Honda set to depart from Hero Honda

Finally the Hero group and Honda Motorcycles seems to have reached a conclusion. As per the media report, Hero group and PE will acquire the 26% stake from Honda Motorcycles. The deal is said to be around $1.2billion (Rs 5500 crores approximately). Honda will sell its entire stake in the motorcycle maker to the Hero Group’s founding family and investment funds by as early as March.  The standing agreement between Hero group and Honda to provide technical support to Hero Honda for development and production until 2014 will not be renewed, Nikkei report says.

How it will impact the Hero Honda? Can Hero sell bikes without the Honda suffix? Will the customers suffer due to unavailability of spares? What will be the future of Hero Honda? Time will answer these questions. Share us your thought on the same

Yamaha to launch scooters in India

Yamaha is finally convinced to launch its scooters in Indian market. In Asian region, Yamaha is one of the leader in scooter segment. However in the indian context, Yamaha remains centered around its motorcycles.Few years back, Yamaha showcased it scooter range to gauge the response from the customer. However there is no official confirmation from India yamaha team.

Yamaha is all set to enter the scooter space. “We have completed the feasibility study and plan to launch new gearless scooters in the Indian market shortly,” India Yamaha Motor’s National Business Head, Pankaj Dubey, said. “We will enter the market with exciting products in the scooter segment. We are confident that our products will do well…gearless scooters are more in demand in the market,” Dubey added. Indian scooter market is dominated by the likes of TVS,Honda, Mahindra and Suzuki. Bajaj exited the scooter market few years back

Tata electric indica vista EVX

Tata showcased the electric indica vista EVX at the Thailand International auto expo. Tata has already shown concept version of electric indica vista in various auto shows.  Indica Vista EVX is capable of reaching 200km in single charge and accelerate to 100kmph.

Electric Indica Vista EVX in UK

The Tata Indica Vista EVX won two awards at the inaugural Royal Automobile Club (RAC) Brighton to London Future Car Challenge. It was named the Most Economic Small Passenger Electric Vehicle (EV) and the Most Economical and Environment Friendly Small Passenger EV. The vehicle was developed by engineers from Tata Motors’ UK subsidiary Tata Motors European Technical Centre.

Toyota to launch a new MPV

Toyota which already sells the Innova MPV plans to launch another MPV in the segment. Few months back, it was speculated that Toyota would launch the Avanza MPV to India as it built on Innova’s IMV platform. However, Toyota seems to go the other ways. The new MPV which toyota plans will be based on the etios platform. Toyota will launch the etios based MPV in 2012.
“There is a room for another model between Etios and Innova. We are seriously considering it and a study is going on for this,” Toyota Motor Asia Pacific Senior Vice President (Area Operations Division) Vonce S Socco told. “If anything like that (launching the model) happens, it will be in 2012 or after that,” Socco said.

Mahindra launches logan CNG

Mahindra has launched a CNG variant of logan. The eco friendly, CNG kit of the Logan is available on the 1.4 GLE/GLX versions and is currently available in Mumbai and Delhi. The Logan CNG gives a consistent mileage of 15-20 kms per kg, thus costing the customer only Rs. 1.62-2.26 per km, as against Rs. 3.93 – 6.11/km on petrol. For the customer, this directly translates into a reduction of the running cost of the Logan by almost 60 per cent.

Commenting on the launch, Arun Malhotra, Senior Vice President, Sales & Customer Care, Automotive Sector, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd., said “With issues such as climate change and carbon footprint taking centre stage globally, eco-friendly transportation has become the need of the hour and hence the launch of a company approved CNG kit. It also reduces the running cost effectively. The Logan has witnessed a spurt in sales in the recent months, reflecting customer satisfaction with the product, especially the space offered & fuel efficiency. ”

The new CNG kits are made by Landi Renzo (Italy) and will be supplied and fitted by Logicon Alternate Fuels Pvt. Ltd. The company fitted kits come at an additional cost of Rs. 56,000. They are equipped with a 12 kg capacity cylinder, of which actual consumable gas that can be filled is 9.5 kg. The kits come with a manufacturer approved fitment with original vehicle warranty of 2yrs/50000kms. Also, the class leading boot size of Logan allows sufficient luggage room even after fitting the CNG cylinder of required size.

Honda Brio Specifications and Pictures

A day before Toyota unveils etios, Honda stormed the auto market with its BRIO.  You could see it as perfect move to steal the limelight from Toyota etios. Honda displayed the Brio at the thailand International Motor Expo and said that it would launch the Brio in 2011 in India. Being developed as a  commuter vehicle which is easy-to-use even in urban areas, the Honda BRIO prototype adopts an easy-to-handle compact body (length 3,610mm x width 1,680mm x height 1,475 mm) while ensuring enough cabin space achieved by highly efficient packaging. Honda says that brio will return a mileage of 20kmpl.

“Honda would like to expand the joy of mobility to more customers in India, Thailand and
other Asian countries through the introduction of a new small vehicle with compact and highly efficient packaging by utilizing our own experiences  cultivated by our motorcycle business here in Asia,” said Takanobu Ito, President and CEO of Honda Motor.


Pictures of Honda Brio

Interior pictures of Honda Brio