Indian Autos blog

Mahindra and Mahindra, after tasting success in selling its utility vehicles in the urban market, may soon foray into the small car business, reports NDTV Profit. Mahindra is planning to invest around Rs. 1000 crore to expand its automobile business into the small car segment.

The small car segment contributes to over 70% of the passenger cars sold in India. Mahindra may be just planning to spoil the exploits of Maruti, Tata and Hyundai, who are the main players in this segment.

The new small cars, internally codenamed S101, S102 and S103, would be completely built on an all new platform. These small cars could be priced between Rs 2 lakhs to 5 lakhs. Mahindra is planning to introduce these small cars by 2013-14.

According to sources, Mahindra and Mahindra has roped in the renowned Italian design studio, Stile Bertone, to design the looks of the car. This comes as a huge relief to us, as we wouldn’t have the strength to tolerate seeing a small car penned by Mahindra’s in-house designers.

Stile Bertone helped Mahindra with the preliminary design of the Xylo.

Mahindra would mainly be targeting its arch rival Tata Motors, which is doing extremely well in the small car segment.

Mahindra is all set to enter the compact car segment with its mini-Xylo SUV soon, which is currently being tested. The response to this car might have a considerable effect on the Mahindra’s small car approach. Mahindra could also develop a new range of small, frugal petrol and diesel engines for the new small cars.

With Mahindra taking over Maini , can we also expect Mahindra badged electric cars, as Mahindra usually utilizes all the possible options when it comes to making automobiles?

Hyundai’s new small car is codenamed “GB” according to reports and will be introduced in petrol and diesel formats. A 800cc sub-60hp engine will be the base model spec, which will cost roughly U.S $3,000.

Hyundai’s new global small car will be sold in Europe, Brazil, China among other countries. It will be positioned under the i10, where as in India, it will cost less than the Santro.

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Thanks to its expertise in small cars, Suzuki has been the second largest car maker in Japan and its subsidiary Maruti Suzuki has a 54 % market share in India.

Tata Motors’ Nano priced at around $3,500 has also provoked great interest across the globe. Car makers are following the footsteps of the Indian car maker in making something similar.

The earlier rendering of the Fiat Topolino showed its strong connection to the Fiat 500. The new rendering of the Fiat’s low cost city car for Europe and Asia brings small cars like the Toyota iQ and Ford Fiesta into the equation.

Measuring 3.15 metres in length, it will be slightly longer than the Toyota iQ. To start with, a 900cc engine would be employed which would produce a more than enough 65 hp.

Honda’s mini-Jazz will be manufactured in India and Thailand, but specifically meant for the Indian market. Just like how the Accord was designed for the Americans and the City was built for the Thai market, the new mini-Jazz will be India’s turn in Honda’s book.

Codenamed 2CV, the mini Honda car will also be built in Thailand as part of the eco-car project.

What are the needs of an average Indian car buyer?

we try to crack the code and help Honda. Click through to read more

Honda’s global compact car expected to make a debut by 2011 will be positioned below the existing entry-level car, the Honda Jazz. Now, reports have made this fact concrete – India will give rise to Honda’s new small car.

India was the obvious choice for Honda because of its market volume and the availability and logistical ease of raw materials like steel and plastic.

Moreover, Honda has a great run in the two-wheeler business in India. Hero Honda and Honda motorcycle & scooter have a combined market share of over 70 percent. Honda is comfortable with the Indian market being stable compared to the rest of the world.

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With a lot of difficulty, I have read the translated version of teknikensvarld, a Swedish car magazine and this is how the story goes

What is the VW Up!?

The VW Up! is a concept which was shown to crowds at the Frankfurt Motor Show back in 2007. Similar to the Tata Nano, the VW Up! has its engine driving the rear axle and is placed under the rear seat.

Why did it spark our interest?

Simple. VW announced it will build the Up! in India back in 2007. A target price of around $7,500 was announced and it would compete with the smaller hatchbacks, such as the Hyundai Santro, Maruti Alto and the Chevrolet Spark in India. It was also rumored back then that VW would team up with Bajaj to see the concept through to an Indian production line.

What’s the latest information on the VW Up!?

An official announcement has arrived from VW that it will use Bratislava as a production centre for its Up! family of city cars from 2011 onwards. Bratislava is in the country of Slovak, the former borders Austria and Hungary.

“The VW board has decided to step on the gas to roll out two small cars – one from the VW stable and another from Skoda – over the next 24-30 months. The technology for the cars have been finalised and now product development is underway”- Thomas Kuehl, Skoda Auto India operations head and board member (sales & marketing)