Honda's diesel car Amaze to hit Indian markets on 11th April, 2013

Honda’s most awaited car of recent times – the Amaze – will hit showrooms near you on 11th April, 2013. The bookings for the Honda's first ever diesel car has also been kick-started across the nation. Honda Amaze will be powered by a 1.5-L i-DTEC diesel engine that is capable of producing 100PS (98-99bhp) of maximum power output and returning 25.8kmpl of fuel efficiency. With this power and mileage, Honda Amaze will become India's most fuel efficient and most powerful sedan in its segment, leaving behind its arch rival Maruti Swift Dzire.

 

The Honda Amaze sedan will be an important car for the Japanese manufacturer. Not only is it going to be the first diesel Honda in India, but it is also entering a lucrative segment; one where the numbers are reasonably high and the profits decent. The car had its global launch in Thailand on the 25th of November 2012. 

 

 

Looks:
The Amaze is based on the Brio but unlike other boot-on-hatch jobs, it has designed from the ground up to be a proper small sedan. It is longer than its hatchback sibling slightly wider and a little taller at the back to increase shoulder and head room. The length is different, though; it will be just under-four meters to avail of the excise benefits of being a small car. The wheelbase is 62mm longer, at 2407mm.

 

The Amaze still has a very unconventional styling – just like the Brio. Unlike most Honda models the design is not subtle. You will either love it or absolutely hate it. But we have a feeling that a larger number will like the looks of this entry-level sedan. In the front, the Amaze has got a completely new grille to differentiate it from its hatchback sibling but shares other components like the headlights and bumpers. The sides and the rear have changed too for obvious reasons. The rear end now has quite a useable boot of around 420 litres which is significantly higher than its chief rival the Maruti Suzuki Swift Dzire.

 

 

Interiors:
On the inside, not much has changed, other than the upholstery getting a different colour scheme and a bench in the back to seat three if necessary. The interiors will be typical Honda with beige and black combination. The extra 62mm in the wheelbase will go into increasing the rear legroom, making it a much more comfortable.

 

Engine & Transmission:
The Honda Amaze petrol will be powered by an i-VTEC 1.2-litre mill that currently powers the Brio hatchback and the Jazz. The diesel version gets a 1.5-litre four-cylinder turbocharged i-DTEC engine that produces around 90bhp. It is based on the Japanese automakers 1.6-litre diesel engine that was launched with the Civic diesel in Europe.

 

 

There will be the option of a five-speed manual or a five-speed automatic (petrol only). The sedan is just 26kg heavier than the hatch, so we do not expect a dip in fuel efficiency (believed to be 25kmpl) over the hatch. The same engine will be used in the new 2014 City sedan and a compact-crossover based on the Jazz as well as the brio but with higher power and torque figures courtesy a reworked ECU.

Ann Street Auto Sales to sell India's Mahindra diesel vehicles

Most shoppers go to Ann Street Auto Sales searching for late-model used cars. But by next spring, the 50-year-old dealership at 1970 Alpine Ave. NW turns a corner, becoming the region's first new-car source for three diesel-powered vehicles from India.



Mahindra & Mahindra, better known among agricultural circles for its line of farm tractors, is on the brink of selling its Scorpio seven-passenger SUV and two models of utilitarian pickups as early as March, said David Brock, the dealer's general manager. He's heading the expansion into new car sales at Ann Street Auto, and saw the Mahindra line in Atlanta last fall.





"Their main SUV, the Scorpio, is a seven-passenger comparable to the Explorer, or a little bigger," Brock said. "They'll all come with direct-injection diesels, so they're very, very clean for the environment, and a lot higher on gas mileage." How high? In the 32 to 35 mpg range, Brock said. "It's almost double anything out there right now," he said. Mahindra's U.S. distributor, Global Vehicles, is based in Alpharetta, Ga.

But the India automaker already plans to bring pickup assembly to an Ohio plant as soon as next year, Brock said. He expects the Scorpio to sell in the $24,000 range, with the two yet-unnamed trucks in the $20,000 range. The biggest market may be in the farm community, where Mahindra tractors are the No. 3 seller in the U.S. Brock initially investigated a Romanian automaker, but that deal fell through. He is less enthused about the prospect of autos from China.

"I don't think they'll be here for a while," Brock said. "There's a lot of cars out there that are a lot cheaper in other nations. But by the time you add the expense of making them work in the U.S. market -- anti-rollover, air bags, ABS brakes -- I just don't see it happening down the road."



Newcomers to the U.S. car market face fierce odds, especially when they try to set up a dealership network. That's the biggest challenge for Chenfang, Mahindra or any other automaker not yet stateside, auto analyst Grand Rapids Erich Merkle said.

Although a car from China could sell for less than $10,000 here, Merkle said, Toyota Motor Co. already has the small Yaris in place to compete with it. The Yaris starts at $12,000, but it has a big advantage over Chenfang: a big dealer network. "Buyers know Toyota is going to be here. They brought the Yaris over here as a defensive move against any Chinese automaker coming into the market," Merkle said.

The Mahindra SUV and basic pickups might appeal to a niche crowd, Merkle said.



"The vehicles are a little on the crude side; they don't have all the comfort and convenience features," said Merkle, a Crowe Chizek analyst.

"They look more like a piece of farm equipment than anything else." The tractor business is the key to the new line's success, Brock said. Mahindra already has two tractor plants in the U.S. and has been in the market for 10 years. "I really believe they're growing at the grassroots," he said.

As for reliability, Brock said, he realized Kia and Hyundai first imported lower-quality cars "until they got their act together." But Mahindra won't go that route. "They're not going to bring over an inferior product," Brock said.

Diesel powers India’s car sales growth

THE markets may be gripped by fears of an economic slowdown and the government by inflation worries, but the Indian consumer’s love affair with automobiles shows no sign of ending. Despite rising fuel prices, India’s automobile sales grew 8.09 per cent in May, 2008, according to data released by industry body the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM).

Passenger car sales in the domestic market jumped 14.26 per cent, while total two wheeler sales were up by seven per cent during the month. With the price difference between petrol and diesel going up further, the sale of diesel cars is expected to accelerate vis- à- vis the petrol versions. According to industry sources, the current ratio of car sales in models such as the Swift that is available both in diesel and petrol variant is 60: 40. This means that out of every 100 units of Swift sold 60 are powered by diesel engines, while 40 are petrol versions. Sources disclosed that in the case of Maruti's Dzire the diesel version accounts for nearly 80 per cent of sales while the petrol variant makes up 20 per cent. The new generation diesel engines are a vast improvement over the older ones, which were prone to heavy vibrations and were also noisier.

Ford Motor Company, for instance, has started registering a sharp increase in car sales after it introduced its latest diesel models. The fact that technology is an important factor is reflected in the fact that Tata Motors has reported flat growth even though the company mainly markets diesel models. The company sold 14,228 units in May this year compared to 14,217 units in the same month last year. Mahindra & Mahindra (M& M) has reported a12.98 per cent increase in domestic sales during May at 19,296 units, up from 17,079 units in the same month last year which also goes to show the increasing popularity of diesel vehicles. The company mainly produces SUVs although it has introduced the Logan car recently as part of a joint venture with Renault.

Diesel is Rs 15.76 per litre cheaper than petrol in Delhi and modern diesel engines also give higher mileage per litre than petrol engines, which brings down the running cost of diesel cars even further. However, diesel engines normally cost more to maintain than petrol engines. Each time the government raises the price of transport fuels, the price of petrol goes up more than that of diesel, as a result of which the gap has been widening over the years. The reason is that petrol is still perceived as a rich mans fuel while diesel, which is used in the farm and public transport sectors, is considered politically sensitive.

According to sources, diesel cars have a20 per cent market share in India at present. However, diesel as a vehicular fuel comes in for some criticism from environmental groups on the ground that it is more polluting than petrol. But the car companies claim that modern diesel engines emit less carbon dioxide than petrol engines and the emissions are less harmful. Both Maruti and Hyundai have also introduced alternative fuel options such as LPG and CNG this month in anticipation of some buyers opting for these models as these are cheaper to run than the petrol versions.