Weekly Wrap-Up: Tata Zica and Volvo S90 Revealed, Automobile Production Halted In Chennai and Celerio gets ABS and Airbags

This week saw a lot of ups and downs. Where Honda Brio topped the chart of built quality, Hyundai, Ford, Renault-Nissan and other automakers had to stop operations in Chennai due to recent floods. After BMW, Mercedes-Benz also declared a 2% price hike starting from January. Where Tata Zica hatchback images and details were released, Fiat also detailed the Linea replacement - Tipo. Maruti Celerio on the other hand, got the option of ABS and airbags in all the variants while Volvo released official images of its upcoming S90 sedan. So, let's go through all that happened this week.

Hyundai, Ford, Renault-Nissan and Other Automakers Halt Operations Due to Chennai Rains

The heavy rains witnessed by the Tamil Nadu capital has left the city in despair and its citizens stranded in wake of these adverse conditions. The floods have affected all of us in one way or another and now the ripple effect of this situation has also managed to influence the automotive industry.  Automakers like Hyundai (India's second largest auto manufacturer), Renault-Nissan, Ford and others have their manufacturing plants based out of Chennai and had to suspend operations at their facilities. It is the second time these Goliath automakers took these measures over the course of last two weeks. Read More

Mahindra, Hyundai, Maruti and Toyota Sales Rise, Honda Faces Decline in November

The competition in the automobile sector in India is now more intense than ever. A lot of new launches in the year have resulted in segments being crowded and new segments emerging like the compact SUV and mini SUV segment. Also, with competitive pricing, the segments merging into each other. In this atmosphere, it takes a real special strategy to capture the market. Read More

Mahindra S101 Spied Uncamouflaged in Mumbai

An uncamouflaged prototype of Mahindra S101 (Codename) was spied during a commercial shoot. The car was spotted making rounds in Mumbai with filming apparatus attached. The images were captured by ‘rjrohra’, who is an Indian Autos Blog reader. Speculations claim that the car will be launched sometime in the third week of January, next year and will be dubbed as the ‘Mahindra XUV100’. Mahindra S101 features a crossover styling and will rival the likes of Maruti Wagon R, Tata Zica and Chevy Beat. Speaking of styling and Chevrolet Beat, one can also spot the rear door handles, which are mounted on the car’s C-pillars like those on the American hatchback. Read More

Mahindra to launch Two New Models by the End of This Fiscal

This festive season gave Mahindra numerous reasons to rejoice, courtesy of the positive reception garnered by Indian automaker’s latest offerings, which included the XUV500 facelift, Mahindra Thar facelift and the TUV300 compact SUV. Also adding to its launch portfolio was the Mahindra Jeeto commercial vehicle. The company experienced a drop of sales in the rural areas, which has been compensated for with the launch of the compact SUV TUV300 and now the company will be adding two new models to its portfolio. Pravin Shah, President and Chief Executive of Mahindra Automotive said that he feels the FY-2016 is going to be the year in which, Mahindra will make its comeback. Mr. Shah expressed this expectation in a conversation with Economic Times. The TUV300 compact SUV has experienced immense success and has already received booking for around 16,000 units. The company is also planning on adding 2 more models to its India portfolio by the end of this fiscal. Read More

Mercedes-Benz Imposing 2% Price Hike From 2016

Buying a Benz, It's time to hurry as Mercedes will be imposing a price hike on their entire model range from January 1, 2016. The hike will be different on different models and will go up to 2%. This move is being made in order to equalize the higher input costs going into these vehicles. As of now, Mercedes-Benz has a 24 model lineup in India ranging from Rs 27.5 lacs to Rs 2.7 crore. (ex-showroom).  Read More

Can't Decide On A Variant While Buying Creta? Try This!

Hyundai Creta has been a great success so far. The car not only took the no. 1 spot from Bolero in the top selling Utility Vehicles chart, but was also able to maintain the position for three months. Competing against the likes of Ford EcoSport, Renault Duster and Maruti S Cross, Hyundai Creta has clearly taken the lead (Read Detailed Comparison). For those who are planning to buy this car, we have done a brief analysis on the variants to show them a comprehensive picture. Read More

Honda Brio Emerges As India's Best Built Car of 2015

In their latest study, J.D. Power shows how the manufacturing quality of cars has significantly improved in India in the last 5 years. The study covers areas pertaining to defects and malfunctions of over 200 problem symptoms covering eight vehicle categories. The study is now in its 19th year and is called J.D. Power 2015 India Initial Quality StudySM (IQS). It is based on evaluations from 8,438 vehicle owners who purchased a new vehicle between November 2014 and July 2015. The study includes 69 vehicle models from 17 makes. The study was fielded from May 2015 to September 2015 in 30 cities across India. It measures problems owners experience with their new vehicle during the first two to six months of ownership and examines more than 200 problem symptoms covering eight vehicle categories as follows: Read More

Fiat Details Linea Replacement - Tipo

This vehicle was initially revealed in Turkey earlier this May and was named as Aegea there. This being said, Fiat renamed it for the rest of the world as Tipo. The name was resurrected from the past as it was used earlier by a vehicle which according to Fiat was popular model by this manufacturer in-between 1988 to 1995 and they had produced 2 million models of this car. Although, it is not announced for the Indian market as of yet, but it is expected that Fiat India will replace the aging Linea with it in next one or two years. The vehicle in India will compete with mid-size sedan segment led by Honda City and Maruti Suzuki Ciaz along with others. Read More

Tata Zica Official Images Released

Tata has released the official images of the upcoming Zica hatchback. It will be placed in-between Nano and Bolt. Just like the design, Tata is also revamping its marketing strategy as the automaker has roped-in the ace footballer Lionel Messi as their global brand ambassador. Zica launch will happen, most probably, in January 2016 and will compete with rest of the entry-level B-segment hatches - Maruti Suzuki Celerio, Hyundai i10, Chevrolet Beat along with others. Read More

Maruti Suzuki Eyes AMT Version for Swift and S-Cross

The advent of automatic transmission seems to have gone just too well with the Indian customers. Going one step further, country’s most prominent carmaker, Maruti Suzuki, has expressed their desire to bring this technology in every segment the company currently operates in. Executive director at Maruti Suzuki India Ltd. (engineering), C.V. Raman, said that work is underway to make sure that ‘two-pedal’ technology is available in every segment the company currently operates so that customers have a choice. He also said that the company is also trying to make this technology affordable. At present, AMT version of cars, generally costs more than the manual version of the same. Read More

Petrol and Diesel Prices Slashed

The fuel prices in India have been slashed after the recent hike. The price cuts are applicable to both petrol and diesel and have been implemented from December 1, 2015 onwards. Diesel prices have been slashed by 25 paise per liter and petrol prices are reduced by 58 paise per litre. In New Delhi, diesel will cost Rs. 46.55 per litre and petrol will cost Rs. 60.48 per litre post these reductions. Even with the recent price fluctuations, the fuel prices have continued to be in the favour of consumers. In India, fuel prices are revised every 15 days. The most contributing factors of this monetary fluctuation is the American Dollar- Indian Rupee exchange rate. Read More

Maruti Suzuki Celerio now gets airbags and ABS for all variants

Maruti Suzuki has announced that all the variants of Celerio will get dual airbags and ABS as an option, including the base version. The Celerio was launched in 2014, introducing and making the AMT technology popular and has sold over 1.3 lac units so far since its debut. Maruti Suzuki has priced the Celerio with airbags and ABS from Rs. 4.16 lacs ex-showroom Delhi. Read More