MAN Aerobus spied in India, launch soon

The luxury bus market is booming in India, thanks to development of good roads for these vehicles to ply. First it was Volvo, World Largest luxury bus manufacturer who foot in to India with its B7R buses. Soon Mercedes and Tata followed with their luxury buses.

MAN, the German luxury bus manufacturer is eying a share of pie in the luxury bus segment in India. The MAN Aerobus was spied testing in India and soon could be launched in the market. MAN entered India in 2006 with 50% JV with Force Motors and in 2011 bought the complete shares to form its fully owned subsidiary in India.

MAN Aerobus is a 45 seater inter-city air-conditioned, front engine luxury bus with full air suspension. It is powered by legendary MAN D-0836, 220 HP, BS3 complaint, diesel engine developing 800 Nm @1200-1800 rpm. The engine is mated to a six speed ZF GS 850 gearbox.  The MAN Aerobus is expected to deliver better fuel efficiency compared to its competitors. MAN had showed the Aerobus at this year’s Auto Expo at New Delhi. The Aerobus is expected to be launched early next year. Currently MAN has Tipper, Haulage and Special Applications range of trucks in India.

MAN Aerobus

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Maruti Suzuki Alto 800 receives 6500 even before launch

Maruti Suzuki’s big day of recent times is just a day away and guess what? the new Alto 800 has already received 6500 bookings. Maruti Suzuki opened bookings for the car just 15 days back through its teaser website www.marutisuzukialto800.com. The teaser website has received over 3,50,000 hits already. The new Alto 800 has arrived the dealerships in Bangalore. Mandovi Motors has already displayed the covered car with some balloons sticked on it.  

Mr. Mayank Pareek, Chief Operating Officer, Maruti Suzuki India - "Despite the price remaining unknown to customers, who have not seen the car fully, we have received 6,500 bookings of the new Alto. At this rate, we are confident that it will cross 10,000 when we launch the car on October 16”.

The new Alto 800 though not as pretty as the Nano, will sell in good numbers and Maruti wants it to start from where the old Alto left. In September, Alto sold over 30,000/- units and with the new model Maruti wants to increase the sales numbers still further. With the new engine dynamics, better fuel efficiency and new interiors, the Alto 800 is definitely better than the old model, but as we have been saying for some time, Maruti could have designed the new model much better!

Maruti Suzuki Alto 800 Specifications

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Ford Ecosport, the next big launch in Indian Automotive Market

Indian car market is slowly shifting towards mini SUVs and no wonder; every player wants to have a mini SUV in their portfolio. Renault and Mahindra by launching Duster and Quanto has started the mini SUV revolution in India. The next big launch in Indian automotive market will be the Ford Ecosport mini SUV which will be launched early next year.

Ford has started testing the Ecosport in India and spy pictures of test mules were taken near Chennai where Ford has a manufacturing plant. We came across some clear spy pictures of Ecosport through our friend MotorBash, and what is interesting is Ecosport will have an automatic variant as well. The Ecosport automatic variant will be the first vehicle in its class to have an automatic transmission which helps to easily manuover the vehicle in tight traffic. The interiors look very similar to the All new Fiesta, so Ford will share the parts and keep the Ecosport competitive.

The Ecosport will come in both Petrol and Diesel engines. Ford’s revolutionary 1.0L Ecoboost petrol engine will maket its India debut with Ecosport. Though being just 1.0L, the Ecoboost petrol engine produces 125 Bhp of power and 200 Nm of torque, thats why Ford calls it ‘Revolutionary Engine Technology’. The diesel engine will be carried from All new Fiesta which is a 1.5L common rail engine with 90 Ps of power.

 Regarding pricing of Ecoboost, Ford has already announced it will price Ecoboost less than the Duster. Being less than 4 meters in length, the Ecoboost enjoys 12% tax as compared to 24% for other vehicles. Sharing of parts will futher help Ford to keep the price competitive and having seen the success of Figo (which has been priced very competitively) Ford will price Ecosport at around Rs. 7 lakh for base petrol variant and Rs. 7 to 8 lakh for base diesel one.

We here at Automobile Planet are eagerly waiting to see the Ecosport on the roads soon and we guess many would be having same thoughts as we do...

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Mahindra to launch SsangYong Rexton in Inida on 17th October

     Mahindra will launch SsangYong Rexton SUV in Inida on 17th of October which coincides with the Tata Safari Storme launch. The Rexton is the first vehicle from Ssangyong in India, and to remind our readers, Mahindra bought majority stakes in Ssangyong Motors of South Korea in March 2011, which means Mahinda owns the brand Ssangyong. The Rexton will be launched in Mumbai on 17th October followed by launches in New Delhi and Bangalore.

     The Rexton coming to India is the 3rd generation model, internationally known as Rexton W which was showed at 2012 Busan Motor Show. Built on the first generation Mercedes M Class platform (W163), Rexton uses tubular frame chassis and will compete with Toyota Fortuner, Mitsubishi Pajero, Ford Endeavour and Hyundai Santa Fe in India.

     The 3rd generation Rexton looks prettier than the current model. The changes in the front and rear give a descent look to the vehicle. The power train will be 2.0L CRDi engine which replaces the current 2.7L diesel sourced from Mercedes. The 1998 cc in-line 4 cylinder diesel engine produces 154 Bhp of power and is equipped with intelligent torque vectoring system. The Rexton will be 6th SUV from Mahindra. Expect it to be priced around Rs. 20 lakh. 

     The Rexton in India will come with 5 speed automatic transmission with a 5 speed manual transmission also available. The Rexton will be equipped with safety features such as electronic stability program (ESP) with with emergency brake assist, hill descent control (HDC) and active rollover protection (ARP).

     Speaking on the announcement of Rexton launch in India, Dr Pawan Goenka, President, Automotive, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. & Chairman, SsangYong Motor said that Mahindra with the launch of XUV500 entered into premium SUV segment and the company would like to enter high end SUV segment with the launch of Rexton. 

     

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Maruti to launch new Alto 800 on 16th October

This festive season you will see lot of new launches form auto makers in Inida. The all new Maruti Alto 800 is one of them, which will be launched officially on 16th of October 2012. In our earlier post we had posted clear spy pictures of the Alto 800. Maruti in last April stopped the production of M800 and will soon phase out the existing Alto. The new Alto 800 will replace both 800 and Alto, which is likely to be priced competitively at Rs. 2 lakh to rival Tata Nano.

     The new Alto 800 will be powered by the same 800cc engine but the engine has been extensively modified to improve performance and return a high mileage of 22.7 Kmpl. Now the 3 cylinder 796cc petrol engine will have power of 47.5 bhp @ 6000 rpm and torque 69 Nm @ 3500 rpm. Maruti has brought in new technologies – DSA (Down Shift Assist) and DPT (Detent Pin Technology) to improve the performance of transmission.

     The new Alto 800 has better interiors. The all new dashboard with neat central console gives a premium look to the car. Outer styling has been very conservative with lot of styling being copied from other cars such as Ford Figo and Hyundai i20. A CNG option will also be available right from day of the launch. Maruti has got a habit of delivering cars which are going to be a sure success. In case of new Alto 800 it will be tough as the market is flooded with competition with Renault, Nissan & Mahindra also planning to launch a car in that segment. 

Maruti Alto 800 Specifications

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2013 Honda CR-V spied in India

          The next generation Honda CR-V 2013 has been spied in India with heavy camouflage. Autocarindia has posted pictures of 2012 Honda CR-V provided by Mr. Vinod Sharma. The CR-V in the picture looks huge and bulkier than the current model, especially from the rear.

      The next generation Honda CR-V made its debut at New Your Auto Show in 2011. As of every Hondas, the new CR-V design is dynamic with sharp edges and flowing lines on the body. In the front the headlamps and grill merge which looks like both overlap each other. The grill, bumper and air dams match to the car’s dynamic profile. In the rear, Honda has retained the tall tail lamps, now more curved to gel with the tail gate. From the side profile the vehicle looks stretched and one feels to imaging of a third row of seats. It is still not clear whether the 2013 Honda CR-V come with a third row of seats.

     With Honda working on the diesel engines, we might see a diesel Honda CR-V 2013 locking its head with the Fortuner, Santa Fe and Pajero Sport. Honda CR-V 2013 will be priced around Rs. 28 lakh in India. 

Picture Source: Autocarindia

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Tata Safari Storme launch on 17th October

     Finally Tata Motors has decided to launch then next generation Safari with a suffix ‘Storme’. Earlier this year at the Auto Expo 2012, Tata Motors had displayed the Safari Storme and couple of spy pictures taken during the TV shoot revealed that vehicle’s launch is around the corner. But Tata Motors has taken more time than expected to launch the much awaited Safari Storme.

     The Safari Storme has new front and rear ends. In the front the headlamps are upward sweeping wrap around type and the grill has been inspired from Land Rover. The spare wheel on the tail gate is removed and put under the vehicle like that in the Aria, for which Tata Motors had to work a bit on the Safari chassis. Apart from the exterior features, a host of interior changes reminds us of the Aria.

     Under the bonnet is the 2.2L ‘VERiCOR diesel engine with dual mass flywheel lifted from Aria which cuts the noise and vibrations. The power output though remains the same but the performance of the engine has been improved largely.

     The Safari Storme will be equipped with most of the latest features seen in the Aria. The Safari Storme will sell alongside the current Safari and will come in LX, EX and VX variants. The VX and ZX variants of the current Safari will be discontinued. The Safari Storme is likely to command a premium of over a lakh rupees than the current model.

     This is a desperate move from Tatas to push the Safari sales. Launched in 1998 along with the Indica, the Safari brand has bought laurels to the company and we feel its high time Tata Motors start thinking of making a truly next generation Safari.  

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More spy pictures of Maruti Alto 800 surfaces

     We in our earlier post had showed you spy pictures of soon to be launched Maruti Alto 800. Our friend Carblogindia has much more spy pictures of the Alto 800, exterior as well as interiors. From the pictures it is see than Maruti has given an all new dashboard for Alto 800. The fit and finish of the interiors seems to be good, better than the Nano.

Maruti Suzuki Alto 800 Specifications

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All new Maruti Alto 800 spied again, to come with SRS airbags and CNG variant

     The Maruti’s next generation Alto 800, which will replace the legendary 800 and Alto has been spied again, now without any camouflage. This means the launch is around the corner, probably by Diwali.

     What is more interesting is the SRS airbag in the new Alto 800. Maruti is planning to price the car under Rs. 2 lakh and with a car with airbag at such price will certainly cause flutter in the market. Of course the airbag fitted car will be price on the higher side as it is likely to come in the top end variant. Even then if the top end Maruti Alto 800 is priced at Rs. 3 lakh, it will be first car in its class to have airbags.

     The other interesting thing is the CNG variant of the car. You can clearly see CNG sticker in the picture above which means a CNG variant will be available right from the launch.

     The interior pictures of Alto 800 have been spied too which look better than the current car. Round A/C knobs and power windows incorporated in central console are the main highlights. You can also see space for newspaper holding the in the dashboard at passenger side. The A/C vents in the centre are designed nicely and the lateral ones are round in shape.

     The new Alto 800 might not win your heart from its looks. You can see many cars merged into one, that’s what you feel the designers of Maruti have done with this car. Though not pretty, the Alto 800 looks decent like its preceder and with its price will give tough time for Tata Nano.

Maruti Suzuki Alto 800 Specifications

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TVS to launch Phoenix 125cc motorcycle soon, appears in a video

     TVS Motors has been testing a 125cc commuter motorcycle to be launched in India soon. The bike is named a Phoenix 125 which is basically the street version of Radeon 125 concept shown earlier this year at Auto Expo 2012. This is the second motorcycle from TVS Motors in 125cc segment and caters to increasing demand of commuter motorcycles in India. We came across a video of Phoenix 125; probable could be a dealer video show from Thailand.

The new TVS Phoenix 125 comes with range of features such as:

* Clear lens headlamp with pilot lamps
* Digital instrumentation console that comes with a range of functions like distance covered, speed, trip meter and a fuel guage.
* LED tail lamp
* Dual spring rear suspension
* Petal disc brake
* Alloy Wheels
* Electric Start

     The motorcycle will be powered by the same Flame SR125 engine. The Flame’s 125cc, 4 stroke engine which operates through 3 valves produces peak power of 10.5 Bhp and peak torque of 10 Nm. The engine is mated to a four speed gearbox.

     With loads of features, TVS Phoenix 125 will give tough competition for Honda Shine and Bajaj Discover 125 ahead.

TVS Phoenix 125 Video

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Honda plans to introduce CNG variant of City by Diwali

     Honda City was once the segment benchmark car in C Segment. As we have told many times, a lack of diesel option from Honda has made the City the biggest casualty in its portfolio of cars. Honda is now planning to roll out a CNG variant of City to boost its sale. This seems to be a temporary answer by Honda to attract customers till it fits a brand new diesel motor in the City.

     According to sources Honda has been working on the CNG variant of City for some time. The suspension of the car has been strengthened as the CNG tank will be housed in the boot of the car. Also some minor changes to the engine has been done in line with the requirements of a CNG car. The instruement cluster will also show some changes to reflect the CNG requirements.

     The CNG City is likely to be introduced by Diwali. Expect the CNG variant of City to be costlier by Rs 50,000 compared to the petrol car. 

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Scoop: Mahindra mini Xylo to be named ‘Quanto’, launch soon

     The much hyped Mahindra’s mini Xylo will be named as ‘Quanto’, the name being in line with Mahindra vehicle’s ending with the letter ‘O’. We in our earlier post had showed spy pictures of the mini Xylo, naaa Mahindra Qunato doing testing rounds. We had also mentioned about a new 1.5L 3 cylinder mHawk diesel engine developed by Mahindra for Quanto.

     The Quanto uses the same Xylo’s latter on frame platform but the chassis has been shortened to make the overall length of the vehicle to come under 4 meters. Mahindra Quanto features short front and rear overhangs, redesigned tail lamps, spare wheel on the rear door and smaller wheels. Because of smaller wheels, the wheelbase would be reduced considerably and hence the Quanto will have a better ride than its bigger brother Xylo.

     The interiors including the dashboard will the same as that of Xylo and so do the suspension settings. Mahindra has removed one cylinder from 2.2L mHawk diesel engine and reduced the reaming 3 cylinder bores to develop a 1.5L diesel engine for this vehicle which still produces 100 Bhp of power. A seven seater version (the rear two seats facing each other like the ones in Bolero) is likely to come later on which might help fleet operators to push two more seats in their business.

Picture Source: Team-Bhp

Keep visiting Automobile Planet as we like to offer much more information about the Mahindra Quanto...

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Scoop: Renault Scala spied just before the launch

     Ever since Renault hinted about a sedan launch from its stable, we had lot of curiosity of how would a Renault sedan would look. But what we see now is just a rebadged Nissan Sunny which will be sold in the name of Renault Scala in India. Of course you can see little changes in the front and rear which make Scala look bit different than the Sunny.

     To remind, Renault had launched Pulse which is again a rebadged Micra. The Pulse is selling less than quarter of the Micra sales and its surprising to see what prompted Renault to launch a Nissan car again with its badge. Renault has already done in mistake in the form of Logon which has dented its image of a premium car maker and we doubt these strategies of cost cutting by means of badge and light cosmetic change will restore Renault’s brand identity.

     Coming back to Scala, the front end reminds you of the Pulse, the you Bulgarian Bulldog front grill looks prominent. We came across many articles where Pulse face has been appreciated compared to the Micra’s we feel the Nissan cars have a better looking front end. In the rear you find redesigned tail lamps which indeed look better than the Sunny. As seen in the picture, the alloy wheels have been carried from the Pulse and no changes in the interior except for the Renault logo on the steering wheel.

     The Scala is powered by a set of 1.5L petrol and diesel engines with 98 and 85 bhp respectively. Yes they are the same engines which power the Nissan sedan. Renault will price Scala bit higher than the Sunny, keeping in mind the brand hierarchy in the Renault-Nissan Alliance.

Final words from us – Renault has a long way to go in India!!!

Picture Source: Autocarindia

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Mercedes to drive in 2 new SUVs to India

     Mercedes was the first of the German trio to make it to India way back in 1996 but the other two – Audi and BMW have surpassed Mercedes Benz in Indian luxury vehicle market. Mercedes though has made good mark in luxury cars in India, it has no vehicles in the SUV segment like the Audi and BMW. Audi and BMW has seen good success with its SUVs X1,X3 and Q3,Q5 respectively.

     Here is a good news for Mercedes lovers. Mr. Dieter Zetsche, Head of Mercedes Benz cars in India has revealed that the company is planning to launch two brand new SUVs for Indian market. Of the two models, an all new GLA will share platform with A and B Class where as the second generation GLK will come in 2015.

     The Mercedes GLA will compete with Audi Q3 and BMW X1 and hopes to take the Mercedes brand to the next level. Since it is based on A and B Class platform which are essentially the Mercedes MFA (Mercedes Front wheel drive Architecture) efficient space utilisation can be seen. According to sources the styling of this small SUV seems to be as edgy as the A class and the cabin is reputed to be very spacious. Most of the features seen in the A Class will be carried over to the GLA as well.

     The Mercedes GLA could be powered by the same A and B Class engines and is likely to be priced Rs. 23 lakh for petrol and Rs. 30 lakh for diesel variant.

     The bigger SUV GLK will make it to India in 2015. The second generation GLK is already undergoing development at the company’s HQ at Stuttgart. For more updates, stay tuned to Automobile Planet.com

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Mahindra mini Xylo to get 1.5L 3 cylinder twin-turbo mEagle engine

     Mahindra mini Xylo to get 1.5L 3 cylinder twin-turbo mEagle engine

Mahindra has been extensively testing its mini Xylo for quiet a long time. The recent spy pictures posted by Motor Vikatan give the exact picture of how the vehicle will indeed look. From the side profile the mini Xylo could be confused for a Wagon R (the vehicle looks like a oversized Wagon R). The quarter glass in the rear runs through from C to D pillar giving an all glass rear two third look. The tail lamps have been moved higher in the d pillar.

     What is more exiting is that the mini Xylo will get a 1.5L 3 cylinder engine to come into small car excise concession category. Much more exiting news is that the 3 Cylinder mHawk engine will have a twin turbo which makes the engine to pump out power of 100hp@3,750rpm and a torque of 240Nm between 1,600-2,800rpm. Perhaps that is the reason why Mahindra is extensively testing the engine to get the tuning right. The small 3 Cylinder engine might as well find its place in Mahindra’s small cars which will be built on Logan platform. 

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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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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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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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Toyota to launch eight new compact models in emerging markets

     Japanese automotive giant Toyota Motor Corporation, seems to be bullish on the emerging markets like India, Brazil and China. It has plans to launch eight new compact models by the next 3 years and wants to account its 50% sales through these emerging markets.

     Toyota is currently the largest automobile manufacturer in the world. With strong competition from General Motors and Volkswagen, Toyota looks at emerging markets to create volumes to stay at the top.

     Toyota recently showed three compact car concepts at the 12^th Beijing Auto Show. The eight new models planned will be based on these concepts. The Toyota Dear Qin which is global strategic concept with its futuristic styling could change the Toyota’s design philosophy which till now was bland and boring. The production version of the models will look closer to the concept to stay in tune with the global design trends.

Having seen the success with its Etios series, Toyota is planning to ramp Etios production at its second plant at Bidadi from 1.2 lakh to 2.1 lakh units by early 2013. Expect Toyota to launch new cars in India on Dear Qin concepts very soon. 

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Yamaha to launch world’s cheapest motorcycle in India

     The performance oriented motorcycle company Yamaha will launch the world’s cheapest motorcycle in India. When launched, the unnamed motorcycle will cost Rs. 28,000 which is Rs. 8000 cheaper than the current cheapest model Hero Honda’s CD Dawn in India.

     Unlike its Japanese counter parts, Yamaha has not had the success which it anticipated in India. The launch of FZ series of bikes did sell in good numbers but the competiton from others such as Honda and Bajaj Auto checked the Yamaha sales. Now Yamaha has decided to enter the mass motorcycle segment by launching the cheapest motorcycle. Hope Yamaha does get some success here…

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