Mahindra Reva to launch e2o on March 18

mahindra-e2oMahindra Reva, Part of Mahindra Group has announced that it will launch of the replacement of Reva electric car – Mahindra E2O on 18th March 2013 .   e20 was earlier showcased at the Auto Expo as the Reva NX-R.  e2o will be produced at Mahindra Reva’s recently inaugurated production facility at Bengaluru, which has a manufacturing capacity of 30,000 cars/ year.

The e2o will be manufactured at Mahindra’s new plant in Bangalore. This plant, according to the company, has a rated annual production capacity of 30,000 cars. The company said e20 will use next generation Lithium Ion batteries and “will have a range of 100 kms on a full charge, which is suitable for most urban commuters today”. The price of the car is yet to be announced, but we guess that the price will be in the range of Rs. 6 Lakh.

Honda CB150R Launch in India

honda-cb150r-streetfire-indiaHere is an exciting news for all Honda Motorcycles Fans. Since the unveiling of  CBR150R at the Jakarta Motor Show last year, fans in the country has been waiting for the Indian launch and the wait comes to an end now. Keeping its promise of launching new motorcycles every quarter, we heard that Honda is planning to launch the naked version of  CBR150R in the Indian market this Monday (11th March ).

CB150R is a naked version of the CBR150R and houses the same engine as used by the CBR150R – Four stroke, liquid-cooled, fuel injected 149cc engine with minor engine tweaks.  It comes with a six-speed gearbox. The bike can generate 16.8bhp at 10000rpm, with peak torque of 1.33kgm at 8000rpm.

150 CC market is already highly competitive segment in India, with Every manufacture has their best bikes in the segment, Honda’s new entry to the segment will add fuel to the fire and Interesting times ahead for the Bike Maniacs. .

Chevrolet Sail UVA Price Cut

chevrolet-sail-hatchbackAfter witnessing consistent sales drop, General Motors has slashed the price of its latest launch Sail U-VA by Rs. 25,000 . This  Swift competitor is now available for a starting price of Rs 4.19 lakh from its launch price Rs. 4.44 lakh.  Chevrolet U-VA  2012 models will attracts an additional discount of Rs. 25000 on its both Petrol & Diesel Variants.

Since its launch in November, 2012, the Sail U-VA’s sales have consistently been sliding, with the hatchback hitting a all time low of just 560 units this February from 1595 units sold in November- 2012.

Overall sales of General Motors India weren’t impressive in February 2013 as well. The car maker sold merely 7106 units as compared to 8901 units, which were sold in Feb 2012.

Hyundai launches i10 Special Edition –

HYUNDAI_i10_Spl edition_SmallHyundai Motor India Ltd. (HMIL), the country’s largest passenger car exporter and second largest car manufacturer today introduced the Special Edition – ‘i Tech’ i10 celebrating over 12 Lakh i10 customers worldwide. The i10 has been one of the successful flagship model from Hyundai’s portfolio since its launch in 2007.

The Special Edition i10 has host of first-in-the-segment innovative and high-tech features like Rear-View parking Camera and Electro-Chromic function on cabin rear view mirror and Steering-mounted Bluetooth device. On the exterior, the styling is complemented by sporty ‘i Tech’ body graphics. Inside the cabin, it has sporty interiors with dual tone red and beige upholstery seats with red dashboard and door armrest inserts. The special Edition i10 will be available in 1.1 ltr Era and 1.2 ltr Magna variants.

Commenting on the special edition ‘i Tech’ i10 Mr Rakesh Srivastava, Vice President, sales and marketing, HMIL said, “We are delighted to introduce the Special Edition ‘i Tech’ i10 to our valued customers. The Special Edition i10 has set of innovative and high-tech features along with the stylish enhancements. It is our continuous effort to gauge changing customer preferences and keep introducing new features in our products to give our customers enhanced value offering.”

The special edition i10 is available at all Hyundai showrooms across India. The Ex-showroom price in New Delhi as follows:

Price: (Ex showroom, New Delhi)

Model

Variant

Price
i10

1.1 Era

424,163
i10

1.2 Magna

457,265

 

Budget 2013: Impact on Automobiles – Cars & Motorbikes

Budget 2013 was presented by Indian Finance Minister Mr. P. Chidambaram earlier in the day. Overall the budget was more of a populist budget as expected due to the forthcoming elections. As for as the Automobile Industry is concerned, the budget has very few announcements and that too on the negative side.  Here is the highlights of Indian Budget 2013 and its impact on the Automobile Industry.

  • Excise Duty on SUV’s increased to 30% from the current 27%
  • SUVs registered as taxis are exempted from Excise duty hike
  • Custom duty on Fully imported Luxury Cars  increased from 75% to 100%
  • Customs duty on Fully imported Motorcycles increased to 60% to 75%
  • Subsidy benefit for Electric Cars Extended till 2014-1
  • Big Boost for Commercial Vehicle Manufacturers. Rs. 14,483 allocated for JNNURM to purchase around 10,000 buses
  • Excise duty on specified parts of Hybrid vehicles was reduced to 6%  from 10%
  • Excise duty on Lithium ion Battery packs for Electric / Hybrid vehicles was reduced to 6% from 10%

GM launches Chevrolet Sail saloon

GM has launched the sedan version of Chevrolet Sail at a starting price of Rs.4.99 lakhs (ex-showroom, Delhi) in seven different colours. The car features a pleasant look with a smart rear end and near-vertical tail section. The interior is spacious with a quite neat cabin. The Sail Saloon is available in both petrol and diesel variants.

The petrol variant features a 1.2-litre petrol engine delivering 79bhp power output while the diesel variant is powered by a 1.3-litre Fiat-sourced diesel motor mated to a F17 gearbox. The expected mileage for the petrol and the diesel engines are 18.2kmpl and 22.1kmpl respectively.

The base variant features power steering, front power windows, power mirrors, tilt steering, a digital tachometer, engine immobilizer and a 12V power outlet. The LS trim level in addition to all the above features gets full wheel covers, body coloured wing mirrors, fog lamps, leather-wrapped steering wheel, rear power windows, central locking, audio system with Bluetooth and USB, rear parcel shelf and a driver airbag.

The top-end LT trim comes with standard ABS and also adds features such as alloy wheels, leather gear knob, passenger airbag, speed sensitive autolock, rear wiper and washer and keyless entry with remote. ABS and EBD come standard on all trim levels.

The petrol variants are priced from Rs.4.99 – 6.41 lakhs (ex-showroom, Delhi) and the diesel variants are priced from Rs.6.29 – 7.51 lakhs.

Renault Scala AT launched

The automatic variant of Renault Scala with X-Tronic CVT has been lauched. Scala AT is available in two variants viz., RXL and RXZ. The RXL variant features a multi-function display, automatic climate control, power mirrors, 15-inch alloy wheels, ABS with EBD and chrome door handles. It is priced Rs.8.99 lakhs. The RXZ variant holds all the above mentioned features along with power folding mirrors, leather upholstery and a chrome grille. It is priced Rs.9.89 lakhs. The car is expected to give an impressive ARAI mileage of 17.97kmpl.

Bajaj launches Discover 100T

Bajaj has launched the latest upgraded version of its Discover 100cc bike christened the Discover 100T. T in its name stands for Tourer. The Discover 100T is powered by a 100cc engine which delivers a peak power of 10.2PS at 9000rpm and a peak torque of 9.2Nm at 6500rpm. Bajaj proudly says that the Discover 100T is the first 100c bike in the world to feature the 4-valve DTS-I technology and will offer an impressive mileage of 87kmpl. The bike features gas-filled Nitrox shock suspension. Its standard features include electric start, auto choke and DC headlamps. The Discover 100T will be available in four colours viz., flame red, brilliant blue, black red and black blue. It will be a tough competitor to its rivals Hero MotoCorp Splendor and Honda Dream Yuga. The Discover 100T is priced Rs.50,500 (ex-showroom Delhi).

Mahindra unveils 110cc Pantero & Centuro bikes

Mahindra 2 Wheelers has unveiled two new 110cc bikes christened the Pantero and Centuro. Pantero is powered by a 110cc MCi-5 (Micro Chip Ignited 5-Curve) engine which churns out 8.6PS of peak power at 7500rpm. The bike will offer an impressive ARAI mileage of 79.5kmpl. Pantero features LED pilot and tail lamps, fully digital instrument cluster with a digital tachometer and choke on the handle bar. The digital instrument cluster features a speedometer, fuel gauge, trip meter and clock.

Pantero will be available in four variants with four different colours viz., fiery red, sterling silver, blazing black and cool black. The four variants include T-1 (Self Start/Cast Alloy Wheels/ Digital Console), T-2 (Self Start/ Cast Alloy Wheels/ Analog Console), T-3 (Kick Start/ Cast Alloy Wheels/ Analog Console) and T-4 (Kick Start/ Spoke/ Analog Console). The bike is expected at a price tag of Rs.44,000 and 49,000.

Mahindra’s Centuro will be launched after the Pantero’s launch. It features a longer wheelbase than the Pantero. The Centuro is also powered by the same 110cc engine which powers the Pantero and gets many new premium features including central locking, anti-theft system with an engine immobiliser, remote 128-bit encrypted flip-key with LED lights, find me lights to locate the bike in crowded parking lots and guide lamps that continues to illuminate as one walks away from the bike after parking it. The bike also comes with LED tail and pilot lamps, white fully-lit digital instrument cluster with service and distance-to-empty fuel indicator. The price details of Centuro are not yet revealed.