Elections are over, July is about to begin, and the rain showers are in the mood of playing hide and seek with Indians, but all the aforesaid elements are not going to pull off the aspirations of the automobile launches in the coming month.
However, the automakers in India were waiting for the political conditions to get stable and let the PM’s seat to decide its fate. Now, with almost everything seems fallen in place, we get the hands on the list of vehicles that are going to launch in the nation during July 2014.
1. Honda Mobilio:
The first one to fall in the list is the Honda Mobilio MPV based on the Brio platform. An expectation of space comfort and good driveability is what the MPV is asked to deliver to the fullest. Engine specifications of 1.5-liter petrol and 1.5-liter diesel with the same tuning provided in the new Honda City and the Amaze will be seen on this. Expectations are there the CVT may be seen on it at a later stage, but the 5-speed manual to do its job till then.
Its rival will be the Toyota Innova, Maruti Ertiga and the upcoming Datsun GO+.
2. Volkswagen Polo Facelift:
Volkswagen Polo facelift is the major launch of VW in India, as there wasn’t a major launch happened for the carmaker since long ago. The cosmetic changes aren’t the tweaks to talk about, but the technical changes are also reported to be witnessed. 1.2 TSI turbo-petrol likely to make a comeback, where the 1.5-litre TDI engine will be available in two states of tune – 89bhp and 104bhp, the latter one to be engulfed in the bay of GT TDI.
3. Ford Fiesta Facelift:
Ford wasn’t doing well with the sedan segment for some years, where the Fiesta facelift unveiled in India at the Delhi Auto Expo 2014 is touted to surely bring in the fortunes to the American carmaker. About to launch next month, the facelift will not be a host of any mechanical changes, with only cosmetic changes to be seen at the best. The 1.5-litre TDCi diesel with five-speed manual gearbox in three trims – Ambiente, Trend and Titanium shall be retained with its dignity, but all in a new avatar.
Honda City, Hyundai Verna, Fiat Linea, Volkswagen Vento and their likes are going to be its strong rival.
4. Audi A3:
The segment opener Audi A3 is about to begin an all new trend in India with its launch, setting a class apart with the luxury compact sedan segment. About to be the cheapest Audi available in India, the compact sedan of Ingolstadt based German carmaker will adorn the customers with the 1.8-litre petrol and 2.0-litre diesel engines mated to Audi’s S-tronic dual-clutch automatic transmission, and not to be said the quality levels matching the level of A4 sedan.
Hopefully, the monopoly doesn’t exist as per the rules of economics and here it is no exception, the Audi A3 will rival for the space in market against the Mercedes A-class and B-class and BMW’s 1-series. The direct contender against it will be launched in India by 2015 and that’s none other than the Mercedes-Benz CLA sedan.
It will be interesting to see who will win and who will lose. Hope so, all of the above mentioned models are crucial for their brands to throng in India, so losing on them will be a big turn down.
