The four-door D-Max pick-up will go into production from April 2016; to be priced at approx. Rs 15 lakh.

The next-gen D-Max pick-up gets a more upmarket interior and shares underpinnings with the Chevrolet Trailblazer.

It will be built at the new Isuzu Motors India manufacturing plant at Sri City, Andhra Pradesh from April 2016, and the manufacturer has said it will be priced around Rs 15 lakhs.

Based on the same underpinnings as Chevrolet’s Trailblazer, the D-Max’s interiors are also in line with the SUV's. It shares the dashboard with the Trailblazer with the exception of the instrument cluster and Chevrolet’s MyLink infotainment system. This new interior makes the Isuzu D-Max look more upmarket than the company's even more premium MU-7.

The four-door D-Max is powered only by a 2.5-litre 130bhp diesel motor paired with a five-speed automatic gearbox, and gets all-wheel drive.

Courtesy : Autocar

With the Himalayan, the Indian classic bike manufacturer boldly makes its way into the adventure bike segment.

Royal Enfield motorcycles are known for going rugged places, and these classic models are often found thumping their way slowly but steadily up the Himalayan foothills of Himachal Pradesh and Ladakh. So it’s only logical that Royal Enfield designs a motorcycle specifically to take on these same ‘pahaadi’ high passes.

Classic adventurer

Not the best kept of secrets, but the Royal Enfield Himalayan has been spied innumerable times with its distinctive adventure-bike styling standing out like a sore thumb. There’s something very Royal Enfield about the Himalayan, with styling that harks back to the adventure bike of the century gone by, than modern day. There’s a philosophy Royal Enfield has long subscribed to – recognising that serious Indian bike tourers often end up in obscure, inaccessible rural surroundings, where modern motorcycle servicing is no where to be found. However, when called upon to repair an Enfield, roadside mechanics in India will seldom shy away from the job, thanks to its simple, old-school engineering.

In the words of Siddhartha Lal, owner and visionary behind the revival of Royal Enfield: “We started with a clean sheet of paper to build a motorcycle that was as comfortable fording a rocky river as it was to crunch hundreds of highway miles; substantial enough to hold its line in high cross winds, and to carry a pillion and lots of luggage, but light enough to pick it up when it falls; simple enough to mend a broken part yourself (as a result of that previous fall!) or to start even if the battery is dead (seriously, you can push start it and put on your headlamp even if the battery is missing!).”

Practical pahaadi

You can see practicality written all over the Himalayan, a bike that has been built tough, with Royal Enfield telling us all excess flab has been shaved. There’s a front windscreen, easily readable instruments, the convenience of on-board luggage carrying capability and space to clip on fuel and water jerry cans, or even extra front-mounted panniers, all of which makes for good touring capability. The heft of the Himalayan engine counters its otherwise tall center of gravity and Royal Enfield has thought of the motorcycle's off-road prowess, deploying a longer, 15-litre capacity fuel tank that is slim enough to allow standing on the Himalayan foot pegs for better control when riding over the really rough stuff.
 

Hillbilly bike

The  new Royal Enfield single-cylinder engine is four-stroke, 411cc, 2-valve, long-stroke and air-cooled, with a carburettor in place. The Himalayan engine is designed to deliver a flat, easy to access torque curve, delivering 3.3kgm at 4,500rpm to supply the rider with ample power at low engine speed, without having to rev the motor hard. It’s a button-started powerplant with 24.5bhp of maximum power available at 6,500rpm. Royal Enfield claims reduced moving parts, with more use of modern materials, ensuring this will make a low-maintenance, efficient bike, that can go a full 10,000km between oil change intervals.

The Himalayan gearbox is five-speed, with a cable-fed clutch to back it up. Power is transferred to the rear wheel via a drive chain. The engine sounds unlike any Royal Enfield you ever heard, with quicker revving, and a quiet, yet pleasantly punchy note.

Cliffhanger

The Himalayan comes with a comfortable, upright riding position. Keeping the average height of Indians in mind, Royal Enfield has built its new adventure bike to be accessible enough, yet giving it generous ground clearance. A steel construction frame holds the new bike together, with 200mm travel 41mm telescopic suspension in front, and a monoshock, with linkage for improved damping in any conditions, supported by a steel fabricated swingarm at the rear. The Himalayan comes with on and off-road tyres, and you find a larger 21-inch wheel in front, and a 120/90 x 17-inch unit at rear; both rims using wire spokes. Single rotor disc brakes are provided front (300mm) and rear (240mm).

Royal Enfield tells us the Himalayan will deliver equally well on-road and off it, and we can’t wait to take it out for a test ride.

Rugged, comfortable and solidly built adventure bikes are perfectly suited to Indian roads, which are often as good as off-road. And one has to salute Royal Enfield for boldly plunging into a segement that most other manufacturers turned a blind eye to, save for Hero who pioneered the segment with the Impulse. Even KTM has failed to cash in on its rich off-road legacy, not bringing in a bike on these lines yet.

Luck favours the brave, so you can be sure the Himalayan will pay Royal Enfield handsome dividends when it launches in March 2016, in addition to cementing their position in a market space set to take off and soar as high as the mountains.

Courtesy : Autocar

All-new A4 sedan will be shown for the first time in India. Audi will also display the new R8 supercar at the stall.

Until very recently, Audi proudly possessed the claim of being the largest selling luxury car brand in India. Though it relegated that position to Mercedes-Benz in 2015, the brand appeal of the Four Rings is still very strong in the country. The German luxury carmaker will have an impressive list of cars on display at the 2016 Auto Expo, which signals its desire to win back its top spot on the sales charts.

The most important car of the lot for Audi, the replacement for one of its best-sellers. It’s the all-new A4, and as familiar as it looks, it is all new. It’s bigger, lighter and more luxurious than the outgoing model and also features reworked engines that are more powerful, lots more tech, as well as a better suspension set up. Subtle it may be, but the new A4 is all set to take rivals by the horns.

The show stealer at the Audi stall will undoubtedly be the all-new, second-generation R8 supercar. Replete with Le Mans tech, this is the fastest car Audi has ever made – so fast that both its top-speed and 0-100kph times start with the number ‘3’. Using an aluminium spaceframe combined with carbon fibre-reinforced plastic, the new R8 is propelled by a Lamborghini-sourced 5.2-litre V10 delivering power through a thoroughly revised Quattro all-wheel drive system. It looks a lot sharper too.

After the fast, we have the future, in the form of the Prologue concept. This low slung, two-door coupé is a glimpse of Audis to come. First showcased at the 2014 Los Angeles Auto Show, the taut-looking concept packs a 600-plus-bhp, 4.0-litre V8. The impressive numbers aside, the Prologue is all about the ‘oohs and aahs’ its slick shape will elicit. It is loaded with future-proof tech, and signals the next direction Audi’s design language will take.

Also on stand will be the Audi A8 L Security. A heavily armoured A8, this luxury limousine can stop a bullet in its tracks, withstand grenade explosions, and probably everything else thrown its way, short of a nuclear attack. And while your car is fighting all types of attacks, you can kick back in your lounge seat, soaking in supreme luxury. 

Courtesy : Autocar

The new V15 motorcycle from Bajaj will be launched towards the end of March; to be priced somewhere between Rs 60,000 and Rs 70,000.

Even before they were revealed, Bajaj’s new 'V' family of motorcycles gained instant appreciation and fame for having been made from the metal of the scrapped warship, INS Vikrant. The video that teased the 'V' family gave us only a glimpse of the new motorcycle, or motorcycles, that were to come. Now Bajaj has taken the wraps off the new V range and here’s when we come to know just how exciting the motorcycles are.

Cruiser? Or, Café racer

The new V is more café-racer albeit with a hint of cruiser. This is down to the stance because of the 18-inch front and 16-inch rear tyres. Its contemporary design mixes sporty and muscular bringing a new flavour to the commuter space. Bajaj has taken many cracks at the commuter space and this family of motorcycles looks set to live alongside their successful and more simple-looking Discover range. From the wind deflector on the headlamp to the boat-tail rear, and the swoopy design in between, there’s a lot to like on the V. The chrome dual shock absorbers at the rear, the white contrast stitching on the seat, the removable cowl for the rear seat and the smart instrument cluster, all make it very appealing. The instrument cluster features a fuel gauge that switches from green to red as the fuel level dips really low. Chunky tyres give it a stronger stance and the smart, slim ten-spoke alloy wheels are hung off telescopic forks with blacked-out siders.

Underneath it all…

When it comes to the chassis the V has a fairly conventional setup that is aimed to provide durability and reliability. The chassis is a dual-cradle setup and uses stouter than usual 33mm diameter telescopic forks at the front and twin shock absorbers at the rear. The engine is an air-cooled DTS-i 150cc two-valve, four-stroke motor. In keeping with its target audience a kick-start has been offered as standard with an electric start variant on offer. This engine makes 11.8bhp of power. That puts the V about 2bhp down on power compared to its 150cc siblings in the Discover family.

The V also boasts of 1.3kgm of torque. Due to its two-valve head, it offers a solid 1.2kgm of torque from 3,000rpm, while peak torque is available at 5,500rpm. Fuel efficiency though hasn’t been disclosed yet, but you can expect that the V will surpass the Discover 150’s company claimed fuel efficiency of 75kpl by a big margin.  The V15 isnt a motorcycle for high speed cruising but will be easy to ride. The V15 will offer a real word fuel economy figure of about 60kpl with pillion on board, according to company sources. 

Production will commence on February 5, 2016, with the  launch scheduled to take place towards the end of March. Prices will be revealed closer to delivery date, and are expected to be somewhere between Rs 60,000 and 70,000.  

Courtesy : Autocar