Honda launches Mobilio in India at a price tag of Rs. 6.49 lakh

Japanese car maker Honda has launched its much awaited seven seater MPV, the Mobilio. The vehicle is available at a price of Rs. 6.49 lakh (Ex-showroom Delhi for petrol base variant) and Rs. 7.89 lakh (Ex-showroom Delhi for the diesel base variant).

The company has made Honda Mobilio available in three exciting trims i.e. the E, the S and the V.

Honda Cars India president and CEO Hironori Kanayama said, “The launch of Honda Mobilio follows the success of Honda Amaze and the new City, which led to our exceptional growth of 83 per cent in the previous financial year.”

Developed at the company’s R&D centres in Bangkok exclusively for the Asian markets, particularly Indonesia and India. During the fiscal 2013-14, Honda Cars India reported 83 per cent increase in sales at 1,34,339 units as against 73,483 units during the previous year. Honda India aims to sell 300,000 units annually by March 2017. 

Mobilio, is competing with Maruti Suzuki Ertiga, Toyota Innova, Chevrolet Enjoy and Nissan Evalia in the MPV Segment.

Mobilio will be offered in both petrol and diesel versions, the 1.5 litre 16Vi.DTEC 4 cylinder petrol engine generates the max power of 119 bhp at 6600 rpm, produces the torque of 145Nm at 4800 rpm. The price of petrol variant starts from INR 6.49 lakhs for the base model Mobilio E, and will go upto 8.76 lakhs for the top end variant which is called Honda Mobilio V.  

The diesel model will be powered by the 1.5 litre 16 Vi. DTEC diesel engine, with max power of 100 bhp at 3600 rpm and a peak torque of 200 Nm at 1750 rpm. 

The 1.5 litre i-DTEC diesel engine of the Mobilio, based on Honda’s latest Earth Dreams Technology, delivers a power of 100 ps@3600 rpm, maximum torque of 200 Nm@1750 rpm and fuel economy of 24.2 kmpl as per test data. The 1.5 litre i-VTEC petrol engine delivers a maximum power of 119 ps@6600 rpm, maximum torque of 145 Nm@4600 rpm and fuel economy of 17.3 kmpl. The price of diesel variant starts from INR 7.89 lakhs for the base model Mobilio E, and will go upto 10.86 lakhs for the top end variant which is called Honda Mobilio RS. 

A fuel efficient Automated Manual Transmission called EZ drive in Celerio from Maruti.

Maruti will debut an Automated Manual Transmission in its latest small car, rumored to be called Celerio, in India next month. It will be the first time for such gearboxes to be used in cars in India and being a pioneer in the car industry with this new gearbox, Maruti expects it to change the face of urban motoring calling it a ‘revolution’.

 

 

The gearbox has been christened ‘EZ Drive’ pronounced as Easy drive. The AMT uses manual shift patterns at the gear lever but without the physical input for the clutch. By automating the clutching mechanism but leaving the gear shifting mechanism to the driver, the gearbox becomes cheaper to manufacture and as a result should find more takers. By relieving the driver from engaging and disengaging the clutch, the stress of driving through stop-start traffic is also reduced considerably.

 

 

Reports in the media reveal that the gearbox will be imported at first but it will soon be localized. YL7 is expected to have the tried and-tested 1.0 litre K-Series engine (also used on the A-Star, WagonR and Alto K10) that delivers a claimed fuel-efficiency of around 20.2 kmpl. "The new technology will allow Maruti to make the drive much more comfortable without any drop in mileage and maintain its tag as the most fuel efficient small carmaker," an analyst tracking the auto industry said. In the technical tests conducted by the company, the AMT for mass-production vehicles delivers a 5 per cent higher fuel economy than automatic transmission for the same models along with some emission gains.  

The company has already ceased production of two hatchbacks - A Star and Estilo - and the new car will be showcased at next month's Auto Expo.

Maruti to launch new Swift, Dzire in 2014

Indian automobile manufacturer Maruti Suzuki may launch the face lifted versions of the Swift hatchback and Dzire compact sedan in the first quarter of 2014. These new variants are likely to be showcased at the 2014 Indian Auto Expo.

 

 

Swift is Maruti’s largest selling premium hatchback in the country and has been a hot favorite of the masses in this segment since 2005, the year when it was introduced in India.

 

The company has a plan to make the diesel engines in Japan for upcoming Maruti models in India. The future growth of diesel vehicles in India will be going to good and thus Japanese parent Suzuki is becoming a helping hand for the making of engines and though Suzuki is making two in house engines.

Maruti Suzuki launched the Swift in 2005 and ever since the car has been a runaway success. In late 2011 the all-new Swift was launched which took the game even further. The Japanese carmaker has never rushed in to give their products a facelift, but stiff competition has ensured that no car company can rest on their laurels.

 

The Swift leads the Premium hatchback or B+ segment and the Swift Dzire also leads the compact sedan segment. The Swift and the Dzire will get updated  and seems like Maruti will showcase the face lifted versions at the 2014 Indian Auto Expo, if rumors are to be believed the face lifted versions are expected to hit the showrooms by first quarter next year.

Porsche India started bookings of Panamera Turbo S

Porsche India started bookings of Panamera Turbo S prior to debut at Tokyo Motor Show – Price to be more than Rs. 2 crores.

Porsche has added one more model to its portfolio in the Indian market making it clear for the world how the country’s automotive spirit has evolved over few couple of years. The demand for production variants of luxury sports cars has enormously grown in recent years comparatively and there is no doubt that all leading automotive manufacturers of premiere cars are eager to try their luck in India. The bookings for ‘Porsche Panamera Turbo S’ have been started in India now and we could see the unit on roads within few weeks.

The brand new Panamera Turbo S was unveiled for the first time at this year’s Shanghai Motor Show held in the month of April. The model is named the fastest and most powerful variant out of all the models of the manufacturer available currently in the world. Turbo S is the successor for the ‘Turbo’ which has been revealed recently. There may not be much difference in the engine configuration and performance specs of both Turbo and the new Turbo S. The design of both these variants is also same mostly except few modifications.

Under the hood, Porsche has fitted a 4.8 litre twin turbo V8 petrol engine that is capable of generating around 570 bhp of power at the peak along with 750 Nm of torque. The power output and torque of Turbo S is around 50 bhp more than that of Turbo. It is informed that Turbo S is capable of attaining 100 kmph speed from rest within just 3.8 seconds only and the top speed of the model is around 310 kmph which is absolutely impressive. Engine comes mated to a 7 speed automatic transmission gear box. The cosmetic changes among Turbo and Turbo S includes a new front bumper design, new interiors, inclusion of 20 inch full alloy wheels with wider tires and a larger rear window.

Porsche is expected to deliver the booked units to buyers in India after its showcase at the upcoming Tokyo Motor Show that will be held within a few days. We may expect the price of the new Panamera Turbo S to be around 24 lakhs costlier than that of Panamera Turbo and the price would be more than Rs. 2 crores as Turbo is being sold for Rs. 1.99 crores currently.