Honda Amaze Launch on April 16?

Honda Amaze is unquestionably one of the most sought after vehicles of the year, as this will be the first diesel car from the Japanese auto giant in India, which is known for producing the world-class vehicles everywhere. And today AutoCar India has reported that the vehicle is finally launching on April 16, however the company hasn't officially said anything on the same. What makes us believe more on the expected launch date is the fact that the company's top official has some days back said that the vehicle would be launched in April.

Since we have already tried our hands at upcoming Honda Amaze , so one thing that we can say is that the car is very responsive, has good interiors and is surely one of the most balanced compact sedans we have in the market today. So, the segment leader Maruti Suzuki Swift Dzire will have a genuine competitor in the form of Honda Amaze very soon. And if it's priced well, we are sure it will do wonders for the company and help the company bring back the glorious days.

Like we reported earlier, the brio based sedan Amaze will be offered with two engine options a 1.2-litre i-VTEC and a 1.5-litre i-DTEC diesel engine. Since the 1.2-litre i-VTEC is the similar engine used in the Brio, so we would talk about the diesel mill for which everybody is waiting.

The 1.5-litre i-DTEC diesel engine belongs to the new generation powertrain technology Earth Dreams that 'realises both excellent driving performance and fuel economy at a high level'. The diesel engine is likely to churn out the maximum power output around 85bhp along with an impressive mileage of around 23kmpl.

The pricing of Amaze will certainly be aggressive, thanks to exceeding localisation. What remains to be seen now is if the new Honda Amaze can give the Maruti Dzire and the Tata Indigo a run for their money.

Source: AutoCar India

Journey for Honda Civic and Jazz Ends Finally

Honda's plans of discontinuing the Jazz and Civic were known to everyone, the company was in the process to sell the last stock and had stopped the production already. Now, the company has finally removed the Jazz and Civic, indicating that no more units of both the vehicles will be on sale from now.

Launched back in the year 2006, Honda Civic was one of the most desirable cars of its time and it was being sold in good numbers too. But ever since the market moved towards diesel engine powered cars, its sales started declining. While on the other hand, Jazz was launched a little over priced, which could not lure many buyers. However, Honda later cut its price, which too could not help much.

So, in short, despite being two potent cars, they could not manage to sell in numbers due to unavailability of diesel engines. And like we reported earlier, the company is working on the next-generation Honda Jazz, which will also have the diesel trims. The next-generation Jazz is expected to come by 2014, while there are no plans been shared about the arrival of next-generation Civic, which has been already launched internationally.

Both Honda Civic and Jazz were removed from the company's official website at the time, when the company's first ever diesel vehicle, Honda Amaze have been added. Honda Amaze is making its Indian debut on April 11, so stay tuned for all the updates on Amaze, as we will be covering the event live. Cheers!

Honda Amaze Clocks 2552 bookings in March 2013

Honda cars India that officially announced the launch date of Amaze, company's upcoming compact Sedan in India has already received over 2,552 bookings for the car in March 2013, however the official bookings started on April 1. The deliveries of the vehicle will only start after its launch on April 11, 2013.

According to the latest sales release of the Honda Cars India, it registered an annual growth of 35% by selling an all time high volume of 73,483 units during Apr 2012 – Mar 2013 as compared to 54,427 units in the corresponding period last year. However, in March 2013, HCIL sold 10,044 units in the month of March'13 as against 11,016 units in March'12, recording a drop of 8 per cent. And if we look at Honda's model wise break-up of domestic sales in March, the Amaze accounted for 2552 units, while others Brio, City, Accord and CR-V sold 3917, 3432, 113 and 30 units respectively.

According to Mr. Jnaneswar Sen, Sr. VP - Sales and Marketing, HCIL, "We are delighted to witness a remarkable growth of 35% over last year although the market environment has been quite tough. Strong demand for Honda Brio and Honda City has been instrumental in achieving this success. The launch of Amaze this month will be a significant step in Honda's strategy to begin a new phase of growth for our business in Indian market. We expect huge growth potential in tier 2 & tier 3 markets with this car and therefore we have been expanding our sales network to reach out to newer cities and markets."

The company is aiming to sell about 10,000 units of Amaze every month, and booking number of 2552 units even before the official booking started, is a good sign.

2013 Lexus ES350 will feature the Steering- Assist Vehicle Control (S-VSC) System

The new Lexus ES350 and ES300h has a very exciting new feature which can lead the driver enjoy its ideal ride on any terrain. This technology is called Steering- Assist Vehicle Control (S-VSC) which is an enhanced version of the conventional VSC system. This upgraded version of the VSC system has the capability of cutting the throttle and add braking pressure in a turn if tire slip is detected, the cars steering angle will be corrected, pointing the tires more in line with the cars projected path if the driver has provided too much steering input which causes understeer or “pushing”.

This safety feature brought by the Lexus in the era of automobile engineering evolution is a brave and bold step. The S-VSC technology will make the car different from the other cars available in the market; hence it will help the brand in doing good in terms of number of sales. The Lexus ES350 has a power of 268 hp @ 6,200 rpm and provides a torque of 248 lb-ft @ 4,700 rpm.

Whereas, the Lexus ES300h which is the first hybrid car has a power of 200 hp @ 5500 RPM and provides a torque of 195 lb-ft @ 4700 RPM and delivers 0-60mph in 8.1 seconds. The new Lexus ES 350 and ES 300h hybrid combine technology, style, and performance to please current ES owners and attract new buyers. Lexus ES has been unveiled at the New York Auto Show. This 2013 model of Lexus ES has more bold looks and includes the brands new trademark “spindle” grille.

Lexus IS 300h and Lexus LF-LC Opal Blue Concept to debut at Geneva

Japanese auto major Toyota's luxury vehicle division, Lexus is all set to showcase the all new full hybrid Lexus IS 300h and Opal Blue LF-LC at the Geneva Motor Show.

European premier for new IS 300h

The Geneva motor show will mark the European debut of the new, full hybrid Lexus IS 300h. The new model displays all-new styling that gives the sport saloon a stronger, more distinctive road presence than ever before, expressing Lexus’s reinforced focus on dynamic performance.

When it goes on sale in Europe later this year, the IS 300h will be available with an F Sport package, with exclusive sports-themed exterior and interior design features and sportier driving dynamics.

Opal Blue LF-LC

The award-winning Lexus LF-LC 2+2 hybrid sports coupe concept will be at Geneva, presented in a new Opal Blue finish. The concept showcases Lexus’s more sporting new image, with a fully driver-focused interior. It also delivers a strong interpretation of Lexus’s new design language, witnessed in the large spindle grille arrangement and rear architecture, which fuse distinctive style with engineering functionality.

Expanded F Sport range

Lexus’s full range of F Sport full hybrid models, including the new IS 300h F Sport, will be on show at Geneva, taking their place on an all-new motor show stand that’s being used for the first time in Europe.

Lexus will host a press conference on Stand 4.211 at 12.45pm on Tuesday, 5 March.

World will Drive Made-in-India SUVs

Sports utility vehicle segment in India is gearing up and ready to make its mark in developed markets such as Europe, Japan, Latin America and Australia. The Globally renowned auto-majors are looking India as the base for the export market and aims to take advantage of India's cost-competitive manufacturing methods. This will turn the country into an export hub for utility vehicles.

Homegrown auto-major Mahindra & Mahindra and French car-maker Renault has already exporting their flagship XUV500 and the Duster SUVs, respectively, to the European market. Now, Fiat and Ford India are studying the opportunities to export SUVs to Europe, South Africa and Southeast Asia.

According to the Joginder Singh, president and managing director, Ford India, said, that “ The European equation works well with the EcoSport. We already export the Figo to 38 countries from India. We would look at a similar scale for the SUV”. However, Singh did not talked about the number of EcoSport to be exported, the industry sources says that Ford plans to export around 40 per cent of the scheduled annual production of 1,50,000 units to foreign markets. The company will manufacture 380 variants of the SUV at Maraimalai Nagar facility and would be delivered to 40 countries.

Italian car-maker, Fiat also looking to grab this opportunity and aims to export at least two of its SUVs to right-hand drive markets. Earlier, company had revealed their plans of introducing nine new models in the Indian market by 2016. Speaking to Business Standard, Enrico Atanasio, former manging director, Fiat Group Automobiles India, said that,”We are looking at leveraging India as an export hub for right-hand drive models. We have excess capacity available in India and are looking at exporting vehicles from here to the UK, Japan, Australia and South Africa.”

Fiat soon going to introduce the Jeep brand in India with the Grand Cherokee and two compact utility vehicles with the Fiat logo in India. Fiat and Tata Motors together shares a manufacturing unit at Ranjangaon in Maharashtra.

In the last fiscal (2012-13), M&M exported around 2,000 XUV500 to Africa and Europe, and company aims to raise exports to Latin America by the mid of this financial year. Renault India too plans to export around 1,000-3,000 units of the Duster to the UK, where it is sold under the 'Dacia' brand. The French auto-giant is considering exporting the Duster to the other right-hand drive markets such as Malaysia, Indonesia and South Africa.

Source : Business Standard

Audi R8 V10 Plus Launches in India at Rs 2.05 Crore

Audi India has now launched the new top of the line Audi R8 V10 Plus variant of its flagship super car in India, which is the most powerful trim of the car. Launched in style at the famous Buddh International Circuit (BIC) Noida, the new Audi R8 V10 Plus has been priced at Rs 2.05 crore (ex-showroom, New Delhi).

Audi launched the new 2013 Audi R8 in January 2013 in a total three variants- R8 V8 coupe, R8 V10 coupe and R8 V10 Spyder, priced at Rs 1.34 crore, Rs 1.57 crore and Rs 1.73 crore (ex-showroom, Delhi) respectively. And in the form of R8 V10 Plus, the supercar receives its fourth and the most powerful variant.

The prices of the all three variants have however been revised due to hike in import duties (2013 Union budget). So the R8 V10 Coupe which was launched at Rs 1.57 crore, now costs around Rs 1.81 crore. So the price of the new R8 V10 plus seems justified.

The R8 V10 plus houses the similar Lamborghini sourced 5.2-litre V10 engine, which also does its duty to the R8 Spyder and the R8 V10 Coupe, however it has been tuned for more power in the V10 plus variants. The engine now promises to return a whooping 550bhp and a peak torque of 540Nm, making it 25bhp and 10Nm more powerful than the R8 Spyder and V10 coupe. Mated to a 7-speed S-Tronic gearbox, the V10 Plus has the capability to touch the 0-100kmph mark in mere 3.5 seconds with a peak speed of 317kmph.