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?

Good Xings come with small price tags

As it is, March is traditionally a high-volume month for Motown. But smart pricers Hyundai have decided that this time, just the usual year-end rush simply won't do. After raking in mucho moolah with their festival season offer late last year, the Koreans are now rolling out a sans AC, sans Power Steering (and sans insurance) Santro Xing - for only Rs. 2.93 lakhs! Want either or both of the AC and PS? Just pick and choose - your 'custom-fitted' Xing will come for a reasonable few thousands more!

Ford too is cashing in on the year-end excitement with their 'March Masti' scheme - and that means free insurance and exchange bonuses on the Ikon, Rs. 21000 off on the Fusion and free diamond bling-bling worth Rs. 40000 with the Endeavour. All of that if you make that purchase before March 31, 2005.

Smart, very smart...

Maruti announced the imminent new year price hike on all their variants except the M800 today. But they have, at the same time, brought in a limited period discount offer dishing out benefits ranging from Rs. 7000 to Rs. 30000, depending on the model. A sampler: The Zen will now be dearer by about Rs. 2000, while the benefit package (that includes free insurance and other goodies) on the car is worth Rs. 28000!

You just have to hand it to MUL...

That's 54000 more cars on the roads...

27000 seems to be quite the popular number these days in Indian autoville. It was the number of Santro Xings that Hyundai managed to sell during their Diwali offer. It also seems to have done the magic for Maruti - it being the total number of WagonRs and Zens that MUL rolled off the shelves during their own festive period offer.

Cash registers 'xing'ing

To state that Hyundai's Diwali offer on the Santro Xing was a success would be putting it mildly. The company received bookings for over 25000 cars in 3 days - that's over thrice what the company sold in the whole of October 2004.

Santro Xing Bang

Sales are up 71%, export figures haven't been better and it's Diwali. More than enough reason for Hyundai India to celebrate. And it's doing so by dishing out the good stuff with discounts on the Santro Xing. Make your booking by November 10th, pay the full amount by November 20th and drive home your brand new 'xing thing' on December 15th.

The new prices of the 4 variants, ex-showroom, Chennai are:

XE: Rs. 3,00,001 | XP: Rs. 3,09,309 | XG: Rs. 3,29,329 | XS: Rs. 3,59,359

 

Car phone!

No, I'm not talking in-ride convenience here. Thanks to a partnership between Maruti's True Value pre-owned car network and Indiatimes' 8888 mobile shortcode service, you can now buy a used car from the comfort of your right hand!

Festive bang begins

The first ones off the block to offer freebies and discounts to car buyers are Maruti, Hyundai and GM India. While MUL is giving away the Zen and the WagonR with goodies worth Rs. 28,900 and Rs. 26,500 on the house (the offer stands for all cars booked on or before the 15th of this month), Hyundai is rounding off the package on the Santro Xing for a tempting Rs. 3 Lakhs (ex-showroom), valid till tomorrow only. And in the C segment, it's the Opel Corsa Elite, a 200-numbers-only edition of the Opel Corsa 1.4 Gsi that's up for grabs at about Rs. 5.3 lakhs.

Car-nival time!

The festive mood has set in and India's carmakers seem bent on spreading the good cheer. And with Ford already serving up the rather tempting Ikon Anniversary Edition, the others are making doubly sure they aren't left out. So depending on the car you decide to buy within the next 2-3 weeks, you could end up with a discount as high as Rs. 46000!

Update: But then, discounts don't always guarantee a bumper crop. Not if it's been a bad year right through.

Got Bike?

In an effort to boost sagging sales of their old faithful, Maruti is targetting two-wheeler owners via the 'Bike to Car' scheme.