2015 Honda Fit ready for debut at Detroit Motor Show

Honda is ready to take the curtains off its sub-compact car, an all new 2015 Honda Fit aka Jazz which is more advanced, refined and elegant this time around. It will be making its global debut at the 2014 North American International Auto Show in Detroit on January 13, at 2:40 pm. Honda would also throw light on the notable advancements carried out in the Fit to make it a exemplary vehicle of its sub compact car segment.

The 2015 Fit is constructed on the ongoing model's innovative packaging, flexible cargo capability and fun-to-drive character with spirited new styling, an even more spacious and refined interior packed with leading-edge connected car technologies. It is the third generation of this car and it will be more fuel efficient and performance oriented, reason being the all-new platform and Earth Dreams Technology powertrain. It is also comprised with Honda's exclusive next generation Advanced Compatibility Engineering™ (ACE™) body structure. Additionally, Honda is quite assured that it would score fairly well in the safety test conducted Euro NCAP in its segment.

As its is evident, Honda Fit is sold globally in over 123 countries and manufactured at 10 units across the globe. It is an indispensable vehicle to Honda and it can be acknowledged by the fact that a whopping 4.87 million units were sold in the lone month of September, 2013. But for the very first time, the new 2015 Fit for the U.S market will be assembled in an all new manufacturing plant in Celaya, Mexico in North America.

BMW does an Auto Couture with Suneet Varma

BMW India and renowned fashion designer Suneet Varma presented an exclusive fashion extravaganza, celebrating the timeless design of BMW’s immensely successful four-door sedan, the new BMW 5 Series.

Spread over three days, amidst the splendid grandeur of the Dusit Devarana, a luxurious urban resort, the show saw stalwarts from various walks of life join the celebration of excellence.

Mr. Philipp von Sahr, President, BMW Group India said, “The new BMW 5 Series is the ‘Most Advanced BMW 5 Series Ever’ - a vehicle in which perfection is a given. The new BMW 5 Series contains all the signature ingredients of a best-selling model at the premium end of the executive segment. The new BMW 5 Series brings style to every street with dynamism that you can see and precision that you can feel.”

The new BMW 5 Series has three exclusive design schemes – the Luxury Line, the Modern Line and the M Sport. The Luxury Line embodies the ultimate in elegance and exclusivity, while the Modern Line makes for an appearance that is particularly in tune with a contemporary lifestyle. M Sport celebrates the future-oriented sporty design and dynamics of the new BMW 5 Series. Each Line creates perfect harmony between design and features for the exterior and the interior.

“Through his creations, Suneet has not only understood the essence of our design philosophy but also complemented it with a perfect symbiosis of dynamism, aesthetics and elegance. Each BMW is unique in its design and Suneet has been able to celebrate this uniqueness with his trademark glamour and timeless style.” Mr. Philipp von Sahr, further added.

Mr. Suneet Varma said, “In my long association with BMW, I have followed BMW’s sense of aesthetics and their distinct design philosophy very closely. The new BMW 5 Series is exquisite and everything about the car instils a feeling of elegance and luxury. The beautiful colours, interiors and fine craftsmanship of the new BMW 5 Series are a source of inspiration for any artist. The Auto Couture collection has been inspired by the distinguishing characteristics of the Modern Line and the Luxury Line.”
Inspired by the beautiful metallic Imperial Blue colour of the new BMW 5 Series Luxury Line, the collection comprises sophisticated evening wear including specially created hand-cut and hand-embroidered outfits with trendy swing coats, fitted stretch satin draped dresses and off shoulder silhouettes adorned with Swarovski crystals and belted details. The black interior of the sedan is reflected in the accent- black leather jackets, tasseled stoles, organza ruffles, bows, belts and stoles.
The contemporary Jatoba Brown colour of the new BMW 5 Series Modern line inspires the second collection. The collection comprises stylized saris as dresses, tiered skirts in georgettes with corsets and jackets, short dresses, narrow pants, draped dresses with sheer tulle embroidered necklines, 3D flowers, Swarovski crystals and stoles. The Oyster color interior is seen in brown to oyster-shaded wispy and flowy chiffons that add to the languid style of the collection.

Audi R18 e-tron quattro to feature laser light

Audi that premiered the new Audi R18 e-tron quattro, has also revealed another technical highlight of its new LMP1 sports car. In 2014, the sports car will be running with laser light for the first time in the Le Mans 24 hours and in the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC).

The innovative laser light, which about 500 guests in attendance at the ‘Audi Sport Finale’ had the chance to experience live for the first time, complements the main LED headlights of the new Audi R18 e-tron quattro. A blue laser beam backlights a yellow phosphorus crystal lens through which the light beam is then emitted. This new light source provides even more homogenous lighting of the road.

The FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) will see Audi Sport Team Joest compete as the title defender in the 2014 season. In all eight races of the 2014 WEC, the World Champions will be running with two Audi R18 e-tron quattro cars. For the season’s pinnacle event at Le Mans on June 14/15, 2014, the fielding of a third R18 is planned. The driver teams will be announced at a later date.

In the DTM, Audi will continue the successful long-standing partnership with the Audi Sport Teams Abt Sportsline, Phoenix and Rosberg. For the 2014 season, a new version of the Audi RS 5 DTM that was victorious in the DTM in the past season is in the making at Audi Sport. Mike Rockenfeller, as the title defender, in car number ‘1,’ will definitely be driving one of the eight RS 5 DTM cars to be fielded in total. Assignments for the other cockpits and the distribution to the three teams have not been finalised yet.

In GT sport, Audi Sport customer racing will again be providing particularly intensive support to its customer teams for the 24-hour races at Daytona (USA), the Nürburgring (Germany) and Spa-Francorchamps (Belgium).

Following the merger of the GRAND-AM and the American Le Mans Series into the Tudor United SportsCar Championship (TUSCC), a new chapter will begin in U.S. racing. Based on the previous race car for the USA, Audi has developed a GTD version of the R8 LMS, with GTD standing for ‘GT Daytona.’ The GTD version now only differs from the GT3 model in few details.

The Audi R8 LMS Cup in its third season is taking the next step in its internationalization effort in the Asian region. In 2014, aside from three races in China – among others, held in conjunction with the WEC at Shanghai and the DTM at Guangzhou – the world’s first one-make cup of AUDI AG will take place in Malaysia, in South Korea and, for the first time, in Japan. Following the fielding of 16 race cars in the inaugural season and 20 last year, Audi China is planning to put up to 24 Audi R8 LMS cars on the grid.

2014 Indian Auto Expo. We previously updated you regarding the luxury cars that are to be showcased in the event taking place in Februray, 2014. Now Let's talk about some immensely significant unveilings, scheduled to take place at the Expo from the leading and most popular manufacturers of the country. So, here are the top five unveilings and launches going to take place at 2014 Indian Auto Expo:

1. Maruti Suzuki YL1 Sedan: Ever since this sedan (codenamed YL1) was caught testing on highways, it was touted as the company's replacement for its flagship sedan, SX4. Speculations are sky-high regarding its global debut at the 2014 Indian Auto Expo, followed by the launch some 6 months later on. It has received several modifications in the exterior and interiors, which are quite visible. It will be manufactured at the Maruti's Manesar plant and will be pitted against the likes of Honda City, Hyundai Verna, Volkswagen Jetta etc. Its exterior appearance indicates that it is build up on Maruti's existing MPV Ertiga's structure. It will arrive in both petrol and diesel fuel trims. The petrol variants would be offered with 1.4-litre K2 engine which is already serving its duties to company's another vehicle Maruti Ertiga. The diesel variants would sport 1.3-litre DDiS. It might be sharing its interior with Swift and Ertiga, but it is expected to be more advanced and up market in terms of features, as it is the replacement of the company's flagship sedan SX4.

2. Honda Mobilio & Honda Jazz: It has been confirmed that Honda will showcase two of its future cars for the Indian auto sector at the 2014 Auto Expo and the two products are none other than MPV Mobilio and premium hatchback Jazz. Both these vehicles would be launched in petrol and diesel fuel trims, simultaneously. Honda Jazz is expected to be fit between the companys's sedan Amaze and hatchback Brio while competing against Volkswagen Polo, Hyundai i20, Maruti Swift etc.

On the other hand, as already known, Honda Mobilio is based on Brio hatchback and it would be standing up against the current market leaders of this segment, Maruti Ertiga and Chevrolet Enjoy. As far as engine options are concerned, the diesel variants of both these vehicles would sport Honda's 1.5-litre i-DTEC engine that is also performing duties to Amaze. There would be distinguished petrol engines for both these vehicles as Honda Jazz would comprise a 1.2-litre mill, while the Mobilio MPV would be having 1.5-litre i-VTEC petrol engine.

3. Hyundai Grand i10 Sedan: Hyundai is all set to roll out a compact sedan based on Grand i10 on February 4, 2014, two days ahead of the Indian Auto Expo. It was revealed when the spy shots of this new vehicle emerged while it was on test runs around Tamilnadu where Hyundai's manufacturing unit is located. By the introduction of this compact sedan, Hyundai would also announce its arrival in the ever-growing and highly competitive segment where there are already several vehicles present like Maruti Swift Dzire and Honda Amaze. It would be presented in both petrol and diesel fuel trims with the same engines that currently come with Grand i10 hatch. The engines are a 1.2-litre, 4-cylinder petrol unit and a 1.1-litre, 4-cylinder diesel mill. Surprisingly, Hyundai wouldn't offer it with 1.4-litre diesel engine, which is currently offered with its flagship hatchback i20. The transmission would also be borrowed from its elder sibling as the diesel will get only manual transmission while the petrol one would be having both manual and automatic transmission. Still there is a lot of suspense on the pricing, but it is likely to be come in a price bracket of 5-6 Lakh.

4. Tata compact hatch and sedan: Tata Motors is also in race like every other automaker to introduce two new vehicles at the 2014 Indian Auto Expo. However, everything is currently under wraps and Tata Motors hasn't leaked a single detail of the yet-to-be-unveiled vehicles. Still, it has been revealed that out of the two vehicles, one will be a hatchback while the other would be a compact sedan. Both of these vehicles would fall under the company's Falcon project. These two vehicles would be the first ones from Tata Motors after a long gap of 3 years as the company had launched the Aria crossover in 2010. Both these untitled vehicle are bulit on the company's X1 platform. Its the same platform on which Indica Vista and Manza models were based. Tata has manufactured these vehicles with a vision to sell them in international markets too and if that is not enough, it has gone a step further by launching both the vehicles in petrol and diesel fuel trims in order to lure more people.

5. Jeep Wrangler & Cherokee: Fiat has finally put an end to all the rumors by announcing that it will unveil its Jeep brand with two vehicles, entitled Jeep Wrangler and Jeep Cherokee at the 2014 Indian Auto Expo. Furthermore, these two vehicles were also spotted in Pune during their test runs. The Jeep Wrangler would be offered with a powerful 2.8-litre engine, while Jeep Cherokee would have a more powerful 3.0-litre, turbocharged, V6 diesel engine. Nothing concrete is known about the pricing of these two vehilces yet, but it is expected that Jeep Wrangler would come around a price range of 25-28 Lakhs and its older sibling would cost a hefty sum of around 55 Lakh. The sales of both these vehicles are expected to commence by the end of 2014.

Honda Vezel Urban SUV to go on sale in Japan tomorrow

Honda Motor Co., Ltd. will begin sales of the Vezel crossover in Japan on December 20, 2013. The company unveiled the Urban SUV at the recently concluded 2013 Tokyo Motor Show, and it is also expected to make its way to the Indian car market.

The Vezel SUV shows a perfect combination of dynamic qualities of SUV, the elegance of a coupe and the functionality of minivan. The elegant exterior design of the vehicle express SUV-like stability in its lower body and coupe like styling in its upper body. Based on the 2014 Honda Jazz platform, it features curves, low roofline and a broader stance.

The interior truly shows the company's philosophy of "Man Maximum Machine Minimum", which offers a coupe like personal space for the front seats. At the same time, Honda's center-tank layout enables a large cargo space and minivan like rear seats with ample elbowroom.

For the Japanese buyers, Honda Vezel will be offered in both hybrid and gasoline models. The hybrid model will be equipped with SPORT HYBRID i-DCD, Honda's next generation Hybrid System that combines a 1.5-litre direct injection engine with a high-output motor. The petrol version will get the 1.5-litre direct injection mill.

Electronic Parking Brake and the Automatic Brake Hold will be the standard equipments in all Vezel types. Moreover, the hybrid variant features the Reactive Force Pedal that assists fuel-efficient driving by appealing reactive force to the accelerator.