PVC Flooring in Cars

PVC (Poly Vinyl Chloride) is a type of plastic. PVC matting can be seen on the floor and walls of buildings which can also be used in the floor of a car. Sheets of PVC are cut and glued and laid over the OE carpet of the car. The advantage of PVC flooring in cars is, the floor of the car can be cleaned easily with a wet cloth unlike the OE carpets. Rubber mats on the PVC flooring can be put to enhance the ambiance of the car.

How is PVC flooring done in cars?

PVC sheets are available in market and come in 3x4 ft size. Before staring both front and rear seats are removed by loosening the nuts/bolt. The carpet is cleaned neatly with the help of vacuum cleaner. 4 PVC sheets are necessary for the 4 foot wells of the car. Each PVC sheets are laid on the carpet in the foot well and cut according to the elevations and glued together. The sides of the PVC sheets are then tucked inside the sidewall beading/plastics. The procedure takes 1 to 2 hours depending upon the skill of the person who does the job. The work needs high skill of craftsmanship and an experienced person can do a good job to your car. PVC sheets are available in 4 colours - Ribbed Black, Grey, Beige And Transparent.

Advantages:

1)       The OE carpet does not get expose to dust, hence gets protection.

PVC sheets are water resistant and any spillage of water can be wiped with a cloth.

2)       The floor of the car can be wiped and cleaned with a wet cloth – helpful in rainy seasons.

3)       Cheap and would cost Rs. 1500/-

Disadvantages:

1)       Unskilled craftsmanship can ruin the job otherwise neatly done by an experienced person. Also the glue might spill on the carpet and could get damaged if you want to remove the PVC flooring.

2)       Have to remove the seats which are a cumbersome work.

3)       Though PVC matting helps maintain cleanliness of the car, it spoils the ambiance of the car.

4)       There could be fungal growth beneath the PVC sheets which may damage the carpet and may cause corrosion of metal floor of the car. 

5)       The smell of the PVC sheets is not acceptable to all. 

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Toyota introduces Limited Edition Corolla Altis

Off late Toyota has been launching limited edition of its vehicles in India. The latest limited edition from Toyota is Corolla Altis limited edition. To remind our readers, Toyota earlier launched a limited edition Corolla Altis named Aero. Last month Toyota launched Aero edition of its MPV Innova. 

As most of the manufacturers launch limited edition of top end models, Toyota this time has done other way round. The limited edition of Corolla Altis is available in base Petrol and Diesel variants. The Corolla Altis limited edition gets following additional features -

New distinctive grill
Reprofiled rear combination lamps
Mildly modified rear bumper
Limited Edition badge
5.8 inch touchscreen audio system with Bluetooth connectivity
New four spoke steering wheel
Key less entry

All this features adds essence to the otherwise bare base petrol and diesel variants of Toyota Corolla Altis. The limited edition Corolla Altis marks 10 years anniversary of Corolla in India.

Distinctive Grill

Dashboard – Touchscreen and 4 spoke steering wheel

The new limited edition Toyota Corolla Altis is priced at Rs. 11.45 lakh for base petrol and Rs. 12.84 lakh for base diesel variant respectively (all prices ex-showroom, Mumbai).

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Nissan giving discounts and offers on Micra and Sunny this October

Nissan is giving attractive offers and promotional schemes on Micra and Sunny this October to boost sales. The offers and discounts come in line with other manufactures who are trying to woe customers this festive season.

Promotional schems on Micra and Sunny -

1) Refund of the car amount for lucky dip winners.

2) A contest is organised where winner of will get 500 gms of gold worth Rs.     16.5 lakh.

3) Exchange bonus of Rs. 10,000

4) Low EMI

5) Extended warranty on all purchases

6) Assured gifts ranging from 2g gold to accessories

*All the above mentioned offers are available only during festive season. Nissan has not defined ‘festive season’, so we believe it to be Diwali period.

Press Release-

Mr. Nitish Tipnis, Director – Sales & Marketing, Hover Automotive India - “Nissan believes in Innovation and Excitement for everyone and this season, we are providing much more benefits than just the car. The attraction of winning gold worth more than Rs 16.5 lakhs as well as getting ones car free surely makes this offer difficult to resist. To make the product purchase convenient for our customers, we are also offering 100% finance and various low EMI options.”

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Ford Ecosport, the next big launch in Indian Automotive Market

Indian car market is slowly shifting towards mini SUVs and no wonder; every player wants to have a mini SUV in their portfolio. Renault and Mahindra by launching Duster and Quanto has started the mini SUV revolution in India. The next big launch in Indian automotive market will be the Ford Ecosport mini SUV which will be launched early next year.

Ford has started testing the Ecosport in India and spy pictures of test mules were taken near Chennai where Ford has a manufacturing plant. We came across some clear spy pictures of Ecosport through our friend MotorBash, and what is interesting is Ecosport will have an automatic variant as well. The Ecosport automatic variant will be the first vehicle in its class to have an automatic transmission which helps to easily manuover the vehicle in tight traffic. The interiors look very similar to the All new Fiesta, so Ford will share the parts and keep the Ecosport competitive.

The Ecosport will come in both Petrol and Diesel engines. Ford’s revolutionary 1.0L Ecoboost petrol engine will maket its India debut with Ecosport. Though being just 1.0L, the Ecoboost petrol engine produces 125 Bhp of power and 200 Nm of torque, thats why Ford calls it ‘Revolutionary Engine Technology’. The diesel engine will be carried from All new Fiesta which is a 1.5L common rail engine with 90 Ps of power.

 Regarding pricing of Ecoboost, Ford has already announced it will price Ecoboost less than the Duster. Being less than 4 meters in length, the Ecoboost enjoys 12% tax as compared to 24% for other vehicles. Sharing of parts will futher help Ford to keep the price competitive and having seen the success of Figo (which has been priced very competitively) Ford will price Ecosport at around Rs. 7 lakh for base petrol variant and Rs. 7 to 8 lakh for base diesel one.

We here at Automobile Planet are eagerly waiting to see the Ecosport on the roads soon and we guess many would be having same thoughts as we do...

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Maruti releases pictures of Alto800, launch on Oct 17th

Maruti Suzuki has released clear pictures of soon to be launched small car Alto800. The car will be launched on 17th of October and will replace the highly successful Maruti 800 and Alto. Maruti last week released a teaser website which received over 1 lakh hits in just 7 days.

As seen from the picture, the car is extremely different from the Maruti 800 and Alto. Maruti has tried to give the new Alto800 fresh looks by incorporating (can read copy) designs of successful car from other makers in recent times. The front resembles that of the Figo and the side and rear you can have the tinge of i20 in it.

We have been telling from our earlier post that Maruti could have done a better job. A good design is what the car needed as it backed everything from Maruti right from technology to service back up. Maruti is banking big on the Alto800 and wants to repeat the success story of 800 and Alto. But we feel, the automotive industry has changed and in spite of selling in good numbers, Maruti might not live up to its expectations with Alto800. Well.... let’s wait and watch.

The new Maruti Alto800 will be available in two fuel options – Petrol and CNG and will come in 7 colour shades. The car will be priced around Rs. 2 lakh (ex-showroom).

Our archive on Maruti Alto 800

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Tata Indica Vista with 90 Hp Quadrajet engine and Manza dashboard spied

It is a known that Tata Motors tries various permutations and combination on its vehicles. Here is a good example of Indica Vista spied which has 90 Hp engine and a dashboard of Manza sedan. Earlier last year, Tata Motors changed the Vista front with that of the Manza claiming the vehicle to be in ‘Sedan Class’. Now the company has gone one step further with fitting a 90 Hp Quadrajet engine in the Inidca Vista. The surprising factor is the change is the dashboard.

Currently Tata offers Vista in 4 engine options – 1.2L 65PS Safire petrol, 1.2L 90PS Safire Petrol, 1.4L TDI Diesel and 1.3L 75PS Quadrajet Diesel.

As seen from the picture the vehicle spied was ZX (top end) variant marked with ‘ZX90’ at the rear. You can also see ABS sticker below the ZX monogram. On the left front fender ‘Quadrajet 90’ monogram can be seen which makes us believe that the car is powered by a 90 Hp Quadrajet engine.

 A change in the dashboard can be made out. The dashboard looks like to be borrowed from Manza and Tata Motors want to give its customers a super hatch in the form of ZX variant. A CR4 engined Vista was spied few days back and with a 75 Ps Manza ‘Club Class’ coming soon, Tata will have battery of launches in coming months. 

Source: Motorbash

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Mercedes Benz to launch cars under Rs. 20 lakh in India

Mercedes Benz is the first of the three German luxury car companies to come to India. Mercedes Benz entered India in 1996 and transformed the luxury car segment which was still in infancy. Then followed BMW and Audi but the irony is, Mercedes Benz has been pushed to 3rd spot, thanks to the new launches from BMW and Audi, mainly of their small SUVs.

In order to regain the lost ground, Mercedes recently launched B Class which is just over Rs. 20 lakh and now is planning to launch cars costing less than Rs. 20 lakh. Mercedes A Class is the smallest car in the Mercedes stable and hence is the vehicle which will be launched under Rs. 20 lakh in India.

Mercedes plans to invest Rs. 250 Cr. in India as its strategic investment till 2014. The company intends to have 40% of its vehicles to be under Rs. 25 lakh, which means, the A and B Class will be the focus model for the Mercedes in the near future.

Mercedes also plans to develop mini SUVs on the A and B Class platform to avail versatility to its customers. If priced well in India, the A Class might be a new segment maker and turn the fortune of Mercedes Benz.

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