Hyundai new Verna and verna automatic

As Hyundai gears up for the new verna, we tell you all about the new verna. The facelifted new verna will have a new face and refreshed interiors. Also new is the automatic gearbox for the diesel verna. Yes, for the first time, the segment will have a diesel automatic.

New verna exteriors:

* A new radiator grille with a chrome strip on the top of it to give a refreshed face to the verna

* new waistline moulding with a chrome insert  to enhance the side profile of the verna

* A newly designed full wheel cover and a chrome rear garnish in the new verna to accentuate its elegnace

* With the launch of new verna, Hyundai has also added new body colours to the verna

* Electrically adjustable outside rear view mirrors (ORVM)

New verna interiors:

* As typical of any facelifted version, new verna will also a get a new seat fabric

* A 2-DIN integrated CD player to satisfy your music sense in the new verna

New verna automatic:

Thoug the engine remains the same, a new 4-speed automatic gearbox is equipped in the new verna. The new verna automatic and top end verna SX CRDi VGT manual variant  gets loads of exciting features.

* New verna automatic will run on fatter 185/65 R14 tyres

* Leather wrapped steering wheel and leather wrapped TGS knob in the new verna automatic

* Height adjustable front seat belt anchor

* alloy wheels,luggage net and ABS

* new verna also gets premium audio system with 4 speakers and 2 tweeters

Toyota to launch LandCruiser Prado diesel and Fortuner in India

Soon you would see a new Toyota in India. Toyota has started firing on all cylinders to conquer the Indian market. We already heard about Indian specific small car and a yaris type sedan.

LandCruiser diesel

Adding to the small cars, Toyota plans to bring behemoth SUV’s such as Fortuner and diesel variant of LandCruiser to India. These are true SUV’s, they are big and comes with a diesel engine.  Toyota already sells LandCruiser prado with a petrol engine in India.  Similar to petrol variant, Landcruiser prado diesel variant will be imported as a CBU. “The Land Cruiser is under study and the recent changes to the regulations governing the import of vehicles give us an opportunity to bring the model to India,” Sandeep Singh, deputy MD (marketing) of Toyota’s Indian JV Toyota Kirloskar Motors  said. “We are hopeful that a diesel engine will give us more volumes and help get a higher market share,” Singh added. Landcruiser diesel will compete against the likes of BMW X5 and Volkswagen Touareg. LandCruiser diesel is expected to be priced upwards of Rs42 lakhs.

Fortuner

Fortuner the most expected monster form Toyota India staple will finally hit the roads in 2009. Fortuner built on the  same IMV platform as our Innova will help the Toyota to utilise it full capactiy in its Bangalore plant. The 1.8 tonne Fortuner will come with a 3.0-litre D-4D diesel again from the same family as the Innova. Fortuner produces 163 bhp and 250Nm of max torque.  A five-speed manual gearbox and an optional four-wheel-drive will complete the powertrain setup.The good news is Toyota plans to assemble Fortuner in India from the first car itself. Hence it will attract lesser import duty and it is expected to be priced between Rs18 to Rs20 lakhs.

Pictures of new Toyota Fortuner

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TVS plans nitrogen filling at petrol bunks

Filling nitrogen in the tyre stands for a long time when compared to the air filled tyres.As nitrogen is inert, non-combustible, non-corrosive and less destructive in terms of oxidation of rubber, the pressure inside the tubes are maintained for the long time.Obviously the tyre that is well inflated lives longer.  TVS  is in talks with oil marketing companies to install nitrogen inflators at fuel retail outlets for starters in Tamil Nadu.  The Head (operations) of the division of TVS & Sons, Mr R. Seshadri, said that as a pilot project the company has installed nitrogen inflator for cars and two-wheelers in one of the fuel outlets in the city. It will study the viability of the project for the stake holders such as oil marketing companies, fuel retailers and customers. Based on the study the company would work out modalities to expand its operations. The inflating machines will be imported. Nitrogen also helps in improving the fuel efficiency, as the tyre stays fully inflated. Today there are a few nitrogen filling stations in the city. They charge about Rs 40 for a car tyre and Rs 25 for a two-wheeler tyre, to fully deflate the air and fill in nitrogen. For top ups, they charge Rs 10 a tyre. Once the demand picks up these charges will fall.

Honda to launch VFR1000 in India by 2010

Honda which already made its mark in the mass segment with its impressive model line-up – stunner,shine,activa,aviator and unicorn, has set its eyes on Indian superbikes market. While Honda has already announced it would bring two international models to India as CBU in 2009. We informed about the possiblity of launching CBR1000 and VFR800 following the lines of Yamaha and Suzuki. Now, Honda is vying soon to be launched all new VFR1000 for India. VFR1000 is powered by a five cylinder unit three cylinder facing the front and two towards the rear similar to Honda’s RC211V MotoGP machine. 2009 VFR1000 will also boast Honda’s new combined ABS system which will make the VFR1000 one of the safest bikes ever made. All new VF1000 will replace two models VFR800 Interceptor and CBR1100XX Super Blackbird internationally.

Rendered pictures of Honda’s VF1000

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Mahindra and Mahindra says no to Hummer and Volvo

A great fall in the world’s economy has hit every industry eventually. Among them automobile makers face a major hassle which yet can’t be resolved. As a part of it, world’s automobile tycoons General Motors and Ford Motor has decided to sell it’s most respected brand Hummer and Volvo inorder to boost their sales.

While few media reports claimed, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd will takeover the Hummer and Volvo for better enhancement. Reacting to this matter Mahindra & Mahindra Vice Chairman Anand Mahindra told that, We are not interested in buying either General Motors Corp’s Hummer brand or Ford Motor Co’s Swedish car brand Volvo and We don’t want to acquire other problems,” To add more about these companies, Volvo was a great company with a great brand, but added it was not “affordable and digestible.” On Hummer, he stated that the brand had unfortunately come to stand for criticism of sports utility vehicles.

The Vice Chairman further added that “We’re against gas guzzling and non-environmentaly friendly. We want to position our vehicles as guilt-free SUVs,” From next month all Mahindra’s utility vehicles would have microhybrid technology as a default option, making them 5 percent to 7 percent more fuel efficient.

Anand Mahindra once again stated that “The slowdown in the Indian car industry in the last six to 12 months had been self-inflicted, rather than due to the global slowdown, because of higher interest rates that dampened consumer spending. But for the last three months Indian car market is slowly recovering from the fall”

But one thing Mahindra & Mahindra had make clear is, that they never want to take over any non profit source, they are ready to focus on their own inventions for a bright market.

Toyota to manufacture Camry in India

Finally, Toyota seems to getting attracted to Indian car market. First came the small car then fortuner now Toyota plans to manufacture Camry in India. Toyota camry which is now imported as a CBU attracts an import duty of 110% pushing the price upwards of Rs21lakh much higher than its competitors such as Honda accord.  To escape the huge import duty on imported cars, Toyota plans to assemeble camry in India itselft. This would bring down price tag of Camry by as much as 20-25% or Rs 4-5 lakh, if the company passes on the entire benefit to the consumer.  Camry sells at a price starting from Rs 21 lakh and competes with the likes of Skoda Superb in the premium segment. If  Toyota  manufactures camry in India, it would pull away buyers of Honda Accord, Hyundai Sonata and Skoda Laura in the much larger executive segment, where more than 25,000 cars are sold every year.

Bajaj to launch XCD sprint

Don’t curse me! Most of you have  expressed disappointment on XCD 135cc after a year long wait  for the XCD sprint.  But those can breathe easy now! Few days after launching the XCD 135cc, Bajaj has again said the XCD sprint will come soon. Hope the following the come true soon.

“The Yamaha FZ16 and the Honda Stunner are products that we should have watched out for. We will shortly launch the Sprint that will compete against the 125cc Stunner. We have to arrest the headway made by competition in these segments. It’s just a matter of time. We have the products to plug the gaps,” S Sridhar, CEO (two-wheelers), Bajaj Auto said on December 25th (four days after the XCD 135cc launch)

Toyota launches new Innova

You read it first at vicky.in

As you read, Mr. Hiroshi Nakagawa, Managing Director, Toyota Kirloskar Motor unveils new Innova in Delhi. The new innova is the Toyota’s answer to the recently launched Mahindra Xylo. The new Innova comes with cosmetic changes both inside and outside. Toyota has added a refreshed bumper, clear lens headlamps, new front skirt,new fog lamps and a new grille in the new Innova. Eye catching new alloy wheels and chrome treatment for taillamps are other notable features in the new Innova.

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Inside too, Toyota has added few usable features such as climate control A/C, steering mounted audio controls and an in-dash CD changer.

The new Innova with its additional features will attract customers from both the MPV and Sedan segments,” Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) Deputy Managing Director said. Toyota has also added three new colours – greyish black,silver and bluish silver with the launch of new Innova. The new Innova is offered at an introductory price between Rs 7.66 lakh and Rs 11.06 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi).

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The base end Innova E is priced Rs7,66,000 , Innova G is priced Rs8,70,000, Innova GX is priced Rs9.45,000 and top end Innova VX is priced Rs11,06,000.

Fiat palio gets fire economy

As we reported earlier, Fiat has launched the palio with new economical but powerful 1.0L FIRE series engine in Brazil. The new engine offers Flex Fire with increased compression ratio and adopts electronic throttle Drive By Wire, a new intake manifold, new collector discharge tube, new pistons, new valves and central electronic injection system with low friction. It pumps out maximum power of 73bhp at 6250 rpm and max torque of 95Nm at 4500rpm. This figures are much better than the Indian Palio stile’s 57PS and 92Nm. Moreover, being a 1L unit we can expect a better fuel economy. Fiat Brazil claims fire economy will return a combined mileage of 16.5kmpl. Also going by the Fiat’s figures, performance would also be better than the current one. Fiat Palio fire economy reaches 100kmph from standstill in just 15.8 seconds.

With the introduction of Palio fire economy, Fiat has also facelifted the the palio. The changes in the exteriors inludes redesigned bumper,new headlamps and new grille. On the inside, a new dashboard which gives a refreshed appeal and a new “Econômetro”  an indicator which tells how to drive  in a more fuel efficient manner.

Fiat palio Stile economy??

As we said earlier, though there is no official comment from the Fiat India, we can expect Fiat palio stile fire economy or a facelifted palio stile before the end of 2009.