Yearly Archives: 2011

Indian Autos Blog.com has posted pictures of what is supposedly a facelifted version of the i20 car from Hyundai.  The i20 has been around a while a perhaps will be given a face that falls in line with the “fluidic” theme that Hyundai has debuted on the new Verna and also used it to facelift the i10.  Conjectures have abounded about the i20 also receiving the same treatment and the pictures suggest that the i20 is getting a new fluidic face and probably some changes at the rear as well.

Picture Courtesy: Indian Autos Blog.com

For sometime now there has been talk of the Indica Vista from Tata receiving a facelift to rekindle dwindling interest in the car.  Photo shopped images of the Vista with the front end of the sedan version, the Manza, have been doing the rounds.  Now yet again, Autocar India.com, has got the real thing and better still the full monty.  It has pictures sent to it by its reader Raghul Sivaguru and the car does see the front end of the Manza on the Vista.  The double barrel head lamps, new front bumper, chrome grille are the prominent features of the front while at the back there is a little bit of a tweaking of the tail lamps and an applique bar just below the rear windscreen with the Tata logo in the middle of it.  For those who have hated the console on the present Indica with the speedometer in the centre there is some good news.  The console of the Indica Vista now is the same as in the Manza.  We think all this is very nice.  But now what of the Manza?  Any changes there too?  Tata cars’ sales have been dropping like bricks and it needs to arrest that.  With the Nano performing erratically at best, a lot rests on the Vista and the Manza.

Pics Courtesy: Autocar India.com

Picture Courtesy: Indiancarsbikes.in

Hero MotoCorp’s new logo and its two new products under the new brand name of “Hero” were unveiled at the O2 Arena in London amidst great fan fare.  Invitees included Bollywood heart throbs Shah Rukh Khan, Ranbir Kapoor and Anushka Sharma, Boris Becker the great tennis player of yesteryears, F1 driver of the past David Coulthard and India’s cricketer Irfan Pathan.

Hero MotoCorp has outlined an aggressive plan for the future which includes a full fledged R&D which will be churning out Hero’s own designs and products in about five years time, a parts manufacturing facility at Rajasthan and two new factories in the Western and Sourthern parts of the country.  Hero MotoCorp also unveiled its first two products that will be launched as just “Hero”.  One of them is a motorcycle and the other a scooter.  The scooter is called the “Maestro” and features the same engine as the Activa and Aviator scooters from Honda.  The motorcycle which is a go anywhere dual terrain vehicle has been named the “Impulse” and is of 150cc engine capacity.  This bike is sold by Honda in Brazil as the Honda NXR 150 Bros.

If you are wondering what happened to the whole separation with Honda (since the new products are also from Honda), let us tell you that Hero has a technical tie up with Honda till 2014.  In fact, the company could have called itself Hero Honda till 2014 but chose to create a new identity ahead of time so that by the time the collaboration fully ends the new company would already have been on firm footing.

Here are pictures from the launch and our very big thanks to the Overdrive Magazine from which’s website we have taken the liberty of taking the launch pictures.

New logo of Hero MotoCorp:  This taken from Indiancarsbikes.in

All Pictures Courtesy: Overdrive.in

Hero Impulse

Hero Maestro

Maruti’s new Swift model is expected to be launched officially in India on the 17th of August and bookings for the new model have reportedly crossed 40,000. Maruti has put up the picture of India specific Swift on it official Facebook page.

Picture Courtesy: Indian Autos Blog.com

Autocar India.com is carrying a news article on the launch of the Mercedes Benz SLK in India today.  The car reportedly is the SLK 350 and has a 3.5 litre direct injection V6 engine that pumps out 306 PS of power is linked to an automatic seven speed gear box.  Only  a few days ago we had featured pictures of the car in India.

Sometime ago news had emerged that Peugeot-Citroen had zeroed in on Oragadam in Tamil Nadu as the location of their manufacturing facility.  Now Indiancarsbikes.in says that the Peugeot group has not yet made up its mind. This means that Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh are still in the fray.  The Andhra Pradesh Govt had offered land to the French manufacturer at Re.1.  Though ICB says that the lack of stability in Andhra Pradesh due to the separate Telangana movement could be the reason for Peugeot staying away from the state, we think that the Telangana movement will have no bearing for Peugeot which was offered the said land near the Tamil Nadu border where the separate Telangana movement is of no consequence.  Hyderabad as an investment destination has taken a beating due to its being in the Telangana region.  If the French group move away from Tamil Nadu it will likely be to Gujarat a destination to which many manufacturers are making a beeline after Tata set their plant up in Sanand.

The innumerable photographs of a new Yamaha test mule brought to various internet sites by Mr. Vaibhav Saigal have raised the expectations of the enthusiasts because the mule has been undergoing extensive testing.  Some have said it may be a 170 or 180cc machine while others speculated that it would be 200-250cc machine.  Now all the speculation can be put to rest by a new picture clicked by one Mr. Ramakrishnan which clearly shows the exhaust can of the motorcycle clearly saying that it is the R15 as does the fairing. So much for hopes.

Pictures taken from Indiancarsbikes.in

Fiat globally is known for its robust small and medium size cars and also for its diesel engine technology.  In fact in India, most of the small and medium cars from various manufacturers use the 1.3 litre Multijet diesel engine from Fiat.  This engine does duty in the Vista and Manza cars from Tata, the Swift, the Dzire and the SX4 from Maruti and now a smaller version with one cylinder knocked off in the Chevrolet Beat.  This apart from the Punto and the Linea from Fiat’s own stables.  However, Fiat has not been able to sell cars in India the way it does internationally despite it offering cars that are solidly built, have the latest technology and are easy to operate.  In order to create more awareness among people in India about what Fiat is and what it stands for, Fiat has decided to open Fiat Cafes in collaboration with Coffee pub Lavazza.  In the Fiat-Lavazza Cafes one can have Italian pasta, Cappuccino while watching videos of the history and glory of Fiat as a company and its various successful cars.  Fiat will be putting its cars for display for good measure.  Fiat deserves to succeed in India. We hope that this initiative can turn their fortune around.

One of the reasons why Maruti Suzuki is such as success story is because of its ability to create new segments in the market rather than follow others into existing segments.  While the Innova is the biggest seller in the MPV space, Maruti realizes that to gun for the Innova is no easy task.  Therefore Maruti has decided to create a new niche in the MPV space with a smaller three front row facing 7-8 seater which is yet to be named but is being called the RIII, presumably because it has 3 rows of seats.  Pictures of test mules have been published before but more keep coming up.  The latest picture comes from Mr. Rajat Uppal, who is a fan of the Car and Bike show on NDTV.

Picture taken from Indian Autos Blog

More pictures of the sub Santro Hyundai HA (800cc) car have sprung up on the net.  Hyundai has high hopes resting on this car and is hoping to take away some of the stupendous sales that the Maruti Alto is experiencing.  The Tata Nano which was seen as a threat to the Alto came a cropper with inconsistent performance in the market.  Hyundai has a better track record than Tata so the new car could pose a threat to the Alto.  But Maruti is bracing for the attack and to counter all forms of attack it has evolved its own strategy of working on a new Maruti 800cc.  Obviously when someone sells as many cars per month as Maruti does with the Alto, other players are bound to want a piece of that pie.  But Maruti is the original small car king and therefore is bound have a few aces up its sleeve to repel the advances of the competition.

Pictures Courtesy: Team – Bhp, but pictures taken from Indianautosblog.com