ICML (International Cars and Motor limited), more popularly known as Sonalika Motors, is making waves in the Indian automotive scene. Recently, the company announced that it is in talks with Pininfarina (the design house responsible for the many great Ferrari designs) and Lotus (the go-to company if you want excellent ride and handling) to develop a D segment sedan.
Latest news from Sonalika camp is that the company is also planning to enter the SUV segment. ICML is in talks with various partners to invest close to 450 crores in the development of the SUV. Sonalika had shown an SUV concept called Inspire at the 2008 Delhi Auto Expo.
ICML will showcase a concept version of the SUV in the 2012 Delhi Auto Expo followed by a launch in late 2012. The proposed SUV will compete against XUV500, Safari Merlin, Force One and Mahindra Scorpio.
Sonalika motors already sells an MUV called – the Rhino in selected markets of India. However, it is more known for its agriculture equipments. The shift from being a farm equipments manufacturer to a passenger car maker is not an easy one. However, many conglomerates such as Tata, Mahindra and Force Motors have managed to successfully make the transition.
But entering a segment which is bound to get more crowded in the future- is it a wise choice?
Ford has launched the Fiesta Metal Special Edition with plenty of enhancements to talk about. The power of the 1.6-liter petrol engine has been upped from 120PS to 134PS and 0-100kph comes up in 8.7 seconds. Ford have lowered ride height, chromed the exhaust tips, appointed the interiors with black leather seats stitched with silver thread and thrown in stainless steel scuff plates.
Only 1,000 models of the Metal Special Edition are going to be produced making it a rare breed. I can guess your reaction when you observe the sticker on it that has 12.75 lakh rupees written on it!
There are whispers in media circles of a Maruti SUV on show at the Delhi Auto Expo next year. Like the R3, the junior SUV could debut in concept form and take shape into a charming crossover SUV in the next two years, ready for the 2014 Auto Expo.
A segment in its own, this vehicle is said to have certain capabilities of a grown up SUV besides the handling of a Swift.
Shoeb studied these speculative media reports and did some guess work. He feels that the junior SUV can be built using Swift parts. Coming to the vehicle, the high ground clearance gifts it with the ability to negotiate any terrain. The flared wheel arches and upgraded tires add extra oomph to its masculine looks. Higher variants could be equipped with a 4X4 to make it a somewhat civilized Gypsy.
Since most Maruti vehicles are exported, we expect lots of safety features and driving aids on the top-end version. The 1.3 Multijet is the logical choice and Maruti could look at the 1.6-liter petrol engine on the SX4 for equipping the export model.
For the Indian market, the 4X2 version missing some of that equipment will find many buyers. Design language is same as on the new Suzuki models.
This hasn’t been a very easy year for Honda. First the sudden shift of buying petrol to diesel, then came the devastating Tsunami which wrecked havoc on their production cycles. Just as Honda was recovering from the tsunami devastation, the Thailand floods brought them back to square one.
Now, it is reported that the Thailand floods have caused a major shortage of parts for the Indian subsidiary to such an extent that Honda India is forced to stop the production of the City sedan and the Brio hatchback. If the situation gets worse, the company will have stop the production of the Jazz as well.
The situation is bound to get worse in December. Honda India has confirmed that in December Jazz will have a skeletal production, around 250 units, and a few hundred units of the Civic and Accord sedans will be made. The company’s also stopped taking further bookings for the Jazz at its dealerships due to the uncertainty in the future.
The Brio has a backlog of 6,000 cars and the Jazz bookings run up to 4,000 units. The City might see some relief in February.
If you’ve been following our Facebook page and our jam-packed coverage of three-pointed star’s journey in India, you would have seen us posting photographs of Mercedes Benz SUV’s in breathtaking backgrounds. These were snagged when IndianAutosBlog.com was invited to Ladakh last month to drive the GL-Class and the G-Wagen.
In a feature story, we’re going try describing what we understood of these two outstanding utility vehicles.
click through to read on
Toyota will showcase the Innova and Fortuner facelifts at the Delhi Auto Expo and launch it in the month of January, Toyota Kirloskar Motor’s Deputy Managing Director, Marketing, Mr Sandeep Singh told IndianAutosBlog.com yesterday evening. This puts an end to all speculation on the launch scheduled to take place at the Auto Expo or immediately after.
Back in June 2011, Mr Singh told IndianAutosBlog.com that TKM and TMC were engaged in discussion on the right time to bring the facelifts. There is good demand for both vehicles no reason to rush with the launch.
The powertrains of the 2012 year models are no different though the Fortuner may come in 4X2 and automatic transmission guises.
Images of the IMV Platform facelifts were taken by reader Arjun Shrie at the Dubai International Motor Show.
2011 has been a high-yield year for BMW India. At the start of the year, BMW India set themselves a target an aggressive target of 10,000 units and they came very close (8,000+ as of now) to reaching it. As the year comes to an end we needed to know what is the Bavarian giant planning for India in 2012.
Yesterday, at the launch of BMW India’s pre-owned car business, we caught up with Dr Andreas Schaaf, the head honcho and the key person responsible for BMW India’s success, to discuss the company’s 2012 plans.
click through to read more
TKM launched the baap of all SUVs Land Cruiser back in June 2009. The car is brought from Japan as a built-up unit and sold for a price of around 1 crore rupees (on-road). Introduced internationally in 2008, the Land Cruiser turns four years old in 2012 and a mid-life cosmetic operation is in order.
Its younger sibling Fortuner has just returned from the surgeon’s clinic and the Prado switched over to the next generation in late 2009.
Brochure scans of what we believe is the Land Cruiser facelift are making their way through the internet, thanks to the uploaders at Prado-Club.su. It shows a the beast with new headlamps, chromed outside mirrors, new bumper with vertically stacked fog lamps and revised lower air intake. Interiors remain largely similar to the outgoing model with faux wooden inserts, in a brighter shade, on the steering and dashboard.
click through for the scans
