Ford offers special discount offer on Fiesta

Ford has announced a special discount offer for its Fiesta sedan. Due to the special discount offer, Fiesta sedan will retail at a starting price of Rs5.29lakhs (DuraTec EXI variant). Without the offer the Ford Fiesta Duratex 1.6Exi retails at Rs6.20 lakhs. So you can save as much as Rs91,000 through this special discount offer. Ford Fiesta special discount offer is valid for 10days from 3rd to 12th  December.  The special discount offers is applied to all variants of Ford Fiesta Duratec petrol and Duratorq diesel.

Update: from Ford press release

Car lovers can now avail exceptional price discounts across Fiesta’s diesel and petrol line–up, with discount up to Rs. 91,000 on the EXI petrol variant. Starting today, this special and limited period offer is being rolled out across participating Ford dealerships in the country and will be valid for 10 days.

Ford Fiesta, a rare combination of fresh new styling, best in class fuel efficiency, modern features and the smoothest and most efficient engines in the class, will now be available starting 5.29 lakhs (old price 6.20 lakhs) for petrol variants and 6.59 lakhs as against 7.10 lakhs for the diesel variants. The new Ford Fiesta model range includes three petrol variants – 1.6 EXI, 1.6 ZXI and 1.6 SXI – and three common-rails, turbodiesel variants – 1.4 EXI, 1.4 ZXI and 1.4 SXI. In addition, the Fiesta 1.6 S is a sporty variant that has been uniquely developed for a demanding segment of Indian consumers.

Hindustan launches new winner mini truck

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Hindustan Motors today launches a new mini truck called ‘winner’. As you are reading the post, Winner is being launched by Honourable West Bengal Chief Minister in a glittering ceremony in Kolkata.  Winner is built on an all new platform and expected to slightly bigger than the Tata’s Ace. More details are expected.. Watch this space for more details on ‘winner’

Update: Hindustan Motors Shifeng Winner is a 2.3 Ton GVW Mini Truck. According to Hindustan Motors, “the ‘HM- Shifeng Winner’ is a stylish, swift and reliable Mini Truck with a 1 Ton Pay Load capacity”. ‘Winners’ interiors , noise, harshness & vibration levels are car like – a first in this category. Over the next six months the ‘Winner’ would be rolled out across India.  Hindustan Motors Winner is priced Rs 3.90,000  ex Showroom, Kolkata.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr Ravi Santhanam, Managing Director, Hindustan Motors Limited said, “The HM Winner will contribute meaningfully to the emerging Mini Truck Category and will be a vehicle of choice for its end users. Jointly developed with Shandong Shifeng, a China based Automotive & Agricultural equipment company, we are confident that the Winner will turn out to be a Winner both for our customers and for our company”.

Picture of Hindustan Motors Winner

2008 JD Power Initial Quality Study

Honda models have improved considerably in initial quality from 2007, garnering three model-level awards and emerging as the most-improved nameplate, according to the J.D. Power Asia Pacific 2008 India Initial Quality StudySM (IQS) released today.

The study, which measures problems customers experience with their new vehicles during the first two to six months of ownership, examines more than 200 problem symptoms covering eight vehicle components. These components, listed in order of frequency of reported problems, include: engine and transmission; vehicle exterior; driving experience; HVAC; features, controls and displays; vehicle interior; seats and audio, entertainment and navigation. Overall quality performance is determined by the problems experienced per 100 vehicles (PP100), with a lower score reflecting higher quality.

Three Honda models rank highest in their respective segments. The CR-V (33 PP100) ranks highest in the SUV segment for a second consecutive year, improving by 17 PP100 from 2007. The City (68 PP100) and Civic (78 PP100) each also improve considerably from 2007 to rank highest in the midsize and premium midsize segments, respectively, in 2008.

The Chevrolet Spark ranks highest in the compact car segment with a score of 148 PP100. The Chevrolet U-VA improves by 21 PP100 from 2007 to rank highest in the premium compact segment in 2008 with a score of 102 PP100.

In the entry midsize segment, the newly launched Maruti Swift DZire ranks highest with 166 PP100. In the MUV/MPV segment, the Toyota Innova (98 PP100) ranks highest for a second consecutive year.

“Improvement in initial quality is a must if manufacturers are to earn trust and acceptance from customers, which is in turn essential in gaining market share,” said Mohit Arora, senior director at J.D. Power and Associates, Singapore. “Honda has performed consistently well in initial quality in the past, and the brand’s improvements in 2008 reflect its renewed commitment to providing particularly high levels of initial quality.”

Overall initial quality in India averages 187 PP100 in 2008, down 14 points from 2007. Problems related to engine and transmission are reported most frequently by customers, followed by problems related to vehicle exterior and driving experience. Excessive fuel consumption continues to be the problem most frequently reported by customers.

“Occurrence of problems, particularly during the initial ownership period, leads not only to increased dissatisfaction, but also to lower levels of customer loyalty and advocacy,” said Arora. “Customers who report an initial quality problem are much less likely to repurchase or recommend the same make, compared with those who do not report experiencing a problem. Loyalty and advocacy intentions decline by 18 and 22 percentage points, respectively, among customers who report experiencing problems during the initial ownership period.”

The 2008 India Initial Quality Study (IQS), now in its 12th year, is based on evaluations from more than 6,000 owners who purchased a new vehicle between November 2007 and July 2008. The study includes 45 vehicle models covering 12 makes. The study was fielded from May to September 2008 in 20 cities across India.

Bajaj aims to flood globe with Steel made in China

Bajaj is believed to have made contract manufacturing arrangements with firms in China and is readying to sell this low-cost bike (speculated as steel) in China, Nigeria and some of its other export markets. Steel is expected to be priced around Rs25000. Bajaj has also decided to create a new brand name for this product, dissociating it from the ‘Bajaj’ brand name altogether. As the ‘Bajaj’ brand name has been associated with technological superiority and the company perhaps wants to keep a product which uses Chinese components (believed by some to be inferior in quality) out of the Bajaj brand umbrella.

The new brand identity for the low-cost bike could be revealed soon. But why is Bajaj ready to peddle low-cost bikes, especially with a ‘Made in China’ label? Bajaj has suffered over the last few months due to lack of a “strong product line-up with only one product in the entry-level, 100cc-125cc segment. Though domestic sales for Bajaj have not been encouraging, exports have shown healthy growth.

Bajaj has set itself an ambitious target of capturing 30-40% share of the 13 million Chinese bikes currently sold across the globe. But as any low-cost product which Bajaj develops for export markets is more probable to hit the domestic market as well.

Hindustan Motors to launch mini truck

You read it first at vicky.in

You love to know things first, we love to bring them faster. As we have been constantly telling you Hindustan Motors will launch a new model. The model is built on a new platform but don’t expect anything on the lines of Ambassador or Contessa. The new model is a LCV (Light Commercial Vehicle) or a mini truck similar to Tata Ace and Piaggio ape truk. Sources telling us that the Hindustan Motors new LCV or mini truck will be of slightly bigger capacity one than the Ace. After the successful Ace, many manufacturers followed it. Soon came out the Piaggio ape truk, Force Motors M4 and AMW’s one .Bajaj and TVS had expressed their intent to foray into the robustly growing mini truck segment.

Bajaj to launch six new motorcycles in 2009

To counter the slowdown, Bajaj Auto today announced slew of incentives. The measures include an intense new product initiatives. Through this measure, Bajaj will launch a new motorcycle each month for 6 months beginning January 2009. The new motorcycles we can expect from the Bajaj includes – new facelifted Pulsar 220cc, new Pulsar 200 FI, XCD sprint, Blade scooter, new low cost product (might be called as Steel) and an unknown product.Seems like Bajaj will fire on all cylinders in 2009……. To know more about Bajaj results visit http://vicky.in/stocks

Maruti Suzuki to launch Ritz in April 2009

Catch the hot pictures and test drive report of  Ritz review http://www.vicky.in/blog/maruti-suzuki-ritz-test-drive/

Maruti has disproved two things – the splash which was expected to hit the Indian roads in 2008, it will actually hit in 2009. While we know the car as ‘splash’, the Indian splash would be called as Ritz. Ritz would follow the recently launched A-star and fit into Maruti ever growing small car portfolio. Ritz will be powered by Suzuki’s new KB series engine. Though Ritz is built on Maruti’s successful splash platform and sports shorter wheelbase than the swift (30mm), the car will be roomy. Higher roofline and wider tracks at the fore and aft will ensure Ritz spaciousness. Ritz (splash) replaced the Wagon-R in european countries but as Maruti did it in the past, Ritz will co-exist with Wagon-R in India. Ritz is expected to hit showroom in april 2009 and is expected to be priced around Rs4 lakh. For pictures and to know more about Ritz (Splash) visit

Maruti Suzuki’s 2008 small car – the splash

Bajaj to take on Hero Honda with Steel

Rivalry between two automobile giants, Hero Honda Motors and Bajaj Auto, India’s major two-wheeler makers, has stepped to acquire more customers with its eminent features. With 100cc segment, Hero Honda led to be the first to progress a healthy market with eminent records. Whereas Bajaj Auto seems to be thrashing on 100cc bikes and wants customers to upgrade to bigger bikes. It has begun developing a low-cost entry-level motorcycle (speculated to be named as ‘Steel’) specifically for the purpose.

Having a growth of 10% in 100cc segment, Hero Honda has been outperforming the market throughout the fiscal, against the industry average of only 7%. Besides 100cc bikes, non 100cc also have shown a positive growth figure of 1.6% (i.e.) a 2% increment in overall premium segment bikes (150cc and above). The figures couldn’t be confirmed independently since the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) classifies all bikes from 75cc up to 125cc as entry-level bikes.

Anil Dua, Executive Vice-President (marketing & sales), Hero Honda, said, “The recent turn of events has confirmed our stand on 100cc bikes. Penetration (of two-wheelers) is still low across India and people look for value-for-money bikes. This segment (100cc) is here to stay. Sure, over a long period of time, the share of 100cc will come down but how can anyone ignore two-thirds of the market?” Bajaj Auto has started reducing its focus on 100cc more than ever before. Media reports claims that Bajaj has not been progressing well on 100cc bike sales and is keen to gradually upgrade 100cc customers.

It also added that a low-cost, entry-level bike (Steel) is already being tested for launch. This may clearly sketch that Bajaj is taking the battle back to the Hero Honda camp as the market leader appears to have no immediate plans of entering the low-cost bike space.

Hindustan Motors to launch a new Model in December

You read it first at vicky.in

As we earlier reported, Hindustan Motors is all set to launch a new model in December. This is Hindustan Motor’s biggest launch after Ambassador and Contesso. The new model is being made exclusively by Hindustan not through its alliance with Hindustan – Mitsubishi. Though only very few information is available about the Hindustan Motors new model, we are happy to share that model is built on a new platform. The model was earlier speculated to be launched in October, but the current economic slowdown and new launched could have pushed the Hindustan Motors to debut the new model in December. “The company has, on its own, developed a new platform for the car. Though we have taken some technical inputs from others, the design is entirely our own,” Santhanam, managing director of Hindustan Motor said. After nearly 20 years, we can expect another winner after ambassador from Hindustan motors.

Skoda’s new Octavia – Pictorial Preview

While skoda’s is already selling the next generation Octavia as Laura here, the Czech maker is in no mood to phase out the best selling octavia. Instead Skoda will soon launch a facelifted octavia to revive the glory of the best seller. But this facelift is not just cosmetic, but a serious one. The facelift includes change in heart, body panels and headlamps.  “The new Octavia is a thoroughly contemporary car which sits perfectly within our current range. As well as modernised looks, it features a whole host of new features that will appeal to today’s car buyers,” Warren Richards, Product Marketing Manager at Skoda, said.

Pictures of new Skoda Ocatavia

Skoda new Octavia: The ugly straight cuts and flat surfaces are gone! Sweeping headlights, complimentary front fog lights, new foldable door mirrors, body coloured bumpers and side mouldings gives the new octavia a contemporary look.A new tail lamp lens and bumper fascia with integrated reflectors replaces the current flat ones.

Skoda new Octavia: gets an all new powerful 1.4 TSI (Turbo Stratified Injection), 122bhp engine.will replace the current 1.8L engine. This new engine is said to be ultra frugal and eco-friendly over the current one.

Skoda new Octavia: Inside the new Skoda Octavia are the redesigned steering wheel, redesigned center console, new dashboard (white-backlit), the air conditioning controls and the decorative strips on the doors and the central console. Skoda has also added two new items to the equipment list –  adaptive xenon headlamps and WOKS rear-impact optimized head restraints.

Skoda new Octavia: Skoda will launch the new Superb in February 2009. Expect the new Octavia in India by mid 2009. Due to the new lesser displacement engine, you could expect this skoda to be priced around Rs10 lakhs.