Vicky.in Blog

Hyundai’s i20 facelift will be soon launched in India after its official unveiling at the forthcoming Geneva Motor show. The upgraded i20 features a good styling with the slight fluidic design of Hyundai. The front and the rear bumpers of the car are new featuring re-styled holdings for the fog lamps and upgraded tail lamps respectively. The interior of the new i20 also gets some minor upgrades in it. The other refreshed features of the car include new alloy-wheel design, slimmer headlights, hexagonal grille and the chin which is now much more wider. Below given image is the new Hyundai i20 facelift.

KTM has rolled out its recently introduced Duke 200 motorcycle in Hyderabad. Following the success of Duke 200, KTM plans to introduce a street bike along with many new models in India in order to increase its share in the Indian domestic market.

Sources informed that the response to the introduction of the bike known for its rustic features and yet refinement, has been very encouraging. There is also demand for these bikes in tier II and III cities, where they plan to grow the dealerships from 32 now.

Bajaj Auto’s Zonal Manager, Mr. Amit Pawar commented that the aspirations of young bike lovers is changing and their expectations too. Youngsters want all the features of naked bike in a regular street bike. This means, they (Bajaj) will have to offer them what they want with new models.

KTM also plans to introduce its brand bike accessories like helmets, gloves, etc., in the country. Regarding this, Mr. Prakhar Muktibodh, Area Sales Manager, KTM South informed that the KTM brand has a wide range of accessories and parts that go well with bike lovers. He said as a part of expanding the business in India, they are set to bring in these merchandise, including jackets, gloves and helmets.

India’s leading two-wheeler maker, Bajaj Auto is recalling its Pulsar 220 bike to replace its starter relay at free of cost. Only a selective number of Pulsar 220 bikes which are believed to feature the faulty starter relay will be recalled by the company. The replacement will be finished within 15-20 minutes.

Mr.K.Srinivas, President of Bajaj Auto’s two-wheeler unit quoted that at Bajaj Auto, quality improvement is an ongoing process as they recognize that no product, however good, is ever perfect. Towards this purpose they continuously monitor the in-use quality of their products well beyond their two-year warranty period.

Srinivas also informed that recently, a non-conformance in the starter motor relays of some of their motorcycles has come to their notice. He said dealers had been informed and they would now carry out the replacement.

Tata Motors plans to offer a more-powerful three-cylinder engine for its Nano small car. Mr. Ratan Tata, Chairman of Tata Motors quoted, “We have variants coming out with a three-cylinder engine developing 60bhp or 80bhp and we will also give the Nano larger tyres and wheels”. The company says that they won’t be coming out very soon, but it’s in their interest to get them out as fast as possible.

Ratan Tata also said, “There’s a whole customer base of women who say their husbands didn’t allow them to drive, and now they’ve bought a Nano with their own money. This is an interesting segment and something we should address”.

The company keeps the production of the Nano cars as its first grade of work rather than its upgrades. Except the 3-cylinder engine, no other major upgrades including power steering option can be expected in the 2012 Nano. Expect the new Nano with a 3-cylinder engine.

The automatic version of Ford Fiesta will be launched on February 28th. The petrol variant of the new Fiesta will be available with a Powershift Automatic transmission. The new Fiesta AT also holds some goodies which include

i) Hill/Grade assist which offers intelligent braking system

ii) Dual clutch with Creep function

iii) Six-speed Dual clutch offering a fuel efficiency of 16.97kmpl

iv) Zero maintanence of Dual clutch

Price details of the new Fiesta AT are not yet known but is expected that Ford will offer the car with an affordable price tag.

Bajaj has started deliveries of the recently launched KTM Duke 200 to the customers a week before the schedule in the major cities of India. Priced at Rs.1,17,500, the Duke 200 will toughly compete with the new Honda CBR250R which is to be launched within a few days. Duke 200 is also likely to be launched in Latin America and South East Asia. The Duke 200 will be available across India in all the KTM showrooms.

Honda offers the new 2012 CBR250R for the Indian market with a Pearl Heron Blue triple tone colour. The production of the bike has already started. The new triple-tone CBR250R is expected to be launched in this month end. The bike features a red coloured front mudguard & decals along with a blue and white coloured fairing. No other major changes are noted in the new CBR250R. It is expected that the new CBR250R will also be available in both ABS and Non-ABS variants like its predecessor but with a price hike of Rs.1500.

The new Ninja 150RR sportsbike of Kawasaki is to be officially launched next month. This new bike of Kawasaki is mainly aimed at the Asian market. It will be powered by a two-stroke, 148cc engine delivering a power of 30bhp. The bike features a new styling of Kawasaki’s current line-up. Other details will be revealed shortly. Expect the launch of the new Ninja 150RR soon.

Hero Motocorp has announced that it is to tie-up with the US based Erik Buell Racing (EBR) with an aim to strengthen its presence in the high-end bike segment.

At the declaration, Mr. Pawan Munjal, MD and CEO of Hero Motocorp commented, “It gives me immense pleasure to welcome Erik Buell to the exciting world of Hero MotoCorp. This is in keeping with my objective of quickly scaling up our own in-house R&D capabilities to a global two-wheeler technology power-house by leveraging a network of strategic international alliances. Erik and his team have been working closely with our engineers and designers to develop our next-generation range of products with cutting-edge technology and first-of-its-kind features”.

Munjal also said, “The Indian two-wheeler industry is set to evolve, and it is only natural that as the market leader, we are driving this change. As a part of this plan, Erik is going to play an integral role in giving shape to some of my dream two-wheelers for the discerning youth of today. So my R&D team and Erik’s team together have made some definitive progress in this direction, and we will hopefully be putting a few scorchers on the roads soon”.

Regarding the racing debut, Mr. Munjal said, “This is also a key part of our alliance with EBR. Both Erik and I felt that we should carry forward our partnership into the race track. As a company, we have always supported and
nurtured sports and sporting talent in India. It is indeed a pleasure to sponsor two EBR teams at the AMA Championships and we are delighted to be taking an Indian brand to a highly-competitive and highly-popular international motorcycle race arena. We look forward to superlative performances from both Danny and Geoff”.

Mr. Erik F. Buell, Chairman & CTO of EBR, said “EBR is delighted to partner with a company as iconic as Hero MotoCorp. Both HMCL and EBR share the common commitment to manufacturing world-class two-wheelers with technology of the future. I have personally been deeply impressed with and inspired by Pawan’s vision. He has given us a challenging brief, and our highly-motivated team is working towards giving shape to that dream. We look forward to designing technology solutions which are in line with contemporary global standards and also futuristic in their appeal and utility”.

Buell added, “I deeply appreciate the support provided by Pawan and Hero MotoCorp to our two teams and this will only make Danny and Geoff perform better this season. As I kept meeting Pawan over the past several months, I realised his keen interest in moto-racing and the ‘Team Hero’ at AMA Championships is really a natural extension of our strategic collaboration. Top-class motorcycle racing is a very popular sport in the US, and the presence of the ‘Hero’ brand name is going to lend a lot of stature and excitement to all EBR fans out there”.

Hero MotoCorp is entering the exciting world of international motorcycle racing for the first time. The company will mark its foray into the racing arena by sponsoring two teams: Team Hero and AMSOIL Hero – a first by any Indian two-wheeler company at the AMA Pro Racing National Guard Superbikes Championship. Popular young racer Danny Eslick will represent “Team Hero” while another well-known racer Geoff May will represent team AMSOIL Hero – both riding on EBR 1190RS bikes. Hero MotoCorp also showcased an EBR 1190RS bike at the press conference.