Indian Autos blog

India does not have any history with the iconic Datsun brand, but that won’t really matter if the price is the talking point of its cars. Nikkei reports that Nissan is planning to revive the Datsun brand for emerging markets (India, Brazil and Russia are some well known emerging countries) and manufacture low cost cars under its banner.

Datsun cars will come out “with a price tag of around 5,000 dollars (2.22 lakh rupees)” according to the Japanese media report which does not quote its sources.

Nikkei emphasizes that the Datsun brand is brought back after its doors were closed by Nissan in 1986, to sell cars in emerging markets. It will not be a performance division (like AMG is to Mercedes or M is to BMW) or a luxury brand (like Infiniti is to Nissan or Acura is to Honda).

According to our source, Nissan is working on a car below Micra, but it may not see daylight before 2013. This will almost certainly be a Nissan branded product. Even if the Datsun project gets a go-ahead, we are not going to see it for at least another three years.

The Datsun brand could be used by Nissan to build what Japan terms as kei cars. Sister brands are not unfamiliar to India. Skoda and Volkswagen sell car made using the same components. Nissan and Renault will cooperate at the back-end on most future products including a car in the B+ Segment next year.

Will Datsun re-engineer phased out kei cars for emerging markets? Or will it work on a line of new small cars using a common, highly low-cost platform?

The 2012 Toyota Camry has been teased by President Akio Toyoda and it is now time for a youtube user, who has had a first hand look at the car, to do the same.

This video was uploaded on July 1st and it looks like a preview of a new Camry to a large gathering (American Toyota dealers?). The video is taken at a good distance from the stage where three new Camrys roll in (2 petrol and a hybrid variant).

As the cars roll in Katy Perry’s “Firework” song, that climbed to the top of the billboards late last year, is played in the background. This is one more reason to believe that this indeed is the 2012 edition.

Toyota executives held a meeting with 1,223 Toyota dealers in Las Vegas last Wednesday where it was revealed that a massive media campaign will be used as part of the new Camry’s launch. Up to 40 commercials of the new Camry will be aired on TV.

We’re still unsure where the video was captured by last week but on close inspection, we can promise you that this is an unseen Camry. Toyota, in a press release issued after the close of the dealer event said the Camry was “designed to meet the changing needs of the 21st Century driver, the new Camry will provide technologically advanced features, a contemporary design inside and out, improved performance and refined ride and handling.”

The Camry is America’s best selling sedan and with this new model that has tail lamps inspired from the Accord and boomerang fog lamps is fighting to regain full customer confidence. In India, the new Camry is expected in mid-2012 and will continue operating through the CBU route.

On two previous occasions we speculated on variants of cars weeks before their launch and got them right. We’re talking about the Hyundai Verna (part one and part two) and Toyota Etios Liva (part one and part two), if you are new here.

Today we’re attempting to get three on three with details on the new VW Jetta expected in India in August. With a few weeks to go for the launch, Volkswagen can change its mind on the equipment. So we’re going to classify this information as speculation.

The quality on the new Jetta is expected to inch closer to Audi levels and one can sense by just looking solid improvement of finish and material usage compared to the current model. The new Jetta like most other Volkswagens will be offered in three trims – Trendline, Comfortline and Highline. Three options are provided on the Highline variant’s interiors with base color as Black – Beige, Black or Plum.

click through for the full monty

Feeling the heat from VW Vento, mid way through the month, Honda Siel slashed the prices of the Honda City by Rs 44,000-66,000 depending on the model. The move seems to have been worked in favor of Honda, although only marginally.

In May, the Honda City only sold 1,828 units whereas the arch rival Vento sold 2,403 units. However, things are a bit different this month as City has managed to ship 2,802 units and the VW Vento has only managed 2,457 units. So the Honda City may not have dented VW Vento’s sales but has definitely hurt the SX4 (713 units) and Fiat Linea 350 units (no typos there).

However, don’t jump for joy Honda boys as the City did not reclaim its top position in the C+ Segment. The title of the king goes to Hyundai Verna which managed to ship an astonishing 4,102 units in June. That’s nearly double of what the nearest competitors have managed.

The Hyundai has managed to capture the fancy of the Indian market with its tonnes of features and rational pricing. It doesn’t seem like the Verna would let go of its segment crown very easily as it has already clocked 20,000 bookings.

However, July will see the entry of a new contender – the Global Fiesta from Ford. The Fiesta is expected to create a shakedown in the now Hyundai dominated territory. Honda Siel, in its efforts to regain its top position, is planning to give the City a small facelift in the near future.

click through to read more

As Tata Aria and Tata Safari Merlin become the ‘talk of the town’ vehicles from the Tata Camp, we forget the humble Indica Vista which is the bread earner for the company. Unfortunately, the Vista has not managed to capture the fancy of the Indian consumer as Tata Motors would have hoped.

As a result, we learnt from our sources and reading AutoX magazine that Tata Motors has started work on an Indica Vista facelift model. SRK envisioned the Indica Vista facelift on the first week of June with a Tata Manzaish front end with double barrel headlamps and a chrome grill.

Little did we know that Tata Motors was also thinking on the same lines.

click through to read more

Readers Sree Ganesh and Thangavel P caught the Nissan Sunny/V-Platform sedan/Global sedan on test in Chennai city traffic. Sree who is always on the lookout for new cars wrote us an email with all possible details of the catch -

Car Spotted: Nissan Sunny (logos and lights taped with black duct tape)

Number of cars: 2

1st car – Red / Maroon : This is the base model with no alloy wheels, sporting black door handles.

2nd car – White : This would be the top-end variant with alloy wheels and body colored handles. This was the lead car. In my picture you will be able to see the red car with a very vaguely visible white car in front. I saw beige interiors on this variant.

What we deduce – Top-end variant will have alloy wheels and beige interiors.

click through for one more spyshot and video

Reports on the blogosphere specify a festival season launch for the Chevrolet Captiva facelift. The new Captiva has not escaped our eye right from the days when test mules of both Chevrolet and the Holden/Opel counterpart were testing.

The first mules were caught in the fag end of 2009 when news emerged that a new, high displacement engine was also on board clocking test miles. When we asked GM India’s President and Managing Director Mr Karl Slym back in January last year about the refreshed Captiva’s potentiality in India, he murmured candidly “you know too much about my cars.”

Back on June 24, 2010, we wrote an article titled Spied – Chevrolet Captiva facelift; coming Diwali 2011? We had sensed back then that the facelift would not be launched anytime soon. There’s no heaven and hell difference between the replacement model and the current Captiva.

click through for a lot more on the new Captiva

Fiat is working on reviving the Panda and in the next few months it’ll be out on some international markets. There’s huge demand for the Panda in Europe and Fiat manufactured the 1,500,000th Panda back in July 2009. It has been in production since 1980 and we can’t wait for it here in India with the 900cc TwinAir petrol and 1.3-liter Multijet engine.

[Head over to steeringnews.com to read about the new Panda]

Porsche meanwhile is downsizing some of its cars starting with the Cayenne. The Cayenne Junior or Cajun will touch down in mid 2013. Based on the Audi Q5, the Cajun is a perfect car for Porsche to run down the likes of the BMW X3 and Volvo XC60. But will the Cajun be an overpriced product due to the anti-import duty structure?

[Head over to steeringnews.com to read about the Porsche Cajun]

Dacia is working on a Mahindra Xylo in Romania. Codenamed J92, the Dacia Monospace MPV could bear the Popster nameplate when it comes out next year. Like other Dacias (Logan, Sandero and Duster) its should be great value and can help Renault occupy the MPV space in India that will see so many new players over the next 12-18 months.

[Head over to steeringnews.com to read about the Dacia J92]