Look hard and you can see the next Wagon-R for India! Yes, ladies and gentlemen, the Suzuki Splash concept that was shown at last year’s Paris Motor Show has been chiselled and tapered for the robots at the Magyar Suzuki plant in Hungary to churn out 60,000 of them each year. To be badged the Opel Agila for Europe, the Splash might also be produced in India by Maruti Suzuki for their export commitment to Nissan Europe, totalling 50,000 units.
Based on an all-new platform, the production version has some hints of the Swift and SX4, interspersed with a C-pillar design that harks back to the concept. Unlike traditional hatchbacks, the rear end has allowed for a thicker C-pillar and made provision for a smaller quarter glass that is not very different from the Swift. The tailgate has an inward obtuse angle to it, something seen more often on French hatchbacks. Given stricter safety requirements, Suzuki have done a good job of marrying regulations with design. Overall, the design is pleasing... we would say it is quite bold for the Japanese small car manufacturer.
On the inside, the Splash continues the raid on Suzuki’s parts bin with the steering wheel, gear knob, door handles, indicator switches, etc first seen on the Swift/SX4. Though, that is where the raid ends. The Splash uses two new petrol engines and a common-rail diesel. A 1000cc, 65 bhp 3-cylinder and a 1200cc, 86 bhp 4-cylinder engine will power Suzuki’s gasoline aspirations while the 1248cc, 75 bhp multi-jet engine manufactured at Manesar in India will complete the engine lineup. All these engines will be mated to a 5-speed gearbox and will be within Europe’s much debated C02 emission cap of 140g/km.
The production model is slated for a debut at the Frankfurt Motor Show later this year and the first of the Maruti Suzuki manufactured Nissan cars should roll out by 2008. Considering Maruti will itself export 1,00,000 to replace the Alto (now discontinued in Europe) and retail 50,000 units in India, one can expect it to be simultaneously launched around April-May next year with the new generation engines. So will it make a Splash?
Suzuki Splash
Chevrolet Sparky Spark
If there was somebody in the automotive industry who knew how to spend money well, it would be Kim Woo Choong, the erstwhile chairman of the Daewoo group. It's another thing that he spent money a little too well, ending up on the wrong side of the law and leading one of South Korea's biggest chaebols to ruin. Kim's profligate ways however benefited the biggest carmaker in the universe, General Motors, when they picked up the Daewoo car business.
Today, GM-Daewoo Automotive Technologies is providing the biggest support to mothership GM with a lineup of well thought-out cars at a time when the General is going through some difficult times. One of the cars that was particularly a windfall for GM was the Daewoo Matiz – you see, GM is not exactly a specialist in making small runabouts, and with the Matiz, they ended up with a well-engineered supermini that showcased cheeky Italian lines and one which was a hit in most markets it was sold in. GM-DAT gave the Matiz a thorough facelift inside-out, replaced the three-cylinder motor with an inline-four, stuck the Chevrolet bowtie at various spots and renamed it the Spark. In this guise, the Spark is now sold in over a 100 countries, including our own. So how is new Spark? Is it a Daewoo deja vu or does it need to be seen as a fresh, all-new product? Read on.
Kinetic Blaze- bike in scooter?
What can I tell you that you don't already know about this scooter? Well, for starters I could tell you that it does a 0-60 kph run in 10.2 seconds. That it's pretty comfortable on good roads. That it still doesn't ride as well as it should on bad roads.
That you get to the underseat storage by twisting the ignition key beyond the ignition slot (one genius here pried the seat open to fill fuel). But the biggest thing in the Blaze's favour is that finally here's a scooter that I, a hard nosed motorcyclist, don't mind as an option to a humdrum motorcycle.
And why not? After all, it is the biggest and most powerful scooter this country has ever seen. It also happens to be the first scooter with a disc brake, the first to get a four-valve engine and for whatever it's worth, it also happens to be the first scooter to get a tachometer and handle-bar counter balancers. And as long as we are staking claims, let me also mention that it happens to be fourth biggest two-wheeler (on account of engine size) in the country. At this point I should also mention that the Blaze happens to be unlike anything that we've ever seen and until it becomes a regular at the traffic lights, it does have the ability to capture eyes and cling on to them.
Kinetic BlazeThen there is the small matter of price. At 55,000 bucks, the Blaze is at loggerheads with the Pulsars and the Apaches of this world. Not to mention that at this price, it's even a few tempting EMIs away from a fully loaded 125.
What is Chevorlet Captiva.
Finally, it’s all coming together for General Motors India. For a while, GMI’s portfolio had a large, er, small gap - what they needed was small car to bring in the volumes. Now, within a span of just four months, they have not one, but two smart superminis, the Aveo U-VA and the Spark. But it does not end there - the game is just beginning to unfold at GMI.
The Chevrolet Optra sedan that has so far been petrol powered will get GM-Daewoo Automotive Technologies’ (GM-DAT) newly developed 2,000cc TCDI diesel engine. Running on 1600 bar pressure, the four-cylinder common rail diesel will produce 120 bhp of peak power and a staggering 28.6 kgm of peak torque turning the wheels at 2,000 rpm - bettering those of the current king of the crop, the Skoda Laura. For the first time since the Opel Astra 1.7 turbodiesel, GM India will offer an oil-burner in a sedan. The Optra that has seen declining sales over the past two year will receive another shot in the arm with a new headlamp and grille treatment, a new tail-lamp cluster and revised interiors. The facelift will enable the Optra to share a lot of parts with the SR-V hatchback. Importantly, it will allow GM to finally pose a strong challenge to the Skoda Octavia, which has been dominating the diesel sedan segment for years now. Expect the Optra diesel to be launched as early as the first week of June with a price tag of around Rs 9 to 10 lakh.