Hyundai not to stop Santro after EON launch

     We had in our earlier post showed you the real pictures of Hyundai’s new small car EON. The EON will be launched in mid-october and will be priced around Rs. 2.5 lakh, mainly to compete against the market leader Maruti Alto.


     Having said this, there was a speculation that Hyundai will replace the Santro after the EON launch. Santro is marginally priced higher compared to Maruti Alto and since EON pricing would be less than the Alto, there was no sense in keeping the old Santro. But the company thinks otherwise. It plans to sell EON alongside the Santro. Will there be any takers for Santro? We feel there are buyers who even today like the 13 year old Santro just because of its practicality and space. Santro has been a successful small family car in India, which the Hyundai do not want to lose.

     EON, Santro and i10 with price differences of Rs. 50,000, it sounds good on the paper, but do people buy Santro when EON will be launched. It’s a different question to answer. Is Hyundai planning a different think for the Santro? As of now there is no speculation. Watch this space for more updates.

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Nissan Sunny officially launched in India

     Nissan has launched its midsized sedan - the all new sedan Sunny in India with price starting from Rs 5.78 lakh (ex-showroom New Delhi). The all new Sunny made its international debut at Gungzhou, China in December last year. The Sunny in India is available in 3 variants – the base XE, the mid level XL and the top end XV.

     Currently the Sunny will be available only in petrol variant which is powered by a 1.5L engine. Nissan is expected to launch the diesel Sunny at the Auto Expo 2012 with a 1.5L diesel engine. The Sunny comes with loads of features which are not available in other cars in the segment.

Features of Nissan Sunny XE (Base):

• Body-coloured bumpers
• An on-board drive computer
• Manually adjustable anti-dazzling mirror
• Headlight-on and key-inserted warning lamp
• ABS EBD and brake assistance
• Driver airbag and door ajar warning

Features of Nissan Sunny XL (Mid level): All features of the XE along with

• Body coloured electronically adjustable outside rear-view mirrors
• Chrome plated outside door handles and radiator grille
• Rear defroster
• An integrated audio system with four speakers and aux
• Steering mounted audio controls
• Rear a/c vents
• Auto-down feature on driver-side power window
• Remote keyless entry
• Front passenger airbag
• Anti-theft alarm and speed-sensing automatic door locks

Features of Nissan Sunny XV (Top end): All features of the XL along with

• Alloy wheels
• Electronically folding rear-view mirrors

Price of Nissan Sunny variants (All prices ex-showroom, New Delhi)

Nissan Sunny XE - Rs. 5.78 lakh

Nissan Sunny XL - Rs 6.88 lakh

Nissan Sunny XV - Rs. 7.68 lakh

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Honda City facelift Brochure from Thailand

     We had showed you some spy pictures of Honda City facelift being tested in India. Our friend Indianautosblog has posted the scanned images of facelifted Honda City Brochure which was sent from Thailand.

     As seen from the spy pictures here in India and the pictures form the Brochure, the facelifted Honda City will resemble 100% with the later. Since the spy picture from India shows front grill in black colour, we guess Honda is planning to launch a stripped down version in India. Will it be priced at Rs. 6.5 lakh (ex-showroom)?

     The Honda City facelift gets an all new bumper, a front grill which might get chrome treatment and clear lens headlamps which give freshness to the car. The ORVM will now be incorporated with indicators which add to the premium feel of the car. The rear bumper has also been redesigned and so do the tail lamps which now get LED treatment. Overall we feel the City which was superbly deigned just got better.  

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Land Rover Defender Concept (DC100) video

     Last week Land Rover unveiled the Defender Concept (DC100 & DC100 

Sport) at the Frankfurt Motor Show. The concept will make its first production appearance in 2015.

     Take a look at the video to find out the new technology features which goes into the Next Generation Defender concept.

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Renault’s small car for India is not Modus

     In our earlier post we had showed you the spy picture of Renault Modus being tested in Chennai. Our friend Indianautosblog has confirmed that it is not the Modus which will be launched in India as a Renault’s small car.

     After the appearance of the spy pictures of Modus being tested on Indian roads, Indianautosblog did a background search of the vehicle which mismatched the Renault’s V platform hatchback. Hence they called up a Renault official who confirmed that Modus was testing in India as part of the “validation testing in eight countries for the next generation Modus.” So does Renault launch the next generation Modus in India at a later date? No idea.

Renault does validation tests in different countries for unknown parameters. Renault cars are tested in various conditions to check the cars response to intense dust, heat, moisture and other natural elements.

     So what could be Renault’s small car for India will be? As Renault has mentioned the small car will be built on it ‘V’ platform we guess it will be an all new product designed right from the scratch just for India. Manufacturers like Toyota and Honda are creating country specific products (Etios and Brio) and we guess even Renault might also have similar plans. Why not, after all Renault with its Clio has sold maximum number of small cars in Europe. Does it planning to do it in India? We feel Renault definitely has a chance, provided they work on the price strategies. 

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Guess the Mahindra XUV500 Price contest

     Mahindra with its pre launch marketing plans has launched a Guess the Price contest of its soon to be launched XUV500. Visit the link http://mahindraxuv500.com/default.aspx to participate in the contest. In the contest you are required to answer 4 simple questions and share it among your friends. All correct answers with good share will get a brand new Mahindra XUV500. Other prices in the offering are tickets to the F1 grand prix. 

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Scoop: Hyundai EON clear images

     India’s leading automobile magazine Autocarindia has posted in its website the clear images of the soon to be launched Hyundai’s small car EON. Autocarindia itself had posted a rendered picture of Hyundai EON few days back.

     The EON in the picture looks very similar to the renderings mentioned earlier. No doubt the EON is designed on Hyundai’s Fluidic Sculpture design philosophy with lots of creases and scoops all over the car. The front end looks familiar with other Hyundai’s but the EON looks bolder with wider and prominent bumper. The new grill with chrome bar adds to the EONs dynamism. Watch out the nicely scooped out fog lamp slots. The headlamps have so many curvatures just like the new generation Elantra.

     From the side you can notice the prominent shoulder line which extends right from the headlamps to the rear tail lamps in a wave pattern. The front and rear wheel arches look bulky which makes the tyres looks tiny. The side glass profile and rear door has been designed beautifully but we feel lot of design curves will hinder all round visibility to the driver. The C pillar incorporated with tail lamps look fantastic from the cars side profile.

     The rear is not as attractive as expected after seeing the car from the front and side angle. The rear glass is crescent shaped with huge tail lamps by the side of it. The tail lamps have many sharp edges to gel with the crescent shaped rear glass.


     Overall we can say, Hyundai has good prospectus with the EON as it will be targeted against Maruti Alto and EON definitely looks prettier than the Alto. But honestly speaking Hyundai has overdesigned the EON with its Fluidic theme. The EON could have been much simpler with minimal use of Fluidic design philosophy as the design theme looks good on bigger cars compared to the small ones.


     EON meaning ‘for a long time’ will be replacing the 13 year old Santro and Hyundai aims EON to go on for a long time in India just like the Santro did. The same Santro’s 3 cylinder petrol engine will power EON. EON will get lots of features which were not present in Santro, but of course in a top end variant.

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