Honda City has been the market leader in the segment in India for a long time. With the things going on, the City’s supremacy is challenged by the Volkswagen Vento which sold just 120 cars less than the City. Volkswagen launched Vento to rival the City and with very less time Vento could able to match City’s sales – thanks to the superior image and built quality of the Volkswagens. The diesel engine option in the Vento is a big plus point for Volkswagen. The Vento’s diesel engine has been applauded by many for its performance and fuel efficiency.
With a diesel option Honda City’s future looks to be bleek. With the cars like Maruti SX4 diesel and new Hyundai Verna diesel entering the market, things are going to be worse for Honda. Having said this, Honda City will just not diminish away. It has a class of its own and surely has its own set customers who buy car for its name.
Audi has launched R8 Spyder super car in India. The R8 Spyder adds to the Audi’s supercar line up which includes R8 V8 and R8 V10 hardtop. The R8 Spyder is priced at Rs. 1.47 crore.
The R8 Spyder resembles with the R8 coupe but without roof. Same engine – 5.2 litre Lamborghii sourced one V10 will power the Spyder. The engine produces power of 518 Bhp and torque of 54.1 Kgm.
The top which is made up of fabric weighs 30 Kg and operates in 19 seconds at speeds up to 50 Kmph.
According to the company sources, the next generation C Class sedans will come with hybrid technology in order to achieve fuel average of that of the compact cars.
The next generation C Class which is due in 2013 is being developed accordingly with the fuel efficiency targets. Prototypes of the car are already being tested.
Apart from hybrid technology, Mercedes could as well use deactivation technology in which the motors occasionally shuts of one or two cylinders depending up on the power requirement. This would enhance the fuel efficiency of the car and so do reduced wear and tear of the engine, gearbox and wheel bearings.
Thought of lowering the weight of the car is also being considered. There will be about 10% reduction in the weight of the hybrid car even with the battery pack, electric motor and power electronics on.
TI Cycles, a division of Tube Investments of India has launched country’s first carbon frame cycle in India. The carbon frame cycle “Montra” has been indigenously designed and made in India. The Montra series cycles will be positioned as life style products and targets adults in metros who wish to stay healthy and fit.
The company aims to sell over 1500 Montra cycles in 2011-12. The Montra cycles will be available in three variants – Montra Techno (complete carbon bicycles), Montra Jazz (ally frame with carbon fork and straight handle bar) and Montra Country (alloy frame with carbon fork and dropped handle bar). The Montra cycles has been put to rigorous road tests for over 2000 Km.
The Montra range of cycles will be priced between Rs. 21,000 to Rs. 60,000. Vibration-absorption features apart from light weight and alloy wheels are the special features of the cycles. The cycles will be available at the retail outlets of TI cycles and also at multi-brand outlets across the country.
People in the Automotive world know very well that Mahindra is testing the mini Xylo for a while. Lot of spy pictures surfaced on the net with heavy camouflage. Here are some of the pictures which are clear and shows how the mini Xylo would really look.
The international auto manufacturers association (OICA) have published a World car production data and report of the year 2010 in which India is the 7th largest automobile manufacturer with 35,36,783 vehicles produced last year. Out of the 35 lakh odd vehicles 28,14,584 are cars and the rest (722,199) are commercial vehicles. India recorded a whooping 33.9% increase in vehicles production in 2010. The top 6 countries above India are China, Japan, USA, Germany, South Korea and Brazil.
Rivalry seems to be there right from the birth for German automobile manufacturers. BMW developed a small SUV X1 and with in no time launched it in India with a competitive tag. Audi does not want to fall back and we guess Audi will certainly launch it Q3 SUV in India as soon as it is launched internationally at the Shanghai Auto Show next month.
Autocar has been able to click some of the spy pictures of the Audi Q3 while testing. Lot of spy pictures of Q3 have already surfaced on the net but by looking at these pictures we get to know how exactly the Q3 would look. The Q3 will definitely take some design cues from its big brothers Q5 and Q7 and is based on the Volkswagen Tiguan. Audi might offer three petrol engines - a 1.4 liter 140 Bhp, a 1.8 liter 180 Bhp and a 2.0 liter 210 Bhp. Two diesel engines with 140 Bhp and 170 Bhp is also in the pipeline.
Audi Q3 could be priced between Rs. 22-30 lakh in India. With the technological innovation and brand value Audi might not just compete with the BMW X1 but might pull the buyers of SUVs such as Chevrolet Captiva, Honda CR-V and Toyota Fortuner.
