For those in the dark, ‘Cash for Clunkers’ was a radical scheme implemented by the UK government to remove old cars from the streets. The essence of the scheme was that old cars are not very environmentally friendly and they emit more CO2 than their modern counterparts. Thus, by incentivizing the purchase of new cars and scrapping old cars, the environment will be substantially protected as well as there will be a boost in the demand for new cars.
Bogged down by the drop in demand for new cars and also to protect the environment in India, the apex automotive body SIAM has suggested a similar proposition to the Indian government. SIAM has proposed that all private cars manufactured before 1996 should be scrapped and their owners should be given incentives to purchase modern cars. This will boost the demand for new cars in India and inevitably more environment friendly cars will run on the streets. The incentives can be in form sops like lower excise and sales tax as well direct cash benefits for those who scrap their old vehicles.
Mahindra’s got its task cut out in shrinking the waiting list for the XUV500 that stretches from the earth to the moon. Slightly outlandish in nature, the XUV500′s form takes time to grow on you. The Cheetah-inspired SUV’s front-end, for some, looks overdone and like decorating a Christmas tree, Mahindra not knowing where to stop kept adding kinks and plastic embellishments.
There visual extras will give the XUV500 a different identity as it stands out of the crowd where everyone’s seen flexing muscles. Until an attempt to out-design the XUV is made and offer the same kind of features (Tata’s Merlin isn’t), it will draw assorted opinion. Whether you love it or hate it, you can’t ignore it.
It’s still early days for the XUV, the booking number does not assure of a bright future. It certainly has given the best kind of start to this ambitious SUV which we are fond of.
But no two people think alike. What if you don’t like the XUV500? What if you are looking for something a bit bigger and less eccentric?
Enter the Ssangyong Rexton – the 7 seat SUV with Mercedes power. Photographed testing by our very own Kaustubh Shinde on his way to work this morning, Mahindra has left out the camouflage on this 10-year old model based on a previous generation Mercedes M-Class. The massive SUV gets a lift from the 2.7 liter diesel engine generating 162 hp/342 Nm.
Diwali is just round the corner, so here at IAB we are busy tiding our office, washing our old coffee mugs and cleaning our desks to make it look presentable. Diwali is the best time to buy a new car because various manufacturers are offering some crazy deals on their products.
With SIAM announcing that this festive season may not be very cheerful in terms of car sales, each and every manufacturer is scratching his head to make the customers visit the showroom. Here is a complete round up of all the deals that are being offered right now:
Mahindra&Mahindra
XYLO: benefits of upto Rs 54,000 on the E series and Rs 39,000 on the D series
The EON is all set to catch the Indian market by storm. Hyundai India has pointed its barrel at Maruti Suzuki’s Alto with the EON. Hyundai has also launched a TVC campaign to make sure that EON is a well known name in households.
Touted as ‘India ka naya Drive’ (the new drive of India), the EON has very strong potential to change the game completely. The song is pretty catchy, the visuals are amazing and the car is fantabulous.
First we saw the Tata Manza Celebration Edition, then we saw Mahindra Logan Executive Edition followed by the Alto Xcite and now Ford has jumped the bandwagon to launch Endeavour 4X4 Hurricane limited edition.
In order to pump some excitement during the festive season, each and every manufacturer is running from pillar to post to make sure they have something fresh in the showrooms to offer. The festive season is good to buy a new car as it is viewed as an auspicious time and manufacturers offer discounts and goodies on almost every purchase.
Ford has launched the Endeavour 4×4 Hurricane Limited Edition at a price of Rs 20.13 Lakhs (ex showroom Delhi). So for approximately 40 thousand rupees more than the top model, you get:
A Front nudge bar
Chrome exhaust
5th -Door convex mirror
And of course, some ‘Hurricane’ decals
Nothing changes on the inside of the Endeavour nor are the mechanicals of the car are touched in anyway. This limited edition model is only available in a 4X4 version. Apart from off-roading junkies, this may well be for the Mahindra XUV500 waiting list customer who is losing patience.
Back in the good old days, SUVs were big, bad, brute cars that used to scare hatchbacks on the streets and made their own road home. No one really went off roading in them, but people liked the high seating position, a commanding view of the street, good performance coupled with utmost practicality and high ground clearance. More importantly, they were essentially a way of showing that you have the ka ching!
Then came softroaders which offered the same benefits without the off roading gadgetry such as a low ratio gearbox or locking diffs. Later, came crossovers which were essentially normal cars on jacked up suspensions. However, after the success of XUV500, India’s premier UV manufacturer, Mahindra&Mahindra is embarking on another journey – A Nano SUV.
No, this is not a Tata Nano on huge wheels. TheEconomicTimes reports that M&M, along with Ssangyong, is working on a one of its kind Mini SUV for the Indian market. Codenamed the S101, the Nano SUV (as it is called on the shop floor) will be under four meters and will be powered by a 1.2 or a 1.5 liter diesel engine. Sources suggest that the Nano SUV will be a monocoque and M&M will implement its recently gained knowledge from the XUV500. The company is targeting a price bracket of 3-4 lakhs.
While Tata Nano sales are see-sawing as the months pass by, one thing is for sure – it isn’t as successful as it was publicized to be. As a product, it is constantly being beaten by the Maruti Suzuki Alto on a month on month basis. However, the Tata Nano as a brand is a whole different story.
Brand Tata Nano is quite successful, not only in the domestic markets but in the international ones as well. Tata Motors is inundated with queries from many governments to launch the Nano in their own country. The car has already paved its road through Nepal and Sri Lanka. Now, the Tata Nano is headed to another neighboring country – Bangladesh.
However, just like Nepal, the Tata Nano will cost you an arm, a leg and a kidney in Bangladesh. It is launched at a price 599,000 taka which is approximately 3,87,000 INR – thrice of what it costs in India. This exorbitant price is because of the 132 percent tax on each car that Nitol Motors, Tata’s sole distributor in Bangladesh, pays to the government. The price will come down once they start assembling the Nano in Bangladesh.
If you are following IndianAutosBlog.com religiously, then you should know what Polaris is and what they do. Recently, we were invited to a Polaris press conference in Chennai and we brought a complete low down on Polaris’s foray into the Indian market.
But that was for Chennai where Polaris had tied up with MPL Group (MPL Adventure Sports Vehicles). But we just can’t get enough of riding the ATVs from Polaris, so we were also invited to the Mumbai press conference.
Polaris has tied up with Navneet Motors (yes, the same ones who sell BMW, Range Rover and Aston Martins in India) to sell their huge range of ATVs in Mumbai. When we say ‘huge range’ by that we mean starting from 2.78 Lakhs onwards to 20 lakhs!
