Hero Honda launches faclifted variants of Glamour, Glamour FI and electric start CD Deluxe

As we reported you earlier, Hero Honda today launched new variants of Glamour,Glamour FI and CD deluxe. The new

variants of Glamour will be available between Rs 45,800 and Rs 47,700 (ex-showroom Delhi) and the Glamour FI variants will be priced between Rs 51,450 and Rs 55,450 (ex-showroom Delhi). Hero Honda has also launched electric / self start variant of CD Deluxe. The 100 cc bike CD Deluxe will also be seeing a new version as we have introduced self start option,” he said adding the bike will be available in four trim levels priced between Rs 33,700 and Rs 36,900. “This has been a difficult year for the two-wheeler industry but we have been able to beat the industry trend and keep sales momentum going. The three new bikes are an extension of what we have been doing to keep the market interest alive,” Hero Honda Motors Sr Vice-President Anil Dua said.

To know more about the facelifted Glamour visit report from vicky.in reader Pratap at vicky forum http://vicky.in/forums/topic/glamour-upgradation#post-487

Yamaha FZ-16 pips apache RTR, Hunk and CBZ Xtreme

Good news for hardcore Yamaha fans! FZ16 which was launched in October is said to be claimed No 2 position in the 150cc and 150cc+ bike segment. What’s more interesting is, in some regional markets FZ-16 has piped the segment leader Bajaj Pulsar too. But these are the claims by the Yamaha officials we have to wait till the month end to get the SIAM figures..but till then it’s time to party for Yamaha fans.

Ford’s all new Fiesta in 2010

Ford is building a small car based on the earlier generation Fiesta hatchback. For the Indian small car, Ford considered various platforms including the revolutionary verve platform. But since the new platform would let the price of the small car above 5 lakh, Ford was forced to shelve off its plan. But this story is not about the Ford’s small car but on Fiesta sedan. Yes, Ford debuted its new Fiesta Sedan built on verve platform at the Ghangzou auto show held in China last month. This new Fiesta sedan will be built across asia – India,China and Thailand.

The new Fiesta will be powered by a variable valve timing 1.6L engine and would boast advanced features like Ford sync. “The all-new Fiesta sedan is sleek and contemporary. The interpretation of kinetic design on the four-door body has given the Fiesta sedan an independent identity while retaining the emotional appeal of its five-door sibling. ” “This is a sophisticated small car. Design combines with advanced technology to deliver very high levels of refinement, safety and class-leading fuel efficiency. This new Fiesta proves Ford’s leadership in small car design and development.” Expect the new Fiesta in India by late 2010.

Picture of Ford Verve

ford_verve

Pictures of Ford new 2010 Fiesta

All-new Ford Fiesta Sedan

All-new Ford Fiesta Sedan

Tata motors to launch nano early 2009

Great news, isn’t it! but don’t jump to the skies….Tata motors will launch the Nano between January and March 2009 but it will produce nano only in few numbers. “We are looking at something to bring it (out) as fast as possible … kind of an interim arrangement … from one of our existing plants. These will be small quantities. Let a few customers at least have a touch and feel of the car,” Ravi Kant, Tata Motors managing director said.

“If you think the Nano is going to come out of Gujarat, the answer is no,” Ravi Kant said. “This is in the sense that it is already delayed. It will take more than a year (to roll out from Gujarat),” he added. Nano will be rolled out from Tata Motors’ plant in Pantnagar, Uttarakhand. The Nano project was hit hard because Tata Motors had to shift its plant from Singur in West Bengal to Sanand in Gujarat in October.
“Larger quantities of the car will be rolled out from Sanand after a year or so,” Kant said. He, however, refused to quantify the number of cars that are likely to be manufactured at the ‘interim location’.

Mahindra’s new MPV the Xylo

Xylo – the next armor to join Mahindra’s brigade is all set to make its public appearance during middle of this month.  But more details about the MPV is slowly evolving. Here are few more you love to read… Xylo developed in-house by Mahindra post the success of the Scorpio is Mahindra’s second bid to grab share in the robust MPV segment. “We are all set to create a new milestone with the launch of the Mahindra XYLO which will continue Mahindra’s legacy of customer-centric innovation. I am confident that the XYLO will follow in the Scorpio’s footsteps and evolve into an iconic brand.” Mr. Anand Mahindra, Vice-Chairman and Managing Director, Mahindra Group, said

Xylo is built on an all new platform with extended wheelbase to accomodate eight occupants easily. The styling of Xylo is not revolutionary but it is evolutionary. Xylo borrows few styling cues from its big brother Scorpio. Mahindra’s family face comes from vertical slats of the prominent grille. Rakish windscreen and sweeping headlamps makes the Xylo inviting like a sedan. The large glass area will ensure roomy and airy cabin. Coming to the back, you would see the Mahindra’s trademark pillar mounted tail lamps but in a diffrent flavour. Power for the Xylo will come from the scoprio’s 2.6L CRDe unit and producing around 110bhp. Though the autobox wont make into the Xylo atleast initially, Xylo driveablity in the city is expected to be good. All wheel drive (4WD) would give the Xylo MPV ready to go anywhere capability. Suspension setup of Xylo is the independent one at the fore and non independent at the rear.

As typical of any Mahindra product, Xylo will come with loads of features. Xylo is expected to come in three variants. Leather seats, fog lamps, audio system and tubeless tyres are standard in top end variant of Xylo. Xylo would be priced around Rs7lakhs that is Rs3 lakhs cheaper than the segment leader Toyota’s Innova. If Mahindra gets things right, then its time for Toyota to mull for Innova’s replacement.

Cars and Bikes Launched in 2008

Hatchbacks

Skoda Fabia

Fiats New Palio Stile-Diesel

Maruti Suzuki Dzire-Sedan

Skoda Fabia-1.2L

Tata Indica Xeta-lPG

Maruthi Suzuki M800-Duo

Hyundai i10 Kappa And i10 Automatic

Fiat 500-Cinquecento

Tata New Indica Vista

Hyundai Santro-ECO

Chevrolet New Aveo U-VA

Maruti A-Star

MUVs & SUVs

Tata Sumo Grande

Ford New Endeavour Thunder

General Motors captiva

Mitsubishis New Pajero-SFX

Mahindra&Mahindra Scorpio Automatic-at

Mahindra&Mahindra Bolero Limited Edition

Hindustan Mitsubishi Outlander

Mahindra Scorpio Micro-Hybrid

Mahindra Bolero Micro-Hybrid

Saloons/Sedans

Mercedes c-class

BMW 3-series

Maruti Suzuki Swift Dzire

Honda New Accord

Tata Indigo Dicor

Honda Civic Hybrid

Mercedes C-Class-Avantgarde

Ford New Fiesta

Volkswagen Jetta

Mahindra Renault Logan Limited Edition

Toyota New Corolla-Altis

Honda New city

Ford New Ikon

Mitsubishi New Cedia & New Cedia Sports

BMW 520d-530–530d-highline

Bikes

Tvs scooty-teenz-electric

Tvs Scooty-Wimbeldon Collection

Honda Aviator

Hero Honda New CBZ X-Treme & New Pleasure

Yamaha Gladiator-RS/Gladiator-ss

Bajaj Platina-125CC

Honda CBF-Stunner

Bajaj New Sporty Discover-135CC

Yamaha FZ-16-150CC

Suzuki GS150R

Yamaha YZF R15

TVS Apache RTR-Fi

TVS Apache RTR-Ef

Royal Enfield Thunderbird Twinspark

Ducati Superbikes

Hyundai to launch i20 on December 28th

vicky.in exclusive

Hyundai is all set to unwrap the covers of i20 in India on December 28th. Despite the slowdown, the korean maker is bullish on Indian market and bring cheers with the launch of i20. 1.4-litre petrol engine would be the only powerplant of i20 in India atleast initially. “Hyundai has no plans to launch a diesel variant of i20 as of now” said Hyundai Motor India senior V-P Arvind Saxena. Remember, Hyundai has already started exporting i20 to european markets in November 2008. This roomy 5 seater hatchback will take on Skoda Fabia and expected to be priced around Rs6 lakhs.

To know more about Hyundai i20 visit http://www.vicky.in/blog/tag/i20/

Update: Hyundai will launch the i20 in New Delhi on 29th December..

Skoda to launch new laura and Yeti in 2009

Skoda India, which is the wholly-owned local arm of the Czech carmaker and part of the Volkswagen (VW) group, has reiterated that it will go ahead with its product launch plans during calendar 2009 despite the current slowdown. Even during the downturn they confirmed that they will go ahead and will be focusing on quality which will go a long way in building customer confidence.

New Superb,new Laura and yeti

In addition Skoda plans to expand the car’s line-up, which will include an affordable entry-level option to attract a larger buyer base. The company has also plans to launch the new Superb and Laura along with the Yeti sport-utility vehicle during 2009. These will be part of the Aurangabad product rollout plan.

New small car

Skoda and VW will jointly develop a platform and a car below the Fabia and Polo in terms of price. This could then retail for under Rs 5 lakh, which could translate into huge volumes in this predominantly small car market. Only after these can the projected volumes of 1,10,000 cars are attained at VW’s Chakan plant sometime in 2012-13 or even earlier.

Higher localisation for Fabia

The company’s most critical offering in the second half of 2009 is the Fabia, which will roll out of VW’s integrated Chakan plant near Pune. The car is already being assembled at Skoda’s Aurangabad facility but is constrained by low localization content and limited volumes. It said that after the production at Chakan plant its localization levels for the Fabia will be up to 50 per cent in three years from the present 15 per cent. The VW plant in Chakan has critical infrastructure like a paint shop, engine assembly etc in place which makes mass production of fast-moving models possible. In contrast, the Skoda facility, being an assembly operation, can focus on high-end cars like the VW Passat and Audi series.

Maruti to launch Ritz

Maruti Suzuki is planning to launch its new car Splash as Ritz very shortly in India. Maruti Suzuki, the Indian subsidiary of the global auto maker, is trying to find out if any rival company has already registered the name. Ritz is likely to be launched by April 2009 and will have two engine options — a 1.2-litre petrol and a 1.3-litre diesel engine. Both the engines of Ritz will sport a 5-speed manual gearbox and are Euro4-compliant. Ritz is a taller hatchback with enough and more extra space. The height makes the Ritz a tall boy but it’s the best tall boy hatch to have hit the Indian market yet. The rear looks rather sporty with an inward angling windscreen and side pillar tail lamps. The flared wheel arches lend the Ritz a masculine appeal. According to Suzuki, Ritz (splash) is a multipurpose vehicle that will likely appeal to those with small families and a limited budget. The pricing of the Ritz would be a little below the Swift in the range of Rs. 4-5 lakhs.

Madhya Pradhesh Government bans registration of two wheelers

This may be the belated news but it shocking to read. Madhya Pradhesh government has stopped registration of two wheelers from November 03rd following the MP High Court’s directive to the state transport department to ensure that norms made for the protection of pillion riders be followed. “We have stopped the registration of two-wheelers in the state after the HC direction to ensure that two-wheelers have in-built protection system for pillion riders as per the rule 123 of the Central Motor Vehicle Act 1989,” Deputy Transport Commissioner (Enforcement), Upendra Jain said.

“The process of registration of two-wheelers will resume after we find that the rule for the protection of pillion riders has been adhered,” he added.The HC bench of Chief Justice AK Pattnaik and Justice Ajeet Singh had issued directions to the government on October 24 to ensure that safety of pillion riders as per the rule 123 of the Act be adhered to following a petition filed by a social worker Gyanprakash.

“We have categorically told the dealers not to sell their products till the anomalies in connection with pillion riders protection was taken care of,” Jain said. The HC had found that some two-wheelers were not having in-built handle, foot-rest and rear wheel protection cover for the pillion riders as per the rule but had been registered.