Indian Autos Thread

Purush · Post by **Purush** » 24 Jun 2011 19:33

We only need the tech; using that we can develop our own models, no?

Gus · Post by **Gus** » 24 Jun 2011 20:04

I have rented many SAABs - was very impressed with it. Most definitely a good buy for a TATA or Mahindra.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 24 Jun 2011 20:14

I suspect there are lot of indep cos like bosch and others in germany/austria/italy who can supply building blocks, do design/analysis and help a system integrator like tata or mahindra come up with a complete product. the indica is a italian body design for example.

getting the entire tech in "TOT" form will teach us nothing. to be a big boy we must walk the nine miles and do the hard work...just as saab must have done a century ago.

Raja Bose · Post by **Raja Bose** » 24 Jun 2011 20:59

Singha wrote: so fatkat tenured professors in ivy league univs who like to profess a fake air of poverty, quirkiness and modesty seem to be the only core clientale left.

Why blame fatkat ivy league professors onlee saar when silly-con valley is full of faux phata abduls shuffling around in torn birkenstocks who get mistaken for a true birather till one sees them zoom off in an unreleased Tesla roadster at the end of the day

Ambar · Post by **Ambar** » 25 Jun 2011 06:41

Gus wrote:I have rented many SAABs - was very impressed with it. Most definitely a good buy for a TATA or Mahindra.

Trust me, before any Indian car company can even think about buying out a western auto maker, Chinese would have sniffed it in and out. Chinese automakers have been very apprehensive in investing in SAAB (which sold a piddly 30k cars worldwide last year) and take on its pending obligations. Having said that, some private Chinese investment firms have showed some interest in putting money in SAAB.

ashashi · Post by **ashashi** » 25 Jun 2011 15:57

Purush wrote:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-13886024

Time for some Indian company to snap up SAAB for cheap if possible and move all the tech + manufacturing to India.

Saab serves a very small niche market. Always has. Unless they redesign the body and the engine, they cannot compete with big automakers.
I would stay away from it.

Purush · Post by **Purush** » 25 Jun 2011 22:28

We just buy it cheap, transfer the tech and restart the brand by setting up manufacturing in TN.
The key word is 'cheap', otherwise forgetaboutit.

SAAB is an old and storied manufacturer with expertise in well made, safe and solidly-engineered cars (remember they have to function in the Scandinavian winter). Shouldn't be too tough to develop a model for the Indian/developing markets. More importantly, we absorb all the knowledge it has built up in engine tech, suspension tech, interior tech etc; a shortcut if you will.

Screw the chinese...China is the last place I would look to, for business/managment insight. They're good only at crony capitalism.

Look at what Tata has done with JLR and try to emulate that instead.

Neshant · Post by **Neshant** » 26 Jun 2011 08:15

2012 - Tata Nano could be launched in America

http://consumerguideauto.howstuffworks. ... merica.htm

asgkhan · Post by **asgkhan** » 29 Jun 2011 12:55

Team-BHP's review of Toyota's new hatchback Liva is out...

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/official- ... eview.html

Bonus pics of interior workshop included. Note the uber-cleanliness of the place and the scary automated mfg line. If not for a dark skinned desi, I would have mistaken it for a oiropean or a American assembly line.

So far only Ford and Toyota have allowed Team BHP to take pics of the interiors.

The interiors look super cheap, but then again if the fuel economy is good, it may yet turn out to be a success in the market. Branding and the A.S.S. will make it a success. Gotta wait for the response from Maruti. Their new Swift looks a bit uninspiring, more of a clone of Fabia.

vina · Post by **vina** » 29 Jun 2011 14:25

asgkhan wrote:Team-BHP's review of Toyota's new hatchback Liva is out...

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/official- ... eview.html

Bonus pics of interior workshop included. Note the uber-cleanliness of the place and the scary automated mfg line. If not for a dark skinned desi, I would have mistaken it for a oiropean or a American assembly line.

So far only Ford and Toyota have allowed Team BHP to take pics of the interiors.

The interiors look super cheap, but then again if the fuel economy is good, it may yet turn out to be a success in the market. Branding and the A.S.S. will make it a success. Gotta wait for the response from Maruti. Their new Swift looks a bit uninspiring, more of a clone of Fabia.

This Toyota Liva (and also the Etios) is some tin cr*p not worth a second look. El cheapo interiors, booming, noisy engine and interiors , a totally forgettable attempt at making something relevant and good for the Indian mass market. Eminently forgettable and destined for the trash heap.

I do hope that Honda does a much much better job with it's upcoming Brio. Atleast they have a gem of a 90bhp 1.2L engine that goes into their Jazz. I hope their Brio is a cheaper Jazz. In fact Honda screwed up big time. They should have aimed to sell the Jazz at 5 to 6 lakhs. That would have blow everyone and everything out. But oh no, they pretended that they were "Premium", guess what, VW went and had their lunch with the Vento and Polo , both of which are selling like hot cakes. I see lots of Polos on the road in BLR.

Aditya_V · Post by **Aditya_V** » 29 Jun 2011 17:09

Vina, look at the press release when Journos asked them about producing Etios in other countries and Toyota execs said a firm no citing they have to meet Indian demand.

The Real Reason, it is a rebadged ECHO which they were forced to Stop in the Rest of the World since it Failed Crash Tests. Its got a superlight body which means it will give out good power and milage at the same time comprimising on safety.

Yesterday on the Bangalore Chennai Highway, perhaps unaware of this a Guy was driving an Etios like he was in a real Hurry and crossed all safety margins, I was driving 100-110 and gave way to this guy but he nearly created an accident but trying go inbetween the Gap between a Bus and a Truck on the Highway. I hope please get educated on its light body and safety aspect surrounding it.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 29 Jun 2011 17:14

honda india goofed up bigtime on pricing. now under severe attack with city sales plumetting and vento surging, they have reduced price by 66k for city. the jazz price was also reduced but not enough...a good vehicle destroyed by bad pricing.

brio is the make or break product for them in india - their stuff is good, what hurts them is pricing mostly (and low ground clearance)

team bhp's never ending search for a diesel hatch that pumps 180hp, has 17" wheels, and costs 5L continues....

Aditya_V · Post by **Aditya_V** » 29 Jun 2011 18:34

Singha wrote:honda india goofed up bigtime on pricing. now under severe attack with city sales plumetting and vento surging, they have reduced price by 66k for city. the jazz price was also reduced but not enough...a good vehicle destroyed by bad pricing.

brio is the make or break product for them in india - their stuff is good, what hurts them is pricing mostly (and low ground clearance)

team bhp's never ending search for a diesel hatch that pumps 180hp, has 17" wheels, and costs 5L continues....

And milage of 18KPL in city/ 25 on Highway, Very low maintance costs after hard Driving with service stations all over...................................

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 29 Jun 2011 19:44

^ I had forgotten that part of the RFP - they persist, they never give up.

vina · Post by **vina** » 29 Jun 2011 19:50

Chennai scores a home run again . Peugeot Citroen is putting up a 4000 crore facility /20,000 jobs unit at Sriperumbudur.

I do wish the BJP wallahs in KA pull their socks up and get some of that action over to north karnataka. For all their rhetoric, nothing seems to be happening here except some bizzare "deciding /swearing before God nonsense" between the Kumaraswamy and Yeddyurappa"

asgkhan · Post by **asgkhan** » 29 Jun 2011 20:00

Etios is a death trap. Just a thin sheet metal barelling down the highway on tires skinnier than a french underage anorexic model.

Vipul · Post by **Vipul** » 29 Jun 2011 21:17

Hero motocorp has short listed Gujarat and Karnataka for setting up their new plant. Karnataka should get this one as all other HH plants are in Haryana.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 29 Jun 2011 21:56

saw a renault fluence parked for display outside BIAL . looks like it will be on sale shortly. meantime mahindra has renamed the logan and will sell it.

Vipul · Post by **Vipul** » 29 Jun 2011 23:55

Fluence has already been launched and Mahindra has also relaunched Logan as Verito.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 30 Jun 2011 10:05

toyota keeps placing the most ads about its "Q-class quality" and then keeps on recalling lakhs of vehicles worldwide

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-13970431

Aditya_V · Post by **Aditya_V** » 30 Jun 2011 10:38

vina wrote:Chennai scores a home run again . Peugeot Citroen is putting up a 4000 crore facility /20,000 jobs unit at Sriperumbudur.

I do wish the BJP wallahs in KA pull their socks up and get some of that action over to north karnataka. For all their rhetoric, nothing seems to be happening here except some bizzare "deciding /swearing before God nonsense" between the Kumaraswamy and Yeddyurappa"

OH No 1 more Big factory at Sripembadur, they must have a dedicated corridor for Trucks and Staff buses using that corridor- they mess up the Chennai Bangalore Highway

Dileep · Post by **Dileep** » 30 Jun 2011 10:45

Vipul wrote:Fluence has already been launched and Mahindra has also relaunched Logan as Verito.

Saw one white fluence coming on our lane the other way as I was walking to the shop. Called the petrolhead younger kid and alerted. I could hear his screams over the phone.

It looks good, but the name reminds me of 'effluence' and 'flatulence'. And the Ranault logo reminds of the crappy Logan

Manish_Sharma · Post by **Manish_Sharma** » 04 Jul 2011 06:16

Folks, any input regarding New Swift launch date and new model prices. I'm going to buy my first car and family is unanimous on Swift, so any info about its pluses and minuses would be great.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 04 Jul 2011 08:40

check team-bhp..maybe autumn.

its not a very family oriented car though due to its back seat and luggage space issues. imho i20 and ritz are better family oriented vehicles.

all the single yahoos on the road drive swifts, which should tell you something about its core loyalist class

Manish_Sharma · Post by **Manish_Sharma** » 05 Jul 2011 05:39

My teenage nephews were visiting during summer vacations, they brainwashed everyone with legendery safety features like side impact bars and corner cutting abilities of Swift. So everybody is impressed for their favourite car.

Raja Bose · Post by **Raja Bose** » 05 Jul 2011 05:56

Q. Do they sell the VW Passat Comfort Coupe in India?

Any jingo here has driven it before?

Klaus · Post by **Klaus** » 05 Jul 2011 07:31

Bugatti unveils $2.5 mil convertible with porcelain interiors and special features, including a caviar tray.

Porcelain accents were jointly developed by the 248 year old Royal Porcelain Factory and Bugatti in Germany. Also, learnt something new today:

Jörg Woltmann is the sole shareholder of the Royal Porcelain Factory, which traces its roots back to King Frederick the Great of Prussia.

suryag · Post by **suryag** » 08 Jul 2011 23:03

Gurus what is the common adulterant for Diesel in India(for that matter elsewhere) ?

Sriman · Post by **Sriman** » 08 Jul 2011 23:26

suryag wrote:Gurus what is the common adulterant for Diesel in India(for that matter elsewhere) ?

Kerosene AFAIK.

ManjaM · Post by **ManjaM** » 09 Jul 2011 01:36

Websites of indian cars have to be among the worst I have seen. Links not working, unfamiliar names such as "The Xenon factor" for normal functionalities such as "features", slow loading and bandwidth intensive videos, graphics etc make the experience of searching for a car online just so much harder. Maruti insists on opening up its Kizashi details on a separate page and i need to click on "Enter site" to enter the site. I guess its to alert people who randomly clicked around the interwebs looking for cheap organic quinoa (or whatever)and instead landed up on the Kizashi webpage, suzuki just wants to make sure you dont buy a kizashi with 2 day shipping in place of your intended 3 lb bag of quinoa.

Hyundais webpage doesnt even work. Thankfully, they have normal nomenclature such as "Features" , "Specifications" etc. But click on any of them and you will get a blank page.
Less said about tata the better. You have to be a ninja with the mouse. manoeuvre the mouse with the precision of a swiss watch or you will end up clicking on army model "balwan" instead of indica diesel. Certainly not something to be done with your lunch or dinner in one hand. no sir, tata wants your attention and your utmost concentration in finding your way through their website.
I am really looking forward to seeing what SUV (with 3rd row seating) force motors can come up with. After getting frustrated with their website and lack of information regarding pricing etc, I wanted to send the webmaster an email listing out the areas that need improvement and the email feature refused to work. Seriously, this aint gonna float homie. How in the world do the car manufacturers expect to send out an image of professionalism and quality when the website looks like its put together by a bunch of drunken sea donkeys.
Ending this rant on a cheerful note, I have to say that the Mahindra Xylo website is far better than the rest. Everything is easily recognisable and everything works. i only wish they didnt have the annoying music coming on each time. what the hell wants to listen to call center "you are on hold" music anyway. friking retards.

AdityaM · Post by **AdityaM** » 09 Jul 2011 02:34

swift production has now stopped. don't buy it unless you want an outdated, discontinued model with reduced resale value

I was in the market looking for car in Feb 2010. Within 1.5 yrs the prices have rocketed
Earlier in C segment, the top petrol models of Linea/sx4/fiesta were available for 7Lakhs. Now the same ones cost 8-9 Lakhs!
what changed?

Ambar · Post by **Ambar** » 09 Jul 2011 06:09

Sriman wrote:
suryag wrote:Gurus what is the common adulterant for Diesel in India(for that matter elsewhere) ?
Kerosene AFAIK.

In India, parrafin is the most widely used adulterant for diesel. Kerosene is a expensive adulterant not to mention does not mix easily with a heavier,thicker diesel leading to immediate engine stuttering.

devaraj_d · Post by **devaraj_d** » 11 Jul 2011 14:51

Aditya_V wrote:
vina wrote:Chennai scores a home run again . Peugeot Citroen is putting up a 4000 crore facility /20,000 jobs unit at Sriperumbudur.

I do wish the BJP wallahs in KA pull their socks up and get some of that action over to north karnataka. For all their rhetoric, nothing seems to be happening here except some bizzare "deciding /swearing before God nonsense" between the Kumaraswamy and Yeddyurappa"
OH No 1 more Big factory at Sripembadur, they must have a dedicated corridor for Trucks and Staff buses using that corridor- they mess up the Chennai Bangalore Highway

After seeing what has happened to Detroit after the crisis I wish we do not have one more auto factory in TN. I hope TN diversifies into other sectors.

Aditya_V · Post by **Aditya_V** » 11 Jul 2011 14:57

AdityaM wrote:swift production has now stopped. don't buy it unless you want an outdated, discontinued model with reduced resale value

I was in the market looking for car in Feb 2010. Within 1.5 yrs the prices have rocketed
Earlier in C segment, the top petrol models of Linea/sx4/fiesta were available for 7Lakhs. Now the same ones cost 8-9 Lakhs!
what changed?

Excise duty rates - small cars 10 to 16%
Large cars 22%- 26%, plus all states have increased life time tax from about 8% to 10%.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 11 Jul 2011 15:04

read on rediff that the new Swift is a Raptor - fast but sips fuel, large but slips through the cracks, cheap but drives rich...

Aditya_V · Post by **Aditya_V** » 11 Jul 2011 15:32

Singha wrote:read on rediff that the new Swift is a Raptor - fast but sips fuel, large but slips through the cracks, cheap but drives rich...

I think maruti will put the K-Series and Fiat engine and offer the 1.6 as special. I don't they would want to discontinue its engine options for Swift.

uddu · Post by **uddu** » 12 Jul 2011 07:34

From the telecom thread

Vipul wrote:I recall in early 2000 i was wonderstruck and left with a sort of desperate feeling when i read that the Chinese were adding 300,000 cell phone connections everyday.
Since things have changed.

The next area is Automobile industry. Over a period of time, India will be ahead of all others in automobile production.
India speeds past China in Q1 vehicle growth
http://www.dnaindia.com/money/report_in ... th_1564766
As per data released by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (Siam), at 18.2%, sales growth in passenger vehicles (cars, MPVs and SUVs) in the June quarter was the fastest in the world.

The US ranked second with a 14.4% growth, followed by Germany with 14.3% at third and China with 11% at the fourth position. Till last year, China led the global growth in this segment.

In commercial vehicles (CVs), China reported negative growth of 4% and slid to the eighth position whereas India rose to settle at the fourth position with 12.7% growth. India was ahead of France, Italy and Japan in CV growth during the June quarter.

Vasu · Post by **Vasu** » 12 Jul 2011 17:45

Singha wrote:read on rediff that the new Swift is a Raptor - fast but sips fuel, large but slips through the cracks, cheap but drives rich...

Given the segment its in and its target market, that would be an axe on their foot! The fuel sipper would probably be the higher end, better performance engine, as Aditya_V says.

Aditya_V · Post by **Aditya_V** » 15 Jul 2011 14:04

Ford Execs are smoking soem Dope with the rpicing of the Fiesta. No cheaper variant?
New Ford Fiesta Launched

Yogi_G · Post by **Yogi_G** » 16 Jul 2011 08:50

Nano taxis cause a stir in Colombo