Indian Autos blog

A BMW Z4 with the covers on sits in a trailer transporting it to the launch floor

Driving down the main roads of Mumbai at 7.30 PM, I notice a trailer carrying something with a weird shape. I moved closer and my initial thoughts were correct – it is a car.

I tell myself it must be a car that was involved in an accident, and is transported to workshop for repairs.

Wrong.

I happen to see the BMW logo on the wheel when the neatly covered car gets upset by the oncoming wind.

Well well.. I begin to think hard which BMW has such a low-slung stance, long wheelbase and is on the Indian radar — instantly the Z4 pops into my mind. Luckily I have my cam onboard — Click Click and I have a fully covered BMW Z4 in its memory.

The driver sees me and immediately stepped on the gas — he’s driving a truck for pete’s sake — how will that ever be faster than my 100+hp Verna?

click ‘Read More’ to read the rest and view the images

Massive, both in size and accomplishment.

Or I could title it using any of the following alternatives

Creating Storm and making fortunes for the Company

7000 in 30 days, still queues lined up for more

Reaching the years target in just 30 days

Cheques flowing, people queuing up outside Toyota showrooms to have them parked in their car parks without even taking the test drives (Even if maniacs like us wish to lay their hands behind its steering, they come destitute handed as most dealers don’t even have demo or test drive cars), that’s how this new butch machine has been accepted in the country.

The number of bookings have gone so far, that Toyota management has taken the control of it themselves and no more bookings are accepted in showrooms.

click through to learn our reasons why the Fortuner is a massive hit

Can’t see the slideshow above? View all the images directly at the Porsche Panamera Interior Image Gallery

Direct Link - Porsche Panamera Unveiling and Presentation Image Gallery

Porsche today unveiled the luxury saloon Panamera here at its Mumbai dealer showroom this morning. The event was attended by a few selected auto journalists handpicked by Porsche and IAB was proudly a part of that lot.

Mr Rod Wallace, MD of Precision Cars India (PCI) the Indian wing of Porsche, Mr Allan Marriage Technical Head of PCI explained to the press the development of the Panamera through a audio-visual presentation. Following that, the car was unveiled sending the crowd into a frenzy.

Later IAB managed to have a one to one with Mr Allen Marriage who said that India is turning into a hot spot for performance vehicles and he was looking forward to more sports car makers foraying into the country.

IAB also managed to chit chat with Mr Rod Wallace who stated that already 13 Panameras have been booked before the launch and they expected to surpass the target of 50 cars for this year easily. Three new dealers with fully equipped service stations will soon begin operating in Chennai, Ludhiana and Bangalore.

Mr Wallace said the Panamera is a “Super Luxury car” which also happens to have all the traits of a sports car. He claimed the genes of the 911 were buried deep in it and was responsible for the 4.3 second 0-100 run!

Porsche Panamera prices in India ex-showroom inclusive of VAT and duties

Panamera S:

Ex Delhi : Rs. 1,41,74,000
Rest of India: Rs. 1,44,36,000

Panamera 4S:

Ex Delhi: Rs. 1,47,11,000
Rest of India: Rs. 1,49,83,000

Panamera Turbo:

Ex Delhi: Rs. 2,01,84,000
Rest of India: Rs. 2,05,58,000

click through to read the detailed press release

A move that in first of its kind, the Czech auto maker Skoda has initiated to sell Fabia entirely online. Come next week and you can buy your Fabia online.

The Car will be available through dealers only it’s just the paper work and buying experience made easy. The visit to the dealership will just be limited to test drives and delivery and even if a buyer goes to a dealership to book the car, the actual booking process will be paperless.

The move is done to lure customers for the festive season and make buying easy. To work on this embryonic ploy Skoda Auto India has partnered with a popular online portal.

We think this is the great move to gratify the buying experience by the Skoda Auto India who doesn’t have a big reputation in customer satisfaction, may be this could prove a shot in right direction and give them extra brownie points.

See what Thomas Kuehl, Director of Sales and Marketing – Skoda Auto India has to share on this:-

You will get the car through the dealership, but it will be available (for booking) only online. We are working on something completely new for the first time for the Fabia.

VW’s iconic Beetle will be sold in India by the end of this year. The company will deploy the Beetle as a premium hatchback that rivals the Fiat 500. Though prices will only be announced during the launch, it is estimated to be around the 15 lakh mark.

VW is not expecting the Beetle to sell in large numbers. The company knows this vehicle is more of a brand building tool which should help the Polo, that debuts at the Auto Expo 2010, in its initial stages.

The VW Beetle was shown to the visitors at the Mumbai International Motor Show in January this year. The market study had begun at that point and so has the wait.

The Beetle is manufactured in Mexico and it will be brought into India as a CBU. With the 1.9-liter TDI engine and a 5-speed transmission, the Beetle makes a style statement than anything else for VW and its buyers.

The tale of Renault’s losing battle in India continues to take new turns and shortcuts to reach a nearest dead-end. First, Mahindra dropped-out of the three-way JV in Chennai. Leave alone Logan’s sub-1000 sales figures, due to the the poor economic state, Renault was left in a bit of a soup, car sales of the brand was affected globally.

Yesterday, Renault’s official has communicated with DNA and confirmed it will defer its investment on the Chennai plant.

Renault country general manager India operations Marc Nassif -

Renault would defer its investment in the assembly line for its cars — till the economic situation improved. Our commitment to invest in the Chennai facility and India remains undiluted.

The Renault-Bajaj ULC has also faced its quota of problems. One party wants the vehicle to compete with the Tata Nano directly, while the other wants it to be positioned elsewhere. Apart from this dilemma, nothing else about the product, its development or progress has made headlines anywhere.

Sources tell us Renault might not extend its relationship with Mahindra beyond the under-performing Logan in Nashik. Mahindra has said slight modifications to the product could enable it to qualify for lower excise duty, but no breakthrough has been reached. With speed breakers popping up everywhere and now even in the JV down south, one cannot but think Renault would pull the plug in India.

Nissan is however confident of its plans and it has assured us about the Micra and a sedan based on it, which will roll out of the Oragadam plant next year. Nissan will also build three other cars in India and import niche models, the first of which is the 370Z, possibly at the Auto Expo.