Honda launches Jazz in India

Honda has finally launched Jazz in India. This has become a much awaited car, owing to the growing demand for premium hatchbacks. While the earlier edition of Jazz proved to be a dud because of high price and absence of diesel heart, this time Honda has tried to remove these two shortcomings.

 

Jazz starts at Rs. 5,30,000 which is in line with the price of its rival Hyundai's i20. However, for higher models, Jazz price is significantly higher then i20 models. Apparently, Honda is charging a premium for its brand reputation in India. i20 is a very successful model in its new avatar called elite i20. It will have to be seen how market reacts to these price differences created by Honda.

 

Jazz now comes in both petrol and diesel versions. Petrol is 1.2 lt. and diesel is 1.5 lt capacity. Jazz also have the option of automatic transmission, which is in good demand for increasing traffic volume in cities. 

Fined for Not Wearing Helmet While Driving a Car

It is an interesting thing. A driver in Meerut was fined on May 24 for not wearing a helmet. Problem here is that he was driving a car. Interestingly, the traffic cop who issued the challan even put car’s registration number on the receipt.

S Singh, the driver, was on his way to a doctor's appointment for his 4-month-old son and was already running late, when he was stopped by traffic cop Shivraj Singh, who demanded to see the car's papers. Singh claims the papers were all in order, and yet he was being held. This led to a fierce argument, which consequently ended with him being issued a challan.

He contacted the senior superintendent of police, and an enquiry has been initiated.

The traffic police officer said that he flagged down Singh because he was talking on the phone while driving. However, by mistake, he was fined for not wearing helmet. According to him, this incident has been exaggerated.

How can it be by mistake when the Police Officer wrote down the reason for fine himself. It was not some machine printed receipt.

Honda Jazz launch on 8 July

Finally, there is a date for Jazz. A date when Jazz enters India. Many people kept waiting for this all round hatchback from Honda. It will be the second time this car coming to India. Earlier launched car was proved to be a dud because of the high price tag it carried and also because of the absence of the diesel engine. Diesel powered cars, at that time, were high on demand. Many people still prefer diesel because of the higher fuel efficiency, although the difference between diesel and petrol prices have come down due to removal of the subsidy on diesel.

This time, Honda is launching Jazz in both petrol and diesel versions. It will be 1.2 lt. petrol and 1.5 lt. diesel engine. There is no word on whether there will be 1.5 liter petrol version available.

Everybody waiting for 8 July.

Thieves now target pricey rear view mirrors in Delhi

After car stereos and tyres, rear view mirrors have become the prime target of thieves. In the past fortnight, 15 instances of mirror theft have been reported from areas in South Delhi like Greater Kailash and Chittaranjan Park. Police suspect a Meerut-based gang is behind this new crime trend.

The spate of thefts started on July 5 and within three nights the gang stripped three Audi cars of their mirrors. The cars were parked in Hemkunt Colony, GK-1 N block, and GK-1 R block. The thieves next struck in CR Park. On July 9, they stole the mirrors of a Toyota Corolla and a Hyundai Verna near B block. On July 12, another theft was reported from G block in Kailash Colony. And on Monday, an Alaknanda resident reported that the rearview mirrors of his Honda Brio had been stolen.

 Meerut gangsters seems to be the obvious culprits in these cases as two Honda City cars were also stolen from the CR Park police station area within 24 hours of the first mirror theft. On July 7, one car was stolen from A-Block in GK-II Enclave. The owner told police that he parked his car near his house at 12.30 am and found it missing in the morning. Another Honda City was stolen from the GK-II market nearby. Police said two Maruti cars, an Esteem and an Omni, were also stolen from the DDA flats and Alaknanda Market. The Esteem was stolen on July 7.

 “This shows the thieves were after specific models. They must have received a demand for Maruti cars. This is usually the modus operandi of Meerut based gangs.” a source said. Also, the Meerut gangs usually strike at 3-4am, and all the thefts were committed in the early hours.

 “They dispose of the mirrors in areas like Jama Masjid, Daryaganj, Seelampur and Kashmere Gate at modest rates ranging from Rs. 2,000 to Rs. 3,000 a pair. The mirrors are then touched up and sold for Rs. 8,000-9,000 per set, which is much less than the price of a new pair that can cost Rs. 15,000-50,000.” The source added.

After a spate of mirror thefts in 2012, a gang led by a thief named Irshad was busted in Saket. They had stolen about 40 pairs of mirrors. Irshad committed crimes in an Alto car and targeted 2-3 upscale localities where expensive cars are parked on the roadside, always striking in a new area to avoid getting caught.

Source: Times of India

Honda – Heading towards No. 3

Honda is all set to become the third biggest car maker in India, behind Suzuki and Hyundai. As per car sales data for the month of June, Honda was behind the current No. 3 i.e. Mahindra & Mahindra by just 464 units. While M & M sold 16780 units during this month, Honda sold 16316 units. M & M is on a slightly declining path, with its sales down 3 per cent compared to the same month last year, Honda sales grew by 75 per cent on account of good sales of Amaze and City. Now, with Honda Mobilio scheduled to be launched on 23^rd July, company’s sales figure are very much likely to surpass that of M & M.

Earlier, Honda had only petrol cars to offer and could not sustain the onslaught by the diesel cars. Its sales dwindled month after month and introduction of Jazz just proved to be a disaster because of its price (Rs. 7 lakh), which was right according to the product but people could not digest that a hatchback, a petrol hatchback could be so pricey.

With Amaze, Honda brought diesel engine and affordability for its customers. And that was a success. City was another winning shot for Honda. And if priced right, Mobilio is likely to be another hit from Honda. 

Top Ten Cars in India - June 2014

The car sales figures in India for the month of June 2014 are out and again Suzuki has remained undisputed number 1. Out of the top 10 cars, first four positions are held by Suzuki. Tata and Toyota vehicles are out and it is Honda and Hyundai that are shining in this top 10 list besides Suzuki. Graph below shows the top 10 cars:

47.3 per cent of all cars sold in India during this month were manufactured by Suzuki while Hyundai was second with 15.7 per cent share and Mahindra was third with 7.9 per cent share. However, Mahindra’s place is in danger as Honda is catching up fast. Against 16780 units sold by Mahindra this month, Honda sold 16316 units. With Honda Mobilio coming this month, it is just a matter of time that Honda will be number third in Indian market.

Lamborghini Gallardo worth US$ 5,00,000 wrecked by hotel valet

Abid Fateh Mohmmed Khatri, who is in construction business, will think twice before he gives his car to hotel valet next time. His Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder, with a price tag of about half a million US$, is in workshop with a repair bill that is estimated to be around 2,00,000 US$, all thanks to a valet of the five star hotel where his car was taken by one of his cousins.

The valet of this hotel in New Delhi almost destroyed his Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder last week. After brining it to the porch, the valet appeared to have lost control of the car. It than rammed into a stationary car, which was so strong that next two cars were also got rammed serially. Then, the Lamborghini collided with a concrete railing of the rampart.

By the time the Lamborghini came to a halt after a resounding crash, the front of this supercar had caved in. The incident took place on July 3 at Le Meridien hotel. A hotel spokesperson said the incident was an error of the valet who also sustained injuries in the accident.

Khatri's friend, Nipun Miglani, who called the Police, said that Khatri was travelling abroad and his cousins had taken the car to the hotel. The Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder is no ordinary car. The sports car is Lamborghini's best-selling model with 14,022 custom built for customers desirous of its appeal. Named after a famous breed of fighting bull, the V-10 Gallardo has been Lamborghini's sales leader.

“The car had been parked by valets a number of times before. Even that afternoon, the valet took the car to the parking safely and even brought it back to the porch area without any hassles” Nipun said. But suddenly he lost control, missed another valet by a whisker before hitting it head on into the railing.

According to Nipun's version and the CCTV footage of the incident, the car took a turn at a slow speed and stopped at the porch around 2.30pm. A valet approached the car and the driver got out of the car briefly before getting back. Suddenly, the car zoomed ahead at a high speed and rammed into another sedan from behind even as a valet jumped to the side to escape. The impact of Lamborghini's collision with the other car was such that the car got pushed and took a U-turn and hit another parked car. Nipun said that the valet was identified as Arun Kumar. Kumar was later taken to the hospital where he was treated before being discharged the same day.

The owners claimed the front portion of the Lamborghini was wrecked and it was taken to the workshop on Tuesday night for repairs. They said initially the hotel promised compensation but later declined to do so. Nipun said a complaint was, therefore, filed against valet Arun Kumar and Le Meridien hotel with Parliament Street police station.

                            Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder

Suzuki Inazuma – The Rare Refund story

Suzuki launched Inazuma motorcycle in India in January this year priced at Rs. 3,10,000 (ex-showroom, Delhi). This motorcycle, powered by a 250cc 4—stroke engine, could not attract buyers due to just one simple thing, its unreasonably high price. Then Suzuki decided to remove this stumbling block, it reduced the price by approximately Rs. 1,00,000.  This machine will now be yours at Rs. 2,09,369 (ex-showroom, Delhi) as per the company’s website.  The price reduction of automotive machines is not new thing, but the uncommon thing was that Suzuki also decided to refund this difference of 100,000 rupees to the existing customers. And the existing customers are quite happy.

Inazuma has twin cylinder setup which provides a very stable, smooth and refined engine performance. The engine on the Inazuma produces 24 HP at 8500 RPM and torque figures lie at 22 Nm at 6500 RPM, low when you compare it to competition in the price range, but when you factor in bullet proof reliability, good mileage (approx 32 kmpl) and a refined comfortable ride, the Suzuki Inazuma starts to make good long term sense.

Just 50 cars and 4 bikes sold in 6 months – This is Cuba

Some months ago, Cuba government eased the restrictions on buying car and motorcycles. Before this, car could have been purchased by only a few like doctors, teachers, etc brining foreign currency. Now, any body can purchase a car from dealers (these dealerships are government run) but the prices of cars are so ridiculously high that during the last six months, only 50 cars could be sold from a total of 11 dealerships. The total money received on account of these sales was around $1.3 million.

Peugeot family car that is being sold in UK for $53,000 is priced at $262,000 in Cuba. Similarly, you need to pay $42,000 for Kia Rio in Cuba while same car can be yours for just $13,600 in USA.

These dealerships are also engaged in selling used cars but even their prices are sky high. These are generally used as taxi and then sold to general public and command prices that are too much considering their conditions.

Before January, islanders who wanted to purchase a vehicle had to acquire a "letter" of permission. The privilege was granted to the likes of diplomats, technicians, doctors and others who served on foreign missions and returned with hard currency saved up overseas.

Special Offer for Government Employees from Hyundai

Hyundai India has offered special discounts for government employees on purchase of its cars. The scheme is applicable to both central government and state government employees and also includes employees of government owned companies.

Hyundai is the second largest manufacturer in India after Suzuki. Car sales in India are on slight decline inspite of government’s recent concessions in Excise Duty.

Hyundai said that employees will be entitled for discounts up to Rs. 30,000 depending on the type of model under the scheme known as ‘Pride of India’. 

Interested thing is that public never considered government employees as pride of India. It has been a feeling of ‘Burden of India’ for them. Car companies have been brining this kind of offers for government employees as only they have good salary and can pay for the EMIs at a time when economy is trying to recover from a dull period.

Honda Mobilio coming this July

The space hungry people in India have some reason to cheer. Another Multi Utility Vehicle (MUV) is all set to enter the market, this time from Honda. At the moment, there are a few of them namely Innova from Toyota, Ertiga from Suzuki, Enjoy from Chevrolet, Evalia from Nissan etc. Out of these, only the first two have been doing good numbers in the market. So, Mobilio will face competition from Innova and Ertiga, or we can say that these two Japanese will be dragged to the boxing ring by another Japanese.

Innova is the first one among these and a long established vehicle. Known for its reliability and decent performance, it has been the favourite of taxi operators. However, private users have not found it to be much attractive, for two reasons i.e. (i) big size, utterly unsuitable for driving in cities (length of 4.59 meters and width of 1.76 meters) and (ii) bigger price that exceeds Rs. one million.

 Toyota Innova

Suzuki Ertiga

In 2012 came Ertiga and changed the mindset of people who now looked at this type of vehicle as a good personal car.  A car with reasonable price and with size that was manageable in city driving. 4.27 meters long and 1.69 meters wide, this was definitely better than Innova for use in cities. Combined with Suzuki’s fuel efficient engines, reliability and a service network whose reach remains unequalled so far, Ertiga proved to be a hit. And thus started the series of launches under this class of vehicles, called MUV. Nissan, Chevrolet came with their products but failed. Failed because they did not bring any thing that could pass. They took a box, put an engine and four wheels there and served it. And people refused those boxes.

Now comes Honda. Next month, Mobilio will be launched in India. It is already in service in some south eastern Asian countries. It will be powered by 1.5 liter i-DTECH diesel engine and 1.5 liter famous i-VTECH petrol engine. And both these engines produce good power enough to push this 7 seater car. In this aspect, it is better than Ertiga, whose both diesel (1.3 liter) as well as petrol engines (1.4 liter) are smaller. But the problem lies with the refinement of Honda’s diesel engine which has been recently developed. It is already in Amaze and City and is not in the class of Suzuki’s 1.3 liter multi-jet engine (used by Suzuki but developed by Fiat). In spite of crudeness of i-DTECH, it is powerful and it is fuel efficient. The certified mileage figures for Amaze and City are in the range of 25-26 kms per liter.

Mobilio

It will attract buyers provided Honda prices it reasonably. And looking at the recent history of Honda relating to Amaze and City, we can expect it will be priced competitively.

Other aspects of Mobilio i.e. looks, ride and handling etc. coming shortly on this site after its launch.