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Ford B-Max expected to hit Indian roads by 2013

by Paul Joseph February 4, 2012 Featured

India may see the official roll out of the new B-Max, which was launched at Geneva, in the second half of 2013. It is a five seater Multi Purpose Vehicle (MPV) that will take the place of Fusion in Ford s European line-up. Ford had earlier announced …read more

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Ssangyong introduces special edition Korando in Britain

by Paul Joseph February 3, 2012 Featured

Ssangyong has started retailing a special edition Korando LE in the UK market. It stands apart from the usual variants through 18 inch bespoke alloy wheels, rear spoiler and privacy glass. Interior additions such as heated front seats, leather trimmed steering wheel and gear lever, parking sensors and cruise control beef up not just looks alone but also value. Three colors the Mahindra-owned Korean auto maker offer on the limited edition model are White, Red and Black. Power is derived from a 2L turbodiesel mill producing a peak power 173bhp and 360Nm of peak torque. On-road prices begin at £17,995 (13.94 lakhs) with SsangYong providing 5 years of free servicing on models purchased with finance during February and March. Mahindra has not discussed the Korando’s launch time frame in the Indian market. It has spoken of its intention to sell this vehicle in India and had showcased a battery-driven version at the Auto Expo. Indian Autos Blog expect them to launch this vehicle in 2013.

Tagged as: china, ford, ford ecosport, indian, renault duster, ssangyong, ssangyong korando le

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Maruti Launches New Suzuki Swift DZire 2012 in India

by Paul Joseph February 3, 2012 Featured

Maruti announces the second-generation Swift Dzire at a starting price of Rs 4.79lakh in petrol and diesel variants. This will be the new sub-four-meter Dzire which will be offered as four-speed automatic petrol variant. The base (Lxi) model will be priced at Rs 4.79lakh while the top end Zxi model will be priced at Rs 6.19 lakh. In the diesel variants, the base variant is for Rs 5.80 lakh and the top-end for Rs 7.09 lakh. The new Dzire measures 3995 mm and it is 165mm shorter than the existing saloon. This gives it a shorter boot and notchback- like look. Though small, the boot can hold the weekend`s luggage. The engines will be powered by the 86bhp, 1.2 L petrol and 1.3 L diesel motors. The K series will benefit from the variable valve Timing. The new Dzire also looks different in that the front gets a slatted grille and the bumper features a wider air dam and larger enclosures for the fog lights. The cabin design looks much like the Swift but the beige plastics and lower portion of the dashboard and door pads with the light seat fabrics give the ambience a better look. For buyers looking at performance, the Maruti claims that the petrol variant can hit 0-100 kph in 12.3 sec, while the diesel variant will take 14.8 sec for top speed of 160kph. It will compete with Tata Indigo eCS, Toyota Etios and the Mahindra Verito. By: Amrith K. A.

Tagged as: audi, auto, chevrolet, deals, design, ford, maruti-suzuki

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Brand New Ford B-Max MPV to be Launched at Geneva Motor Show

by Paul Joseph February 3, 2012 Featured

Ford has given a sneak preview to its much-awaited Ford B-Max MPV which is to be launched in the Geneva Motor Show during March 2012. The concept is said to be path breaking as the model has a unique design which would make it an ultimate compact city car. It is designed based on Ford Fiesta and expected to set a benchmark in quality, comfort and technology among the modern city cars available in the market. (more…)

Tagged as: auto india news, auto industry news, ford, ford news, news for ford

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International Wrap – VW clones Passat, EcoSport’s MPV counterpart, Europe’s Renault Pulse

by Paul Joseph February 2, 2012 Featured

click on the thumbnail to read the full story Shanghai-VW has cloned the latest generation Passat, made it smaller and is introducing it as the Volkswagen Lavida in the Chinese market. Everything from the car’s daylight opening, tail light, kink on the C-Pillar to the car’s headlights are similar to the Passat (NMS).  Volkswagen has many tie-ups with local Chinese auto makers but the latest Lavida’s development used very few inputs from Wolfsburg. Ford has presented the B-Max five-seat MPV on the internet. The public will see it in flesh for the first time at next month’s Geneva Motor Show. The B-Max is the MPV counterpart of the EcoSport SUV. It will make it to India by mid-decade with a longer wheelbase. The bodywork, front-end and rear are likely to stay similar on the extended wheelbase version. Renault is finalizing last minute details on the fourth generation B-Segment Clio as it gets ready to present the vehicle in October’s Paris Motor Show. The new Clio will be the most stylish of generations as Renault is trying to connect emotionally with its would-be buyers. A 900cc, turbocharged three-cylinder petrol engine is said to be the driving force on the Clio 4. Isn’t that engine ideal for the Indian market as Nissan could also benefit from it?

Tagged as: ford, ford ecosport, india, maruti ertiga, renault duster, sales

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Spied – Fiat Linea facelift gets a new front-end

by Paul Joseph February 2, 2012 Featured

Fiat India’s CEO Rajeev Kapoor told IndianAutosBlog.com four weeks back that the company will work on facelifts of its current range, without putting a date on it. He categorically stated that 2012 will be reserved exclusively for the MY2012 Punto and Linea to penetrate the market. Fiat is working on a new retail strategy, which once in place, can leave the product planning team to get creative. Through stand-alone dealer outlets (setup by Tata Motors dealers across 20 cities), Fiat can sell products without any distraction or cannibalization. Fiat engineers meanwhile in Europe are testing the facelift of the Linea for a launch in late 2012. This model is likely to make it to India next year. Indian Autos Blog readers already know that the Linea and Dodge Dart are not relatives . The Dart is developed for Dodge to put the grab the market share of  Toyota and Honda in the America’s C-Segment market. On the 2013 Linea, one can see a new grille with widely spaced horizontal slats. The Fiat badge moves upwards, V-Shaped lower intakes, bigger housing for foglights, new rear bumper and boot lid, and new wheel caps are visible inclusions. The WorldCarFans report states Fiat is mulling the inclusion of the 1.4-liter Multi-air engine on the Linea facelift. This is Fiat’s first cosmetic surgery on the Linea since its launch in 2007. [Source - WorldCarFans.com ]

Tagged as: china, fiat, ford, ford ecosport, indian, spy pictures, spyshots

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Say hello! to your future Polo, Vento, Jetta, Laura, Passat, etc – VW’s MQB platform unveiled

by Paul Joseph February 2, 2012 Featured

Here at IAB, we generally focus at the outcome rather than the components. However, something very interesting was unveiled yesterday that will change the way one of the biggest manufacturer in the world makes its cars. Yes, we are talking about the MQB platform from VW which will underpin pretty much everything the VW group has to offer. The MQB or Modular Transverse Matrix platform will unify all the products that fall under the VW group. The platform is so important for VW that they call it – “the backbone of light and safe cars.” It is an extremely flexible platform that can be stretched, or shortened to fit anything from a Golf to a Passat. The biggest advantage of this platform is the uniform position of all motors (diesels, plug-in hybrids, electrics, gas engines) and transmissions. This will provide an unbelievable efficiency and flexibility to the VW group. Also, the company can now manufacturer VW, Skoda, Seat and Audi models on the same assembly line thus gaining massive economies of scale. This platform will underpin almost 3.5 million small and mid-sized cars a year. Thus, VW plans to spend billions of dollars to upgrade its plants to the MQB platform. This will lower production costs 20 percent and cut assembly times 30 percent. The MQB platform is a foundation for the next generation Polo, Vento, Jetta, Laura, Passat, Superb, etc. Almost 40 models in the VW group will use this platform in the coming years. [Source: AutoExpress.co.uk ]

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New 2012 BMW F30 3-Series To Vroom into India

by Paul Joseph February 1, 2012 Featured

BMW is one of the much awaited models amongst the luxury car brands. It is hugely popular in India as luxury cars have a significant fan base and market here. The all new BMW F30 3- series is slated for launch in India in the second half of year 2012. The new 2012 BMW F30 3-Series model will have new engine options including a starting range 3 – cylinder diesel engine, 2.0L four cylinder turbo diesel engine (borrowed from the existing model of the car), and a turbocharged variant of the petrol engine. The powerful engine system will come with an 8 speed automatic transmission, sourced from Germany’s system maker ZF. The other attractions of the car include longer wheelbase for improved comfort, better power output and improved fuel economy. That is not all; a slew of new age technological features will be offered with the car in exteriors and interiors. The most interesting part is that the 2012 F30 BMW 3 Series sedan has already begun arriving into India. This is evident from the spyshots of the car arriving at a Mumbai port. BMW India will launch the F30 3 series sedan before the middle of this year.

Tagged as: audi, chevrolet, design, ford, georgia, gifts, social-media

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1.0 litre EcoBoost engine revealed at 2012 Delhi Auto Expo Ford Focus

by Paul Joseph January 31, 2012 Featured

Ford displayed the EcoSport that features the small EcoBoost engine. It has been introduced at 2012 Delhi Auto Expo. The new features added to this newly revealed engine are two namely direct injection and turbo charging. The performance of this engine has been checked and it performs wonderfully. This engine will be fixed first in Ford Focus. This car will be made available for sale in February 2012 in U.K. (more…)

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Skoda unveils 5 door Citigo hatchback

by Paul Joseph January 31, 2012 Featured

Now that Volkswagen has showcased the 5 door variant of the UP! , it was about time Skoda gave us a glimpse of their 5-door Citigo. Not that you should be surprised or anything because IAB viewers are already seen the renderings of the 5 door Citigo . We liked the 3 door version of the Skoda Citigo and the 5 door version is no different. As expected, nothing much has change apart from the two new doors. The Citigo five-door sits on the same 2,420mm wheelbase as the three-door. No changes have been made to the interior space or the rear storage space which stands at 251 litres. The POWER! comes from a the new 1.0-liter three-cylinder engine with 60 or 75 hp. Following their public debut at the Geneva Motor Show in March, both the three-door and five-door versions will land in European showrooms in May. Back home, Skoda has constantly denied the launch of the Citigo in India. However, if parent VW bring the Up! to India, Skoda India will follow suit as that will provide both companies with economies of scale and Skoda a valuable chance to lock horns with Hyundai and Maruti in their high-volumes segment. [Source: Worldcarfans.com ]

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