Talking to IndianAutosBlog.com during the Nissan Sunny media drive here in the coastal town of Mahabalipuram outside Chennai, Nissan officials disclosed that they are preparing to launch an assault in B+ sedan market with a combative pricing strategy. The Japanese executives were not forthcoming with the specifics but said the Sunny petrol will be positioned between Toyota’s Etios and Hyundai Verna.
Nissan is also ready with the diesel engine (1.5 K9K from Micra), but they are not going to launch it immediately. Time frame for Sunny diesel was another subject they were not willing to divulge, but an Auto Expo launch looks very likely.
The diesel Sunny will have different gear ratios and compared to Micra, will be calibrated differently.
Discussing about the Micra’s journey, Nissan said it was surprised that the ratio of diesel:petrol has shifted hurriedly to 80:20. Nissan launched the diesel Micra about six months after the introduction of the petrol variant but demand for the diesel has outpaced the petrol.
90% of the Sunny petrol is localized and the diesel variant will also have a high percentage of local components. Brown will be the communication color.
Nissan will launch the Sunny petrol on the 20th of this month.
Nissan will also begin exports of the Chennai-made Sunny to Middle East and Africa shortly.
Stay tuned to IndianAutosBlog.com for more on the Sunny.
Tata’s Manza has done exceptionally well for the company, maybe not so much to build volumes, but improving the Indigo’s brand image. The build quality, comfort, safety, space and finish were appreciated by Indian customers. The Manza, with improvements in every department, is now ready for another round of changes.
The Celebration Edition will try gaining the traction during the festive season with added features.
As the festive season is here almost every car manufacturer will try its best to woo customers into their showrooms by launching new variants and special edition. Volkswagen has flagged off this trend by launching their Breeze limited edition and other companies like Tata will now follow.
The Manza ‘Celebration Edition’ will sit above the Elan variant which currently is the top of the line. New features include
- Reverse Parking sensors
- Leather ‘feel’ seats
- Rich ebony black interior color scheme
Apart from this the rest of the features remain same as the Elan variant i.e. the fully loaded variant. There are no changes being made to the mechanicals and the engine options remain the same with the 1.4 liter petrol and the 1.3 liter Fiat diesel engine.
Will the celebration edition make the Manza a more complete product?
We’re very excited to hold our first enthusiast meet for Indian Autos Blog fans in Chennai. Please confirm your participation by heading over to the Facebook event page – http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=288695234478457
Based on the response, we plan to create a series of events and meets.
Will I see you this Sunday?
Volkswagen has launched limited editions for Polo and Vento to further boost sales during the festive season. Mr. Neeraj Garg, Board Member and Director at Volkswagen India said that the success of the IPL edition of the Vento drove them to launch another limited edition for both Polo variants.
The cars are available at dealer showrooms and come with 40,000 rupees worth of accessories at no extra cost. Here’s the list of features
Vento Breeze
- Touch screen Multimedia Player with USB and Bluetooth connectivity
- Breeze branded pillows and Breeze branding on the exterior of the car
- Available only on the Trendline variant of both petrol and diesel
Polo Breeze
- Navon satellite navigation system
- Rear park distance control
- Leather seats
- Breeze branding on pillows and exteriors and floor mats
- Available across all trim levels but only in petrol
With these value added cars, Volkswagen makes sure that most of the festive season rush ends up at their showrooms only.
Which is the best selling SUV in India? The answer is as simple as the car itself – Mahindra Bolero. With its rugged looks, dependable mechanicals and ‘easy-to-mend’ machinery, the Bolero has captured the fancy of all customers hunting for an entry level SUV.
The Bolero is especially loved by people in the rural areas because of its ability to accommodate 7 people and ‘go anywhere’ attitude. It has been the best selling entry level SUV since the past 5 years. M&M has managed to ship 83,112 units of the Bolero SUV (not including the Bolero pickups) in 2010 with a market share of 30 percent.
click through to read more
Note – IndianAutosBlog.com could not cover the launch of the Etios diesel twins due to heavy congestion on Delhi roads caused by heavy downpour. The traffic snarl took it own sweet time to clear up, and our representative found himself stuck in a jam for several hours.
Toyota has launched the Etios diesel twins in New Delhi today adding yet another option in the hatchback market. Toyota registered low number of booking for the Liva petrol as about 7/10 hatchbacks in the B+ segment have a diesel heart.
Due to the frequent changes in petrol price, Toyota was left with no option but to launch the diesel variants. Due to the recovering production lines in Japan post the earthquake and Tsunami, Toyota could not launch the diesel models in August. At this point, Toyota will look to the festive season to gain traction with the Etios brands. The company will dedicate 2011 and 2012 completely to Etios and the next locally-manufactured product is not expected before 2013.
Etios Diesel is priced in the range of 6.44 lacs – 7.87 lacs ex showroom Delhi and is available in GD, GD (SP), VD and VXD grades. Etios Liva Diesel is priced at 5.54 lacs ex showroom Delhi and is available in GD and GD(SP) grade.
click through to read more
If you are a fan of the charismatic Ari Gold (a popular character from the HBO series Entourage), then it was a momentous day for you. Mercedes India has launched Ari Gold’s car – 2012 Mercedes CLS in India at a price of 67.67 lakhs (ex showroom Mumbai).
Of course, the old CLS Clss was popular because it was the first 4 door sedan designed to look like a 2 door coupe. The idea was to blend practicality and space with sporty design and a powerful engine.
In 2005, when Mercedes launched the CLS, its disproportionate angles, drastically sloping roofline and unbelievable practicality sent the rivals back to their drawing boards.
Audi followed Mercedes’ philosophy by bringing the A7 to the market while BMW is said to be working on a 4-door coupe model on the 6 Series platform. 5 years later Mercedes is trying to redefine that magic of CLS.
So have they succeeded?
click through to find out
Before we go on to the “First Look” post of the Mahindra Bolero, here are some images snapped at the launch in Mumbai today.
Mahindra gave the Bolero a cosmetic overhaul and a more capable diesel engine.
click through to see the images and brochure
Nissan is also ready with the diesel engine (1.5 K9K from Micra), but they are not going to launch it immediately. Time frame for Sunny diesel was another subject they were not willing to divulge, but an Auto Expo launch looks very likely.
