Maruti Swift compact sedan will not come to Auto Expo 2012, launch in Feb

     Maruti Suzuki will not display its Swift compact sedan at the coming Auto Expo 2012. The Swift compact sedan is built on the new Swift platform and comes under 4 meter length mark; to be precise the Swift compact sedan is 3.99 meter in length.

     We in our earlier post had showed you a spy picture of the Swift compact sedan being testing in Maruti factory at Gurgaon. Maruti has developed the compact sedan keeping in mind the tax sops available to small cars under 4 meter length mark.

     Maruti will launch the Swift compact sedan in the 2^nd week of February and the car will be sold along with the old Swift Dzire. The Swift compact sedan will be priced Rs. 50,000 less than the Swift Dzire and the aim is to tap the compact sedan/notchback segment which is currently dominated by Tata Motors.

     The Swift compact sedan will see competition from Mahindra in the form of Verito compact sedan and Tata Motors which is planning to launch a Manza compact sedan very soon. As the compact sedan/notchback segment is growing, don’t be surprised to see other manufacturers like Volkswagen, Honda, Toyota and Skoda to come up with compact sedan variant of its popular C segment sedans.

Bajaj Ultra Low Cost vehicle named RE60

     Bajaj Auto has been in the news since the Nano launch as a competitor to the world's cheapest car. Bajaj had earlier showed a prototype of its small car ahead of Nano launch, and the prototype was indeed promising. As the time went on Bajaj Auto shelved the plans of a small car and started working a Ultra Low Cost vehicle in association with Renault.


     Now what we have news is, Bajaj Auto has developed a Ultra Low Cost vehicle, which it terms as a low cost 4 wheeler and not a car. The company has developed the low cost 4 wheeler platform on which it will first built a commercial vehicle and subsequtly a passenger vehicle, not essentially a car.

    BS Motoring has published an image of a small car claiming it to be Bajaj Auto ultra low cost 4 wheeler. As seen in the picture, the 4 wheeler is compact with 4 doors. Infact the vechile looks like a passenger variant of Mahindra Gio. Since Bajaj will unviel the prototype low cost 4 wheeler on the 3rd of Jan 2012, the wait seams to be almost over.


     As said earlier, Bajaj Auto has focussed on the fuel effeciency of the 4 wheeler which could be anywhere near 30 Kmpl. We guess Bajaj would have developed the Pulsar engine with 2 cylinders of 250cc capacity. Having worked all these 3 years, it would have been a great product if Bajaj Auto had developed a decent looking car to compete against Tata Nano!
 

Maruti Suzuki Ertiga all set to be launched at Auto Expo 2012

     The suspense of Maruti’s MUV codenamed R3 is over. Maruti’s MUV will be called Ertiga and clear images of the Ertiga have been out in the net. Maruti has been showing glimpse of Ertiga on its website related to Auto Expo 2012. Maruti will launch Ertiga with 1.4L petrol and 1.3 L DDis diesel engine. The petrol engine has been specially developed for the Ertiga and promises to gives better performance compared to its 1.2L siblings.

     As seen from the pictures, Maruti (Suzuki) have done a wonderful job in conceptualization  of the MPV and bring it to the reality. Thought the Ertiga is different from the R3 concept shown at the Auto Expo 2010, the overall silhouette of the vehicle remains the same. The Ertiga production model is more practical with conventional Swift/Ritz looks.

     The Ertiga being an MPV and competing against the market leader Innova, it does not look too long. It features proportionate dimensions and can still seat 7 persons. As speculated earlier, the Ertiga will not come under 4 meter length mark and hence will not have tax sops as that of a small car.

     Built on the extended Ritz platform, Ertiga is designed to give class leading performance at affordable cost. The tall stance and intelligent seating arrangement accommodates 7 persons comfortably. Expected to be priced between Rs. 7-9 lakh, Ertiga is getting ready to give nightmares to Toyota Innova. In fact, the Ertiga is the first serious contender to compete against dominant Toyota MPV since its launch in 2005

New Tata Safari facelift to be named Safari Storm

     Tata Motors has been testing the facelift Safari for quiet some time and rumors of its name Merlin has been in the net since the spy mules were spotted. Now it is official that the new Safari will be named as Safari Storm which will be launched at the Auto Expo 2012. This is the major facelift to Safari since its launch way back in 1998.

     Some spy pictures of the Safari Storm has also surfaced during its ad shoot out. From the spy pictures (see below) the facelift is very much evident, with new set of headlamps, new bumpers and new grill. The new grill gives a premium feel to Safari which now looks more like a Land Rover. The other change you can see in the new Safari is absence of the spare wheel on the rear door. Tata Motors has worked on the body in the rear to accommodate the spare wheel.

     With the SUV segment hotting up with some new launches from Mahindra and Force Motors, it will be nice to see how the Safari Storm performs. Tata Motors will carefully price the Safari Storm and do not want to make the pricing mistake it did for the Aria. Recent Tata Motors was offering huge discounts of over Rs. 1 lakh on an Aria variant.

     The new Safari Storm will come with the same 2.2 L DICOR engine and we feel Tatas have worked on the engine to rectify the power woes (Safari’s main drawback was its engine which lacked power).

Tata Pixel at Auto Expo 2012

     Tata Motors will showcase its advanced micro car Pixel at the coming Auto Expo 2012. The Pixel, designed for the European markets is based on Nano and incorporates lots of advanced features. The Pixel is over 3 meters in length and accommodates 4 persons comfortably. Tata claims Pixel to be  most advanced compact car in the world.

     A 1.2 liter 3 cylinder diesel engine powers the Pixel and the engine position is same as that of the Nano, in the rear. The Pixel features start stop technology and low resistant tyres. The design of the Pixel gives a very low coefficient of drag which gives maximum fuel efficiency to the car.

     The Pixel features the Zero Turn System which enables the car to deal with tight parking spaces. An Infinitely Variable Transmission (IVT) results to rotation of the outer rear wheel forwards and the inner rear wheel backwards during aforementioned maneuvering. This gives the car an incredible turing circle of radius of just 3.6 meters. The Pixel’s vertical lifting doors is the main highlight of the car.

     As we told earlier, the Pixel is developed for European model and will not come to India soon. Expect the car to come to India by 2012.

Renault launches upgraded Fluence diesel in India

     Renault has launched an upgraded variant (E4) of Fluence diesel in India. The E4 trim which was available only in petrol version is now available in diesel which now becomes Rs. 1.5 lakh dearer than the base E2 variant. The E4 variant is priced at Rs. 15.12 lakh (ex-showroom, Mumbai). Bookings for the diesel E4 variant have already started.

     The E4 diesel variant gets Chrome Finish on Window Sill and Trunk Lid, Automatic Healdlamp, Rain sensing wiper (2 Speed + Intermittent Variable), Rear Parking Sensors and Side Chest Level Airbags on the Front Seats. 

     There are some changes in the interiors as well. The E4 variant now gets Plush Leather Upholstery with beige interior which adds to the premium look of the vehicle. There is Dual Zone Auto Climate Control with rear AC vents to keep the cabin temperature at one’s need. The car also get Cruise Control and Speed Limiter, Rear sunblinds and electrically operated outside rear view mirrors which fold with tough of a button. The inner rear view mirror gets ElectroChrome treatment. 

Chevrolet/ Wuling Sunshine van spied, could be launched at Auto Expo 2012

     Chevrolet’s Chinese minivan Sunshine has been spied again on Indian roads and as the Auto Expo 2012 is getting nearer, we can expect its launch very soon. Chevrolet has brought Wuling vehicles to India and has been testing them for quite a sometime.

     Apart from Sunshine, Chevrolet is also testing a minivan of the Maruti Eeco size in India. We in our earlier post (few months back) had showed you the spy pictures of this Maruti Eeco sized minivan. Seeing the sizes of these two Chinese vehicles we can asses that Chevrolet wants to tap Maruti Eeco and Mahindra Xylo/Tata Sumo segment.

     If Chevrolet can bring in good diesel engines for these vans, the can turn the fortunes of Chevrolet in India. But having said this no one can expect a vehicle’s success than the cautious Indian customer!