New Cars News

Images of the 2019 Ford Figo facelift have recently surfaced online, revealing the car in its production-ready guise. The upcoming hatchback is seen with no camouflage and all its badging intact, which means that Ford might be gearing up for a market launch anytime soon.

Electric Vehicles or EVs are not just the flavour of the season anymore. All global have either an EV project of their own under development or have an alliance brewing with another manufacturer for the same. Korea's SsangYong Motor is also looking at EV models in the immediate future. And it will rely on parent Mahindra for the electric powertrains it currently has no access to. In India, Mahindra has tried to establish first mover status for itself when it acquired Reva in 2010 and subsequently launched the e2o. And has since continued to invest in the space to develop competent electric solutions for its own use within the Group - as also for any potential supply to other OEMs.

As we move towards the end of the decade, there's a lot that's changing. Right from consumer sentiments to auto companies' outlook to cars in India, there's a lot happening in this sector. In fact, the government is trying to bring in electric cars to India and implement it by 2032, though it looks like India will need more time to adjust to this change. Electric cars and Hybrid cars are the talk of town not only because of reduced emissions, but also because they give the owner a status in society, that of one conscious of the environment, a green crusader of sorts. The demand for electric cars has certainly increased in India and we can see that by the demand that Mahindra has seen in recent years because of which it had to increase production. The company has already tied up with self-drive mobility platforms to boost its sales too. But seeing there is a strong demand for Hybrids and electric cars in India, car makers are bringing a host of them to the country in 2019.

Sedans have kept us excited through-out the year as some of the major launches happened across the sedan segment in 2018. Starting from sub-compact sedans like the 2018 Honda Amaze and Ford Aspire Facelift to compact sedans like the Maruti Suzuki Ciaz Facelift, mass market carmakers were up in the game. Even the luxury carmakers didn't take the back seat and there were plenty of launches. Mercedes-Benz has updated its S-Class range with the new 350 D, 400 and the top ranging 600 Maybach while BMW has got the 6-Series GT to complete with the likes of Mercedes -Benz Long Wheelbase E-Class. Even the performance sedan segment which saw new launches like the BMW M5 and Mercedes-AMG E 63 S has kept us thrilled. Moving ahead in 2019 we are looking forward to a bunch of new launches and hope they will keep-up with the excitement.

Honda Cars India has decided to increase the prices of its entire product range from January 2019 on the wake of rising input cost. The decision to increase the prices is a part of cyclical price revision which has become a norm in the industry. Recently, some of the major carmakers such as Maruti Suzuki, Tata Motors, Ford, Renault, Nissan, Toyota and BMW have also made price hike announcement citing similar reasons. However, the Japanese carmaker has not given the amount of the price increase and has said it could notify about the quantum of increase later.

The most important car launches in 2018 were in the hatchback segment where some of the bread and butter models were launched like the 2018 Maruti Suzuki Swift and 2018 Hyundai Santro. Even Hyundai gave a facelift to its Elite i20 which is one of the mainstay models of the Korean carmaker. Moving into 2019 we are looking forward to the hatchbackswhich are going to keep up with the excitement.

Following up with the launch of the Marazzo and Alturas G4, Mahindra & Mahindra will be introducing an all-new subcompact SUV in the Indian market in early 2019. Codenamed S201, the automaker has now announced that it will reveal the production name of the new offering on December 19, 2018. The event was originally scheduled to take place earlier this month but was postponed by the automaker. The Mahindra S201 will be the automaker's urban new SUV based on the SsangYong Tivoli and will take on the Maruti Suzuki, Ford EcoSport, and even the Renault Duster and Hyundai Creta.

The Tiago XZ+ is the new top-end variant in the Tiago range and gets a host of exterior and interior updates.