2010 Nissan Cube
Tuesday, November 18th, 2008 
Safari Sumo Cross Over from Tata Motors
Thursday, August 28th, 2008Along the lines of its expansion plans in India, the Indian car makers, Tata Motors plans to bring a Sumo-Safari crossover to India. It has recently launched the new generation Indica Vista , as a fully Indian car. It now plans to bring the next generation of Indigo and a new cross over vehicle between Safari and Sumo . The crossover vehicle named indicruz was launched two years ago at the Delhi Auto Expo 2006.
“We will be unveiling the crossover Safari and Sumo, which was displayed at the Auto Expo two years back,” Tata Motors passenger cars division president Rajeev Dube said. “This will be followed by the next generation Indigo, probably on the same platform as the Indica.” Tata Motors shall develop the next generation Indigo on the Indica platform. It has already spent nearly Rs. 1700 crore on the new Indica platform and plans to sell 12000 to 13000 units a month.
Tata is currently working aggressively on its expansion plans in India. It is also planning to launch its luxury and premium models like Jaguar and Land Rover in India. A team would shortly visit India to assess the market feasibility.
New Toyota Innova Coming in December…
Wednesday, August 27th, 2008Toyota is going to launch the new innova this year in december. The front features a completely new grill with chrome slats for premium look, along with a newly designed buldging front bumper. The headlights get the clear lens treatement along with new shaped fog lamps. The changes at the rear are restricted to new tail lights which get the LED treatment.
The changes to interiors are not superficial. The new Innova features more creature comforts like a climate control and a dash integrated CD changer with steering mounted audio controls to appeal to an ever wider audience especially those looking for luxury.
Renault Sandero Stepway unveiled, may come to India in 2009-10
Wednesday, August 27th, 2008After the Sandero hatchback, which is based on the Logan platform, Renault has now unveiled the Sandero Stepway, a compact crossover designed for the South American market. Based on the Logan platform, the Sandero Stepway is also being evaluated for a possible India launch, perhaps by 2009-10.
For now, the Sandero Stepaway will be built at Renault’s plant in Curitiba, Brazil, and will go on sale in that country in October this year. The vehicle will also be launched in Argentina within a few months, and later, perhaps in other markets where the Logan is built and sold, including India.
[Via: Indiaautomotive]
Mahindra to launch Ingenio MPV soon
Tuesday, August 26th, 2008Mahindra Ingenio is the new model slated for its launch in the last quarter of the current year. It was slated for a launch in August but it may be running on the Indian roads by January next year. The company has still not announced a final launch date for its new MUV.
It shall be manufactured at Mahindra and Mahindra’s Nasik facility in Maharashtra. The plant would be manufactured with an investment of Rs. 500 crore which would increase the annual capacity of the plant to 150,000 vehicles per annum. It has already signed MoU with the Maharashtra government for the new policy. “Importantly Maharashtra offers many advantages including access to a large reservoir of skilled and technical manpower and a well developed supplier base,” said Pawan Goenka, President, Automotive Sector, Mahindra and Mahindra.
The new vehicle shall be pitted against Toyota Innova, Tata Sumo Grande and the Chevrolet Tavera.
Mazda Biante MPV launched in Japan
Friday, July 11th, 2008 
Mazda has released full details and photos of the earlier previewed new Mazda Biante MPV. Two engines are available with the Mazda Biante. The bigger of the two is a normally aspirated 2.3 liter DOHC engine, and the other is an improved version of Mazda’s normally aspirated 2.0 liter engine featuring DISI direct injection. 2WD models come with a 5-speed auto, while the 4WD models come with a 4-speed auto. The 2.3 liter’s 5-speed auto also adds sequential manual shifting.
Mazda hopes to sell 3,000 units of the new Mazda Biante every month. The Biante falls under the tall roof minivan segment much like the Nissan Elgrand and the Toyota Alphard. Tall roofs are desired by some families so that ingress and egress for those who have trouble bending down too much, especially the elderly. Mazda claims the Biante has the longest and widest interior (2,900mm long x 1,545mm wide x 1,350mm tall cabin dimensions) in the 2.0 liter minivan class. 
