Mercedes-Benz GL-Class launching on 16th May

Upgraded version of the "all-terrain, seven-seater" from the three-pointed star will boast a broader power output, higher levels of interior appointment and a wider variety of equipment compared to the outgoing model

In production since 2006 the monstrous GL-Class has been at the very top of the Merc SUV pyramid. Owing to its versatile nature of being one of the most spacious luxury vehicles in the market with proper off-roading capabilities the GL has sold in great numbers worldwide.

 Mercedes-Benz recently launched a face-lifted version of its flagship SUV model internationally and as you must have already guessed it is now headed for India, and will be officially launched on the 16th of April this year.

 Winner of the "2012 Golden Steering Wheel" award, the new GL-Class will be visually far more aggressive as compared to the previous gen model and will be further powered by an efficient V8 petrol engine and higher level of appointments as compared to before.

 Better comfort features on the upgraded model in 2013 would include an electric sliding sunroof, electrically operated tailgate and easier access to the third row of seats from both sides. Also, expect higher grade of standard equipment on the inside like a colour screen with photo-realistic display or dashboard finished in artico man-made leather. 

 Rest-assured the new Mercedes-Benz GL-Class once in India will be packed with safety features like Active Parking Assist including Parktronic and a drive authorisation system among others. The petrol GL 500 4MATIC BlueEFFICIENCY model would most likely produce 435PS and 700Nm of torque levels, while consuming just 11.3 l/100 km. 

Chevrolet Enjoy to be launched on May 9

Armed with a choice of petrol and diesel engines, spacious interiors and with a no-frills attitude, the Chevrolet Enjoy has the potential to significantly undercut its rivals at the price front in the MUV segment

 Chevrolet’s answer to the Mahindra Xylo, Nissan Evalia and the bestselling Toyota Innova is going to hit showrooms on May 9, 2013. Armed with a choice of engines including a 1.4 litre petrol unit and 1.3 litre diesel unit, it is clear that Enjoy will have a much lower base price than its rivals here in India. The Chevrolet Enjoy may not be as contemporary looking as the Innova and has similar boxy proportions like that of the Evalia. The styling overall is nothing to write home about, but its the vehicle’s real world practicality that will matter in a segment where private buyers are looking for family haulers and not to forget that the taxi market will also dominate sales. The interiors of the Chevrolet Enjoy also appear to be rather functional and devoid of any frills indicating that cost is a critical issue here. This means that the magnitude to which cost cutting will reflect on the vehicle’s sticker price should be significant, considering that this will be the key to its success. Equipment levels are adequate featuring power steering, power windows, air conditioning and a stereo on the top-end LTZ variants. With a three row seating layout that will be able to accommodate 7 or 8 passengers depending on the middle row being specced with a bench seat or captain seats. The Chevy Enjoy has what it takes to take on everything in the MPV/MUV segment ranging from the Maruti Suzuki Ertiga to the Toyota Innova. Should Chevrolet be able to price the Enjoy between Rs 6.50 lakh to Rs 9.50 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi), the Enjoy is bound to be a success in its segment with the potential of shaking the king of the segment, the Toyota Innova in the taxi market

Datsun is ready to roll in India

Japanese big name to be brought back to life with an India-first introduction in 2014 with a "large-sized" entry level hatchback to take on the Alto / Eon brigade to kick-off proceedings with two additional models to follow in rapid succession. Adil Jal Darukhanawala has the full detailed story on the return of Datsun and significant nuggets on its first offering

 More than two decades after Nissan killed off the Datsun brand name, this venerable doyen of the Japanese automotive industry is set to be resurrected, as an independent third brand of the Renault-Nissan Alliance (fifth if one adds in Dacia in Romania and Samsung in South Korea) with prime criteria to drive growth in the burgeoning BRIC world! Early today I was among a handful of journalists from India, Indonesia and Russia who were given access to the story behind not just the rebirth of Datsun but what is the significance of this brand and the type of automobiles it intends to build and deliver in the emerging markets for the auto makers. Born out of Carlos Ghosn's desire to tap low cost but not cheap methodologies to build cars saw his trusted lieutenant Vincent Cobee and veteran Nissan manufacturing hot shot Hidetoshi Imazu brainstorm not about how to carve out a low cost car but how to rethink the car business itself! Many have embarked on this line of thought but their endeavour hasn't gone the way they envisaged. I don't know why but the way Datsun has been conceived just could be the one way of rethinking the art of car design and manufacture in emerging markets. The moot point was that a year ago Datsun wasn't even in the reckoning except in the minds of the aforementioned trio who debated hard about rethinking manufacturing processes to bring down development costs, crunching development times to get to market quickly and even more cost effectively while at the same time setting about thinking smart on identifying exact needs of car buyers at the entry level spectrum of the car market. It is no secret that Carlos Ghosn was an early advocate of low cost manufacturing and had been in the forefront of acknowledging Indian ingenuity courtesy the Tata Nano and also the qualitative back end of manufacturers like Bajaj Auto (with whom it explored a cheap low cost car before it fizzled out). Doing Datsun to take on Maruti Suzuki is I think a radical yet sensible approach because it finally hints at a series of cars priced just as competitively, designed even more effectively while delivering better performance and better fuel efficiency. Towards that end we were told about not one or two but three cars being made by Datsun in India, two in the very first year of operations in 2014, with a third being added a year later. If that is not all, the range would be enhanced and updated every three years and the philosophy of global capability delivering local products would see no less than five body styles being evolved for manufacture and sale, first in India which will see the world launch of Datsun in July this year followed by Indonesia and Russia later this year with South Africa also getting into the production matrix a year down the line. Towards that end we were told about not one or two but three cars being made by Datsun in India, two in the very first year of operations in 2014, with a third being added a year later. If that is not all, the range would be enhanced and updated every three years and the philosophy of global capability delivering local products would see no less than five body styles being evolved for manufacture and sale, first in India which will see the world launch of Datsun in July this year followed by Indonesia and Russia later this year with South Africa also getting into the production matrix a year down the line.

Sony Xperia L available for pre-order online, for Rs 18,990

Looks like Sony’s new mid-range line-up will soon hit the country. The Xperia L is now available for pre-order with an indian based retailer firm, selling for Rs 18,990. The Xperia L was first announced back in March alongside the Xperia SP, which is currently available for purchase online for around Rs 26,000.

                                                                       

Sony is positioning this phone as one for photography enthusiasts. It has an 8-megapixel camera with HDR for both photos and videos. Sony claims that you can click a picture in just over a second, even from the lockscreen, thanks to the dedicated camera key. 

The Xperia L features a 4.3-inch FWVGA (854x480) display with a scratch-resistant glass on top. It is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 dual-core processor clocked at 1GHz and an Adreno 305 GPU. Despite its low-end specs, this CPU-GPU combination should hold the Xperia L in good stead.

Even though the camera and the large screen will probably grab everyone’s attention, the Xperia L also has a cool LED notification bar at the bottom, not very unlike the Xperia J. It is capable of producing some neat illumination effects that match the colour of the images on the screen. The Xperia L also gets NFC connectivity, but no LTE support. Additionally, there’s Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and 3G HSPA connectivity.

Here are the key specs of the Xperia L:

• 4.3-inch, 480 x 854-pixel display
• HSPA+, GPRS/EDGE
• Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, DLNA 
• Bluetooth 4.0 with A2DP
• NFC
• GPS with A-GPS support
• 8-megapixel primary camera with LED flash and HDR video, VGA front-facing camera
• 8GB internal storage with microSD card slot (up to 32GB)

In terms of power, the Xperia L has a 1900 mAh battery. It also has Sony’s Stamina Mode for boosting stand-by time.

HTC M4 looks like a budget version of the One

If you want a smartphone with the same sleek design of the HTC One, but can't quite afford the flagship handset, you can check out the HTC M4. A picture of the handset, which looks like it's going to be a more affordable version of the One, has been leaked, according to PhoneArena.

While the handset looks the same as the One, there are some differences. To keep the price low, it may not be built out of the same aluminium unibody that the One was made out of. It will also have a smaller 4.3-inch screen with a 720p resolution.

 

Instead of the quad-core processor on the One, the M4 will have a dual-core CPU, but it will still have the same 2GB of RAM. Keeping this alive will be a 1,700 mAh battery. On the memory side, the M4 will only be making an appearance with 16GB of internal memory. Judging by the picture, it also looks like the handset will have the same BoomSound speakers as the One.

The handset is expected to ship with Android 4.2 Jelly Bean, and will no doubt bear some sort of "One" branding. It is interesting to note the codename for the handset - the M4. During its development days, the One was codenamed the M4.

Looking at the phone, HTC has no doubt been taking notes from Samsung. It is following the same business strategy that Samsung has followed. By making its lower-costing handsets look very similar, if not identical to its flagship handset, the company will attract customers who want something as sleek as the One, but are on a tight budget.