Royal Enfield (RE), manufacturers of the renowned range of Bullet motorcycles has announced to introduce two new models by early 2010. RE is exploring the feasibility for launching the two bikes with two different engines, twin spark 350cc and 500cc engine with EFI technology.
It is not certain whether the new models would be catering to the domestic or the overseas markets, as the company has kept this one on the Q.T.
The Bullet builder is looking to up its game by 15-20 per cent year-on-year growth and is also looking to increase its annual production capacity from 44,000 units to 60,000 units (per annum) by 2010. The proposed launches and output enhancement will swallow in an investment worth Rs. 25 crores.
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Confusion and plenty of it surrounds the Ford’s new small car for the Indian market. As the name denotes, it is an all-new car developed from ground-up. We also construe that it is not a different looking or revised version of an earlier Ford model.
We discussed exhaustively how Ford’s new small car isn’t similar to or the Fiesta hatchback either, barring its Verve-based design connection. The new photoshop illustration from the Brazilian artist portrays how the face of Ford’s new small car would look like. The remaining car would be different, the one shown here appears like a shrunk Ford Fusion to me, the actual car would be have its corners rounded, shorter and simpler.
Spy photographers are unnecessary if you look at what Simon Gregg, a follower of Car Magazine has just caught on his cam- That’s right, he snapped a production model of the 4-door Aston in a parking lot without ANY camouflage. Take a bow Simon.
The car spied here could be one of the final prototypes before the actual car is shown at the Frankfurt Motor show in mid-September. The naked prototype finished in black, has its interiors soaked in red.
Poised to take on the 4-seat-4-door contenders like the stylish Porsche Panamera and the Mercedes Benz CLS, the Rapide is fitted with a 6.0-liter V12 engine that makes 470bhp and 600Nm of torque. Power will be directed to the rear wheels through a six-speed ZF automatic transmission with Aston’s Touchtronic control.
The Aston Martin Rapide will arrive at showrooms around the globe in 2010. Don’t expect it to cost any less than $200,000.
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Our friends in Argentina have made a collection of renderings on the upcoming Chevrolet Viva which in truth is the next generation model of the Aveo. In India however, we are yet to see the facelifted version of the existing Aveo and floating rumors of a possible 2010 Auto Expo launch gives us some hope.
Developed by the Brazilian division of GM, the Chevrolet Viva was spied on many a occasion. It was caught during the Nurburgring rounds followed by a cold weather run. The car could reach a Brazilian production line by the end of 2009 and who knows, India maybe in its list of places to visit next year.
The Chevrolet Viva as it will be called in Brazil, shares its underlying structures with the new Spark. The 1.4 and the 1.8-litre petrols will find their place under the bonnet.
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The Thai-assembled Toyota Camry hybrid which was displayed yesterday in a special ceremony will reportedly ship to India next year.
The Toyota Camry hybrid has its own tail lamp, headlamp and bumper, the three chief features apart from the ‘Hybrid Synergy Drive’ badge setting it apart from the regular petrol model. 9,000 of these cars will roll out of the Gateway plant in Thailand in the first phase with local deliveries scheduled in August.
This is not the first time we’re showing you a hybrid Camry on Indian Autos Blog. Don’t think so? Check out the Toyota Camry HC-CV from the Melbourne Motor Show earlier this year.
The automobile engineering under the skin of this Camry is surprisingly still hidden from the media. Whether the U.S Toyota Camry‘s 2.4 liter-engine producing 147 horsepower at 6,000rpm and 187Nm of torque at 4,400rpm, paired to a 30kW (40 horses) electric motor with 270Nm of torque goes for the Thai Camry is anybody’s guess.
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Tip of the day – The Honda Jazz hybrid’s price is what we Indians are going to pay for the 1.2-liter petrol model.
Honda‘s renewed commitment to the environment is known to us right from the time of the first Insight to the recent Civic hybrid, working for long hours in laboratories, fighting their way through the barriers namely weight, density, Toyota Prius, cost and what not.
The next car with hybrid technology to don the Honda badge is none other than the hugely successful Honda Jazz. The nature of the powertrain at this juncture is unknown. It might use the Insight’s motor and battery pack or Honda could have developed one specifically for this car.
Nevertheless Honda decided to revise the launch date of the Honda Jazz hybrid after seeing the demand for fuel efficient cars. The revised date as of now stands at autumn of 2010, about a year and half ahead of the original schedule.
Maruti Suzuki India’s Managing Executive Officer (Engineering) has confirmed development of the 800 and Omni van to make it fit for sales after Euro IV norms come into being next year. He also stated the Indian engineers were working on a new small car based on an “existing platform.”
We’ve placed the Hyundai small car in the limelight not once, but twice here before.
What we did not know in both the occasions was the Hyundai small car, codenamed GB, will be sold with a 800cc engine and a 1.0-liter engine petrol engine.
Yeah, adjoin a diesel engine to that, reports Auto Express. How many cylinders and horsepower is however not known yet.
Reports also confirm Hyundai engineers from Korea and India are working closely in designing this car. Both the teams bond in Hyundai’s facility in Namyang (Korea) and in Hyderabad (India).
During the second half of 2010, this car will go on sale in India. Formerly, it was known that the Chennai plant where the i10 is made would be utilized for the small car, but after the recent labour issues in the plant, Hyundai might look at Russia or European countries for producing the car.
