Even as slowdown continues in the Indian auto industry, there are some positive signs in terms of the response received for new car launches. In recent times, the car market has witnessed good demand for new products such as Tata Harrier, Mahindra XUV300, Hyundai Venue and MG Hector.
This is why carmakers don’t appear to be on the back foot and are aggressive working on their plans to introduce new products in the market. In August, 8 new cars are going to be launched in the Indian market, 1 of them has already launched. All new cars detailed below, with date.
Kia Seltos, 22nd Aug – This SUV from South Korea’s second largest automaker has become a bestseller even before its launch. On July 16, its first day of booking, the company claims to have received more than 6,000 bookings. This is a record for the entire Indian auto industry. Seltos has stylish exteriors, premium interiors, and offers 37 internet connected smart features.Another great thing about Seltos is that all its engines will be BS-VI compliant from day one. Engine options include a 1.5-litre petrol, a 1.4-litre turbo petrol and a 1.5-litre diesel. All engines will get 6-speed manual and automatic transmission option. Seltos will also offer traction modes of Mud, Snow/Wet and Sand. Price is expected to be in the range of Rs 10-16 lakh. Launch is scheduled for 22nd Aug.
BMW 3 Series, 21st Aug – 7th generation BMW 3 Series had debuted at 2018 Paris Motor Show and now it has been officially confirmed that the car will be launched in India on August 21. New BMW 3 Series is longer than its predecessor by 76 mm and wheelbase has also been increased by 41 mm. However, despite being larger, the car weighs 55 kg less, which has improved its agility and power to weight ratio.
New BMW 3 Series utilizes the Cluster Architecture (CLAR) platform, which can also be seen on 5 and 7 Series. The car looks sharper with its restyled LED headlights and L-shaped DRLs. For the Indian market, BMW will continue using the existing 2.0-litre turbo-petrol and 2.0-litre diesel engines. However, power and torque output has been increased to 258 hp and 400 Nm for petrol variant and 190 hp and 400 Nm for diesel variant. Both engines will be mated to 8-speed automatic transmission.
Maruti Suzuki XL6, 21st Aug – A premium version of Maruti Suzuki’s bestselling MPV Ertiga, XL6 is scheduled for launch on August 21. It will be a 6-seater car, as is evident from its name. XL6 comes with refreshed styling, featuring trendy trapezoidal front grille with chrome strips, sleek headlights with integrated LED DRLs, faux metallic skid plate, redesigned fog light housing, body cladding and new alloy wheels.
Interiors are expected to be more premium than Ertiga, featuring an all-black cabin, captain seats in second row and Smart Play Studio infotainment system. XL6 will get its power from Maruti’s new 1.5-litre mild-hybrid petrol engine that generates 105 hp and 138 Nm. Engine is mated to a 5-speed manual gearbox. An automatic option (4-speed torque converter unit) could be introduced at a later date.
2020 Hyundai Grand i10 NIOS, 20th Aug- Rivalling Maruti Suzuki Swift, all-new Hyundai Grand i10 will be launched on August 20. New Grand i10 is larger than the current model and comes with refreshed exteriors and interiors. It is now visually more attractive with its sharper headlights, wide grille, snazzy alloy wheel design and edgy tail lights. On the inside, the dashboard gets a sporty makeover and seat design has been optimized to make more space for passengers.
Instrument cluster is a digital cum analogue unit while the infotainment system is borrowed from Venue, an 8-inch touchscreen with support for Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. New Grand i10 will continue to use the existing 1.2-litre Kappa petrol and 1.2-litre U2 diesel engines, but both of these will now be BS-VI compliant. Price is expected to be a bit higher than that of exiting model, somewhere in the range of Rs 5-7 lakh.
Renault Triber, 27th Aug – This 7-seater, sub-4-metre MPV is expected to be launched in second half of August. Based on a tweaked version of Renault Kwid’s CMF-A platform, Triber will be positioned above Kwid in the company’s India portfolio. The MPV offers flexible seating arrangement, which is something new that will appeal to customers.
Powering Triber will be a 1.0-litre, 3-cylinder, naturally-aspirated petrol engine that generates 72 hp and 96 Nm. Transmission options include a 5-speed manual and a 5-speed AMT automatic gearbox. Price is expected in the range of Rs 5-7 lakh. Launch is scheduled for 27th August.
Apart from the above new cars, there are some new editions also launching. Tata Harrier Black Edition is one of them (launch date not announced). Then there is Volkswagen Polo 10 Years Edition, which is launching today. New Jeep Wrangler has already been launched this month, at about Rs 65 lakhs. All in all, August is going to be a very busy month for most of the passenger car brands, in spite of a slowdown which is considered the worst in many years.
