India Auto Blog

More than a decade ago when Hero Honda launched splendor, it looked a little out of place. Its sleek curves, a visor above the headlights and rounded looks were very different from the boxy shaped motor cycles that were common in those days.

It was not exactly a success when it came out and people were weary to buy a bike that looked out of place. Pricing mattered much more than it did today and few people were willing to shell out a few extra thousands. But as the years passed, more and more people started liking and buying the splendor. Its excellent road handling, decent fuel economy, sleek looks, smooth engines and riding comfort had things going for it. Soon splendor was the world’s largest selling motor cycle brand.

Over the years, Bajaj and TVS woke up to the need of improving their fleet of bikes and many new bikes hit the roads. In the last few years, so many two wheelers, all looking similar and with similar features hit the road that bikes were transformed from brands to commodity. For some time, splendor stayed on because even when it did not have anything special going with it, at least you could find no fault with it. But an upgrade was definitely necessary, and as it usually happens in India, a new version - Splendor Plus was born with only cosmetic changes. It was hardly any different from the earlier Splendor.

But the market was moving from 100cc vehicles to 125cc, and if the 100cc engine remained on the Splendor, it would have lost its position and slipped to the category of budget bikes. So next came the Super Splendor, this time with a 125cc engine delivering 9bhp. Both splendors co-existed in the market.

Now Hero Honda has been constantly upgrading the Splendor to ensure that it doesn’t get buried in the flood of new bikes that keep hitting the market. Besides, it has also used the well known Splendor brand by re-using the brand name as much as possible even when the new version may not have much to go with the old Splendor. The latest offering from Hero Honda is Splenor NXG, which is a 100cc, 7.7bhp bike and hardly looks anything like earlier generation of Splendor. The new Splendor, along with the existing models might help Splendor remain the most selling two wheeler brand ever.

Maruti has re-launched their SUV and only passenger vehicle in the premium segment- Suzuki Grand Vitara.

The Grand Vitara is equipped with a 2 liter engine which delivers 119.5bhp of power. The Vitara is available in 2 versions - one with manual transmission and another with a four speed automatic transmission. The Grand Vitara is priced at 13.8 lakh ex-showroom Delhi.

See more about the car on Maruti Grand Vitara website.

Hyundai has launched a CNG version of Santro, almost a year after they announced that they are going to launch one.

But this will not be a factory fitted system that can run on CNG - a CNG kit will be retrofitted at the dealer. CNG version is available only in Delhi. The CNG version will be available in four variants - XK (non A/c), XL, XO and AT with prices starting at 3.25 lakh ex-showroom Delhi.

See press release from Hyundai

Hyundai has launched am automatic diesel version of its luxury sedan Sonata Embera. The new variant contains a four speed automatic transmission. The car has a 2 liter CRDi diesel engine with an output of 142PS. The car is priced at 15,71,656, ex-showroom Delhi. Along with the automatic diesel, Sonata Embera is available in three more variants.

See more details on Hyundai Sonata Website.

See the press release.

Ford India has unveiled a new version of Endeavour 4×4 version.

The new Endeavour comes with a 2.5L, 143PS engine. The interiors include an in-dash CD changer, dual AC with independent controls for rear seat and foldable rear seats. The SUV comes with ABS and dual stage driver and passenger airbags. The Endeavour is now available in 3 models - A limited edition 4×4(XLT), 4×4 XLT and 4×2 XLT. Read more about it on Ford Endeavour microsite.

Maruti has started making first deliveries of the new car SX4. The car launch has been a bit low profile and it did not see many major campaigns before or after its launch. It would probably be seen on the roads of your city in no longer than a couple of weeks. From the images, the car definitely looks good and I am looking forward to see them.

The SX4 starts at a decent price of 629000 and the higher version costs 735000(Bangalore, ex-showroom). The car comes with a 102PS engine with a capacity of 1.6liters. The SX4, especially at the higher end looks well loaded. But it is surprising that there is no diesel version available, especially with Maruti making so much noise about bringing in more Diesel engines to India. But that make folks at Ford rejoice, since they still don’t have a solid competition for Fiesta diesel.

One interesting new thing on the car is an integrated music system that is embedded within the dashboard, and not as a separate component. It looks nice, but is a pain if you wanted to replace it with your favorite system.

For more information on the car, see maruti sx4 website.

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 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 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 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.