New Honda Activa Launched!!
Honda Activa was the first scooter launched by Honda in India. It has been designed as a family two-wheeler and features higher load carrying capacity. Now, Honda India has come up with all new Activa with major styling changes all around.
Following changes/additions have been made in new activa:
- Redesigned headlamps with integrated clear lens indicators.
- All new clear lens tail lamp with integrated clear lens indicators.
- Impact resistant ABS plastic panels.
- New 109cc 4 Stroke 8 Bhp engine.
- Redesigned front and rear section.
- New CBS System which applies front braking force whenever the rear brake is operated.
Honda new Activa gets a redesigned front and rear section. The front is dominated by curvy and aerodynamic styling with redesigned headlamps. Clear lens turn indicators dominates the rear. Honda has used impact resistant ABS plastic panels to reduce the overall weight of the two-wheeler. The new activa is priced Rs39,800 (ex-showroom Delhi) for the standard variant.
The new activa is available in following six shades:
- Grey metallic
- Candy lucid red
- Mettalic Black
- Force silver metallic
- Wild purple metallic
- Pearl sunbeam white
Hero Honda Sales Up 12%
At a time when the Indian automobile company has had to battle its worst crisis in a decade that has seen demand dwindle and sales tumble, Hero Honda has posted the best-ever performance in its 25-year history.
The company, the world's largest two-wheeler maker for the past eight years on the trot, has posted a 12% sales growth to 33 lakh units in the first 11 months of this fiscal year, almost single handedly keeping its sector in positive sales territory despite rivals like Bajaj Auto and TVS Motors reporting negative sales.
When rivals, including Bajaj Auto, decided to move up the value chain to focus on the more profitable 125-cc segment in motorcycles, Hero Honda decided to consolidate its position in what it did best.
It kept on launching new bikes in the largest segment of the entire two-wheeler industry - the 100-cc category. As the economic slowdown forced customers to maintain their preference for the 100-cc economy segment instead of scaling up their purchasing dreams, Hero Honda's top-selling 100-cc bike Splendour was out there sporting a price tag cheaper than its rivals.
[Via: motorbeam]
Mitsubishi to Hike Car Prices in India
All Mitsubishi cars in India will get expensive from April 1. The company plans to hike the prices of its models by up to 4-5 percent. "In the last year and a half, the yen has appreciated 40 per cent against the rupee.
This, combined with the appreciation of the US dollar, has come as a double whammy for us," Mr Y.V.S. Vijay Kumar, Executive Vice- President, Hindustan Motors.The escalating yen has resulted in the imported kits to get expensive.
Moreover, it is not possible to incorporate localized content in Mitsubishi models which means that there is a great forex outflow for both imported and assembled cars. Mitsubishi has a joint venture with Hindustan Motors in India and has an assembly unit in Chennai.
The company's high end sports-utility vehicles (SUVs) Outlander and Pajero which are priced at Rs. 21-22 lakh will become costlier by Rs.1 lakh. The high-end Montero SUV, which is imported as a CBU and sports a price tag of Rs. 42 lakh, could see a steeper hike because duty levies are higher.
Furthermore, Mitsubishi's midsize sedans -Cedia with a price tag of Rs.10.29 lakh and Lancer with a price tag of Rs 8.20 lakh will become costlier by Rs.50,000 and Rs.40,000 respectively.
[Via: cartradeindia]
Suzuki sells 51 units of its big bikes in India
Suzuki Motorcycle India Pvt. Ltd., which launched the Hayabusa and the Intruder in India in November last year, has already sold 23 units of the former and 28 units of the latter in the country.
The Hayabusa is the world's fastest superbike while the Intruder is a cruiser-style machine, and both cost more than Rs 12.5 lakh, largely because of the import duties levied on foreign bikes in India.
Suzuki hopes to be able to sell a total of about 300 units of the two bikes by the end of this year. The company is also expected to bring in more machines from its sportsbike range, including the iconic GSX-R1000.
[Via: indiaautomotive]
Ford Announces Price Hike of Ford Ikon
Bajaj Pulsar 200 to grow up
At the beginning of 2009, Bajaj Auto announced that they will launch a new bike every month for the first six months of the year. However, after the January debut of the XCD135, no motorcycle was launched in February. We were quite disappointed with this no-show since rumours of the company introducing a new 250cc bike were floating around.
Nonetheless, Bajaj did unveil three variants of the Pulsar 200 at a Probiking showroom in Pune. The bikes were displayed for the enthusiasts to choose the best option among the three. This was done as the company planned to finalize the facelifted version of the Pulsar 200 based on this survey.
All three variants sported the engine from the current Pulsar 200 DTS-i, however according to our sources, the motor was tuned to produce a maximum power of 19PS as against 17PS on offer in the current model. Apart from the slight increase of power on paper, the bikes had a lot of visual variation.
The first bike we saw was fitted with clip-on handlebars, a rear disc brake and bigger front forks - all borrowed from its elder sibling, the Pulsar 220 DTS-Fi. This upgrade definitely looked promising with the street fighter character of the bike being upped with some really useful bits. The second variant was a ditto copy of the P220 except that this one sported an all-black engine and alloys.
The bike sported the P220's fairing as an addition apart from the front forks, rear disc and clip-on handlebars. This variant of the Pulsar 200 didn't appeal to us a lot as we felt it will take the character away from the 200. The quarter fairing provided on the bike seemed to kill the urban fighter image of the P200. The third variant was similar to the second sans the rear disc brake.
Apart from the Pulsar 200, the showroom guys also said that a facelifted version of the P180 will hit the market which will sport the looks of the current P200. The Pulsar 220 is expected to be launched with a better tuned engine and a slight increase in power plus an all-black treatment to the engine and the alloys.
Survey officials said that Bajaj was planning a price tag of Rs 77,000 (approx. OTR, Pune) for the first P200 variant we have talked about. The variant which was an exact copy of the P220 may debut at a price of Rs 79,000 (approx. OTR, Pune). Although these upgrades aren't what enthusiasts have been looking forward, the visual changes to the Pulsar family are welcome nonetheless.
[Via: BIKE]
Mahindra Xylo Bookings Cross 11300 Units In 2 Months
The recently launched Xylo in notching up some good number for its maker, Mahindra and Mahindra. The bookings have crossed 11,300 mark in just 2 months alone. While the looks are debatable, Xylo's combination of value for money, interior space and features and equipments seems to have caught the buyers fancy.
The marketing push from Mahindra has also done wonders with the Xylo being instantly recognizable to almost everyone including the layman on the street. The recent launch of the updated Scorpio with the 2.2 Litre mHawk engine at considerably lower prices will further consolidate the position of Mahindra in the country as a leading UV maker.
[Via: CC]
Mitsuibishi launches new Montero
Hindustan - Mitsubishi has launched an upgraded 2009 Montero in India. The changes are just cosmetic. The new montero comes with chrome-plated front grill, seven spoke 17" light alloy wheels and Yokohama tubeless radials. The new version of Montero is priced at Rs. 41.94 lakh (ex-showroom).
Mitsubishi imports Montero from Japan as a CBU and had sold 600 units.since its launch four year ago. The launch of Montero 09 coincides with HM-Mitsubishi's inauguration of their second fully-owned showroom - "Autodrome" in Mumbai. The showroom, which opened for business in the Atria Mall ,Worli ,Mumbai incorporates Mitsubishi Motor's key retail-design elements.
Mr. Santhanam said: "Mumbai has been one of our fastest-growing markets over the past few years. Bringing Mitsubishi Motor's to Worli is a logical response to that development. In order to build a sustainable, successful business, you have to be present in a market. It is important that we remain committed to our ambitious expansion plans."
[Via: Vicky]
