Tata Motors to launch Nano with power steering, name it as Nano Twist

Tata Motors will launch the Nano with a power steering by second week of January 2014. Though the Nano steering is light (thanks to the rear engine) steering the car during tight parking areas has been an issue. Earlier Tata Motors had worked on the steering column and front suspension to ease the problem but was not very effective.

Tata Motors has now decided to equip an electric power steering on the Nano sourced by ZF Friedrichshafen of Germany. The middle and top end variant will get the power steering options and will push the cost upwards by Rs. 15,000 to 20,000. Like Maruti and Hyundai used a suffix Spin and Xing respectively for their power steering cars Alto and Santro, the Nano will get a suffix too – Twist, so that it will be called Tata Nano Twist!

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Mahindra to enter small car segment in India

     India’s utility vehicle major Mahindra is planning to enter the small car segment in India. It is learned that Mahindra is developing a new platform for small cars in its new facility at Chennai. The small car is expected to be launched by 2014 in the price range of Rs. 2 – 5 lakh.

     Mahindra will have a huge task cut out as the players in the small car segment has already capitalised the market. Mahindra has to bring in its vast experience in making rugged vehicles to its small car and give its customers value for money.  

     Along with the small car Mahindra is also planning to built cars on Logon platform. A Verito hatch which is already in its testing conditions will make its presence very soon. Mahindra will also look to synergise Reva operations with these new projects. 

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Honda to stop selling Civic in India

     Honda has decided to pull out its Civic sedan from Indian market. Honda had earlier stopped production of the Civic some months ago and the dealers have exhausted with the stocks now. Honda has no plans to launch the next generation Civic in India which made its international debut last year.

     The reason for pulling out the Civic is due to the lack of a diesel option. According to the Honda source, the next generation Civic which has a 1.6L diesel and is sold European market is not compatible for Indian conditions. 

     With no Honda Civic in Indian market, we will certainly miss a car well known for its sharp design and performance. The ‘sexy car’ as known by the fairer sex will now become a history. We hope Honda brings its next generation Civic with a diesel engine suitable for Indian conditions. 

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Toyota launches ‘Liva TRD Sportivo’ Limited Editon

     Celebrating the first anniversary of Etios Liva, Toyota Kirloskar Motor Ltd. has launched a Limited Edition variant of its Liva hatchback named ‘ Liva TRD Sportivo. Only 1200 units of Liva TRD Sportivo will be on sale. Bookings for the car have been started and will go on sale till October this year.

     The Liva TRD Sportivo is available in both petrol and diesel variants. The petrol model costs Rs. 5,23,692/- and diesel is priced at Rs. 6,32,281/- (all prices ex-showroom New Delhi). The Limited Edition Liva comes in two colour options – White and Ultramarine Blue.

The Liva TRD Limited Edition sports the following new features

1. TRD Designed Sporty Package - The Front Bumper Spoiler , Aerodynamic Side Skirt, Two-Tone Rear Bumper Spoiler and Two-Tone roof spoiler is designed by TRD,  Japan. This Aero package gives a distinct look and sporty appeal to the vehicle.

2. Smoked Alloy Wheels - Specially designed for the limited edition - the 15”-Alloy Wheels are given a “Gun-Metal” finish and it provides an aggressive and sporty look to the car.

3. Roof Ornament and Body Side Graphics - Enhances the overall exterior appeal of the Limited Edition.

4. Limited Edition Branding - The Limited edition is branded as “TRD Sportivo”. A high quality Chrome badge on the boot lid symbolizes Toyota Racing Development’s sporty appeal.

5. New Seat Fabric with “TRD Sportivo” logo and Silver Shift Knob

Enhance the interior appeal and adds a touch of “sportiness” to the interiors.

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Maruti Suzuki Ritz facelift caught testing in India

Maruti Suzuki is all set to give a facelift to Ritz. The Ritz facelift was revealed some days back in Japan and Germany which had some changes to the front and rear bumper. The Ritz facelift will also have the same changes when it will be launched in India.

As seen from the spy pictures, the front of the car is heavily camouflaged indicating major changes in the front. The rear of the car looks very similar as there will be no changes in the tail lamps and tail gate and only the bumper which will be new having couple of air scoops.

Under the hood, the engines – both petrol and diesel, will be the same. Expect the engines to be retuned to deliver quiet and smooth performance. The car is expected to go on sale this Diwali and could be priced Rs. 5,000 to 10,000 more than the current model.

Picture Source: Team BHP

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Premier Rio CRDi4 launched in India

     Premier Automobiles has launched Rio mini SUV with Fiat sourced 1.3L Multi Jet diesel engine. The new Rio named Rio CRDi4 is priced at Rs. 6.7 lakh ex-showroom Pune. Deliveries of the vehicle will begin from August 2nd 2012 on wards. The Rio is also available with the old Peugeot’s 1.5L TUD5 engine.

     Premier has been testing the Rio with the Multi Jet engine for a while. Now with Rio getting the Multi Jet engine, its joins the band wagon of cars like Punto, Swift, Swift Dzire and Indica Vista which are also powered by the same engine. Fiat’s 1.3L Multi Jet engine has won many accolades all over the world because of its superb torque and high fuel efficiency.

     The 1.3L Multi Jet engine in Rio churns out 71 Bhp of power at 4000 rpm and 183 Nm of torque between 1800 to 2400 rpm with a fixed geometry turbocharger. The power is little less as compared to the Punto and Swift, probably because of the weight of the Rio. The Rio weighs 1145 Kg and rides on 205/70R15 tubeless radial tyres. It has disc brakes in the front and drum at rear.

     Premier Rio comes in 4 colour options – Paradise White, Sterling Silver, Mystic Black and Cherry Red. Two trim levels are in the offereing – DX and LX. The Rio comes with many useful features such as - 

Internally adjustable outside rear view mirrors

Rear wiper and washer as standard

Rear defogger

Tinted glass window

Front and rear fog lamps

Blackened B pillars

Rear Spoiler as standard

Alloy wheels on Lx model

split seats at rear

Door ajar warning

Tachometer

Digital clock

3 spoke sporty steering wheel design

Power steering

Air conditioner with heating

Collapsible steering column for safety

ABS and EBD as standard on all variants

Brake assist

Keyless entry and central locking etc.

Press Release:

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Chevrolet launches faceifted Captiva in India

     General Motors has quietly launched the Captiva facelift in India with price starting from Rs. 18. 74 lakh. The Captiva facelift was showed at the Auto Expo 2012 and we in our earlier post had posted some spy pictures as well. Chevrolet offers three variants of Captiva with two engine options. The old 2.0L diesel is available with manual transmission and the automatic variant will get the new 2.2L engine. Here are the ex-showroom, New Delhi pirces of new Captiva - 

Chevrolet Captiva 2.0 MT – Rs. 18,74,062/-
Chevrolet Captiva 2.0 Xtreme – Rs. 19,48,347/-
Chevrolet Captiva 2.2 AT AWD – Rs. 24,59,000/-


     The new Captiva features Chevrolet’s latest design philosophy. The big front grill with the Chevy’s bow logo is the main highlight of the new generation Chevy cars.  The new Captiva was launched internationally couple of years ago and the Indian launch was in the waiting. The new Captiva in India gets a new 2.2L engine available only in the top of the line Automatic variant with 6 speed automatic gearbox. Interiors get all black theme as seen in the Cruze sedan. Though Chevrolet has priced the base variant competitively against Fortuner and Endeavour, the top of the line automatic Rs. 25 lakh price tag is bit overpriced.

Some of the key  features in the top of the line Captiva automatic:

Climate control system

Cruise control

Rain-sensing wipers

Electric parking brake

8-way power adjustable driver seat

Remote-operated tailgate glass

6 Airbags

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More spy pictures of Mahindra Verito facelift

     More spy pictures of facelfited Mahindra Verito has surfaced, thanks to MotorVikatan who managed to click these picture of the facelfited car.

      As seen from the picture, there is all new bumper, new grill which resembles that of Mahindra family and the headlamps covered on the top and bottom. The headlamp will incorporate turn indicators on the top and LED lights in the bottom as seen the XUV500. Other than these changes the car seems to be the same as the Logan.

     The rear too gets redesigned bumpers and tail lamps and the boot has also been redesigned to suit the tail lamps which has clear lens finishing. The number plate seems to have moved over the the boot from the bumper.

     

     The facelfited Verito could get alloy wheels as seen in the picture. Expect to get some more luxury features in the new car.

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Honda Brio caught testing again, now with video

     The hot news in the Indian automobile industry is about the Honda Brio. Last month we had posted about the Honda Brio being tested on the Indian roads, and the spy pictures did not prove that it was indeed the Brio diesel. Now GTO of team-bhp has come up with a video which clearly shows the Brio diesel is indeed on the test run, which means we can expect the car launch very soon.

     Honda sensing that without a diesel it will be hard in the future to survive in India, has fasten the development and launch plans of its diesel powered cars as the proposal of hike in excise duty of diesel cars going up comes from the petroleum ministry. The Brio diesel could be the first diesel offering from Honda in India as Brio is aimed at mass market and Honda wants to tap it with a bang. The next to follow will be Jazz and City. Honda had announced a 1.6L diesel for the Civic which will come in its new avatar next year. The same engine might be carried over in the City as well.

     From the video it is very clear that the car in the test run is indeed the diesel from the engine clutter when the driver tried to accelerate. It is still not known whether it is a 3 or 4 cylinder engine. Honda had hinted that it is developing a 1.2L diesel for Brio, so engine seen in the video is a 1.2L diesel. The engine clutter seems to be little louder, to be in line with that of the Fabia and the Beat. However Honda would have done proper insulation to reduce the noise and vibrations reaching the cabin. A small and dynamic car like Brio with a diesel engine is what the car expected from the customers in India and Honda if priced will could steal the Swift show, or is it hard to beat the Swift? Your comments are awaited...

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Renault to launch Duster in India on 26th June

     The long awaited Renault Duster SUV will be launched in India on 26^th of June 2012. Renault has been testing Duster in India from 2 months and spy pictures of Duster have been posted in many Indian automobile blogs. Renault wants to launch the Duster before the Ford Ecosport which has also been found testing without camouflage recently.

     Renault Duster will come with both petrol and diesel variants. The base 1.6 L petrol variant will be priced around Rs. 6.5 lakh (ex showroom) and its diesel counterpart will have a price tag of Rs. 7.5 lakh (ex- showroom).

     The Duster launching in India will have some changes to the one shown at the Auto Expo earlier this year. The Indian version of Duster has black finish on the lower part of front bumper, black part on wing mirrors as compared to the International model which has full body colour on front bumper and wing mirrors.

     The Duster will come in five trim levels. The petrol vehicle is powered by a 1.6L engine with 120 Bhp of power and the diesel is powered by 1.5L engine with two different outputs of 85 Bhp and 110 Bhp. 

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Skoda Yeti to get facelift soon

     Skoda Auto will give a mild facelift to its premium SUV Yeti soon. The facelift will include reworked front end in the exterior and upholstery change in the interior. With sales being poor, Skoda recently launched a budget edition 4x2 Yeti. However there is no news of a 7 seater Yeti yet.

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News of Excise Duty hike on diesel cars resurfaces again

     The news of hiking the Excise Duty on diesel cars has surfaced again after a steep hike of over Rs. 5 on petrol. The finance ministry is looking at the issue after the petroleum ministry insisted on the hike to discourse people from using highly subsidised diesel. The oil ministry suggests that the additional amount collected from the excise hike can be utilised to compensate the loss that fuel retailers suffer on the sale of diesel at government controlled rates.

     The huge gap between petrol (Rs. 80/liter) and diesel (Rs. 45/liter) is prompting people to go for diesel cars. In fact last month the sales of Swift (80% of which sold are diesel) surpassed the Alto (which is a petrol vehicle) inspite of the former’s price being double that of the later.

     The Govt. is providing subsidy of Rs. 15.35 per liter on the diesel. Diesel in our country is perceived mainly as a fuel for mass transportation (goods & people) and agriculture. Any increase in diesel prices will automatically raise the already raised inflation. There has been argument for a long time that, rich should not get subsidised fuel and the subsidised fuel should only be available to poor people (aam admi). But the fact is that, the main loss to the Government is the multiple levels of taxes state government charges on the fuel.

     If the excise duty hike does take place for diesel cars, the India growth story in the Automobile segment will be hit significantly.

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All new Hyundai Elantra coming soon to India

     Hyundai will soon launch the new generation Elantra in India. The new Elantra which is the third product from Hyundai on the fluidic-sculpture design was recently spied testing in South India.

     The new Elantra reflects Hyundai’s fluidic sculpture design and we feel it is the best fluidic sculpture design from the Hyundai stable. The dimensions of the car has given designers more room for stretching creases which was difficult in Fluidic Verna and Eon because of their smaller size. The interiors of the car are equally attractive and the striking feature is the multimedia screen which dominates the whole dashboard. 


     The new Elantra will be powered by a 147 Bhp, 1.8 liter petrol and 1.8 liter diesel engines. The new Elantra will compete against Skoda Laura, Volkswagen Jetta, Renault Fluence, Chevrolet Cruze and Toyota Corolla in India.

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Tata Motors Blaze De Rajasthan 2012 starts on 9th June 2012

     Tata Motors motorsports division ‘Tata Motors Full Throttle’ has launched an off-road rally competition for all rally enthusiast called ‘TATA MOTORS BLAZE DE RAJASTHAN’ happening on 9th and 10th of June 2012. The rally starts and ends in Jaipur covering adventurous terrain stretch of 300 Km. 

     The rally has three categories – 2WD, 4WD and Women’s team. The competition is open to all the rally enthusiasts and any make of the vehicle. The rally stretch encompass in-city drives, hilly tarmac sections, sandy trails, specially made tracks to test the navigation skills of the participants. Thar Motorsports is the program partner for planning and execution of this event and Tata Motors will take care of all logistical, medical and service support. 

Mr. Jatin Lakra, Head Marketing-Sumo and Grande, Tata Motors said,”After a series of successes in rallies, Tata Motors Full Throttle brings the joy of competitive rallying to all motorsports enthusiast across the country. Rajasthan is a popular destination for off-roading and a natural choice for us to hold our first one-day off-roading rally. The state has some of the most extensive networks of roads that connect even small towns and villages and are fairly isolated with little traffic load, ideal for such sporting events.”

     Tata Motors Full Throttle recently launched two off-roading events for the owners of Tata Motors SUVs called Tata Motors Full Throttle Experience and Tata Motors Full Throttle Trails. The Full Thorttle Experience will be flagged off from New Delhi on June 22 and goes on for number of days. The Full Throttle Trails are half day offroading events with total of 21 trails. 

To take part in these adventurous rallying activities email to Tata Motors at -

blazederajasthan@tatamotorsfullthrottle.com 
or
experiences@tatamotorsfullthrottle.com

You can visit http://www.tatamotorsfullthrottle.com for more details.

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Honda aims big for India, hopes to sell 1 million cars by 2015-16

     Honda has never been so serious in Indian markets. The tragedies in Japan and Thailand prompted the Japanese motorcycle to car manufacturer ‘Honda Motor Corporation’ to focus more on the developing markets to break even volumes and thus profits.

     Honda first entered India in 1998 with a sole mode ‘City’ sedan. The City since then almost ruled the segment in spite of being priced high, just because of the sheer pleasure it give to its customers. In fact the ‘City’ lost its dominance recently to the new entrants Volkswagen Vento and Hyundai Verna. It was not due to the better quality and value for money of the new enterants, but just for the lack of a diesel option.

     Honda has developed a 1.6 L diesel (i-DTEC) which will power the ‘City’ sedan and hopefully the Civic as well. Though the engine and its technology is the first from Honda in the segment, the strong heritage of quality products of Honda assures us to have a wonderful diesel engine which could surpass its competitors in most of the parameters. A smaller 1.2 L diesel is also under development to propel Jazz and Brio to be launched early next year. The diesel Brio has already been spied testing in Noida, which means the Brio diesel will come sooner than expected.

     With range of diesel vehicles in the Honda’s portfolio, the company aims to sell over 1 million units in India by the next 4 to 5 years. To attain this Honda has to sell over a lakh of vehicles per year which is possible only when it prices its vehicles cheaper than its competitors. Also Honda has to bring more range of cars in different segments to get the volumes going. The launch of Brio petrol with a price tag of Rs. 3.95 lakh (ex-showroom, New Delhi) and re pricing of Jazz petrol is a classical example which has made Honda to rethink about its strategies in India.

     We at AutomobilePlanet.com have faith that Honda has all the capabilities to be another Suzuki Motor Company in India. With Honda’s brilliant technology, futuristic design, strong quality maintenance, environmental awareness and the zeel to make a better automobile, we Indians will have a wonderful time motoring in the coming days. We would also like to see Honda Freed, Honda Concept S and Honda Odyssey plying on our roads. 

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Renault Duster to be priced at Rs. 6 - 7 lakh?

     We found an interesting article posted at Indianautosblog which mentioned the Duster to be priced at Rs. 6 lakh for the petrol version and a lakh more for the diesel one. It is indeed very surprising to hear about Renault vehicle price so competitively. Assuming Renault prices Duster at Rs. 6 lakh for petrol and Rs. 7 lakh for diesel, of course it would be ex-showroom New Delhi, which means Duster petrol will cost around Rs. 7.5 to 8.5 lakh on road  Bangalore. It is a very competitive price and seems that Renault will hit the nail at the right place.

     Renault with its three launches till now – Fluence, Koleos & Pulse has not been able to sell good volumes to get desired market share. The fourth launch which will be the Duster is a trump card for Renault, which Renault do not want to lose out. With clever packaging and such competitive price Renault could finally get a food hold on Indian market.

     The Duster will be powered by the same 1.5L petrol and diesel engines which powers the Nissan Micra and Sunny. A more powerful diesel option with a turbo having 110 Bhp will also find its place under the Duster’s hood. The great ground clearance, solid build and practicality will place the Duster at the top in the minds of customers looking to buy Ertiga or any other SUV. Any comments?

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Skoda Superb facelift spied

     Skoda had launched the new Superb three years back and now has plans to give it a facelift. The facelifted Skoda Superb was spied with some camouflage, but in spite of it lot of details are visible.

      In the front there is the new headlamps look good with angular design, the front grill seems to be big and bolder than the current one. The front bumper has been redesign to suit the changes. The most striking feature is in the rear which gets sharp tail lamps which resembles with current generation Volkswagen and Audi.

     Apart from the front and rear changes there is absolutely no change in the overall design of the car. There will be no change in the chassis, suspension and engine department. 

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Hyundai’s unique Petrol Price Lock Assurance

     With the petrol prices rising, Hyundai Motor India has structured a new Petrol Price Lock Assurance to protect its customers from the steep petrol price hike. Under this scheme, petrol car buyers will be offered huge discounts on Eon, Santro, i10, i20, Accent and Verna. The Petrol Price Lock Assurance will be valid on bookings made before May 31st 2012. The scheme comes in addition to the 5 Star Assurance Scheme which covered Santro and i10 Models.


     Speaking about the offer, Mr. Arvid Saxena of Hyundai Motor India Ltd. said that the petrol price hike is a huge burden on its customers and the company has taken initiative to protect the customer from this steep petrol price hike.

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Chevrolet Cruze facelift unveiled at Busan Motor Show

     General Motors has unveiled the Chevrolet Cruze facelift at the 2012 Busan Motor Show. The Cruze facelift gets upgrades on the front grill and fog light section. The important addition is in the inside. The new Cruze gets MyLink in-car infotainment system with a 7 inch touch screen playing almost all sorts of media from a USB pen drive.

     It is not clear weather General Motors will bring the facelifted Cruze to India. But a new version of Cruze, with a new diesel engine will be launched in June. The Cruze will be powered by a 2.0 Liter Z Series diesel which produces 163 Bhp power and 360 Nm of torque. The new engine will reduce the turbo lag improves the drivability. The NVH levels will also be improved as well.


     The upgraded Cruze will be priced Rs. 40,000/- more than the current model when launched in India next month.

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All new Toyota Camry spied testing in India

     The next generation Toyota Camry which was showed at the Auto Expo 2012 was spied testing near Bangalore. Toyota hopes to regain the lost battle ground in the D+ segment with the launch of then the new Camry. The new Camry will be assembled at Toyota’s plant near Bidadi.

     The new Camry will be powered by a 2.5 Liter 4 cylinder DOHC 16 valve Dual VVT-i petrol engine. The engine pumps out 178 Bhp @ 6000 rpm. However the 268 Bhp 3.5 Liter V6 will not come to India.

Engine capacity and fuel options: 2.5 liter VVTi petrol
Transmission: 6-speed manual
Power: 178 HP at 6000 rpm
Torque: 230 Nm at 4100 rpm
Expected launch date: 14th march 2012
Expected price: Rs 17 to 21 lakh 

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