Car News Latest Indian Car News and Views

Maruti Suzuki India will be introducing its luxury sedan, the Kizashi into the Indian markets.  It had unveiled the model at the Delhi Auto Expo 2010 and a year later we will see the car on the Indian roads. Kizashi meaning 'omen', 'sign', or 'warning' will certainly start the alarm bells ringing for the other car manufacturers in the country.

The latest figures issued by SIAM showed that the Indian car market was a witness to a growth of 32.69% last year(Jan-Dec 2010). India is soon becoming a hub for car manufacturers not only to sell their cars but to setup manufacturing units. India comes a close second to China when it comes to the fastest growth in the Automobile sector in the world.

The Tata Motors Group global sales including Jaguar Land Rover, were 90,294 nos. in December 2010, a growth of 21% over December 2009. Global sales of all passenger vehicles were 42,126 nos. in December 2010, higher by 13%.

Renault will bring out its first offering in the Indian car market in the form of its sedan - Fluence. The sedan is  is based on the Renault/Nissan C platform platform and is sized between the compact family saloon C-segment and the upper-medium segment. Renault made its intentions clear when they unveiled its 18-24 month road map which will see the Fluence being launched by mid 2011. The Fluence is a D-segment sedan that will be manufactured at the new Renault-Nissan greenfield manufacturing facility in Chennai.

General Motors India Ltd. will be introducing six new cars in the next two years in India. The company is converting their Halol facility in Gujarat to a commercial vehicle production hub from 85,000units to 1Lakh units, and are shifting all car production to Talegaon. These six new launches will come in a total of 14 fuel variants, which means that General Motors is betting big on diesel and alternate fuel for their new products. We can look forward to the Beat LPG and the  Diesel this year.

While the year 2010 saw a boom in the Indian Car market as regards car launches, it also opened up an avenue for International car manufacturers to try their luck with their cars here. The Indian car market had already witnessed international car manufacturers like Volkswagen, Porsche, Audi, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, General Motors (Chevrolet) and many more entering the market to grab their share. 

BMW India surpassed the likes of Mercedes-Benz and Audi by delivering 6246 cars in the year 2010. The total BMW India sales in 2010 grew by 73% over last year. The BMW 3 Series sales registered a growth of over 111%, the new BMW 5 Series of 51% and the BMW 7 Series of 53%.

The year 2010 ended on a high for the Automobile Industry in India and the fact that there were more than 50 launches throughout the year in different segments shows the kind of interest car manufacturers are taking into bringing their products in the market. Society of Indian Automobiles (SIAM), in its yearly report mentioned that the Indian car market grew by 32.69 % in 2010.

Mercedes-Benz India announced their year-end sales performance for 2010. The company has sold 5819 cars from Jan – Dec 2010 which is a growth of 80% over 2009. The key growth drivers were the E–Class with 2490 units, C-Class with 2070 units as well as the SUV range comprising the M-Class, GL-Class and the R-Class with 523 units.

Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, Stuttgart, is continuing to extend its performance and high efficiency competence via intensive development work in the field of hybrid technology. With the Porsche 918 RSR, the company plans to achieve a new high when it comes to Hybrid technology. The two-seater mid-engine coupé 918 RSR clearly reveals what happens when the technology fitted in the 911 GT3 R hybrid and the design of the 918 Spyder are transferred to a modern super sports car.