Fiat Punto Evo launched in India at Rs. 4.55 lakh

          Fiat has launched the updated Punto Evo in India with a starting price of Rs. 4.55 lakh Ex-showroom, New Delhi. Fiat Punto Evo is available in 3 petrol options – Active, Dynamic & 1.4L Emotion where as the diesel gets 4 options in the form of Active, Dynamic, Emotion and Sport 90 HP.

          Fiat Punto Evo has both exterior and interior changes compared to the old Punto. In the exterior you get new grill, bumper, headlamps and bonnet in the front and LED taillamps and new bumper in the rear. In the interior, the dashboard has been borrowed from the new Linea and top of the line diesel variant gets a rear AC vent as well.

          Fiat Punto Evo is powered by 1.2L, 1.4L petrol and 1.3L diesel engine with 2 power outputs. The 1.2L petrol has power of 68 PS and 95 Nm of torque and 1.4L petrol has 90 Ps and 115 Nm of torque. The 1.3L Multijet produces two power outputs – 76 Ps with 197 Nm of torque and 93 Ps with 209 Nm of torque. All the engines are mated to a 5 speed manual transmission.

Fiat Punto Evor Prices (Ex-showroom, New Delhi)

Fiat Punto Evo Active Petrol - Rs. 4.55 lakhs

Fiat Punto Evo Dynamic Petrol - Rs. 5.12 lakhs

Fiat Punto Evo 1.4-liter Emotion Petrol - Rs. 6.65 lakhs

Fiat Punto Evo Active Diesel - Rs. 5.27 lakhs

Fiat Punto Evo Dynamic Diesel - Rs. 6.21 lakhs

Fiat Punto Evo Emotion Diesel - Rs. 6.83 lakhs

Fiat Punto Evo Sport 90 HP Diesel - Rs. 7.2 lakhs

Fiat Punto Evo available colours:

Glirati Gold

Hip Hop Black

Tuscan Wine

Minimal Grey

New Pearl White

Exotica Red

Magnesio Grey

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Theft Prone Cars and Insurance Premiums

Which cars are most stolen do you think? You will probably be very surprised with the answers provided based on statistical data. You probably think that if you were to steal a car it would be something worth stealing. You would most likely go for your favorite make and model. However, an auto thief wouldn’t really think like you in many ways.

First of all, they wouldn’t want to be keeping the car for long to care about its interior, exterior and how they would look cool in it. Most stolen vehicles are chopped up within a few hours of being taken that it is immaterial how they look. It is a business for them and they would look at the easiest ways of making money. If they wanted hard work they would get a job.

Every year around one million automobiles are stolen in the United States of America, according to National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB). The total cost of these vehicles is around six billion dollars. According to FBI’s Uniform Crime Report a car is stolen every thirty second. Some of these autos have high security features and they still cannot stop thieves. 

How Do Auto Thefts Affect Your Car Insurance Rates?

This figure doesn’t include the costs of chasing after criminals, catching, putting them through trials and keeping them locked up. Also, it doesn’t include the costs to every motorist with a car insurance policy due to increased cost of insuring automobiles. Vehicle insurers have to recover the costs of claims somehow.

“Someone has got to pay for the losses suffered by the auto insurance industry and it is usually the policyholders” says CheapAutoInsurance.net. Companies usually find a way to pass the losses to their policyholders. If your car is one of those makes and models that are favored by thieves your auto insurance rates are going to go up a little bit more. And you wouldn’t be penalized as much when you have a car with high security features like immobilizer, alarm and tracking device.

Which Are the Most Stolen Cars and Why?

Every year NICB reports their findings and these are the most stolen vehicles in 2012 with the number of reported thefts nationwide in the U.S;

1. Honda Accord: 58,596
2. Honda Civic: 47,037
3. Ford Pickup (full-size): 26,770
4. Chevrolet Pickup (full-size): 23,745
5. Toyota Camry: 16,251
6. Dodge Caravan: 11,799
7. Dodge Pickup (full-size): 11,755
8. Acura Integra: 9,555
9. Nissan Altima: 9,169
10. Nissan Maxima: 6,947

I am sure you were expecting different cars in the list like Lamborghini, Porsche or BMW. You have to remember that the list is based on number of cars stolen and not buy their value. Furthermore, there are so much more Hondas on the roads than Ferraris. Another reason why Honda continuously tops this list is because certain models are easy to break in. And their parts are valuable and easy to sell due to number of Honda automobiles in circulation and need repairs.

What Is Your Best Defense Against Auto Theft?
Sure, it helps to have the latest security features installed in your vehicle. This definitely deters the thieves. When they have cars that are much easier targets they would go for them. They don’t want to get caught after all. That is why you would get auto insurance discounts when you have good security and park your car in the garage overnight.


Common sense is still the best defense in many aspects. Thousands of motorists leave their car keys on the ignition and some leave the vehicle running. If you are not paying attention thieves will take advantage of it and go for your automobile. You should always take basic precautions like locking your doors and parking your car in a visible location instead of a dark corner. 

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Renault to launch Duster 4x4 in India by September 2014

          Renault is all geared up to launch an all wheel drive Duster SUV in India by September this year. The 4x4 Renault Duster will be available in only top end diesel variant unlike in international markets where both petrol and diesel variants are available under the name of Dacia.

          Renault Duster4x4 will be powered by 1.5L K9K 110 Bhp diesel engine coupled to a six speed manual transmission which powers all the four wheels. Three modes – 2WD high, 4WD low and 4WD high will be on offer.

          The new Duster 4x4 is likely to get all the equipments as on the top RXZ diesel variant which includes a touchscreen infotainment system, steering-mounted controls, 2-DIN stereo system, rear air-con vents, keyless entry, rear parking sensors, ABS with EBD, emergency brake assist and dual SRS front airbags.

          Duster 4x4 will be priced at a premium of Rs. 80,000 to Rs. 1,00,000 and will compete with Tata Safari and Mahindra XUV500 in Indian market. 

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Hyundai Elite i20 launch on August 11th

        Hyundai will launch its next generation i20 on 11^th August 2014. Hyundai has named the new cars as Elite i20 and we still don’t now weather the current i20 will be discontinued. Most  probable the current i20 will be sold against the new Elite i20 as Hyundai did for i10 and Grand i10.

        The new Hyundai Elite i20 is designed at Hyundai’s European design centre in Germany. The European styling of the car is clearly evident with boxy outlook which was unlikely the design language of previous generation cars from Hyundai. Hyundai has not dumped its Fluidic Sculpture design language as we can see some sculpturic design on the Elite i20 as well. So can we call it Fluidic Sculpture design version 2.0!!!

        Hyundai has also come up with a teaser video on its website for Elite i20. There are also couple of design sketches available on its website. Booking for the car has already been started. 

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Honda becomes 3rd largest car manufacturer in India

        Honda Cars India Ltd. has overtaken Mahindra to becoming 3^rd largest car manufacturer for the month of July 2014. Last year Mahindra had overthorned Tata Motors to gain the second spot and how Honda has done the same thing what Mahindra did to Tata Motors. With this Tata Motors is in the 5^th place with Maruti Suzuki leading followed by Hyundai.

        Now the top 3 car manufacturers in India are Multinationals reflecting Indian customer sentiments towards foreign manufactures, purely because of the technological brilliance.

        Honda with its new launches (All new City and Mobilio) is surely a strong competitor to Hyundai. Honda also has plans to launch a small car below Brio and an SUV based on Brio platform in couple of years. With those models coming, the current equation might change and who knows Honda might be the numero uno in 3-4 years in India!

Source: TOI

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Next Generation Toyota Innova or is it just a major facelift?

        In our earlier post we had posted about the next generation Toyota Innova being tested on Bangalore roads amid heavy camouflage. Carefully observing the spy pictures one might get doubt whether it is indeed the old Innova with heavy facelift in the front, rear and rear side profile. We too felt that the vehicle seen from the spy pictures is the same old Innova with heavy cosmetic changes. Note the similar dimension of the vehicle.

        If our guess is true, then we think Toyota is not aggressive in growing Indian market. Normally Toyota vehicle life cycle is 8 years and it’s the 9^th year running for the Innova in India since its launch in 2005. If they are not planning to bring an all new replacement vehicle now, then when will they do? Probably the labour unrest at the Toyota factory in the outskirts of Bangalore might have changed the plans of Toyota for India, at least it might have affected the near future plans of the company.

        When the Qualis was stopped, Toyota received huge request for restarting the vehicle but the company ruled out to bring Qualis back saying it had completed its product life cycle. Since then Toyota has been seen as a renowned car manufacturer and customers thought of buying a Toyota with closed eyes. But Etios spoiled the party. Probably the company got carried away or country advisers mislead the parent company at Japan. Having burnt the finger once, it’s hard to understand why Toyota is still playing a safe game by giving a makeover to an old vehicle.

        Having said all these we wish our guess does not come true. Let’s wish to see an all new next generation Toyota Innova to carry on with the legacy of its predecessor.  

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Honda Mobilio Price in India

Honda Mobilio Petrol/Diesel Price in Bangalore

Honda Mobilio E Petrol Price in Bangalore : ₹ 6,83,000

Honda Mobilio S Petrol Price in Bangalore : ₹ 7,85,000

Honda Mobilio V Petrol Price in Bangalore : ₹ 9,06,000

Honda Mobilio V(O) Petrol Price in Bangalore : ₹ 9,75,194

Honda Mobilio E Diesel Price in Bangalore :  ₹ 8,25,400

Honda Mobilio S Diesel Price in Bangalore : ₹ 8,99,900

Honda Mobilio V Diesel Price in Bangalore :  ₹ 10,18,000

Honda Mobilio V(O) Diesel Price in Bangalore : ₹ 10,87,194

Honda Mobilio RS Diesel Price in Bangalore :  ₹ 11,31,500

Honda Mobilio RS(O) Diesel Price in Bangalore : ₹ 12,00,694

Honda Mobilio Petrol/Diesel Price in New Delhi

Honda Mobilio E Petrol Price in New Delhi : ₹ 6,49,000

Honda Mobilio S Petrol Price in New Delhi : ₹ 7,50,900

Honda Mobilio V Petrol Price in New Delhi : ₹ 8,76,900

Honda Mobilio V(O) Petrol Price in New Delhi : ₹ 9,45,866

Honda Mobilio E Diesel Price in New Delhi :  ₹ 7,89,000

Honda Mobilio S Diesel Price in New Delhi : ₹ 8,60,000

Honda Mobilio V Diesel Price in New Delhi :  ₹ 9,76,000

Honda Mobilio V(O) Diesel Price in New Delhi : ₹ 10,44,966

Honda Mobilio RS Diesel Price in New Delhi : ₹ 10,86,000

Honda Mobilio RS(O) Diesel Price in New Delhi : ₹ 11,54,966

*All prices Ex-showroom as of 30-10-2014. Prices may change.

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