AutoQ gives a weekly round-up of automotive stories
1. Maruti Suzuki Wagon-R Electric May Be Priced Below Rs 7 Lakh
Maruti Suzuki is likely to launch the Wagon-R electric by mid-2020 and it will hit a price point of under Rs 7 lakh thanks to subsidies under the FAME 2 scheme. FAME stands for the Faster adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and Electric Vehicles.
According to a report in Autocar India, the on-road price of the electric Maruti Suzuki Wagon-R may be about Rs 7.5 lakh, pointing to an ex-showroom price of under Rs 7 lakh. Subsidies offered under the FAME scheme would amount to Rs 1.25 lakh or more. This will likely make the Maruti Suzuki Wagon-R Electric, the most inexpensive electric car in India at that point.
Currently, the Mahindra E20 is the most inexpensive electric car one can buy, but even then it is quite pricey at Rs 8 lakh plus for this small electric car on road.
Read the story here.
2. Royal Enfield 650 Twins Delivery Time to Reduce Despite Strike
Royal Enfield has a problem of plenty on its hands. Plenty of demand for its bikes that is. The company launched its 650 cc Interceptor and Continental GT models in December in India, and in September in the US. The bikes are also on sale in Australia and Europe.
Priced pretty aggressively between Rs 2.5 lakh and Rs 2.75 lakh ex-showroom, these mid-capacity bikes have been seeing healthy demand, but the company hasn’t been able to push out deliveries fast enough. So much so, waiting periods first went up to 90 days and as of a couple of weeks ago, it had even touched nearly six months at some dealerships.
The issue is not with production capacity, but with its labour problems. A section of its workforce at its Oragadam plant near Chennai went on strike and that had hit production. It’s still too early to say by how much.
Read the story here.
3. Here Are the Finalists for the World Car of the Year Award 2019
The ‘World Car of the Year’ Awards 2019 will be handed out in April this year. The awards will be given at the New York Auto Show on 17 April.
There are a number of finalists for the coveted title of ‘World Car of the Year’ (WCOTY) including the Volvo XC40, the Suzuki Jimny, BMW 3-Series and Mercedes A-Class among others.
Read the full story here.
4. Benelli TRK 502X vs Kawasaki Versys: Which Sub-7 Lakh Bike to Buy?
Kawasaki and Benelli are two brands in the Indian bike market that never took off in the country. While one of them had to contend with disjointed partnership with Bajaj, the other had issues with its previous partner, owing to financial constraints.
But this week, when Benelli launched its 500cc adventure bike in the country, that too at an appealing price point of Rs 5.40 lakh, it not only got our attention, but intrigued us to compare it with the Kawasaki Versys 650 which costs Rs 6.69 lakh (ex-showroom).
The adventure biking segment is surely seeing a lot of demand and these two will surely make it to most of consumer’s buying list. But which one of these is worth spending the big bucks on?
Read the story here to know more about these bikes.
5. Ford Endeavour Gets Added Features, Rejigged Variants & Prices
Ford India has given the Endeavour a minor facelift and added features to this large SUV. It has also rejigged its variant line-up. Prices for the new Ford Endeavour now start at Rs 28.19 lakh ex-showroom, going up to Rs 32.97 lakh for the top-spec 3.2 litre Titanium 4x4 variant.
Ford has trimmed its Endeavour line-up over the years. It earlier had a base Trend variant with the 2.2 litre engine. It also had a 2.2 litre 4x4 manual variant. It now has only one manual 2.2 litre variant, but has added more features to it. The top-spec 3.2 litre automatic Titanium 4x4 continues to be its flagship variant.
Read the story here.
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