Tata Vista goes to Spain, Aria and Xenon to follow

     Amid financial crisis in Europe, Tata Motors has launched the Vista hatchback in Spain. The Vista replaces the Indica which was launched in 2008. Indica could not be sold further because of the emission norms. Tata Vista is priced at €7,960 (around 5.51 lakhs) in spain. Nijuler Automoción has been assigned to distribute the Vista in Spain.

     Surprisingly Tata Motors has launched the old Vista and not the facelifted one which has the Manza’s front look. Along with the Vista, Aria and Xenon will also be launched in Spain. With the launch of Vista, Tata Motors intends make its strong presence in the Europe.

Peugeot 301 revealed, to come to India

     French car maker Peugeot has revealed its new compact sedan 301 for emerging markets. With the 301, Peugeot announces new revised naming strategy for the brand’s model line-up. The first digit will represent the vehicle’s segment or size, small numbers for small cars and large numbers for large cars. The naming of the cars will not change regardless of the market in which they are sold.

     Thought Peugeot has not officially announced 301’s entry into India, it is clear that Peugeot 301 has been designed for emerging markets which include India. Peugeot says the 301 has been designed keeping in mind the extreme climatic conditions and bad roads.

     Peugeot has been testing its vehicles in India for quiet a long time. The company has plans to invest Rs. 4000 Crores in India to set up a plant in Gujarat. We in our earlier post has posted spy pictures of Peugeot 207 and 508 cars testing on Indian roads.

     Peugeot 301 will be available in both petrol and diesel versions with varing power outputs between 71 Bhp to 115 Bhp. Two petrol engines (1.2L & 1.6L) and one diesel (1.6L) mated to manual or automatic transmission will be on offer. Peugeot’s diesel motor, like Renault’s 1.5L is a renowned engine will class leading performance and fuel efficiency. 

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…