Hyundai India to launch i20 Cross in March & ix25 in August

2014 have been a delightful year for Hyundai India, as the manufacturer sold 4.10 lakh units in the calendar year, marking its highest market share of 21.6% in the history of 16 years in India. Hyundai’s strong performance has been propelled by successful product launches like the Grand i10, Xcent, Santa Fe and the most recent, the Elite i20. In 2015, the manufacturer will be following the same strategy and new cars like Verna facelift, i20 Crossover and compact SUV ix25 will be launched this year. Yesterday, we reported that new Verna will be launched on 17th February, now a source have confirmed that the i20 Cross will reach stores in second week of March, while ix25 will be launched in August.

The compact SUVs and Crossovers are getting popular in India, and Hyundai is not selling any product in the said segments. These new offerings will provide Hyundai a strong base in the rising segment and will further add numbers to its sales. The i20 Cross is based on the new Elite i20 and apart from a full body cladding, roof rails, projector headlamps with daytime running lights and LED tail lights with revised front and rear bumper will differentiate it from the hatch. With the rugged look company might offer bigger 17-inch alloy wheels to add more to its sporty stance. Under the skin the Cross will share the same 1.2-litre Kappa2 and 1.4-litre CRDi diesel engine. Hyundai is planning to launch the car in second week of March, which will also be its global debut.
Hyundai ix25 is a compact SUV, which is based on Kia Soul’s platform. Production version of the vehicle showcased at 2014 Beijing Motor Show, where it grabbed the show. Initially, it was designed for Chinese market, but seeing the increasing popularity of compact SUVs in India, Hyundai has decided to launch the product in India as well. The compact SUV is based on Hyundai's 'Fluidic Sculpture 2.0' design philosophy; therefore it resembles the flagship SUV Santa Fe. The dimensions of the vehicle are 4270mm length, 1780mm width, 1630mm height and 2590mm wheelbase.

With a length of 4270mm, it measures over 4 meters, which means it will have better space and a bigger price tag as it doesn’t qualify for excise duty cut meant for small cars. There is no clarity on engine option yet; however we are expecting 1.4-litre VTVT petrol, 1.4-litre CRDi diesel and 1.6-litre CRDi diesel from Verna. The testing of the vehicle is going on and the launch is likely to happen in August.

Hyundai is known for high localization of its vehicles, and Hyundai is aiming over 90 per cent localization for both i20 Cross and ix25. We are expecting a price of around Rs. 6 lacs for petrol and Rs. 7 lacs for the diesel variant, possibly there will be only two variants with all the features on board. While, the ix25 will be priced competitively to battle it out with Renault Duster and Nissan Terrano,  we are expecting a base price of around Rs. 7.5 lacs for it.

Honda Jazz Gets 5-Star Safety Rating

The India bound 2015 Honda Jazz has scored five star safety rating at the Australian NCAP (New Car Assessment Program). In the combined result of ANCAP and ASEAN NCAP, Jazz scored 36.58 points out of max 37. This said, Jazz in Australia gets standard - six airbags, stability control, Hill-Start-Assist among other safety features.

Adding on the Indian context with respect to Jazz’s getting 5-star in Aussie and ASEAN NCAP, safety is gaining top priority nowadays among buyers against its perception as luxury feature before. It is to be observed what will be standardized in Jazz by Honda India. But since Honda is offering driver side airbag and ABS (Anti-Lock Braking System) with EBD (Electronic Brakeforce Distribution) as standard features in City, expect Jazz to come loaded with the same.

Mechanically, Jazz will be powered by the same 1.2-liter i-VTEC motor generating 87 bhp and 109 Nm of torque. The City’s 1.5-liter i-DTEC diesel engine will also be offered that produces 99 bhp and 200 Nm of peak torque, which will definitely give the upcoming Jazz its uber cool fuel economy tag.

Maserati sixfolds its sales since 2012

A whopping 136 percent sales growth compared to 2013 and sixfold the sales figure for 2012, Maserati, the Italian luxury sports carmaker has managed to achieve such unbelievable milestone last year.

The company has confirmed the retail of approximately 36,500 cars in 2014, up 136 percent as against 15,400 cars sold a year before. Marking a new record for the brand, Maserati is well on its way on achieving the 50,000 unit sales target promised by Sergio Marchionne CEO FCA (Fiat Chrysler Automobiles) three year back.

The major contributor in this growth remained the Ghibli executive saloon, with 23,500 units delivered to customers last year. It was followed by the brand’s another luxury flagship saloon, the Quattroporte, with 9,700 units, whereas the total was completed by 3,500 units of the GranTurismo and GranCabrio models.

While the company experienced growth in all major markets during the year, North America remained its biggest market with 14,690 cars sold here, up by a hefty 110 percent in comparison to 2013’s tally. China was the second biggest market for Maserati, with 9,400 units and growth of 148 percent compared to 2013. In third place was Europe, which witnessed a large jump of 153 percent compared to 2013, with 6,360 units sold there.

While the Asia-Pacific region (excluding China), showed 206 percent increase over 2013 with 4,000 units retailed there. The Middle East followed with 2,050 units, accounting for a growth of 144 percent.

Meet the 2015 Shelby GT Mustang

SHELBY GT COSTS $39,995 OVER THE PRICE OF THE FORD MUSTANG GT

Shelby American has unveiled the ‘Shelby’ iteration of the Ford Mustang GT, christened as 2015 Shelby GT. What differentiates it from the stock Mustang GT are the regular Shelby add ons - racing stripes, decals and Cobra badging. Apart from this, the vehicle has also used carbon fiber  modestly. Shelby is currently accepting bookings for the vehicles while first batch of deliveries are slated for the second quarter of 2015.

UPGRADES in STYle:

The Shelby GT gets carbon fiber body kits - front splitter, side skirts, rear diffuser along with carbon fiber hood, carbon fiber mirror caps and a carbon fiber rear spoiler. Moreover, it also sports new grille, racing stripes and ‘Shelby Cobra’ badgings, to make it look apart.

UPGRADEs in engine:

The 2015 Shelby GT is powered by the same Ford’s 5.0-liter V8 but it is breathing from a Ford Racing supercharger and sports exhaust system. Courtesy to the upgrades, the motor extracts more than 627 bhp. Don’t be disheartened with the 627 bhp, one can also opt for the performance package which increases the output to excess of 700 bhp. Along with the engine upgrades, it also gets Ford Racing short throw shifter (for manual transmission Ford Mustang GTs), Ford Racing handling package (upgraded - shocks, springs and sway bars) and Wilwood front brakes. It rides on 20-inch alloy wheels with Michelin tires.

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India Bound 2015 BMW 1-Series Facelift Revealed

BMW has officially revealed its entry level - 1 Series’ facelift. The mid-life refresh of the hatch comes in the form of heavy stylistic and mechanical updates. Speaking of the Indian launch, the 2015 BMW 1-series is expected to enter later this year.

upgrades IN STYLE:

As per the front profile, the quirky headlight of the on-going car are gone for good, in-comes the more familiar beemer face featuring large ‘kidney grille’.The hatch now comes standard with daytime running LEDs while complete LED lighting system (LED headlights with High-Beam-Assistant function and LED fogs with cornering function) is optional. Moreover, the rear profile gets a new wrap-around lights and gets a flamboyant makeover compared to the ongoing hatch with LED taillights adding extra character. On the inside, dashboard receives subtle changes in terms of aesthetics along with updated infotainment systems.

upgrades in ENGINES:

The updated 1 Series get a new 3-cylinder 1.5-liter turbo petrol and diesel engines. The petrol motor pumps out 109 hp of max power and 180 Nm of peak torque while the diesel chucks out 116 hp of max power with 270 Nm of peak torque. Apart from this, the existing engines of the hatch are updated. Speaking in context with India, BMW currently offers 1 Series with 1.6-liter petrol along with a 2.0-liter turbo diesel. The company expected to continue with this setup but there are chances that the Bavarian automaker will launch the new 3-cylinder diesel and petrol engines in the country, since the new Mini was recently launched with these powertrains in India.

Datsun Launches Go+ at Rs 3.79 lacs

Datsun in order to expand its model lineup has launched its sub-4 meter station-wagon Go+ at an starting price of Rs 3.79 lac (ex-showroom, Delhi) for the base D variant. Company has offered a total of four variants. The 'D1' which is next to the base variant is priced at Rs 3.82, followed by 'A' variant at Rs 4.15 lac and top of the line 'T' variant at Rs 4.61 lac. The car is now India’s first sub-4 meter station wagon which offers third row seats for passengers. Datsun has already started taking bookings for Go+ with a fully refundable amount of Rs.11,000. As for now, there is no direct competitor for this car.

Dimension wise, the car measures 3,995mm in length, 1,635mm in width and 1,490mm in height. The vehicle offers a ground clearance of 170 mm and wheelbase of 2,450mm. Inside the cabin, the car offers a seating configuration of 2+3+2. The rear seats get a folding option which increases the boot space upto 347 litres. While feature wise, the top of the line variant embraces power steering along with manual central locking, wheel covers, body colored bumpers, front power windows and HVAC system.

Based on the Go hatch, Go+ is powered by the same 1.2-litre 3 cylinder engine that produces a max power of 67bhp at 5,000rpm and peak torque of 104Nm at 4000 rpm. The engine is coupled to five-speed manual transmission and delivers an ARAI certified fuel economy of 20.62 kmpl. On safety front, top of the line variant 'T' offers driver side airbag.

To know more about Datsun Go+, Click here

Honda To Introduce Turbocharged V-TEC Petrol Engines in 2015

COULD BE LAUNCHED IN INDIA SEEING THE RISING TREND OF TURBOCHARGED PETROL ENGINES

Honda at the ongoing 2015 Detroit Motor Show announced that they will introduce new range of ‘Turbo VTEC’ petrol engines. Honda currently has ‘Earth Dreams’ and ‘Hybrid’ family of engines, while the new turbo range will be introduced by the end of this year. The automaker said, it is investing $340 million at its Anna, Ohio, USA engine manufacturing facility (where the turbo VTEC will be manufactured first) for the extension of assembly line among other updates. The displacement of the turbocharged petrol engines could be in the range - 1.0L, 1.5L and 2.0L.

INTRODUCTION IN INDIA

Looking at the popularity and growing competition among the turbo petrol engines in India, it’s most likely that Honda Cars India will launch the new range of VTEC engines in the country soon. At present, we have 1.0-liter EcoBoost from Ford, 1.2 TSI from Volkswagen, 1.4-liter T-Jet Fiat and 1.2-liter Revotron from Tata. Hyundai is also expected to hop-in the 1.0-liter T-GDi in the Elite i20 this year. The engine was showcased last year at the 2014 Paris Motor Show and is scheduled to be launched this year in i20 globally along with other models. Since Honda’s Indian engine line-up is directly competing with aforementioned engines, the Japanese automaker could launch the 1.0 VTEC in India

Audi Launches Limited Edition R8 LMX at Rs 2.97 crore

The German luxury car manufacturer Audi has launched the limited edition Audi R8 LMX at Rs 2.97 crore (ex-showroom Delhi/Mumbai). This is a limited edition model with a production run limited to only 99 vehicles globally. The Audi R8 LMX is one of the most powerful Audi R8 ever as it churns a max power of 570 hp and accelerates 0 to 100 km/h in 3.4 seconds with a top speed of 320kmph.

R8 LMX comes with revolutionary laser beam lighting. The lights are activated at a speed of 60 kmph and above and offers high range of visibility. The Laser high beam lighting offers illumination range upto 500 metres. The car embraces bucket seats covered in Fine Nappa leather with Sepang Blue diamond pattern. The backrest is finished in Ara Blue while Fine Nappa leather is used on the selector lever for the S tronic and the knee pads. The floor mats have black piping and Sepang Blue stitching.

Mr. Joe King, Head, Audi India said, “What better way to celebrate another record year at Audi than bringing in a car which denotes our claim of “Vorsprung durch Technik”- the new Audi R8 LMX. The combination of LED and laser high beam lighting was used for the first time on the new Audi R18 Quattro at the 24 Hours of Le Mans last year. Audi is thus continuing its tradition of using racing to test new technologies destined for production. The limited-edition Audi R8 LMX is the first production car in India to come equipped with laser high beam lighting, a particularly brilliant innovation integrated in a sports car- The Audi R8 LMX thrills with intelligent lightweight engineering, impressive design and breathtaking driving performance right from the word go. The Audi R8 LMX is beautiful to look at and marvelous to drive. We are positive that Audi R8 LMX will excite Audi enthusiasts and add more fans into the ever-growing Audi fan base.” Audi R8 LMX is powered by mid mounted engine 5.2 liter, V10 engine. The engine is mated to seven speed S Tronic gearbox which transfers the power to the Quattro permanent all wheel drive system.

Toyota Fortuner 2.5L launched in India

An all-new 4X4 automatic model is not the only addition to Fortuner's variant portfolio, as Toyota has also introduced a cheaper version of its popular SUV with a smaller capacity power plant. Equipped with a 2.5-litre diesel engine, the new Fortuner 2.5L is offered with Toyota Racing Development (TRD) body package as standard.

The Fortuner 2.5L features an uprated version of Innova's 2,494cc turbo-diesel engine, which now puts out 142bhp of max power at 3,400rpm and 343Nm of peak torque between 1600-2800rpm, a significant 42bhp and 143Nm higher than the Innova. The company claims an ARAI acclaimed fuel efficiency of 13.31 kmpl with this new trim.

Toyota is offering the Fortuer 2.5L with Toyota Racing Development (TRD) body package as standard, that includes a dual-tone radiator grille, body graphics, side skirts, rear spoiler and a muffler cutter. Along these, leather upholstery, touchscreen infotainment system with steering-mounted audio controls, climate control air conditioning, rear parking camera are some of the other standard equipment offered in the new 2.5L. However, the HIDs on the 2.5L variant has been dropped in favour of the regular halogen headlamps, and is only available in Super White and Siver Metallic color options.

Available in two variants, Toyota has priced the manual version of Fortuner 2.5L at INR 24.44 lac, while the automatic is worth INR 25.44 lac (Ex-showroom, Delhi).