Carazoo Indian Car Blog

Audi Technology

The best brains of Audi have come up with an innovation that will take the frustration out of waiting for traffic signals.

Audi’s innovative system, christened as Travolution, is an awesome technology. This system will inform the driver in advance when the traffic lights ahead is going to change and whether the car will pass the signal at the current speed. The most interesting part of this advanced system is that if there is no traffic on road, then this latest invention by Audi will automatically turn the signal green. The system would be supported by new hardware installed at every traffic signal. Isn’t it something exciting and convenient?

This device is still under development and is being tested in Ingolstadt, Germany.

Such advanced technology will have a greater impact in Indian car market but sadly as every goodie comes last to India, so will this Audi Travolution.

Labels: Audi, Audi- Travolution, Indian-Car

 

posted by Carazoo.com @ Monday, September 29, 2008 1 Comments

Next in Line is i40

With so many new cars coming to the Indian car market, Hyundai is also busy is producing a new premium sedan for the country.

Speculations in the air murmur that the proposed new car will christened as i40. The first launch of ‘I’ series by Hyundai was i10, a car that is successfully running on Indian roads. Thereafter, the company introduced the most fuel-efficient kappa engine in the car to make the car more reliable with better fuel economy.

Driven by the positive response of Hyundai i10, the company decided to launch another i-series car christened as i20. The new car is expected to launch by the end of this year, expected to create a benchmark in the Indian car market.

Now, when the company is almost near the launch of i-20, Hyundai is in plans to roll out another i-series, codenamed i-40. But, this new car will not follow the hatchback trend; it will be an exciting premium sedan.

The exterior appeal of i-40 is expected to be a blend of Mercedes-Benz C-Class and Audi A4. This is also said to be revamped version of the existing Hyundai Sonata. The car is to be launched in Korea in 2009 and is speculated to roll out in India in the next couple of months.

Labels: Audi, Hyundai, Indian-car-market, Mercedes-Benz, New-Cars

 

posted by Carazoo.com @ Monday, September 15, 2008 3 Comments

SUVs Glorious Days are Over

Gone are the days for SUVs when they were highly appreciated and liked by Indian consumers. But rising inflation and high fuel prices have now put an end to the production of SUVs. Car manufacturers across the country especially the ones like Mahindra & Mahindra who are mainly into the production of SUVs are facing a tough time.

These huge cars are numbered as high fuel guzzlers and have a bad eco-image. This has reduced the sale of Mahindra Scorpio, Toyota Innova, Maruti Gypsy and other cars in segment.

With a keen desire to fight the battle and raise the market for SUVs, car manufacturers are now hunting for better and reliable alternatives that can drive the sale of these cars. The Mercedes, BMW, Audi and the Porsche are also planning to enter the SUV segment and produce compact cars in the segment with the combination of off-road qualities and luxury comforts.

Will the past days come back for SUVs?

Labels: Audi, BMW, Mahindra-and-Mahindra, Mercedes, Porsche, SUVs

 

posted by Carazoo.com @ Monday, August 18, 2008 4 Comments

Stay Stylish with the Best Premium Car

It’s really a difficult decision to judge the best premium executive cars with excellent Mercedes C class, delectable BMW 3 series and heart rendering Audi A4 leading the premium car segment.

After the launch of these three cars in the Indian market, there is a tough competition between them. No one is able to decide which car is the best. All have their own specific features, appealing design and exclusive performance.

Mercedes C class provides a comfortable and superlative ride along with better road stability and communicative steering.

BMW offers high end models with wonderful interiors, innovative features and attractive design. The 3 series has rear wheel drive with better driving experience.

The latest contender, Audi A4, is creating a revolution in the segment. The car is exclusively designed with a classic shape, super cool touches, dynamic design, and superb ride comfort. The car is perfect for Indian roads with all wheel drive to improve traction and enhance road stability.

Among these three excellent and delectable contenders of premium car segment, it’s really difficult to choose one. Which one will you choose?

Labels: Audi, Best Cars, BMW, Luxury -Cars

 

posted by Carazoo.com @ Monday, July 28, 2008 3 Comments

Audi’s New Sport Car to Arrive Soon

All sports car enthusiast! Be ready to quench your thirst for race cars with Audi’s new R8 model. The German luxury car manufacturer is all set to launch its sporty R8 model in India by autumn this year.

This exclusive model combines incomparable high performance, unique design and include features for day-to-day drivability. The car comes with 420 hp of its 4.2 V8-FSI engine and has aluminum frame body. It just matches up with its body shape and provides more varieties of choices to customize interiors according to the customer’s druther. Wow! It’s a cool option.

India has been a significant market for Audi and there is a marvelous interest for the Audi by the Indian car buyers. First customer pre-orders are already placed at Audi dealerships in India.

The car has already won several awards in Germany and Europe along with a double triumph at the 2008 World Car of the year awards like “World Performance Car” and the `World Car Design of the Year’.

Do you think the car will be to make a similar impression in India? Well, we have to wait till its roll out for Indian roads.

Labels: Audi, New-Cars, Sport-Car

 

posted by Carazoo.com @ Wednesday, July 23, 2008 1 Comments

Audi Absorbs Import Duty

Audi, German luxury car brand, plans to absorb import taxes on its newly launched A4 sedan to India instead of transferring the cost of import to the consumer. The only reason to absorb taxes is to maintain the announced price tag of the new Audi A4 before its launch.

Volkswagen Audi is planning to start local operation for A4 at its Aurangabad facility by the end of this year. Till then, Audi is not willing to have a price difference just because of the import duty levied on the A4 for the next few months. After local production starts, the company will save on import taxes to bring down the cost price of the car.

This will make the car affordable to most Indian buyers. The company announces Audi A4 to be the cheapest Audi car in the country, costing Rs. 29 Lakh (ex-showroom Mumbai) for the diesel version. The expected sales target for A4 is about 300-400 units this calendar year.

Audi is also committed to locally manufacturing its other luxury cars like the A6, A8, TT Coupe and Q7 by the next fiscal year.

Labels: Audi, luxury cars, new car launch

 

posted by Carazoo.com @ Tuesday, July 15, 2008 3 Comments

Audi wants electric cars

Electric cars have become the new research area in auto sector. It could be the answer to the fuel problem and increasing pollution witnessed today. Fossil fuel is drying up fast, but car consumerism is increasing like never before. Almost all Asian countries have big car market. If this trend continues, one day we may have several cars but no fuel to run.

In order to search an alternative to avoid this possibility, several car manufacturers are opting for electric cars. Audi is now contemplating on developing electric cars too. The company plans to launch it in 5-10 years. It will have zero emission. Audi is a late entrant in the alternative fuel research field. Although, it has a larger research department than that of Mercedes Benz, Audi has now turned its attention to develop electric cars.

Audi has been in the forefront of car engineering and the same can be easily repeated with the electric cars. However, Audi may not wish to compromise on the key factors like speed and performance, which has brought in several laurels.

Labels: Audi, Electric Cars

 

posted by Carazoo Blog @ Tuesday, May 06, 2008 2 Comments

Audi’s new A4 at the price of locally assembled car

Audi has always been synonymous with luxury and comfort. It would never give any chance to its customers to blame it for quality as it keeps releasing new version of its luxury cars very frequently to attract more customers. Now, Audi is releasing the new A4 luxury sedan in July with certain modification and additional features. The A4 will be sold at the price of locally assembled car in India.

Though the new A4 will be imported initially, it will sport the price tag of a locally assembled car. The new version of A4 was already launched in Europe a few months ago and became a grand success there. Audi India will assemble the A4 at its plant at Shndra and expects to sell 500 units of the new A4 in the first year.

Labels: A4, Audi, Luxury car segment, Luxury sedan, new car launch

 

posted by Carazoo Blog @ Tuesday, March 25, 2008 4 Comments

Luxury cars are selling big time

Indian car enthusiasts have always been passionate about luxury cars. They have an undying spirit and love for owning such cars. This obsession with luxury cars may be one of the strongest reasons for the success of Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Audi, and the likes.

Within a span of a few years, the Indian car industry has started to become swarmed with famous global car brands from renowned car manufacturers who have globally proved their mettle. These car companies have received a great response to their luxury cars. Most of their sedans, small cars and SUVs have become a grand success inspite of being highly priced.

This trend is clearly seen in the successful sales numbers that each of the luxury car makers have achieved over the past few years. Last month saw 241 BMWs sold. BMW is so confident of the market that they have set themselves a sales target of 10,000 cars by 2010. Audi and Mercedes-Benz have similar success stories to tell.

Labels: Audi, BMW, Car sales, luxury cars, Mercedes-Benz

 

posted by Carazoo Blog @ Thursday, March 06, 2008 6 Comments

Foreign cars-Indian price

The race is on to capture the small car segment in India. While many car manufacturers are toying with ideas of releasing small cars at ultra-low costs to reach out to the common man in India, foreign car manufacturers are also thinking the same.

BMW, Volkswagen, Audi, Porsche, Volvo and Fiat for example are striving hard to make their cars affordable in India and also to enable at the least upper-middle class to be able to own their cars by shelling out decent amounts. Not to be left behind, Fiat has already decided to roll out its most popular European small car Fiat 500 and the Fiat Bravo at Rs.10 lakh in India. Volkswagen and BMW are waiting to release the Beetle and Mini Cooper brands respectively within the limit of Rs. 20 lakh.

The entry of foreign cars with competitive price tags in India will surely make Indian car manufacturers to give good cars at reasonable price.

Labels: Audi, BMW, Fiat, Foreign cars, Small car market in India

 

posted by Carazoo Blog @ Tuesday, March 04, 2008 3 Comments

Luxury Cars: Comfort or Confusion?

Get into any modern luxury car and the first thing that catches the eye is the array of buttons on the dash. Even the steering wheel gets paddle shifters and audio controls. Added to this, there are cars with a GPS facility and an LCD screen.

Get into any Merc or BMW and be amazed by the number of functions being packed into the small space. It will require the genius of a race car driver or a professional mechanic to actually understand the functions of all the buttons. A person will need to study the car manual for over a week to understand the various technological marvels that a luxury car comes with.

Only the cockpit alone of a luxury car like the Audi A8, BMW 7 Series, and Mercedes S-Class could cost up to $20,000 to $30,000 (Rs. 8 to 12 Lakh). The question, however, is why so many gadgets when most of these luxury cars are driven by chauffeurs? Wouldn’t it be better to concentrate more on the rear seat comforts of a luxury car? Maybe luxury car makers should concentrate more on rear comfort and less on cockpit confusion!

Labels: Audi, BMW, car accessory, GPS, LCD screen, luxury cars

 

posted by Carazoo Blog @ Friday, February 29, 2008 3 Comments

Porsche to spread its wings wider

With big auto players like BMW, Audi, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan have already markets stormed the Indian markets, now its turn of Porsche, the German luxury car maker, which is all set to expand its operations in India.

As its first step, Porsche recently inaugurated a $ 2 million showroom in Mumbai. They plan their next pit stop at Hyderabad, Bangalore and Chennai. The company hopes to continue its legacy in the sports car segment and intends to take it to a new high. Amongst its model, Porsche’s Cayenne rules the Indian road.

Labels: Audi, BMW, Luxury car segment, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, Porsche

 

posted by Carazoo Blog @ Monday, December 17, 2007 0 Comments

159 to flag-off Alfa Romeo in India

It’s a luxury-branded world we live in. Thanks to Google, I’ve got a leak on what Alfa Romeo in India will look like. Iconic, that is the perfect word suited for Alfa in India. I had never seen one of these before so I thought of googling it up more. Really wide, pretty low, and very sporty. It’s rare that we come across some great sporty cars in India. It is interesting in the fact that Alfa will bring a new face for Fiat in India.

There are some nice details about Alfa Romeo. Alfa is a car that can compete head-on with the BMW 3 Series and Mercedes C-Class and the Audi A4 in India. The exterior is pretty sweet. The unique grille housed between the jewel shaped headlight offers something we will have to wait for. And the news is that Alfa Romeo 159 will be the mainstay of the brand in the Indian market. Surprisingly the 159 has been Alfa’s most successful compact saloon in recent times.

Alfa look forward to price it competitively against the locally-assembled Mercs and BMWs. Alfa will certainly sell up to par with a price that of BMW 3 Series and Mercedes C-Class. However, sources say Alfa 159 should be launched with an entry price of Rs. 28 Lakh. I think sales will heavily depend on Indian road conditions and the company’s service back-up.

Article Submitted by Suresh Rao

Labels: Audi, BMW, Car market competition, Compact luxury sedans, Fiat, Mercedes-Benz, New Car, New launch

 

posted by Carazoo Blog @ Tuesday, December 04, 2007 0 Comments

BMW India to expand dealers

After one very successful year, BMW India echoes only one slogan “Thanks to the Indian BMW die-hard fans, we need more.” Here is today’s big story: BMW has just shown interest in expanding its dealers in India. It looks like BMW is moving forward with a systematic method of ruling the Indian luxury cars market.

The German formula in India has great demand since its debut. The company has sold a total of 1,100 units till now and currently they have eight dealers in India. With the new expansion, the company is expected to up the dealer number by four in the coming few months. Main targets of expansion are Pune, Ahmedabad, Kochi, Kolkata, Surat, and Coimbatore.

BMWs reply to the new entries from Audi and Volkswagen is cracking and this definitely promises to be an interesting tale.

Labels: Audi, Auto market competition, BMW, Imported cars, Luxury car segment, New launch, Volkswagen

 

posted by Carazoo Blog @ Friday, November 16, 2007 0 Comments

Nissan plans to bring Infiniti to India

People often ask me “What type of a car is your dream car?” The answer is usually “A car with elegant looks and luxury and a brand name that does not need an explanation.” I think it’s the same with most people. Now here comes my question “What comes to mind when you think of Infiniti?” Luxury! Infiniti is one of the most luxurious cars that people dream about. These imported Infiniti models will soon assault the Indian market by the in-time idea from Nissan Motors.

Infiniti, the Nissan-owned company, is planning to debut its Infiniti brand of luxury cars in India. Watch out Mercedes-Benz, Audi, BMW, Volvo, and Volkswagen. Upon introduction, the Infiniti will be presented in the luxury, small car, mid-sized sedan, and the commercial vehicle segments. The Infiniti versions are priced in the range of Rs. 15,30,000 - Rs. 23,40,000 in the US market. The Infiniti price tags for the Indian market are yet to be announced.

Nissan is happy with the Indian market and its local partners. However there is no information about who the local partner will be for Infiniti. After the joint ventures with Bajaj Auto, Mahindra&Mahindra, and Ashok Leyland, who will be the next?

Labels: Ashok Leyland, Audi, Bajaj, BMW, Imported cars, Launches in India, Luxury car segment, Mahindra, Mahindra-Renault, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, Volkswagen, Volvo

 

posted by Carazoo Blog @ Thursday, November 15, 2007 0 Comments

Alfa Romeo will soon challenge Audi, Merc, and BMW in India

There has been considerable debate over the last few years regarding the best high-end sport-luxury brand car available in India. It was widely thought that the big three brand competitors are BMW, Mercedes-Benz, and Audi. Now, I’d like to take a moment to welcome our new competitor, an all new sport-luxury brand from the Italian carmaker Fiat.

Here’s the name you’ve been waiting for: the Alfa Romeo 159. In the 2008 Auto Expo, which is going to be happening very shortly, Fiat is going to announce the debut of Alfa Romeo and the date to import it to India in the first half of 2008. Current information suggests that the Alfa Romeo will be available at selected Fiat dealers in India. Well, from what I understand, Alfa’s engine transplants will add either a 2.2 liter engine or a 3.2 liter V-6 engine that will make a very hearty 260 to 730 horsepower respectively. Fiat has confirmed that the entry prize of Alfa will be 28 Lakh.

Let’s gaze at the history of Alfa. Alfa was the first car that introduced the trend for twin spark plugs in the 1960s. The Alfa 156, launched in 1997, was the first car that was powered by a common-rail diesel engine. All this and the car is still competitively prized. As far as we know it’s the cars endure in Indian road conditions and the company service back-up that will eventually decide the success of the new ‘Romeo’ in India.

Labels: Audi, Auto market competition, BMW, Fiat, Imported cars, Indian car market, Mercedes-Benz, New launch

 

posted by Carazoo Blog @ Friday, October 26, 2007 0 Comments

Peugeot in India again!

After a long pause, Peugeot, the French automaker, is once again gazing at the Indian market with a low cost model that is under development. Who can blame them for a second glance – at the rate the Indian automobile industry is growing; manufactures have to be blind not to notice us! The company seems still worried about the failure faced by Peugeot and Premier Automobiles Ltd. (PAL), their joint venture partners, in their formative years in India.

The cause for the closure of Peugeot in India had termed differently, as poor performance and joint venture failure. Its struggles to survive in the Indian market have resulted in the eventual exit of the company from the Indian auto-scenario in November 1997 – just a year before the auto boom started. Even if the company didn’t play any important roles in the Indian Passenger car market, we cannot forget Peugeot as it was one of the first automobile MNCs to enter India.

As the Indian auto market has been a matter of interest for foreign automakers, like Volvo, Volkswagen, BMW, Audi, and many others from around the world, Peugeot is again getting ready to seek its luck in India. Our automobile industry has come a long way from the time they were here – we now not only have a splatter of automobile MNCs, but also a wider consumer interest. So, a definite green signal to Peugeot from my side!

Labels: Audi, BMW, car manufacturers, competition, Indian car market, Peugeot, Volkswagen, Volvo

 

posted by Carazoo Blog @ Friday, October 05, 2007 0 Comments

Volkswagen to launch Polo in India in 2009

After the successful launch of Passat, Volkswagen has scheduled its popular vehicle Polo (no it’s not the mint!) to launch in 2009 in India. Volkswagen, the people’s car (it’s actually pronounced as “Folks wagon”), is likely to set the production plant of Polo by the end of 2009 and the full scale production is expected to start by 2010. After Polo Volkswagen launches, the small car buyers in India will have fun.

Polo is one of Volkswagens ever successful car and I can’t wait to get my hands on it. The Polo