The principal of the team McLaren, Whitmarsh said in a press conference that they are renewing the partnership that has already won several championships together during their partnership. He also said that he is delighted to reveal that Honda and McLaren will be starting a new chapter in the history of Formula 1 by renewing their partnership.

McLaren and Honda have together won about 44 Grand Prix and about eight world championships during the 80s and 90s. Whitemarsh further added that the partnership together created one of the most successful Formula car of all times in year 1988, the legendary car McLaren-Honda MPO 4/4 that won over everyone. The car was driven to victory about 15 times.

Lomas Manandhar who is divisional manager at the Honda showroom at Dhobighat said that they are quite excited about the launch of the sedan in the Nepali market as it is already gaining much of the attention in the Indian market and the showroom has also been receiving constant enquiry about the vehicle. He also added that the car is doing quite well thanks to the good looks and even better performance. Initially the company will be launching only the petrol trim of the car with the price tag of Rs. 2.6 million (which is approximately Rs. 16 lakh in Indian currency).

The petrol version of the Amaze that will be launched in the Nepali market will be powered by the 1.2 litre i-VTEC engine that can churn our 87 bhp of power and peak torque of 109 Nm at 4,500 rpm. The engine is coupled with the 5 speed manual transmission and offers descent fuel economy of 18 kmpl. According to the report in the Himalayan Times, the Amaze will be made in India that is the reason for the higher pricing. The Amaze will be launched in three variants with number of safety and comfort features.

The image which one can see over here is created by Geijutsutekinotenshi on Deviant Art and had used same nose of its younger sibling, whilst of the tail and head lamps sharing almost similar cues too. Those Z-stretching lines on sides and also the big bulging bumpers on rear makes us feel notches to that of last generation CR-V which is also having the identical outers but fleshed in a thick metal sheet for the sophistication and also value delivered for the money asked.

As learnt, the MPV will share same 1.5L of Amaze on initial stage, where one can expect petrol on the latter years of launch. Fuel efficiency and durability are the main factors which this carmaker has to observe minutely on the bespoken metal, and also the costing factor to make a frugal standing in down the line horizon. Talking about competition, it was revealed, Maruti Ertiga will be an immediate rival for this Honda offering that had already done good with the sales figure in initial stage and is proving better performance now too.

Any of the official confirmations about MPV launch hadn’t been delivered from house of carmaker but some days back one of the publications have reported, Mr. Jnaneswar Sen, Senior Vice President of Marketing and Sales for Honda India, was seen talking about the same on launch of Amaze. It is the only time brewed factor which will show real picture to us in future, and hopefully we think Fiat’s 1.3L Multijet diesel is also nowadays looking outdated to grip hold the market in its stride, which the new Honda 1.5L i-DTEC is making right moves in competition for the further scope of industry, where cubic centimeters (cc) of an engine does matters a lot unlike to that of high power delivered in low capacity used in present generation’s jag.

Lest of all, newly launched Honda Amaze with the bespoken diesel engine is proving right curves in the sales and marketing department, as crossed 22,000 booking in the initial three weeks of booking tenure, outdoing the strongest rival in industry Maruti Swift Dzire on the very instant core, and hopes defying it in the long term as well. Looking at a bigger picture, the flagship Honda City had also felt heat due to in house competition and frankly speaking the lack of oil burners had tend it to stay back from the forefront zone of Amaze. To be precise, the sales figure, that we had already posted on our blog recently, says City scored 1917 number of sales in April 2013 whereas just the ‘days’ old Amaze posted 4852 units in the same month. Hence need to garner the sales, Honda may launch the everyone’s favorite City with new powerplant i-DTEC engine maybe in the original 1.6L avatar, because already it is having the 1.5L petrol motor in the kitty right now, and in spite doing well than others seeing the rise in petrol prices.

Well, the coming years, we may expect 2016, to be revealing the best of Honda if the automaker has started working from right now itself. It will be too early to say something on this aspect, because we are speculating official approval or disapproval may land soon.

As said “cosmetic changes” in the above stanza, it doesn’t clues to facelift or so else factors, but specifically taken the new pitch in interiors and refreshment of various trims in the segment. Changes include driver’s seat height adjuster and rear defogger, borrowed from the Amaze, and also six new variants in the line namely EMT, EXMT, SMT, VMT, VXMT and VXAT, where the last two are again taken from Amaze in a replacement of S trim line.

Commenting on the new launch, Mr. Jnaneswar Sen, Senior Vice President, marketing and sales said, “We are pleased to announce upgrades to the Honda Brio with added comfort and convenience in its segment which will appeal to the customers. It is our constant endeavour to study customers’ needs and aspirations and introduce features that enhance the overall ownership experience.”

Very interestingly, Brio had proven fabulous performance on the sales sheet of Honda, as attached 32,000 new customers in the last fiscal year alone in its badge.

In addition to the whole package, Honda is also offering “Honda Care Maintenance Package (HCMP)” at Rs. 9996 which will cater free periodic maintenance service up to 40,000km or 2 years, the condition that will occur first.

Lest, mentioned below are the categorized strata of pricing for new Honda Brio and all the tags are slated to be ex-showroom Delhi:

• Honda Brio EMT Rs 4.12 Lakh
• Honda Brio EX  MT Rs 4.28 Lakh
• Honda Brio S MT Rs 4.60 Lakh
• Honda Brio V MT Rs 5.06 Lakh
• Honda Brio VX MT Rs 5.34 Lakh
• Honda Brio VX AT Rs 6.12 Lakh

The total numbers of car that Japanese carmaker had sold in April 2013 is “8,488 units”, against the 7,075 units in same period of last year. The derivation of 20% is gotten into sleeves by calculating the yielded data on YoY basis, and even more to that, mentioned below is the simplified of aura of bespoken sales report.

Model wise sales break-up for April 2013:

Brio	1628
Amaze	4852
City	1917
Accord	33
CRV	58
Domestic Total	8488
Exports	182
Grand Total	8670

Taking a view at the table it can be calculated, the clubbing of all the models (i.e. 3636 units), excluding Amaze, doesn’t even lead the numbers near to newbie’s crunches (of 4852 units), hence it can be termed as a good performance in the diesel plethora of Honda, that was being its first attempt with the 1.6L i-DTEC diesel engine in our local fraternity, and it should be kept floated throughout the duration, hopes Honda officials.

Lending a vision for same, Mr. Jnaneswar Sen, Sr. Vice President – Marketing &Sales, Honda Cars India Ltd. said, “April 2013 was a significant landmark in Honda’s journey in India. With new investments in Tapukar plant, launch of advanced i-DTEC diesel engine technology, and rollout of new family sedan Amaze, Honda has set on a new phase of growth in the country.”

It seems Honda was playing a heavy bet on the lower C segment sedan where it has received tremendous response from the customers despite of slowdown in the industry.

Adding last bits to the brief, Mr. Sen concluded, “We are confident that Amaze will drive our growth in this fiscal.”

There is no need to take this plight seriously towards Maruti because they should be knowing what kind of image does the Honda enjoy here and knows very well how to pin its products underneath our local audience. Just sometime before Honda was said to be the brand of up-market section due to its high maintenance cost and unavailability of oil burners in the line, with the Amaze it had went down the line of conventional customers and had catered a wider number of crowd very easily.

As in the diesel, Honda Amaze has a fuel efficiency of 25.8 kmpl, competing Maruti’s Dzire very strongly, boasted from the 1.5L i-DTEC that was prepared alongside the European spec 1.6L i-DTEC. Underneath various technicalities, it covers a lot of aluminum components in engine to get itself a lighter weight comparatively to the competitors in horizon and also adds peak power of 100PS to the car, can be exclaimed fabulous for such a metal.

The showroom owners of Honda now are keeping their gates open till late than the regular office timings, and most of the walk-ins are asking for Amaze very instantly. Confirming the same, an executive for Honda Cars India said, “We have witnessed a large number of walk-ins since the launch of the Amaze; several more wait to drive the car. On most days, the showrooms are open till 8 pm, but now, it’s extended to 10-10.30 pm.”

If seen on the big picture, then Amaze had sold out Jazz, CR-V, City and Accord all being clubbed together, in the month of April, as revealed in the sales report.

22,000 bookings in three months is just a big number, and the manufacturing bay of Honda in India is capable to produce only 4,500-5,000 units per month, which seems to be raising the price factor of future, but for present it will hail the bulgy waiting period as well.

“Though it’s difficult to satisfy every customer everyday, we are making sure every consumer gets to drive the Amaze. The idea is to not let any customer feel disappointed,” concluded one of the industry sources.

As claimed, Maruti is selling 18,000 units of Dzire every month across the nation and also had conducted a Mileage Rally on this weekend to prove its mettle for the true Indian carmaker, at contradiction Honda had surpassed those whopping number in just three weeks by 20% additional fold on comparison with both the figures. The tasks at Honda is looking difficult for its executives as had been allotted to up keep the same numbers floated during all time, but now the executives at Maruti also getting the heat underneath their seats, which previously they were enjoying positions like of true Kings.

The lower C segment sedan game is now interesting to see what next curve will ask from both of the carmakers to get market shares in their stride.

Design and engineering:

Extra bucks means a more sporty looks, it is what considered by the Indians and that seems to be true where Swift had taken all the brownies in blow of only this spark itself. Here in the playground, Punto has all the streaks of Italian being written all over it, a good snub nose, twizzed outlook, a very distinct front grille, and such makes it to score above the rest. Punto seems to be the perfect value for money if one goes behind those smoky tail lamps as well. The stealth, beauty, exteriors craftsmanship, a very beautifully carved structure and many other factors make the best bet ever form Fiat.

Hyundai facelift is the moderate than three of them, with sweptback headlamps, a more sleek nose, fluidic lines flowing all over it, very importantly the practicality of its aerodynamics, glamorous appearance, stylish body kit and all makes this one a worth buying product on Indian shores, where boxy design have taken a back seat, not even peeping at all, making to look more futuristic than the rest.

Below of them stands Tata Indica Vista D90, it has traditional looks, yet the same ongoing stance, and more importantly the tall boy fable with ample of exclusive interior space inside, that’s what Tata is all famous for. It is very efficiently priced and if one sees in the efficient way then Tata springs brightly on every of them.

All of the trios have something special and spicy as well, which we can taste differently over the platter, as per their price tags also. One have the space, while other one is bestowed with looks, and the next one maybe doing on its famous tradition and all. On styling trios scores equal pints and does depend on the money which a customer is willing to shell out. Again to remind, their national traditions are clearly seen on their appearance, as differing themselves on the looks solely for that basis only.

Interiors:

Interiors will not have the win-win equation for anyone of them but the practicality is what which they stand frugal for the segment. Tata Indica this time is bestowed with the taste of bit plushness rather than going down the line in its previous generation. A good dashboard, improved finishing, and plastic quality is the thing to be talked about inside of the Indian moniker, but when our things move towards the negative assortment, the power window switch, ergonomics of driver seat: namely pedal position, figures on speed dials door pockets and other takes us on the backseat for giving it brownie points.

Very adjacently ranked Fiat Punto, is dipped smashingly in the Italian accent but we think Fiat has to do a re-inspection on interiors, being an international brand the quality doesn’t matches our expectations. The ergonomics for driving position is looking like an un-thought affair. The combination of steering placement and pedal does not laid comfort in any of the position or height, inclusive of no thigh support at all.

The Hyundai i20 had taken both of them in its simple and sophisticated stride giving us a big blink of reading on instrument cluster, and moreover crispy buttons, dashboard, doorpads makes “i” inclining in the right direction. Legroom at rear seats is not sufficient for the adults but we think kids may find cool enjoying inches alone there in the back.

Tata is very much famous for the space in its car and Indica looks not an exception. With amply of spaces on the backseat, heighted people will all not face any issues, making a comfortable seating arrangement for the three passengers. Disappointingly, the trade-offs for acres on the back is barged against boot space in Vista that we think is good to make the deal appropriate moneywise, and moreover most of the families does not mind in compromising on that, which was scheduled to make city rides most probably rather than a tour.

Engine, Gearbox, and Performance as well:

Talking about engines, Indica and Punto owns a Fiat sourced 1.3L Multijet diesel, wobbling out similarly 89 bhp and 20.4 kgm of torque, and more or less similar gear ratios as well. Both of them actually start performing post 2500 RPM. Factually, the differentiation starts peeping in through the gear shifts. Vista needs the fourth gear before gulping plight of 100 kmph whereas Punto is yelling out a bit more speed in each of the gears due to its beefed up wheels measurement. Dabbing the accelerator to gain fastest hundred, Indica crosses the mark quicker than the Fiat badge, claiming its title at 13.9 seconds, complete two seconds lesser than the Punto. We think Fiat needs to work out on this one too, because having such a bad result in its homemade powerplant doesn’t goes well down in the competition.

Hyundai plays a different league on this ground, fed with a 1.4L jag it does smooth sailing even at 5100 RPM. Coming even down to the pick of 2100 RPM its six speed gearbox helps it to gain hundred easily. The time frame from reaching 0-100 kmph is 12.8 seconds, Hyundai is more refined and silent while touching even the redline on instant hit.

Ride and Handling:

Ride and handling has given us a mixed response, Tata Vista strokes very swiftly on the smooth surfaces, with revised suspension settings, and other such technical tweaks, had made it winning on the trios, but disappointingly it will not grasp the assortment of potholes on our roads. Taking even the Hyundai for same, its softer suspension leaves you aspiring for the better ones at higher revs. The fluidic design which is sloppy on all the curves makes it the most unsafe label for taking top notches under sleeve.

Hopefully, Fiat Punto is the winner amongst all of them, with the compressed yet front leaning ergonomics on outer it has splurged the weight in right direction that this sort of vehicle is needed for.  The big bumps and many more of the instability passes Punto very easily, without making a jerk on the passenger’s front. Steering wheel of Punto is also something to talk about here, its accuracy, and quickness makes it to dive in the corners very easily, whereas the Vista emerges winner in this strata. The stiff setting and hydraulic pumping behind its driving rims makes the impressive drive possible, feels more powerful than before Indica. Hyundai i20 is good for the city clutters, with soft and light clutch, light steering, being assimilated with the super refined engine, gives it a tendency to eat up as much twizzed miles as possible.

Conclusion:

Among all of the three, Punto is the assorted Italian piece of metal, but that doesn’t seems to be fulfilling the power to core, except some powerful notches written on the paper and is not felt in actual. The value for money factor is on the downward plank for it, whereas Tata Indica Vista comeback is the improved and an enhanced one. Making the best choice if asking value for money, it gives you the glow on faces when looked inside of tits and bits, acres of space specifically, yielding the balanced equation from every derivations. Hyundai i20 is the smartest of all but is expensive on the board yet to buy. It appeals in the most lucrative manner, fluidic stances, futuristic looks, comfortable ride in city  and the most fuel efficient amongst all, keeps the purchasing bar open wide for many of us who looks family in every corner being combined with sporty attire in the first marking, just as said in the introduction.

Fuel Sip:

• Hyundai i20: City – 13.8 kmpl; Highway – 19.5 kmpl
• Vista D90: City – 13.0 kmpl; Highway – 17.8 kmpl
• Punto: City – 12.8 kmpl; Highway – 17.6 kmpl

The discussion over here is of ‘who will prove itself better in the horizon’, and as an outcome Maruti called the announcement to launch Mileage Rally campaign on this Sunday, meant to be held in metros, state capitals, Tier I and Tier II cities, which will see 1,500 customers driving their very own DZire, and out of them all best three will be declared as the winners.

Honda right now didn’t have any of the answering back strategy but we think the Japanese brand is quite cool with the claimed efficiency of 25.8 kmpl, tends to be 2.4 km more than the DZire diesel, whilst of petrol trim which puts the Maruti on front feet with the figures of 19.1 kmpl, 1.1 kmpl more than the Brio based sedan on its accumulation of 18 kmpl.

Speaking for this competitive issue, Mayank Pareek, Chief Operating Officer, Marketing and Sales, Maruti Suzuki said, “The idea is to look back, give DZire owners a chance to test their cars and rediscover that the model remains as fresh and is still a best-buy, especially when it comes to getting the best mileage from every litre of fuel.”

On an extent we think, this sort of effort may not prove sufficient for Maruti because Honda has given all those tricks in the Amaze which many of us was vying under the badge of such assortment, and the recently launched Regal DZire may also be shown doors at its first appearance, which is citing to commit promises of Honda with that similar looking paint job of Amaze.

All the bespoken fuel efficiency figures are slated as per ARAI, and not on our personal experiences.

At the present time, the said i-DTEC motor supplies the power for the functioning of the auto giant’s newest vehicle – Amaze entry level sedan in the Indian vehicle zone.

Together with exports, the Japanese car manufacturer would also roll out 3 to 4 new diesel catered cars of its subsisting model fleet that would help it in augmenting its vehicle sales recital in the nation.

While telling about the company’s upcoming proposals for the Indian market, Mr. Jnaneswar Sen, Senior Vice President (VP), Honda Cars India Limited, stated, “We will export diesel engine constituents to the European and South East Asian markets from the domestic market. In 2013-14, the main objective is Rs. 500 crore as compared to Rs. 332 crore recorded during the last financial year (2012-13).”

The auto firm looks to be untroubled by the Indian administration’s verdict to take out excise duty cuts on diesel vehicles.

The company is sure-footed that diesel catered vehicle section would witness positive demand and carry on growing in the coming time.

Mr. Jnaneswar stated that the administration’s verdict did take them by surprise. However, the popularity for diesel would stay sturdy in the Indian market.

The Honda’s Senior vice president also said that Honda Cars India Limited is functioning on bringing diesel catered Jazz and City models, together with fresh compact Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) and 7-seater Multi Purpose Vehicle (MPV).

These vehicles are likely to witness Indian daylight by the coming 2 to 3 years and would be catered with 1.5 litre or 1.6 litre oil burners, together with petrol options.

As a result, Honda Cars India Ltd’s plan of strengthening its diesel line-up is looking sizeable for both the firm as well as its clients.