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Friday, 30 April 2010
The Toyota Fortuner had been launched in August 2009. This macho SUV has been working its magic on the Indian roads since then. The number of prospective car buyers interested in buying this new car is only increasing by the day and Toyota is finding it difficult to manage the demands of the ever-growing consumer. The Fortuner has received robust response from the market and has so far sold around 6,500 units. The company has already increased production to more than 950 vehicles per month from the initial 500 units per month.
What more could Toyota do? The car maker has now suspended bookings for this SUV till July in India. It intends to clear the backlog of bookings by this time. The move comes at a time when the company's Indian subsidiary Toyota Kirloskar Motor is undertaking an exercise to change faulty brake kits of the vehicle following complaints from 220 customers.
"The average waiting period for the SUV Fortuner is around six months and we have closed bookings as we do not want our customers to wait. We will re-start bookings in June -July once we are able to clear the backlog," Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) Deputy Managing Director Sandeep Singh said. The company would be resuming the bookings only when the waiting period comes down to three months. As of now, Toyota has pending orders of over 6,000 units.
Just yesterday we said that Toyota was already into rectifying brake problems on the Fortuner based on customer feedback on a case-to-case basis. The company had to do this as some of its customers, especially those shifting from sedans and MUVs to the Fortuner, a four wheel drive, may have felt that the brakes were a little different.
Toyota feels the actual performance of the SUV will be different from what the traditional car drivers are used to. The brakes are perfectly fine. But, Toyota does not want to take chances. Though there has been no recall, the auto maker has been replacing the brakes. Toyota says that it has received feedback from 200 customers till date.
The hybrid car, Toyota Prius has also been doing great. The company plans to sell 200 units in India this year and has already received 80 bookings for the vehicle. Isn’t that great? While the Fortuner is India’s best selling SUV, the Prius stands as the best-selling hybrid from Toyota's stable. The car was introduced in India in January and it has received great fame as Toyota’s test vehicle for the alternative fuel technology in India.
While the Toyota Fortuner has a long waiting period of around six months, the Toyota Prius too comes with a three-month waiting period. For this year, Toyota has already ordered a consignment of 200 units and lined up the month-wise dispatch figures. TKM has delivered 12 units of the car in the Indian market since its launch.
The Toyota Prius is a car that’s imported from Japan as completely built units and is available in India in two variants at a price range of Rs 26.55 lakh to Rs 27.86 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi). So, if you want to buy a Fortuner or Prius hybrid, there’s no other go. Wait a little longer for the car to reach your porch. The best things do take long to come, but it’s always worth the wait. Labels: New-Car, Prius-Hybrid, Toyota-Cars, Toyota-Fortuner, Toyota-Prius, Toyota-Recalls
Thursday, 29 April 2010
 Recently, we have been hearing lots about the Toyota recalls. Now, the car maker has admitted to replacing the brake kits in its bestselling SUV, the Toyota Fortuner. The sports utility vehicle was launched in August 2009 and soon after, the car buyers had started complaining about poor braking. Automobile maker Toyota Kirloskar Motor Ltd is now replacing the kits only on a case-by-case basis and not approaching customers to get them changed. The drama happened. Only later, i.e., cars manufactured after February 2010 carried the new brakes. Those who own the Fortuner car built before this will have to get the brakes replaced. Toyota is doing it free of cost of course. At least 180 customers who had bought the car have complained to the company regarding the brakes. “We did receive queries from consumers regarding the brakes and merely returned them to give a better feeling of braking to the driver. The quality of braking and the distance it takes for the car to stop remains the same. As the returning required changing the whole kit, hence the brakes were changed. There is absolutely no compromise on the safety of the consumers,” said Sandeep Singh, deputy managing director, marketing, TKML. Singh emphasized that “there is no case of a recall in the Fortuner as the brakes are perfectly fine”. Really? The company has seen and borne enough. If we consider the car maker’s inventory across the globe, nearly 8 million Toyota cars have been recalled in the past year for various defects. Have the recalls marred the company’s reputation? TKML claims that the kind of problems it is encountering with the Fortuner is common in the business. It didn’t put a number to the costs it is incurring on account of changing the braking system, but said it had a budget for warranty-related expenses. Toyota is right. The defects may be common in the business. Also, it is surprising to note that the Toyota Fortuner has come out as the country’s best selling SUV just eight months after its launch. The roads have already seen 8,000 units and the figure is more than all other comparable SUVs put together during the period. A Delhi-based Fortuner owner said that he had bought the new SUV in December. Since day one, he had a feeling that there must be some braking problem until finally in January he bumped into a biker after the car refused to stop in time in spite of applying the brakes. After persistent haggling with the dealer, they fitted the brakes of the Prado, Toyota’s other SUV, in February. But Singh said, “Within a month of its launch (August 2009), we decided to educate consumers on what to expect from a 2 tonne vehicle”. He explained that a new SUV would definitely have a different feel than a new car. “It will not perform like any other sedan and it needs to be driven in a different way. Much of the problem is not technical but in the mindset of the customers. The car is a big success and had there been any major issue, customers would not be buying it like this,” he said. India has an active consumer redressal system involving consumer courts. However, we do not have any recall laws. Labels: New-Car, New-SUV, Toyota-Cars, Toyota-Fortuner, Toyota-Recalls
Wednesday, 24 March 2010
 While small, green and hybrid cars are in the spotlight, Hyundai wants to do something different. SUV is one term that we would never associate Hyundai with. But now, it has set out to proudly launch the Santa Fe, a powerful and high-performance SUV. You may expect it by October this year. Yes, we are all aware that Hyundai has been trying to bring in the newcomer since a couple of years. This time, it will hopefully launch it for real. Some time back, it was Hyundai that first saw the potential of the SUV segment. It projected good growth in the segment and introduced the Hyundai Terracan. Unfortunately, the SUV did not impress buyers. People felt that the car was not worth the price. A little later, Hyundai too thought that the Terracan was not such a great car and phased it out. Next, the Korean giant came up with another SUV, the Tucson. The car was good, but failed to do too well as compared to other SUVs. It met with the same fate as that of Terracan. Will the Santa Fe work the magic for Hyundai? Hyundai will set ablaze the whole car industry in India with the Santa Fe. Will it? We expect the car to come with a 2.2 CRDi engine that will churn out 151 bhp at 3800 rpm. It may also be a 2.4-litre petrol engine. Hyundai has again, very carefully, examined the growing SUV market. Toyota Fortuner has made Indian buyers crazy and Hyundai plans to do the same with Santa Fe. As of now, it is looking at pricing the new SUV at Rs 20 lakh. It may also bring the Santa Fe as a completely knocked down version to keep the costs low. With the launch of Santa Fe, Hyundai will probably prove itself as a creator of efficient and sought-after SUVs. The use of advanced technologies, the curves and flowing design of this SUV, all prove that Hyundai has no scarcity of engineering capabilities. The car’s exterior has been decked up with slanting head and tail lamps, a flowing waistline, and flared wheel arches. One can discover quality materials and premium technologies in the interiors too.  The Santa Fe is real big. The giant has a magnificent grille giving you the message “I am bored”. This look is only going to make the car look even better. The waistline gradually rises. The flared wheel-arches accommodate gigantic wheels. The engine, as mentioned earlier, will be the best fit for the Indian fuel quality. Will the SUV make a difference on the Indian road? Will it be able to manage the stress caused by competitors like Honda and Ford? Or, will it beat the competition? Let’s wait till the end of this year for the answers. Labels: Hyundai-Santa-Fe, Hyundai-SUV, New-SUV, Santa-FE, Santa-Fe-Launch, SUV-in-India, SUV-Launch, Toyota-Fortuner
Tuesday, 22 December 2009
 Tata Nano is one permanent fixture in Carazoo.com for a long time now. This little wonder car has been around in the portal for many reasons and continues to be doing what it does best. Earning rave reviews. The world’s cheapest car has won one of the most significant awards of the country – Indian Car of the Year aka ICOTY. ICOTY and IMOTY (Indian Motorcycle of the Year) awards are the awards that are unbiased and exhaustive evaluation of all the new cars and motorcycles launched in the calendar year of 2009 in India. Although Tata Nano was a contender for this award amongst other heavy weights like were the Chevrolet Cruze, Honda Jazz, Fiat Linea, Fiat Grande Punto, Maruti Suzuki Ritz, Mahindra Xylo, Skoda Superb, Tata Indigo Manza, and Toyota Fortuner, Tata Nano emerged victorious in the end garnering 63 points. The Managing Director of Tata Motors, Mr. P.M. Telang, received the award from the Vice Chairman & Managing Director of JK Tyre Industries Ltd., Dr. R. P. Singhania, at a ceremony in New Delhi. Kawasaki Ninja 250R won the IMOTY award with 53 points. A 11-member expert jury members of the 2010 ICOTY included Yogendra Pratap and Vikrant Singh of Auto Bild India, Gautam Sen and Bob Rupani of Auto India, Bijoy Kumar Y and Srinivas Krishnan of Business Standard Motoring, Aspi Bhathena of Car India, Sirish Chandran and Bertand D’souza of Overdrive and Vardhan Kondvikar and Girish Karkera of Top Gear India. All these jury members evaluate and test cars as part of their journalistic work and are known for their analytic skills and professional competence. Once a year they come together to vote for the ICOTY. To qualify for the 2009 awards, only all-new cars and motorcycles, whatever the country of their origin, that went on sale in showrooms across the country before December 1, 2009 were considered. Existing cars and motorcycles that have had mere cosmetic facelifts or small mechanical tweaks do not qualify for consideration. The jury members judged the cars and motorcycles on various parameters such as price, fuel efficiency, design, comfort, safety, maneuverability, performance, functionality, environmental responsibility and driver/rider satisfaction among others. In addition, technical innovation and value for money were particularly important factors while deciding on the winner. The selection of the winner is carried out by a simple voting system with each jury member having twenty-five points to allot to at least four cars/bikes. They can give a maximum of 10 points to any one of them. A very fair and transparent system makes the ICOTY and IMOTY amongst the most credible and coveted car and motorcycle awards in India. Labels: Chevrolet-Cruze, Fiat-Grande-Punto, Fiat-Linea, Honda-Jazz, ICOTY, IMOTY, Mahindra-Xylo, Maruti-Suzuki-Ritz, Skoda-Superb, Tata-Indigo-Manza, Tata-Motors, Tata-Nano, Toyota-Fortuner
Tuesday, 17 November 2009
It very much seems like that the expensive luxury vehicles, priced over Rs 15 lakhs and above, including sport utility vehicles and luxury sedans have caught the fancy of car enthusiasts in India. This comes in the time when major car manufacturers in the country are working on the low cost cars. These luxury cars are so much in demand that the new products are actually overselling the actual estimated units to be sold in India, signaling a huge growth potential in the segment in India. Another interesting thing about this trend is that the once traditional markets for the segment, the US and Europe are fast turning in towards small and fuel efficient cars. BMW India has already sold 63 units of X6 since its launch in July and another six units of Z4 in October. Thanks to this trend, BMW India’s new products are helping the company exceed its earlier set target of 3,000 units in India in 2009 against 2,908 units in 2008. BMW India is on cloud number nine, thanks to its newly acquired position as the leader in the segment and attributes this trend to its strong product line up, market expansion and brand building exercise it has done in a while since its advent in India. While the above mentioned cars are the cars belonging to the high-end luxury segment that revolves around Rs 50 lakh, the demand for the cars in the lower end of the segment like the Volkswagen Passat, Toyota Fortuner and Honda CR-V is also reaching new levels that were beyond expectations. Toyota Fortuner, which was launched in August, saw a backlog of 3,100 units that were to be delivered in seven months as Toyota Kirloskar Motor’s manufacturing plant could assemble 550 Fotuners a month. Meanwhile Volkswagen India may end up selling more Passats as against earlier target of 1,000 units. This certainly comes as a welcome note for the luxury car manufacturers who have always have had high expectation from the emerging new Indian car market as well as the general public who are bored looking at the drab looking small cars plying around in India. Labels: BMW-India, BMW-X6, BMW-Z4, Honda-CR-V, Luxury-Cars, Toyota-Fortuner, Toyota-Kirloskar-Motor, Volkswagen, Volkswagen-Passat
Thursday, 8 October 2009
Riding high on the runaway success of the Toyota Fortuner, Toyota Kirloskar Motors(TKM) wants to bask in the glory of its success by introducing the diesel variant of Prado by mid next year. This step of Toyota’s might be to keep the luxury SUV segment all for itself by strengthening its position in the category. Being greedy Eh? The upgraded version of Prado diesel will be launched in Japan by this December and might make inroads to the Indian market six months later. TKM desperately wants this SUV to be marketed in India sensing a steady growth of popularity for SUVs in India and is on the verge of wooing the parent company to bring the vehicle here to India. Looks like India has truly arrived in the scene if being a SUV country. And since Indians still have a soft corner towards diesel versions of any cars, Toyota surely will bank upon this sentiment and bring the diesel version of the Prado to India so that they can sell more units of the same, contrary to the petrol version which sells about 50-60 cars a year. Prado diesel will certainly be dearer and will cost higher than the petrol variant which is available at Rs 45 lakh. But we assume that Toyota is sane enough to price the SUV right so that the sheen of the vehicle is not lost owing to the price tag that it would carry. Toyota Fortuner, which in a month's span received 7,000 bookings, and sold over 1,000 cars in less than two months, has the ball rolling for TKM. Lets all hope the same happens with the launch of Toyota Prado diesel in India. Labels: SUV, Toyota-Fortuner, Toyota-Kirloskar-Motors, Toyota-Prado, Toyota-Prado-Diesel
Wednesday, 26 August 2009
 Toyota Kirloskar Motors is getting fortunate with the launch of the Toyota Fortuner. The Toyota Fortuner is just two days old in India, but has managed to have a huge fan-following. The Fortuner got over 2,500 bookings against the sales target of 2,000 units for this year. The car company has stopped bookings for the time being. The Indian arm of Toyota Motor Corporation is hoping to roll out the booked cars by December. The company has decided to drive in 500 cars every month. Though Toyota is the global car leader, it ventured into the Indian market only recently. Now it can be inferred that the Indian unit of Toyota is doing good in spite of the ongoing global economic meltdown. The Fortuner is a massive Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV) that has an outstanding performance. The SUV comes with a 3.0 L DOHC engine which is paired with a 5-speed manual transmission gear box. Moreover, the SUV comes with an All-Time Four Wheel Drive. The Fortuner has high-ground clearance, long wheel-base, climate control air-conditioning, steering control switches, third row seats and dual tone interior. The SUV will come in five scintillating colours. They are white, silver, grey, black and light blue. The Toyota Fortuner is priced at Rs 18.45 Lakh (ex-showroom, New Delhi). Overwhelmed by the success of the Fortuner, Toyota Kirloskar Motor is planning to open more dealerships across the country. The car company has 90 dealerships at present and will increase the number of dealerships to 150 by 2010-end. Labels: SUV, Toyota-Fortuner, Toyota-Kirloskar-Motors
Monday, 24 August 2009
Toyota Kirloskar Motors Pvt Ltd has finally launched its Toyota Fortuner in India. The Fortuner is a brawny younger brother of the King of Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV), the Land Cruiser. This new Sport Utility Vehicle comes with a 3.0 Litre TDCI D-4D diesel engine with five speed manual transmission. The massive Fortuner will come with an All-Time Four Wheel Drive. The engine offers a brilliant performance, superb reliability and exceptional off-road ability. The Fortuner comes with Vehicle Stability Control and Traction Control which provide excellent suspension dynamics. The SUV sports a rear spoiler that contributes to impressive aerodynamics. The Toyota Fortuner has a typical old-school SUVs design. It has a hood scoop that adds grandeur to its large stance. The powerful headlamps are curved around the grille to create a mesmerizing effect. The front fascia is urban without being gaudy. The same cool look is maintained at the rear end with the large tail lamps. The car stands on 17inch alloy wheels. The Toyota Fortuner comes with a comfortable and large interior. The interior is furnished with double-tone dashboard and leather upholstery. A touch-screen interface is installed on the dashboard for easy maneuvering of audio system, GPS etc and the Climatronic AC system is placed below it. The SUV has tilt-adjust steering for maximum driving pleasure. There is ample legroom with comfortable seating arrangements for seven persons in three rows of seat. The seats come with six-directional adjustment. The third row can be folded sidewise to accommodate more luggage and belongings. The Fortuner safety includes safety features like Anti-lock Braking System (ABS), SRS front airbags, dynamic safety engineering, laminated glazed windscreen, front and rear side impact door beams, and front/rear seat belts. The car also comes with sonar back feature for easy parking in narrow space. The Toyota Fortuner will be in competition with the Honda CR-V, Mitsubishi Outlander, Ford Endeavour and Chevrolet Captiva. The Toyota Fortuner is priced at Rs 18.45 Lakh (Ex Showroom, Delhi). Labels: Sport-Utility-Vehicle, Toyota-Fortuner, Toyota-Land-Cruiser
Monday, 3 August 2009
 The company had just launched its new model, a face lifted Toyota 2010 Camry, in the Indian market on July 31st. And in not even a month’s time, another model from Toyota Kirloskar will make its debut in the Indian car market, the wait is finally over and Toyota Kirloskar Motors (TKM) will bring out Toyota Fortuner in India on August 24th, much earlier than its scheduled launch time, sometime in September of this year. Toyota is aiming high with its new SUV, Fortuner; the company is aiming at accomplishing a market share of 50% in the SUV segment in the Indian market and to sell out almost 2,000 units by the end of the year. The Toyota Fortuner has a fulltime four-wheeler drive which is powered by a 3-litre Advanced Common-Rail Diesel engine. Being a luxury vehicle, the SUV is also expected to charm many customers, mainly the urban customers and so it will be primarily targeted at this section. This sports utility vehicle will be brought to India by TKM as a knocked down unit and will be then assembled at its plant in Bidadi. The car is expected to be available at a price of Rs 20 lakh. This new Toyota is expected to pose good competition for Ford Endeavour and Chevrolet Captiva in India. After this launch, customers will have to wait for some time for another model from Toyota, as it will be then concentrating mainly on launching compact car and will not be thinking about another launch till it launches its compact car next year. But we still can expect limited editions and new variants of the already existing models. Accepted worldwide, Fortuner is expecting to bring new fortunes for Toyota’s business in India. Labels: New-Car-Launch, Toyota-Fortuner, Toyota-Kirloskar-Motors
Thursday, 28 May 2009
Ford is planning to introduce a facelifted Endeavour for the Indian car market. The car manufacturer desires to do some cosmetic changes in the car as it wasn’t touched since the time it is launched. It seems as if the car manufacturer is preparing its leading SUV to compete with the forthcoming Toyota Fortuner. The highlights of the new Ford Endeavour are the all new chrome grille and a new bumper with chrome accent. Moreover, the redesigned headlights, stylish taillamps, plastic deflector on the hood, and a sparkling badge on the front fenders enhance the visual appeal of the SUV. In the interior the car will have plush interiors with an automatic transmission system. There are speculations that the facelifted variant will replace the existing engine with the common rail diesel engine offering a generous increase in power output. Endeavour is the perfect off roader that shines on the Indian roads. And the new looks with the automatic transmission will further increase the demand of the SUV in India. Labels: Facelifted-Endeavour, Ford-Endeavour, SUV, Toyota-Fortuner
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