New BMW 5-Series Unveiled

The oldest surviving mainstream BMW, the 5 Series is up for replacement. (has been around since the 3rd season of TopGear, you know!). Here are some leaked pictures released on the internet ahead of its release tomorrow. Thanks to Adrian Van Hooydonk’s (BMW’s design head) de-Bangling of all BMWs, the new 5 series looks much more conservative than its predecessor.

It is based on the recently-launched 5 series GT’s platform, which itself is based on a shortened 7-Series’ platform.


What will be music for the enthusiast’s ears is the fact that the M division has already started work on the next M5, which will get the X5M’s force-inducted heart, a clean departure from its naturally aspirated lineage. And for the benefit of the geeks, BMW has gone all out and progressed one character further in their nomenclature calling it the F10 (there will be separate codes for the estate/touring – F11, F10M for the M5 and F7 for the GT).

Hyundai Verna to get some nip-tuck

After the Ford Fiesta and the Maruti-Suzuki SX4, now it is the Hyundai Verna’s turn to go under the surgeon’s knife. Just like the ‘A-Star’ is actually the current Alto and the Laura, is actually the current Octavia, the Verna is actually the current Hyundai Accent for the rest of the world. But, it has been renamed as ‘Verna’ so that Hyundai can keep selling the old Accent in India as well. Thanks to some new competition in the form of the Linea and the recent botox shot filled rivals, Verna’s market share has diminished. To regain the lost numbers, it will soon get a mostly external makeover. The major changes will be the grille, the headlights and the front bumper as well as some tit-bits like the turn indicators housed on the RVMs. The mechanicals will be carried over unchanged.

We have never really been big fans of the Verna’s looks any ways and in our honest opinion, the face-lift just makes it look ‘different’ but not really any better.

Merc Baby SLS on the Anvil

Now that you have just recovered from the one-sided love affair with the Mercedes SLS, behold another mantrap from the same family. What you see here is the second installment of pure automotive bliss from AMG. Just like the bigger (and costlier) SLS which is the first car to be developed, grounds up by AMG, the baby SLS will give some serious competition to biggies like the 911, Audi R8, Ferrari California and Aston Martin V8 Vantage.


It is rumored that the baby SLS will revive the SSK tag from 1928. It will use a lightweight aluminum space-frame chassis and a double wishbone suspension, at all four corners. It will sport an all-new 500bhp twin-turbocharged 5.4-litre V8 engine that is being developed for the upcoming CLS55 AMG mated to a seven-speed double-clutch transaxle and locking diffs from the SLS.

However, the best part of the news is that the SSK will be around £70,000 cheaper than the SLS which means that it will retail for £85,000 (Rs. 66 lakh, excluding taxes). So whenever Merc decide to get their baby to India, which will be around mid-2013, expect it to retail for a cool 1.5 Crore Rs.


*** Image courtesy autocar.co.uk***

FIAT's city car confirmed for 2011

A few days back, we revealed Honda’s plans of launching a small car specifically for India powered with a 1.1-litre petrol engine. Close on the heels of this news, we learn that even FIAT is readying a small car that will be designed and developed specially for India. With the design finalized, we hear that a clay prototype of the car is ready with the Italian’s firm design studio in Turin. A fully functional set of prototypes are expected to reach the firm’s Ranjangoan factory by early 2010 where the rigorous testing will commence.

If pointers given by FIAT are to be believed, then expect the new car to employ a wide array of engines ranging from a frugal 600cc to a competitive 1.1-litre mill. The car will be powered by petrol initially, while a small turbo-diesel engine might be in the pipeline. Designed specifically for India and its traffic conditions, the car will be placed between the A and B segments in terms and pricing and features – where it will take on the likes of the i10 and A-star. Similar to Hyundai and Suzuki, FIAT too will make India a production hub for the city car and will export it to the European markets to begin with. The car may well be christened the ‘Topolino’ – an old classic like the 500, which FIAT has hinted at reviving since early last year.

Expected: Q2 2011

Price bracket: Rs. 2.5-lakh to 5-lakh
Engines: 600cc & 1.1-litre petrol

Mercedes SLS AMG rolled out in Germany

Mercedes’ news supercar, the SLS AMG is now available across all AMG showrooms in its homeland, Germany. The SLS retails for a whopping price tag of 177,310 Euros, which translates to 1.22 Crore rupees without taxes. And if Mercedes were to get a couple of them for their favorite Indian clients it would cost them Rs. 3.08 Crore (On-Road). If however, these lucky folk decide to tick some of the ‘optional extras’ boxes, then they would have to shell out some more, for example, 11,305 Euros (Rs 7.81 lakh) for the carbon ceramic brakes and 1200 Euros (Rs. 83,000) for the AMG performance suspension.

Thankfully though, with the SLS’ ballistic performance and the fact that it’s the purest handling Mercedes so far, the price tag seems like a bargain. Its predecessor, the SLR McLaren was almost twice as expensive and not even half as good!
 
Specs:

6.2 - litre V8
563 bhp, 650 Nm
1620 kg

Honda is developing small car for India

Honda will be launching its small car for the Indian market by mid 2012. The research and development department of the company is currently working on its small car codenamed 2CV. Honda's small car will be manufactured at its factory in Rajasthan and powered by a 1.1 liter engine. The Japanese auto major has officially revealed that all plans of the new small car are going as per schedule. The company is aiming for an affordable price range of around Rs. 4.5 lakh for the 2CV.


According to Takanobu Ito, President and CEO, Honda Motor Corporation, the company had to prioritise the market as selling cars has become very difficult the world over.He revealed that the company's top priority is India and China where it would like to grow as much as possible. He further said that India is a market with great potential though the company does not have any plans for an ultra low-cost car but it believes that it can develop a product to be sold across various customer segment.


Takanobu declined to comment on a likely date for the formal launch of this product. He said that they are currently researching on a small car for India which has to be packaged to meet the requirement of Indian customers. He revealed that this car would be smaller than Honda's Jazz.

Tata Nano to be tweaked further!

The Tata Nano has very rightfully earned its title as the world’s most cheapest/affordable car. But however, after certain feedback received by Tata Motors, the firm has announced its plans to further tune or tweak the Nano. The tuning will be done within six months with an intention to improve the performance offered by the car.

Presently, the car has a rev limit up to 5000rpm which will be raised to 6000rpm to facilitate better acceleration, especially in the first two gears. The car may also feature a new five-speed gearbox. But however, this feature will not be introduced in India. The reason behind this is that Tata Motors does not want to increase the electronically limited top speed of 105kmph. The company has cited safety reasons for the move. A Tata Motors engineer stated, “With a top speed of 105kph, five gear ratios are unnecessary and could result in excessive gear changing for the driver.”

The car will feature a modified outside rear view mirror (ORVM) assembly. The assembly is ready to be introduced but needs ARAI approval. The car presently features an ORVM which has to be adjusted by the movement of the entire unit. The new design will make the job easier. The new ORVM can be adjusted from within the housing itself (only mirror movements). The new design will be further upgraded to feature electrically powered mirrors. The car will also feature a check-strap to limit the door opening.

The Tata Nano presently lacks a tail-gate that can be opened. Due to this, the luggage area can only be accessed only from within the car by folding the rear seat. The car will soon feature a new tail-gate that will not have visible hinges. This will keep up the smoothness of the shape of the Nano.