Rolls Royce previews its Rs 2.5-crore ‘Ghost’ in India

That Rolls Royce is banking big time on the Indian market, more so with the number of billionaires in the country ever on the increase, is evident from the fact that the British carmaker's still-to-be-launched super-luxury sedan, the 'Ghost,' was previewed in India on Friday!

The most economical of the cars from the well-known maker of the most elite, premium, hand-crafted cars, the Rolls Royce's Ghost will cost Rs 2.5 crore in India.

The company, which currently sells 15-18 units in India, expects its sales in the country to undergo a nearly four-fold increase, to over 75 units, after the next-year launch of the Ghost.

Speaking at the preview of the Ghost, Colin Kelly, Rolls Royce Motor Cars' regional director for Asia-Pacific region, said: "India is one of the fastest wealth growing nations in the world; and we expect to see an over 300% jump in salesin India next year after the launch of Ghost in the second quarter of 2010."

Noting that the built-to-order Ghost will be the Rolls Royce's first new model series' vehicle to detach from the Phantom family, Kelly added that the new drivetrain sedan comprise a 6.6 litre twin- turbo charged V12 engine, as well as a new 8-speed automatic gearbox. The peak power output of the vehicle, which can race from 0-100kmph in 4.9 seconds, will be 563bhp at 5250rpm.

X6 - BMW's Macho Machine

BMW X6, a Sport Activity Vehicle (SAV) from the German premium car manufacturer BMW has been pulling a lot of eyes in India recently. This car is imported in India as a Completely Built Unit (CBU). The BMW X6 comes in two versions the X6 xDrive50i in petrol and the X6 xDrive30d in diesel.
The X6 is world’s first Sports Activity Coupé to be equipped with BMW Dynamic Performance Control that imbues it with excellent driving dynamics. This BMW is equipped with a twin-turbo direct injection V8.
The new BMW X6 has all the agility and elegance of a coupé plus the impressive versatility of a SAV. The car has been named as Sports Activity Coupe as it ensures all the comfort and luxury of the coupe. This seven-seater coupe also provides generous spacing for both the driver and front
passenger.
This luxury SAV offers a unique synthesis of exclusive luxury, sporting dynamics, and powerful style. With a wide range of colors and materials, the BMW X6 really highlight its sporting character to suit individual style and personality. The petrol variant of the BMW X6 is priced at Rs. 83 Lakh while
the diesel is available at Rs. 65 Lakh.
The coupe X6 can be ordered across all 13 BMW dealerships in India. The German car giant has deferred the launch of its luxury hatchback the Mini in India till next year. BMW 7 series, 3 series and X3 are the other models of the world’s largest premium car make that are sold in India.

Hyundai Motor India reduces prices of Sonata Transform

The country's second largest car manufacturer and the largest passenger car exporter announced that it will pass on the full benefits of the additional duty of excise reduction announced by the finance minister in the recent budget.

Hyundai Motor India Ltd offers its customers a full range of cars starting from the entry level compact Santro to the premium luxury sedan - the Sonata Transform. According to the duty reduction announced in the budget any car equipped with an engine capacity of over 2 litre will have a reduced excise duty. Earlier the additional duty of excise was Rs 20,000 but after the recent budget announcement this has been brought down by Rs 5,000.

The Sonata Transform is powered by a 2.4 litre engine and hence directly benefits from the duty reduction.

Commenting on the new price Arvind Saxena Sr VP, Marketing and Sales said,

"We have always kept our customers in mind and created value for them. We will pass on the full benefits of the excise duty reduction to our valued customers. The Sonata Transform is a premium car with all the options and it had always catered to customers who looked for the ultimate luxury without having to pay exorbitantly for it."

The new Sonata Transform was launched in January, 2009 and is sold in petrol, Diesel and with an Automatic transmission for the diesel variant. The total cost benefit to the customer will be Rs 5,852 and the new price for the Sonata petrol is now an attractive Rs1,384,448 ( ex-showroom, New Delhi).

Hyundai studying US market for i10 launch

Hyundai Motor India is studying the US market to develop strategies for launching its small car, the i10.

The US is not a “small car market” and hence introducing the i10 will involve careful study of the market.

“The ‘Elantra’ is considered a small car in the US,” said Han-Woo Park, referring to the 1.8-litre, Rs 8-lakh car, one of the premium vehicles in India.

While the Americans are not typical small car buyers, changes in the economy and rising oil prices could cause a shift in preference towards the more fuel-efficient vehicles, Park told Business Line today.

The i10 was launched in October last year and has already sold 190,000 numbers. Hyundai expects to cross the 200,000-mark in less than two weeks from now.

Nearly half the sales have been outside India — something that has given Hyundai India the confidence to take it across the Atlantic.

The car, manufactured only in India, is currently sent to over 100 countries.

Hyundai has an overseas order backlog of 15,000 cars. To mark the success of the i10, Hyundai India is taking two cars of that model to the Paris Motor Show that is to take place early October.

The cars are to be flown to Istanbul and will be driven through a circuitous route touching several countries in Europe, before reaching Paris.

The journey of the i10 began on September 10 at New Delhi, when the cars were flagged off from the India Gate.

The Indian leg concluded with the arrival of the cars to Chennai today. From here, they will be airlifted to Istanbul.

Reworked engine

To suit European tastes, Hyundai India has played around the Kappa engine, giving it a 50 per cent additional power.

Since the launch of the 1.2-litre Kappa engine last July the company has churned out about 25,000 units of i10 with the new engine.

The demand for Kappa engine has been increasing since the engine is Euro 5 ready and emits only 119g/km of CO2, which is the lowest for this class of cars.

However, for the European customers, the capacity of the Kappa has been raised to 1.25-litres. The increase of 50 cc in the cubic capacity of the combustion chamber supports the additional power and torque requirements of European customers, said the Vice-President (Operations) of the company, M. Inderjit.

Besides it also supports the additional load drawn by accessories like heater and such things that consume more power from the battery, he added. At present about 60 per cent of the i10s exported is with Kappa engine, the rest feature the 1.1-litre ‘Epsilon’ engine.

Volkswagen rolls out new sedan, Jetta

GERMAN auto major Volkswagen on Wednesday launched Jetta, a lower D segment sedan, in India. Jetta is available in one petrol and two diesel variants and has been priced in the range of Rs 12.97 lakh to Rs 16.67 lakh ( ex- showroom Delhi).



Jetta, launched 29 years ago in Europe, has established a name for itself in the US as the most popular car from a European manufacturer, claimed Volkswagen Group India’s president and managing director Joerg Mueller, adding that it has sold 80 lakh Jetta variants till date, globally.



Speaking on the occasion, Mueller said Volkswagen’s proposed India- specific small car, to be launched in 2010, would not take on Tata’s Nano as it will have some premium attached to it. “ Our small car will be an absolutely new and designed especially for India. This will be in the premium category and thus has nothing to do with Nano,” he said.