Mahindra Verito Vibe Launched

Two years after reports about Mahindra planning a sub-4-metre car based on the Verito sedan first surfaced, the company today took the wraps off the product – a hatchback – called the Verito Vibe. Featuring a cleverly chopped off boot that restricts the overall length to 3,991mm, the Verito Vibe falls well below the crucial 4-metre mark that entitles cars to excise duty benefits.

Styling-wise the car has a very 90s ‘vibe’ to it, fused with some smart, sporty touches such as blackened headlamps, carbon-fibre finished grille, pentagram-styled ‘Champagne’ alloys (available only on the top-end D6 variant), LED taillamps, roof racks, etc, to appeal to younger-gen buyers. The sporty treatment is carried over to the inside as well with faux carbon-fibre trim on the dash and centre console.

Space is, perhaps, the Verito Vibe’s biggest selling point and the cabin feels as roomy as the sedan. The wide backseats can accommodate three comfortably with plenty of leg-, head- and shoulder room for all. Besides, there’s also a headrest for the middle passenger, just as in the Verito.

Fiat launches the petrol-powered Linea T-Jet with more features in three variants

Apart from the difference in equipment between the three variants, the Active and Dynamic variants are fitted with 15-inch steel wheels that give the car a ground clearance of 185mm while the top-of-the-line Emotion variant gets 16 inch alloy wheels that give it a ground clearance of 190mm.

The refreshed Fiat Linea is powered by the same 1.4-litre turbocharged petrol engine that generates 114PS of power and 207Nm of torque and returns a claimed fuel efficiency of 15.7kmpl. The engine is mated to a five-speed manual gearbox.

Fiat will be offering the Linea T-Jet in five color options, namely, Oceanic Blue, Tuscan White, New Pearl White, Hip Hop Black & Minimal Grey.

Honda launches Brio variants with more features

Honda has launched a refreshed variant of the Honda Brio hatchback with more features added to it. It has also revamped its variants line up to six variants, but which now has only one automatic variant from two earlier.

Following customer feedback, Honda has now taken a couple of features that were available in the newly launched Honda Amaze and added it to the Brio hatchback. This includes a rear defogger and a height adjustable driver’s seat in the top-end variant that is now called the Honda Brio VX-MT / VX-AT variant (the latter being the only available automatic now).

Honda Brio E-MT:  Rs. 4.12 lakh

Honda Brio EX MT (new variant): Rs. 4.28 lakh

Honda Brio S MT: Rs. 4.60 lakh

Honda Brio V MT: Rs. 5.06 lakh

Honda Brio VX MT (new variant): Rs. 5.34 lakh

Honda Brio VX AT (added features): Rs. 6.12 lakh

Bentley Continental GT Speed introduced

Bentley has been consistently making fast four seater luxury cars for a while now and the Continental GT Speed is their latest avatar of a seriously fast four-seater luxury lounge. 

Now available in India, the new Bentley Continental GT Speed is powered by a 6.0 litre twin turbo charged W12 engine that generates 625PS of power and 800Nm of torque. The engine is mated to a close ratio eight-speed ZF automatic gearbox for savage acceleration and impeccable cruising ability. 

The end result is 0-100 km/h in 4.4 seconds and a top speed of 325 km/h for the latest sporty four-seater Bentley. 

Bentley also states that the new Continental GT Speed is also 13 per cent more fuel efficient than its predecessor.

The chassis of the Continental GT has been tuned for the ‘Speed’ spec and the suspension lowered to reduce body roll around corners at speeds. The luxury super car also gets 21 inch wheels along with a darkened grille and front bumper intakes.  

Next-gen Honda CR-V to launch on February 12 (Price 28 Lakh)

After launching the new generation CR-V in the UK in November 2012, Honda has announced the SUV will launch in India on February 12, 2013. The improved 2013 CR-V will be shorter and more refined. Prices are expected to be around Rs 28 lakh. For the UK, there is an oil-burner option but for India, the CR-V will debut only as a petrol version. For the first time, the CR-V will be available with both two- and four-wheel drive options.

The new CR-V has a more aerodynamic stance and lower coefficient of drag, a more raked and aggressive front end along with unchanged rear and signature tail lights.

It’s more spacious on the inside, with a 589-litre boot that goes up to 1648 litres with the rear seats folded flat. It will feature improved NVH levels, whiplash protection system and a number of new features 

Fiat Punto Sports Launching Tomorrow

Fiat India will launch the Punto 90 HP Sports version on May 18^th, 2012. The Punto 90 HP Sports will likely be offered only in the top-end Emotion variant and may be priced Rs. 30,000 (approx.) more than the regular Punto (75 Bhp) diesel Emotion variant which is priced at Rs. 6.84 lakh.

The Punto 90 HP Sport version is expected to come with cosmetic changes like chrome accented interiors, chrome exhaust tip, specially stitched gear knob,  gear lever cover, color coded ORVMs, door sills with ‘Punto’ letters embossed and ‘Sport’ branded body decals. The 90 HP Sports version will likely be made available in three colors namely, bossa nova white, exotica red and hip hop black.

Punto Sports at Auto Expo 2012
The Punto 90 HP Sports version will be powered by a 1.3-litre Multijet diesel motor that puts out 91.7 Bhp (93 PS) of power and 209 Nm of torque unlike the ordinary Punto which is powered by a 1.3-litre Multijet diesel motor that puts out 74.9 Bhp (76 PS) of power and 197 Nm of torque.
Performance wise, the Punto 90 HP offers more power on tap but still exhibits a turbo lag below 2,000 rpm and hence to keep the engine in the power band, frequent gear shifts are needed in city driving conditions.
Out on the highway, the Punto 90 HP performs better than the Punto (75 Bhp) as it accelerates faster to reach three digit speeds and it also has a better power-to-weight ratio, improving the mileage a little. The claimed mileage of the Punto 90 HP is 20.5 Kmpl which is slightly better than the claimed mileage of Punto which is 20.3 Kmpl.
Fiat launched the Punto 90 HP in the year 2010 and the car attracted a few enthusiasts who wanted more power and torque on the Punto diesel to fully exploit its handling characteristics.  In 2012, Fiat gave a minor cosmetic facelift and launched the 2012 Punto. And now, Fiat is gearing up to launch the Punto 90 HP Sports edition on May 18^th with cosmetic upgrades, targeting enthusiasts who are looking for powerful diesel hatchbacks.

Mercedes Benz M Class

Mercedes-Benz India has launched the new 2012 M-Class SUV priced at Rs. 56.9 lakh for the ML350 CDI variant and Rs. 66 lakh for the limited AMG edition. The M-Class will be made available to customers from July 2012 onwards, while the limited edition, of which only 100 will be made, is on sale now.

The new M-Class looks clean, sharper and more elegant than its predecessor. The new M-Class is 23 mm longer and 15 mm wider than the outgoing model. The interiors of the new M-Class have many changes such as redesigned AC vents, new central console layout and refreshed instrument cluster.

The ML350 is powered by a 3-litre, six-cylinder, common-rail diesel motor that puts out 258 Bhp of power and 619 Nm of torque. The engine is mated to a 7-gtronic (7-speed) automatic transmission. The new ML 350 can accelerate from 0 – 100 Kmph in 7.4 seconds and reach a top speed of 224 Kmph.

The new M-Class comes with a long list of standard equipment such as ECO start/stop function, reversing camera, active parking assist, airmatic suspension, tail lights featuring LED fiber-optic technology, attention assist feature, memory seats, thermotronic auto climate control, media interface,  electric parking brake and electric sliding sunroof. The airmatic suspension has an auto leveling feature which keeps the vehicle at the same level no matter what load it is carrying. It also allows the driver to select various comfort settings of the suspension.

The M-Class features an all-wheel drive system with selectable low-range gearbox as well for challenging off-road conditions. It can handle tarmac and testing off-road conditions with equal ease. The M-Class will face stiff competition from the segment leader, Audi Q7 and the BMW X5.