Recently we brought you a story on how Skoda glued its badge on the VW Up! and made a whole new car – Citigo. Well now this tiny hatchback is caught in the open during a photo shoot in Netherlands. Looking at the images, Skoda’s ambitious plans of putting the Citigo in production by the year end certainly seem to have materialized.
A little recap on the Citigo – The Citigo is based on the VW Up! platform. Essentially, Skoda has slightly changed the front fascia of the Up! by changing the headlamp design and adding the signature Skoda grill to the Up! The side and rear profile of the Citigo is pretty much same as the Up!
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Land Rover has started testing the fourth generation Range Rover. However, a new report from Autocar.co.uk confirms that this new generation Range Rover will be radically different to its previous generation.
Codenamed L405, 2013 Range Rover will be based on the XJ platform but with a unique bulkhead, suspension mounts, seating position and subframes. It will be built around a new pressed aluminum monocoque that is expected to shave off nearly 990 pounds of its weight. It will be slightly wider and around 25mm longer than the Mk3. The new architecture has released 125mm in legroom.
The design of the new SUV will be very much influenced by the Evoque. The new Range Rover will have a steeply raked windscreen and a sloping roofline. The substantial headlamps and rear light clusters will be much slimmer and less obtrusive. Even the vent in the front wing will be dramatically slanted, reflecting the angle of the windscreen.
The interior will be heavily influenced by the current Autobiography Ultimate Edition. The company is trying to achieve “Bentley levels of craftsmanship and quality”. The Range Rover is also expected to share a new electrical architecture with the XJ.
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Mr R Seshasayee, Executive Vice Chairman of Ashok Leyland Ltd says – Phenomenal increase in growth in GDP across the globe will result in the tremendous increase in the number of vehicles. As developing economies are taking larger part of the economic pie, the aspiration of the population is going up. We need to be looking for mobility solutions at difference price performance and that’s a challenge (developing new products at lower price points).
By the year 2030, 40% of Indian population will live in cities; 50% of Chinese population already live in cities; rate of urbanization is going to be relentless. To find mobility solutions that find the answers to the urbanized India is going to be a major challenge. Communication, electronic and automobile technology is moving together to develop a gamut of opportunities.
Sustainability, safety, smartness – three dimensions of the auto industry – Mr Seshasayee picks up from where Mr Srinivasan left.
1) Sustainability – Major issue due to sheer increase in growth of number of vehicles. Managing emission loads is a big challenge. Auto industry is not the major contributor for pollution. But we need to push a lot more for alternate technology. Deployment of micro-hybrid technology and stringent emission standards regulated on select cities are readily-available solutions.
2) Safety – Urban centers take major part of mobility load. We need to be looking at new dimensions of safety and treat pedestrian safety as seriously as driver safety.
3) Smartness – Single ticket system – could halve the price and time required to reach destination and a good solution for urban congestion – Using the same ticket from the time you are picked up at your doorstep till you reach your destination through a share taxi or a bus.
Theme of the conference – Sustainable technology for safe and smart mobility – Two conference days and three exposition days, Fifteen keynote presentations, two panel discussions and two plenary sessions. There are more than 100 exhibition stalls showcasing the latest technology. [For the full list of topics and confirmed participants head over to http://apac16.org/index.asp]
Mr Venu Srinivasan from TVS Group lights the lamp to mark the beginning of the three day automotive conference and exposition.
Mr R Dayal, President of SAEINDIA says
- This is the first time a conference of this magnitude is conducted in India in partnership with FISITA (UN of the Automotive Industry, represents 160,000 automotive engineers in over 160 countries)
- Automotive market growth in India – 10-11% growth in 2011
- India occupies 7th position in the global auto markets
- Fuel consumption, safety, space and features – customers want more for less
- The slowdown in the market is temporary
The theme song is played. It has a synergy of six countries.
Mr Venu Srinivasan, Chairman of TVS Motor Company begins his presentation – Mr Srinivasan says we have congested cities in India becoming more urbanized by the day creating problems of pollution and delays in getting from A to B. India is soon going to be third highest polluting country in the world. Urban planning and technologies have to combat the vehicle pollution that is growing exponentially.
By 2020 India will be the third largest automotive producer in the world according to JD Power studies. Public transport share of mobility will decline and personal transport will gradually take over. More than 40% of India will live in cities in 2030. Cities will get disorderly and chaotic if steps are not taken to meet the challenges. By 2030 590 million people will live in cities. 2.5 billion square meters of roads will have to paved, 7400 km of metros and subways will have to be constructed to keep up with the population growth and urbanization in this period.
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Mercedes Benz is likely to drive in the short wheelbase R-Class with a diesel engine in 2012. At present Mercedes offers the long wheelbase model with a 272hp 3.5 liter V6 petrol engine. The short wheelbase coupled to a diesel engine attempts to score on practicality to frequently traveling customers with increased savings.
Sales are not going to improve multifold but in today’s cut-throat environment every unit and every customer counts. The other two Germans dont offer a large MPV preferred by long distance travelers who prefer to drive themselves. Here Mercedes Benz sees a business opportunity.
The practicality of a MPV is unbeatable and beyond the Innova, there’s no hope for customers wanting a premium van. They could import vehicles into India but service backup and parts availability is a giant question mark.
The R-Class diesel will also catch the attention of deluxe hotels who can add the stylish 7-seat transporter to their collection. It paints a different picture to guests who would instead travel in an old Mercedes Viano or a top-end Innova.
Mercedes Benz could use a popular musical band to promote the R-Class diesel showing its versatile seating arrangement, feature-rich infotainment system and huge luggage compartment. The thunder under the bonnet is another highlight if Mercedes can see it.
More details on the R-Class diesel will be posted as we learn about it.
Mahindra put up a huge vertical banner at the launch site of the XUV500 last week listing out as many features as it can hold. IAB readers were informed several days ahead of the launch on some of the SUV’s features (micro hybrid tech, refrigerator, touch screen infotainment, 2WD and 4WD options at launch) along with the fact that three variants are in the offing (turned out to be W6, W8, W8 AWD).
Click on the above image to go to the Flickr photo page having the high resolution version.
In a country where even cramped hatchbacks are chauffeur driven, long wheelbase versions are bound to succeed. Knowing the market so well, the biggest marquee in super luxury segment, Rolls Royce, has pulled the cover off the long wheel base version of their most successful model in India – the Ghost.
The Ghost is the entry level limousine that Rolls Royce offers to welcome new customers to the brand. It is the most successful product across the globe because a lot of people who were planning to buy a Mercedes S Class or the Audi A8 suddenly saw the spirit of ecstasy in their sight.
The reason why RR is able to offer the Ghost as a lower price is because it did not develop the Ghost platform.
The Ghost is not a bespoke Rolls Royce; it is in fact a BMW 7 Series underneath. However, the boffins at the Goodwood plant have made sure that the connection isn’t so evident. Powered by a 6.6 litre, V12 that that pokes 563 ponies and 780 Nm of torque, the Ghost can do a 0-100 run in 5 seconds.
The long wheelbase version of the Ghost will set you back by a whopping 3.05 crores. Don’t try to sell your organs, you still won’t be able to reach that figure even if your heart is made of gold 
There was a time in the history of the Indian automotive scene when ‘Maruti’ was a by word for a car. If you wanted a family car, you would buy the 800. If you wanted to flaunt your new riches, you bought an Esteem. If you had a big family, you would buy two Esteems. Those were the days when the international manufacturers did not give a damn about the Indian automotive scene.
However, things change and so did the Indian automotive scene. People started earning a lot and more importantly spending a lot. Their disposable income grew. International automotive brands, right from commuter brands to super luxurious ones, started to take the Indian automotive scene seriously. Many manufacturers from US, Germany to Japan invaded the Indian market and started eating up into Maruti Suzuki’s market share.
The company, famously known to control more than 60% of the passenger car market started bleeding its market share to the competition. Last month saw Maruti Suzuki’s market share dropped to its all time low of 40.3 percent. Within a year, Maruti Suzuki lost almost 4 percent of the market to its competitors. If you want to compare it on a much broader time scale, Maruti Suzuki had a 55.5 percent market share in 2000. This means Maruti Suzuki lost a startling 15.2% of the pie within a decade.
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