Three New Luxury Cars from Merc and Nissan

Three new cars at the luxury segment were released in India last week.

Nissan launched it's first car and second passenger vehicle - Teana in India, the first being an SUV - Nissan X-Trail. Teana will cost a little more than Rs.20 lakh ex-showroom. Teana comes with a 2.3 liter engine delivering 170bhp. It is only available with a 4 speed automatic transmission and does not have a manual version. See Nissan India website for more details.

Mercedes launched two new premium vehicles in CL and S class, costing from 1.2 crores to 1.5 cores.

Chevy Spark Launched

Chevy Spark is finally launched after much delay. Spark is the good old Daewoo Matiz in a new Avatar, relaunched with many changes to the car after GM bought Daewoo. Another small car is on the road now, which means more competition, more choices, and hopefully reduced prices for the consumer in the days to come. Here are some features and specification on the car.



Variants: 4 variants - 1.0E, 1.0, 1.0LS, 1.0 LT. Keep in mind, the lowest variant comes with out air conditioning!
Engine: 4 cylinder, 1 liter engine, delivering 63bhp. Note that the Matiz had a 3 cylinder engine.
Prices: Starting from 3.09 lakhs. 1.0LT costs 3.89 lakhs. The starting price will be less that that of Zen Estilo, but do note again that 1.0E does not come with air conditioning.

More information: Chevy spark website

Harley Davidson in India

Harley Davidson would most likely have many fans in India, and most of those fans may not even have seen one. Considering the price tag that they carry, owning one in India is not going to a reality for most.

Harleys were not allowed on the Indian roads so far because they did not meet the emission standards set for the Indian bikes. But now the government has relaxed the norm specially for Harley Davidson, allowing its imports.

This is not the first time high-end bikes have attempted to create a market in India. BMW try to import its bikes to India more than 10 years back and they found no takers. Things could be much different now, but still it is unlikely that Harleys can sell in large numbers here.

It is also worth questioning how the government could take a concessionary attitude towards Harley Davidson. There is no reason why should they be given the privileges to pollute the Indian roads. If they wanted to sell in India, they should work towards building cleaner bikes that meet emission norms. It is definitely unfair and incorrect to give a foreign company privileges that even domestic manufacturers don't enjoy.

Fiat Palio Stile Launched

Fiat has launched the new version of Palio today, that I was mentioning a few days ago. It has been named as Palio Stile. The Palio Stile comes with a 1.1 liter, 57 bhp engine. I had a quick look at the details of the car and here is what I liked about it.

1. The price. Starting at 3.49 lakhs, the big small car becomes an attractive buy.
2. Improved Fuel Efficiency. This was one of the major problem with potential Palio buyers earlier.
3. Better Service. The new Palio will be sold and services by Tata Dealers, which will hopefully make things better.
4. Great interiors. The redesigned dashboard looks great.



The only thing I did not like is that the 1.1 engine seems to be underpowered at 57bhp. Even lighter cars like Wagon R and Santro are powered with 64bhp and 63 bhp respectively. The bigger Palio seems underpowered in comparison. A 65 bhp engine would have worked better. But for those looking for more horses, a higher version - Palio Sport is available 1.6 liter engine delivering monstrous 100bhp.

See Fiat website for more information.

Hyundai Getz Prime launched

Hyundai has launched a new version of the Getz, called Getz Prime, which is meant to comply with government's definition of small car to obtain tax discounts, and hence reduce the price tag of the car.

The Getz prime GLE with a 1.1 liter engine and body length less than 4000mm will comply to small car standards and will cost 3.89 lakh, ex-showroom Delhi. Getz also comes with a 1.3 liter, 82.9bhp engine option.

See more information and specifications on Hyundai Getz website.

Mahindra Renault Logan launched

Logan is the much anticipated car of 2007 and it is now out. At prices starting from 4.28 lakhs for the petrol version, it does look attractive. But the diesel version, hosting a common rain engine will cost a lot more, starting at 5.47 lakhs. The Logan comes in 3 variants, named GL, GLE/DLE(Petrol/Diesel), GLS/DLS(Petrol/Diesel). The petrol versions come with a 1.4 litre engine delivering 75bhp and 1.6 litre engine with 90bhp. The diesel engine's capacity is 1.5 litres and delivers 65bhp.

Of course, its low price means you can expect most of the comforts missing in the car. Power windows and central locking are available only in GLS/DLS versions. And the lowest version - GL is not equipped with power steering.

Logan marks the entry of Renault in India. While most of the existing players are concentrating on mid sized sedan market(like Ford Fiesta, Chevy Aveo), entry of Logan infuses some freshness into lower end of sedan market, which is now filled with relatively outdated cars.

See more details of Logan on Mahindra Renault website.