Toyota sells 1 lakh unit of Etios and Etios Liva in India

     Toyota Kirloskar Motor Ltd has annunched that it has sold 1 lakh units of Etios and Etios Liva cars in Inida. Etios series – sedan and Liva hatchback are cars aimed at mass volume market in India and Toyota feels it has achieved an important milestone.

     Toyota Etios sedan was launched in December 2010 and the Liva hatchback was launched in June 2011. Etios sedan sold 50,157 units in financial year 2011-12 to become the third largest selling car in its segment. 

     The Etios sedan and Liva hatchback were launched in petrol variants initially. After 6 months of launch, diesel variants came into the market which actually boosted the sales. The increasing petrol prices prompted customers to go for a diesel car and the long waiting period of Swift made Etios the obvious choice. The renowned Toyota quality and refined engine has played positive for the company in its first mass market venture. 

Sandeep Singh, Deputy Managing Director, Marketing, TKM added -

“We are delighted to touch the One Lakh mark. The number reflects how the Etios family has grown and how Etios and Etios Liva has become a household brand in India. Customers have owned and appreciated the vehicles and we are constantly incorporating their feedback to be able to serve them better. This is a small yet very important milestone in this large project that will place TKM on a higher pedestal in the global operations of Toyota.” Source: Wheelsunplugged

Chevrolet offers limited period offers on Spark and Beat

     General Motors India has announced a limited period offer which enables customers to win a gift up to Rs. 2 Crore by booking a Chevrolet Spark or Beat between 25 and 27 of May 2012. A customer could also get the booked car for free. The offer is valid from 9:00 AM to 9:00 PM on 25-27 May 2012 and is available on all models and variants of Spark and Beat. The assured gifts on the bookings include LCD Televisions, Camcorders, Home Theaters, DVD Players and many more.

Honda Brio diesel spied testing in India

     Feeling the heat of petrol price hike in India, Honda had announced that it is developing a diesel engine for its cars in India. There was also a report about Honda has already developed a 1.6L diesel for Civic which will be launched in India in the next generation avatar next year.

     The good news now is that, Honda’s baby Brio has been spied testing with diesel engine in India. Honda had hinted that Brio diesel will come to India by 2014, but as we see the Brio diesel being tested, the launch could be much earlier than expected.

     Honda known for its performance machine had a weakness in diesel engine technology. The new diesel from Honda means a new diesel technology from Honda and lot of speculation has been raised about the quality of the engines, as Honda is developing them for the first time. But from Honda’s history, there has been no vehicle or technology which has bitter dust and the diesel one will certainly match the qualities of its siblings. Infact Honda has invested heavily on the diesel technology to develop a clean and efficient diesel engine.

     Having said this, we get a feeling that finally a Maruti Suzuki Swift challenger is coming. The Swift has been an invincible car in its segments and much hyped entry of Etios, Polo and Micra could not even shake the Swift’s dominance. In fact Swift has been growing it popularity day by day, Swift is selling at 20,000 a month. The only factor which Honda has to work on the diesel Brio is the price. Honda has to price diesel Brio competitively, that is a price difference of Rs. 75,000 to Rs. 1,00,000 between the Brio and Swift diesels is what can make a strong competition going. What are your opinions?

Picture source: team-bhp

Next generation Maruti 800/Alto spied testing

     Maruti Suzuki recently stopped the production of the iconic ‘800’ car and announced the new model will come by this year end. Oncars.in has provided us some spy pictures of the new 800/Alto from all the three angles. Earlier Autocarindia had also posted a spy picture of the new car tough taken from far. Here are the pictures, thanks to Oncars.in 

Honda thinks about launching a MPV in India

     The name Honda in India has a distinct attention, and why not, all of its vehicles are wonderful to drive. Till now Honda was missed in small car segment but by the launch of Brio, Honda has set an all new bench mark. The other segment where Honda has not stepped in is the MPV segment in India. It is understandable because the MPV segment here is filled with diesel vehicle and Honda lacks a diesel in its history.

     Honda has quickly reacted to the Indian market requirements. Honda plans to launch a MPV in India by the end of 2014 to compete against Maruti Ertiga. The only vehicle from Honda to rival Eritga is the Freed MPV which is current sold in South East Asia. So basically the Freed MPV in its next generation avatar could be coming to India.

     The Freed MPV is based on the Jazz platform. Honda is developing a next generation Jazz (to be launched in 2013) and alongside the new Freed is also in the works. Recently Honda unveiled Concept S MPV at the Beijing Auto Show, but by its size, it seems to be a replacement to the Odyssey rather than the Freed. Like the Jazz, new Freed will have plenty of space inside - as per the Honda’s philosophy of “Man Maximum Machine Minimum”.

     Honda has already developed a 1.6L diesel engine (i-dtec) to power the Civic sedan and the new Freed will certainly get one under its hood. As people are eager to see the new Honda MPV in India so do we are at Automobile Planet. Stay tuned for more updates…

Chevrolet Cruze facelift India launch in June

     Chevrolet is all set to launch the facelifted Cruze next month in India. The facelift includes changes in the exterior, interior and the engine block called the Z series.

     In the front there will be new head lamps, fog lamps and air dams. In the rear the tail lamps have been redesigned. The alloy wheels will be sportier in the new Cruze. However there will be minor change in the interiors. The dashboard and instrument cluster colour will be changed to give a sporty look. A new audio system with a feature called ‘MYLINK’ is expected with will help to connect the smart phones.

     Due to the use of the new Z series engine block, the engine capacity has been increased by 7 cc and the engine is Euro 5 complaint. This means there will be better fuel combustion and hence more mileage. The engine with new block produces 163 Bhp of power and 350 Nm of torque. Expect this engine to overcome the turbo lag present in current engine.

     The new cosmetic changes and change in the engine block will definitely make the new Cruze costilier. Expect the price hike between Rs. 30,000 to Rs. 50,000.

Fiat launches 90 HP Punto Sport in India

     Fiat has launched a powerful 90 HP Punto with a suffix ‘Sport’ added to it. The Punto Sport, as the name suggest is aimed at performance oriented customers who love fun driving. Fiat has termed the Punto Sport as a Limited Edition, which means the variant will be on sale for a short period of time.


     The Punto Sport features a host of premium features such as chrome accented interiors, red stitching on seats, leather gear knob & gear cover, stylish body decals, sporty aluminum pedals, colour coded ORVMs, chrome exhaust tip and Punto branded door sill.

     The Punto Sport delivers 93 Ps of power with fuel efficiency of 20.5 Kmpl. The car is priced at Rs. 7,36,154/- ex-showroom New Delhi and is available in 3 colours – white, red and black. It also comes with host of other features such as dual stage airbags, ABS with EBD, automatic climate control, Blue & Me technology, integrated CD/MP3 player with USB, alloy wheels with wide tyres and chrome exterior door handles