Monday, December 31, 2018
By Kamal Swami
Cars Launched In India During 2018: Rewinding The Year
Despite the fact that there had been a regular hike in the fuel prices throughout the year, 2018 witnessed the substantial launches of the new car during the year 2018 in the Indian car market. In-fact it would not be wrong to say that if the demand and craze of Indian car enthusiasts continue like this, India will soon emerge as the leading car market across the world. Although, there was hardly any month during which not a single car was launched in the market, but still some of the cars launched within the year succeeded in grabbing the attention of motorists and received an encouraging reply from them.
Let us have a look on the vehicles that strongly marked their debut in the Indian car market during the year 2018.
1. Maruti Suzuki Swift: Showcased during the Indian Auto Expo held earlier this year, the generation next Swift hatchback by the Indo-Japanese car makers Maruti Suzuki India Limited succeeded in receiving an overwhelming response by the Indian buyers. Continuing the same engine configurations of 1.2 litre and 1.3 litre in petrol and diesel variants respectively, the new swift is equipped with a bunch of new features. The major features offered in the new Swift includes seven-inch touchscreen system reverse parking sensors, seven-inch touchscreen infotainment system, and many more. On the safety front, it is embellished with ABS+EBD, dual front airbags and ISOFIX child seat mounts, and brake assist system.
2. Maruti Suzuki Ertiga: Recently the MSIL launched the upgraded version of its best selling MPS Ertiga in the Indian car market. In its new avatar, the Ertiga is miles ahead from its earlier version. Empowered with 1.5 litre petrol and 1.3 litre diesel engine, the major features offered in the generation next Ertiga includes dual tone interior with maple wood finish and chrome work at different points, thus giving it a premium look. On the exterior front it adorns the features like chrome garnished front grille, bold 3D tail lamp cluster, and projector headlamps.
3. Maruti Suzuki Ciaz: The facelift version of this luxurious sedan was launched back in August this year. In its new version, the Ciaz is offered with the pair of LED headlamps, LED DRLs, LED tail lamps, and new bumpers at both front and rear portions. Inside the cabin, it is offered with new instrument cluster and multi infotainment system that supports connectivity with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, with new upholstery on both the seats and door pads.
4. Hyundai Santro: Although various new cars debuted during the year 2018, but the car that was highly awaited throughout the year was Santro hatchback by the Korean car maker Hyundai Motors India Limited, the Indian alliance of Hyundai Motors. In its next generation, the Santro is equipped with a bunch of contemporary features. Apart from being offered in five trims, the new Santro receives 14 inch wheels with silver wheel caps as a standard feature offered on the top end variants whereas the lower end trims receive small wheel hub covers. Going through the cut-throat competition in the segment, the Santro is offered in the compatible price range of Rs. 3.9 lakhs to Rs. 5.7 lakhs.
5. Honda Amaze: With an objective to retain the interest of Indian buyers towards this best selling compact sedan, Japanese car maker Honda Motors launched its upgraded version with new features. The major features offered in generation next Amaze includes 15 inch alloy wheels, LED headlamps with projector lamps on the exterior front. Inside the cabin it adorns, start/stop button, fold down central armrest, automatic climate control, rear air conditioner vents, seven-inch touchscreen infotainment system named as Digipad 2 and few more features. Under the hood, it continues with existing 1.2 litre VTEC petrol and 1.5 litre i-DTEC diesel engine.
6. Toyota Yaris: The Yaris compact sedan by the Japanese car maker Toyota Motors was launched in the beginning of this year, immediately after its showcase in the Indian Auto Expo 2018. The compact sedan Yaris is empowered with 1.5 litre petrol engine and mated with manual gearbox along with an option of CVT gearbox. On the exterior front it receives 15 inch wheels eye-catching bumpers at the front and rear portions, wrap around tails lamps and many more. Inside, the cabin it is offered with a bunch of new features followed by 60:40 folding seats, which are offered for the first time in the segment.
7. Mahindra Alturas G4: With increasing competition in the segment, domestic car maker Mahindra & Mahindra has introduced a new SUV Alturas G4 in the Indian car market. The G4 Alturas is developed on the SsangYong Rexton platform. It is empowered with 2.2 litre diesel engine with transmission duties performed by seven-speed automatic gearbox. It is offered with both two wheel and four wheel driving options. Apart from being equipped with remarkable features on the exterior, the SUV receives Nappa leather work with black and brown color scheme inside the cabin.
8. Mahindra Marazzo: Prior to Alturas G4 the domestic car maker Mahindra & Mahindra had launched a new MPV Marazzo in the Indian car market. The worth mentioning feature of the MPV is its shark inspired front fascia. The major features offered in Marazzo includes anti loch craning system, driver and passenger airbags, power steering and power windows, rain sensing wipers, turn indicators on ORVMs, rear window washer and rain sensing wipers and many more. Under the hood, it is offered with 1.5 litre diesel engine that is capable of boosting the power of 121 bhp and the torque of 300 Nm. The transmission duties are performed by five-speed manual gearbox.
9. Tata Tiago JTP and Tigo JTP: Recently one more homegrown car maker Tata Motors launched the performance versions of its best selling hatchback Tiago and compact Tigor. The performance versions are christened as Tata Tiago JTP and Tata Tigor JTP. Continuing the existing engine configurations both the trims are equipped with the features like blacked out headlamps, side skirts, sporty bumper, chrome garnished exhaust tip, air intakes on the bonnet etc, giving both the vehicles a sportier look.
