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Mahindra Two Wheelers Ltd., yesterday announced the relaunch of its 110cc bike named the Stallio in the later part of this year.The company is currently dealing with 125cc scooters and now it is working towards expanding its portfolio.

Devendra Shinde,Marketing Vice President of MTWL reported that they will be relaunching the Stallio during the festive season this year.Earlier, they had made a soft launch of the bike.They have made some modification and it is ready for launch.He said they have a strategic intent to be an end-to-end player in the two-wheeler market.Over a period of time, they will have presence in the motorcycle segment as well.

He added that the company’s participation in this year’s Moto GP would go a long way in creating a brand space for itself in the motorcycle market.Further he added that although their major emphasis is on scooter market, with increasing demand in the rural and semi urban markets, they are also committed towards the motorcycle segment. Work is on developing 135cc and 155cc motorcycles.

Following the launch of Fluence, Renault now plans to launch the face-lifted version of its Koleos model in India.It will be featuring a 2 litre common-rail diesel engine which churns out a power of 150bhp.It features a very comfortable rear seats and also offers smooth riding.Renault may price the new Koleos at an attractive price ranging between Rs.16 lakhs and 18 lakhs.

Click here to see the Pictures of Renault Koleos facelift

Fiat,the Italian car maker is planning to introduce its Sedici model in the compact SUV segment in India.If Sedici was introduced in India,then it would be Fiat’s first offering in the B segment in India.Fiat wants to have a model in the SUV space which would be fuel efficient.

Click here to see the Pictures of Fiat Sedici

Toyota,the Japanese automaker is undergoing a study on feasibility of manufacturing the diesel variant of its Etios model by taking into account the rising fuel costs and the customer preference for diesel cars.

Toyota Kirloskar Motor Vice President,Mr.Sailesh Shetty quoted that well that (introducing diesel variants) is very much on the cards.. first they will establish theirselves in the market with Etios and Liva.. then based upon demand they will look into it.

Shetty said they would also consider manufacturing diesel engines for Liva once their engine plant is operational.He also said right now they are importing diesel engines from Japan.They are setting up the engine plant in Bangalore.Based on demand,they will produce diesel engines (for Liva and Etios models).

Toyota Kirloskar Motor’s Deputy Managing Director (Commercial),Mr.Shekar Viswanathan said the waiting period of Etios has been considerably reduced.Now they can handover the vehicle within 30 days as the waiting period has been reduced.

He added that Toyota is also working on increasing localisation level of Etios and Liva models from the present 70 per cent to 90 per cent.He also said since the nationwide launch of Liva,the company has already registered over 1,000 bookings.The company currently sells premium sedan Altis ,SUV Innova and premium SUV Fortuner in petrol as well as diesel variant in India.Besides that,Toyota also retails Camry, Prado, Land Cruiser and Prius as Completely Built Units in India.

PSA Peugeot Citroen,the France based automobile manufacturer plans to set up a manufacturing plant at Sriperumbudur near Chennai by investing an amount of Rs.4,000 crores.The plant will have an initial production capacity of three lakh cars per year.

The company’s official release said that PSA has proposed to establish this Indian project as a 100 per cent subsidiary of the parent company. After evaluating sites in various states,PSA has selected a site near Sriperumbudur, in Tamil Nadu.

It also said that headquartered in Paris,PSA is the second largest automaker in Europe and is ranked as the sixth largest automobile manufacturer globally.In 2010, PSA had reported a sales turnover of USD 67.30 billion (Rs 3.09 lakh crores).

It seems that the company would provide direct and indirect employment to 20,000 people at the facility, besides also attracting a large number of auto-component manufacturers from France.

PSA has been choosing for locations to set up its plant and had shortlisted sites in Andhra Pradesh (Sri City in Tada) and TamilNadu. With this proposed investment,Chennai is set to become one of the largest automobile manufacturing hubs in the world.

Mahindra Reva plans to launch its NXR model in early 2012.NXR is Reva’s first full-sized electric car which has a seating capacity of four members.Reva offers NXR with the choice of either lithium battery or lead acid battery.For the production of NXR,Reva plans to set up a new plant near Bangalore with an initial manufacturing capacity of 15,000 units per year.

Mr.R.Chandramouli,Mahindra Reva’s chief of operations said that even for the existing cars,Mahindra Reva plans to fit lithium batteries that have 40 per cent higher battery life.He added that because of the association with Mahindra, which last year acquired 55 per cent in Reva Electric Car Company,its finance arm,Mahindra Finance, now offers a buyback scheme for the customers.

He also said as part of the green initiative, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh have waived VAT on Reva cars and wanted more States to do likewise.He informed that the price of NXR will be higher but will be competitive.

NXR with lithium battery is costlier than lead acid battery but will offer higher speed with an impressive mileage of 100km for every charge.NXR features the similar design of Maruti Estilo but is much taller than the other cars in the same segment.It will have a steel frame with ABS body made of dent-resistant material.

Suzuki Motorcycle plans to launch the face-lifted version of its 150cc bike,GS 150R in the month of October this year.It is expected to be priced a few thousand rupees more than the currently existing model.It will be powered by the same 149.5cc engine of GS 150R which delivers a maximum power of 13.8bhp at 8500rpm and a maximum torque of 13.4Nm at 6000rpm.Its unique feature is its tunable 6-speed gear box.

Click here to see the Pictures of Suzuki’s face-lifted GS 150R

Triumph,the British motorcycle manufacturer yesterday announced that it will soon make its entry into the Indian market.But the company did not mention the timeline for launching its products in India.The ex-Europe head of Royal Enfield,Mr.Ashish Joshi has appointed as the Managing Director for the company in India.

Nick Bloor,the UK Chief Executive officer of Triumph Motorcycles stated that India is a very important motorcycle market and Triumph has assessed it carefully before deciding to step in.They see it as the next step in their global business model.

Regarding Ashish Joshi,Mr.Nick stated that the appointment of Joshi is a signal of the company’s seriousness about success in India.Prior to joining Triumph,Joshi was heading the European operations for Royal Enfield and established the company’s business in Europe.He has over 16 years of experience in Asia and Europe.

It is not known that whether the Triumph bikes would be imported or assembled in India.But it seems that it would come with the price ranging between Rs.4.77 lakhs and Rs.9 lakhs.

Toyota has launched its much awaited small car liva yesterday in India.Toyota also plans to have partnership with other smaller corporations like sister company Daihatsu, Japan’s Subaru and French Peugeot to launch more small cars in India.

Hiroji Onishi,President of Toyota Motor Asia Pacific quoted that the line up of cars that they have in India is not sufficient to cater to the growing demands of this market.They see a larger potential for cars like one smaller and cheaper than the Liva,a car bigger and more expensive than it and a compact SUV.

He added that with Peugeot in Europe,they already have a partnership (B-Zero project) and a similar method could be thought of with other companies like Subaru as well.He said Daihatsu on the other hand is part of their consolidated group and they are in the process of studying projects with them.

However, Toyota has not said in clear terms which organisation – subaru or daihatsu or peugeot will be roped in for future small cars in India.

Toyota stated that its small car plans are not limited to India and India would be the primary market for any small car that the company develops.

Toyota,the Japanese car maker has today launched its first small car Etios Liva in India.The newly launched Etios Liva comes under the premium hatchback segment and is priced in the range between Rs.3.99 lacs and Rs.5.99 lacs. Etios liva comes in four variants – J,G,V and VX. Etios liva powered an 1.2L engine develops 80PS of peak power and 104Nm of peak torque at 3100rpm.
“With Liva we will now be a complete manufacturer in India, offering a full range of products including the luxury SUV Prado… Liva is a very useful stylish and dynamic car,” Toyota Kirloskar Motor Managing Director Hiroshi Nakagawa told