Newsmakers Of 2015

The year 2015 can be termed as the year of ‘automotive revival’. With luxury brands like Mercedes that launched 15 products in 12 months, the year 2015 has been quite extolling for a lot of carmakers.

However, the last quarter has been quite disturbing for some car brands with frequent recalls from Chevrolet, Honda, Toyota to name a few; and the terrible Volkswagen scam further added to the misery.

Also, increased pollution levels in the Capital have made certain authorities take decisions like the odd-even rule and banning 2000cc plus vehicles that have crippled auto-giants like Mercedes, Mahindra for the next 3 months in the Delhi- NCR region.

Here’s a list of cars that made a mark in 2015:

Maruti Baleno

Launch Date- October 26, 2015

Launch Price – Rs. 4.99 Lac

India’s largest carmaker, Maruti Suzuki launched its first ‘Made in India’ premium hatchback this October.It also became the second Maruti product which is being sold through the Nexa Showrooms.

Aggressive pricing, feature-rich cabin, lighter platform and Maruti’s tried and tested Fiat sourced 1.3-litre DDiS engine have been the major factors of this hatchbacks success. Like any other Maruti Suzuki car, Baleno also offers exceptional fuel efficiency figures. The petrol model promises an ARAI figure of 21.40 kmpl and the diesel boasts of being the best in the segment with a claimed figure of 27.39 kmpl. 

Hyundai Creta  

Launch Date- July 21, 2015

Launch Price – Rs. 8.59 Lac

Creta has been a major success for the Korean carmaker ever since its launch and this compact SUV crossed Mahindra Bolero’s sales figures; which was the country's largest selling SUV for a long time.

Competing with Renault Duster, Maruti Suzuki S-Cross and Ford Ecosport, Creta with its urban appeal and a feature-rich cabin has attracted a lot of buyers. Hyundai has been constantly selling 6-7 thousand units of Creta per month since its launch.

Renault Kwid 

Launch Date- September 24, 2015

Launch Price- Rs. 2.56 Lac

In the month of September, French carmaker Renault launched its highly anticipated entry-level hatch at a staggering price tag of Rs. 2.56 Lac. Kwid also became the first car in India which has a dedicated app that lets you browse through the car’s features, accessories and also gives you a 360-degree view of the car.

With it pseudo-SUV styling and segment first features like a  touchscreen infotainment system, sporty all-digital instrument cluster and a wide range of add-on accessories on offer, Kwid became an instant success and Renault booked over 50,000 units of the car in less than 70 days.

Ford Figo Aspire  

Launch Date- August 12, 2015

Launch Price- Rs. 4.99 Lac

Taking on the segment leader, Maruti Suzuki Swift Dzire, American carmaker launched its first sub-4 metre sedan in August. Ford needed a good product with loads of features and an efficient engine for this Herculean task and the Figo Aspire brought in many features like MYKey, MyFord Dock along with standard airbags across all variants (6 airbags in the top end) which were unseen in this segment before. Figo Aspire has been doing well in our market and Ford currently sells around 3000 units of the Aspire every month.

Fiat Abarth Punto  

Launch Date – October 19, 2015

Launch Price – Rs. 9.95 Lac

Italian carmaker Fiat, gave every enthusiast something to cheer about by introducing its performance wing ‘Abarth’ in our market. The Abarth Punto can definitely be termed as our country’s first ‘hot hatch’. It churns out 145 Bhp of power along with a tweaked suspension that definitely makes it 2015’s best launch for every auto enthusiast.

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