Category: Hatchback

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Toyota & Suzuki Tie-Up, Baleno to be sold as Glanza by Toyota

By Admin

Pictures – Via WhatsApp

Suzuki and Toyota, in India, have been facing almost same problem but in different segment. Maruti Suzuki is not successful in selling premium cars beyond CIAZ segment and off lately is facing stiff competition right from selling Alto to Brezza. For Toyota Kirloskar it has been a very comfortable ride for them in the SUV segment but when it comes to hatchback segment, they have only one product to boast of – Etios Livia.

On 6th of February, 2017 both parties signed an MoU for sharing of ‘Toyota Hybrid System’ to Suzuki, widely spread hybrid electric vehicle technology in India, OEM supply of two new electrified vehicles built on Toyota platforms (RAV4, Corolla Wagon) to Suzuki in Europe, OEM supply of two compact vehicles built on Suzuki platforms (Ciaz and Ertiga) to Toyota in India.

Apart from this, Toyota to adopt newly developed Suzuki engines for compact vehicles, OEM supply of Suzuki’s India-produced vehicles (Baleno, Vitara Brezza, Ciaz, Ertiga) to Toyota – targeting the African market, drawing upon Suzuki’s expertise in developing vehicles in India, joint development of a Toyota C-segment MPV and OEM supply to Suzuki and Production of the Suzuki-developed compact SUV Vitara Brezza at Toyota Kirloskar Motor Pvt. Ltd. (TKM) from 2022.

The process of mutual collaboration has already started with Suzuki providing baleno model to Toyota, rebadged and renamed as ‘Toyota Glanza’ and will be officially launched in India in the month of June, 2019. We expect Glanza will be available in two variants – G & V, one with a Petrol-manual and the other with petrol-automatic combination. The heart of Glanza will be a 1.2 litre K series engine connected to a CVT automatic and a 5-speed manual gear box.

Both, Toyota and Suzuki are following the same approach which Renault and Nissan have done in India, sharing each other’s products with different names. Time will tell how successful this collaboration will be but one thing is for sure that in future, car makers in India, will be quite aggressive in approach which will definitely put market on fire.

 

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Is This The End? Tata Nano The People’s Car

By Admin

Pictures: Tata Motors

The dream of Mr. Ratan Tata of giving Indians the cheapest car in the form Nano which saw the light of the day way back in 2008 is now at verge of its end. Yes, you have heard it right. Tata Nano was called ‘People’s car’ by many, was also referred as ‘Lakhtakiya’ which means something which costs under 1 lakh. In June this year only one unit was produced and as far as exports are concerned, Nano could not even open up the account.

 

The car which indeed made its place into the hearts and garage of Indian car buyers was loved and hated by many at the same time. A few incidents of Nano bursting into flames gave it a negative image from which it could not recover till now. But it also gained love and admiration to an extent that famous American Talk show host Mr. Jay Leno bought one Nano for his garage and took it to America. The only problem was that as the Nano was not road legal, he had to use the track of LAPD for testing the car.

The best thing about Nano is that

  1. it is small
  2. easy to manoeuvre
  3. has space for four
  4. a person as tall as 6ft. can fit into it easily

and the most important thing was its air-condition which was so effective that even Jay Leno said that it is better when compared with his McLaren F1.

It is to be seen whether Tata motors would finally end the production of Nano or will revive the brand and the product by introducing it into electric form. We believe that Nano can, any given day, do well as compared to MS Alto, Renault Kwid or Datsun Go but for that Tata motors have to go back to drawing board and come up with a strategy which helps Nano in gaining customers confidence.

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Mini Urban Drive in India

By Admin

Pictures: Mini India

Mini, the brand which is owned by BMW, started its very own ‘Mini Urban Drive’ platform in India, which promotes and provides ‘Go-Kart’ like feeling among its users. The very first drive was held in August in Bengalauru where products like New Mini Hatch, New Mini Convertible, The All New Mini Countryman and the flagship Mini Clubman were present. The event will be organised throughout India in 7 major cities which are Hyderabad, Chennai, Mumbai, Pune, Chandigarh and Delhi and will over by October, 2018. The idea behind the event is to promote and showcase the safety and performance hidden in the various models of Mini.

This is what Mr. Vikram Pawah, Chairman, BMW Group India said, “The MINI Urban Drive provides a perfect opportunity for auto enthusiasts to be inspired by MINI’s ultimate combination of driving fun, top-notch quality and unique style. It offers participants not only the legendary driving experience of a MINI, but also significantly increasing safety at the wheel- whether in everyday traffic, performing rapid overtaking manoeuvres or at full –throttle on the racetrack. With MINI Urban Drive, we continue to extend the MINI lifestyle to more customers and look forward to welcoming more members to the MINI way of life.

Through out the event trained Mini Sales consultants will be present to assist users in a professional manner and provide details related to the products available for the drive. This would help customers to identify the Mini matching their lifestyle. Not only this, Mini India is accepting the booking of its products during the course of event.