DriveBlog

Fiest-ah!

Ford India will launch its premium sedan, the Fiesta, next month. The car looks pretty good and will fill the gap in Ford's product portfolio that currently exists between the entry-level Ikon and the luxury Mondeo. Though there's no official conformation on the price just yet, experts reckon that it will be in the super-6 lakh, sub-7.5 lakh rupee region. The car will be launched with a 1.6 litre petrol engine and a 1.4 litre diesel engine.

Is the Fiesta the much-talked about, codenamed B 376, 'world car' project or is that something else altogether for later this year?

Update: The Fiesta is, in fact, Ford's new global car, to be launched simultaneously in India, Europe and someplaces in Asia.

Also, in case you were looking, there are discounts of upto Rs. 55000 on various variants of the Ikon, for just 2 days more. In case you're looking even harder, here's (the first of many, I'm sure) a roundup of the latest discounts and freebies on cars this festive season.

Also see:
Whither Focus?

(S)Milestones

Hospital ceilings are boring to look at. Avoid Accidents.

This and other interesting signs seen alongside the winding roads to Ladakh. (via Sepia Mutiny)

Getz, Set, Match!

Sania Mirza has been signed on as the new brand ambassador for the Hyundai Getz. Sania will endorse the Korean hatchback in India for the next 3 years and is claimed to be making quite a packet for it. Such a packet, in fact, that immediately after signing on Sania, they decided to hike the price of the Getz. =)

However, Hyundai must think it's money well spent as they hope that Sania will do for the Getz what Shahrukh did for the Santro.

And close on the heels of the endorsement deal are the obligatory newsbytes.

Also see:
Aamir Khan, the face of Innova

The Tata Palio?

Riding on a partnership that seems close to being finalised between their parent companies, Fiat India and Tata Motors will take the first step in the new relationship with plans to roll out the Fiat Palio from the Tata plant in Pune. A shot in the arm for the Tatas, who are largely perceived as diesel-driven, but can now up their appeal to petrolheads.

From a larger picture too, the partnership seems equally important for both companies  - Fiat will now be able to make use of the immense knowledge base that Tata has on operating in Indian markets - something that even Fiat has admitted it needs help on and something that is being seen the first step towards Fiat's revival in the country - and Tata's huge service network in India. Tata, on the other hand will have access to Fiat's technology knowhow and their enviable international marketing network.

Though a new phenomenon in the Indian marketplace, such collaborations have been quite the flavour in the global arena for some time now.

Also see:
The Fiat Palio takes on the Tata Indica
Tata Indica - an Indian Superbrand

Maruti gets webwise

Maruti Udyog will partner with Akamai Technologies for better content delivery from off their 16 websites. The launch of the Swift evidently took Maruti's web traffic through the roof and the new tie-up is being seen as a step towards making their websites more accessible to the consumer. (Link via ContentSutra)

Clearly, Maruti seems to have understood how important the website is as part of a company's marketing arsenal. Fiat India could learn a whole lot from them.

Also see:
www.marutiswift.com
When the Getz website was unearthed

A little too fast...

What it must feel like to be in a car that clocks 400 kilometres to the hour.

Autoindia.com

A bunch of software pros based in the US have just launched a portal aimed at Indian vehicle buyers, sellers and other interested parties. Head on over to Autoindia.com. I haven't had a chance to dig too deep yet, but looks like they have a pretty well laid out Tips and Advice section and their insights aren't too bad either.

Fiat gets frank

In a recent interview, new Fiat India MD Paolo Castagna candidly admits to having a daunting task ahead of him as he attempts to turn around the fortunes of the beleagured carmaker in this country. The part I liked best is his frank acceptance of the fact that where they've fallen short is in understanding what exactly the customer needs and delivering on that immediately...and everytime. The quality of their cars was never a debate; spares, he says, are always just a couple of days away; new launch tests have returned positive results - the issue however, as he owns up, has been one of focus.

I also liked his quietly confident reply to a question on how he felt the Swift and Getz were making waves in a segment that the Palio almost created:

"We were a generation ahead."

Also see:
Fiat no more?
Website woes

Skoda's Combi-station

Luxury segment-obsessed carmaker (and not denying it) Skoda Auto India will broadbase its offering in India by launching the über chic Octavia Combi station wagon / estate.

Meanwhile, the much-looked forward to Fabia will have to wait another year at least to wow us all.

Drive(r) carefully!

"You've been a bad passenger. Go back to your country."