Audi Contemplating To Build Q5 in India

German car maker
Audi is contemplating its options to build its SUV Q5 in India. Although there is no official word from Audi about the model and whether it will be assembled in India, it is widely rumoured amongst the industry experts that it will apply for Audi Q5. It will be the third model from Audi product portfolio that will be built in India.

“We already assemble the A4 and the A6 and we are thinking of assembling an SUV. There will be no change in the price since every product is launched already priced at the CKD (local assembly) price. We do not differentiate between CBU and CKD prices,” said Martin Birkner, head of marketing, Audi India. Audi currently assembles these two models at Shendra, near Aurangabad.

Audi intends to compete with BMW, Mercedes and Porsche in India. Assembling SUV Q5 in India will help it to save import duty on completely built units and will make Q5 more competitive in the
Indian auto market. India will be the second country after Germany where Q5 is being assembled.

Audi is also planning to showcase its new concept car at the Delhi Auto Show next year. Most of the industry experts believe that it will be the open top version of Audi R8 sports model in India. Audi launched an upgraded version of the popular Q7 SUV earlier this month, priced towards Rs 1 crore, on road.

What is a Small Car? Toyota and Honda Differ from Govt

Toyota and Honda have said that fuel efficiency, passenger safety and emission norms should be the criteria to define the small car rather than the length of the car. Currently, lower excise benefits are available on compact cars that have length between 4100 mm to 4450 mm along with engine capacity of 1200cc in petrol and 1500cc in diesel engines. This new stand has led to a drift in the auto industry in India, since a ’small car’ has tax and excise benefits.
SIAM has so far asked the government to define a small car based on the length of the car rather than the engine size. It further says that fuel efficiency should also not be included to classify a
small car.

Presently, Toyota intends to step up its operations in India. It has already announced investment worth Rs. 3800 crores to make India as its small car manufacturing hub. In a presentation to the Prime Minister’s principal secretary, TKA Nair, TMC’s senior managing director and member of the board Akira Okabe said, “Our basic philosophy is start small and grow big. We are looking at the small car to grow volumes in India and the criteria of 4-metres of vehicle length should be removed from the small-car definition.”

Honda has also insisted that a good car should be defined on the basis of performance rather than its length. Ideally there should not be any regulation on the length of the car in India as any good car will be based on performance and global safety standards. “We are launching a new small car in 2011-12 which will confirm to Indian government’s current small car definition, but following global automotive standards would help India emerge as a real hub to make cars for the global markets,” said Honda official.

New Honda CR-V Spied

Not the Indian model (yet?), but the first official pictures of new
Honda CRV are revealed and it goes on sale in the UK from January 2010. For the diesel crazy Europeans, the new Honda CRV will have 2.2 Liter i-Dtec engine. It produces 148bhp and 258lb ft of torque. It can also be mated to either a manual gearbox or a new, five-speed automatic unit. The engine also meets strict new Euro 5 emissions legislation.

On the outside, the new CR-V is treated to a distinctive new front bumper and grille, a revised rear bumper, and colour coded bumpers on the EX grade. There are also newly-designed 17-inch (for SE grade) and 18-inch (for ES and EX grades) alloy wheels and upgraded fabrics and plastics inside. Honda has also installed a new audio console design.

In addition to drivetrain and aesthetic changes the 2010 CR-V retains radar controlled Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) which incorporates Collision Mitigation Braking System (CMBS) – a system that predicts collisions and warns the driver, before applying braking and retracting the front seatbelts if the situation becomes critical. This feature is standard on ES and EX models but optional on the lower-spec SE.

The new CR-V is supposed to debut in Japan on the 17th but Honda UK has already officially announced the
car with two new photos.

Magna Buys Vauxhall and Opel from General Motors

Magna International and its Russian banking partner Sberbank have purchased 55 percent stake in Vauxhall and Opel from
General Motors. 10 percent of the stake will be held by Opel’s employee trust fund and remaining 35 percent will be retained by General Motors itself. “The hard work over the past two weeks to clarify open issues and resolve details in the German financial package brought GM and its board of directors to recommend Magna/Sberbank,” GM CEO Fritz Henderson said in a statement.

However, the sale will be considered as complete only when Magna is able to meet certain conditions. Details of these “conditions” have not been revealed so far. General Motors will continue to work in close collaboration with Opel and Vauxhall in developing
new cars such as Insignia and new Astra. Magna has already agreed in principle to continue production at both plants in Britain. Although, uncertainty over Vauxhall’s future is clear now the employee trade union has insisted that the British work force should be treated fairly.

While Magna has committed to keeping Vauxhall’s Ellesmere Port factory open in Cheshire, it has not offered any reassurance for the Luton plant beyond 2013. The Luton factory produces the Vauxhall Vivaro commercial van in Britain, as well as building the van for Renault in Europe

New Alfa Romeo Cloverleaf Model

The new Alfa Romeo Cloverleaf model will be launched at the Frankfurt Motors Show next week. The Cloverleaf edition is motivated by a 170HP 1.4 liter MultiAir Turbobenzina powerplant. The auto maker will also unveil two more 1.4 multi-air engines including a 105HP version and a 135HP version. The model will go on sale in Europe sometime in 2010. The stylish MiTo will be the latest car to wear the badge which has been synonymous with Alfa performance cars ever since Italian racer Ugo Sivocci presented one to the brand’s pit crew at the legendary Targa Florio event in 1923.

More details of the car will be revealed at the German Motors show before the car finally hits the British market. This unit is the most powerful of a range of three MultiAir motors that will debut at the Frankfurt Motor Show – it’s joined by 105bhp and 135bhp versions. Alfa will also be exhibiting the Alfa 8C Competizione and Alfa 8C Spider at Frankfurt. Alfa Romeo will also be showcasing the new 2010 range of cars including Spider, Brera and 159.

Maruti Dzire Hits One Lakh Sales Mark

“MSI today achieved a cumulative sale of one lakh units of the DZire,” a company spokesperson said. Dzire is Maruti’s entry level sedan and has been extremely popular since its launch. It has crossed one lakh sales mark in just 18 months of its launch in India.

Maruti Swift Dzire was launched in March 2008. Both petrol and diesel models were launched with price tags in the range of Rs. 4.49 lakh – Rs. 6.70 lakh. Maruti has already scaled up the production of the car from 4000 units initially to 7000 units and still there is a four months waiting period for the car.

Maruti is India’s largest car manufacturer. Recently, it has touched the 1 lakh figure in various domains. It rolled out 1 lakh KB-series engines and launched 1,00,000th unit of its export model A-Star. The entry-level D-Zire competes in the A-3 segment with cars like Tata’s Indigo, Ford’s Fusion, Hyundai’s Accent and General Motors’ Aveo.

New Ford Endeavour Launched

Ford has finally launched the new Endeavour in the Indian market. There are two new variants available – 2.5L 4X2 and 3.0L 4X4. The 2.5 Litre engine delivers a healthy 143 PS @ 3500 rpm and maximum torque of 330 nm @ 2500 rpm. The engine comes in 4X2 mode only and is mated to a 5-Speed manual transmission.

The new Endeavour has been priced at Rs 15.01 Lakhs for the 2.5 Litre TDCi and Rs 17.38 Lakhs for the 3.0 Litre TDCi, all prices Ex-Showroom, Delhi.

Looking at the latest changes like better quality of material, a central console mounted touch screen entertainment and GPS enabled Sat Nav system, a touch screen that also doubles up as an audio menu so you can select your favorite track with ease and turn into reverse parking camera mode as soon as you engaged the reverse gear, an in-car DVD player which lets you see your favourite videos and movies with full home theatre experience while on the move, the new Endeavour is has been primed to give Toyota Fortuner run for its money.

New Mercedes E-Class W212 Coming on September 23rd

Mercedes recently launched its new E-Class W212 in the international market at the Detroit Motors Show. Now the company intends to launch the new variant in the Indian market on the 23rd of this month. Currently, it will launch only one variant with 3.5L 24 Valve V6 petrol engine with direct injection which develops 292 bhp and will be mated to a 7-Gtronic automatic transmission with paddle shifters.

Mercedes India website carries a teaser website showing the day, hours and seconds counter. Now, Mercedes is busy clearing the decks for the launch of the all-new E-class — the model which has outperformed all its other models in India before it was overtaken by the new C-class launched last year.

The new E-class will compete head on with BMW models and the company is eyeing the new E-class as a go-getter. The company executives decline to reveal its pricing details or other details of the car. However, the current E-class is being sold in the showrooms in the range of Rs. 38-43.5 lakh but its production has been stopped by the company.

New Honda Civic Launched in India

Honda launched the new Civic in the Indian auto market on Tuesday. It comes with 5-point metallic grille and features a sporty look with its restyled front bumper. There are also dark smoky headlights & crystalline octagonal tail lights along with a new audio system with USB port.

The new Honda Civic sports an intelligent fuel indicator which helps the driver to achieve better fuel efficiency. It is available in three variants – SMT, VMT & VAT. Apart from its existing colours, the new Honda Civic is also available in a new Polished Metal color.

The interiors are done in two tone fabric with apt matching door panel. Honda Civic VMT & VAT comes with a steering mounted cruise control system that helps to cruise at the desired speed with one touch operation. Although the engines remain as earlier version, the new model sports a mid-life facelift which involves slightly updated exteriors. Fully loaded model is available with manual as well as automatic transmission.

The price of new Honda Civic starts from Rs 11.8 lakhs for SMT model. It goes all the way up to Rs. 13.44 lakhs for the top end VAT model (all prices ex-showroom Delhi).

General Motors Retaliates, Volt isn’t for Idiots

General Motors retaliated on Audi boss’ comments who called the new Chevrolet Volt as “car for idiots.” Audi boss De Nysschen commented that few customers will be willing to pay the hefty amount asked for the new Volt that goes on sale in Europe as the Vauxhall or Opel Ampera. “No one is going to pay a $15,000 (about Rs. 7.30lakh) premium for a car that competes with a (Toyota) Corolla,” said De Nysschen. “So there are not enough idiots who will buy it.”

General Motors spokesperson Rob Peterson came back with an official statement commenting that the company was “Very surprised Mr De Nysschen was so quick to insult the intelligence of electric vehicle and Volt enthusiasts,” he said. “Not so surprised that Audi is taking a bold stance given their entrenched diesel position. EVs will reduce our dependence on fossil fuels and tailpipe emissions – if that are being “hoodwinked by our government” then count me in.”

Audi and Volt controversy brewed up too fast and hit the top news stories around the world. De Nysschen has already apologized if he was “unclear” about the fact that he was not opposed to electric vehicles. He also stated, “he didn’t remember specifically saying the Volt is a car ‘idiots’.”