Spy photographers of Autoblog Argentina have snapped images of the 2012 Audi A3. What’s the Indian connection? You’ll see the sedan version at an Audi India dealership in the next two years.
When the A3 sedan concept was unveiled in Geneva a few months back, it was asking to be speculated on. Audi India wants to bag volumes and the two vehicles that will get them there are A3 sedan and the Q3 crossover.
Audi can bring the A1 (read VW Polo in an Audi dress) to India with the TSI engine and pack it with features, but confusion on whether to assemble it here (can they sell enough to justify the investment given this is a souped up Polo?) or import it (higher duties means this, like the Beetle, will sell not more than 250-300 units a year) means taking some brave decisions.
The Toyota Innova has been the kingpin of the MPV market since the time it was launched. Never had a car dominated a segment so aggressively for such a long period of time. There were many attempts made by competitors and some of them were successful as well (such as the Xylo), but still no one really overtook the Innova in terms of sales.
The only time Innova showed a lack luster performance was the month Japan faced a natural calamity and that’s really saying something.
But when it comes to ‘domination’ Maruti Suzuki knows the tricks of the trade. The company has dominated the small car market like no other. So the largest Auto maker in India decided that it had enough from Japanese czar. Maruti Suzuki started working on the R3 MPV in late 2008. In 2010, Maruti Suzuki displayed a prototype of the vehicle at the Delhi Auto Expo.
The Maruti Swift Facebook fan page has reached for the stars recording 1.28 lakh fans (and counting) in a matter of weeks. This makes the new Swift page the strongest official fan page for an automotive product in India.
Pre-launch orders have crossed 38k and two teaser videos have also been posted to accelerate the hype. Maruti needs to up its capacity and ensure there are no hiccups as delivery delays will frustrate customers.
Moving on, our friends at Gaadi.com have posted images consisting of the new Swift’s complete details and variants. We’ve brought you images of the new Swift in ZXI trim earlier, so view those images if you still haven’t.
The Swift petrol is powered by a 1197cc engine producing 87PS/114Nm while the 1248cc diesel engine produces 75PS/190Nm. The petrol engine is fitted with variable valve timing technology and the diesel uses a Fixed Geometry Turbocharger. The top-end variant gets features like 15 inch alloy wheels, Auto AC, Dual Airbags, ABS, EBD and height adjustable driver seat.
Is Tata Motors conducting regular or scheduled test runs for the Xenon single cab LHD (read Xenon export model) or are they quietly incorporating changes made to the powertrain during the Aria’s development in the pickup?
The 2.2-liter DICOR engine has witnessed revisions to its mounts, oil sump and flywheel for quieter and smoother running. Seen here is a mule on test loaded with water cans.
We first saw the single cab Xenon at the Delhi Auto Expo in 2008. A blue vehicle was parked alongside other debutant models like the Sumo Grande, Indica Vista and Tata Nano.
The Xenon may not find a sea of customers in our market but in other countries, it is suited for traders, farmers and entrepreneurs who want their personal commute to double up as a workhorse. If you deliver raw materials at the client’s office in a stylish pickup like the Xenon, the impressions you leave does a world of good to your brand.
This image was sent by IAB fan Bhuvan Chowdhary from Pune who earlier spotted the camouflaged Merlin running around Pune.
Maruti Suzuki has released two teaser videos of the new Swift which will be launched on the 17th of this month. Bookings for the new Swift were opened a few weeks back and the response has been truly extraordinary.
The teaser videos will further heighten the hype but with the car already available overseas and picked up numerous number of times by the local media, it is not going to induce any goosebumps to viewers.
Maruti Suzuki has retained the powertrains adding variable valve timing technology to the petrol engine. The option of Automatic Transmission is still missing. Having seen the competition offer a oomph-packed avatar achieved using a larger capacity engine or different state of tune (Polo 1.6, Fabia 1.6, Punto 90, Vista 90) will Maruti plonk the 1.6 VVT from the SX4 under the Swift’s bonnet with racing stripes, sports seats and fancy interiors? The Swift is a cult brand in India and a more powerful variant will not be a total misfit in the “kitna deti hai?” kind of cars.
GM has been developing some kickass innovative products in its research center at Bangalore. The recently launched Beat Diesel (the smallest CRDI diesel engine for passenger car in mass production globally) was one such staggering achievement. Another interesting product was the Beat EV unveiled in June. We have thoroughly covered the car’s development since the time it was conceptualized.
Codenamed as the (BEV), the Beat EV adopts a battery pack from the Chevy Volt. It is a 300 cell lithium-ion battery weighing 270kg and possesses an energy capacity of approximately 20 kWh.
The actual drive to the wheels is delivered by a single speed drive unit and an electric motor producing about 45kW of power.
It has a range of 130 kms under normal driving conditions. However, it takes 8 hours to be charged from a 240V outlet. But the good news is that the Beat’s battery pack is liquid cooled so it can operate smoothly between temperatures ranging from -20 degrees to 45 degrees.
Overall, it was a supreme effort from Chevy to give Indian families a practical EV, but sadly it will not be commercialized.
GM India is finally opening up to the reasons for not launching a fully functioning product and the main cause – the infrastructural bottlenecks in India, specifically power.
Some really good news for Honda fans. The Honda City which lost its top spot 3-4 months ago to other competitors, came back in the game very strong in July. The Honda City sold 4,092 units only second to Hyundai Verna which sold 4,724 units.
Last few months have been very troublesome for Honda Siel India. After constantly forgoing its leadership position segment after segment that it dominated, the company lost the most valued position that it had. It had to forgo its leadership position in the segment which it had dominated with the help of the City for donkey’s years.
The reason was that competitors were offering better value propositions than Honda. The Vento brought German build quality with an affordable price tag to the table. Maruti Suzuki plonked a diesel engine in its SX4. And finally, Hyundai launched the new Verna which almost ate the City alive.
This came as a wake up signal for Honda Siel because the Honda City is the most successful car for the company. The company decided to aggressively price the City and started working on localization. At the end of the operation, there was a hefty price cut and the City’s new price was 7.43 lakh.
Being a competent product which now had a very tempting price tag, the cash registers were bound to start ringing.
If you are tired of seeing pictures of mini Xylo (codename – U203) testing, then you’ve been reading IndianAutosBlog.com a lot.
We’ve brought you 20 interior shots followed by ten pictures that reveal the compact Xylo inside out. We even spotted a newly designed panel for the gear lever along with two tiny jump seats for the children.
The latest images are sent in by ‘IAB addict’ Aditya Prakash who runs a Facebook page for car fans in India (be sure to “Like” it – http://www.facebook.com/CarsIndia) tell us that the mini Xylo is ready.
We recently heard that the mock up of the vehicle was finished in early 2009 for approval by the Mahindra bosses.
The mini Xylo is putting function over form. It may look like a Xylo that’s lost its tail, but how many launches today redefine segments?
The mini Xylo will provide two rows of MPV comfort, the driving command of an SUV bundled to the fuel efficiency of a 3-cylinder diesel engine. And all this could come at under 6 lakh rupees.
The Swifts and Polos must not take this contestant lightly. Knowing the company Mahindra is, they could aim the mini Xylo squarely at the new Swift, thanks to government’s excise relief for small cars.
