Nissan launching Micra in July

Nissan yesterday confirmed that it will launch it's much awaited global city car, the Micra/March in India in July. The car, based on the V-Platform, will begin production in India in May 2010. Nissan-Renault's Chennai plant will be up and running by March this year and the Micra will be the first car to roll out of the factory. The Japanese carmaker will start exporting the small car from end of 2010 to European markets. While speaking to Dow Jones Newswires, Kiminobu Tokuyama, Nissan India's managing director, "We are well on track to open the new factory in March. Production will start in May and the first hatchback... will be sold from July."

Nissan aims to make a strong hold in the Indian market with a mass production vehicle like the Micra, as compared to small volume players like the Teana and the X-Trail. With a competitive price tag for the Micra, Nissan aims to take on its Japanese competitors like Suzuki, Toyota and Honda along with other players like VW, Tata and FIAT. Kiminobu Tokuyama concluded saying, "It's not too late, we are ready to challenge. We have come here to become a major player..."

Detroit auto show report: GM, Ford load up small cars for bigger profits

At the Detroit auto show, General Motors Co. and Ford Motor Co. revealed their comeback strategy for small cars: Adorn them with features seldom seen in domestic econoboxes, such as roomy computer gadgets, interiors ,turbo charged engines and sporty sheet metal.

For example, the redesigned 2012 Ford Focus—Ford’s biggest splash at the show—has touch-screen controls for navigation, climate contro ,phone and entertainment. The car, due in early 2011, also can download applications utilized on Apple’s iPhone.

The small-car segment, which has been taken over by Asian auto makers, will be a key battleground as gasoline prices rise and federal mileage standards get tougher. But many Americans who equate small with cheap may balk at high stickers on small cars.

GM and Ford are offering a range of high- and low-end versions of the new cars. At the high end, Ford wants to present consumers “aspirational” small cars that appeal to affluent buyers, said Jim Farley, Ford’s group vice president of global marketing.

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Tata and M&M join the Price Hike bandwagon!

Joining the recent list of car manufacturers who have increased prices of their vehicles are Tata Motors and Mahindra & Mahindra. Tata Motors has increased prices of its Indica and Indigo variants by around Rs.5000-8000. While M&M has increased the prices of its Xylo variants by around Rs.4,500, Scorpio variants by around Rs.6000-9,000, and Bolero variants by around Rs.5,000.

According to Arun Malhotra, Senior Vice President of Automotive Sector, Mahindra and Mahindra, the Primary reason for price hike across all vehicles is the rise in prices of the inputs required to make them.


BMW and Honda Siel Cars India have recently increased prices of their cars with Maruti Suzuki following suit. The main reason for the above manufacturers in increasing prices was also the rise in input costs along with the appreciation of foreign currency Yen. Hyundai is also expected to announce a price hike shortly.

According to Jnaneshwar Sen, Vice President Marketing, Honda Siel Cars India, the value of Yen has appreciated in the last few months along with the import content in their cars ranging from 24% in the City to 100% in the CRV which has increased the costs of manufacturing.

Volkswagen Phaeton will be launched in March

VW announced that their luxury saloon is slated for an official launch in March this year. The VW Pheaton will retail for around Rs.75 lakhs. The luxury saloon is offered with two engine options namely a 3.0 litre TDi V6 one developing 240Ps and the 6.0 litre W12 petrol one which produces 450PS.

Every Phaeton is hand-built at VW's glass factory located at Dresden in Germany. A buyer has the option of seeing his Phaeton being assembled from the intial stage when a chasis is selected. Onc e the luxury saloon goes on sale in the country, even our desi buyers will have the option of going to the factory and seeing their Phaeton being assembled or customised.

Speaking to the media after the unveiling , Neeraj Garg, Member of Board of Directors, Volkswagen Group Sales India, said that once the Phaeton is launched in March it would mark the manufacturer's foray into the high-end luxury segment.

Nissan 370z to be launched on 20th January

Expected Price: 45 Lakh (On-Road).
Specs: 3.7-litre V6, 332 bhp @ 7000 rpm, 366 Nm @ 5200 rpm


Just 2 days remain to the ‘Z’ cars launch in India. One of Japan’s most popular coupes will soon be landing up in Nissan showrooms across the metros. Known as one of the most entertaining coupes to drive, the 370Z stands in stark contrast to its clinical German adversaries. Elsewhere in the world it is also priced a good couple of lakh rupees cheaper than its rivals. It also debuts with a clever gizmo which automatically blips the throttle and matches the revs to the engine speed on downshifts, even with the manual gearbox!



But as the 370Z is coming through the CBU route, India will get only the top of the line versions, just like the Boxster. Sadly, the real ‘value for money’, variants won’t make it to our shores thanks to the 40,000$ minimum price limit enforced by our government on CBU imports. The Z car might not be anywhere in the league of its big brother GT-R but it will be a worthy adversary to German coupes be it the Porsche Boxster, Audi TT, BMW Z4 or the Mercedes SLK.
 

 

Maruti Suzuki Cars are now costlier!

Maruti Suzuki follows suit after Honda Siel Cars India and BMW recently increased the prices of their cars owing to rise in input costs, including that of steel. Most of the models will observe a rise in its price tag from the range of a few hundred rupees to as high as Rs 10,000 per car. The prices may vary as per on-road prices of various cities.

The company stated that the average increase in prices would be around 0.6 per cent. But, the Ritz VDi and the Swift Dzire LXi models will witness a rise of 0.12 per cent and 1.9 per cent respectively. However, the firm did not comment about the hike in terms of Rupees.

Maruti Suzuki also confirmed that it’s recently launched multi-purpose vehicle Eeco and the petrol engine powered Swift and Gypsy models will be spared from the price hikes.

A Maruti Suzuki official confirmed, “The price increase is to partly recover the increase in the input costs arising out of raw material costs over the past one year. For some models the increase in the costs are being absorbed by the company.”

Along with this, the company also confirmed that the introductory prices introduced in August last year for its refreshed Estilo has been withdrawn. As a result of this, the Estilo will now be costlier by Rs 1,234 to Rs 2,486 as per variants.

Maruti’s Swift and Swift Dzire get a more efficient engine

The cars within the stable of Maruti Suzuki which feature the K series engine will witness the addition of the Swift and the Swift Dzire within its family. Both the Swift hatchback as well as the Swift Dzire sedan will finally come with a K-series engine almost 7 long months after the same engine made its debut in the Ritz hatchback. This engine will be a 1.2-litre Bharat Stage – IV (BS – IV) compliant petrol engine, the BS-IV norms being the reason why Maruti finally had no choice left but to drop the archiac 1.3 litre unit. Maruti claims that the new engine along with a revised five-speed transmission system will boost the fuel efficiency to a whooping 17.9kmpl up from the old 1.3 litres 15.8 kpl. The diesel variants of both the cars also feature an upgraded engine which is compliant to the BS-IV norms. Ritz and A-Star are amongst the other models which are powered by the new K-series all-aluminium engines.

The new K12 Engine that powers the Ritz and A-Star will now be fitted to the Swift and Swift Dzire. This change has brought about an increase of Rs 10,000 to the price tag of Swift Dzire. However, the Swift's price remains unchanged.