New Skoda Superb

The New Superb will be launched in Europe in October 2008. It will come to India as a part of a thought out strategy of Skoda India who wants to strengthen its standing in the D plus segment which is currently owned by Mercedes Benz, BMW and Audi.

Expected Price : Rs. 25,00,000

Expected Launch: Dec 2008

Mercedes to launch 6 super luxury cars

German carmaker Mercedes-Benz will be launching 6 AMG-class cars in India this month. AMG is the company's in-house tuner division which makes high-performance variants for all Mercedes cars. The models to be launched will all be priced between Rs. 1.25 and 3 crore. While there has been a reduction in sales growth for small and mid-sized cars due to the economic slowdown, the market for luxury cars in India is growing rapidly, leading luxury car manufacturers like Mercedes to expand their presence in the country.

Honda cars to get costlier

Honda Siel Cars India (HSCI) has decided to hike the prices of some of its car models in response to the weakening of the rupee which has caused imported car parts to get dearer. The three cars which will be most seriously impacted by the move are the Honda CR-V, the Honda Accord and the Honda Civic. The CR-V is imported in India as a Completely Built Unit (CBU), and will see a price hike of Rs. 1.5 lakh while the Accord and the Civic will get costlier by Rs. 30,000-50,000 and Rs. 10,000-20,000 respectively. The price of the new Honda City will remain the same.

Maruti Suzuki A-Star Launched

Maruti Suzuki India launched its new compact hatchback, the Maruti A-Star, today. The A-Star is priced between Rs. 3.10 and Rs. 4.35 lakh and Maruti is hopeful of selling 4000 units of the car every month. Its annual target is a sale of 50,000 units within India and 100,000 units globally.

The A-Star is equipped with an all aluminum light weight KB series engine, speed sensitive power steering for better control, and a low turning radius for better maneuverability. The E-10 compliant engine emits a lower proportion of CO2, causing minimal pollution, and the ELV (End of Life Vehicle) feature ensures maximum recyclability of all the car’s parts when they reach end of life. Also, the A-Star boasts the widest track width in the small-car segment, that helps enhance stability.

Major concessions to Tatas in Gujarat

The Tata Nano project in Sanand, Gujarat, has reportedly earned major concessions from the Narendra Modi government. Tata Motors will get benefits worth Rs. 9,570 crore from the state government, to be repaid only from the 21st year, at an interest rate of 0.1 per cent. The company is exempt from paying the value added tax (VAT), which will amount to Rs. 7,500 crore over a period of 20 years, assuming 2.5 lakh cars are produced every year.

The State Congress leaders have termed the agreement a “complete sellout, unacceptable to the people of Gujarat.” According to their calculations, the deferred repayment of loan and various tax concessions would benefit the Tatas to the tune of over Rs. 30,000 crore. Siddhartha Patel, the State Congress President, said, “We will consider what the Congress can do to salvage the situation in the best interest of the people, but the party is not for blocking the passage of the Nano project. Ratan Tata is a worthy son of Gujarat and is welcome to set up five factories instead of one, but he must do business at his own cost and not at the expense of the people of the state.”

CM Narendra Modi defended his decision to support the Nano project at the World Economic Forum in New Delhi; he said, “Our effort to bring the Tatas to Gujarat was part of an honest intention to help a leading industrial house of the country, honour the sentiments of the industry in general and ensure that the common man’s dream of an affordable car does not shatter.”

Honda ends Civic hybrid price cut

Honda Siel Cars India (HSCI), which last week took the auto industry by surprise when it announced a massive price cut on the Civic hybrid, has closed the offer after receiving 235 bookings for the car in 4 days. The Honda Civic hybrid was priced at Rs. 21.5 lakh, before Honda brought it down to Rs. 13.36 lakh. The offer is now closed, the company having already achieved the target it was aiming for.

The Civic hybrid, when it was launched in June 2008, was touted as India’s first hybrid car and received an enthusiastic early response with 52 bookings made in the first month. Further on, however, its sales went down dramatically, possibly because of the heavy price, which was more than double the price of the Civic’s petrol version.

In the four days that the offer was open, Honda received almost four times the bookings it received in the five months since the Civic hybrid was launched. Though auto industry analysts and competitors believe the move was an inventory cleaning exercise by Honda, the company’s representatives have refuted such reports.