Cng - Lpg version of Mahindra-Renault Logan

Mahindra-Renault will be introducing the CNG and LPG variants of the Logan in the next 3-4 months.

"We have had a great year of Logan, cornering about 12 per cent of market share in the 'C' segment. In the next 3-4 months, we will be launching the CNG and LPG variant of the car"

Mahindra-Renault's Chief Operating Officer Nalin Mehta told PTI.

The CNG and LPG variant of Logan would be on the platform of 1.6 litre petrol version, and will be costlier by about Rs 50,000. In the last fiscal, the company sold 25,984 units of Logan. Due to the increased input costs, especially that of steel, plastic and copper, the company had raised the prices of Logan, both petrol and diesel variants, between Rs 4,000-Rs 5,000.

Mahindra Renault Logan, thanks to its wide body, competitive pricing, better mileage and availability in all fuel options is one of the most preferred car to be used as taxi. Entry-level sedan like Logan helps taxi players to provide competitive services due to low operating costs as compared to high-end cars.

Our won Car Of The Year and Bike Of The Year

After the recently announced BS Motoring awards 2008
we had a poll running on the Confused Programmer blog where we asked the readers to vote for the COTY and BOTY. And here are the results:-

Car of the year 2008:- Number of votes (%)

Mahindra Renault Logan	9 (12%)
Chevrolet Spark	6 (8%)
Maruti Suzuki’s SX4	38 (53%)
Volkswagen Passat	11 (15%)
Hyundai i10	18 (25%)

Bike of the year 2008:-

	Apache RTR160																																							36 (36%)
	Bajaj XCD 125																																							9 (9%)
	Hero Honda Hunk																																							14 (14%)
	Pulsar 200 DTSi																																							30 (30%)
	Pulsar 220 DTS-Fi																																							33 (33%)

Lets hope to see even better cars and bikes in 2008.

Earlier poll:- Most preffered bike in 150cc segment.

BS Motoring awards 2008

BS Motoring awards 2008, the oldest automotive awards in the country were recently declared and following are the winners:-
Hyundai i10 won the Business Standard Motoring Car of the Year 2008 award. It had a stiff competition from Mahindra Renault Logan, Chevrolet Spark, Maruti Suzuki’s SX4, the BMW 3 and 5 Series and the Volkswagen Passat.

Hyundai earlier won the COTY awards for the Santro in 1998 and the Getz in 2005.

The recently launched i10 has set a new bench mark in the small car segment with its build quality, ride, handling, driveability, comfort, safety features, fuel efficiency and yet a very competitive price.

The Bajaj XCD redefined the entry level bike segment in the country. Offering the best of technology and features at an extremely affordable price impressed the juries and won the Bike of the year award for the XCD. The XCD faced competition from TVS Apache RTR160, the Pulsar 200 & Pulsar 220.

Winner in the other categories were as follows:
Chevrolet Spark: Business Standard Motoring Best Value Award 2008.
Mahindra Renault Logan: Business Standard Motoring Jury Award 2008.
BMW 325i: Business Standard Motoring Performance Car of the Year 2008.
Volkswagen Passat: Business Standard Motoring Premium Car of the Year 2008.
TVS Apache RTR 160: Business Standard Motoring Performance Bike of the year 2008.
Kinetic-Sym Flyte: Business Standard Motoring Scooter of the Year 2008.

Update1:- Created a poll for Car of the Year and Bike of the Year (Right hand side panel)
So please kindly select the Car and Bike you think are winner, also leave comments as to why you think they deserve to win. We will have our winners just before the Auto Expo where most of the awards are likely to be announced.

Update2:- Poll now closed. Here are the results:-Click

Earlier poll:- Most preffered bike in 150cc segment.

Chevrolet scores in J.D Power Asia Pacific 2007 India Initial Quality Study(IQS)

J.D. Power Asia Pacific Reports:
Chevrolet Models Rank Highest in Three of Seven Vehicle Segments in Automotive Initial Quality in India.Honda City, Honda CR-V, Mahindra-Renault Logan, Maruti Swift and Toyota Innova Also Rank Highest in Their Respective Segments. The study, which serves as the industry benchmark for new-vehicle quality measured at two to six months of ownership, has been completely redesigned for 2007 to provide manufacturers with deeper insights and more actionable information to improve problem determination and drive product improvement. The redesigned IQS now examines more than 200 problem symptoms in two distinct categories—quality of design and quality of production—across eight vehicle components: vehicle exterior; driving experience; features, controls and displays; audio, entertainment and navigation; seats; heating, ventilation and cooling (HVAC); vehicle interior and engine and transmission. Overall quality performance is based on both design quality and production quality problems per 100 vehicles (PP100), with lower scores indicating a lower rate of problem incidences and higher vehicle quality.

The new Chevrolet Spark leads the compact car segment with a score of 127 PP100. The Honda City and Chevrolet Aveo tie for the top rank position in the midsize segment with a score of 109 PP100 each, while the Chevrolet Optra (97 PP100) ranks highest in the premium midsize segment.

The 2007 India Initial Quality Study (IQS), now in its 11th year, is based on evaluations from nearly 6,000 owners who purchased a new vehicle between November 2006 and July 2007. The study includes 43 vehicle models covering 11 makes. The study was fielded from May to September 2007 in 15 cities across India.
Problems per 100 vehicles in braces

1. Compact (185)
   1. Spark (127)
   2. Wagon R (159)
   3. Estilo (160)
2. Premium Compact (133)
   1. Swift (116)
   2. U-VA (123)
   3. Getz (222)
3. Entry Midsize (169)
   1. Logan (65)
   2. Ikon (117)
   3. Esteem (174)
4. Midsize (121)
   1. Aveo, NHC (109)
   2. Fiesta (121)
5. Premium Midsize (123)
   1. Optra (97)
   2. Corolla (108)
   3. Civic (130)
6. MPV (177)
   1. Innova (111)
   2. Tavera (149)
   3. Bolero (214)
7. SUV (229)
   1. CRV (50)
   2. Endeavor (61)
   3. Scorpio (233)

Earlier For an eighth consecutive year, Maruti Suzuki ranks highest in customer satisfaction with authorized dealership service, according to the J.D. Power Asia Pacific 2007 India Customer Satisfaction Index (CSI).

Logan was surely a surprise pack which scored really well in the segment.
Dowload / Read it here

Special thanks to msdivy From TeamBHP forum.

New cars expected soon on Indian roads in 2008

New Car launches for 2008:
Was reading a lot these days about almost every automobile manufacturer bringing in a new model or two by year end or next year in India. Today an article on the Economic times compelled me to write about them. According to The ET atleast 20 new cars would be launched in India by next year end, amongst which the 1 Lakh Tata car also called as The peoples car, is the most hyped about and awaited car.
Update:- Tata 1 lakh car launched.
Picture of Santa Fe

Hyundai:-
The first car that would hit the roads would be Hyundai PA / P-A (i10) which would be positioned between Santro and Getz. Rumors are that the Hyundai Pa might also replace Santro which has been around for quite a while now. Another suv Hyundai Santa Fe is also expected in the fist half. The Santa Fe is available in 2.7 litre 185 bhp and 3.3 litre 242 bhp V6 engines. Price in overseas markets varies from $21,145 to $26,145. The Santa Fe can easily accommodate 7 persons.

Picture of Maruti Suzuki SplashMaruti :-
Maruti would be launching a hatchback called as The Splash in 1.1 / 1.2 litre petrol and 1.3 Litre diesel engines and would compete with the Hyndai Pa and would also eat into the market Share of recently launched Zen Estilo and Wagon R if at all it is not discontinued. Another Models would be Swift Sedan and diesel version of sx4.
Update:- Pictures and details of Maruti Suzuki's new A-Star

Picture of Skoda Fabia
Skoda :-
The Skoda Fabia is one of the most comfortable and spacious hatchbacks that has been doing well in the European markets. When launched in India it would be available in 1.2 lite petrol engine and 1.5 lite diesel. The design is extremely attractive and features un heard so far in any of the indian Hatachbacks. It would we priced around 5 to 6.5 lakhs and would compete with Getz, Swift, Uva, Honda Fit/ Jazz.

Picture of honda Fit Jazz
Honda :-
A completely new version of Honda city to take on Verna, SX4, Fiesta, etc. , a new HatchBack The Honda Fit/Jazz. in the small car segment and a new Accord in the premium segment. Honda Fit/Jazz is one spacious hatchback that i am personally waiting for which would be available in 1.4 litre cvt or 1.5 litre vtec engine or both would be real sporty and fun to drive car and very much successful world over.
Mahindra:-
Mahindra & Mahindra will introduce the new 2.2 litre engine for Scorpio (Eagle) in early 2008. A Logan HatchBack is also expected soon which would be as bad as the logan sedan as far as design is concerned but a wide bodied 5 door hatch back and extremely spacious one. And a big Ingenio competing with Toyota Innova.

Picture of Fiat Grande PuntoFiat:-
Fiat would bring in the diesel palio and the much awaited and successful hatchBack The Grande Punto which will have a 75bhp engine same as that in the Maruti swift. It would be another Spacious (Grande) car in the premium small car segment competing with the swift, Fit/Jazz, Getz, etc.
GM:-
Chevrolet Captiva a 5 seater suv with a 2 lite diesel engine capable of pumping 148 bhp and expected price os 20 lakhs in India. I am not very sure how successful this suv would be. But as far as the medium and premium small cars are concerned Indian buyers would be spoilt for choices.
So great year ahead for the 4 wheeler buyers in India. Stay tuned as i will cover each of these cars in greater detail over next few months.

Update:- We can expect to see almost all the new cars for 2008 in the upcoming Auto Expo 2008 in delhi.

Related:-
1) Hyundai launches new car i10
2) Honda Jazz
3) Volkswagen Passat now in India
4) Skoda India launches new Laura Ambiente
5) i10 gets excellent reviews
6) Hyundai i30
7) Suzuki splash to replace wagon R
8) Skoda Fabia launched in India