Indian Autos blog

The first hatchback from the global giant Toyota for India is finally out of the bag. Displayed at the Delhi Auto Expo in 2010 and been under testing ever since, Toyota Kirloskar India has finally decided to take the wraps of the Liva at a press event at Delhi. Toyota Kirloskar has launched Liva with a base price tag of 3.99 lakhs (Ex showroom Delhi).   The Toyota Liva is  [ Read More ]

Renault’s V-Platform hatchback seen here is waiting under a car cover to protect it not only from dust, but also prying eyes until its official unveiling at the Auto Expo next year. Higher officials at Renault said the product will be positioned in the B+ segment meaning this will mess with the Hyundai i20, Maruti Swift, Honda Brio and Indica Vista.

The car took shape at Renault’s design center in Mumbai. It is a “car by India for India” stationed on the V-Platform that the Micra sits on. The 1.5-liter diesel engine producing around 70bhp will be installed on what some say is a grown up Wagon R.

Renault might not want to lend the car smooth surfaces and circular design nuggets found on the Micra. It might choose an interplay of a tall boy and a crossover’s styling bits for the 5 lakh rupee hatch.

At the press conference in New Delhi last week where this image was shown to us, Renault wasn’t willing to share any details on the petrol engine but unless you are stretching your imagination, the answer is there to see – the 1.2L 3cyl petrol mill from the Micra is the candidate in question.

An Indian Autos Blog fan who wished to remain undercover sent us pictures of the Etios Liva a day before Toyota intended to release it. The print media has carried test drive reports of the model, so there isn’t anything new we can reveal anymore.

We have seen and heard enough about the Liva (check its specifications) since its introduction as a concept at last year’s Auto Expo. We couldn’t get our hands on it as it was locked at both the Bangalore and Delhi launch of the Etios brand, which was in the sedan avatar.

The Liva retaining the sedan’s components makes it look like an Etios that ditched its boot. The front fascia familiar now on the Etios has not been touched. The Dzire and Vento use a film of chrome on the grille to distinguish them from the hatchback versions.

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At the key handover ceremony for the first 14 Fluence customers, who are also India’s first Renault’s second innings customers, the TV commercial highlighting the car’s design was aired to auto journalists. It’s pretty hard to stand out today with so many cars and TV ads. The safe bet is going with what the car does best. In the Fluence’s case it is unmistakably the French design touches.

An instantly recognizable ad signature is hugely important, especially for a rookie like Renault (in India) if it wants to establish a connection with viewers. We don’t get the feeling that the Fluence is a premium vehicle watching this ad. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

Renault told us that over 1,000 test drives have been booked at the 14 functioning dealerships. 240 cars will be delivered by the end of this month. Black and white have been the pick of the colors and 90% of the cars booked is diesel.

A decade back, if there was one thing in material which you could possess to get a public certification of being uber rich, classy and elite, it was a Mercedes Benz car, right?

Back then India was not known for people who used their wheels as a vehicle to send society an update on their status. It was a rarity in a country not known for wealthy people, if not forthcoming wealthy people.

Today although we have a long list of options to splurge the overflowing bank balance into, there are only three real dealerships people find it safe to deposit it in – Mercedes Benz, BMW and Audi.

Recently BMW ousted Mercedes from the luxury market throne by aggressively pricing some of its products. Even Audi with its updated range of models is catching Mercedes fast. Audi isn’t blinking twice before bringing down recently unveiled cars like the R8 V10 and RS5, which are going to find limited buyers but are awesome brand shapers.

If you have been an ardent fan of IAB, then you should be proud of the fact that IAB was the first publication that revealed the facelifted Koleos to the world. With Renault’s ambitious plan to launch 5 products by 2012 and top 3 non-Indian auto manufacturers in India, the Koleos will certainly provide a helping hand to shape the identity of the brand. So what can we expect from the Koleos?

The new Koleos’s front is a complete redesign from the older one. Where the older one had very sharp ‘like it or hate it’ design, the new one is much softer on eyes. A big fat chrome grill coupled with slimmer headlights gives it a pleasing appearance. The OVRMS are equipped with LEDs to give it a premium feel.

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Just when we thought that the Tata Nano segment was going to heat up with the entry of some international brands developing their own Ultra Low Cost Car (ULCs), some disappointing news has come our way. Two major brands that were thought to bring their ULCs at the 2012 Auto Expo in Delhi have decided not to enter the fray and focus on higher segments.

French carmaker Renault, in collaboration with Bajaj auto, is working on an ULC which was also displayed in its prototype stage at the Delhi Auto Expo 2008. However, the company has officially gone on the wires and said that it is unlikely to bring the car to the market in 2012 and the energy was on shifting 5 products starting with the Fluence to the market.

GM India was expected bring a 800 cc car in collaboration with Chinese partner SAIC but through research (and reading the newspapers) GM India realized that the project will not make economic sense.

GM would now stick to the standard Spark with 1,000 cc engine as their entry level model. All their future models will be above Spark while a 800cc Spark still stays as a realistic possibility in the next two years.

For now the only thing that the Tata Nano has to worry about is its slipping sales. With diesel, LPG and better furnished variants, it can hope to eat into the Alto’s market share. The question is when will the upgraded variants hit the market.

The Mahindra-Ssangyong deal got huge publicity from Press. M&M acquired a 70 per cent stake in loss-making company Ssangyong for $464 million last year. However, we have heard very little from them now that the acquisition is complete. Finally, Pawan Goenka has broken his mum and that too in a big way.

M&M has set an ambitious target of selling 120,000 Ssangyong cars in 2011. 55% of that will be sold internationally and remain 45% will be sold in Korea. The reason why we say its ambitious is because last year the company sold only 85,000 cars. So M&M is looking at a YoY growth rate of 41% is a single year.

Of course, M&M will thoroughly exploit its domestic market to achieve that growth. The company plans to launch Korando and Rexton from the Ssangyong portfolio in India this year to help the sales volumes. We have already caught both of them being tested on the Indian Roads.

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