The word Nova stands for a star becoming extra brighter suddenly; similarly Tata wants to add some extra luxury, feature and technology to their star the Manza sedan. Tata showcase Manza with its full glory by putting in many luxury elements inside cabin. Distinct Spanish Tan color and sophisticated and attractive alloys outside are only changes on exteriors. When we enter Manza Nova, we are welcomed by plush rich leather seats and sumptuous interiors which receive plum and black treatment. The chrome accented gear knob, parking lever, instrument console and HVAC adds luster. It comes with a new feature-rich 2 DIN head unit with improved speakers for that crisp and clear sound, to make the most of the new sound-staging virtual surround effects in the new music system.

Tata wants to make sure that we don’t hit anyone and also ourselves while parking the big car. Warning signals will hit your eyes as well as ears if get too close with anyone.  The display in Inside Rear View Mirror (IVRM) shows visuals with distance markings on it from rear camera and proximity sensors will sound a buzzer to warn you. The IVRM is equipped with Auto Dimming feature to reduce the glare of lights of rear vehicles to ease night driving. New and improved proximity security system will insure that your wanna-have luxurious Manza will remains yours only. List of features is totally realistic and can be brought on road anytime soon. So this version may be placed over current top end model Elan or if Tata Motors wants to treat their customers then this may come as replacement of Elan with marginal price increase.

World over many companies are developing greener vehicles and some of them has managed to bring those into reality like Toyota with their Prius for considerable time. Concern for mother earth and depleting fossil fuels has caused many companies to strive for this shift. Sustainability is what also forcing many companies to work on this, so as they continue to be in this business. Thus moving with the world Tata has showcased their hybrid vehicle Tata Manza Hybrid at the expo. There are no plans to launch this vehicle in near future as it has to be revised and refined over the time to be feasible and practical.

Tata will be currently looking at applying the Hybrid Technology to Manza which they are using in their buses. What the spec sheet reads is 1.05 liter DICOR engine 45kw Electric Traction Motor will be doing duty under the hood. Engine Start/stop system is also a part of it along with regenerative braking. Roof mounted solar panel to extract power from mighty sun. To store all these energy powerful lithium –ion battery will be provided. All these will bring the CO2 emissions less than 90 gm/km.

Feature list includes ABS and airbags as safety features. 6 way powered leather front seats, Intuitive controller screen for various function, 7” Infotainment Touch Screen with Haptic feedback and proximity touch operated door locks are the features which will add bit of luxury and convenience to the car. Bi-xenon and LED headlamps and LED tail lights as well are provided. So as a package Manza Hybrid looks promising and delightful as well. How well it turns into reality is what depends on time and brilliant minds at Tata Motors. If we try to guess the price, it is very difficult to tell at this point of time, but if we take a wild guess it may be priced somewhat around Rs 12-15 lakhs.

Along with Mahindra Verito Electric, Reva, Maruti Desire Hybrid and Tata Manza Hybrid getting ready for future, future of Indian automobile industry feels positive and exciting. But there is long way to go for all these automobile giants. Let’s keep our fingers crossed and hope for the best. What do you feel about future of us on wheels?

Tata Motors had one of the biggest stalls at the 2010 Auto Expo and this won’t change for the 2012 Auto Expo. The largest India automaker will be showcasing its complete range of cars, buses, trucks at the biennial event. The Tata stall will also have Jaguar and Land Rover vehicles but Fiat will be conspicuous by their absence. At the last Expo, the Indica Vista Sport was the eye catcher along with the Prima. At the Auto Expo 2012, the company will showcase the Tata Pixel Concept but the diesel Nano will be missing. Now news comes in that Tata Motors will also showcase the Manza Hybrid, which will feature refreshed styling.

Tata Motors has no plans to launch the Indigo Manza Hybrid in India anytime soon. Every automobile event has to showcase green technology and companies either get electric or hybrid models to show their bit of care for the environment. Tata Motors has been developing hybrid buses so a hybrid car is no big deal for them. The hybrid Manza will be a mild hybrid and will not feature pre electric driving mode. It could be quite similar to what Mahindra has done with the Scorpio Micro-Hybrid. If Tata Motors can make a diesel hybrid which would reduce fuel consumption by 10%, they can continue to claim their expertise in producing the most fuel efficient cars in India. Expect the styling changes on the hybrid Manza to make it to the regular Manza in due course of time.

Source – Hormazd Sorabjee via Twitter

With festive season is around corner every car maker wants to impress the buyer by wrapping their existing product in a new avatar by either giving some additional features. Maruti Suzuki has done it with almost all of their best selling hatchbacks with the Wagon R Freedom edition and so on, Volkswagen did the same treatment on the Polo and Vento by introducing the Breeze edition. Now Tata Motors is going to do the same by introducing Manza Celebration Edition.

Nothing out of the box will be seen in the Celebration Edition apart from reverse sensors and leather upholstery along with black interiors. Tata is going to position the Celebration Edition above the Manza Elan which is currently the top end model in the Manza family. The Celebration Edition will be sharing most of the features with the Manza Elan apart from the Celebration Edition badges. The Engines are also expected to be the same, talking about the pricing Tata Motors may not increase the price and will keep it the same as it is for the top end Elan model.

Tata Motors has launched the Indigo e-CS VX, which delivers an ARAI certified mileage of 25 kmpl. The most fuel efficient sedan in the country is now powered by the new CR4 Common Rail Diesel engine. The 1396 cc motor produces 70 PS of power at 4000 RPM and 140 NM of torque between 1800-3000 RPM. The company is said to have improved the gear ratios and reduced the weight of the car by close to 10 kgs. The Tata Indigo e-CS VX is also available with a petrol heart. Both the engines are compliant with BSIV emission norms.

The Tata Indigo e-CS VX is priced at Rs. 5.8 lakhs for the CR4 diesel engine while the e-CS GVX is priced at Rs. 4.97 lakhs (all prices ex-showroom, Delhi), for the MPFi petrol engine. Tata Motors offers 18 months, unlimited mileage warranty on the e-CS. The Indigo e-CS VX features 14-inch alloys, turn indicators on outside rear view morrors, satin finish front grille and headlamps, chrome inserts on the rub rails, dual-tone beige interiors, electrically operated outside rear view mirrors, wood finish center console, rear seat center armrest, ABS, keyless entry, Bluetooth connectivity, power steering, power windows and a new instrument cluster with chrome rings.

Tata Motors started it all when it introduced the Indigo CS (Compact Sedan) a few years back. Many have followed the footsteps of the company and are planning their own version of a compact sedan. Mahindra has been working on a Verito CS, while Maruti Suzuki will launch the next generation Swift DZire in 2012, which will be a compact sedan as well. Tata Motors already offers the Indigo CS, but now plans to launch the Manza CS, which will feature all the good bits from the Tata Manza sedan in a compact package. The advantage of a compact sedan is the savings in excise benefits as they fit in the small car bracket of being less than 4-meters in length and less than 1.5-liter (diesel) and 1.2-liter (petrol) in capacity.

The Manza CS is expected to be launched soon as Tata Motors looks at expanding its line-up. To be positioned right above the Vista, the Manza CS will offer hatchback buyers a more practical alternative. Power will come from the same 1.3-liter Multijet (Quadrajet in Tata dictionary) motor, while the petrol will be a 1.2-liter unit straight from the Indica Xeta. Thus, the petrol is not the best choice for the Manza CS, which would weight a significant amount and be powered by a engine producing only 65 bhp. We wait and watch to see how Tata Motors works this around but for those who don’t care much about performance, the Manza CS makes alot of sense.

Source – CarWale

Tata Motors is celebrating the sale of 4 lakh sedans in the country. The company launched its first sedan, the Indigo, way back in 2002. Over the years we have seen alot of variants on the Indigo platform in the form of notchbacks, limousines and station wagons. The company has also used alot of engines in its cars but post the Fiat joint venture, have settled for the awesome motors from Fiat Powertrain Technologies. Celebrating the 4 lakh sedan roll-out milestone, Tata is running a competition, wherein new Manza owners get a chance to visit France. Shouldn’t Renault be using such a promotion?

Remember Narayanan R Menon? He is the guy who achieved 46 kmpl in his Tata Indigo Manza. Read all about his achievement here. Now Mr. Menon has received his certificate from the Limca Book Of Records for his National Record 2011. We would like to congratulate him for his achievement. Well done Narayanan, Tata Motors owes you big time for promoting the Manza.

Tata Motors has introduced the new Manza. With a fresh new look of dual tone interiors and an exterior make-over, the new Tata Manza will be available across all Tata Motors dealerships from February 7, 2011. Equipped with 90PS Safire petrol and Quadrajet diesel engines, the new Manza has been priced, starting from Rs.5.14 lakhs for the Safire petrol range and from Rs. 5.91 lakhs for the Quadrajet diesel range (ex-showroom, Delhi).

The driver’s seat is adjustable for height and lumber support. The fully integrated 2-DIN stereo system with Blue 5 (that seamlessly makes the music system become your phone), steering mounted control, Aux-in, USB port & DIS enhance infotainment. Top of the line safety and security features like ABS, airbags, multistage drive away auto locking, rear demister, collapsible steering, energy absorbing steering wheel, door intrusion beam for side impact ensure complete safety.

The top end variant of the new Tata Manza series, the Tata Manza Elan, comes with a host of premium features like dual tone alloy wheels, burgundy and beige interiors, chrome garnished bottom weather strip, fog lamps, and an all new premium and exclusive Tyrian wine color. Among other high-tech features, the Tata Manza Elan also has ‘follow me home headlamps’ which stay on for one minute after the car is switched off and can be extended by 30 seconds more by just pressing the lock key again. Led by customer insight, yet another unique feature is the ‘delayed power window,’ even if the windows are left open and the key removed from ignition, they can be rolled up by just pressing the power window switch.