Chevrolet’s new MPV to be named ‘Enjoy’

     Chevrolet’s new MPV which is basically the Chinese Wuling CN-100 will be named as Enjoy in India. Chevrolet showed its MPV Enjoy at the recently concluded Auto Expo.

     The Enjoy MPV will launch with 95 bhp 1.4 liter petrol initially and a 1.3 liter SDE diesel engine will come by early next year. Chevrolet is hoping to grap a substantial market share in Indian MPV segment currently dominated by Toyota Innova. With its versatile seating arrangement and value for money, the Enjoy MPV will surely give run for the money for Toyota Innova, and Mahindra Xylo. Chevrolet is planning to price the Enjoy MPV starting from Rs. 6 lakh. 

Tata Motors gives facelift to its Ace mini truck

     The most successful commercial vehicle in recent times from Tata Motors, the Ace mini truck has got a facelift. The Ace mini truck was launched in 2005 and soon got popularity in its segment. The facelifted Ace mini truck was showed at the recent Auto Expo.


     The Ace facelift gets new headlamps, grill and front bumper, redesigned dashboard with central speedo console (like the Indica Vista and Nano), larger outer rear view mirrors and a mobile charging point. Tata Motors is trying to shed its image of bland looking commercial vehicles and want to be in par with its passenger cars. The change in the design of next generation commercial vehicles which was also showed at the Auto Expo is evident.


     The Ace will be powered by the same 700cc IDI diesel engine. A CRDi engine is under developed which might soon replace the current one in near future. Pricing and other details of the Ace facelift has not been announced yet. Hope to see the new Ace launch by mid of this year.

Picture courtesy: Indianautosblog

Facelifted Hyundai i20 spied undisguised

     Hyundai giving a facelift to its super hatch i20 is not new news. Hyundai has been testing the i20 facelift in India for quite some time and some spy pictures of the vehicle taken near Chennai has surfaced in the net world. But nothing like this photograph taken by Anythingonwheels, which clearly shows how the i20 facelift will actually look like. 


     Though the photograph shows the front left part of the car, the fluidic sculpture design being incorporated to i20 is very much evident. The headlamps which feature the fluidic philosophy reminds us of the next generation Elantra’s which will be launch soon in India.

     
     Hyundai gave a facelift to i10 last year. The i20 launched in 2008 was due for a facelift. With Hyundai incorporating the fluidic sculpture design to all its vehicles, the facelift to i20 which is the lone vehicle without fluidic design was evident. However the facelift will be just in the front and rear and to some extent in the interiors, but there will no change under the hood. The i20 will be powered by the same 1.2L petrol, 1.4L petrol and 1.4L diesel engines.

Bajaj RE60 ultra low cost city vehicle unveiled

     Bajaj Auto has unveiled its ultra low cost city vehicle ‘RE60’ today. As Bajaj Auto says, the RE60 is not a car but a 4 wheeled city vehicle seen as a replacement to a 3 wheeler. Powered by a 200cc water cooled petrol engine with 20hp of power, RE60 returns an incredible fuel efficiency of 40 Kmpl under testing conditions. The carbon dioxide emission is very low at 60g/km which is half of that a small car emits.

     The RE60 chassis is built on a light weight monocoque metal polymer hybrid structure which makes the vehicle very light at just 400 Kg. The engine mounted at the rear has been developed from Pulsar 200 which features a closed loop fuel injection system and DTSi technology. Petrol, CNG and LPG are the only fuel options, with no diesel as RE60 is built as a light weight vehicle. The Bajaj RE60 measure 2752mm in length, 1312 mm in width and 1650 mm in height. Seating capacity is 2+2 or 1+3 with 44 liter boot space and 7 liter under the hood. Max speed is 70 Kmpl and turning radius is just 3.5 meters.

     A first look at the vehicle reminds us of a comic character but as you inch closer you can find the maximum practicality of this vehicle. Bajaj has stuck to the basic and has worked in every aspect to make this a low cost vehicle. The window glass on doors does not roll down but is split into two with the lower half dropping down. The instrument cluster is also basic with speedo and couple of other indicators. There is absence of a head rest on the front seats and the rear seats remind you of the 3 wheeler’s. As Bajaj has played safe by saying that it is a 4 wheel city vehicle and not a car, the RE60 will soon replace the 3 wheeled auto rickshaws which has served the country for more than 4 decades. However the company has not revealed the price and said it will be announced when the vehicle will go into production in few months time.

Bajaj RE60 more pictures

Maruti Swift compact sedan will not come to Auto Expo 2012, launch in Feb

     Maruti Suzuki will not display its Swift compact sedan at the coming Auto Expo 2012. The Swift compact sedan is built on the new Swift platform and comes under 4 meter length mark; to be precise the Swift compact sedan is 3.99 meter in length.

     We in our earlier post had showed you a spy picture of the Swift compact sedan being testing in Maruti factory at Gurgaon. Maruti has developed the compact sedan keeping in mind the tax sops available to small cars under 4 meter length mark.

     Maruti will launch the Swift compact sedan in the 2^nd week of February and the car will be sold along with the old Swift Dzire. The Swift compact sedan will be priced Rs. 50,000 less than the Swift Dzire and the aim is to tap the compact sedan/notchback segment which is currently dominated by Tata Motors.

     The Swift compact sedan will see competition from Mahindra in the form of Verito compact sedan and Tata Motors which is planning to launch a Manza compact sedan very soon. As the compact sedan/notchback segment is growing, don’t be surprised to see other manufacturers like Volkswagen, Honda, Toyota and Skoda to come up with compact sedan variant of its popular C segment sedans.

Bajaj Ultra Low Cost vehicle named RE60

     Bajaj Auto has been in the news since the Nano launch as a competitor to the world's cheapest car. Bajaj had earlier showed a prototype of its small car ahead of Nano launch, and the prototype was indeed promising. As the time went on Bajaj Auto shelved the plans of a small car and started working a Ultra Low Cost vehicle in association with Renault.


     Now what we have news is, Bajaj Auto has developed a Ultra Low Cost vehicle, which it terms as a low cost 4 wheeler and not a car. The company has developed the low cost 4 wheeler platform on which it will first built a commercial vehicle and subsequtly a passenger vehicle, not essentially a car.

    BS Motoring has published an image of a small car claiming it to be Bajaj Auto ultra low cost 4 wheeler. As seen in the picture, the 4 wheeler is compact with 4 doors. Infact the vechile looks like a passenger variant of Mahindra Gio. Since Bajaj will unviel the prototype low cost 4 wheeler on the 3rd of Jan 2012, the wait seams to be almost over.


     As said earlier, Bajaj Auto has focussed on the fuel effeciency of the 4 wheeler which could be anywhere near 30 Kmpl. We guess Bajaj would have developed the Pulsar engine with 2 cylinders of 250cc capacity. Having worked all these 3 years, it would have been a great product if Bajaj Auto had developed a decent looking car to compete against Tata Nano!
 

Maruti Suzuki Ertiga all set to be launched at Auto Expo 2012

     The suspense of Maruti’s MUV codenamed R3 is over. Maruti’s MUV will be called Ertiga and clear images of the Ertiga have been out in the net. Maruti has been showing glimpse of Ertiga on its website related to Auto Expo 2012. Maruti will launch Ertiga with 1.4L petrol and 1.3 L DDis diesel engine. The petrol engine has been specially developed for the Ertiga and promises to gives better performance compared to its 1.2L siblings.

     As seen from the pictures, Maruti (Suzuki) have done a wonderful job in conceptualization  of the MPV and bring it to the reality. Thought the Ertiga is different from the R3 concept shown at the Auto Expo 2010, the overall silhouette of the vehicle remains the same. The Ertiga production model is more practical with conventional Swift/Ritz looks.

     The Ertiga being an MPV and competing against the market leader Innova, it does not look too long. It features proportionate dimensions and can still seat 7 persons. As speculated earlier, the Ertiga will not come under 4 meter length mark and hence will not have tax sops as that of a small car.

     Built on the extended Ritz platform, Ertiga is designed to give class leading performance at affordable cost. The tall stance and intelligent seating arrangement accommodates 7 persons comfortably. Expected to be priced between Rs. 7-9 lakh, Ertiga is getting ready to give nightmares to Toyota Innova. In fact, the Ertiga is the first serious contender to compete against dominant Toyota MPV since its launch in 2005

New Tata Safari facelift to be named Safari Storm

     Tata Motors has been testing the facelift Safari for quiet some time and rumors of its name Merlin has been in the net since the spy mules were spotted. Now it is official that the new Safari will be named as Safari Storm which will be launched at the Auto Expo 2012. This is the major facelift to Safari since its launch way back in 1998.

     Some spy pictures of the Safari Storm has also surfaced during its ad shoot out. From the spy pictures (see below) the facelift is very much evident, with new set of headlamps, new bumpers and new grill. The new grill gives a premium feel to Safari which now looks more like a Land Rover. The other change you can see in the new Safari is absence of the spare wheel on the rear door. Tata Motors has worked on the body in the rear to accommodate the spare wheel.

     With the SUV segment hotting up with some new launches from Mahindra and Force Motors, it will be nice to see how the Safari Storm performs. Tata Motors will carefully price the Safari Storm and do not want to make the pricing mistake it did for the Aria. Recent Tata Motors was offering huge discounts of over Rs. 1 lakh on an Aria variant.

     The new Safari Storm will come with the same 2.2 L DICOR engine and we feel Tatas have worked on the engine to rectify the power woes (Safari’s main drawback was its engine which lacked power).

Tata Pixel at Auto Expo 2012

     Tata Motors will showcase its advanced micro car Pixel at the coming Auto Expo 2012. The Pixel, designed for the European markets is based on Nano and incorporates lots of advanced features. The Pixel is over 3 meters in length and accommodates 4 persons comfortably. Tata claims Pixel to be  most advanced compact car in the world.

     A 1.2 liter 3 cylinder diesel engine powers the Pixel and the engine position is same as that of the Nano, in the rear. The Pixel features start stop technology and low resistant tyres. The design of the Pixel gives a very low coefficient of drag which gives maximum fuel efficiency to the car.

     The Pixel features the Zero Turn System which enables the car to deal with tight parking spaces. An Infinitely Variable Transmission (IVT) results to rotation of the outer rear wheel forwards and the inner rear wheel backwards during aforementioned maneuvering. This gives the car an incredible turing circle of radius of just 3.6 meters. The Pixel’s vertical lifting doors is the main highlight of the car.

     As we told earlier, the Pixel is developed for European model and will not come to India soon. Expect the car to come to India by 2012.

Renault launches upgraded Fluence diesel in India

     Renault has launched an upgraded variant (E4) of Fluence diesel in India. The E4 trim which was available only in petrol version is now available in diesel which now becomes Rs. 1.5 lakh dearer than the base E2 variant. The E4 variant is priced at Rs. 15.12 lakh (ex-showroom, Mumbai). Bookings for the diesel E4 variant have already started.

     The E4 diesel variant gets Chrome Finish on Window Sill and Trunk Lid, Automatic Healdlamp, Rain sensing wiper (2 Speed + Intermittent Variable), Rear Parking Sensors and Side Chest Level Airbags on the Front Seats. 

     There are some changes in the interiors as well. The E4 variant now gets Plush Leather Upholstery with beige interior which adds to the premium look of the vehicle. There is Dual Zone Auto Climate Control with rear AC vents to keep the cabin temperature at one’s need. The car also get Cruise Control and Speed Limiter, Rear sunblinds and electrically operated outside rear view mirrors which fold with tough of a button. The inner rear view mirror gets ElectroChrome treatment. 

Chevrolet/ Wuling Sunshine van spied, could be launched at Auto Expo 2012

     Chevrolet’s Chinese minivan Sunshine has been spied again on Indian roads and as the Auto Expo 2012 is getting nearer, we can expect its launch very soon. Chevrolet has brought Wuling vehicles to India and has been testing them for quite a sometime.

     Apart from Sunshine, Chevrolet is also testing a minivan of the Maruti Eeco size in India. We in our earlier post (few months back) had showed you the spy pictures of this Maruti Eeco sized minivan. Seeing the sizes of these two Chinese vehicles we can asses that Chevrolet wants to tap Maruti Eeco and Mahindra Xylo/Tata Sumo segment.

     If Chevrolet can bring in good diesel engines for these vans, the can turn the fortunes of Chevrolet in India. But having said this no one can expect a vehicle’s success than the cautious Indian customer!

Next generation Nissan Pathfinder spied

     The legendary Nissan Pathfinder is the SUV anyone will like to do off-roading with. The current generation model built on Nissan’s F-Alpha platform will undergo transformation to a new platform FF-L (Front-engine, Front-Wheel-Drive, Large) in 2013. Spy photographers of Worldcarfans has caught some spy pictures of then next generation Pathfinder testing in US.

     The FF-L platform underpins the Murano and Quest and by the spy pictures we can assume the new Pathfinder will have the same sleek styling of the Murano. Before speculating anything let’s wait till next month where Nissan will preview the new Pathfinder at Detroit Motor Show.

Current Nissan Pathfiner	2013 Nissan Pathfinder
2013 Nissan Pathfinder	2013 Nissan Pathfinder

Honda City facelift launched in India

     Honda today launched the City facelift in India. Honda had earlier launched the City facelift in Thailand few months ago. We somehow did not like the new City's changes. We will highlight you why we were not impressed with the changes in the new City.

     The front bumper now doesn’t look as sporty as the earlier one and the grill with wide air inlet openings doesn’t suit the City’s overall sleek body design. The front headlamps have made bigger now, boy the sleek small headlamps suited the best for the arrow shot design. In the rear also the bumper design doesn’t look attractive; the crease continuing from the tail lamp to the bumpers doesn’t gel well.  What we liked is the tail lamps with LED lights and the turn indicators on the ORVM. Oh we have not motioned about the roof opening, yes it is a good move by the Honda to provide one but it will be available in only selected models.

     Having said these things, we feel beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder. Anyone might feel the new City to be attractive, but we have mentioned about our feeling about the ‘Iconic City’ (Known for its superb design).

These are changes you can seen in the new Honda City facelift - New chrome grille, Restyled front & rear bumper, New tail lights, 10 spoke alloys, Improved ground clearance, now stands at 165 mm, Honda City facelift interior additions, New fabric seats, Center control panel, Chrome fittings, Blue meter, Sunroof, Cruise control, Turn indicators on ORVM, Introduction of Corporate edition for value customers, Two new colors – Carnelian pearl red and Sparkling brown metallic.

Honda City facelift price (All prices ex-showroom New Delhi)

Honda City Corporate Edition – 6.99 lakh

Honda City E – Rs. 7,70,000/-

Honda City S – Rs. 8,20,000/-

Honda City V MT (Manual Transmission) – Rs. 8,70,000/-

Honda City V AT (Automatic Transmission) – Rs. 9,42,000/-

Honda City V MT with sunroof and leather seats – Rs. 9,50,500/-

Honda City V AT with sunroof and leather seats – Rs. 10,22,800/-

Nissan Sunny diesel launched at Rs. 7.98 lakh

     Nissan has launched the diesel version of Sunny sedan in India with price starting from Rs. 7.98 lakh (ex-showroom, New Delhi). The Sunny diesel is available in two trim levels – XL (priced at Rs. 7.98 lakh) and XV (priced at Rs. 8.78 lakh) (Both prices ex-showroom New Delhi). The bookings for the car have been started all over India.

     The Sunny diesel is powered by same 1.5L engine of Micra but with different tune. Here the engine develops 85 bhp of power @ 3750 rpm and torque of 20.4 kgm @ 2000 rpm. It is coupled with 5 speed manual gearbox. Nissan claims the diesel engine has ARAI certified fuel economy of 21.64 Kmpl.

     The XL variant gets body coloured bumpers, on board drive computer, manually adjustable anti dazzling mirror, ABS with EBD and Brake Assistance, driver and passenger side airbags, body coloured and electronically adjustable outside rear view mirrors, chrome plated outside door handles and radiator girll, steering mounted audio controls, rear A/C vents and remote keyless entry. In addition to all these the XV variant gets alloy wheels and electronically folding rear view mirrors. With all these features both the variants of Nissan Sunny is a good value for money car. 

Honda City facelift Indian launch on 14th December

     Honda will launch its facelifted City sedan in India on the 14^th of December. The facelifted City will be the same one launched couple of months ago in Thailand. Honda had drastically reduced the price of the current City to clear the backlogs.

     The key exterior changes in the new Honda City are – new front grill with chrome plating, new altered headlights, new front bumper and fog light design, new rear bumper with diffuser, new taillights, new alloy wheel design. In the interior there is blue instrument cluster illumination and gun metal finish to the central console. The E variant gets beige interiors.

     The new Honda City comes in following colours - Chameleon Red, Sparkling Brown Metallic, Bold Beige, Tafeta White, Black, Silver, Urban Titanium. Six variants will be on the offerings - E M/T, S M/T, V M/T, VL M/T, V A/T, VL A/T. The V variant gets OSRVM turn indicators and new alloy wheels. The VL variant in addition to the features of V variants gets leather seats, sunroof and automatic climate control. The E and S will remain the same with just the facelift. There is absolutely no change in the mechanicals in the new Honda City.