Indian Autos blog

Finally the date when the Prancing Horse stampedes the Indian road has been announced. On 26th May, Ferrari officially opens a shop in New Delhi. The very first dealership will be located in the Janpath area. A second dealership in Mumbai will be announced in the months to come.

The Ferrari India invasion has been talked about on the Indian blogosphere since a year now. But the blogosphere heated up when Ferrari officially appointed Shreyans Group as their official partners.

Ferrari is expected to offer their whole range in India. BS motoring expects the following range

• California Spider – Rs 2.2 crore
• 458 Italia – Rs 2.56 crore
• 599 GTB – Rs 3.37 crore
• FF – Rs 4 crore

Stay tuned for the official announcement of prices shortly!

Those keeping pace with the auto industry on IndianAutosBlog.com will find this, like most other developments, as no surprise. We posted weeks ago about Toyota planning a facelift for either Innova or Avanza for a IIMS premiere in June.

Toyota Indonesia is planning a minor facelift for its MPV king – Innova. Being a mid life facelift, we can only expect a few minor exterior changes. There’s no point for Toyota to revamp the Innova as customers find every aspect of the vehicle perfect for for long distance trips.

The 4 important changes that we can see so far are

• New headlamp design that extend in the bonnet
• New front grille
• The refresh look for the tail lamps
• Reflectors on the rear bumper

Back in November 2010, in-house image manipulator Shoeb R Kalania prepared a rendering and studied suitable additions to keep the Innova at the top of the table.

No mechanical elements seem to have been fiddled with. It may be possible that the interiors have also been lent a refreshed look and feel.

Things have been improving for Toyota Kirloskar Motor recently. The earthquake tragedy in Japan had a strong impact on Indian operations. But their production lines are back on track, the launch of Toyota Liva have been scheduled. Everything is jolly well.

Toyota India has not confirmed any news of changes to Innova so far.

Thinking from the company’s perspective and considering the fact that the Innova is still rightfully attracting masses, Toyota indeed has no need to make changes to the Innova for now. But also remember that Maruti Suzuki with R3, Nissan with NV200, Ford with the 7 seat Fiesta MPV, GM with its Chinese vans will try to dethrone the Innova starting this year. Giving it a facelift would be like securing an anticipatory bail. It’s preparing the Innova for the worst.

Don’t you think so?

click through to see the spyshots

Want a Honda CR-V but also want an SUV with a 3rd row Seating? Well there is some really great news for you. AutoBlog.com has published spy pic of the 2012 Honda CR-V that has a ‘blown up’ at the rear.

We reported earlier that the all new 2012 Honda CR-V was delayed till the year-end because of shortage of parts owing to the Japan tragedy. But this spy picture reveals a lot of details of this new SUV from Honda. So let’s analyze what we are looking at…

The SUV has certainly grown up a lot from its predecessor. This either indicates a 3rd row seating or a massive boot space. The tail lamps seem to be designed by the same person who worked on the Volvo XC90. A coupe like sloping roof indicates softer styling cues.

The 2012 CR-V is expected to debut with a 2.4-liter VTEC, four cylinder engine. However, looking at the recent eye-opening announcement from Honda India to focus of diesel engines, we really do hope that mighty SUV comes to India with a diesel heart.

Do you think it’s a good idea for the Honda CR-V to get a 3rd row seating?

We’ve told you about the Mercedes Benz MFA that will give birth to less expensive next generation A- and B-Class models. Hatchback, sedan and SUV body styles are likely to result out of the MFA that makes complete sense for the budget BMW-loving Indian market.

Not the one to be far behind, BMW is silently working on its own front-wheel drive platform. Code named UKL, the first vehicle on this platform will arrive in late 2013. The generation MINI Cooper will be first vehicle to use its services. It will be followed by a small BMW vehicle, along the lines of the Cooper, in 2014. Up to nine models can use this platform, one report claims.

Under the hood 3- and 4-cylinder engines could find a place. These engine will be highly fuel efficient and are touted to lead the way in showing how down-sizing is achieved without compromising on performance.

Could the UKL give rise to a 0 Series? If the name doesn’t sound right, how about a BMW 2 Series?

When launched, the Tata Nano was an engineering marvel and the finest example of a low-cost vehicle for crowded and badly laid roads. The world hadn’t seen a better compact, inexpensive yet efficient & spacious automobile. It has been anything but a smooth ride for what some of us call the 21st century Ford Model T.

A political fallout in Bengal that forced Tata Motors to relocate their production site to Sanand was just the start of all woes. An unconventional booking strategy, production constraints at the makeshift Uttarakhand facility, delay in deliveries, limited vehicle availability and the daddy of all botch-ups – the fire mishaps that catapulted the Nano to make headline news on international newspapers, the Nano project gave equal amount of grief after the world lauded Tata’ logic-bending creation in 2008.

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While readers of IAB have been writing in about a peculiar compact vehicle testing on the highways of Chengalpet, a neighboring area to Ford’ Chennai plant, we’re seeing similar mules being tested overseas. Spotted near Rotterdam (second largest city in Netherlands) the next generation Ford EcoSport SUV (Codenamed B515 with possible production points in Brazil, India and China) is being driven hard on the highways wearing the hatchback’ body.

The test mule speaks Ford’ mind and strategy – Different top-hats on global platforms, in this case the B-Platform. An EcoSport mule was spotted in Hortolandia, Brazil back in March.

Autoweek says EcoSport will sit under the Kuga in Ford’ international SUV range. It will be fitted with a 1.0-liter 3-cyl EcoBoost engine (Ford Fox engine we speculated on last month?), while the 1.4-liter diesel engine from the Figo/Fiesta will do nicely for our market.

Ford’ spokesperson told Autoweek “All reports of such a car (SUV on B-Platform) is pure speculation.”

But IAB readers must know better

Left – Updated Renault Duster; Right – Currently running Duster

Dacia-forum.org have brought out more images of the 2012 Renault Duster. The interiors shots give away added details of the updated model. The center console receives a bouquet of new features. It appears more modern with features like CD/MP3 player and automatic climate control. The car’s will be slapped with the silver diamond on the steering wheel and front fascia. Renault will launch the Logan-based Duster in India during July 2012 and we expect it to look very similar and sport similar levels of equipment.

There is still limited clarity on what Renault’ compact car for India next year is. To be unveiled in January 2012 (Auto Expo?), the hatchback can be the next generation Clio rendered here.

However sources have told IAB that the next generation Clio might not be stationed on the V-Platform, meaning Renault’ V-Platform model and the Clio are two independent models.

Renault officials refused to speak about the compact car. They will open the small car chapter with the Indian media only in the month of December. As of today, there are three possibilities for the Renault small car.

1) Current generation Renault Clio brought to Oragadam and localized aggressively
2) V-Platform-derived hatchback with Micra’ powertrain
3) The next generation Clio is stationed on a different platform and has no relation to the small car

Another possibility is the next generation Clio (official teaser image seen above) sitting on the new generation Tiida (hatchback showcased recently in China) platform. We’re hoping to get more information as to what’s what in the next few months. All we can say is stay tuned to IAB!