Honda’s new Unicorn

You read it first a vicky.in

This is possible because of our reader Sunny. Sunny send us a mail with pictures of new unicorn. The changes in the new Unicorn are as follows

* Similar to other 150cc bikes, the new unicorn gets handle bar weight for smoother ride.

* New unicorn features a new 3Dimensional Honda wing mark on the fuel tank for royal and sophisticated look (according to Honda)

* Also the new Unicorn comes with a new stylish meter console.

* A new gear shift lever which is designed specifically to place the control on your toes is the major change in the new Unicorn.

But like Sunny we are pretty much disappointed by another stickerjob.

Skoda launches new variant of Fabia

Skoda today launched another variant of its flagship product Fabia. Fabia which is already available with two engine options – 1.4L petrol and 1.4L diesel is now being launched with a lower displacement 1.2L engine. The 3-cylinder,1.2L petrol engine produces 70bhp and is expected to return better fuel economy figures. Skoda has clocked an impressive sales figure of 3,500 Fabia’s till April 2008. But this figure is nowhere near the sales of Maruti Suzuki’s swift. Skoda hopes the 1.2L Fabia(priced in the similar range of swift) will bring some swift customers to its fold. This new Fabia comes in the price band of Rs.486,795 and Rs.580,174. Fabia 1.2L MPI comes in three variants – active,classic and ambiente. Fabia 1.2 MPI will be available in colours such as candy white, cappuccino beige, brilliant silver, magic black, satin grey, corrida red, tangerine orange.

Update: A 1.2 litre engine with 4-valves per cylinder and a double overhead cam (DOHC) producing 70 bhp of maximum power at 5400rpm and maximum torque of 108Nm at 3000rpm powers the Fabia. According to Skoda, the 1.2L fabia can reach 100Kmph in 14.9s and has a maximum speed of 163 km/hr.

Mahindra eyes Kinetic

Mahindra and Mahindra which has been mulling its entry into two wheeler market seems finally finds a way to foray into the market. CNBC TV18 reports Kinetic the maker of flyte and blaze may sell stakes to Mahindra and Mahindra. Kinetic is in the process of raising Rs120crores. M&M and Kinetic’s taiwan partner SYM may involve in raising the stake. SYM already has 11% stake in Kinetic. Mahindra was earlier rumoured to be in talks with chinese manufacturer ‘Lifan’ but it didn’t went as expected. More details are expected.

Toyota new MPV NVX

Toyota-Kirloskar Motor plans to launch a new multi-purpose vehicle(MPV) for the Indian market. Built on the same Innova platform Toyota’s new MPV (Code named NVX) will use most of the components being used in Innova. The multi-purpose vehicle (NVX) will use the same engine as that of Innova but will have different features. The IMV platform on which Innova is already used to built Hilux pick-up truck and Fortuner (SUV). Toyota-Kirloskar has a capacity to produce 60,000 cars annually. Also, Toyota is setting up a new plant to manufacture its small car and corolla. After that the exisiting plant will be used only for building MPVs. Toyota’s has more than 40% market share in the MPV segment.

Tata’s new small car the X4

If Maruti can do? why not Tata Motors. India’s largest car maker plans to have as many as three models in the small car segment. This does not include Tata partner Fiat’s palio and soon to be launched Grande Punto. Tata Motors plans a new small car (code named X4) between the nano and the Indica. The new car (X4) will be positioned in the A2 segment which is currently dominated by Alto,Wagon R, Santro,i10 and spark. As this segment consitutes more than 80% of indian car market all the manufactuers wish to have more than one car in small car segment. We informed you about Nissan’s plan of having two hatchbacks in this segment. Other majors such as Honda, Toyota, Ford and GM are planning more than one small car for the Indian market. X4 – Tata new compact car will hit the market in 2010 and would come at a price bracket of Rs 2.5-3 lakh. Fiat’s involvement in the X4 project and the engine options are being worked out.

Volkswagen unveils dealership in Hyderabad

Volkswagen India today announced the appointment of Orion Motors as its authorized dealer in Hyderabad. Mr. Joerg Mueller, Volkswagen Group Representative for India and President of Volkswagen India as well as of the Volkswagen National Sales Company, said: “The partnership is in line with our strategy to extend Volkswagen’s reach in the country. The announcement comes at a time when the company is witnessing an upsurge in demand from across the country and is building up a plant in Chakan/Pune with a start of production in the year 2009.The showroom spread over an area of 6,000 sq. ft. area, and, located at KBR Park, Jubilee Hills promises premium buying experience to its customers, at par with the world-class Volkswagen standards of sales and services. The state of the art service facility well equipped with tools and equipment capable of servicing 10 cars per day is being set up at Hafeezpet and will be ready by July 2008. Commenting on Volkswagen’s dealer network strategy Mr. Andreas Prinz, Managing Director, Volkswagen Passenger Cars India said “Our partnership with Orion Motors in Hyderabad reiterates Volkswagen’s strong focus on widening our presence across key markets and providing world class services to our customers. We are confident that this new partnership is a major milestone for Volkswagen’s expansion plans in India. Volkswagen currently operates Franchises in Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore and now adds Hyderabad, Ludhiana, Chandigarh, Gurgaon and a further Franchise in Delhi to its network. In the year 2008 Volkswagen aims to operate 15 outlets in India and will soon finalize its further network partners. The company is aiming to open 30 outlets in India by end 2009.”

Banks hikes interest rate

Last week, RBI increased the cash reserve ration (CRR) by 50% which will result in increase in your EMI. The current hike is second in series this year and it means that you have to shell out on an average Rs 16,200 more on a loan of Rs 3 lakh for a period of three years.

* ICICI has hiked the car loan rate to 14.5-15% from the earlier 13.75-14.25%,
* HDFC Bank plans to charge 50-75 basis points more from the first week of May.
* Union Bank of India and Indian Overseas Bank are learnt to be close to raising their sub-PLR (Prime Lending Rate) loans by 25-50 basis points.

Renault Logan CNG and LPG on its way

After selling 25,890 units of the Logan in India Renault plans to drive the sedan into the overseas market.“We are exploring right-hand drive markets like South Asia, and Africa amongst others to export the Logan. We plan to start exports this year,” said Mr Nalin Mehta, Chief Operating Officer, Mahindra-Renault. Mahindra-Renault also plans to offer Logan in the CNG and the LPG variant by the end of 2008. “There is a growing demand for gas-based variants and we would make it available in the coming months and in certain cities it would be available earlier,” said Mr Mehta.

Tata Eyes Ferrari Designer

Tata may have grabbed the attention by showcasing the ultracheap Nano and Mahindra may have developed the rarest diesel electric hybrid. But to replicate the success of Honda’s and Toyota’s, Indain manufacturer have to gain knoweldge espescially in fields like styling. Certainly Indica’s and Bolero’s are superior and are very practical. But they doesn’t have the necessary wow factor to lure european customers. Designing in not just limited for creating stylish products, it can also bring a cost effective solution. Efficient design reduces the production cost significantly. Tata and Mahindra which have aspiration to become global players know this well. After chasing Jaguar’s and Land Rover’s they are looking design firms.

India’s largest car maker Tata Motors has announced its interest in picking up stake in Pininfarina one of the world’s finest design houses. Pininfarina an Italian car design firm founded in 1930 by automobile designer and builder Battista “Pinin” Farina has been instrumental  in building greatest machines like Volvo C70,Ferrari 612 Scaglietti and Maserati Gran Turismo. But as other companies in the sector, Pinifarina is also suffering from the latest trend among big car makers to develop models by themselves rather than seek outside help. Pininfarina has 145 mn euro debt plus operating losses on its books and is in urgent need of a cash infusion. This has led the company to offload stake to raise about $158mn. This raising capital will also be used for the planned electric car which pinifarina develops jointly with Vincent Bollore..

Design centre in Pune:

Pininfarina also plans to open a design centre in India to provide services to Tata Motors and other Indian and international vehicle makers. The pune centre will be held jointly by Pininfarina and Tata Motors.“This agreement (with Tata Motors) witnesses the great attention Pininfarina is dedicati wish to an emerging and highly developing market such as the Indian one,” Andrea Pininfarina, chairman and chief executive of Pininfarina, said. Pininfarina has already made inroads in the Indian market through the tie-up with ICML for the latter’s world car platform. To know more about Pinifarina visit www.pininfarina.it