai i45 on test on the expressway just outside Chennai.
Hyundai isn’t keeping the i45 under wraps as ad broadcasting regularly through the cricket world cup ensured pre-launch hype had begun. Earlier last month, Autocar India editor Hormazd Sorabjee tweeted that Hyundai will introduce the i45 at the Auto Expo next year.
HMIL’s CEO and MD Mr HW Park told IAB during the launch of the Santa Fe that the company will bring Verna RB, Avante and Sonata “one by one” to India.
