Indian Autos blog

The rapid dieselification of the market have caused the manufacturers to run from pillar to post to make sure their products are offered with a diesel heart. As the price parity between Diesel and Petrol prices rises, more and more customers are opting to buy a diesel car than a petrol one. As a result most manufacturers who have diesel power are doing very well in sales numbers and profits.

Maruti Suzuki is one such manufacturer who has benefited a lot from Fiat’s diesel technology. Most cars from Maruti Suzuki such as Swift, Ritz, Dzire and even the SX4 are powered by Fiat’s Multijet technologies. So this rapid dieselification has actually worked in Maruti’s favor.

However, if you come to smaller cars such as the A-Star, Wagon R and Estilo, Maruti doesn’t offer them in a diesel variant because there is no 1L diesel engine under Maruti’s sleeve. But as Tata Nano diesel inches closer to production and speculations suggesting Hyundai HA might get a diesel engine, Maruti Suzuki cannot just fold their hands.

This is where the new 1,000 cc Fiat diesel engine will come into picture. Fiat is hard at developing a small diesel engine similar to the Smartech one in the Chevy Beat.

Mr RC Bhargava, the managing director of Maruti Suzuki, has showed immense interest in the future potential of this new mill by Fiat. He said,

At the moment, we have a 1.3-litre diesel engine. Fiat is working on 1,000cc engines also. We don’t know the timeline, but surely, we will get these for our smaller cars.

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Honda’s much awaited sub-Jazz Brio will finally be launched on September 27th. As the festive season is almost here and car sales are going to peak Honda does not wants to miss a morsel of this opportunity. Honda recently slashed prices of both the City and the Jazz and since then it seems like good days are back.

The Brio is Honda’s direct answer to the likes of the i10, Figo and the Beat. The car will be a promising city car with capable highway credentials providing Honda’s good quality and reliability at an affordable price.

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After seeing a few tough months the Honda City is finally back on the sales charts beating the VW Vento by a massive margin. The City was being challenged by a power-packed bunch of competitors like the Vento, Verna, Fiesta, etc but despite all that and with the help of the hefty price cut, City sales are back to normal levels.

The increasing demand of diesels gave a clear advantage to the Vento but it seems like the lack of features like a good music system and steering mounted controls is keeping many away from the VW dealerships. Honda sold 5819 units of the city where VW could sell 3019 units of the Vento. Note that the Honda sells only Petrol cars whereas the Vento is available in both types of fuels.

Volkswagen blames the poor sales to the increase in interest rates and fuel prices but if this is the case then it should have affected Honda as well. This proves that the desirability factor of the Honda City is well in tact even though it is available only with a petrol Engine.

Is it high time VW brings in an upgraded Vento in the market. The car is in much need of good features which its competitors offer like a good music system, parking sensors, steering-mounted controls and even smaller features like electronically retractable exterior mirrors.

With the Nissan Sunny and the Skoda sedan expected in the next six months, Vokswagen needs to act quickly to keep the interest in the Vento alive.

It wasn’t very long ago when we showed you spy pictures of the 2012 Audi A4 (A4 facelift) from a location in Europe. Audi has started testing the same mules (in RHD configuration) in Mumbai. A team-bhp.com member picked up a few images as the driver flashed his lights furiously and then sped away.

Besides this mule, the A5 and the Q3 are also being tested.

If you are asking me why Audi is testing this vehicle, you haven’t been tuning into IndianAutosBlog.com recently. Mercedes just launched the C-Class facelift and the next generation BMW 3 Series (F30) is attacking this segment with two diesel and two petrol variants next year.

What’s new on the Audi A4 facelift? – Shrink the new A6′s front-end and that will lead you close to the end result. The cosmetic variations endows the model a close resemblance to the A5 and A6.

The design direction of Audi is such that every car in its lineup give out the same expression. Can that be a good thing?

Renault India has notified IndianAutosBlog.com that it will bring the Koleos crossover to the Indian market on the 8th of September. This is a big surprise as its international premiere will be held a week later at the Frankfurt Motor Show.

The Koleos is Renault’s second product out of the five promised by the end of 2012. Renault is among the few overseas manufacturers to present a model in India before the international unveiling.

We already posted an article with some important details of the Koleos. But here’s a wrap on what to expect

• Renault will only offer Koleos with a 2-liter diesel engine
• 6-speed manual and AT
• BOSE sound system and Leather upholstery
• Speed limiter and cruise control
• Automatic climate control
• 4X4
• ABS, EBD
• Light, Rain and Rear parking sensor

An IndianAutosBlog.com reader wrote in this morning from North India. He visited a local dealership to find the Koleos on display. Here’s what he said -

I went to the Renault dealership here in my city and saw the Koleos. Its design is a mixture of curves and masculine touches. They did not allow me to click pictures. The price will be between 18 to 21 lakh rupees.

Stay tuned to IAB for more information on Koleos.

click through for Indian Koleos brochure and studio shots

If I asked you which is the bestselling car in India, the answer is pretty simple – Maruti Suzuki Alto. But if I asked you which is the second bestselling car in India, wouldn’t you be surprised to know that it is the most modest mode of transport – the Wagon R.

Sure, with its boxy design and distinct handling characteristics the Wagon-R doesn’t have much show off credentials. But it overcomes that barrier by offering oodles of practicality.

As a result, it has won hearts of many Indian consumers. It is cheap to buy, it has best headroom, the best legroom, excellent fuel economy and the maintenance is pretty cheap as well. What more would an average first time Indian buyer who is in search for an urban runabout ask for?

Surprisingly, this brings us to the new Fiat Panda which is expected to debut at Frankfurt. The Fiat Panda brand has been around since the 1980s. In essence, the Fiat Panda is to Europe what the Wagon R is to India – a cheap, practical runabout. In over 31 years Fiat has sold over 6.5 million of Panda in the world.

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Mahindra has just notified IndianAutosBlog.com that the upcoming Global SUV (codename – W201) will be christened Mahindra XUV500 (pronounced as XUV ‘5 double Oh’).

We’re not sure why, but the “X” connotes Generation X, at which the SUV is targeted. Mahindra will launch this SUV in India and South Africa simultaneously.

Mahindra’s First Global SUV Christened XUV500

XUV500Mumbai, September 2, 2011: Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. (M&M), a part of the US $12.5 billion Mahindra Group, today christened its much awaited SUV, project code named W201, as the XUV500 (pronounced as XUV ‘5 double Oh’). Designed and developed entirely in-house by Mahindra, the XUV500 is Mahindra’s first global SUV platform, with significant inputs in styling and development from customers across the globe. In fact, consumer research for the Mahindra XUV500 was carried out in various Western markets, South Africa and India, with testing and validation of the product being done across Europe, Australia and South Africa among others.

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Hardly two weeks back Mercedes Benz launched the open-top SLK Class in India and today they had a more significant model to show. The facelifted version of the C-Class, Mercedes refers to a clear-cut leader in the entry luxury car segment sells about 25% more than its closest competitor and 45% more than the third best.

You can view the brochure and read more about the features in our C-Class facelift launch post.

The new C-Class is priced at 29.79 lakh (C200 CGI) and 32.30 lakh (C250 CDI diesel) ex-showroom, New Delhi.

The new car is being targeted at the ‘young, tech-savvy and classy’ kind of customer and with the competition breathing down their neck with new and updated products, Mercedes Benz hopes the facelift will keep the rest from outdoing them.

In terms of numbers, the new C-Class incorporates about 2,000 changes over the previous car. We have already posted the new features in an earlier update if you are looking for all the details. It was also mentioned that although the total sales of Mercedes Benz India comprise of 65% Diesel cars and 35% petrol cars the C-Class split stands at 45% for petrol and 55% for diesel cars.

The new C-Class has been launched in Avantgarde trim only after studying the recent sales patten. It is a top-down strategy with more variants to come in the next few months.

click past the break to read the press release