Car News Latest Indian Car News and Views

Mercedes-Benz Malaysia has previewed the A-Class on its official website and Facebook page, even as we get ready for the India launch on May 30. The premium hatchback was launched globally last year and has been a huge success for the German automaker. The car has been spotted undisguised at two separate locations in the country.  Malaysia is expected to get most variants of the A-Class including the top of the line A250 with AMG kit.  

The Indian government has finally put an end to the debate on legalizing the Quadricycles by giving them a green signal, but for restricted use. The new ‘Q’ category of vehicles will be allowed to ply within city limits and on rural roads as a mode of public transport.

Hyundai has stopped production of the Accent sedan for the Indian market. CarWale spoke to a few dealers who confirmed that their stock of the ageing sedan had been depleted and that they were forced to cancel bookings for the vehicle. However, there is no official confirmation from Hyundai and the Accent is still listed on the company’s India website.

The Skoda Laura vRs and the Fabia Scout have been removed from the official Skoda India website.  This possibly means that the vehicles have been discontinued by the Czech automaker in their line up for the Indian market. 

Surprise surprise! The demand for petrol powered cars has gone up as compared to same period last year. A report from the Economic Times says that 57 per cent of cars sold in the market as compared to 53 per cent in the corresponding period last year. In the same period in 2012, the difference between the price of diesel and petrol was Rs 32 and now it is just Rs 13.4 further cementing the trend. 

Nissan has introduced a new exclusive version of the GT-R in France called the Gentleman Edition. Based on the GT-R Black Edition this one features an exclusive Grey Squale and ‘Gentleman Edition’ badging next to the front rear vents.

Mitsubishi has released the first official image of their new Attrage global sedan. Based on the Mirage subcompact car, the Attrage will go sale in Thailand this July. The new car falls under Thai Eco Car Project – where in car maker gets subsidies for vehicles with efficiency over 20kmpl.

BMW India has rolled out the locally assembled Mini Countryman from the Chennai facility. This is the first time that the Mini Countryman is being assembled outside Europe and is now available in both petrol and diesel guise.

Toyota has announced via its official USA Facebook page that will unveil the 2014 Corolla on June 6 and have released a teaser image in this regard. We already have an idea of the overall design thanks to the Corolla Furia Concept car that was unveiled at the 2013 Detroit Motor Show.

Force Motors’ new MPV vehicle has been spied testing in Bangalore. The new MPV from the Pune based utility maker is rumoured to be a re-badged version of the Mercedes-Benz Vito. The Vito is basically a commercial van in European market, but a couple of variants are sold in passenger car segment.