Chevrolet Beat diesel launch in India by June 2011

     Chevrolet had revealed its plans of launching a diesel powered Beat in India. Now it has been confirmed that the diesel Beat will be launched in India by June 2011. But we could expect the diesel Beat launch any time before the speculated launch.

     Chevrolet recently launched LPG version of the Beat and is looking serious on the diesel variant to push sales. The petrol driven Beat could not make a big impact on the Indian market thanks to the series of new launches in the segment by other players.

     Goa on Wheels (a fellow blogger) could able to get spy pictures of diesel Beat being testing in Bangalore. To remind, General Motors has a designing and testing facility in Bangalore which was instrumental in developing the new 1.2L SMARTECH petrol engine which powers the current Beat.

     The white Beat in the picture has a TCDi badge which makes it confirm that the car is indeed run on diesel. Since we have spotted the car without camouflage it might be soon launched earlier than expected. The Beat diesel engine will be a 3 cylinder 1litre one promising a path breaking fuel efficiency.

Mahindra enters construction equipment market in India with launch of Earth Master backhoe loader

     India’s leading multi utility vehicle manufacturer Mahindra & Mahindra has entered the construction equipment market in India with the launch of Earth Master backhoe loader. The Earth Master backhoe loader is priced at Rs. 20.98 lakh (ex-showroom Maharashtra) and will be manufactured at the company’s state of the art facility at Chakan. The vehicle is ideal for all heavy duty applications such as excavation, loading, grading, dozing and cutting.

     The Earth Master backhoe loader is powered by a DITEC 3.3 litre engine with 83 Bhp of power. The vehicle promises to give unmatched fuel economy, superior style and great operator comfort.  The vehicle comes with a 2 years unlimited hours warranty and can be serviced at dedicated service outlets by the company.

Press Release:

Speaking at the launch of the Construction Equipment business, Pawan Goenka, President, Automotive & Farm Equipment Sectors, said, “The Mahindra EarthMaster is an outcome of 36 months of development and is loaded with technology not hitherto seen in this product segment in India. With EarthMaster, we are ushering in a new era of performance, comfort and ease of operation in backhoe loaders.”

“The Mahindra EarthMaster has undergone over 20,000 hours of rigorous testing in the harshest of terrains and for the toughest of applications. It has been validated on all performance, safety and reliability parameters. It is backed by Mahindra’s dealer network, which will have unparalleled reach across the country. India is the world’s largest backhoe loader market with over 25,000 units expected to be sold in this fiscal, and we hope to create a mark in this fast growing segment,” said Kairas Vakharia, Business Head, Construction Equipment, Mahindra & Mahindra.

Source: The Hindu via IndianCarsBikes

Top 10 cars sold in India in January 2011

1. Alto - 33118
2. i10 - 16,694
3. WagonR - 14186
4. Swift - 11353
5. Indica - 10591
6. Dzire - 9771
7. Figo - 8616
8. Bolero - 8463
9. Indigo + Manza - 8456
10. Omni - 8059

Hyundai i45 sedan (next gen Sonata) caught testing in India

     It looks Hyundai has series of launches for India this year. Some days ago next generation Hyundai Verna (RB) was spotted testing in Tamil Nadu. Now what we see from the picture is the new Sonata which is named i45 according to the new Hyundai nomenclature is being tested on the Indian soil.

     The i45 is the first car to be born out from Hyundai’s new 'fluidic sculpture' design philosophy. The car has been designed brilliantly with lot of floating creases and I am sure most of you will agree that it will put the latest Merc, BMW and Audis to shame. The grill also features a flowing water pattern which highlights the car’s design. The next generation Elantra and Verna looks like a scaled down model of the i45.

          There is very remote information regarding the power trains and trim levels of the car but it is for sure that Hyundai is serious to give stiff competition to Honda and Toyota in India.

Force Motors SUV launch postponed

     Force Motors, owned by Firodia's have postponed the launch of its maiden SUV in India. The SUV was supposed to be launched in March which has been postponed to May this year. The company wants to extend the testing of the SUV in order to ensure zero glitches before it is launched. It will compete with already established Mahindra Scorpio and Tata Safari. The SUV has been extensively being tested in and around Pune for more than 6 months.

     The SUV will be powered by a new 2.2 litre diesel engine manufactured with licensee with Daimler. The engine is being tweeked up to give more mileage by cutting down the power output. 

Tata Indigo Manza Elan launched

     Tata Motors have launched a minor facelifted Manza named 'Elan' with price ranging between Rs. 5.14-5.91 lakh (ex-showroom New Delhi). Tata Motors dealers across the country has started bookings of the Manza Elan.

     There is no change under the hood of the Manza Elan. The Elan is powered by the same 1.3 liter 88 Bhp Quadrajet diesel and 1.4 liter 88 Bhp Safire petrol eninge. The change can be seen in the interiors. Dashboard gets dual tone treatment and also new range of plastics have been used. Alloy wheels come as standard. Some chrome treatment to fog lamps, head lamps and bottom weather strip has been done. A new colour ‘Tyrian wine’ is the highlight of the Elan.  

     Tata Motors released a press release which says “With a new look of premium dual tone interiors and an exterior make-over, the new Tata Manza delivers a driving experience, which is a class apart in the sedan market.”

Maruti Suzuki SX4 diesel spy pictures before its launch

     Autocarindia reader Nishant Magavi from Hubli could snap some spy pictures of the Maruti SX4 diesel before its launch. The car was parked at a Maruti dealership in Hubli. The diesel SX4 will be launched today at New Delhi.

     The car seen in the picture above is the Demo car with a ZDi badge on it. Apart from the strickering the car cannot be differentiated from its petrol sibling. The SX4 diesel will be powered by the same 1.3L DDiS engine which has been tweaked up to give better performance and economy than its rivals.