Another model Toyota fans and SUV buyers are waiting expectantly to land is the Fortuner 2012 edition with cosmetic updates to its front-end and rear. The revised Fortuner caught testing by a YouTube user in Bangalore has chromosomes of the LC Prado and Land Cruiser.
Toyota has not tweaked the mechanicals and the interiors are largely the same. The cosmetic surgery keeps the Fortuner in stand-by mode for any incoming target. The facelift is a good opportunity to slip in a 4X2 variant and an automatic transmission.
We posted an image of the Toyota Innova facelift clicked by our Bangalore reader Niketh last week. Ever since many readers wrote in to know if the front fascia will be similar to the Thai facelift.
The answer lies in the latest set of shots clicked by our friends over at TheAutomotiveIndia.com while the testers were taking the taped up mule for a spin in Bangalore. The Thai market model in its entirety is definitely slated for India.
Testing of the facelift need not mean that the launch is nearing as raging floods have literally shuttered some vendor parks in Thailand for a good few months, the sourcing base for Innova components.
It is common sense to believe Toyota will hide the replacement till stocks of the existing model run out as a hint from the company can see demand drop drastically for the current model that isn’t all that different.
It remains to be seen if Toyota uses the Auto Expo next year as a launchpad for both IMV platform updates.
General Motors plans to roll out the Trailblazer out of Thailand in 2012. The Trailblazer concept, very close to the production model, was on view at the Dubai International Motor Show last week.
Few of IAB’s followers liked the 7 seat Trailblazer and said it fits in well for India. We’re not aware of GM India’s thoughts on the Trailblazer and considering it is made in Thailand, there could be a better control over its price. GM India is busy testing the Captiva facelift and if there’s any place to put the Trailblazer, it is under the Captiva.
The Trailblazer could end the dream run of the Mahindra XUV500 as it is a fresh product with well laid out interiors and edgy design. That’s for a start.
Volkswagen’s 4 trillion rupee investment to steal the crown of the world’s biggest auto maker by 2018 does not account the cash allocated for the oceanic Chinese auto market. Volkswagen has multiple agreements with local auto companies and under these partnerships manufactures and retails different iterations of the Jetta and Passat. Volkswagen sells the Polo, CrossPolo, Golf, etc in the 20 million annual unit Chinese market and was seen testing the Vento in early 2011.
Come 2012 and yet another sedan will rise. Our friend Ashley from ChinaCarTimes writes that Volkswagen is planning to replace a pre-historic generation of the VW Jetta Passat, called Santana locally, operating as a cab in jam-packed Shanghai and Beijing roads with a compact sedan built on the MQB.
Internally called VW253CS, a sketch released on auto.163.com rides on the Vento. It could don the commercial name ‘Santana NF’ and arrive in three variants for the family car category and one variant for the taxi cab category. The 1.4 and 1.6 liter petrol engines from the Vento are expected to feature on the Santana NF.
Our guess is the Santana NF is sandwiched by the Vento and Golf. Volkswagen India will evaluate not only a sedan, but an SUV and MUV option for filling this space.
With every Volkswagen product aping one another, parts of the Volkswagen family appears as a zoom lens photography experiment. We cannot vouch for the artist drawing, but the recent trend of VW products following family look with utmost seriousness dilutes the surprise element on its future projects.
Rising petrol prices have completely revamped the scenario in the Indian automotive market. Diesel cars have never seen such spotlights before. Earlier considered to be the choice of the hyper milers, truckers and earth movers, diesel fuel have almost become the bread and butter of the car manufacturers. Buoyant by the sudden shift in the market, Hyundai India had plans to set up a 400 Cr plant in India.
However, due to uncertainty, Hyundai has put all those plans on back burner for now.
The company had plans to establish a 1.5 lakh unit per annum capacity plant in India. The plant produces 1.1 litre, 1.4 litre and 1.6 litre capacities only for the domestic market. These engines were for some of the 15 models that the company has planned for the Indian market in the next 5 years.
However, due to slacking demand and unclear intentions of the government about the diesel pricing, Hyundai is forced to put all plans on standby.
Hyundai Motor’s domestic sales in the month of October fell by 4.95% to 33,001 units from 34,720 units in the same month last year. The export volumes have also dropped by 12.42%.
For now, the company will continue to import diesel engines for their i20 and Verna models from Korea.
The rather unusual BMW X6 is the epitome of BMW’s innovative product development department. This Coupe-SUV crossover had received so much flak from the world automotive press but still BMW managed to make it a success story. It has garnered so much success that fellow rivals from Germany – Mercedes and Audi have sent their product development teams to a drawing board so that they can also compete in that segment.
As a routine facelift strategy, the X6 is all set to go under a pair of scissors to make keep it looking fresh and young. The test mule caught over here show us that BMW will modify the front fascia by giving small changes to headlamps and kidney grill.
A set of new lower air intakes with a different position for the fog lights is also planned. The tail lamps will receive some garnish of the LED technology
On the mechanical side, there are plans to launch a new range topping variant X6 xDrive50d.
A new tri-turbo tech engine will try to squeeze around 400 hp out of 3 liters of displacement. The 4.4-liter M version will also get technology updates.
There’s a new twist to the sub-Micra Nissan car project, or projects to be precise. Sources told IndianAutosBlog.com that Nissan is evaluating multiple small cars under the Micra.
Ideally there can be two products – an alternative to the Alto and another alternative to the i10.
Recently we asked a senior project member of Nissan’s passenger car division what is the ideal strategy to make low cost products for the Indian market. The Ford Figo for example is a reskinned Mk5 Fiesta with a powertrain matched to our market’s preference that’s worked wonders for Ford India. Is mimicking that strategy the sensible step?
Here’s his reply -
Maybe one of the ideas is how we can utilize the V-Platform. In the case of competitor brands, their volume is much bigger than Nissan’s.
He then concluded saying -
For the V-Platform this is just the beginning.
Nissan is working on a MPV model on the V-Platform that replaces Note in other parts of the world. India is not on the list of destinations. Instead we will get the NV200 MPV that was spotted testing by our readers Shreyas and Reji recently.
Could Nissan look at remoulding the V-Platform to make a car shorter than the Micra? Will they borrow the Micra’s engine and gearbox? Is there a smaller diesel in the works?
We’ll track this development to find out. Stay tuned to IndianAutosBlog.com!
In the current market ecosystem, petrol cars are a dying species. Price difference between petrol and diesel rose from 11 rupees to almost 30 rupees in less than two years. People feared the worst was yet to come and literally stopped buying petrol cars.
How did the industry react to this paradigm shift in the customer’s mind?
1) General Motors placed a diesel car in the B segment which stimulated sales and doubled volumes in what otherwise was seen as an endangered model. The Beat is the lone diesel model in its category.
