New Tata Indica and Indigo cs

Pictures of the new Indica V3 Pictures originaly posted by anshuman on team-bhp forum

The new generation Indica V3 has been given a complete makeover and surprises with its stunning looks with a two box construction. It has a sporty frontal look with its distinctive wide-eyed stylised headlamps and pronounced signature Tata grill. The look is accentuated by muscular wheel arches sharp creases merging with its contoured surfaces and the sleek, full-length tail lamps. In the interior, the distinctive instrument cluster is now placed in the centre of the dashboard between the passenger and the driver seats.
The new Indica is bigger than the current Indica with a length of 3795 mm (existing 3675 mm), width of 1695 mm, height of 1550 mm and wheelbase of 2470 mm (existing 2400 mm). The rear sloping wind screen also increases the sense of spaciousness in the passenger cabin. The new Indica will be available with a new range of world class diesel and petrol engines and transmissions with a new suspension. The car will be offered with a new 1.3 litre Quadra-Jet Common Rail Direct Injection Diesel engine and a 1.2 litre Safire MPFI VVT Petrol engine, which will be manufactured at the new Tata-Fiat joint venture plant at Ranjangaon in Maharashtra, besides existing Tata powertrains. The car will sport a 5 speed synchromesh gearbox with overdrive, bigger 175/65 R 14 tubeless tyres and a twist beam suspension. The new Indica will be launched in the latter part of 2008 and will coexist with the present Indica range at a higher price point.

Pictures originaly posted by anshuman on team-bhp forum

Indigo CS (Compact Sedan):
The world’s first sub four-metre sedan, the Tata Indigo CS is positioned as the first car for young professionals. It carries forward the cabin seating comfort and space package, that is now closely associated with the Indigo range and a capacious 400 litre boot. Clever and efficient design has made it possible to encapsulate this entire package within the four metre length, making this car a complete package to address the combined demands of space and manoeuvrability in our congested cities. The Indigo CS sports a stylish new tail light cluster in the rear embedded in a smart new rear profile completed with a new, trimmer rear bumper. The front of the car has also been visually differentiated with a new front grille and new headlamps.

The new car is available in both petrol and diesel variants. The petrol variant is equipped with a multi-point fuel injection engine powered by a 32bit microprocessor and churns out a maximum power of 65PS @ 5200 rpm. The diesel variant comes with the turbo-charged intercooled engine that generates 70PS @ 4500 rpm. The petrol variants will have beige interiors, while the diesel variants will have black interiors. The Indigo CS will be available in two trim levels – a basic AC model & an AC, power steering model. It will be made available in an exciting new Scarlet Red colour, apart from the existing range of Indigo shades.

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1 million mark for Tata Motors

Tata Motors today on 24th Nov, rolled out its one millionth passenger car off the Indica platform from its facility at Pune. The company commenced production in January, 1999. While it achieved the 100,000th car in March 2001, and the 500,000th car in February, 2005, the progression from the 900,000th car to the millionth car was achieved in just 7 months, Tata Motors said in a statement.
Expressing his satisfaction, Tata Motors Chairman Ratan Tata said: "The team of people involved with the journey to this milestone should feel satisfied today of having created a robust car business for the company."

Starting with the Indica, the company launched the Indigo in 2002, Indigo Marina in 2004, and Indigo XL in 2007. The plant started with a capacity of 150,000 units a year, which was subsequently expanded to 225,000 units in 2006.

As part of the celebration of the one-millionth milestone, the company announced several initiatives, including free service check-ups, free service camps, discounts on accessories and value-added services for existing customers. A contest for free upgrades for lucky customers is coupled with special retail offers for new customers.

In addition, special retail offers and finance schemes for employees of vendors, financiers, dealerships are also planned, the company said.

Source :- PTI

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Tata Indica Electric and Hybrid

What is a Hybrid cars? check here
Tata Motors is planning to launch electric version of the Indica for the overseas market by 2009. It has roped in a foreign collaborator for the project and hopes to tap the environmentally conscious European market.

Car makers are betting on Europe for electric cars given the fact that climate change and environment sustainability are high on the European Union agenda. For instance, London has given tax exemption to hybrid vehicles. Countries such as Norway, Sweden and France that have surplus power are also shifting to battery-operated vehicles.

Tata Motors would be launching a ‘mild hybrid’ of Indica in 2008. The company said that electricity-run Indica would not suit the Indian scenario as the domestic market is yet to mature.

Tata confirmed that the prototype of Indica hybrid is ready. The hybrid version would have the facility to turn off the engine when it is not needed such as when the car is stopped at signals, and turned on again.

Japanese car makers such as Honda with their Civic and Toyota with their Prius have also been to introduce their hybrid cars in India. However, the lack of homologation rules in the country has been a hurdle.

Besides the passenger car, Tata Motors is also working with a US-based company on electrification of its most popular light commercial vehicle, ‘Ace’, and hybrid buses for city transport.

Source Business Line.

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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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New Tata indica launched with airbags and ABS

Tata Motors on Wednesday launched a new variant of its flagship hatchback Indica sporting dual front airbags and anti-lock braking system priced at Rs 4.76 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi).

These safety features have been added to the top-end variant of Indica -- V2 Turbo DLX, Tata Motors said in a statement.

Indica range already comes with standard safety features like anti-submarine seats, side-impact beams, front crumple zone, collapsible steering column, energy absorbing bumpers and ELR type seat belts.

The variant is powered by 1,405 cc turbo-charged intercooled diesel engine that delivers a power of 68 PS

Source The ET

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