Sonalika Rhino - Prospects. EDIT : First drive on pg.3!

[bblost]

The Hindu : Business : New Rhino MUV variant

new launch

[agspins]

Sonalika has come up with a new Showroom here in ahmedabad....
Have spotted few of em on highways...most of em in taxi avatar

[simply_sunny001]

Rhino is doing good in Himachal,punjab

spotted a lot of them enroute Dharamshala last week and they were being driven very fast.

and yes most of them had taxi number plates

[kcstheg]

Looking at the specs etc, Rhino Rx looks pretty impressive.

I would not compare it to the Tavera as Tavera is in a higher price bracket.

Rhino should do quite well IMHO.

-kashyap

[benbsb29]

I saw a Rhino here in Bangalore a few days back while i was standing in my balcony. Couldnt see if it was a taxi registration.

Looked like a decent alternative to the Qualis.

[amtak]

I saw a showroom in Nanded (Maharashtra)

[Maverick1977]

Hold this car under 5L and it will be winner. At 7L the Chevy brand (Tavera) will be a very lucrative option. I can vouch for this as I have had not 2 Tavera's in my family in the last 3 years.

[hvkumar]

Hardly any Rhinos in Haryana, Punjab and Himachal. The few I saw were all taxis. Went by the Rhino factory near Hoshiarpur, did not even see Rhinos waiting to be loaded on to trucks, etc

[Steeroid]

“Fitted with high-calibre MG Rover 2000 cc diesel engine fully compatible with Bharat Stage III emission norms, Rhino Rx has a maximum cruising speed of 160 km per hour. With its mileage of 15-17 km a litre, it is the most fuel-efficient vehicle in the category,” claimed the group Chairman, L. D. Mittal, at a press conference here.

I wonder what he means here - is there an "MG Rover" these days? If there is no company, how did he manage to get engines from them?

[rajtheindian]

If they are placing it against BOLERO and SUMO, then there is a clear chance of winning the segment, provided they have a very good after slaes service in place

[GTO]

I wonder what he means here - is there an "MG Rover" these days? If there is no company, how did he manage to get engines from them?

Typically twisted marketing. Rover had merely helped them with some part of the development.

[Steeroid]

Originally Posted by GTO

Rover had merely helped them with some part of the development.

Rover is Chinese - the designs, plants etc anyway. So does it mean they have a Chinese engine?

Or did they get inputs from Ford who own the brand name Rover, in which case they couldnt have gotten any designs.

[rippergeo]

this is supposed to be a no frills MUV with decent acceleration and top whack. it also is said to set the benchmark for handling and braking. the FE is a claimed 22kmpl diesel. all this I got from the auto mags.

there is a showroom coming up in cochin, has been for a few months, still not opened. waiting for a TD.

[rajtheindian]

Originally Posted by Steeroid

Rover is Chinese - the designs, plants etc anyway. So does it mean they have a Chinese engine?

Or did they get inputs from Ford who own the brand name Rover, in which case they couldnt have gotten any designs.

Somewhere I had a tie up before MG Rover was sold, and after the MG rover sales to Chinese company, Sonalika had hired some techie guys who was earlier working with MG Rover.
They may still use the old tie-up for publicity sake

[jkdas]

The launch video. rediff.com: Caparo T1: The world's safest, fastest car

starts at 5.85lac.

0-100 in less than 16sec.