Toyota has identified three new models to expand its South African portfolio in 2012. The FT-86 sports car and the Yaris hybrid will be joined by the Made-In-India Etios during the second quarter of 2012.
The South African Toyota president has expressed fears over diminished growth in 2011 due to the debt crisis in Europe, an important trading partner for SA. Toyota also sells the Fortuner and the Hilux, the latter is South Africa’s best-selling model.
The Etios joins the Yaris and Aygo in the mini car portfolio. It is likely to be the entry-level car.
IndianAutosBlog.com reader Prashant Singh visited the construction site of the Fiat Caffe in New Delhi. He decided to take a look for himself after IAB reported last week that the country’s first brand center is inaugurated on the 6th of January, 2012. The Cafe is situated in Connaught place next to Cafe Coffee Day Lounge & Ring Road Honda in Janpath.
The brand center initiative can provide Indian customers details about the Fiat brand. If Fiat can somehow convey the message on what its cars and brand stand for, the technology that drives it and the examples of cars it sells in Europe, it can sell products under any roof.
If a customer is mistaking the Manza as the inexpensive Indian cousin of the Linea, he is missing the point of a buying a Fiat.
Thanks to our reader Mallik Kslikiri, we bring you a couple of screen captures of Ford India’s under-construction EcoSport page. These are the first images exposing Ford’s new EcoSport India can’t wait to get its hands on. We tried to access the URL, but Ford India seems to have momentarily pulled down the page. Mallik claims he came across the incomplete page while searching for information on EcoSport on Google.
The EcoSport will also see the entry of the Ecoboost engine, a down-sized direct-injected, turbocharged petrol engine that provides the outputs of a 1.6-liter engine while retaining the fuel economy numbers of a frugal 1-liter engine. IndianAutosBlog.com had spoken about this mill to the Ford India’s head honcho who sees the Ecoboost as promising technology. IndianAutosBlog was the first to speculate on the ‘Fox’ (its codename) much before its official announcement.
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The X1 has been one of the most successful stories not just for BMW India but also for the BMW worldwide. The idea that the 3 Series platform can spawn a little crossover which will become the entry car for the brand has definitely opened up a gold mine for the company. In India, the crossover has been so successful that it constitutes to over half of sales on a monthly basis.
However, the current model was launched in 2009 which make it a bit ‘last decade’ now. So BMW has started working on an update for the X1 for the year 2013 to keep it fresh as a daisy. The test mule spotted over flaunts new bumpers front and rear, as well as updated headlights. More changes are expected as the development progresses.
BMW is expected to work on the current lineup of engines to make them more frugal. Possibly, the hybrid technology from the Toyota partnership may trickle down into a hybrid X1. The possibilities are endless!
Stay tuned as we get you more updates on the X1 facelift.
Today is an auspicious day for Ford India as all the showrooms will be glowing till midnight. Yes! Its back. The second version of the Ford Midnight sale is going on as we speak. Elated by the success of the last year’s midnight sale which saw a huge number of footfalls in the showrooms, Ford India has decided to make it an annual affair.
Apart from special interest rates and discounted prices, every customer who books a Ford car will be given a token number which will enable him to win to win goodies such as LED TVs, Blackberry phones, digital cameras and DVD players.
To bring some masti in the car buying experience, Ford India has also planned a few fun activities such as Mehndi, magic shows, fun games and other exciting events.
Today is the best day to book a Ford if you are planning to buy one.
Did you have your heart set on the XUV500 but did not manage to get one in the first round of bookings? Worry no more as Mahindra has promised that it will open a second round of bookings for the XUV500 in January 2012. So ring up your bank to keep those loan papers ready!
Launched on the 29th of September, the XUV made history when the company declared the their latest offering was sold out within 10 days of launch. 8000 orders from across India set the cash registers ringing for Mahindra dealers. Due to production constraints, Mahindra had to delay the international launch of the XUV500.
Currently, Mahindra is working on the existing 8,000 deliveries which should be completed by January. Hopefully, M&M will sort out the supply constraints in the second round of bookings enabling them to accept more orders.
The existing owners have given the XUV500 an excellent word of mouth. Thus, M&M can be rest assured that the second round of bookings will be a successful one. However, knowing the situation, the company may choose to bump the price to increase profitability.
At the outset, No! this 
is not a Tata Motors idea to make a Evoque XL and there will NOT be an Evoque CS too. This is part of Land Rover strategy to make no less than 40 new cars in the next 5 years. Buoyed by the success of the baby Range Rover – the Evoque, Land Rover has decided to launch a bigger version of the Evoque with a similar design language.
The new model will sit on an extended version (12 inch longer to be precise) of the Evoque’s platform bridging the gap between the current Evoque and the Range Rover Sport. The third row will be optional and can be traded for cargo space.
The Evoque XL will compete with the BMW X5, Mercedes M-Class and the Audi Q7. Four more new models will be based on the same platform to increase the economies of scale.
The fire power will come from 1.8-liter direct-injection turbo producing as much as 170 horsepower. A diesel engine will also be plonked for specific markets like India. A hybrid version with a twin motor is also planned thanks to JLR’s hybrid development program.
The Evoque XL will be made from super light materials and aluminum composites and will be manufactured in the same factory in UK where the current Evoque is made.
Being bullish on the future of EVs, Suzuki hit the Tokyo motor show with a number of ‘green’ vehicles. The most interesting of the lot is the Swift EV which was teased before the show. The Swift EV uses the current platform and harnesses power from the combination of an electric motor and an internal combustion engine.
Before engineering the Swift EV, Suzuki Engineers conducted a study which revealed that Swift owners only travel 29 km on a daily basis. Engineers hence designed this range-extended EV to cover that distance on pure electric power.
A smaller gasoline engine kicks into action to recharge the batteries when the power in completely drained out.
According to Suzuki, this type of technology has several benefits such as:
- Smaller battery than a full EV
- Lesser costs
- Less time to fully charge
Suzuki has promised that it will apply the range-extender technology to production models in the future.
