Finally the launch date for the Next-Gen Toyota Corolla – Altis has been reviled. The car debuts on 5th September 2008 according to the Corolla teaser website.
The website apart from the teaser image of the car, also has owner testimonials for its other models under the “quality stories” section. The car will be in select Toyota showrooms before the launch.What fun!
Its showtime for Suzuki India now. Like all Japanese companies Suzuki thinks ten years in advance. So the sad model line up was Suzuki's way of testing waters in India. The Jap giant will soon launch an 150cc bike with a six speed transmission with a toe and heel gear lever, a rear feature now a days as bikes trying the sporty avatar!
The cute round headlamp, the naughty moustache shaped logo & chrome lines on the nose and irresistibly bubbly overall appearance makes you feel like owning one. Yup, that’s the effect that Fiat 500’s timeless design has on most people.
Before I forget, the adorable two-door Fiat 500 is being launched in India today! Not that people here will be killing each other to buy one, simply because it will cost a whopping - Rs 15 lakhs. Yeah, it’s simply a repositioning effort by Fiat India to revive the company’s limping image. Seriously, the firm needs a strong dose of Viagra to give other carmakers a ‘stiff’ competition.
Fiat has a few more tricks up its sleeves, like two new world-class models --- the Bravo and more importantly the Linea. Fiat Linea is a mid-sized sedan, which should debut in September 2008. About 70 % of Linea will be locally produced which assures low cost & taxes. The sedan will sport Fiat’s tried and tested 1.3 multi-jet engines with 95 BHP. Following Linea’s footsteps will be the Grand Punto and already mentioned the Bravo.
Coming back to the micro sized Fiat500. Under the tiny little bonnet, you'll find one of these three powerful engines - a 1242cc, 69 bhp petrol, a 1368cc or 100 bhp twin-cam version of the same engine and the 1248cc, 75 bhp turbodiesel MultiJet, the same is use in the Maruti Swift diesel.
Believe it or not but you can customise the new 500 in as many as 500,000 different combinations, including body, interior and seat colour, stickers, wheel rims, bonnet trims, nudge bars and wing mirror cases. The car is 3.55 metres in length and features 7 airbags including a knee-airbag. The Fiat500 comes with a five star rating in EuroNCAP tests.
Despite all those features and the 500’s cuddlesome image and a price tag that could get you the recently launched Volkswagen Jetta or the Honda Civic, I think we’ll give it a miss for now…
More pictures from the launch coming your way soon... Visit www.fiat500.com
Hyundai India's second largest carmaker launched a new 'i10', powered by a 1.2 litre Kappa engine which can produce 80bhp and boasts an 4 speed Automatic transmission. The new i10 with all these goodies is priced from Rs 3.99 lakh ex-showroom onwards. What more do you want at that price?? The new i10 will definitely raises the bar of performance, fuel efficiency and emission.
According to Heung Soo Lheem, Hyundai Motor India Ltd (HMIL) Managing Director and CEO, “This engine is exclusively manufactured only in India, which shows Hyundai's commitment to the country and to make it a global small car hub,"
Hyundai Motor has become the fifth biggest carmaker in the world and the Indian operation contributes 12 per cent to its overall global sales, he added.
Lheem said the company has already received huge export orders for the new 'i10', but the quantum of exports would entirely depend on the domestic demand.
He, however, said the current 1.1 litre engine would continue to power both 'Santro' and 'i10', but the new Kappa engine would significantly raise the bar in this segment.
Since its launch eight months back, the company has sold 1.85 lakh units of 'i10', of which 75,000 units were sold in the domestic market.
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