Mahindra Cars is going to launch LoCo Mahindra Scorpio EX in Delhi at a price of INR 7.59 Lakhs!

If you’re looking for something new in here, don’t! What Mahindra has done here is, it has simply launched an entry level EX variant of its flagship SUV, the Scorpio, in the Indian national capital of New Delhi. Incidentally, the Scorpio EX has already been on sale for quite some time now in many Indian cities and this launch seems more like an exercise to build more awareness amongst people about the low cost Scorpio model’s existence. The Scorpio EX will be primarily targeted at the cabbie crowd who’d be quite interested in the lower price and the lower running cost of the Scorpio EX.

So, how does the Mahindra Scorpio EX cost less to buy as well as own?

Firstly, Mahindra has stripped the Scorpio of many of its creature comforts to end up with a bare bones variant that it calls the EX. In addition to this, the 2.2 Liter, 120 Bhp-290 Nm mHawk CRDe Turbodiesel engine now gets replaced by a 2.5 Liter CRDe Turbodiesel engine that produces 75 Bhp of peak power and 220 Nm of peak torque.

So, that engine makes the Scorpio quite frugal with an ARAI certified fuel economy of 14 KMPL. the trade off however is the 11.2 seconds the Scorpio EX will take to hit 60 Kph, making it a S-L-O-W SUV. However, the cabbie crowd will be more than happy to overlook this factor as the low running costs and low initial price will more than make up for the decreased performance.

The high fuel economy is also achieved in part by the Start-Stop system that Mahindra prefers to call the Micro Hybrid system. This system is increasingly becoming a standard piece of kit across most Mahindra vehicles as even the Genio Pick Up being an out and out commercial vehicle features this system.

All said and done, the Mahindra Scorpio EX was around for quite a while even before with a Mahindra 2.5 liter Direct Injection 70 Bhp engine, which has now been upgraded to the CRDe engine to meet BS3 and BS4 norms. The Mahindra Scorpio EX comes with air conditioning, power steering and an engine immobilizer as standard piece of kit.

Of these, the engine immobilizer is a particularly useful feature in the likes Mahindra SUVs like the Scorpio and the Bolero, as these SUVs are particularly hot targets for car thief gangs operating across the country. So, the engine immobilizer function, serving as a basic deterrent often times prevents many thefts.

However, essential safety features like Airbags and ABS are not even available on the Scorpio EX as an optional piece of kit, perhaps due to the extremely cost conscious target segment of the SUV. Also, the Scorpio EX is available only in a 2 wheel drive version. All said, it remains to be seen whether the cut price variant of the Scorpio will end up cannibalizing the sales of the Mahindra Bolero VLX.

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New Maruti Swift is hit in India before it's launch

Maruti Suzuki introduced the new Swift in India sometime back and for the satisfaction regarding how it faired, there seems to be no words to express the exuberance. The new modified Swift has crossed all the barriers by overlooking the recent performances within the camp of the leaders and flying above all the figures that recently entered themselves in the reviews. In addition, the booking sources had a busy time dealing with around 50,000 bookings being done already and the waiting period starts is expected to start from three months.

Maruti targets at achieving a sales figure trend of 18,000units in every month. If the targets that are set are provided consideration, the new Swift would be the left hand of the leaders. The targets that have been setup would ultimately take Swift towards becoming the leading second biggest model of Maruti Suzuki on the grounds of volume of sales, closely following Alto at no. 1. It seems to carry the successful legacy of the previous Swift version ahead with grace, poise and more pertinently with the essence of the earlier masterpiece which found over 600,000 new Indian owners since it was launched back in 2005.

Suzuki has also confirmed that there will be a Sport version of the Swift and it is strongly believed that it will possess a 1.6 litre motor like the current version. The new Swift gains some dimensions this time as the wheelbase has grown by 50mm and the overall length increases by 90mm. To the relief, the increase is length is not proportional to the weight of the car. The body has less weight and is sleeker than before and the front and rear tracks are 10mm and 5mm wider.

There aren’t many exterior design changes to speak of, but the interior gets some of the inspiration from the Kizashi, which has also outperformed. There are new LCD displays, new switchgear, and metallic accents.The diesel variant comes with 1.3-litre DDiS engine with 75 PS and 190 Nm of torque from 2,000 rpm. 22.9 kmpl economy for diesel version is quite appreciable and satisfying. The other option is a 1.2-litre K series petrol engine with 87 PS and 114 Nm of torque at 4,000 rpm. This variant offers 18.6 kmpl. The new model will be slightly longer and wider than the existing model and will have a 40 mm longer wheelbase, which will add a little more to the legroom. While the engine capacities of the existing Swift have been retained (1200cc petrol and 1300cc diesel), the company has made changes to technology on the petrol engine which will give the car more power and also make it more fuel efficient.

To the best of it, out of the 50,000 pre orders, 80% of them are for the Swift Diesel, proving that the undergarments of the diesel version have gained more eyeballs in the country

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BMW cars is going to launch Mini premium hatchback in India soon

German luxury car maker BMW Group is planning to bring its premium hatchback Mini brand car to India in the next two-three years.

“A decision to bring hatchback Mini brand car into India will be taken within a year or so by the board of directors and I hope Mini brand car will make a splash in India during my tenure,” Andreas Schaaf, BMW India president told Financial Chronicle. He said India, Asia’s third-largest automobile market, was a fastest growing market for luxury cars and BMW had maintained number one leadership position for the last two consecutive years at over 40 per cent market share.

“The company expects to sell 10,000 vehicles in 2011, up 60 per cent from 6,246 vehicles in 2010,” Schaaf said. In January-July 2011, the company sold 5,364 luxury cars and SUVs. “If we sell 10,000 cars in 2011, our market share in the premium segment will rise to 49 per cent,” he said.

A Mini car enthusiast himself, Schaaf said the demand for BMW cars was rising by the day without being impacted by rising fuel costs, inflation and interest rates. “There is a market for Mini car in India and if all goes well it will be here in the next two-three years,” he said, adding Mini will have its own separate dealership network. Mini has enjoyed a huge success in the world because the company has always kept the research and development separate for all its brands, developing new platforms for each brand to keep it unique unlike our competitors,” Schaaf said. He said the group’s three brands such as BMW, Mini and Rolls-Royce never mingled or mixed at any level.

On Thursday BMW India launched its second generation new X3 SUV in Pune, ex-show room priced between Rs 41.20 lakh and Rs 47.90 lakh. It will sell two variants of the X3 with 2.0 litre and 3.0 litre diesel engines. The new X3 SUV will compete with Audi Q5, Land Rover Freelander 2, Mitsubishi Montero and Volvo XC60.

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To compete Maruti A Star and Hyundai i10 cars, Ford Cars plans small car priced at Rs 3-4 lakh

MUMBAI: Barely a month into singing a pact with the Gujarat government to build a plant, Ford Motor Company has started developing a global small car to be manufactured at its new Sanand facility, people with knowledge of the development told ET.

Ford's new small car, which will take on the likes of Maruti Suzuki A Star and Hyundai i10, will be the cheapest yet from the US auto major's stable. The Sanand unit, situated next to the Tata's Nano plant, will be one of the big export hubs for the car, apart from China and Brazil.

The car, which is expected to hit the Indian market by early 2014, is likely to be priced at Rs 3-4 lakh and will be positioned below the company's other small car Figo. When contacted a Ford India spokesperson said: "Ford India has announced bringing eight new products by mid-decade that customers want and desire. We recently launched the global Fiesta, first of the eight new products, which is generating great interest. We have not made any specific announcements of future products to be manufactured from our new or current manufacturing sites."

The company had earlier said that the first vehicle from the Sanand facility is expected to be rolled out in early 2014. Ford's research and development centre in Brazil is currently developing the car and the company has approached component makers in India for local manufacturing, said people familiar with the matter.

The car will be part of the eight new products that the company has lined up for the Indian market by 2015. Code named B562, the small car will be built on an all-new platform, and is likely to be powered by a 1-litre Ecoboost petrol engine. The company sees a potential of selling more than 2,17,000 units of the new small car, including exports, in the first 12-18 months and has asked vendors to be ready for that kind of volume . With launch of Figo, Ford India tripled its annual sales to 83,887 units in 2010.

The small car market in India, driven by rising disposable income of the middle class, holds huge potential for carmakers. Leading global auto companies such as Renault-Nissan and Volkswagen and domestic firms like Tata Motors are actively pursuing the segment, said industry experts. Ford had earlier said that small cars will drive its volumes in India for the coming decade and sees potential for multiple small cars to take on the increasing competition. The country's largest carmaker, Maruti Suzuki , is not surprised.

"With increasing income and growing number of first-time buyers, we expect the A2 segment to be large chunk of small car market. We have strong product portfolio and going forward as well, we would continue to strengthen our portfolio," said Sashank Srivastava, chief general manager-marketing , Maruti. 

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Because of rise in interest rates and fuel prices Car Sales Fall in India

The India automobile industry saw a record boom last year. With rising inflation though, sales are on a downward spiral this year.

The top three carmakers - Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai Motors and Tata Motors - all reported a drop in sales in the month of July compared to last year.

Market leader Maruti Suzuki showed a 26.2 per cent decline. Domestic sales of Hyundai Motors dipped 11 per cent dip while Tata Motors saw the biggest fall of 38.3 per cent in July.

P.M. Telang, Managing Director of Tata Motors, said: "Fuel prices have gone up sharply, more for petrol. Also the interest rates, which are going up in the market place are affecting the car market.

"However we believe, it is a short-term phenomenon and hopefully things will come back. So we are not going slow on our capex. We are going ahead with our expansion plans, product launches as per our original plans."

But not all auto companies had a bad month. Those who either launched new models or revamped their existing ones did well.

Toyota was the leader with a near 100 per cent growth on the back of its new models, the Etios sedan and the Liva hatchback. Honda's sales grew over a per cent after it lowered the price of its popular City model.

General Motors also rode on the success of its new diesel-powered Chevrolet Beat to register a 34 per cent rise in sales in July.

Karl Slym, President of General Motors India, said: "We will continue to upgrade our current cars you have in the market. You know the portfolio very well. And we will also bring in five new cars over the next 18 months to be able to either refresh or build our portfolio."

The festive season begins in September, when Indians traditionally go on a buying spree and carmakers have begun lining up offers to bring back customers.

Car sales are seen as a key indicator of India's economic health. Initial reports suggest that there has been a nine per cent drop in sales of passenger vehicles in July as compared to last year. Carmakers are now banking on the festive season and new launches to revive their fortunes.

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