Is this the front of the new Pulsar 375 !

Bajaj Auto is planning to launch the biggest capacity motorcycle ever in India, Pulsar 375, by the year end. Below is the spy shot of the Pulsar 375 captured by AutocarIndia. The initial images of Pulsar 375 indicate eye like turn indicators, faired front end and twin eye shaped headlamps.

At present, Duke 390 is powered by 44Bhp-35N-m torque from a single cylinder 373cc liquid cooled four stroke engine. Expect a similar output from Pulsar's 375cc bike. Expect a six speed manual transmission as standard and a price close of Rs 2 Lac. Stay tuned for more details.

Read More

Mercedes A Class to come with 1.6L petrol and 2.2L Diesel engine - Launch on 30 May 2013

Mercedes A Class, as we told you will be disclosed privately on 4th May and will be officially launched in India on 30th May 2013. The Stuttgart based luxury carmaker has showcased the car today for the first time in India at their Mumbai dealership, Shaman Wheels. This being just a preview, photos and specs were revealed but prices will be revealed officially on the launch date - 30th May 2013.

The Mercedes A Class will be launched in two variants - both Petrol and Diesel - A180 CDI being the Diesel version and A180 Sport being the Petrol. The car will come equipped with 7 Speed DSG with paddle shifters. The dimesnsions being little bigger than the regular hatchbacks in India with 4,292 mm as length, 1,780mm as width and 1,433mm as height. The ARAI certified fuel efficiency for A180 Diesel is 20 Kmpl.

The car could be launched in two variants - "CDI" connoting "Diesel" and "Sports" connoting "Petrol" engine. The 1.6L petrol engine is capable of producing 122PS of power at 200N-m of torque and the Diesel engine is capable of producing 110PS of power at 250 N-m of torque.

The Diesel engine is currently assembled locally at Force Motors, Pune and is tuned to deliver a fuel efficiency of 20 Kmpl. The same engine is also used for the Merc C Class.

The Merc A Class could get the first mover advantage as none of its rivals - BMW / Audi has a car in this segment. Stay tuned for more information from the launch date and by that time we closely look at what the customer's  have to say about this one !

The features that A Class could offer includes -

• Start-stop system
• Paddle shift
• Panaromic sunroof
• Attention assist
• Hill start assist
• Bi-xenon headlamps
• 7 airbags including ABS and ESP
• Adaptive brake lights
• Tyre pressure monitoring system
• Audio system with six speaker sound system
• 14.7cm screen display with TFT technology

In the meantime, watch out complete images here.

Image Source - Teambhp

Read More

Volkwagen Polo GT TDI Diesel hatchback spotted testing in India

Its been just a couple of weeks when Volkswagen launched their top of the line - Polo GT TSI, powered by 1.2L Petrol engine producing 103 PS of power at Rs 7.99 Lac.  It offers the combination of powerful turbo petrol engine and a technology packed 7 speed DSG dual clutch automatic gearbox.

At this price, VW Polo GT TSI is most expensive petrol hatchback available in the market.  Now, what you are seeing are the spy shots of a similar, highly powered Diesel engine - to be called as GT TDI engine, by Oncars.in .  There is no clarity on what diesel engine the car will be powered with, but the best match could be a 1.6L Diesel engine producing 105PS of power with 250N-m of torque.

The Polo GT TDI  if uses a 1.6L engine will not be classified under a small car i.e. sub-4 meter car and will attract a duty of more than 12 percent. Expect the car to be launched at a price of Rs 8.99 Lac in case it comes up with an automatic gearbox else the price range could also be at levels of Rs 8.25 Lac.

There are no price details indicated by the German carmaker and these are just an assumption. Stay tuned for more information on Polo GT TDI while complete details on Polo GT TSI could be read here. 

Read More

GM India to hike prices of their vehicles by upto Rs 10,000 from first week of June 2013

General Motors India has announced a price hike across its range of vehicles starting from first week of June to offset the increase in logistics costs followed by hike in diesel prices.

"With diesel prices going up on regular intervals, transportation and other logistic costs have gone up significantly. We are left with no option, but to pass on the burden partially to consumers," General Motors India Vice President P Balendran told. 

"We are yet to finalise the exact amount, but it will be up to 1.5 per cent, which will be around Rs 10,000, depending upon different models and their variants," Balendran said.

In this month, diesel prices were hiked by Rs 1.02 per litre, the fourth increase in rates this year. Earlier, diesel prices were raised by 45 paisa in March, excluding VAT. Similar hikes had taken place in January and February, but prices were not changed in April when Parliament's Budget session was on.

Read More

Maruti Suzuki offers free 100 Liters of Diesel and Rs 20,000 discount on purchase of Ertiga, Ritz, Swift and Dzire

The slowdown in the Indian automotive Industry has brought the market leader, Maruti Suzuki offering discounts on its diesel range of best selling cars including Swift, Dzire, Ritz and even Ertiga. The cars esp. Swift and Dzire at one point of time used to sell with waiting period of 6 months. While it is yet to figured out that the discounts are being offered by the company or just the dealers, but seeing the discounts on best selling diesel models can surely let one know how much pressure the industry current is in.

Until last month, the carmaker was offering a cash discount of Rs 5,000 on Swift and Dzire which is now converted into 100 Liters of Diesel. Additionally, Rs 20,000 of exchange bonus could make it a good deal. All the four cars are powered by Fiat's 1.3L Multijet engine with Swift, Dzire and Ritz delivering power output of 75 PS and Ertiga with 90PS. 

Read More

Lathicharge at Maruti Suzuki workers and their families - 100 of them arrested

The workers and family members of those 147 arrested in July 18 case, were on a peaceful dharna outside Mini Secretariat from 28th April 2013 in Kaithal. However, it turned voilent when the protesters gathered outside the residence of Haryana minister, Randeep Singh Surjewala at Kaithal.

The police was forced to evict the protesters, which largely comprised families of Maruti Suzuki workers, who had gathered outside the residence of Surjewala on Sunday.

The 147 workers -  both temporary and permanent are still in jail who have been terminated for July 18 incident, which had led to death of HR Manager and left 96 more injured.

The Haryana government, on the eve of this protest at Kaithal, had already imposed IPC Section 144 in the town and arrested close to 100 workers and their family members from the dharna site at the Kaithal Mini Secretariat at 11:30 pm last night.

Read More

VW Cross Polo seen testing again in India - All images inside

Volkswagen's Compact SUV - Taigun is still some time away for the Indian launch. However, the Compact SUV market in India is gaining speed and registered more than 50% growth last year. All the automakers need to jump into this market in case they want to maintain their market share.

Volkwagen till the time, Taigun hits Indian market needed a product to be a part of competition of high growing Compact SUV segment. VW's Cross Polo could fit into the category till then. VW's Cross Polo has been spied testing around a lot of times these days on Pune-Mumbai expressway.

The hatchback off-roader, with its rugged off-road kit, trumps any regular hatch in terms of looks. The ride height has been increased by around 15mm and a thick, matte plastic band extends across the chin, the flanks and around the rear. The wheel arches get the same treatment and there’s a scuff plate with a dull silver finish. The CrossPolo also gets silver anodised roof rails where up to 75kg of luggage can be mounted and secured. A silver diffuser at the rear and big 17-inch wheels complete the off-roader look.

The rear spare wheel has not been spotted while the car is seen testing however as per sources in the German carmaker, the final car could come with a spare wheel mounted on the tailgate. This still remains a suspense however in India the spare wheel has always received positive impression of the cars. Ford EcoSport has always received positive response of the rear spare wheel on the tailgate however Tata's Storme when launched without a rear sparewheel received much criticism.

We will have to wait and watch what VW has to offer in its Cross Polo. In the meantime, we bring you images of both - with and without rear wheel mounted on tailgate and images from all angles. The same could be viewed here

Read More