Yearly Archives: 2011

A mildly facelifted version of the Premier Rio has been launched along with a new petrol engined variant whose prices start at Rs. 4.7 lakhs ex showroom.  The engine is an MPFi unit of nearly 1200 cc and produces power to the extent of 75 PS.  While the diesel engine which is based on the old Peugeot unit does not meet Bharat Stage IV norms the petrol engine apparently does.  The question is where is Premier sourcing this engine from.  Is it possible that the ancient Fiat engine from the Padmini has been upgraded to this?  That would be something.

Steeroids.in is carrying pictures of facelifted and taped up test mule of the Fortuner.  This has given rise to speculation that the car could be debuting at the Auto Expo in January 2012.

Pictures Courtesy: Steeroids.in

Welcome to some confusion.  The Skoda Fabia based sedan (similar to the Vento based on the Polo) was first called the Rapid and then Lauretta (according to Autocar India magazine).  It was at one time reported that the design language of the Vision D concept of Skoda would make it on to the Rapid/Lauretta and then that was dismissed saying that the car would carry the face of the Fabia but other body panels from the Vento.  Now with the Mission L making its debut in “nearly production ready” form and with Skoda having said that the Mission L is coming to India, yet again people have started claiming that the Lauretta/Rapid will sport the Mission L face and not the Fabia face.  Very confusing all this.  Perhaps only the launch of the car can clarify things.

The Skoda Mission L

Auto webzines are carrying the news that the elaborately tested monocoque front wheeled drive SUV from Mahindra, which was code named W201 will be launched formally on the 28th of September, 2011.  The car has been peculiarly named the Mahindra XUV 500 breaking away from the established Mahindra tradition of naming their vehicles with words ending with an o.  Of course, it has already been revealed that Mahindra are calling it XUV five oh oh or XUV five double oh.  But why this convoluted way of ending with an o when better ways maybe available?

Test mules of the Tata Safari Merlin have been photographed many times with all sorts of camouflage.  There was one picture of the car without any camouflage and that was from the rear.  Now a photograph of the new Safari has emerged.  It is said to have been taken in a parking lot and there is absolutely no disguise on it.  There is also a rumour that Tata will launch this vehicle on the 27th of September, 2011 one day before the Mahindra XUV 500 is launched.  We can only wait and see.

Picture courtesy: Indianautosblog.com

This is the older picture from the car and bike page from Facebook that we had published earlier

This is the new picture that shows the car from the front

It seems to a little baffling that Tata is testing the Safari so much for some very minor and cosmetic changes.

A few days ago the internet was agog with rumours that the vehicle that will be launched in India by Renault as its small car was the Modus.  Photographs of the said vehicle with red number plates indicating that it is a test mule also appeared along with the news.  However, Indian Autos Blog.com is now claiming that they have contacted the officials at Renault in India and that they have been assured that the Modus is not going to come to India and that it is here for some global validation tests that involve heat and dust.  The car that will be made for India will be unveiled only at the Auto Expo 2012 in January at New Delhi and sold a few months later.

Casey Stoner riding the factory Repsol Honda blitzed his way to pole position in the qualifying for tomorrow’s MotoGP race at Aragon in Spain.  He did have fall at one point but that in no way dampened his enthusiasm as he remounted his spare bike to finish ahead of everyone else.  Second place went to teammate Dani Pedrosa while factory Yamaha rider Ben Spies took third place.  His teammate Jorge Lorenzo battled his own demons to claim fourth place on the grid for tomorrow’s race while fifth went to the third Repsol Honda of Andrea Dovizioso and sixth on the grid will be Marco Simoncelli riding the factory spec San Carlo Gresini Honda.  Valentino Rossi trying an aluminium front section chassis (not an aluminium twin spar or delta box frame) crashed early and never could mount a serious enough challenge and could finish only 13th on the grid.

It all started in December 2009 when VW bought 19.9% stake in Suzuki. The relationship was supposed to be mutually beneficial with VW getting access to Suzuki’s plethora of small car options and Suzuki getting access to VW’s advanced power trains and hybrids.

And then in June, Suzuki went ahead and announced it is sticking to its long time engine companion Fiat to supply 1.6 litre diesel engines for its Hungarian built SX4 crossover. This has not gone down well with VW which opines this is a violation of the partnership agreement. Displeasures had been exchanged openly by both the companies since with a Suzuki executive even calling the accusation a declaration of war.

It is evident that this relationship is strained but VW has suggested that they are open to discussions with Suzuki. Suzuki on the other hand is offering to buy back VW’s stake.

We will have to wait and see where this goes…

Ashok Leyland has a 51:49 joint venture with Nissan. The first outcome of this relationship is the Dost which was launched yesterday.

The Dost is a LCV with a total payload capacity of 1.22 tonnes and is priced between Rs.379,000 and Rs.439,000, ex-showroom, Chennai. The joint venture also plans to make a minivan and a 6.5 tonne goods carrier in the near future.

Although it does not have a very inspriring face, this is a new phase for Ashok Leyland which is primarily associated with big burly buses and lorries.