Maruti 800 Duo: Lpg variant Launched

	New Delhi, June 5, 2008
	Car market leader Maruti Suzuki India Limited set out to delight its customers on World Environment Day by launching the Maruti 800 Duo, a new variant that runs on petrol as well as Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG). Speaking on the occasion, Mayank Pareek, Executive Officer, Marketing and Sales, Maruti Suzuki said, "Dual fuel vehicles have always formed a prominent part of our overall product strategy. We are happy to launch the Maruti 800 Duo on the World Environment day as it uses LPG, an environment friendly cleaner fuel. Besides, the car is economical to drive and being factory fitted, it is completely safe." "The success of Maruti Suzuki's dual fuel models like the WagonR and the Omni Cargo is a clear reflection of the customer preference towards products that are safe and light on pocket and at the same time environment friendly. We are sure that the Maruti 800 Duo will find favour with the customers for the greater value for money to her" he added. Coinciding with this launch, the company announced that it has sold almost 125,000 cars that are powered by LPG and CNG fuels. Besides the Maruti 800, the company offers Omni and WagonR in dual fuel options (LPG-cum- petrol) As such, Maruti Suzuki is the only manufacturer in the country to offer alternate fuel vehicles across entry level, compact and commercial segments. Power and Performance The Maruti 800 Duo works on Gas Mixer System based on Integrated Gas Technology which results in optimum performance and superior emissions. The Maruti 800 Duo delivers a power of 35ps@5000 rpm and torque of 56Nm@2500 rpm. The LPG variant emits 10% lower CO2 than the petrol variant, hence is environment friendly. Designed in-house by a team of 24 engineers, the Maruti 800 Duo saw active participation of some of the young engineers in the company. The concept of the project was to make a cost effective LPG variant, which would deliver the performance equivalent to the Injection systems. The learning's from previous products like Omni LPG (2004) & Wagon R Duo (2006) have been integrated into the Maruti 800 Duo to ensure that optimum power and torque levels are maintained at the same levels as the petrol variant. Safety Maruti 800 Duo is manufactured at the company's Gurgaon plant. The components of the Maruti 800 Duo are fitted on-line along side the petrol variant of the car, hence ensuring excellent quality levels. Like the other products in the company's portfolio, the Maruti 800 Duo undergoes all stringent checks as per Maruti Suzuki quality standards before being rolled out from the assembly lines. The factory-fitted Maruti 800 Duo enjoys full warranty benefits, which are available on other car models. Thus, Maruti 800 Duo will provide the customers benefits of lower running cost, without the risk associated with unapproved, after market LPG kits. The LPG kit in the Maruti 800 Duo is approved by Department of Explosives, tested and certified by Automotive Research Association of India, country's premier automobile testing and certifying authority. Maruti 800 Duo is available in a range of five colours. Alternative fuels Maruti Suzuki pioneered the alternate fuel scenario in the country by introducing Factory fitted models starting from 2001. These regularly introduced dual fuel variants have found special favour amongst fleet operators and commercial users, for the excellent low running costs and low maintenance cycles. The LPG variants constitute around 23 per cent of national sales for Wagon R and Omni. With the launch of Maruti 800 Duo the company would have a greater presence in the alternative fuel cars in the country.
	Introductory Price The prices of Maruti 800 Duo in Delhi are:
	Variant Price Ex showroom Delhi (Rs) (Non metallic colours) Maruti 800 Standard LPG 205,682 Maruti 800 AC LPG 226,177

Specifications:- Maruti 800 Duo

Related:-
Accent goes dual fuel with CNG
Maruti Suzuki world's fourth most reputed auto company

World's cheapest Car

In the September of 1998 kinetic had an ambitious plan of producing a truely people's car. It was called as the City car.
The company, hoped that the duty concession of 15 per cent duty (equivalent to the duty on auto-rickshaws) will come sooner or later. Interestingly, the micro-car's name `City' was in direct conflict with Honda's `City' brand name. Honda has a separate joint venture with Delhi-based SIEL Ltd to make Honda cars in India.

Kinetic's small car, which was touted as the `smallest of the small cars' by analysts, was to be priced at Rs 1.25 lakh. Kinetic said as the cost of the car will shoot up beyond the Rs 1.5 lakh mark after paying 40 per cent duty, it will not meet the target customers of two-wheeler users who would like to upgrade to cars. Hence, as the new price would not be competitive, it has decided to drop the car plans.
Then Tata moved heaven and earth to keep the price of Indica (its current model) down. In fact, the original ambition powering the passenger car foray of Tata Motors (it was known as Telco then) was to make a car that would be roomy, entail low operational costs, and sell at the same price as the 800. Not surprisingly, the Indica managed only the first two objectives. So, the 800 (around Rs 2 lakh) continued to be the preferred choice for first-time buyers.
About 20 years after its launch on Indian roads, its position as entry level small car is challenged once again. Yet again, car-makers are trying to launch new models that will fight the 800 on price. The front runner is Tata Motors, which has been talking about a project that now sounds incredible, to bring out a car that will retail for as low as Rs1 lakh.

Tata has gone one step ahead and are targeting India's approximately 65 million two-wheeler owners to market the much-touted small car.

Update:-Pictures & details of Tata 1lakh ($2500) car Nano....

As per reports, Tata will fit the car with a 600cc engine placed at the rear of the vehicle. The four-door car will be designed to seat 4 or 5 people and is expected to be priced at Rs 100,000 for the base model ex-factory. Variants with extra features such as power steering will be more expensive. It will be made at a plant in West Bengal. The concept has already caught the imagination of car makers and buyers worldwide.

Italian car maker Fiat is providing advice on engineering and development for the small car. Raw material accounts for approximately 70% of a car's cost. To meet this price tag the Tatas will have to redefine the concept of a car itself. And in that case, the question is whether it will meet increasingly stringent emission and safety norms?

“The car would be totally safe and eco-friendly. India’s fatality rate in car accidents is more outside the vehicle, whereas in the United States fatality rate is more inside the vehicle. Hence the issue of safety is more to do with roads and traffic management,” adds Chenoy.

Competitors are skeptical about the price and quality of the car, which the group says will have a 600-cubic-centimeter engine pumping 33-horsepower and will be capable of 80 mph.

I also read some where that people should sell off their small cars like M800, alto, Wagon R, Indica, Santro before the launch of Tats's small car in 2008 as the market for second hand cars would crash down by 25 to 30%. I find such a statement ridiculous. May be second hand M800 has a stiff competition, that too if the product turns out to be as good as it claims to be and if priced around 1 lakh. But definitely not Wagon R and Santro which sell like hot cakes and are very reliable and are much more safe 1 liter cars.

The threat is mostly to the 2 wheeler industry as also seen in the last quarter when sale of 4 wheeler went up as there was a fall in 2 wheeler sales.

Competition:-
Bajaj Auto in alliance with Renault-Nissan will be involved in the development and manufacturing of another economic small car. Bajaj would also market and distribute, using its vast network of two-wheeler dealers.

The car is expected to hit Indian roads by 2010. Bajaj has set up working groups for diverse aspects of the car. The car will be an upgrade from a conventional three-wheeler.

Hyundai Motor is also working on a sub-compact car. Hyundai Motor India (HMIL) president Ashok Jha admitted that a small car would be developed at the proposed R&D facility in Hyderabad. It could either source an 800cc engine from the parent company or it could develop a 650cc engine if need be. The car is likely to carry a sticker price of Rs 1.25 lakh, similar to the one proposed by Renault-Bajaj Auto combine.
Update:-Pictures of Bajaj Small car: Lite

With so many plans for as many products, India not just seems poised for small car market explosion but may also be on way to becoming an export hub for small cars.

While this happens here BYD from China also has an entry for the worlds cheapest car.
BYD Auto is a Chinese automobile manufacturer based in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, People's Republic of China. The firm is part of the BYD Company Limited and was founded in 2003.
The firm was created when BYD bought the bankrupted government auto maker Qingchuan and acquired one of the tightly controlled permissions to produce automobiles in China.

BYD is planning to build a car called the F-1 which it intends to sell for a mere $3,000. Obviously it wont be competing with the Mclaren F1. The care has a great ressemblance with the Toyota Aygo or rather i would say its a clone of Toyota Aygo. (Like we have Pulsar cloned as Gulsar)

Picture of BYD F1:-

Sources:-
The ET, and other internet resources.

Read the incredible story of Tata 1 lakh car on rediff here.

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