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Skoda’s Indian subsidiary,Skoda Auto India launched four new variants of its compact car Fabia in both petrol and diesel engine options.The four variants are christened as Active,Ambition,Active Plus and Ambition Plus.Among the four,Active Plus and Ambition Plus are the packaged versions of the same new variants.

Regarding this,the Volkswagen Group company informed that the packaged versions give customers an option to upgrade with factory fitted packages, which include a host of convenient features.The company also said that the new variants are based on market and customer feedback and are aimed at providing an enhanced value experience.

The prices of the petrol and diesel variants of the four new models are as follows:

i)Active (1.2-litre Petrol) : Rs.4.39 lakhs
Active (1.2-litre Diesel) : Rs.5.46 lakhs

ii)Ambition (1.2-litre Petrol) : Rs.4.85 lakhs
Ambition (1.2-litre Diesel) : Rs.5.94 lakhs

iii)Active Plus (1.2-litre Petrol) : Rs.4.59 lakhs
Active Plus (1.2-litre Diesel) : Rs.5.66 lakhs

iv)Ambition Plus (1.2-litre Petrol) : Rs.4.99 lakhs
Ambition Plus (1.2-litre Diesel) : Rs.6.08 lakhs

Fiat,the Italian automoblie major with an aim of increasing its sales during the festival season offered discounts for its Punto hatchback and Linea sedan models.The company offers discounts of up to Rs.75,000 and Rs.1,30,000 on Punto and Linea respectively and the offer duration is from Septenber to October.

The additional offer schemes provided by the company include an option of adding Rs.20,000 in discounted purchase for customers who exchange their old-car for Fiat vehicles and also providing 50 months of roadside assistance package along with one-year insurance at the rate of one rupee.

Rajeev Kapoor,Chief Executive of Fiat India said that with the launch of this campaign,they portray their commitment towards the Indian market and informed that this campaign has been designed keeping in mind the emotions, sentiments and key values, deeply portraying their Indian connect.

The new MPV of Force Motors is none other than the Mercedes-Benz Viano.Force Motors aims to sell the new MPV in the price range of Rs.10-15 lakhs.It will feature a new name in the combination as a force product with the Mercedes badging.Force Motors also plans to introduce a Traveller in Mercedes-Benz model christened the Transporter.

Viano is normally a seven-seater but its eight-seater variant could also be introduced in India by the Force Motors.The new MPV will be powered by a Mercedes-Benz licensed 2.2-litre common-rail,four-cylinder engine.The engine is mated to a five-speed manual gearbox which helps in transmitting the delivered power to the rear wheels.The power churned out by the engine will be 139bhp at 3800rpm.

Force Motors informed that it has signed a licence agreement with Daimler AG for the MPV project in July.It says that this comprehensive supply of product technology will facilitate the entry of the company into the segment of passenger and goods vehicles which will complement its Traveller light commercial vehicle line-up.

The all-new Sunny has been officially launched by Nissan in India in three versions viz., the base XE,the mid-level XL and the top-end variant XV.The XE,XL and XV variants are priced at Rs.5.78 lakhs,Rs.6.88 lakhs and Rs.7.68 lakhs respectively.

Sunny now comes only in petrol version featuring a 1.5-litre petrol motor.The 1.5-litre diesel version of Sunny will be launched in the first quarter of 2012.The all-new Sunny looks quite large in the rear view with a large boot,long wheelbase and a large cabin.The fit and finish and the overall plastic quality of its interiors are also so good.

The base XE variant of Sunny features body-coloured bumpers, an on-board drive computer, manually adjustable anti-dazzling mirror, headlight-on and key-inserted warning lamp, ABS, EBD and Brake Assistance, Driver Airbag and Door Ajar warning.

The mid-level XL variant gets all features of the XE along with body-coloured, electronically adjustable outside rear-view mirrors, chrome-plated outside door handles and radiator grille, rear defroster, an integrated audio system with four speakers and AUX, steering-mounted audio controls, rear A/C vents, auto-down feature on driver-side power window, remote keyless entry, front passenger airbag, anti-theft alarm and speed-sensing automatic door locks.

Similarly,the top-end XV model of Sunny holds all the above mentioned features along with alloy wheels and electronically folding rear-view mirrors.Bookings of the Sunny start from today and the company will start its delivery from October 3 onwards.

The much-awaited Hyundai Eon will enter the Indian roads between October 10 and 15 to take on Maruti’s Alto.It will be featuring modern fluidic styling,modern interiors and the three cylinder engine of Santro which offers a very good fuel efficiency to the car.Hyundai will be launching the all-new Eon at a starting price of Rs.2.5-Rs.2.6 lakhs.

Click here to see the Pictures of Hyundai Eon

The spy shots of Chevrolet Captiva facelift has been caught in India.The new Chevrolet Captiva features an aggressive and oversized grille as such the Cruze and the Beat.It also features restyled headlamps which makes it similar to the Mitsubishi Outlander.The interiors of the new Captiva sports some delicate changes in it.

The Captiva facelift will be powered by a new 2.2-litre engine which delivers a power of 184bhp and also offers improvement in refinement levels.It also holds updated cabin insulation with much less engine noise and vibration.We can expect the new Captiva by January 2012 in India.

Tata Motors is planning to launch the facelift version of Sumo Grande by the festive season of this year.It holds the same darker wooden trim interior of Indica eV2.The new MUV also features minor cosmetic changes in it.But it does not feature the Sumo brand and the Mark II badges.

Click here to see the Pictures of Tata Sumo Grande Facelift

The all-new MissionL concept has been unveiled by Skoda at the Frankfurt Motor show.The new concept is based on lengthened VW Polo Mechanicals.Skoda will place this new hatchback-cum-saloon in between Fabia and Laura.Most of its features will be similar to that of the VisionD concept.

Click here to see the Pictures of Skoda’s MissionL concept

Mahindra and Mahindra (M&M), one of the leading automaker is planning to expand their vehicle production in Sri Lanka in order to strengthen its global footprint.

The company informs that they are still contemplating assembly operations in Sri Lanka and have not yet finalised anything yet. They expect to sell more than 10,000 Mahindra branded vehicles including 3-wheelers, during the current financial year.

In addition to the passenger vehicles, Ideal also aims to import two wheelers and heavy-duty trucks from Mahindra and Mahindra. Recently, Sri Lanka-based Ideal Group of companies is the authorised dealer for M&M’s products in the emerald island.

Pawan Goenka, President of automotive and farm equipment sectors of M&M expresses that the company is increasing focus on exports. Right now their plan is to consolidate in markets where they are already present. They have identified some markets as strategic where they are spending a lot of money in brand building.

Further he adds that they also have a desire to build Mahindra as a global brand. Chile, South Africa and some neighbouring countries are some of the key markets for the company.

Nearly nine new cars including saloons and mini-SUVs are ready to reach the Indian market in near future.The expected launches are VW and Skoda Up saloon(2013-2014),Honda Brio saloon (2013),New Swift Dzire (2012),Mahindra Verito (2011),Hindustan Ambassador CS (2012),Tata Manza CS (2012),Mahindra Mini Xylo (2011),Ford Eco Sport (2012) and finally Mahindra S101-S102 (2013).We can expect all the above mentioned cars at affordable price tags.

Click here to see the Pictures of Future compact cars