Chevrolet Cruze – Pictorial Preview

Chevrolet has said that it unveil the new optra magnum in the upcoming paris motor show early October. Chevrolet’s c-segment which is known as optra and optra magnum is called by different name in different countries. Lacetti in Australia and NewZealand, Optra in Canada, India, Thailand, Malayasia,singapore and Indonesia, excelle in china and Forenza in America. It is also called as Nubira in some countries. Chevrolet Cruze will be the global name for an all-new sedan from the next generation of General Motors’ compact car family. Actually the cruze badge is not an all new one, Cruze was last applied to GM’s first Japan built compact SUV in association with Suzuki. The growing clamor for small cars might have tempted the GM to christen it latest C-segment car as Cruze.

1) Chevrolet Cruze: Cruze will be the first vehicle to build on GM’s new Global Compact Vehicle Architecture or Delta 2 platform. Delta 2 is said to be designed with developing market in mind and is considered to be the lower-cost alternative to the current Delta platform. The Cruze was engineered at GM’s German development center and was designed in Korea by GM Daewoo. Cruze will be assembled in plants around the world. Chevrolet introduced the optra in 2003. Even after four years of launch the car is yet to make a mark in India. Optra struggled against the competetion and in 2007 GM introduced the new optra magnum with 2.0L diesel engine which sells in decent numbers. Coming back to the new Cruze, the car will usher in a new styling language for Chevrolet. Cruze will carry Chevrolet’s new design language, including the two separate front grills and golden bow-tie logo.

2) Chevrolet Cruze: Along with the new design, GM bets on new ultra fuel efficient engines for the success of Cruze. Cruze will be fitted with a GM’s new direct-injection, turbocharged four-cylinder engine. The turbocharged 1.4 liter Ecotec engine which might power the Indian cruze will return a fuel efficient figure 20kmpl. The 1.4 liter Ecotec turbo will come in various stages of tune ranging from 120 PS to 140 PS. GM hopes to take on the might Toyota prius with the Cruze which means the car will match the fuel efficiency of a hybrid car. According to GM, cruze would return 20km for a litre.

3) Chevrolet Cruze: Similar to other Chevrolet models, Cruze will also come with loads of space. The Cruze has an overall length of 4.6 meters and will offer ample room for five passengers and cargo space. Enough cost cutting measure has also gone into the Cruze to make the car price competetive. Cruze would feature a torsion-beam rear suspension.

4)Chevrolet Cruze: The Cruze including the right-hand-drive form for UK will go on sale across Europe in the spring of 2009 and with other markets (including India) following soon afterward. For the european market GM plans to sell the cruze along with the Lacetti sedan for about 18 months before the older car is phased out. Chevrolet may follow the same strategy in India and position the Cruze against the Volkswagen Jetta and Honda civic.

Toyota’s new Innova

To prove our earlier claim that the facelift for Innova is very much round the corner,  the spy pictures of facelifted Innova is out. With the advent of new safari 2.2L Dicor and Scorpio V series the facelift for the Innova is imminent for Toyota. Don’t expect any major changes, the facelift for the Innova will be very minimal. As evident from the photos Innova gets a new grille. The new grille gives a wedge shaped front end. The headlamp cluster stacked vertically to enhance the look. Front bumpers might also get a little treatment. But the real attraction in the new Innova would be the stylish alloy wheels.The new innova also gets a new tail lamp cluster. The upgraded innova will also feature climate control and parking sensor.

Fiat launches 500 Cinquecento in India

Fiat 500 conquecento which is known as iPod of the cars of this century, Fiat 500 Cinquecento is here to excite the Indian customers. Created by the Fiat Style Centre, the new 500 is a small 3-door: it is 355 cm long, 163 cm wide, and 149 cm high, and has a wheelbase of 230 cm. The 500 is powered by a 1.3L engine which powers 75bhp at 4000rpm of peak power and 145Nm of peak torque at 1500rpm.500 cinquecento comes in two versions – sport and lounge.

Fiat 500 Cinquecento is priced Rs15,19,500 (ex-showroom Mumbai). Fiat 500 cinquecento will be available in eleven exciting colours.Fiat will sell the 500 conquecento through hand picked dealers of the company. The 500 cinquecento will be available through six new tata fiat dealerships in Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Pune and Chandigarh-ludhiana. Soon Fiat will also launch the Bravo in India. Both 500 and Bravo will be used to build the Fiat brand.

update:

The 500 cinquecento come with following standar features
* ABS
* 7 Airbags ( Knee, driver, Passenger, Side & Head)
* Blue & Me
* Automatic A/C
* Remote door lock
* ORVM with electrical drive & defrost
* Rear window defroster & wiper
* Steering wheel adjuster
* Front power windows
* Split rear seat
* Front fog lamps
* Smoker kit
* Electric servo – assisted steering
* Audio – Radio, CD & Mp3

Moreover, the Fiat 500 personalisation programme offers an additional range of over 100 bespoke accessories which, generating more than 5,00,000 possible trim, colour and option combinations, gives owners the opportunity to personalise the new Fiat to levels unprecedented in this segment.

Unique features of 500 cinquecento lounge Version

* Alloy wheel
* Fixed glass roof
* Driver adjustable front seat
* Chromium kit
* Leather steering wheel with 8 buttons

Unique features of 500 cinquecento sport version

* Alloy wheel
* Dark windows
* Sporty leather steering wheel with 8 buttons
* Sports seat with special countered padding
* Rear spoiler
* Chrome insert on door sills

Fiat 500 cinquecento comes in following colours Bossa Nova White, Jive Blue, Breakfast Grey, Mod Blue, Crossover Black, Ye Ye Green, Calypso Orange, Cha Cha Cha Azure, Pasodoble Red, Tropicalia Yellow, and Punk Grey

Vahan Show: Interview with Makham Dhalivaal, Managing Director of Volkswagen Passenger Cars and Volkswagen Group Sales India

Volkswagen which missed the bus to Maruti Suzuki in 80s plans to conquer the Indian market with the series of launches. Last year it launched the passat sedan to compete with the Honda Accord and Toyota Camry. Though the company has only 3 dealership in India it enjoys 15% market share  in the entry level luxury car segment Boasting with the success of passat, Volkswagen has bring the well known Jetta to India. Volkswagen has sold millions of jetta worldwide and in India the car will take on the mighty Honda civic and Cheverolet Optra Magnum. But this one is priced premium over those established brands. Volkswagen has also said it future products will come at a premium. Having said that, the group is devising strategies to achieve 12% market share from just 1% now. What brings the Volkswagen management such a confidence? What is reason behind their success? How Volkswagen and Skoda will co-exist in Indian market? We interviewed Makham Dhalivaal, Managing Director of Volkswagen Passenger Cars and Volkswagen Group Sales India Pvt Ltd. Dhalivaal is candid, he explained why customers prefer Volkswagen’s,Skoda’s and Audi’s, Volkswagen plans for expanding dealership network and brand diffrentiation of skoda and Volkswagen. He also told us that Volkswagen is very much interested in bringing latest technologies like BlueTec to the Indian market but the quality of fuel available here is hampering them. Let’s go for the interview

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Vahan Show: Interview with Mr.Aravind Saxena, VP Marketing and Sales, Hyundai Motors India

Hyundai is at its peek and the sense of joy prevails across the company. When a reporter asked about the sluggishness in the Indian automotive market HS Lheem Managing Director, HMIL replied with a smile saying “We are growing at 41%”. The reason is – Hyundai-Kia has become the world’s fifth largest automaker outselling Nissan and Honda. In India Hyundai has regained the No.2 spot in the overall market share beating Tata.

But all this is possible because of the success of the models like i10. The i10 has changed the fortune of the Hyundai Motors. In India, Hyundai has begun the second innings in India with this cute car. To further augment its excitement and to meet the strigent Euro 5 emission norms, Hyundai has come up with a new engine called Kappa for the i10. Hyundai has also launched a sportz variant of the new i10 kappa to suit the performance conscious customers. Clearly with the Kappa engine Hyundai wishes to extend the reach of i10 and want to lure more upmarket buyers.We interviewed Mr.Aravind Saxena, VP Marketing and Sales, one of the chief architect of the Hyundai India. He is very happy with the success of Hyundai’s ‘i10’ and he revealed the secret behind the sucess of i10. He also spoke about the future of Hybrids in India and about the launch of i20. Catch the interview here.

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Mahindra launches Bolero CNG

Mahindra which already has CNG variants of its three wheelers – Alfa and Champion has launched CNG variant of its bolero pick-up vehicle. According to Mahindra and Mahindra, this  new bolero CNG would offer savings of upto 40 per cent on operating cost compared to a diesel vehicle, besides, its 75 BHP engine provides superior pulling power in the loaded condition. “The Bolero Pick-Up flatbed CNG addresses the need of a large section of customers in Delhi for a vehicle which is both fuel-efficient and environment friendly,” Mahindra and Mahindra Vice President-Marketing (Auto Sector) Vivek Nayer said today. The bolero CNG pick-up is priced at Rs 5.42 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi). Mahindra is planning to introduce CNG variant of its flagship product scorpio to lure the buyers.

Volkswagen launches Jetta

Volkswagen today launched the much anticipated Jetta in India. Known as civic competetior this Jetta is set to trigger another war in the D-segment. This gently looking, solid jetta pretends to be a much bigger car than actually it is. The cabin reflects luxury at any point and complements its exterior styling. Jetta will come with two engine options – 1.6L petrol and 1.9L diesel. The 1.6L petrol engine develops 102PS of peak power and 148Nm of max torque. According to Volkswagen this jetta can reach a top speed of 186 kph and can be accelerated from 0 to 100 kph in just 12.2 seconds. The 1.9L diesel engine cranks out 105PS of max power and 250Nm of peak torque which is available from 1900 rpm.The new jetta might come in three variants – trendline petrol, trendline diesel and comfortline diesel.The comfortline variant of diesel jetta will come with the 6 speed automatic DSG gearbox. Other variants will come with 5 speed manual transmission.

Models Mumbai
Trendline Petrol Rs12,97,000
Trendline Diesel Rs14,22,000(Manual)
Comfortline Diesel Rs16,67,000

More details and pictures are awaited

Hyundai’s new i10 kappa – a brief test drive

Need for Change:

Hyundai i10 has already smashed number of records and won 75000 hearts in a span of just 8 months. The epsilon engine (currently used in santro and ) is a proven and well known for its frugal nature (still lower variants of i10 will be powered by this engine). Then what is need for an another new engine. As you know, India is sole producer of i10 and Hyundai is exporting i10 to european countries from here. From this septemeber all the manufacturers have to adhere to the strigent Euro 5 emission norms. There comes the need for the new kappa engine. It emits 119g/km of CO2 and adhere to the Euro 5. But in Indian context, Hyundai wants to use this kappa engine to qualify the i10 to compete in a class above her. The kappa powered i10 will be pitted against Maruti Suzuki’s swift.

hassle free,…..

We test driven the i10 sportz and i10 Asta Automatic at Hyundai’s test track and here are our first impressions.There is no difference in styling except for the 1.2L and kappa badge at the rear. Getting under the hood, Hyundai claims kappa is one of lightest engine and hence it has higher power to weight ratio in its class. The new 1.2L Kappa engine cranks out 20% more power (now 80PS at 5200rpm) and the torque is improved by massive 13% to 114Nm when compared to the proven epsilon engine. It offers good low end torque but the pickup is not that electric. However the kappa engine is more refined than the epsilon engine and vibrations are low. Even when you strain the engine it never roars it moans. We managed to push the i10 sportz (five speed manual) to 125kmph. She remains stable even at those high speeds but the high speed cornering may not be welcomable one in the i10. We have to blame the steering, though it is sharp and precise the response is not so good. However the bite is excellent. The four-channel ABS gives good reassurance and you are down to the road very quickly. Coming to the i10 Asta Automatic, put the lever in D-mode and just press the accelerator pedal, the 4-speed auto box takes care of everything. i10 automatic offers a relaxed ride till 80kmph where it dips a little bit and immediately comes to life again. We hit a top whack of 110kmph with the i10 Asta Automatic.

The best gets better! ya, you will tell the same once you get inside the new i10 sportz. The sportz variant i10 gets a new interior. The new red fabric blends perfectly with the beige and further enhances the look. Here are detailed prices of the new variants.

Overall with the introduction of kappa engine Hyundai has moved the i10 excitement to a new level. Hyundai claims the mileage of new i10 kappa would be 4-5% more than epsilon engined i10. Though only our complete test drive will reveal all the fine details. We are convinced if you want a comfortable, hassle free ride, i10 Asta Automatic would be the perfect fit for the Indian traffic conditions.

Models Delhi Chennai
Magna Rs3,99,023(Manual),Rs4,44,013(Auto) Rs4,01,321(Manual),Rs4,43,377(Auto).
Sportz Rs4,28,808(Manual),Rs4,80,580(Auto) Rs4,25,355(Manual),Rs4,08,810(Auto)
Asta Rs4,35,578(Manual) Rs4,35,205(Manual)
Asta with Sunroof Rs5,00,833(Manual),Rs5,43,844(Auto) Rs5,00,510(Manual),Rs5,42,354(Auto)

Hyundai launches i10 kappa and i10 automatic

New Engine – i10 kappa:

Hyundai’s i10 is already a runaway success, but that hasn’t stopped the company introducing a new engine choice to make the city car even more competitive. Hyundai today launched the new i10 with the new 1.2L Kappa engine. The new Kappa engine pumps out 20% more power (now 80PS at 5200rpm) and the torque is improved by massive 13% to 114Nm. This figures should reflect in performance of the i10. The new kappa engine is also said to be more fuel efficient. According to Hyundai the new i10 kappa should return 4-6% more mileage.

i10 Automatic:

Along with the introduction of kappa powered i10, the much awaited automatic variant of i10 is also launched. The autobox is a four speed one.

New Variants – i10 Asta & i10 sport:

Hyundai has also introduced two new variants of i10 with the introduction of kappa powered i10. The two new variants are Asta and Sport. Magna variant of i10 will also get the kappa engine. i10 Sportz gets an all new 2-Din audio system, a unique red pack for the Sportz interiors and some class leading safety features like anti-lock braking system (ABS) and dual airbags. While the i10 Asta gets top-end features like the sunroof, 2-Din audio system, and some class leading safety features like anti-lock braking system (ABS) and dual airbags.The price of the i10 variants starts from Rs3,99,000 and goes up to Rs5,42,754 (i10 Asta Automatic).

Photos are being uploaded