The Volkswagen Up’s Indian foray with the XL1 concept’s uber-frugal diesel engine maybe a heated boardroom discussion topic in Chakan and Wolfsburg at this moment, but there are countries the Up’s reached where Volkswagen’s marketing team is busy coining the term “creative absurdity.”
They first covered cars on the streets with VW Up! car covers. They then mounted an example scaling a building in France. This campaign shows the compactness of the vehicle in a manner never seen before.
If they had used the rugged-looking Cross Up!, customers may have believed its gradability is 90%, thankfully the marketeers were quick to sense that possibility and used a three-door model.
Aren’t these Germans are ready to go to any heights to get your attention?
What’s with the Mahindra XUV500 that so many Indians can’t seem to get enough of? After attracting an impressive 8,000 bookings in a few days after the launch in 5 cities, the XUV500 yet again exposes the treasure chest hidden in the 10-15 lakh rupee SUV segment in its second round of bookings – the fever is still in high pitch!
The XUV500 bookings reopened on the 25th of January and was shuttered on the 3rd of February, 10 days later. The only difference was this time its availability was extended to 19 cities. Mahindra said a lottery system will pick out 7,200 customers out of all the registrants and vehicles are going to be delivered in a timely manner. Mahindra said this would ensure transparency and fairness to customers.
If you have been following the Indian Automotive scene quite closely, you would understand the importance of the new diesel engine from Honda. This diesel engine is as important for Honda as the small block was for Chevy.
After heavily bleeding its market share to its competitors, Honda finally announced that it will be producing a smaller capacity diesel for hatchbacks and small sedans.
The technology powering this new diesel engine is quite innovatively titled – Earth Dreams.
Mahindra will launch the Xylo facelift on the 8th of February. These spyshots on Team-BHP.com provide a close view of the cabin and the cosmetic changes to the body. The new Xylo sports a cleared-out front end that looks way better than the original. The hood creases have been shifted, the design is a lot squarer and nudge guards are practical additions.
The side profile is highlighted with new rub rails and blacked out pillars. The mildly tweaked tail lamp is the only addition we can notice on the rear. Except for the redesigned steering wheel, we’re not able to spot any differences in the cabin.
Details of the powertrain and whether Mahindra will plonk the 2.2L mHawk mill under the Xylo’s bonnet will be understood in under 48 hours. Stay tuned to IAB!
Over the years, the Indian automotive market has matured from small hatchbacks to entry sedans to C+ sedans. This year, the focus of the manufacturers will be on two key segments –Compact Sedans and Compact SUVs.
Maruti Suzuki recently launched their contender for the CS market – Swift Dzire and rest of the manufacturers such as Tata and Mahindra are expected to follow suit.
Coming to the Compact SUV market; now this is going to be extremely interesting. Ford, Renault and Mahindra are honing their challengers as we speak. But little known rival is already present in the market from a long forgotten company called ‘Premier Auto’. Does it ring a bell?
Since the time the new BMW 3 Series was spotted on the Mumbai docks, we are getting impatient to drive it on the Indian roads. In terms of design, the new BMW 3 Series is as radical as the as it could have ever been. BMW claims that the it has also managed to improve performance and efficiency figures making it a complete package.
While we try to get our hands on the new 3 Series, why don’t you have a look at the latest 3 series commercial released by BMW. Brownie points for guessing the song played during ad. This ad comes as buzz around this year’s London Olympics picks up.
A lime green test mule of the Kia Picanto has been testing in Chennai since late November last year. As you may have read, the Picanto is the first cousin of the Hyundai i10 (the second cousin is the Kia Ray, a boxy hatch reserved for the Korean market).
The Picanto, sometimes known as the Morning, shares its parts bin with the i10 but designers have executed the Picanto to look more lively.
As we’ve pointed out on previous occasions, there’s no Kia in India, so there is no place for a Picanto.
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After Pune reader Satyajeet Bhaskare, it was the turn of the test-mule city’s Rohan Patil to snag the Chevrolet Sail inside out. The difference is Rohan’s pictures show the interiors of the hatchback version GM displayed at the Auto Expo last month while Satyajeet shot the sedan.
The dashboards of these cars don’t differ, much like the Etios twins or the Swift twins. The Indigo Manza is perhaps the only vehicle in this segment to bear a different dashboard compared to its centrally-mounted dials its hatchback counterpart is endowed with.
The Volkswagen Up’s Indian foray with the XL1 concept’s uber-frugal diesel engine maybe a heated boardroom discussion topic in Chakan and Wolfsburg at this moment, but there are countries the Up’s reached where Volkswagen’s marketing team is busy coining the term “creative absurdity.”
