Fiat to split its Truck & Car business

     Italian automobile gaint will split its Truck & Tractor business with Car making operations. The split will be officially effective from 1^st January 2011. The two split firms will be Fiat SPA, which will focus on the automotive sector and Fiat Industrial SPA, which will have truck, commercial vehicles, agricultural and construction equipment, and related powertrain divisions under its portfolio.The two firms also gets new logos designed by Robilant Associati

Ford India planning for a second plant, in talks with Gujarat Govt.

     Ford India is scouting for a second plant in India. The company is in talks with Gujarat Govt. and deal is likely to be finalized soon. Ford has planned to launch 8 new models in India in coming years. With just one plant Ford will not be able to cater to the customer demands and hence has decided to open a second plant. Now Why Gujarat? Well who better than Narendra Modi can assure of all the facilities you need for the project. Tata Nano plant in Gujarat was the brain child of Modi who assured Mr Ratan Tata of all the sops he needed.

Toyota Etios Liva is the hatchback Etios

     Toyota has named its small car as Etios Liva. The sedan version of the car will b called as Etios. Toyota will officially announce the name on the 1st of December when both the hatchback and sedan will be launched.

     The Etios Liva will be powered by a 1.2L petrol engine which produces 80 Bhp. With the Kreb weight of 890 Kg, Liva promises to deliver good performance along with fuel economy. A 1.4L diesel option will be launched after 6 months. The 1.4L diesel engine will be the same one used in the Corolla Altis but this engine is unlikely to get Variable Geometry Turbo (VGT). Instead a fixed geometry turbo with power of 70 Bhp finds its place which makes the engine litter cheaper.

     All eyes are on Toyota and it is indeed a big event for the company. Since Toyota has built a bullet proof reputation in India, it has to work hard to keep it up by delivering a better product in the form of Etios. 

Jaguar XF Diesel launched in India

     Tata Motors owned British premium car maker Jaguar has launched diesel version of its luxury sedan XF in India priced at Rs 48.37 lakh (ex-showroom New Delhi).

     XF Diesel is powered by a 3.0 liter V6 diesel engine and will be sold in the country as a completely built unit (CBU). Jaguar had earlier launched XF with a 5.0 liter petrol engine and so far has sold over 200 vehicles along with its sister company Land Rover.

Press Release:

"The new Diesel XF introduced in India has been customised by Jaguar engineers in the UK for the Indian market. This symbolises the importance of and Jaguar's commitment to the fast growing Indian premium luxury car market," Tata Motors Head (Premier Car Division) Rohit Suri.

"We are in the process of establishing our network, so we are not disclosing any target at this point of time... We hope to do very well," Suri said.

All new Hyundai Tucson / iX35 found on Indian roads

     Thanks  to goel.honey of teambhp.com who happen to take these pictures of the all new Hyundai Tucson / iX35 being driven on the Kolkatta roads. We guess its an imported vehicle being taken to the Bhutan (Number Plates - BTN)

Nissan Micra Diesel priced at Rs 5.60 lakh

Nissan Micra Diesel will be launched in India on December 10, 2010. The car    is priced at Rs 5.60 lakh for the XV (Base) variant and Rs 6.20 lakh for XV Premium variant (Prices ex-showroom New Delhi).

Nissan Micra Diesel will be powered by a 1.5 liter dCI engine currently powering the Logan. The engine pumps out 63 bhp of max power and 16.3 Kgm of max torque. The company claims a fuel efficiency figue of 23.08 Kmpl. 0-100 Kmph is done in 14.37 seconds.

XV variant comes with 165/70 R14 tyres where as the top end XV Premium will get larger 15 inch wheels and wider tyres (175/60 R15). Over all height of the car is 5mm less than the petrol sibling. XV variant weighs 992 Kg while XV Premium is little heavier at 1008 Kg.

The Diesel Micra gets body coloured rear spoiler, leather wrapped steering wheel and gear knob as standard fitment. It lacks features such as security alarm system, front passenger airbag, ABS, EBD and Brake Assist.

The car will be manufactured at Nissan’s Oragadam plant near Chennai. Booking of the diesel Micra has been started with an initial booking amount of Rs 50,000 through all 20 Nissan dealerships across India.

Nissan Micra Diesel features

Honda Brio production version rendering

     We came across a rendering picture of the production version of the Honda small car Brio. The picture gives us a clear image of how the car would look. We feel it is definately better than the concept show at the Auto Expo 2010 in New Delhi.

     Brio will make its international debut in the Bankok very soon, followed which it will be launched in India. Brio design clearly reflects the Honda design philosopy of futuristc cars like its other cars Civc, City and Jazz.

     Positioning the Brio is the toughest task for the Honda in already crowded Indian market. But one this is for sure, since it is a Honda we can expect a world class product in Brio and is likely to create a unique niche for itself. Stay tuned for more updates.....