Indian Autos blog

Pune based IAB lover Rohan Patil spotted Hyundai’s Alto challenger (codename – Hyundai HA) on the Pune-Ahmednagar highway. This is the note Rohan left us this morning -

I saw two mules zooming past me near Wagholi, I increased my speed and caught them at Ramwadi Octroi Checkpost where they stopped. They had TN registered red number plates.

For the benefit of new readers we’re summing up the Hyundai HA -

1) Hyundai’s entry-level hatch will be based on a part-Santro platform
2) A 3cyl 800cc engine producing about 50bhp will drive the front wheels
3) HA is smaller than Santro and will coexist with it
4) Possibility of a diesel engine is slim but a LPG variant, going by the company’s history, is expected
5) Engineers in Hyderabad coordinated with their counterparts in Korea to develop this 2.5 lakh rupee hatch
6) As the low cost car provides the bare minimum, it may not be exported to the same countries the i10 is sent to. It can be retailed in markets having similar characteristics and safety standards as India.
7) Can Hyundai shatter the 25kmpl mark with the tiny 3 cylinder motor?
Sales will shoot up during the festive season which is when one car expect the HA. If not, Auto Expo 2012 is the perfect opportunity.
9) Will they call it i5? Will they call it Matrix? Or will they leverage on the established Santro nameplate by adding a suffix to it? Branding of this city commute remains a mystery.
10) Hyundai is building its presence in rural areas where it feels the HA has more chances of finding buyers.

What do you think about the HA’s chances in India?

Long-overdue? Matters less as curtains fall on the new generation Audi A6 on the 3rd of August in Gurgaon. Audi will put this vehicle on the market for customers at present enticed by the Jaguar XF, BMW 5 Series or the Mercedes Benz E-Class.

Audi stopped selling the A6 a few months back and requested interested customers to deposit money on this model. Having asked customers to wait, pressure was immense to bring out the model before customers looked in other directions. Unlike some years back, 2011 has plenty of alternatives (apart from the other two Germans) including a Jaguar and a Volvo for 50 lakh rupees.

Engines from the international range suitable for India

245bhp 3.0 TDI
177bhp 2.0TDI
300bhp 3.0T Petrol
204bhp 2.8 Petrol

If Audi registers a torrent of sales from the A6 diesel and the Q3 junior crossover, arriving next year, holds up to the expectations of Indian customers, Mercedes Benz might have to handover second place to Audi in India.

Keep an eye on www.audi-a6.in to learn more about this vehicle.

Left – Hyundai Arnejs (pronounced Ar-nez) concept shown at the Paris Motor Show way back in 2006. Designed at Hyundai’s European Research and Design centre in Rüsselsheim, Germany, the Arnejs was instrumental in building Hyundai’s strong brand identity.

Right – Hyundai i20 clocked well over 5,000 units a month even after its honeymoon period in India much to everyone’s surprise. A facelift is in order to give the new Maruti Swift some headaches and impatient customers another option.

Eagle-eyed Snatak Mundada is back doing what he does best – getting pictures and videos from the test mule capital of India – Pune.

His latest catch is the Ashok Leyland Dost undergoing final rounds of testing. Engineers could have brought it to ARAI (Automotive Research Association of India) for homologation purposes. We’ve posted pictures of a Dost mounted with a container testing outside Chennai last week.

Production of the Dost has commenced at Ashok Leyland’s factory in Hosur. Fitted with a 55 hp, 3 cylinder 1.5 litre CRDI engine producing 150Nm of torque, the Dost uses a five-speed manual gear box. Its turning radius is 4.8 m, and features such as front Transverse leaf suspension, Load Sensing Proportioning Valve (LSPV) technology measures the weight on the load body and applies the brake force accordingly will be appreciated by operators.

With a 1.25 tonne payload capacity, Dost comes in three versions with the top-end version featuring air-conditioning, power steering, dual-colour beige-gray trim and fabric seats. Exterior color options are white, beige and blue.

Click through to see the official image gallery.

Team-BHP reader car_crazy1400 has posted spyshots of the Maruti R3′s rear. We’ve shown you a speculative rendering along with an interior snap on a previous occasion. The R3 is based on an existing platform accommodating seven people.

The dashboard is directly lifted from the new Swift. The ZDi trim shows a dual tone dashboard and components like door locks and gear lever are also shared with the new Swift.

A reader wrote to us last week stating Maruti’s new MPV is codenamed YL8 and is on test with a 1.3-liter VGT-equipped Multi-jet diesel engine. Aggressive prices helped Eeco earn a good reputation in the market. Maruti will be putting all the knowledge it gained selling the Eeco and Versa to use on the R3′s development.

Will the R3 arrive before the Auto Expo? Maruti needs some breathing space between the new Swift and the R3 as the former will be its focus to retain top position in the core of the Indian car market – the B and B+ segments.

Being a MPV and more importantly a Maruti, the R3 is will have low maintenance cost, good mileage, good knee and head room and long waiting periods. Sitting in a lower segment but offering a similar configuration, can R3 put an end to the Innova’s act?

In the next few months, there will be two Mercedes-powered SUVs in India that won’t be sold by Mercedes Benz. Scratching your head? The first one is the Force Motors One that will rely on the current C-Class’s 2.2L 4cyl CRDI engine. The second is the Ssangyong Rexton, based on a previous generation M-Class using a 2.7L 162hp turbocharged CRDI.

Indian auto major Mahindra acquired the Korean car maker Ssangyong last year and since then Ssangyongs are being tested in India. Mahindra is interested in bringing Rexton and the newly launched Korando C to our market. These cars have been spied by IAB readers in the past (Korando C spy shots, Rexton spy snaps). Although we can easily find interior snaps of the cars on the internet, we’re interested in seeing actual pictures of the India spec car to spot the customization level.

Our friends at Motoroids have brought to surface a shed load of information on the Rexton. Using detailed interior shots, Motoroids explains features which we will use in our version.

click through to read more

On the official fan page of the Maruti Suzuki Swift, new information has been made available. The following are some of the messages published on the page wall in the last few days -

1) A longer and wider body, to give you the most comfortable ride. Only in the new Maruti Suzuki Swift
2) Diesel engine revamped! Introducing the top end Zdi variant only in the Maruti Suzuki Swift!
3) Power just got a new meaning. New VVT engine and better power output for improved performance
4) Premium Interiors with new dashboard design, best in class fit -finish and high-end integrated stereo

Die hard Maruti Swift fan Francis S Pulickal spent two hours putting together the teaser site’s jigsaw puzzle that reveals the new Swift’s dashboard layout. Compare it to the European version and you won’t spot any visible differences. The new Swift will debut on the 17th of next month with current engines (1.2 K Series with variable valve timing/ 1.3-liter Multi-jet diesel branded DDiS).

The new Swift is based on a fresh platform providing a bit more cabin space. The interiors have been completely redone. The car is also said to be more fuel efficient compared to the current Swift but automatic transmission might not be offered in the near term. Following the Swift, the Dzire will also be revamped.

The Swift, as we wrote in an earlier post is almost a byword for hatchback in India. It outsells many new generation models like the Volkswagen Polo, Nissan Micra, Hyundai i20 and the Tata Indica Vista. The Indica’s sales, despite being offered with the same engine with more space and features consistently fell.

Nissan and Volkswagen don’t have the brand equity or the sales network to catch up with the Swift. Volkswagen has a better chance compared to Nissan to inch closer to the Swift, but that will take many years even with a fantastic product like the Polo.

In an official video, General Motors explains some facets of the XSDE SMARTECH diesel engine that debuts on the Beat diesel. The 24kmpl Chevrolet Beat diesel will be launched day after tomorrow simultaneously in Mumbai and Delhi. We’ve brought you details on the model in previous posts but for the benefit of our new readers, here are some details from General Motors in the words of their marketing team -

• Advanced engine design, engineering & packaging.
• Combination of features and engine components package that provides improved performance.
• Significant improvement in NVH characteristics of the engine leading to more comfortable driving experience.
• Smart engine design and technology that provides optimum fuel efficiency in varied driving conditions.
• Higher low end torque delivery for improved driving experience in stop and go traffic conditions.
• Rigorously tested & proven in extreme Indian road and climatic conditions.

India is the first and perhaps the only market where the Beat (known as Spark in Europe and the UK) will be sold with a diesel engine. The turbocharged CRDI 3cyl 1.0L (936 cc to be precise) engine produces produces 57 bhp of power and 150Nm of torque.

click through to read more