Hyundai Elantra the best in Consumer Reports 2008

One more reason why we should be angry with Hyundai India.They are keeping away from us the car which even beat rivals like Honda Civic and the Toyota Corolla in the latest ranking by Consumer Reports,USA for the best car in the USA in its segment.

Hyundai have been gaining steadily on the Japanese rivals and there is not much to choose between the two now[an i10 owner could vouch for that].They have come a long way from being the also present to being the best now.The only difference between the Japanese and Hyundai seems to be the time taken,where Hyundai is making progress at a much rapid rate than what the japanese took to achieve its present number one position.Beware Honda,Toyota,Nissan Hyundai is not very far away and its not long before Hyundai could even beat them at their own game.

Also read:
Hyundai could just steal the thunder from Toyota

Another car of interest for us in India in the list is the Chevrolet Aveo sedan,which incidentally has been the worst vehicle and comes up last in its category.

[Source:Autoblog]

More details about Skoda's new cheap sedan and small car

In my earlier post I have talked about skoda coming up with a c-sedan segment taking on the likes of the Honda city,Chevrolet aveo, the suzuki sx4 and the Hyundai Verna/Accent.Some more details have come up courtesy autoexpress UK.

For starters the price tag,skoda plan to make the sedan keeping in mind the £10,000 tag[roughly Rs.8.5 lakhs].Although at this price it would come with AC and power windows expect skoda to skimp on all other goodies and expect this new sedan to be more on the lines of the earliest generation octavia[not the ones available in India],even in terms of size as well.

As far as how the car is,it is said to be based on the seat bolero platform A spy picture I post from the autoexpress website.

This new sedan would be sold worldwide by skoda and yes that means emerging markets like India and China as well apart from the traditional market of skoda in the european countries.This car would be powered by the tried and trusted 1.9TDi diesel and 2.0L petrol engines although the VW group are also considering smaller and more frugal engines as well.

Whether this new sedan would be called the new Octavia I am not so sure.But that looks unlikely.



Spy picture of the seat bolero hatch again from autoexpress.Now the seat bolero would be available both as a hatchback and a sedan and it its this very hatchback which could be the basis for skoda cheap hatchback as well.This hatchback to is expected by 2010 and is supposedly going to debut in the Indian markets first and then there will be a global launch.The price tag for this hatch is supposedly between Rs.3-5 lakhs.


[Source:autoexpress.co.uk]
[image source: Autoexpress UK]

Fiat Linea to compete with Honda civic

Unlike what you and me think,NDTV thinks that the Fiat linea would not compete with cars in the C-segment but instead be targeting competitors in the d-segment.Competition that includes the likes of the Honda civic and the Skoda octavia.

To tell you that I am suprised would be more of an understatement as the Linea was always supposed to be a c-segment car.NDTV predict the Linea to be priced between Rs.8-11 lakhs.They are not sure about the specifications of the car or the equipment it would come with.However they hinted that the linea would not get the 1.3L diesel multijet but a more powerful engine[perhaps the 1.9L one].

Now is this an intentional strategy by fiat to speculate a higher price and then suprise everybody with a cheaper price tag only time will tell but the wait should not be very long since the linea launch is just a few months away.

PS:Sticking to the NDTV report,NDTV also says that we should soon see the fiat multijet diesel engines on the chevrolet aveo range in india[That means both the hatch as well as the sedan].

[source:NDTV]

Chevrolet Aveo and Suzuki SX4 battle it out for the best interiors

Surprising but true,the SX4 is battling it out for the best interiors and its not in the Indian market we are taking about its in the Wards interior of the year awards at the Auto interior show in detroit[June 4-5 ,2008 at Detroit's Cobo Center].

Nope there is not much difference in the interiors between the sx4 in america and the one in India.Ofcourse the all important build quality differs from market to market after all Maruti's are supposed to fall off after a year or two.In its category the sx4 is competing with the chevrolet aveo,the scion xd,the ford focus and the chevrolet aveo.

Regarding the Chevrolet aveo atleast from an Indian perspective there should be no surprises for the nomination.

There are 36 cars overall and cars available in India which are included are the New Toyota Corolla[next generation],Honda accord[next generation],Hyundai Sonata

Heres what Wards have to say
Thirty-six outstanding vehicle interiors representing 13 manufacturers will compete for top honors in the 9th annual "Ward's Interior of the Year" awards.

For details and all competitors visit :
dexigner.com