The all new Chevrolet Spark launched

General Motors has launched the updated Spark hatchback in India. The 2012 Chevrolet Spark gets many changes inside out including a face-lift which makes it up-to-date with other Chevy cars.  The new Spark is available in both petrol and LPG options and is costlier by up to Rs 10,000 from the existing comparable versions of the model, which will be discontinued, the company said. 

 

The small car is now available between Rs 3.26 lakh and Rs 3.81 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi) for the petrol variant and Rs 3.81 lakh and Rs 4.10 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi) for the LPG option. 

 

New two-tone finish upholstery, updated wing inspired instrument cluster, 2-DIN audio system with aux and USB functionality have been added to the interiors. 

 

A high roofline in the Chevrolet Spark ensures spacious headroom and legroom not just for front seat passengers, but also for anyone sitting in the rear seat. A high roofline in the Chevrolet Spark ensures spacious headroom and legroom not just for front seat passengers, but also for anyone sitting in the rear seat. 

 

The Spark is still powered by a 1.0-litre 63PS 4-cylinder engine which is available in both petrol and LPG trims. 

Apart from new design such as the twin-port grille, the new Spark has is powered by a 1-litre petrol engine with new-age innovations that ensure smooth, noiseless, efficient, powerful, reliable and low-maintenance operation, the company claimed.

The Spark is also furnished with a variety of clever and practical storage spaces.

 

There are five variants on offer now with a choice of seven colours. 

 

GM India is offering a three-year/100,000-km standard warranty under the Chevrolet Promise Cost of Ownership Programme, which also provides free maintenance for three years or 45,000 km. 

Tata launches new Safari Storme at a starting price of Rs 9.95 lakh

After the launch of a Manza variant on Tuesday, Tata Motors on Wednesday launched the new Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) Tata Safari Storme at a starting price of Rs 9.95 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi).

 

While the base model 4X2 LX is available at Rs 9.95 lakh, 4X2 EX comes for Rs 10.77 lakh, 4X2 VX for Rs 12.37 lakh and 4x4 VX for Rs 13.66 lakh. Tata Safari Storme was first unveiled at the 2012 Delhi Auto Expo.

With underpinnings and engine from the Aria, the new Tata Safari Storme will kick up a storm in the entry level SUV market in India. The new Safari Storme is a more modern vehicle than its predecessor.

Its Aria-derived chassis and suspension and 2.2-litre DiCOR engine will ensure better drive dynamics and better refinement and response respectively.

The engine churns out 140PS of power and 320Nm of torque. The five-speed gearbox has been tweaked to deliver a better driving experience. Other improvements include a shorter turning radius and disc brakes all round.

 

 

The new Tata Safari Storme does not look too different from the current Safari but the bold and rugged look has been swapped for a somewhat more corporate look.

 

The headlights get a swept back design and a large chrome strip over the front grille stretches partly over the headlights as well. 

 

It gets projector headlamps and a honeycomb front grille that is fairly wide but a tad characterless with its flat contour.

 

 

It gets different side cladding and a new side step but the rest of the body structure remains the same. 

Styling updates at the rear include a new rear windshield, tail lights and twin chrome-tipped tailpipes. The biggest change is that the spare wheel is no more mounted on the tailgate.

 

In its place is a silver colour strip just below the rear windshield that is garnished with a strip of chrome, below which is the slot of the rear number plate.

 

 

The four-wheel drive system on the Safari Storme is an electronic shift on the fly mechanism complete with a limited-slip differential. The new Tata Safari Storme will be available in seven colours, namely, Urban bronze, Astern black, Pearl champagne, Sardinia red, Pearl white, Arctic white and Arctic silver.

The Safari Storme won't have it easy in the market with competition from the Renault Duster and the Mahindra Scorpio.

Ford launches new Figo at Rs. 3.85 lakh

Ford India, which launched a variant of its popular small car Figo, said it expects the sagging car demand to get a boost during the forthcoming festive season.

"It's a competitive market. Due to high inflation consumer sentiment is down. We will start to see a turnaround hopefully with the festive season," Ford India president and managing director Michael Boneham said.

"We will be seeing a lot of sales, I hope. The order book is looking quite encouraging," he added.

With the new Figo, priced at Rs. 3,84,999 for the petrol, and Rs. 4,81,999 for diesel (ex-showroom Delhi), the company said that it will stop production of the old Figo. The car maker had reported 8.29 per cent decline in sales in September at 9,418 units.

Stating that growth has been flat in the recent past, he said: "Remember we are all used to the massive growth two-and-half-years ago, we had growth of 30 per cent year-on-year. That is not sustainable. I think a 10-15 per cent growth is what we need to see. We are looking at the long-term. We are confident that by 2020, this will be our third largest market," he said.

He further said Figo sales are likely to improve with better macroeconomic environment and claimed that year after year the Figo sales have been growing by 10 per cent. On the new plant in Gujarat, where the company has invested about $1 billion to build a new manufacturing and engine plant, he said: "We are on track with construction. I went there two weeks ago and was very pleased. We are going to have 3,000 people on site. The first vehicle and engine are scheduled to come in 2014."

Ford currently exports to 35 countries from its Chennai facility, and is also looking at 15 new markets for exports.

"We are looking at the North African hub and the other developing markets for exports now," he said.

Tata Motors launches new Manza club class at Rs 5.70L

TATA Motors  on Tuesday launched a new upgraded version of its Manza sedan in its bid to boost sluggish sales.

Passenger car sales in India have hit speed bumps over last one year amid expensive loans and high fuel prices. Tata Motors passenger car sales, for instance, declined 17% year-on-year in September. Its overall global sales fell 4%.

Tata Motors has added a host of features like touch screen entertainment system, leather seats, alloy wheels, contrast coloured roof, air bags among many other things to the Manza club class.

The company has added new features without changing the starting price. Prices start at Rs 5.70 lakh for petrol and Rs 6.49 lakh for diesel variant, ex-showroom Delhi. The topend diesel will cost Rs 8.8 lakh.

This is the first passenger vehicle launch by Tata since Karl Slym took over as the company's MD recently.

He believes the company's biggest challenge is to attract consumers by providing class leading superior products. This will include refreshing existing products and fresh offerings in the long term.

"The quality of our vehicles, the capability, the durability etc has moved well beyond what the consumer is thinking about from years gone by. So I see one of our short-term challenges is being able to make sure we get those consumers into our cars," Slym said.

To get the customers to get a feel of the new Manza and the other products in its portfolio, right from Nano to the new Safari Storme, which will be launched on Wednesday, the company is also expanding its sales and service network.

It is opening 200 sales outlets and 200 service points this year. By the end of the current financial year, it hopes to have 1,200 sales and 1,000 service outlets for its passenger vehicles.

M&M Ssangyong Rexton diesel SUV launched in India; priced at Rs 17.67-19.67L

Auto major Mahindra and Mahindra launched its high-end sports utility vehicle Rexton in India on Wednesday in partnership with SsangYong motors. 

Ssangyong Rexton will be available only in diesel option. 

M&M joins the likes of Toyota Fortuner, Skoda Yeti, Honda CRV, Hyundai Santa Fe and Ford Endeavour in the premium SUV space.

Around 2,500 premium SUVs are sold every month in India, with Toyota's Fortuner alone accounting for around 1,300 units.

The company has priced the Rexton very competitively taking this very competition into consideration. "A manual model of the sports utility vehicle (SUV) is priced at Rs 17.67 lakh ex-Mumbai and the automatic version at Rs 19.67 lakh," M&M president, automotive and farm equipment, Pawan Goenka said at the launch. It is of course an introductory price, which will be likely revised after the festive season.

The all wheel drive Rexton will be powered by a 2.7 litre engine delivering 184 bhp and 402Nm torque in the automatic transmission and 162 bhp and 340Nm torque in the manual version.

M&M officials didn't disclose the sales volumes they expect but said will have a capacity to assemble around 5,000 units a year of the Rexton at its Chakan factory in Maharashtra.

Dr Pawan Goenka, president - automotive and farm equipment sector, and also Ssangyong Chairman, said that there won't be any constraint on production and the company will be able to supply to demand.

"Capacity will not be a constraint. If there are more people who buy this vehicle, we will make sure that we supply...This is a new price point for us and so difficult to estimate how the customer response will be. We have set aside a capacity of 500 units per month in single shift. So if we see that kind of response and can sell 500 units consistently, we will be very happy," he said.

Presently 22% of the components in the Rexton will be locally sourced, while the rest will be imported from Korea. Company officials say that they have plans to "aggressively" localise the Rexton, but it will all depend on the sales volumes it can generate.

M&M has invested Rs 63 crore in tuning the Rexton for India. This is the third generation of the SUV, and SsangYong began its sales in Korea in July and exports began last month.

Rexton will be sold through existing Mahindra dealerships, but there will be a separate area and sales support at the dealers for SsangYong vehicles.

Rexton will be available in Mumbai and Delhi for now and it will be launched in 6-7 more cities like Bangalore, Chennai and Pune in a week's time.

Company officials say M&M and SsangYong are co-developing next generation engines. But they are tight lipped on the next planned launch from the SsangYong stable, only saying that there are products in the Korean company's existing portfolio and future pipeline, that will be studied for the Indian market. But their focus clearly right now is driving sales of the Rexton.

Meanwhile, M&M says there has been a good response for the Quanto mini SUV launched last month and demand for its flagship XUV500 remains strong.

Maruti Alto 800 launched at Rs 2.44 lakh

Maruti Suzuki, India's largest car maker has launched its much awaited Alto 800 at Rs 2.44 lakh to 3.56 lakh ex showroom New Delhi for petrol and CNG variant. Available in an updated design package, the 2012 Alto 800 will be available in six trim levels including CNG versions.

 

Maruti Suzuki said, the company has already received bookings of over 10,000 units of Alto 800. 

 

The world's biggest-selling small car was revamped on Tuesday when Maruti Suzuki India Ltd launched a new version of its Alto model, clocking over 10,000 pre-orders as it tries to fend off rising competition in the entry-level car market. The existing Alto F8 will be discontinued while the K10 will not have the design changes seen on the new Alto 800.

The Alto 800 has a lot of changes under the hood. There is a new plastic intake system (the older one was aluminium), a new lighter crankshaft, a new cylinder head, new piston rings and a new gearbox. All this combined boosts the output to 48PS and 69Nm which is an 11 per cent increase from the previous model.

 

Maruti is also claiming a fuel economy of 22.7kmpl for the petrol powered variants and 30.46km/kg for the CNG ones. As far as safety is concerned, the Alto will be offered with an optional driver airbag in higher trims and ABS.

 

Since 1984, Maruti's entry-level models have outsold anything in India's car market, as millions of middle-class families and first-time owners in the developing country flocked to its Maruti 800 model and its successor, the Alto.

 

"Our engineering team has made many innovations to offer more space, improve driveability and safety to customers," Shinzo Nakanishi, Maruti's managing director, told reporters.

The new car's petrol model offers 15 percent greater fuel efficiency, he said. Maruti, controlled by Japan's Suzuki Motor, has had over 10,000 pre-orders for the Alto since bookings were opened in late September, Nakanishi added.

 

Cheap to buy and run, the Alto 800's two predecessors became instant best-sellers in a sector that Maruti Suzuki dominated until the late 1990s. As more automakers have muscled into the market, and more Indians had the cash for larger cars, its grip has slipped.

 

In the fiscal year that ended in March, Maruti sold over 310,000 Altos, making it the world's biggest selling small car. Indians bought 2.02 million cars that year. Sales of Maruti's entry-level models are down 21 percent so far in the current fiscal year, hit by rising competition from rivals such as Hyundai Motor Co's Eon and Tata Motors Nano model.

 

 

2012 Maruti Alto 800 prices (ex-Delhi)

Alto 800 Standard (Petrol): Rs 2.44 lakh

Alto 800 LX (Petrol): Rs 2.76 lakh

Alto 800 LXi (Petrol): Rs 2.99 lakh

Alto 800 Standard (CNG): Rs 3.19 lakh

Alto 800 LX (CNG): Rs 3.37 lakh

Alto 800 LXi (CNG): Rs 3.56 lakh