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

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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).

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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.

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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. 

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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!

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Next generation Nissan Pathfinder spied

     The legendary Nissan Pathfinder is the SUV anyone will like to do off-roading with. The current generation model built on Nissan’s F-Alpha platform will undergo transformation to a new platform FF-L (Front-engine, Front-Wheel-Drive, Large) in 2013. Spy photographers of Worldcarfans has caught some spy pictures of then next generation Pathfinder testing in US.

     The FF-L platform underpins the Murano and Quest and by the spy pictures we can assume the new Pathfinder will have the same sleek styling of the Murano. Before speculating anything let’s wait till next month where Nissan will preview the new Pathfinder at Detroit Motor Show.

Current Nissan Pathfiner	2013 Nissan Pathfinder
2013 Nissan Pathfinder	2013 Nissan Pathfinder

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Honda City facelift launched in India

     Honda today launched the City facelift in India. Honda had earlier launched the City facelift in Thailand few months ago. We somehow did not like the new City's changes. We will highlight you why we were not impressed with the changes in the new City.

     The front bumper now doesn’t look as sporty as the earlier one and the grill with wide air inlet openings doesn’t suit the City’s overall sleek body design. The front headlamps have made bigger now, boy the sleek small headlamps suited the best for the arrow shot design. In the rear also the bumper design doesn’t look attractive; the crease continuing from the tail lamp to the bumpers doesn’t gel well.  What we liked is the tail lamps with LED lights and the turn indicators on the ORVM. Oh we have not motioned about the roof opening, yes it is a good move by the Honda to provide one but it will be available in only selected models.

     Having said these things, we feel beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder. Anyone might feel the new City to be attractive, but we have mentioned about our feeling about the ‘Iconic City’ (Known for its superb design).

These are changes you can seen in the new Honda City facelift - New chrome grille, Restyled front & rear bumper, New tail lights, 10 spoke alloys, Improved ground clearance, now stands at 165 mm, Honda City facelift interior additions, New fabric seats, Center control panel, Chrome fittings, Blue meter, Sunroof, Cruise control, Turn indicators on ORVM, Introduction of Corporate edition for value customers, Two new colors – Carnelian pearl red and Sparkling brown metallic.

Honda City facelift price (All prices ex-showroom New Delhi)

Honda City Corporate Edition – 6.99 lakh

Honda City E – Rs. 7,70,000/-

Honda City S – Rs. 8,20,000/-

Honda City V MT (Manual Transmission) – Rs. 8,70,000/-

Honda City V AT (Automatic Transmission) – Rs. 9,42,000/-

Honda City V MT with sunroof and leather seats – Rs. 9,50,500/-

Honda City V AT with sunroof and leather seats – Rs. 10,22,800/-

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