Price rise possible in Maruti

Maruti cars may be costlier from February, after a 2% hike made in January 2009. The company’s Commercial Business Head said that the inevitable price rise is due to the hike in raw materials -15% rise for rubber,13% for aluminium and 23% for copper . Similar hikes were already made by Fiat India and Toyota Kirloskar. The cost of steel increased by Rs1500 per tone. Maruti’s BS-IV versions of Alto and Omni would be ready by April 1. Maruti 800 will not come under BS-IV norms as these cars will not be on roads in those 11 cities.

Live TV channels on four wheelers

The most sought after luxury for car owners – live TV channels- has come into being. The display by Dish TV brings some 70 channels with personal audio. Though currently available in Kingfisher airlines, the cost for cars will be comparatively lesserRs1.9 lakh for single TV with annual subscription cost of Rs10000. The installation for luxury cars like Toyota Innova would cost Rs2.45lakh.

The TV functions with a mobile antenna fixed on the top of the roof to transmit TV signals to the LCD screens fixed inside the car. The Chief Operating Officer for Dish TV said the new facility is an upgrade from the earlier version which had single mobile dish antenna with just screen.

Volvo to adopt slow and steady move in India

Volvo’s presence in India is meager yet the company wants to step ahead in a slow pace. The financial status and market feedback are reasons best cited for this, said its MD of Auto India. The company is contented that it could please the customers and there will be 3 more dealers taking the total to 10. The company is said to have understood the need for minimum 10-12 dealers to cover all Tier-I and Tier-II cities.

Volvo is aware that India is along with world’s top car markets comprising China, Japan, the Us and Germany. The potential for the luxury segment is still low with 0.5% but has prospects, he said. He clarified the difference between Russia and India regarding luxury segment. In 2008, Russia witnessed growth of 10times in ten years(constituting 5% of the total car market).

The need of the hour for Volvo in India is establishing its presence and spreading its brand image across the country. The promising status – 91 units in 208 increased to 141 in 2009- made the company to revitalize the presence in a gradual phase. Volvo is in the process of importing its units as CBUs to adjust to the market size as well as anticipating cut on import duty for CBU. Further, its units in Sweden and Belgium are not running with full capacity.

The current ranges will be added by XC 60(SUV) and S60 sedan which may be a global launch. The price factor seems to boost the sale in both small as well as luxury segments, he said. Volvo entered into Indian car market with its Volvo S80 sedan and Volvo XC90 SUV, both imported from Sweden.

Renault seeks Nissan platform for compact cars in India

The partnership between Renault and Nissan may give for sharing the compact car platform in India, said Renault’s official. The choices for the apt small car –from Sandero, Twingo and Clio- is under study and a right model for the Indian roads will soon be opted, he said. However, the company has no reservations regarding the segment small to luxury.

The first car, a luxury sedan Fluence, will roll down from the Chennai plant in 2011 (which is in association with Nissan @Rs4500 crore having an annual capacity of 4 lakh units.)

Bosch on retrieving spree

The global economic downfall has not deterred Bosch to run its show in India. It is on the verge of initiating revival spree by focusing on common rail unit at an investment of Rs2000 crore. The target period is 2012-13. The association for Nano –a common rail diesel unit Bosch CRS1.1 based on single cylinder, 550-650cc capable of releasing 25-30bhp power- is on the process.

The partnering for Nano includes front and rear drum brakes, the starter and the alternator, Value Motoronic fuel injection system. The net investment of the company for international R&D activities is worth 3 billion Euro in 2009. This is despite the downfall by 15% globally while the Indian operations yielded growth of 5% in 2009 which involves export of 15% components to Europe and South Korea.

Bosch has redefined its engines with changes in turbochargers and intercoolers, to suit Euro-IV or Bharat-IV norms (effective April 2010). The hybrid version will also be developed which could be first seen in Porsche Cayenne and VW Touareg and later in Porsche Panamera. The dimensions in electric versions for internal combustion engine are also modified to become economical.

Maruti launches upgrade Swift and Swift Dzire

Maruti today launched the much awaited upgraded Swift and Swift Dzire. With the upgraded engines, swift and swift dzire are now Bharat IV compliant. Swift diesel and Dzire diesel are now more environmental friendly. The 1.3L mutlijet powering both these cars are now upgraded to suit the Bharat IV emission norm. However the major change is with petrol variant of Swift and Swift Dzire. The 1.3L gasoline G-series engine is gone and comes the all new K-series engine which already powers the models like A-star and Ritz. The K-series engine is tuned up and it produces 84bhp of max power and 113Nm of max torque, under the hood of swift and dzire. The 1.2L K-series engine is not just environmental friendly but also fuel efficient. According to Maruti, the new K12 petrol engine delivers a fuel efficiency of 17.9 kilometre per litre, as against 15.9 kilometre per litre in the old engines. We look forward to see how the new K-series engine changes the driving dynamics of swift. Stay tuned for our test drive.

The price of dzire goes up by Rs10,000 with this upgrade. Surprisingly, the price of swift petrol remains the same. How can Maruti offset the price hike, when an advance engine replaces the older one? With the introduction of 1.2L engine, swift now qualifies for the small car excise norm which makes Maruti to manage without any price hike.

Maruti hikes prices of Ritz,A-star,Estilo,SX4, Swift, Dzire,WagonR, 800,Alto and Omni

Owing to the raising input cost, Maruti has increased the cost of its products marginally.

* Prices of 800,omni,alto,A-star and Ritz goes up by Rs600

* Price of SX4 is hiked by Rs2000

* WagonR price gets an upward revision of Rs3,700

* Hot selling swift diesel witness a hike of Rs6,500

* Estilo is now expensive by Rs1,243 to Rs2,486

* Price of Swift Dzire has gone up by 10,000
However, the company’s recently launched multi purpose vehicle Eeco, and the petrol variant of the small car Swift and its Gypsy models will not be affected by the price hike.

“The price increase is to partly recover the increase in the input costs arising out of raw material costs over the past one year. For some models the increase in the costs are being absorbed by the company,” the company said.

Ford Fiesta limited edition

The 2010 Limited Edition gives you a whole new reason to celebrate in this new year. Loaded with features at an unmatched price, the Limited Edition Fiesta makes available a performance sedan well within your reach.

New Features

* MP3 player with 4 speakers
* Driver seat height adjust
* Premium Interiors with soft feel fabric
* Map reading lamp & Rear reading lamp
* Metallic finish Facia & interior trim (door handles / steering wheel cuffs)
* Body colored OSRVM, Door handles, mirror & tailgate

Bajaj Pulsar 220 S launched

Bajaj has launched street fighter or naked version of Bajaj Pulsar 220 S. As the named indicates, the new pulsar 220 S lacks the quarter fairing and comes with a bikini fairing. Rest of the configuration remains similar to the pulsar 220 with quarter fairing.

Pictures of Bajaj Pulsar 220 S

picture source: x-bhp