Home / Cars / India

  • Maruti Suzuki Ertiga launched in India – it’s a Swift MPV

    In Cars, India, International News, Suzuki / By / / 21 comments


    Last week saw the launch of the Maruti Suzuki Ertiga in India. First shown at the Delhi Auto Expo earlier this year, Ertiga is the production version of the Concept rIII show two years earlier. Sitting on a extended Swift platform, the Ertiga is a seven-seat MPV with a 2-3-2 seating configuration, pretty much like a Toyota Avanza.

    But it’s a bigger car than the Toyota MPV. The Ertiga measures 4,265 mm long, and has a 2,740 mm wheelbase. Both figures shade the Avanza’s 4,150 mm and 2,655 mm. The second row of seats can slide back and forth, and there are 135 litres of cargo room with all seats in place, rising to 735 litres with two rows of seats folded down.

    The Ertiga also debuts a new K-Series, 1,373 cc VVT engine. This K14B unit makes 95 PS and 130 Nm of torque at 4,000 rpm. Indians also get a diesel option, the proven 1,248cc MultiJet engine with 90 PS and 200 Nm of torque at 1,750 rpm. Both are mated to a five-speed manual gearbox. The oil burner is claimed to be good for 20.77 km/l, over 4 km/l better than the petrol unit.

    There are six trim levels in India, from the 5.89 lakh LXi (RM34,726) to 8.54 lakhs (RM50,353) for the range topping ZDi. India’s auto market leader has collected 10,000 bookings for the Ertiga in five days following the launch, so it’s a big hit. The majority of those orders were for the diesel engine, despite it being more expensive variant.

    Exports to Indonesia will start next month. Is Malaysia in the plans somewhere down the line? Click here for a live gallery of the Ertiga from the Delhi Auto Expo.

    ertiga-01
    ertiga-02
    ertiga-03
    ertiga-04


     

  • Chevrolet MPV Concept unveiled at Delhi Auto Expo 2012

    In Cars, Chevrolet, India / By / / 38 comments

    General Motors India unveiled the Chevrolet MPV Concept at the 11th Auto Expo in New Delhi this week. The MPV Concept is a joint venture project between GM and SAIC, engineered for the B-segment MPV market in India and developed for emerging markets, which pretty much means it is a low cost Toyota Avanza/Nissan Grand Livina competitor.

    GM’s India Technical Center worked with Lotus Engineering for about a year and a half to tune the chassis. The body and chassis uses high strength and ultra high strength steel for chassis stiffness and safety. It can seat ether 7 or 8 people in a flexi-seating setup.

    chevrolet-mpv-0001
    chevrolet-mpv-0002
    chevrolet-mpv-0003

    chevrolet-mpv-0004
    chevrolet-mpv-0005
    MPV_04012012 (3)



    Live photos by MotorBeam.com

     

  • Tata Safari Storme – updated SUV debuts in New Delhi

    In Cars, International News, Tata / By / / 7 comments


    Click to enlarge.

    Tata has unveiled the Safari Storme at the Auto Expo 2012 in India. The new-generation SUV’s exterior has been reworked, with a new front grille, side cladding, new projector headlamps and all-new rear looks heading the list.

    Elswhere, the bonnet has also been given a restyling job to include a ‘power bulge’ to lend the Storme a sportier look, and the spare tyre has been relocated to under the vehicle. Other fresh items include new pull-type door handles and side footsteps, as well as newly-designed roof-rails, side cladding and a new tailgate trim, replete with an ergonomically-designed grab handle.

    The Safari Storme is powered by a 2.2 litre DiCOR diesel with a Variable Geometry Turbo, and has 140 PS at 4,000 rpm and 320 Nm at 1,700-2,700 rpm for numbers, with a five-speed G-76 Mark II manual transmission in attendance. There’s electronic shift-on-the-fly (ESOF), enabling switching from 2WD to 4WD mode while on the move, and the Storme offers a generous 200 mm of ground clearance, handy for those off-road moments.

    Tata has dressed up the Safari Storme’s cabin with the inclusion of beige seats matched with a leather-wrapped steering wheel, chrome highlighted gear knob, wood-accented dashboard and door trim, a new instrument cluster, chrome-lined speaker grilles and inside door handles.

    Other interior kit includes tilt-adjustable steering, dual air-conditioning with a separate integrated roof mounted blower for rear passengers and integrated 12V-gadget charging points across all three rows of seating.

    Safety-wise, there’s four-channel ABS with EBD, dual front airbags, disc brakes throughout and an Inertia Switch, which automatically cuts off the fuel supply to the engine, unlocks all the doors and switches on the hazard warning light in the event of a crash.

     

  • Tata Indica Vista Concept S2 – sporting things up, again

    In Cars, International News, Tata / By / / 10 comments


    Click to enlarge.

    The party at Auto Expo 2012 in New Delhi wouldn’t be complete without Tata Motors, and as expected, the Indian manufacturer has brought a number of new wares to the show, one of them being the Indica Vista Concept S2.

    The car is a reinterpretation of the form, as previously seen on the Indica Vista Sport, which came about at the last Auto Expo in 2010. The Concept S2 has a wider and wedge-like stance, and the design features a central volume that’s encased by two arrow-like flanks. A two-tone paint scheme – a matte metallic dark shadow and bright silver combination – and the use of aluminium and red accents helps highlight the shape further.

    Dress-up kit includes a metallic brow for the headlamps, a lower grilled with a polished black lip surround and signature LED daytime running lights at the front, while the rear gets a spoiler, restyled rear bumper and a stylised LED tail lamp cluster. The inclusion of side skirts completes the picture.

    Inside, the Vista Concept S2 gets a black-themed cabin, with sporty race bucket seats clad in black leather and a smaller diameter, sportier steering wheel among the cue changes.

    On the mechanical front, the car wears a turbocharged 1.4 litre petrol engine offering 140 PS at 6,000 rpm and 188 Nm of torque at 3,500 rpm, mated to a five-speed Fiat C510 manual gearbox with revised gear ratios. With disc brakes all around and a retuned and beefed up suspension, as well as 17-inch alloys and 205/40 series rubbers, Tata says this one is every bit the handler as it looks suggest.

     

  • DC Avanti – 2.0L Ford Ecoboost-powered Indian sports car

    In Cars, India, International News / By / / 45 comments

    Indian design house DC Design has come up with a sports car. Called DC Avanti, the red flat nosed two-door was unveiled at the India Auto Expo by Bollywood legend and car buff Amitabh Bachchan. DC plans to put India’s first sports car to production in 2013.

    “We intend to produce 300 units of the Avanti in 2013-2014 and if all goes well we could ramp up the production to go into four figures per annum,” DC Design founder Dilip Chhabria said.

    No big engine here, the mid engined DC Avanti will powered by a Ford 2.0L four-cylinder turbocharged EcoBoost engine with 261 bhp. A V6 variant with 394 bhp will follow. Both mills can be had with a 6 M/T or a six-speed dual clutch transmission. The Avanti, which uses aluminium extensively, weighs 1,560 kg, and 0-100 m/h will take less than seven seconds.

    DC Avanti
    331907_206396222785777_201302986628434_427081_292537451_o
    326005_206396042785795_201302986628434_427077_817920658_o
    329745_206395942785805_201302986628434_427074_2104234953_o


     

  • Bajaj RE60 – not a car, but a four-wheeler vehicle

    In Cars, India, International News / By / / 45 comments


    Click to enlarge.

    It has four wheels, has a car-like shape (can’t say if it drives like one though), but its maker says it isn’t a car. It’s the Bajaj Auto RE60, which was unveiled yesterday, ahead of the 2012 New Delhi Auto Expo.

    You’d be forgiven if you thought that the rather ungainly RE60 has come about to compete with the Tata Nano, the world’s cheapest car, but Bajaj says it’s not the case – rather, the 400 kg hatchback has been designed to give drivers of three-wheeled vehicles the chance to move up to the safer performance of a four-wheeler, on the cheap.


    Click to enlarge.

    The boxy vehicle measures in at 2.75 metres long, 1.31 metres wide and 1.65 metres tall, and is powered by a whopping 20 hp 200 cc engine, which is rear-mounted. The little mill is capable of running on LPG and CNG as well as petrol, and gives the RE60 a 70 km/h top speed. Bajaj says that the car will give 35 km to the litre in regular use.

    The RE60, on which work began in 2007, will be made at Aurangabad, which is where Bajaj produces its three-wheeler range. It’s expected to roll in cheaper than the Nano, but then again, it’s not being tagged as a car.

     

  • India’s Mahindra & Mahindra linked to bankrupt Saab

    In Cars, India, International News, Mahindra, Rumours, Saab / By / / 5 comments

    Saab may be bankrupt financially, but it has no lack of suitors. After rumours of a sale to the Turkish government surfaced last week, word has it that India’s biggest SUV maker is an interested party. The said company is Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd, which is interested in buying at least parts of bankrupt Swedish carmaker, two people familiar with the situation said.

    The maker of the Scorpio is in the process of trying to set up meetings with the two court-appointed administrators who are overseeing Saab’s bankruptcy, according to the sources, who want to remain anonymous because the plans are private. M&M spokeswoman Roma Balwani declined to comment.

    M&M is no stranger to buying a bankrupt company. In early 2011, the Indian brand completed the purchase of a 70% stake in SsangYong Motor Co for about $368 million, as it sought to benefit from the South Korean company’s technology and international sales network. After the takeover, SsangYong revealed that it plans to spend more than 240 billion won ($208 million) on product development and brand building in the year, hinting at M&M’s financial muscle.

    Recently, Mahindra also bought out Renault’s stake in the Logan sedan joint venture and took control of Bangalore-based Reva Electric Car Co, so its appetite is obvious. Is Saab about to join the list?

     

  • Tata Nano improved for 2012 – more power and economy

    In Cars, India, International News, Tata / By / / 40 comments

    The Tata Nano, famous as the world’s cheapest car, hasn’t been as hot-selling as Tata has hoped, although it has been hot enough to catch fire occasionally. Tata seeks to reverse this (sales, not fire risk) by improving the small car for 2012. More power, more economy, more features, but at the same price, is the formula used.

    The 600 kg Nano’s 624 cc engine gets slight improvements – it now puts out 38 PS (was 35 PS) and 51 Nm of torque (was 48 Nm). Claimed best case fuel consumption is now 25.4 km/l from 23.6 km/l. The nano has a top speed of 105 km/h and the ability to climb 30% inclines.

    There’s also a revised suspension set-up, including an anti-roll bar at the front, a “steering mechanism made even easier” plus a racier sounding exhaust note for “a more assertive road presence.” Booster-assisted brakes, already available in the CX and LX trim, have now been added to the Standard as well. There’s also the addition of bright new colours, including the likes of Neon Rush, Mojito Green and Papaya Orange.

    The better news for Indians is that there will be no price increase. The Nano Standard is priced at Rs.1.40 lakhs (RM8,500), the Nano CX Rs.1.70 lakhs (RM10,300) and Rs.1.96 lakhs (RM11,870) for the top spec Nano LX, which includes kit like central locking, front power windows, body coloured bumpers, fog lamps, electronic trip meter and full wheel covers. Downpayment starts from a low Rs.15,000 (RM908) with financing tenure up to 60 months.

     

  • India’s Premier Rio CRDI is a diesel-powered Kembara!

    In Cars, India, International News, Perodua / By / / 25 comments

    Miss the Perodua Kembara? Some might, but we reckon most don’t. Here’s something you might not know – the Kembara a.k.a. Daihatsu Terios is still on sale in India today, where it’s known as the Premier Rio. Billed as “India’s first compact SUV”, the Rio is available as a 1.2 petrol (77 PS/104 Nm) or a 1.5 turbodiesel with 65 PS and 152 Nm.

    India’s car buyers have embraced diesel big time, but the Rio diesel hasn’t been selling well. That’s because the current oil burner doesn’t meet the country’s Bharat Stage IV emissions standards (we’ll just have to wait till 2014) that most big cities already use – it’s just BSIII compliant. But reports mention that from next year, the Rio will be adopting a BSIV compliant diesel engine to be more competitive.

    This diesel engine is question is said to be the 1.3-litre Multijet sourced from Fiat. Indians are very familar with this license built engine, as it also powers top selling cars like the Maruti Swift and Tata Indica Vista, among other models. The proven engine puts out 75 PS and 190 Nm at 2,000 rpm, which should be very useful in small cars.

    Perhaps if we had such an engine with the Kembara, we would have missed it more!

     

  • Mahindra launches XUV500 in India – 2.2L VGT Diesel

    In Cars, India, Mahindra / By / / 37 comments

    Mahindra has launched a new SUV called the XUV500 in India. This modern looking seven seater SUV, viewed as the company’s most important SUV since the Scorpio, is also a landmark model – the XUV500 is the first Indian SUV to be built around a car-style monocoque chassis, which means no ladder frame and truck like suspension here.

    The XUV500 is powered by a 2.2-litre mHawk engine with Variable Geometry Turbocharger, VGT. This diesel engine is already found in the old school bodied Scorpio, but boast better figures here: 140 hp and 330 Nm of torque from 1,600 to 2,800 rpm. Indian customers can choose between FWD and AWD variants, but both share a six-speed manual gearbox.

    By the way, the Mahindra Scorpio is sold in Malaysia by USF, and the RM113k seven seater comes with a 120 hp/290 Nm version of the mHawk diesel lump, paired to a six-speed auto ‘box.

    Quantum leap in looks aside, the XUV500 should be a more comfortable ride than the Scorpio, since it comes with monocoque chassis, front MacPherson struts and rear multi link suspension. It sits much lower to the ground on those 235/65 R17 rubber, and the wheelbase is quite long at 2,700 mm. The AWD is of the full-time on demand variety, and it’s not a serious off roader. No diff lock, but there’s hill descent control.

    Attractive ex showroom Delhi prices start from Rs 10.8 lakh (RM70,400) for the 2WD W6 spec to Rs 12.88 lakh (RM83,900) for the range topping AWD W8 model.

     
 
1 2 3 … 12
 
 
 
 
 

Archives