Upcoming Cars

 

 Maruti Kizakhi

Maruti is now planning to enter the D segment of cars with its new offering Kizashi. Expected to be launched in the early 2010, the car is expected to compete with the likes of Honda Civic, Toyota Corrola, Skoda Octavia and the upcoming Volkswagen Jetta. The Kizashi concept car was showcased at the Frankfurt Motor Show in 2007 and at the Auto Expo in New Delhi in 2008. Expected to be priced around Rs. 10 lakh, it will have many innovative features, and is likely to be powered by a 2 litre turbo diesel engine. Kizashi is also likely to have a six.speed transmission and large 21 inch alloys. The car is likely to be produced at the company's Manesar facility in Haryana.

Maruti Kizashi is expected to be the first all-wheel drive sedan in the luxury D segment. The car will carry an advanced four-valve turbo-fired two-litre petrol, Euro V engine, which will also be premiered at the same time. Kizashi is also likely to boast the first six-speed transmission from the Suzuki stable. A crossover sports sedan, Kizashi, which depicts an athlete in motion, is likely to sport 21” wheels. Maruti Kizashi is expected to roll out from its Manesar plant. Kizashi will be positioned in the Rs 10 lakh-plus price band and will compete with the Honda Civic, Toyota Corolla, Hyundai Sonata, Skoda Octavia and Volkswagen Jetta besides other cars that will debut in the next three years.

Volkswagen Polo

Volkswagen is quite bullish about the emerging markets like India and China. In India, the company is likely to launch Polo, a hatchback which is under production. Expected to be launched in the early 2010, the car is positioned in the premium-hatchback segment. Polo will compete against Skoda Fabia and Honda Jazz. Recently Volkswagen inked a pact with the Maharashtra government for producing Volkswagen cars from Pune. The company will get 230 hectares of land in Chakan at Pune for the manufacturing plant. 

The car after its launch in the Indian market, will compete with the likes of Maruti’s Swift, Hyundai’s Getz and Tata Motor’s Indica. According to a Volkswagen official, the company would go for the B segment of the passenger car market, which incidentally is the largest in the country. The company sees further growth in this segment. The car company Volkswagen is also planning to launch its Passat model in India, which will don a price tag of Rs 30 lakh. Passat may be rolled out of the Skoda Auto manufacturing facility at Aurangabad.

Volkswagen Polo is sold in Europe and other markets worldwide in hatchback, saloon, coupé and estate variants. There have been four separate generations of the Polo. Some generations were face lifted mid way through production, with the updated versions known again unofficially by an addition of the letter F to the model number, e.g. Mk IIF. There is considerable variation in Polo model designations, with some sources using Mk as equivalent to Series which causes confusion.

             Key to Volkswagen India plans are two mass-market models that will be produced in large volumes in the company’s upcoming factory in Chakan. The first is the sixth-generation Polo (A06) hatchback that is under development and is expected in 2009.