6 swanky cars that may soon be in India

Image: Visitors stroll through the stands on the first day of the 81st Geneva Motor Show at the Palexpo in Geneva.
Photographs: Denis Balibouse/Reuters CarDekho.com

As the battle for a bigger pie of the Indian market rages on more and more new models will be launched to compete against the existing ones.

Companies like Volkswagen, Renault, Jaguar, Mercedes et al are planning models against some successful existing ones.

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6 swanky cars that may soon be in India

Image: A model poses with Volkswagen's Vento.
Photographs: B Mathur/Reuters

Volkswagen

The carmaker has a presence in the hatchback segment with the Volkswagen Polo and is also competing against segment leader Honda City with its sedan Vento.

The carmaker is now looking for a product in its portfolio that can be modified to give the Toyota Innova some competition.

It has been reported that the company is looking at a number of vans to fit the bill.

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6 swanky cars that may soon be in India

Image: Volkswagen Bulli.
Photographs: Courtesy, Volkswagen

The carmaker has displayed a Microbus concept called Bulli at the Geneva Motor Show.

It is a six-seat concept and seats three abreast, both at the front and the rear.

For India a third row could make it a versatile nine-seater. However, there is no official word on it as it.

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6 swanky cars that may soon be in India

Image: Renault Fluence.

Renault

The carmaker is all set to launch its Fluence saloon in India this June followed by its SUV Koleos six months later.

But apart from this Renault is also known to be developing a new Global A platform which will be the base used to develop cars that could be pitted against Maruti models.

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6 swanky cars that may soon be in India

Image: A Renault Koleos is displayed at the Palexpo in Geneva.
Photographs: Denis Balibouse/Reuters

These entry level models by the company would come with a price tag of about Rs 350,000 and models based on this concept are likely to be showcased at the 2014 Auto Expo in New Delhi.

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6 swanky cars that may soon be in India

Image: Jaguar XE.

Jaguar

We have ogled at many interesting Jaguar cars in the past and in the coming few years we might just get to see a Jaguar rival of the BMW 3 series.

And a sporty 4x4 crossover is also on the cards. These two models will be under the XE sports car range.

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6 swanky cars that may soon be in India

Image: Jaguar X760.

So if all goes as per plan we might get to see a front-engined, rear-drive car and a X760 style crossover sometime in the future.

According to reports in the media the company might come up with the sports saloon by 2014 and it would not be long before the soft-roader also finds its way into the portfolio, especially after the success of models like Audi Q5 and Volvo XC60 across the world.

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6 swanky cars that may soon be in India

Image: BMW X1.

Mercedes

The company has been sweating it out against rival BMW in the Indian market for quite some time now.

The front wheel drive off-roader BMW X1 priced at Rs 22 lakh (Rs 2.2 million) to Rs 32.5 lakh (Rs 3.25 million) has given BMW an edge now and other luxury carmakers are being expected to react.

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6 swanky cars that may soon be in India

Image: Mercedes GLC.

Mercedes might just launch the X1 rival by 2013 reportedly called GLC.

The car will be based on Mercedes' new modular front architecture (MFA) platform and will be one of the many models set to be developed on this platform.

The GLC is likely to be powered by a four-cylinder 1.8-litre, direct-injection petrol unit capable of churning 168bhp and 201bhp power.

Its diesel variant will be powered by a 120bhp 1.6 Renault motor and a Mercedes 2.1-litre diesel unit.

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6 swanky cars that may soon be in India

Image: Artists perform as a Mercedes-Benz 200 CDI Blue Efficiency car and a GLK Bluetec Hybrid (R) car are presented.
Photographs: Arnd Wiegmann/Reuters

Keeping in mind the BlueEfficiency initiative the car is likely to be mated with a standard six-speed manual gearbox along with features like brake energy recuperation, electro-mechanical steering and automatic stop-start.

A hybrid option will also be considered.

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