Chevrolet Beat LPG and Diesel to be launched by year end

     Chevrolet will launch the LPG variant and a Diesel powered Beat small car in Indian market by this year end. Chevrolet Beat LPG was spied during its test run near its factory at Talegon.


     General Motors has invested Rs 5000 crores for setting up its new engine plant which will be operational by November this year. The plant will have a capacity of 1,60,000 engines per year manufacturing both Petrol and Diesel power trains.


     The small diesel engine which will be fit into the Beat will be manufactured in the same plant. The engine will use 1.3L Multi Jet technology with one cylinder less. This makes the engine to be under 1.0L and hence lighter. It is expected to deliver power of 55 to 60 bhp which will be very good for a small car.

Spy pictures of Chevrolet Beat LPG

Maruti launches CNG variants of Alto, Eeco, Estilo, Wagon R and SX4

India’s largest car manufacturer Maruti Suzuki launched CNG variants of 5 cars – Alto, Eeco, Estilo, Wagon R and SX4 which can run both on Petrol and CNG. The price of CNG variants ranges from Rs 3.23 lakh to Rs 7.47 lakh ex showroom New Delhi.

Maruti is desperate to regain the supremacy in the Indian automotive industry which it has dominated for more than 15 years. With more number of small cars being launched by other manufacturers, Maruti’s share has been falling for a while. With the launch of these 5 new CNG variants Maruti looks forward to gain more margins in its profits. Also in the pipeline is A star Automatic which will be launched soon.

Prices of Maruti’s CNG vehicles (Ex-showroom, New Delhi)

Alto Lxi – Rs 3.23 lakh

Eeco 5-seater Ac – Rs 3.64 lakh

Estilo Lxi – Rs 4.05 lakh

Wagon R Lxi – Rs 4.11 lakh

SX4 Vxi – Rs 7.47 lakh

Press Release:
“The development is significant on multiple counts. This is the first instance when a car manufacturer has developed and launched factory-fitted, technologically superior CNG engines in India,”.“The company’s big ticket entry into the CNG fuel segment augurs well for the environment,” - Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) managing director and CEO Shinzo Nakanishi.

Mahindra Ssangyong deal confirmed

     Now Mahindra is the owner of the Ssangyong Motors of South Korea. Mahindra won the buy out bid for Ssangyong Motors defeating another India bidder PK Ruia Group and a South Korean company Young An Hat Co Ltd, the owner of Daewoo Bus.

VW Polo 1.6 caught in Chakan Plant

     Indianautosblog editor Mr Shrawan happen to click the picture of the Volkswagen Polo 1.6 at the Chakan plant waiting to run for the test track. VW had plans to launch Polo 1.6 somewhere at this time in India, but due to huge waiting peroid for the regular Polos the company has shelved the plan to launch it soon.

     Polo 1.6 with its powerful engine is expected to carve a niche for itself with young performance oriented people option for it. The current Polo with 1.2 L engine though is fuel efficient, lack the performance punch especially on the highways.

     Polo's 1.6 liter petrol engine develops 103.5 bhp of max power and 15.6 kgm of max torque. It is flat 3 seconds quicker than its 1.2 L sibling in 0-100 km mark and cruise to the top speed of 184 kmph.

     VW showrooms have already started booking the Polo 1.6 with a booking amount of Rs 50,000. But neither the showrooms nor the company have disclosed any information about the Polo 1.6 launch at its price.