Indian Autos blog

At the Renault Fluence media drive yesterday in Pondicherry, a Renault India representative said they have been carrying out testing of the Koleos in India for “a while now.” The camouflage on the mules is very little with just pieces of duct tape stuck to the badges and logo. Sharing underpinnings with the Nissan X-Trail, the Koleos is equipped with a bigger 2.0-liter diesel engine producing about 150PS power. This will be the company’s second and last launch for 2011.

Renault will bring the Duster, the second SUV to its portfolio, next year at the sub-10 lakh price point. The Duster is based on the Logan (Mahindra Verito) platform, a no-frills car that will lock horns with the Mahindra Scorpio.

Renault India will announce two variants of the Fluence (petrol AT and diesel MT) for the Indian market on the 23rd of this month in Delhi. The company invited a select group of media representatives, which Indian Autos Blog was part of, to sample the car and suggest suitable prices. A price range of 15-17 lakh rupees is highly likely, but we can expect Renault to spring a surprise as the company is very eager to do well in its second inning.

In the initial stage, Renault will not offer different trim levels. With one petrol (2.0-liter mated to a 6-speed AT) and diesel variant (1.5-liter mated to a 6-speed manual) , buying experience for the customer will be less complex. Based on the customer response, Renault will supplement variants to the Fluence line-up.

A new Fiat Siena is expected to debut in Brazil next year and the internet is rife with renderings and speculations of what the new sedan would look like. Here we have a few renderings from AutoEsporte envisioned from the countless spy shots that are floating over the internet.

Internally known as known as Project 326 3V, the new Siena is heavily influenced by its elder sister Linea and the 2012 Fiat Palio. The rear is derived from the Alfa Romeo design school. The car has the large air intakes in the front bumper, round fog lamps and chrome accents on the sides of the bumper, just below the headlights.

The new Siena will be powered by Fire engines of varying capacity such as 1.4L and 1.6L and 16 E.torQ Evo. We can safely expect Fiat to plonk the 1.3-liter Multi-jet engine under the Siena’ bonnet for diesel-loving markets.

The Indian Automotive Scene has quite literally exploded in the past 2 days. First, BMW unveiled the VED concept, then Hyundai launched the much expected Verna and now Audi has taken the wraps of the new A7. Audi has launched the new A7 in Gurgaon at a price of 65 lakh rupees (ex-showroom) . The Audi A7 promises to be the first of its kind executive-class five-door coupe. In essence,  [ Read More ]

Petrolheads Rejoice! Hyundai has finally taken the wraps of the new Verna. After being spied countless number of times on the Indian Roads, Hyundai has finally launched the new Verna with the starting price of Rs 6.99 Lakhs and goes all the way to 10.74 Lakhs for the top variant (ex-showroom Delhi). The Hyundai Verna is also symbolize the company’s new marketing tagline ‘New Thinking New Possibilities’ The other variants  [ Read More ]

Update – Prices listed are ex-showroom and not on-road as previously understood.

The facelifted Land Rover Freelander 2 has reached certain JLR outlets in India. One IAB reader wrote in to us along with these snaps taken at a dealership that serves as concrete evidence to the claim. We’re not entirely sure of the next fact – these are locally made Freelanders rolled out from the Tata’ revamped Chikhli facility in Pune.

The Freelander 2 has been runaway success with over 200,000 of them shifted in less than four years. The Freelander 2 went into production in 2006.

Back in the first week of March, a top Tata official said the plant, previously used by Mercedes Benz, will push out 2,000 units a year. The reader adds that two variants are on sale for about 35 lakh and 39 lakh rupees (ex-showroom) in certain parts of North India. There is no official word from Tata Motors except for a promise that the Freelander 2 will be assembled in India this year.

The facelifted Freelander 2 has minor cosmetic changes to its front fascia. A new grille, reworked bumper, altered fog lamps and air intakes are the only changes on the 2011 model shown above. Indian Autos Blog brought leaked brochure shots of the 2011 model back in July last year and speculated if it was indeed the model that would be assembled in India this year.

Update – Press release added after the jump

BMW has unveiled the Vision EfficientDynamics concept model in Delhi. Our man Kaustubh on ground zero tells us that this study is not translating into a production model anytime soon. It might take about three years for it to do so, but its chances in India are slim.

The concept car was unveiled to a group of select media persons by Mr Praful Patel, Hon’ble Minister of Heavy Industries.

The idea behind the unveiling is to show India the technological prowess and the efficiency-seeking pursuit of BMW. This is the first time BMW is showcasing a concept car in India. Ideas, design language and technology from the ED concept will be prevalent in BMW’s future cars like the next generation 3 Series that is expected to bow in next year.

The diesel-based hybrid concept car combines the company’s M division performance along with the fuel economy characteristics of a small hatchback. Check the video below to learn more about the vehicle.

Tata Motors has launched two new models Ace Zip and Magic Iris today in Mumbai. The Magic Iris is Tata’ idea of a low-cost public transport while the Ace Zip is a micro truck with a payload capacity of 600kg, a fantastic upgrade for three-wheeler operators.

Both vehicles are equipped with a 611 cc, water cooled diesel engine producing 11 HP power and 31 Nm torque and are BS3 compliant. Tata Magic IRIS, BSIII edition is priced at Rs 1.95 lakh, ex showroom Thane (without octroi). The Tata Ace Zip BSIII edition, is priced at Rs. 1.90 lakh, ex showroom Thane (without octroi).

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