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Friday, 3 July 2009
2009 Maruti Grand Vitara Launched
The new Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara is out! The new version of the premium SUV from Maruti Suzuki comes with an upgraded 163.5 bhp 2.4-litre petrol engine with VVT (Variable Valve Timing) technology that replaces the 119.5 bhp 2.0-litre engine on the previous model. The new Grand Vitara 2.4 is offered in two variants: Manual Transmission (MT) and Automatic Transmission (AT). The 2009 Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara 2.4 adds many new exciting features that help it compete better with segment rivals Honda CR-V, Chevrolet Captiva, Hyundai Tucson, and Ford Endeavour. The lavish interior of the car carries a new Multi Information Display (MID) system and 6-CD changer audio system with a centre speaker on the dashboard for better sound effect. The Multi Information System delivers information on the cruising range, average speed, and instantaneous fuel consumption with “low-fuel” warning. There is also a sliding centre-console armrest for added passenger comfort.  On the exterior, a stylish new grille and front bumper give the SUV an urbane look and the 17 inch alloy wheels add dynamism. The Grand Vitara’s all-time, 4-mode, 4-Wheel Drive (4WD) system ensures good handling on tough roads and rear disc brakes deliver additional safety. The new Grand Vitara 2.4 has around 32 reputed awards across 16 countries under its belt. In more challenging car markets such as U.S.A, Germany, Russia, and Australia, the car has gathered 18 of these awards. Maruti Suzuki has made the SUV available immediately at all its dealerships across India. The manual transmission variant is priced at Rs 16.67 Lakh and the automatic at Rs 17.97 Lakh (Ex-showroom Price Delhi). Labels: 2009-Maruti-Suzuki-Grand-Vitara, Maruti-Suzuki-Grand-Vitara-2.4, New-Car-Launch, New-SUV-Launch
Goodwood Speed Festival is on
The Mother of all speed fests, The Goodwood festival of speed is here. The fest which starts from July 3 to July 5 is also rightly called as one of the greatest events of moving motor show in United Kingdom of Britian. Goodwood is a place located very close to Chichester and Bognor Regis in the south east part of England. Goodwood festival of Speed is where all the speed enthusiasts gather to worship (literally) the speed machines. Goodwood is the place where people celebrate motoring amidst a festive like atmosphere. There are races for every kind of passenger cars old, new, rugged and pimped up cars. Here is a place when old cars would not hesitate to race against new cars and cartoonish cars parading happily in the sunny weather. This year as many as 350 cars are expected to participate in the festival. A total of 120 race car drivers including two reigning world champions plus, a current F1 world champion are going to participate in the car racing events. A lot of legendary race cars like the Porsche 917 and Ferraris and others will be participating in the event. Over 30 new passenger cars, soon to go for production will be seen for the first time during this festival. Also on display will be many old cars including the vintage classic cars like Pre war Auto Union and Mercedes-Benz Silver Arrow Racers, comprising of legendary Mercedes-Benz racing cars. A unique Supercar run is also organised wherein the supercars will be in action on a hill climb event. Many new Supercars will make their debut at the festival including the Bugatti Veyron Gran Sport, Mercedes Benz SLR, Mclaren SLR Stirling Moss, Ferrari Scuderia Spider 16M and Pagani Zonda R. This is so revered that German car manufacturer Audi AG is organising a special event to commerate its centennial year celebrations. Audi is the featured brand for this event and there will on a fantastic display of many historic Audi racing cars including the C and D-type grand Prix cars from 1930’s. On display will be the Audi R10 TDI which is fresh from the win at the prestigious Le-Mans Race in France. This event holds more enthusiasm for common car buyers than the biggest events in motorsports history. Come lets us all celebrate motoring in the spirit of the festival!!! Labels: Ferrari-Cars, Racing-Cars, Super-Car
Happy Days Will Soon Be Over
The impending new budget, plans to pull back the 4 per cent waiver on excise duties that was introduced last December. This comes as a virtual blow to the Indian car buyer who would have to shell extra bucks on his new car. When the waiver was in effect, even luxury cars were offered at Rs 50,000 less than the actual price tag of the car. If this excise duty is restored car prices will spike up and car ownership will become very difficult. The Indian Government had offered a 4 percent waiver as a part of its stimulus package to the auto industry when economic slowdown was at its peak. The package helped many car companies in India remain buoyant in those hard times. Even the big players like Maruti Suzuki and Hyundai Motors thanked the government for extending such a generous incentive and had requested to continue it. The car manufacturing lobby is working hard to pressurize the government to continue with this incentive for another year. Infact, the magnificent performance of Auto Inc in June is attributed to the rush to buy their favourite cars at lower prices. People would be saving money if they bought the car now than later. The government is adamant on restoring the excise duty at all costs and if it is bought back, the car industry in India will be hit the hardest. It may go back to days of slowdown and even post negative growth. On the other hand people buying cars later in the year will be paying more for the same car compared to their peers who buy it before the budget. This is unfair on new car buyers later in the year. The government needs to rethink about the practicality about bring back a law that would scare way new car buyers in India. Labels: Indian- Car-Buyers, Luxury-Cars, Maruti-Suzuki
Hybrids: The Future Of Car Industry
While motown Detroit is in crisis with the Big Three running for cover, a new breed of carmakers is emerging on the scene. These pedigree carmakers are aiming high and big to manufacture greener modes of transportation in new ways. They’re scrambling for billions in government aid intended to jump-start production of vehicles that burn little fossil fuel – or no fuel at all. (You have our solidarity guys, Go ahead !!!) But who will produce these vehicles? What will they look like? Will that be acceptable? Lots of questions such as these will soon be answered in this blog. The CEO of Bright Automotive is looking forward for a vehicle that looks like a delivery van as conceptualized by Pixar Animation. “IDEA” yep, that’s the name. It is chunky, blocky, yet curved with wheel skirts and a little up-swooped at the back that adds attitude. You can almost hear it speaking in a chirpy cartoon voice!!! Inside IDEA’s silver sheet metal is plug-in hybrid technology that will power it an estimated 100 miles on a gallon of gas. If Mr. Waters has it his way, thousands of these cuddly vans will seen across the globe. Bright Automotive is hardly the only US firm with an idea like IDEA (Bright Ideas, Eh?). At least half-dozen start-up companies are struggling to build the next-generation automobile. But after recession, the car industry at least looks greener with loads of emphasis being given on hybrids. In the U.S, 13 hybrid models were available in 2007. By 2011, at least 75 models would hit the showrooms. In Europe, where fuel economy requirements are tougher, the transition could be even more dramatic. Roland Berger and J.D. Power estimate that the market for hybrids/ electric vehicles could rise to 50 per cent by 2015 – up from 2 per cent in 2007. Electric-cars are more expensive, at least for now. But in the longer run, the power source of a car may depend on its usage. Runabout cars for shopping and school drop-offs could be straight electric. Commuter vehicles that take longer trips downtown might need the extended-range capability of a hybrid. So brace yourselves for the future invasion of hybrid cars. Yes Sir, we’re all buckled up for the occasion. Labels: Car-Industry, Fuel-Economy, hybrid cars
Thursday, 2 July 2009
Hyundai i20 Diesel to Tread Indian Roads
 The much awaited diesel variant of Hyundai i20 will be launched in India by the end of next week. This move by Hyundai Motors India to launch the diesel variant of the stylish i20 will win itself more diesel aficionados in India. Hyundai i20 diesel is already being manufactured and sold in the European markets. It was speculated that Hyundai as a part of its plans for India would be launching its diesel variants of i20 after the launch of Fiat Grande Punto and Honda Jazz to study the mood of the people in India. But now with some clever pricing, (we are hoping Hyundai reads this blog) i20 diesel could be a money spinner for Hyundai in the near future. (No Hyundai, we don’t charge on tips that we give.) The new diesel car will be powered by a 1.4 liter, 16 valve CRDi engine and is expected to deliver 89 bhp of power at 4000 rpm. The Hyundai i20 will comes with all essential features like rear wiper, ABS, airbags (surprisingly it has 6 of them!). The best part is that the engine is not noisy unlike other typical diesel engines. Moreover, it will have Variable Geometry Turbo Charger and not a Fixed Geometry Turbo Charger which is found in other diesel cars in the segment. The i20 diesel unlike the petrol variants will have a button in the place of reverse gear next to the 5th gear. This reverse button has to be pushed and the knob has to be slightly moved near the 1st gear to get into the reverse mode. Labels: Diesel-Cars, Hyundai-i20, Hyundai-Motor-India
Carnation opens First of Its Kind Enterprise
Carnation Auto, a brainchild of Jagadish Kattar, former CEO of Maruti Udyog limited and a retired bureaucrat, a multi-brand car servicing venture has opened nine outlets simultaneously in nine Indian cities and plans to come up with 20 more outlets. Carnation Auto is the first of its sort auto venture where cars from multiple brands are sold under one roof. Each outlet will also prove to be an interface between branded spare parts, manufacturers and the consumers. Car servicing in India will reach new levels of competence as car owners will no longer be required to go exclusive centres in their city.  Carnation Auto will be a one stop shop for buying new accessories including those manufactured by private labels and getting car serviced by trained technicians. People owning more than one brand of car can get their car serviced and repaired under one roof rather than shuttling to various car brand showrooms. In fact, Carnation appears to be aimed at the urban centres where a lot of people own more than one brand of vehicle. On the other hand there have been many instances when buyers have bought news cars from certain showrooms because it was nearer to their residences. Though India is ranked among the 10 fastest growing car markets of the world, auto solution have been far and few. The brightest idea in car industry after car manufacturers was opening certified used car outlets which helped manage the business of old car. Now a bulk of revenues for car manufacturers come from these certified outlets. However, there was no focused approach to provide servicing to all car owners at the same time. Carnation has come in to answer that prayer. Labels: Car-Servicing, multi-brand mall
Interest Rates Ease to Revive Car Business
Times sure are changing in the Indian automotive industry. First there were a slew of new car launches which put cars back in minds of consumers, and then came the low interest rates on car loans. Recently State Bank of India (SBI) slashed interest rates to a mere 8 percent. At the same time other banks continue to peddle car loans at around 10.5 percent to 12 percent. As soon as SBI announced the rates, other banks too felt the heat. Since nobody wants to be left behind in the race for a good business, more banks are planning to bring down interest rates on their own. This means that the Indian car industry will be back in good business after the slowdown. Indian car manufacturers have been whining about high interest rates on car loans for the last couple of years. They were particularly affected during the economic slowdown, when interest rates continued to remain high and cars sales remained low. Car buyers in India preferred to stay away from the showroom for most part of 2008 and early 2009. Moreover the deficit in Tata Nano bookings was also attributed to this factor. But come July, things seem to be changing for the better. There is new enthusiasm in the car industry. Car loans are falling and car sales are expected to go up. Probably some of them would include Honda Motors owing to Jazz, Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai and General Motors. It is well known that at least 75 percent of the car buyers in India depend on car financing. If interest rates on car loans are going to be low, the consumer base will certainly increase and thereby deliver good benefits to car companies and the banks alike. Labels: Car-Loans, Interest-Rate-On-Car-Loans
All New Exciting Civic by 2011
Honda Siel is relaxing a bit after the launch of its first small car Jazz in India. But now it looks like that the relaxing period is over and they are back to work with new plans and strategies. The car brand had upgraded its sedan Honda City making it more charming and now it is time for the sporty model Civic is said to get a facelift. Off late Civic has not been tinkered for the last few years after it had been launched. But this time Honda plans to do a lavish maker over for this ‘hot’ sedan. The Honda Civic is already a striking car with trendy design, commendable performance, and luxurious features. Some of the minor changes that the car is speculated to carry are tweaked nose, impressive five sided geometric edge grille which replaces the existing smiley grille. An upgraded front bumper with sporty dynamism is a revelation to the Civic. The stunning sedan will have re-designed tail lamps with squared-out-edges while retaining the “after-burner” look. The price tag will be a little premium that this car will be carrying. In a typical Honda mid-life tweak, the new face-lifted Honda Civic would go on sale before an all-new model from Honda is expected in 2011. Labels: Honda-Civic, Honda-Motors
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