New Taxis to Replace the Old Ones in Mumbai

Mumbaikars are tired of the confined and old-fashioned ‘yellow black’ Padminis are looking forward for alternatives. Roomier Maruti Omnis, Indicas, WagonRs, and Santros will progressively replace around 12,000 taxis in the Mumbai city.

The Mumbai Taximen’s Union has decided that metropolitan cities will have 200 Maruti Omni vans plying on the roads, which will replace the old car models. However, the decision is in line with the state government’s policy to discontinue 25-year-old black-and-yellow taxis.

The Union is also phasing out 200 old Premier Padmini taxis with the Omnis by end of October. Despite the fact that Indica, WagonR and Santro have also been chosen, the first 200 cars will be Omnis as they are low-maintenance and cheaper cars with more luggage space than any other car listed above. Also there is a good discount offer on the purchase of 200 cars where the cost will be only Rs 1.89 lakh instead of Rs 2.35 lakh.

So 12,000 old taxis will be replaced in the first phase itself. However, the Govt. has set a deadline for replacement by the end of December 2008. However, union senses that it will take around a year to complete.

New small cars from Maruti-Suzuki

Maruti Suzuki entered the Indian car market with its legendary Maruti 800. They have excelled in the small cars segment and the successful models like Maruti Suzuki Alto, Maruti Suzuki WagonR, and Maruti Suzuki Swift are the best example of the great endeavours the company has made in small car segment.

Following the trend of small car, Suzuki plans to create small and compact fuel-efficient cars for India. The car major believes that fuel-efficient cars from the small segment will be a great success in the Indian car market. In a country like India where there is huge traffic and parking cars is a big problem. Such kind of small cars cater to great help for the buyers.

Suzuki is doing various studies on the most effective engine technology that can be fitted in small cars whereas Maruti is concentrating on the design factor that would be best suited small cars exclusively for India.

Demand for Dzire is Increasing Speedily

Maruti Suzuki is one of the leading car manufacturers in the country. Many of the car manufacturer find it so hard to sell their cars in the market and one such car manufacturer is Maruti Suzuki where he doesn’t even have to work so hard to sell its cars.

Maruti Suzuki Swift DZire was launched six months back and until today, the car manufacturer is struggling to cater its demands for its buyers. Some of the market resources said that the booking orders for Swift DZire have been increasing rapidly. Many of the buyers are waiting for more than six months for this model.

The DZire is a replacement for the most popular Esteem that was introduced by the car manufacturer in March 2008 to keep its stable position at the entry-level of the sedan segment.

Some of the car dealers proclaimed that the demand for the sedan is exceeding more than the supply and they are finding it difficult to retain the buyers. In other parts of the country including metropolis and Tier II cities the waiting period is even more longer compared to Mumbai and Delhi.

Even though the company has doubled its production in the country still there is a such a huge demand for the DZire in the country. Due to the slow ramp-up by Maruti Suzuki DZire the overall sales performance has effected the company.

Government Helps Car manufacturers to Export Small Cars

The thirst of small cars is increasing tremendously in both the Indian market as well as global markets. Now the government is also lending a helping hand to the Indian car manufacturers by extending Focus Market Scheme (FMS) incentives. Here the automobiles are exported to targeted markets will get cash-incentives of up to 5%.

The worldwide market is likely to increase to 83 countries that will be covered under FMS. Basically, this scheme is set up to aid Indian car manufacturers to conquer a larger portion of the growing markets in Latin America, Africa and the CIS bloc and build India a global hub for small cars.

The new policy is taken up by the Government chiefly to help the manufacturers in gratifying the demands for smaller and fuel-efficient cars in the world markets.

India’s largest car manufacturer, Maruti Suzuki plans to tap the market with its most eagerly waiting hatchback, the A-Star. Whereas Hyundai plans to export its most popular i10 to the US.

Maruti Suzuki Geared Up to roll-out a New Car

One of the popular car manufacturer, Maruti Suzuki is now set to rollout an array of thriving cars in the Indian market. With everything set intact the only one thing the car manufacturer is in short is the D segment in line with the most recent sedans like Volkswagen Jetta, Honda Civic, Toyota Corolla and Skoda Octavia.

Maruti is working on a car based on the Kizashi concept and this car is said to enter the Maruti’s D segment. The car will be priced around Rs. 10 lakh. The car will have some attractive features like LED lights, well shaped black glossy grille, and hard core bumper.

Currently the Kizashi based car is at the growing stage and the car is soon going to hit the Indian roads. The manufacture of this vicious looking car is projected to be rolled out from Maruti’s new plant in Manesar, Haryana.

The company has expanded its footpath apart from launching small cars. The high gear cars like Maruti Suzuki Swift and Maruti Suzuki SX4 have done wonders in the car market. So everyone are eagerly waiting for the launch of this exciting car from Maruti.

A-Star Christens With Three Different Names

After so many successful launches, Maruti is well ahead of the rest in a race to capture the market.

For the first time in the Indian automobile industry is that a car made in India will be called by three different names in the global car market.

The car will be called as A-Star in India and the same car will be sold by Suzuki Motor Corporation in Europe as Alto. The third badge is absolutely a surprise that Maruti has signed a manufacturing agreement with Nissan Motors which is proclaimed to be sold in the name of Pixo by Nissan in the international market.

The A-Star comes with some standard features like airbags, anti-lock braking system, electronic power steering and steering-mounted audio controls. The car will hit the Indian market in November and the global market early next year.

Suzuki’s Alto and Nissan’s Pixo will be pitted against Toyota Aygo in the global market. Whereas the same will offer good competition in small-car segment in India against Hyundai i10, Fiat Palio and Tata Motors Indica Vista.

Compact Cars to Come in India by 2010

Many car manufacturers are entering the small car market segment. The companies with big names like Maruti-Suzuki, Honda, Volkswagen, Fiat, Ford and Toyota which are anticipated to hit the car market restoring the record for as much as 75% of car sales by 2010.

In order to help the buyers the car manufacturers are offering bulky discounts to ease their existing stocks and for the easy entry of new cars in India.

The forthcoming new cars would have variants loaded with most advanced features like ABS, automatic drive, and airbags. These elite cars come in the range of Rs 3 lakh – Rs 5 lakh (excluding the Rs 1 lakh marvel Tata Nano).

So to avail the benefits of the subsidized excise duty for small cars, the car models under-4m would sport engines below 1200cc in petrol and below 1500cc in diesel.

There is going to be a sizzling competition between the car manufacturers in the small-car sector. Whereas Maruti-Suzuki is set to roll out Splash and A Star by year-end and Hyundai is set to introduce i20 at the same time. Even Fiat Grande Punto is expected before the end of the year and Tata Motors is also ready to hit the Indian market with its new version of its Indica, which has been one of the popular cars in the market.