FIAT India might not be launching any new vehicle in 2012 but that does not stop them from actively promoting their current line-up. The Italian car maker has decided to up its marketing activities in the country and is helping couples celebrate Valentine’s day at the FIAT caffe, in an Italian way. The company says that if you visit the FIAT Caffe with your love till the 18th of February 2012, you will get a free test drive of the 2012 Linea or Punto. Test drive are anyways free so what is so special? Well, FIAT Caffe will also serve free Lavazza coffee and cookies to all. At the end of the evening, a portrait of the couple will be gifted to them.

Although this might not really help FIAT in acquiring many new customers, because the company has only 1 Caffe, its a right move none the less. The FIAT Caffe can serve as a joint for owners to meet and discuss their love for the Italian brand over a cup of coffee. The Fiat Caffe also has the Punto and Linea on display along with the history of the brand displayed on the walls. Furthermore the Caffe is also a place where enthusiasts can purchase FIAT branded merchandise.

Tata Motors has increased the prices of all its cars except the Nano and Aria, citing increase in input costs hurting their margins. The largest Indian car company has left the Nano and Aria as they are not doing good sales number and are currently being offered at a discount. The price hike is effective immediately and is between Rs. 7000/- to Rs. 12,000/-. Earlier this year, Maruti Suzuki, General Motors, Toyota and Mahindra have undertaken price hikes of its vehicles blaming the depreciating Rupee for this action.

“The high input costs have been impacting us for quite some time. We have decided to pass on some burden to our customers. The quantum of the hike will vary between Rs 7,000 and Rs 12,000 depending on the model. The price hike has been effected since yesterday,” a Tata Motors spokesperson said.

Ford India was expected to launch the Fiesta Automatic at the 2012 Auto Expo. Instead the company chose the event to unveil the EcoSport to the world. Not to let the EcoSport drown the enthusiasm of the Fiesta Automatic, the American automaker decided to keep the launch for later. Now Ford India has updated its website with the Fiesta Automatic. The company will be announcing prices anytime soon and we can expect a launch as soon as next week. The Ford Fiesta Automatic is available in petrol guise only as the developing an automatic gearbox for the 1.5-litre DuraTorq diesel engine does not make economic sense for the company.

The Ford Fiesta Automatic uses a 6-speed PowerShift transmission, which returns 16.86 km/l. This mileage is claimed to be better then some manual cars due to the electro-mechanical controls. The Fiesta Automatic also features Creep function and hill/grade assist. The hill launch assist uses the ABS brakes to hold the Fiesta for 2.5 seconds when traveling uphill, thereby preventing rolling back. You can read the complete review of the Ford Fiesta Automatic here.

Maruti Suzuki has crossed 1 crore sales in the Indian market, after 29 years of selling cars in the country. The first Maruti car (the original 800) rolled out in December 1983 and since then Maruti has dominated the Indian car market. It took Maruti Suzuki 23 years to sell 50 lakhs cars, while the other 50 lakh cars (of the total 1 crore) were sold in just 6 years. The 1 crore vehicle is a red Swift VXi. The top 5 models to get the sales for Maruti Suzuki include the M800 (26.36 lakh units), Alto (19.08 lakh units), Omni (14.37 lakh units), Wagon R (11.14 lakh units) and Swift (6.85 lakh units).

One such model which has not contributed much to the 1 crore number is the Maruti Suzuki SX4. The company has now launched a celebration edition of the SX4 to mark 1 crore sales. This celebration edition is available in white colour only and carries body graphics and decal. The SX4 Celebration Edition also features new seat fabric, chrome AC louvers, chrome inside door handles, cubic printing on arm rest, cerebration floor mats and pillow. This will be available in limited numbers.

Fiat India Automotive Limited (FIAL), a joint venture between Tata Motors and Fiat India for producing FIAT engines would be reaching its full capacity after its recent successful deal with Maruti Suzuki to provide additional 1 lakh diesel units per year to make up for supplying the additional demand in diesel cars. Till now, Maruti Suzuki had obtained a license pact from FIAT under which they were authorised to manufacture the Fiat sourced diesel engine at its own plant. The need for 1 lakh diesel engines will be additionally supplied by FIAT while the existing license would continue to remain the same.

“The recent agreement with Maruti would definitely take plant capacity forward and Tata motors also plans to produce more cars from here. This calendar year the capacity is fully utilised,” said Piyush Lall, Assistant GM, Fiat Brands – Tata Motors.

When FIAT starts supplying 1 lakh engines, it will be attain its full capacity of production. FIAT, based in Ranjangaon near Pune is currently utilizing 70% of its total capacity which will it will be reaching 100% after starting its supply to Maruti Suzuki. FIAT manufactures the 1.3 litre diesel and the 1.4 litre FIRE gasoline engines at this plant. In total, the FIAT plant has a annual capacity to produce 1 lakh cars and 3.5 lakh engines along with 3 lakh parts and accessories.

He also added that under the deal between Maruti Suzuki and FIAT, FIAT would be supplying 1 lakh 1.3-litre Multijet 75 BHP diesel engines annually for a period of 3 years. The 1.3 litre Multijet engine is also fitted to Fiat’s Punto and Tata indica Vista apart from a slew of Maruti Suzuki models. With so much demand for diesels now, FIAT will definitely be looking at bright times ahead of it.

The Korean car maker, Hyundai known for its Fluidic sculpture styling recently showcased the 2 door version of the Elantra at the Chicago Auto Show. The 4 door Elantra sedan was already a kicker in its looks and had bagged the best looking car at the North American International Auto Show this year. When the 4 door version is so good, shouldn’t the 2 door coupe version be even better? As a matter of fact, it is!. The Hyundai Elantra Coupe is stunning and Hyundai has really done a commendable job in transforming a 4 door sedan to a 2 door coupe.

The Hyundai Elantra Coupe gets elongated front doors and also gets slightly different fog lamp surrounds. It also gets a black coloured trim at the bottom of the rear bumper and a new designed trunk with rear spoiler. The wheelbase and the overall height of the car remain the same, it gets slightly longer. However, this is not expected to alter any cabin space inside by as significant amount. However, Hyundai claims that compared to its competitors, the Honda Civic Coupe and the Kia Forte, the Elantra has higher cabin space by a large margin.

Under the hood, things however remain the same. The Elantra coupe is also powered by the 1.8 litre 4 cylinder petrol engine that produces 148 BHP of power and 131 lb-ft of torque which does duty on the Elantra sedan. This engine is mated to a 6 speed automatic gearbox that sends power to the front wheels. A 6 speed manual gearbox is also available along with this engine. Hyundai will be launching the Elantra in the US market in the later half of this year. but sadly, it is not likely to see the Indian daylight in the near future.

The Korean car manufacturer, Hyundai has gone really aggressive in the Indian market with a slew of new model launches one after the other. It has also devised a very clear strategy; make all their products fluidic! Yes, that is right. Hyundai is giving all its new products or facelifts of the older models its characteristic Hyundai Fluidic design sculpture. The latest to get the Fluidic sculpture design would be the Hyundai Sonata. The Hyundai Sonata has been in India for quite some time and has not undergone any major changes till date due to its not so big sales figures. However, with the addition of the Fluidic design, the car looks aggressive and stylish by leaps and bounds.

If you closely follow Hyundai’s styling, you would notice one thing for sure; the company’s stylists are experts in providing feature lines at the right places in the right angles. The Sonata gets sharp feature lines on the hood which continues from the large front grille, and also sports a sharp waist line running all the way from front to the back. The headlights slightly resemble the Fluidic Verna and get a rectangular wide air dam at the bottom. The rear also sports Fluidic styled tail lamps. the Sonata Fluidic gets a wheelbase of 2795mm with an overall length of 4820mm and width of 1805mm. The overall height stands at 1490mm.

Under the hood, the Sonata Fluidic gets a 2.4 litre GDi engine that produces 201 BHP of power at 6300 RPM and 25.5 kgm of torque at 4250 RPM. The engine is mated to a 6 speed manual or a 6 speed automatic gearbox unit. The Sonata gets loads of safety features like Dual Front Airbags, side and curtain airbags, ESP, ABS with EBD, rear parking assist, impact sensing door unlock, rear view camera and auto headlight control. On the interior, the Sonata gets 2 tone beige interiors with blue LED illumination of cabin, leather wrapped steering wheel and wooden inserts on the interiors. With loads of features, space and appeal, this car is sure to take on its rivals very well, if only Hyundai can price it strategically. The Sonata is expected to be launched in the first week of March.

The Pulsar 200 NS from Bajaj has been one of the most awaited bikes of this year as we had already mentioned long time back and with the launch of it, it surely has taken such a turn. The all new Bajaj Pulsar has taken a large step forward than its current generation Pulsars. We already brought you a live coverage straight from the venue when the bike was launched and also regular updates about it. Recently Autocar India got a chance to grab one of the first samples of the Pulsar 200 NS and give it a go at Bajaj’s own test track facility in Pune. We bring you some key highlights from what they experienced at the track.

1. The Pulsar 200 NS has a good road presence and the front has a slight resemblance of the Honda CB1000R.
2. The Pulsar 200 NS gets a twin spar chassis made of pressed steel and a rectangular section swingarm. This combination makes the handling of the bike very good and really sharp at corners.
3. The engine is of a short stroke design with Bajaj’s ExhausTEC resonance chamber fitted to the silencer. It gives out a healthy torque figure even at low speeds.
4. The engine gets a counter-balancer shaft which makes its operation very smooth. Power and torque band are spread in a very linear fashion over the RPM range.
5. The ECU cuts in at 10,800 RPM which is quite high and is only possible due to the 4 valve technology.
6. The rear tyre could make do with more grip and the Pulsar 200 NS feels very nimble and as easy to ride as the P135.
7. The three spark 200 cc engine is very smooth and responsive. Power and torque spread is linear and you can do 30 km/h and 140 km/h (speedo indicated) in 6th gear.
8. Throttle is very smooth and the P200 is very easy to ride hard and fast thanks to the rectangular swingarm, which offers very good stability.
9. Brakes are very good and the Pulsar 200 NS is a very nice motorcycle to ride.
10. Handling is good but not as good as the KTM Duke 200.

Source – Autocar India

It’s not an exotic sports-car. In fact, it is one of the most common sights on Indian roads. It’s not ridiculously expensive either. Instead, it is one of the most affordable cars of all time. For people in their 60′s and 70′s whose choice when buying their first car was limited to the Ambassador and Premier Padmini, this came in as a whiff of fresh air. For people in their 40′s and 50′s, this was their first set of wheels. Guys and girls in their 20′s and 30′s grew up and learnt driving in this car. To cut a long story short, this car literally put India on wheels. Like what Ford Model T is to Americans and Volkswagen Beetle is to Germans, this car is to Indians. Until you had confined yourself into a dark room for the past 25 years or so, you would have rightly guessed by now that we are talking about the Maruti 800.
This particular car we drove was a 1984 manufactured model with high import content and consequently much better build quality than the later models that had high local content. It has passed through 4 owners and has covered a total of 122,389 km till date. So, how does a car which redefined the way Indians traveled in the 80′s look and feel now? Does it make sense at this day and age when cars have moved forward? Or is it only fit for rekindling fond memories associated with it? We drove it to find out and the answers are really surprising, even for us. Read on.

‘Boxy’ is ‘Sexy’ Outside:
30 years is a very long time for anything and more so for something as fashionable and ever-changing as the design of an automobile. But that’s precisely how long the design of the 800 has lived on with the existing 800 still using the same basic shape and theme of the original Suzuki SS80, albeit with a few facelifts. It just goes to show the greatness of the original’s design. Look at it and the 800 still looks simple and clean with an edge on practicality over aesthetics. It is small yet purposeful, boxy yet sexy and is eternally cute evoking a similar reaction to seeing a cartoon character. The square-shaped headlamps, the rectangular indicators with tiny parking lights and the slab-like tail-lamps are classic ’800′ stuff that makes this car instantly recognizable.

The bumpers are massive by those standards to protect the car and its occupants in case of an unfortunate accident and, to our eyes, the car seems to be riding on a pretty high ground clearance. Remember, when this car came out, India didn’t have decent highways, leave alone the Golden Quadrilateral and the Expressways. The boot can be accessed only through the rear windscreen that can be opened. If it sounds familiar, you are right. Honda brought back this concept recently with its Brio hatchback. The later 800 models though came with a boot that could be opened.

‘Simple’ is ‘Smart’ Inside:
The 800, when launched in India, was competing with two other popular cars of it’s era, the HM Ambassador and Premier Padmini. Compared to them, the 800 was smaller, shorter, narrower and consequently, had less passenger space. You might think that its a big negative point but the way the available space has been put to use can teach modern small cars a thing or two in practicality. For example, the jack to lift the car up has been smartly placed in the left corner of the hood. Though there is considerable leg-space both at the front and the rear, this is the only area where the 800 gets a drubbing from the Ambassador and the Padmini. The quality of interiors seems to be much better though and the 800′s interiors are proven to be durable to this day.

Just like the exteriors, the interiors are also simple and neatly laid out. It just reminds us of the fact that being simple is always better and smart too. ABS, Airbags, Climate Control and Power Windows were unheard of in those days and the 800 came with slider controls for the air-conditioner. Lesser electronics means lesser trouble and greater reliability. Every single button, knob and latch still works perfectly unlike many modern cars which suffer from unreliable electronics. The interior overall is still a nice place to spend time in and travel for 4 adults.

‘Small’ is ‘Big Fun’ to Drive:
Turn the ignition on and the car shows its first signs of age. The starter motor takes some time and effort to crank the engine on. Once done, the engine is pretty refined compared to the shaky and noisy competition the car had in those days. The clutter-clatter of the engine is pretty audible compared to these days though. Press the accelerator pedal and that’s where the real surprise is. The car moves forward swiftly with the light kerb weight helping things here. The absence of power steering is felt only at parking speeds and the steering weighs up nicely as speeds build up. The car willingly skates into corners and stays composed until you take sudden directional changes which creates a fair amount of body-roll. To hell with the Stability Control, this car knows nothing about those gizmos. It is just uncomplicated mechanical bits at its reliable best.

We knew that driving the car would be fun but, to be really frank, we never expected that it would be so much fun to putter around. It again shows that there is nothing that can bring as big a smile in your face as a small, light and nimble car sans the gizmos. To make things better, so much fun comes pretty cheap too with negligible maintenance costs and amazing fuel-efficiency. Having said that, the brakes are the only thing that scared us. A few episodes of ‘pressing the brake pedal and the car doesn’t react’ later, we stood hard on the brakes to bring the car to a stop, the absence of a brake booster making its presence felt here.

‘Japanese’ Build Quality Impresses:
As we stated earlier, this 800 was manufactured in 1984 which means that, except the tires and the battery, almost everything else was imported from Japan. The build quality of the Japanese component manufacturers needs a special mention here as this car still has most of the original fittings intact, and working too. The Stanley sealed-beam headlights and Tokai Denso taillights and indicators still looks and works great and have not faded 28 years into its life. Under the hood, most of the components are still original, manufactured by companies lie Nippon Denso and Mikuni. Even the original ‘Suzuki’ and SS80 scripts in the valve cover are intact. The car is devoid of rust around the joints and hinges but the repaint has not quite brought the magic of the original ‘Sky Blue’ color that the car came with.

Bring back this Time Machine:
If ever there was something that comes close to the concept of ‘Time Machine’, then this would be it. A few hours in the ubiquitous 800 sent us back in time and brought back the sweet memories when driving, controlling and stopping a car were completely in our control and consequently so much fun. If you are worried that you may never afford to have fun driving a Porsche or Lamborghini, we suggest you scout for a good old 800. It is infinitely less fun driving the 800 we agree, but then you would be spending just peanuts for it.

There is just one obligation to Maruti-Suzuki that we have and one that most of you readers will also agree to – “Bring back something as simple, as cute and as much fun as the original 800 please”. With this, we let you loose to feel the nostalgia and share it across. The floodgates are open in the form of ‘comments’ section below. Pitch in with the countless experiences, memories and moments that you would have had with this ubiquitous little gem of a car that changed the motoring landscape of India once and for all.

Text & Photography: Aravind Ramesh

When you meet you friends you say yo! With a three finger symbol! (\m/) When you see Ekta Kapoor’s soap operas, the vamp says the main dialogue which is repeated thrice and camera is focused three times!!!

We all love our cars and we love the adrenaline rush when they reach “3″ DIGIT NUMBERS and they are driven by “3″ pedals (accelerator brake clutch! ABC), you get 3 spoke steering (in most modern cars) and to look out of your car u get 3 mirrors!!! Ain’t all this MAGICAL?

3 is the number which is quietly being used in the AUTO WORLD FOR A LONGGG TIME!

Now we see the number 3 being used extensively!!! Lets start with Bajaj Auto. They just launched the Pulsar 200 NS and it has “3″ spark plugs. Let me tell you another example. The NEW BMW M Powered Diesel Engines are powered with “3″ turbochargers (2 small, 1 big, which has become quite a controversy around the world RIGHT NOW!)

See I can go on on with this, like we just witnessed the launch of the Chevrolet Beat with a “3″ cylinder diesel engine, which has taken the market with surprise boasting of the highest fuel efficiency figures and created a FORTUNE for GM-India. We see big manufacturers like Nissan using 3 cylinder petrol engine in Micra and Volkswagen using “3″ cylinder petrol/diesel engine in the VW Polo!! Infact the Volkswagen Up! which is about to be launched is a global Car for VW and it has a “3″ cylinder 1-litre petrol engine!!! Manufacturers like FORD has introduced a “3″ Cylinder turbocharged petrol engine for their new EcoSport (Compact SUV). Rumours suggest that HONDA may consder a 1.2-litre D-TEC “3″ cylinder diesel engine for Brio and Jazz!!!

We are getting some where aren’t we?

If u look around, the largest car manufacturer in India, Maruti Suzuki has been using “3″ cylinder K-series petrol engines to rule the small car market! (Wagon R, A-star, Estilo, etc, etc) Even Hyundai couldn’t resist this and bought the Eon with a 800cc “3 cylinder” petrol engine which is the most fuel efficient car in its category! It is not just small cars or cost effective cars. Big cars use “3″ modes of driving – COMFORT ADVANCED SPORT! (an example taken from VOLVO saloons).

Summing it up then I think “3″ is better then “4″ and good replacement for “2″ Hell! even Dominos just introduced the new “3″ cheese pizza! Its not just the auto industry but its around the world! What do you think?

- Mohit Soni