Chevrolet has launched its latest offering in India, the Enjoy MPV. The Enjoy has been priced attractively, starting at Rs 5.49 Lakh (for the 1.4 L Petrol) and Rs 6.69 Lakh (for the 1.3 L Diesel). 

Variants and Pricing for the Enjoy

• LS Diesel 8 seater - Rs 6.69 Lakh
• LS Diesel 7 seater - Rs 6.75 Lakh
• LT Diesel 7 seater - Rs 7.42 Lakh
• LTZ Diesel 7 seater - Rs 7.99 Lakh
• LS Petrol 8 seater - Rs 5.49 Lakh
• LS Petrol 7 seater - Rs 5.64 Lakh
• LT Petrol 7 seater - Rs 6.31 Lakh
• LTZ Petrol 7seater - Rs 6.99 Lakh

A quick overview from Team-BHP's Chevrolet Enjoy Official Review (Chevrolet Enjoy : Official Review

What you will like:

• A well priced 7-seater MPV. Priced on par with C segment sedans
• Compliant low speed ride, matched to neutral on-road behaviour
• 1.3L diesel offers excellent urban driveability and fuel economy
• Compact size & light controls make it easy to drive in the city
• Equipment list includes leather seats, dual-airbags, ABS, EBD, dual air-con, parking sensors etc.

What you won't like:

• Not as well-rounded as the Ertiga. Several loose ends that need tying up
• Uninspired interior design. Ordinary part quality too
• Poor NVH insulation. Refinement levels miss the mark
• Underwhelming 1.4L petrol. Weak low end torque
• Missing essentials (MID, dead pedal, steering-mounted controls, tumble-down 2nd row seats etc.)

Maruti has just launched a limited edition of its Ertiga MUV, rather oddly called the 'Feliz'.

The Feliz in Maruti's time honoured 'Limited Edition' tradition features the usual graphic upgrades, soft pillows, et al.

The new edition celebrates the first anniversary of the Ertiga and buying into the privilege will cost Rs 20,000 extra over the VXi (Petrol) and VDi (Diesel) trims. 

Here is what you get on the Ertiga 'Feliz':

Outside

• Silver Colored Grill and fog lamp surrounds.
• Side body graphics.
• Silver colored outer rear view mirrors.
• Rear spoiler.

The country's second largest carmaker is planning to launch a new compact SUV next year followed by an all new MUV by 2015 reports the The Hindu Business Line.

The new compact SUV will compete with models like the Renault Duster, Ford's Ecosport and Mahindra's upcoming compact SUV (S 101).

The compact SUV and 6 seater MUV are likely to be based on the same platform and are being designed at Hyundai's Namyang centre in South Korea. Indian inputs for the design will be provided by Hyundai's centre in Hyderabad.

Hyundai has been a bit late in targeting new market segments, something that rival Maruti Suzuki has done succesfully (and profitably) with models like the Dzire and Ertiga. Hyundai's competitor to the Ertiga will only arrive by 2015. There have also been reports that Hyundai is working on a competitor for the Dzire and Amaze in the sub-4 meter sedan segment.

Hyundai has an important launch coming up later this year with the next gen i10 (which will also have a 1.1 L Diesel on offer). Hyundai now has a Rs. 1,500 crore production line that can make 300,000 engines / year (diesel and petrol). Thus far Hyundai has imported Diesel engines from South Korea.

Hyundai expects the next gen i10 to become its largest selling model in India. We hope that Hyundai also launches a variant of the next gen i10 Diesel with an automatic transmission, as it will open a whole new market segment that still lies untapped.

As the no.2 car maker in India, Hyundai has been conspicuous by its absence in the high volume UV segment. Hyundai offers neither an MUV nor a compact SUV. 

The Korean giant is now waking up with new UV models planned for the Indian market. Times of India quotes Hyundai CEO & MD Bo Shin Seo stating that the company is planning to launch a compact SUV, MUV and a new hatchback.

The hatchback he is talking about is of course the next gen i10 (Related news item) that will have petrol & diesel engines. i10 sales were down by 20% in February compared to last year. However, it remains the No.3 petrol car in India (after the Alto & Wagon R). 

The MUV is based on Hyundai's new utility vehicle platform for emerging markets. Hyundai hasn't missed the fact that the Innova and Ertiga clock healthy numbers month after month. Mr. Seo also indicated that Hyundai won't launch any model below the Eon's price point. Our prediction is that the Santro will be discontinued, the i10 will move a notch lower and the new generation car will stand where the i10 does today. 

Hyundai lost out on potential volumes by selling a petrol-only i10. The company has invested more than Rs. 1,500 crore on a new 300,000 engines / year production line. Both, diesel and petrol motors will be made here. This will also allow Hyundai to price its diesel offerings competitively, as diesel engines will no longer be imported. Hyundai currently imports over 10,000 diesel engines every month from South Korea.

After the July 18 riots at the Manesar plant that killed one senior manager and injured over 100 other staffers, Maruti Suzuki India is pulling all ends to get back on track.

And this has become that much more essential after a disappointing August in terms of sales for India’s largest carmaker, when its market share went down by about 7.5%.

Workers situation

To begin with, Maruti is currently undertaking regularisation of its contract workers. They are being put through written tests and interviews to determine if they are suitable for retention.

In the aftermath of the violence, the company announced that, going forward, it would directly recruit workers with wages and benefits similar to those that the existing permanent employees enjoy. In addition, it has decided to no longer have contract workers in core manufacturing areas.

As of 3rd September, it was reported that the production capacity at the plant has been raised to 600 units per day. This is quite an improvement considering the plant re-opened only two weeks ago and currently has less than one-third of its employees active. However, it is still far from the capacity of 1500-1700 units per day.

More automation

Meanwhile, Maruti also intends to automate important production operations in the Manesar plant. The 90% automation at the older facility in the plant will be upgraded to 99% by adding 50-100 robots. However, no time limit has been earmarked for this yet. This upgrade is expected to make the production cost-effective as well as reduce manual labour and consequently, hiring lesser workers.

As the production at Manesar plant drags steadily to full capacity, the performance of its other models will determine Maruti’s short-term growth and market share. With the festival season looming, a controversy-free hiring process and attaining maximum production capacity will be its main aims in the tough road to recovery.

Related threads

Strike woes haunt Maruti's Manesar plant again. 1 DEAD & Production hit

Maruti’s quarterly profits down; merely 14,000 Rupees per car!

High Points

• Badged as the QUANTO. This continues with Mahindra's tradition of UV names ending with an "o" (Bolero, Xylo, Scorpio etc.).

• Looks far better than the regular Xylo which has an ungainly rear end. Here, the design is tighter.

• Launch around or before Diwali.

• Spare wheel mounted on the tail-gate to give it an "SUV" look, rather than MUV.

• 7 seater version confirmed! 3rd row of seats are the side-folding type and entry is from the tail-gate. They get butterfly windows (as seen in the pictures below).

• Length is less than 4 meters - without the spare wheel - thus, the mini-Xylo falls in the lower 12% excise slab. India's first <4 meter MUV.

• Zero luggage space with 7 passengers. Fold the 3rd row away for cargo.

• 1.5L common-rail diesel engine confirmed.

• Shock pricing strategy starting at 5.xx lakhs for the base. Development costs were minimal, as it's based on the 3 year old Xylo. Then, there is the smaller (cheaper) engine and lower excise duties. Mahindra badly wants the mini-Xylo to succeed as the full size Xylo has had an ordinary market run (~2,300 units per month).

• The vehicle is now ready for production.

• Interiors to benefit from the improvements of the facelift Xylo (Pics here)

• Top variant gets ABS, airbags, 6-spoke alloy wheels, steering-mounted audio controls, bluetooth compatibility, height-adjustable driver's seat, reverse parking assist, adjustable lumbar support and center armrest for driver & front passenger. Maybe leather seats & voice commands too.

• Credit to Kaps for sending us these exterior pictures. Interior pic via Motorbeam.com.

Not the one to be left behind, Hyundai has finally revealed their plans to develop a utility vehicle (UV).

It is unclear at this moment whether it will be an SUV or MPV, but the company confirmed that it will be positioned in the sub-10 lakh rupees segment. 

The Santa Fe model is currently Hyundai’s only UV offering, but is priced at a premium of Rs 23.44 lakh upwards. Its portfolio is well distributed across segments, except for the UV segment. This is a potential setback considering the recent craze for compact UVs in India, with the likes of Maruti Ertiga and Renault Duster getting a great market response. The Ertiga has turned in decent numbers since its launch in April and high demand for its diesel variant has even forced Maruti to use extra engines to ramp up production in its Gurgaon plant. The Duster had a blockbuster launch last month with over 20,000 bookings up already. 

Other upcoming UVs include the likes of Nissan’s Evalia, Mahindra’s compact Xylo, Ford’s EcoSport and Chevrolet’s Enjoy.

Hot segment

It is not without a strong reason that all carmakers are queuing up products to compete in the UV segment. This segment has grown in a phenomenal way in the current fiscal. Between April and July, 2012, UV sales grew by 54% to 1.62lakh units and have even overtaken sedan sales! In the same period, passenger car sales grew by a mere 6% to 6.34lakh units. According to SIAM, the UV segment is expected to grow at a rate of 15-18% in the next five years.

Mahindra & Mahindra have dominated the UV category in India with models like the Bolero, Scorpio and XUV500.

Related thread

Hyundai @ Auto Expo 2012 (Sneak peek into Hyundai's possible MUV option)

Ratan Tata is set to retire as the chairman of the Tata Group in December this year. After he addressed the company’s shareholders at the annual general meeting yesterday, it was clear that there would be no better send-off for him than Tata Motors cementing their position above close rival Mahindra & Mahindra in the domestic auto market.

Mr. Tata stated “(I have) great respect for what Mahindra & Mahindra has been able to do. I have certain degree of sadness and shame that we have let that happen. I think we have a great deal of introspection to do as to why, Mahindra should be ahead of us, than us catching up.”

The rivals have been neck to neck in the recent past. The difference in their passenger car sales figures in the first quarter of the current fiscal was negligible; Tata Motors shipped 60,405 units against M&M’s 59,902. For the month of June, M&M took third position outselling Tata Motors by more than 2,000 units.

The reason for M&M’s recent success over Tata Motors can be attributed to Mahindra's dominance in the UV segment with the Bolero, Scorpio and XUV500. Tata’s ageing Safari and Sumo have been no match for them. In addition, Tata’s sedans and hatchbacks have performed below par in several months, clearly feeling the heat from newer competition. Much was expected from the Nano, but it's volumes have been disappointing. 

In his address, Ratan Tata has also recognised the need to focus on achieving volumes across all vehicle segments. He added that his dream project Nano wouldn’t succeed unless the right volumes are delivered. Referring to Tata subsidiary Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) who has been contributing healthily to Tata Motors, he said that JLR would be competing more fiercely with the trio of German carmakers in India’s fast-growing luxury car segment, by introducing compact cars.