Indiancarsbikes.in has reported that Hyundai is offering discounts on the petrol variants of all its cars except the Santa Fe that is imported as a CBU.  The newly launched Eon which is off to a reasonably good start is being offered with an exchange bonus of Rs. 10,000.  The Verna will be offered with a cash discount of Rs. 15,000, while the ageing Accent gets a cash discount of Rs. 30,000.  The Santro, the i20 and the i10 are being offered with discounts of Rs. 40,000, Rs. 42,000 and Rs. 50,000 respectively.  The slow selling Sonata is available for a discount of Rs. 82,000.  With almost all manufacturers offering pretty substantial discounts, December seems to be the month for the purchase of a car; big or small.

General Motors, the maker of the Chevrolet Spark and Beat is offering the petrol versions of the two cars at sub Rs. 3 lakhs and Rs. 3.5 lakhs base prices respectively.  Like most manufacturers Chevrolet is also trying to clear out inventories that have piled up, especially due to the rising petrol prices and the slowing down of the car market.  For more details of the discounts please visit a GM-Chevrolet dealer.

Mahindra is offering pretty big discounts on some of its cars for the year end clearance sale.  The Xylo has the biggest discount at Rs. 60,000 while the Scorpio and Verito have discounts of Rs. 45,000 and Rs. 35,000 respectively.  These are substantial discounts for competent vehicles that are doing quite well in the market place.  Head for the nearest Mahindra dealership and get the full details of the discounts.  Seems like a good time to buy a Mahindra.

Fiat is floundering yet again in India.  Sales have plummetted consistently through out this calender year though November has seen some minor improvements in the numbers sold. With the new year now approaching it seems Fiat wants to clear the inventory at the dealers.  Carwale.com has reported that the Linea sedan has discounts up to Rs. 1.7 lakhs while the Punto hatchback is being offered with discounts of up to Rs. 1.4 lakhs.  We are not sure which variants have this massive discount, but an educated guess is that it will be for the petrol cars.  If indeed the Punto has Rs. 1.4 lakhs as discount that is almost a quarter of the price of the car. Great deal, so head for the nearest Fiat dealership and find out the actual details.  You could be the owner of a spanking new Fiat.

Audi, the German luxury carmaker, today announced the winners of AUDI-INDIA Future of Change Automobile Design Contest & Business Strategy Contest. This unique nationwide contest attracted over 900 registrations and over 250 submissions, which had a mix of young professionals and students of top business and design schools across the country. Michael Perschke, Head, Audi India, handed over the first and second prize to the winners of Automobile Design and Business Strategy Contest during the CII – NID Design Summit, New Delhi

“We are delighted with the phenomenal business and design plans that AUDI – INDIA Future of Change has received from both students and young professionals. The idea of the contest was to create a space to nurture these young minds and give them a path to explore and harvest their innovative ideas. The participation from India’s leading design and business schools and working professionals truly demonstrates the tremendous level of zeal to learn and desire to succeed. Presentations by the finalists led to an intelligent exchange of ideas and showcased the vast creative potential, pioneering ideas and solutions for Future Urban Mobility and Business Strategy. At Audi India, we are delighted to encourage the gen-next to be catalysts for future growth and development in Indian luxury auto market”, said Michael Perschke, Head, Audi India.

After much filtering and many rounds of judging, the best 7 entries competed for the Automobile design contest finals and 8 students and 2 professionals competed for the Business Strategy Contest finals.  The AUDI – INDIA Future of Change Business Strategy Contest finals was held on 08 December at the International Management Institute (IMI), Delhi and 09 December saw the finalists presenting their Automobile design plans during the CII – NID Design Summit, New Delhi.

• Vijayendra Jadhavrao from NID, Ahmedabad emerged as the winner of Automobile Design Contest
• Sidharth Ramachandran and Ayushi Agarwal from IIM, Kozhikode emerged as winners of Business Strategy Contest
• Arun Vohra from Ricardo Consulting and Bhargavi AR from IHS Automotive emerged as winners of Business Strategy Contest in the professional category
• Prizes included traineeship with Audi Design Studio in Germany and an Audi Driving Experience in Dubai

The Tata Aria is by far the best car that Tata Motors have made but the customer’s are refusing to put down their money to buy it since they seem to believe that a vehicle with the Tata badge is not worth that much.  Tata’s efforts to bring out a pared down version in the form of 2 wheel drive have not yielded the desired results.  Tata dealers have therefore resorted to giving a massive Rs. 2 lakh discount in order to move stocks.  Not selling 2011 manufactured vehicles by December means that the value of the vehicle will depreciate massively even before it leaves the showroom.

Garware Motors, who are distributing the Hyosung range of motorcycles in India, have announced in Hyderabad during the opening of their new dealership, that the 250cc Hyosung GT 250 will be launched in four to six months time at a price point Rs. 2.25 lakhs.  One assumes that this price is for the fully faired version and that the naked version will be a little cheaper.  At Rs. 2.25 lakhs, the 250 cc V twin will be lower in price compared to the Kawasaki Ninja 250R but will be much more expensive than the Honda CBR250R that retails at Rs. 1.60 lakhs for the non ABS version.  Even though the Honda is single cylinder engined motorcycle its specs in terms of power output match those of the Hyosung.  It remains to be seen how this pans out for Garware Motors.  Garware has also said that they are considering the launch of Hyosung’s range of electricity driven two wheelers in about two years time and that Garware will be providing road side assistance and taxi service to customers in case of a break down.  That should get some customers on their side.

Mahindra Two Wheelers Ltd (MTWL), a part of the US $ 14.4 billion Mahindra Group, continued to build its presence in the two wheeler segment in November 2011. This December, the company has launched the new Mahindra Duro DX, a powerful, fuel efficient 125 cc scooter that is considered to be the most suitable scooter for tough Indian roads.  The company’s cumulative scooter sales from April to November 2011 stood at 1,00,268 units. Sales in November 2011 were 8034 units.

“After growing more than 30% in retail sales last month during the festive season, we have calibrated the billings to our dealer in November to clear the pipeline for the new Mahindra Duro DX. We are very excited about the launch of the new Duro DX. It is a powerful, fuel efficient 125 cc scooter and backed by our customer service reach, I am sure consumers will find it perfect for demanding Indian roads” said Mr. Viren Popli, Senior Vice President, Strategy & Market Development, Mahindra Two Wheelers.

The cumulative sales for the company have crossed a landmark figure of three lakh units, with both the Rodeo and Duro scooter brands having a franchise of more than one lakh consumers across the country. Mahindra 2 Wheelers’ powerful 125cc scooters cater to a range of consumer segments. The Mahindra Rodeo with its very innovative, contemporary features is popular amongst young couples, while the Mahindra Duro is positioned as a solid, family scooter. The Flyte is the Indian woman’s two-wheeler of choice.