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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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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