Honda’s new motorcycle CBF Stunner.

Honda’s new motorcycle CBF Stunner is a mean little 11 bhp, 124 cc machine.

The CBF Stunner is here. Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India has unveiled its new 125 cc sports bike, the CBF Stunner, for the Indian market.

CBF Stunner motorcycles will be available in three vresions - Self Disc Alloy (Price Rs 51,655), Self Drum Alloy (Price: Rs 49,820) and Kick Drum Alloy (Price: Rs 47,070). At this point, Honda will offer the Stunner CBF in red, black, metallic silver and yellow colours.

Look-wise, you could call it a mini-Karizma. It looks like a well-put together package for sure. We think it looks the best in yellow, the bright colour nicely contrasting with the matte black handlebars and black front fairing.

Basic specifications of the Honda Stunner CBF are as follows:
125cc, 11 bhp
Kerb Weight: 129 kg
Wheelbase: 1271mm
Fuel tank capacity: 10 litres
Tubeless tryes
Front 80/100-17 and Rear: 100/90-77
Front Brakes: 240mm Disc or 130mm Drum
Rear Brake: 130mm drum
Starting: Kickstart / Electric
5 speed transmission
Trip meter

Honda claims acceleration figures of 0-60 kmph at 5.2 seconds for the CBF Stunner. Take it with a pinch of salt, the motorcycle weighs 129 kg, and even the iconic Yamaha RX 100 could not do that.

Honda intends to sell 10 lakh motorcycles during 2008-2009 fiscal year, out of which the company expects 80,000 to be CBF Stunner motorcycles. Honda has priced the Stunner CBF bike between Rs 47,070 and Rs 51,655 (Ex-Showroom, Delhi).

Honda had posted sales figures of 9.07 lakh units in the previous fiscal, aims at selling as many as 3 lakh motorcycles and 7 lakh scooters this fiscal.

Apart from the CBF Stunner, the company also has lined up measures to roll out two more new motorcycle models in 2008. Plus, there is an 800 cc motorcycle from Honda in the pipeline for India, though details are sketchy at this moment. We hear the 800 cc motorcycle would be priced above Rs 10 lakh, and that is real close the just-launched Suzuki Hayabusa.

The bike major which had plans to come up with a new manufacturing facility seems to have put such plans in the backburner and is focusing on improving sales. The company currently boasts of a production capacity of 1.2 million units.

Yamaha YZF-R15 motorcycle launched in India.

Biking just got hotter with the new Yamaha YZF-R15. Japan’s global bike giant Yamaha has rolled out the brand new sports motorcycle YZF-R15 for India motorcycling enthusiasts.

The YZF-R15 is the first motorcycle in India with six gears after the old Yamaha RD 350. The engine is a liquid-cooled, four-stroke single cylinder four-valve fuel injected engine. Liquid cooling on the YZF R15 is a first for motorcycles in India. The 150cc engine produces 16 bhp. A lot of people would not be all that happy with that 150 cc specification of the YZF-R15. However, the 16 bhp and 6 gears would keep a lot of wannabe racers satisfied.

In India, Yamaha Motor Pvt Ltd’s stylish 150 cc high-end bike will take on the market segment so far ruled by Hero Honda’s Karizma, Bajaj Pulsar 220 DTS-FI and TVS Apache RTR.
How would it fare on the road against the Karizma? Initial guesses are that this 150cc crotch rocket would beat the Karizma in acceleration stakes. Top speeds are another issue altogether. However, we will have to wait for the initial test rides of the YZF-R15 to come in to have any clarity at all on this.

Yamaha India believes that the new model would kick start a new experience altogether for Yamaha enthusiasts. The model is being tipped as one of the most technologically advanced bikes in India. Yamaha in India is aggressively promoting YZF-R15, which will come sporting a price tag of close to Rs 100,000, and is targeting a sale of 25,000 units between now and December.
The pricing is a surprise. It was believed, post Auto-Expo 2008, that this motorcycle is likely to be priced quite a bit above Rs 1 lakh when it hits the roads. Yamaha has taken care of that; psychologically, that rs 1 lakh marke is a killer and might have ruined its chances in India.

The YZF-R15 motorcycle, looks-wise, takes after the Yamaha R1 superbike. The motorcycle is available in two colours, racing blue and black. This is also India’s first motorcycle with a full-fairing in front - lookswise, we can safely call it the best in the market.

Positioning it properly for the Indian market, Yamaha hopes for a re-emergence in the country’s bike mart after a slew of commuter bikes which the company has been churning out in the last decade after the iconic Yamaha RX 100.

As part of the launch, the company has also unveiled a series of events with test rides and is happy with the response. Yamaha Motor India Pvt Ltd today it plans to invest about Rs 800 crore in the next three years for product development, capacity expansion and marketing initiatives.

Yamaha may also have to face a stiff competition from the much awaited new Karizma from the stable of Hero Honda.

AUDI launches new A4; A3 to follow soon..

The Audi A4 will have two engine options in India - a 2.0 TDI multitronic 105 kW (143 bhp) and the 3.2 FSI tiptronic Quattro with 195 kW (265 bhp). That Audi Quattro A4 will be one of the most powerful cars available in India. Both A4 versions use direct fuel injection — FSI technology for the petrol engine and common-rail for the TDI unit.

At the launch, Audi also announced that a number of luxury cars would find their way to Indian roads soon. Audi also said that the small car A3 would be launched in India.

The German car major is looking at selling as many as 1,000 cars in the Indian car market in 2008, compared to 350 cars last year. This is being seen on the back of growing demand for luxury cars in the market. With such a goal in mind, Audi believes that the new Audi A4 could prove to be the best bet as it is a product likely to find acceptance among motoring enthusiasts in India.
With plans to add more luxury models in the coming months, the car maker is also readying a strategy for marketing. The company has decided to open five exclusive showrooms by the end of the current year. Company officials said that the new outlets would come up in Ahmedabad, Chennai, Kochi, Kolkata and Ludhiana. These showrooms will be in addition to the ones already functioning in Delhi, Hyderabad, Gurgaon, Mumbai, Pune and Chandigarh. Going by what the company has in mind, it is expected that the Audi dealerships across India would rise to 18 by year 2009.

The company has five models in India currently. The five models already on Indian roads are the Audi A8, Audi Q7, Audi A6, Audi A4 and Audi TT.

More Royal Enfields in India by 2010..

In the next 2 years, an additional 20,000 Royal Enfields will be on Indian roads. Eicher Motors has announced that it is pushing up the production capacity of its Chennai Thiruvottiyur plant to make an additional 20,000 Enfields more.

The company, which would pump in Rs 25 crore for the expansion, will see that additional production capacity to be on stream by 2010-2011. The facility will be building the Royal Enfield Thunderbird Twin-spark. The capacity expansion from the existing 40,000 units a year to 60,000 units a year will be done in the next two years.

Eicher, which unveiled its Royal Enfield Thunderbird Twin-spark 350cc motorcycle brings with the model a progressive refinement in the art of motorcycling. The new Thunderbird is said to be Royal Enfield’s first among a series of models to feature the evolutionary Unit Construction Engine (UCE). The UCE can be explained as a shift in the traditional Royal Enfield engine architecture, with the external clutch and gearbox integrated within a common crankcase space. This feature makes it more compact and a cut in transmission losses. It would also mean the machines would boast of reduced friction, lower maintenance and higher reliability.

Eicher will debut other such twin-spark models by year 2010, the company has hinted. The models might include Machismo, Electra and the Bullet 350 for the domestic terrain, while for the overseas bike marts the Bullet Electra EFI is being tested. The 500cc version of the UCE that powers the Bullet Electra EFI would make Royal Enfield the first two-wheeler manufacturer in India to produce and sell a Euro-III compliant motorcycle, said a source.

The company has a variety of models including Bullet 350, Bullet Electra, Bullet Electra 5S, Bullet Machismo and the Thunderbird Twin-spark 350cc. Internationally, its motorcycles are exported to over 25 countries including USA, Japan, UK and several European Countries.

The company has revealed that the new Thunderbird incorporates hydraulic tappets, arguably a first in the Indian context. The company has been a pioneer of clean four-stroke technology in India from 1955. The new capacity enhancement is expected to take the Eicher Motors name far and wide on an Enfield mean machine.

Suzuki Hayabusa in India soon ...

The Suzuki Hayabusa was made famous in India by the bollywood movie Dhoom - bollywood hunk John Abraham rode it in the movie, and while the movie was total junk from a motorcycle enthusiast’s point of view, it made the Hayabusa a familiar name for the college crowd.

Now, Japanese auto giant Suzuki will bring the Hayabusa to India. The Hayabusa - official nomenclature is GSX 1300R - will pave the way for Suzuki’s foray into the superbike segment in India. Competition, however, has already arrived in the shape of Yamaha and Ducati motorcycles in India.

Powered by a 1340cc in line 4 cylinder engine, the Suzuki Hayabusa is likely to sport a price tag of Rs. 11 lakh. The launch of the bike is expected in the first week of September 2008. Suzuki will also launch a second superbike, the GSX-R 1000 by November.

Although boasting of a top speed of 397 km per hour as per recorded figures, the bike that will come to India will have a speed limit of 299 km per hour. We think that the higher figure here is from some world record attempts, while 299 kmph would be the official top speed. Do keep in though that superbike or not, speed limits in most parts of India are at 60 kmph, and may go up to 100 kmph on some of the expressways.

Suzuki expects only a sale of around 150 units of the Hayabusa in India per annum.
Hopefully, the Hayabusas will be bought by responsible motorcyclists who know the danger of high speed riding in India. In the wrong hands, these motorcycles can be a disaster on Indian roads.

Though police is trying their level best to stop young from high speed riding but are not successful as many accidents had happened on Greater Noida Expressway and Delhi-Jaipur Expressway.

Fiat to launch 500 in India in July 2008

The much hyped two-door lifestyle model from Fiat, the Fiat 500, will soon be on Indian roads. The car, is to be launched in India in July in line with the Italian car maker’s aggressive push at making India a potential market.

The Fiat 500 small car will be imported to India as a completely built unit, as an image building exercise for the car maker in the country. The Fiat 500 as a mass market product in India, considering that it will cost more than much larger cars in India, like the Skoda Octavia or Honda Civic. The Fiat 500 will be a flagship model for the company - Fiat’s image has not really recovered in India after their initial hiccups in the late 1990s. Their alliance with Tata Motors in India has taken care of the negativity somewhat, but customers are still nervous about going in for a Fiat. A high end, iconic model (for India) like the Fiat 500 should go some way in restoring Fiat’s credibility in India.

Expected to sport a price tag of Rs 13-15 lakh, the Fiat 500 is likely to find its clientele among the celebrities, youth and auto enthusiasts.

The Fiat 500 has three four-cylinder engines - a 1400 cc 100 bhp petrol, a 1200cc 69 bhp petrol, and a 1248cc, 75 bhp multijet diesel engine already in India on the diesel Suzuki Swift. The car is 3.55 metres in length, but features 7 airbags including a knee-airbag and comes with a five star rating in Euro NCAP tests.

Besides the Fiat 500, the company has also lined up a few other models that would follow. The launch of Fiat 500 is being positioned in such a way that it would herald the arrival of the other new models such as Bravo and most importantly the Linea.

The Fiat Linea is a mid-size sedan Linea which would debut in September 2008. The Linea is expected to come up with 70 per cent local content, and company sources said that Fiat’s successful 1.3 multi-jet engines with 95 bhp will be used in Linea. Yet another model Grande Punto will follow the Linea and would get set for a December launch. The Fiat Bravo too is expected soon in India.

Fiat’s largest selling model in India currently is the Palio which is available in seven versions. According to the company, Palio sells around 600 units a month. This, significantly, means is that the company sells all that it makes or we can say that Fiat is only making that much which they can sell comfortably.

Volkswagen Jetta launched with diesel and petrol variants

The Volkswagen Jetta is launched in India but is not priced to take on Honda City and Maruti SX4 here. The cheapest Jetta 1.6L starts at 12.97 lakhs (petrol, Delhi), the Jetta Trendline diesel is priced at 13.22 lakh while the high end version, the 1.9 diesel TDI Comfortline model with DSG automatic transmission will cost as much at Rs 17 lakh (all prices ex-showroom Delhi).

It comes with three variants and 2 engines in India. The first is a 1.6 litre petrol and the second a 1.9 litre diesel pump deuse engine. At the current price, it will compete with the Honda Civic, the lower models of the Skoda and the Camry.

It can reach a top speed of 187 kmph, which is a bit slow when compared to other cars which can attain nearly the same speed for a few lakhs less. The Jetta will come in 2 versions Trendline and Comfortline. The petrol Trendline Jetta comes with a 5-speed manual gearbox while the higher version - diesel Comfortline - will sport a six-speed automatic gearshift. The petrol Jetta, claims Volkswagen, can accelerate from standstill to 100 kmph in just 12.2 seconds, while the diesel Jetta will reach the same speed in 11.8 seconds.

Airbags are standard equipment, though the full set of eight airbags are reserved for the higher diesel Comfortline model only. There are arm rests in the front as well as the rear, a quiet comfort while you go on long drives. The retractable armrests have thoughtfully-integrated storage space and cupholders. The Jetta has 2 AC vents at the rear too, besides 2-zone climate control. For added convenience, the Jetta incorporates coming-home and leaving-home lighting and rain sensors on windshields.

For safety, Volkswagen has loaded the Jetta with anti-lock braking system (ABS) and the Electronic Stabilisation Program with steering assist. The car comes with a built-in anti-theft system.

The design of the Jetta mostly sticks to the model being sold abroad. The Jetta has a sporty radiator grille, elegant chrome trim on the side windows (Comfortline) and colour-keyed bumpers, door handles and door mirror housings with integral twin signals.

Functions like opening and closing windows, boot etc can be done with a remote control in the Jetta. The interiors are spacious and the glove box come with a cooling facility. The VW Jetta’s digital display gives information about average speed, fuel consumption and range. The Jetta boot can hold a total of 527 litres.

Though a good car in many respects, some experts think that the Volkswagen Jetta is overpriced. The high price has more to do with the fact that components of Jetta are imported from Mexico and assembled at Skoda’s Aurangabad factory. Once Volkswagen completes its Chakan plant and start sourcing spares from Indian suppliers, as it has promised, we feel the Jetta can be priced lower to offer strong competition in the Rs 9 lakh- Rs 11 lakh segment. It’s a good car, which deserves to be sold to a lot more people.

hyundai launches new 'i10' with KAPPA engine

INDIA's second largest carmaker Hyundai on Tuesday launched a new 'i10', powered by a 1.2 litre Kappa engine, priced between Rs 3.99 lakh-Rs 5.43 lakh.

"This engine is exclusively manufactured in India only.

This shows Hyundai's commitment to India to make it a global small car hub," Hyundai Motor India Ltd (HMIL) Managing Director and CEO Heung Soo Lheem said in Chennai.

Hyundai Motor has become the fifth biggest carmaker in the world and the Indian operation contributes 12 per cent to its overall global sales, he added.

The company's new engine and transmission plant here, set up at an investment of 250 million dollar, would have a capacity of 2.5 lakh units per annum.

Overall, the company has invested 421 million dollar on the Kappa project over a period of 48 months.

Lheem said the company has already received huge export orders for the new 'i10', but the quantum of exports would entirely depend on the domestic demand.

He, however, said the current 1.1 litre engine would continue to power both 'Santro' and 'i10', but the new Kappa engine would significantly raise the bar in this segment.

Since its launch eight months back, the company has sold 1.85 lakh units of 'i10', of which 75,000 units were sold in the domestic market.

Car has been delivered to the dealerships and will be on sale soon.

Cars to run on fuel made of waste by 2010..

Vehicles will soon run on fuel made from household waste as a chemical company in England has found a way to make bio-ethanol from waste.

INEOS, world's third largest chemical company, said it had patented a method of producing fuel from municipal solid waste, agricultural and organic commercial waste and it planned to sell the bio-ethanol fuel in industrial quantities by 2010.

The bio-ethanol that INEOS produces will have to be combined with a fossil fuel as very few cars in Britain run solely on bio-ethanol.

Peter Williams, the chief executive of INEOS Bio, told The Times: "This should mean that, unlike with other bio-fuels, we won't have to make the choice between food and fuel."

Williams said the company planned to produce commercial amounts of bio-ethanol fuel for cars from waste within two years.
INEOS claims that it can produce about 400 litres (90 gallons) of ethanol from one tonne of dry waste. The new process works by heating the waste to produce gases, then feeding the gases to bacteria, which produce ethanol that can be purified into a fuel.

The development of fuel from waste could be a relief for motorists who have watched pump prices soar in the past year to an average of 133.3 pence per litre of diesel.

According to the report, INEOS is talking to authorities in the United States, Canada and Europe about selling the fuel when it is made on an industrial scale.

The company began research into the biochemical process about 20 years ago in Arkansas, in the US. A pilot plant was built and researchers have been working with a variety of waste materials since 2003.

The company has a large traditional refinery business. It owns the Grange-mouth oil refinery in Scotland, where a strike resulted in petrol shortages this year.
In India also companies like IKF Technology are trying their best to come out with a bio-fuel that can have low emission of carbon compounds.

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