he Yeti however failed to mark its presence Indian market, but Skoda has still decided to update the car.
The car is available in two variants in the international market - a standard 'City' version and a more beefy 'Outdoor' version. The 'Outdoor' version features bolder cues in its body cladding and scuff plates.

Skoda Yeti Outdoor was displayed at the 2014 Auto Expo and was seen testing in India, which paves its way to the Indian auto mart.

The front of the car comes with Skoda's new corporate look. It features wider grille, more angular headlights and a different front bumper. The new model comes with sharper looks than before, however it s distinctive glasshouse remains the same.

Skoda Yeti facelift adorns an electrically adjustable driver's seat, cruise control and even a rear view camera in some of its market. The interior of the car comes with a new three-spoke steering wheel and colour for the plastics.

Skoda Yeti facelift will be powered by a 2.0-litre turbo-diesel in two states of tune - a 108bhp, front-wheel drive and a 138bhp all-wheel-drive version.

There has been no official announcement on the pricing yet however, it is expected to cost 7-8 percent more than the current version of Yeti.

Read Latest News from Auto News India

Read more Latest News from Auto News India

Tata Motors bets on new sedan Zest to revive weak India sales

The car, called Zest, is a compact sedan built on a new platform and, in a departure from previous models, boasts user-friendly features such as touch-screen control panels.

Tata Motors' domestic business has posted losses in four of the last eight quarters and Ranjit Yadav, head of passenger vehicles, said the Zest was key to the automaker's revamped domestic strategy.

"The Zest is the first step and an important proof point of what we want to do with our passenger vehicle business," Yadav told Reuters. "We have taken some hard calls in the last 12 to 18 months to set right our fundamentals."

Tata Motors, India's biggest automaker by revenue, dominates the trucks and buses segment, but its passenger cars have failed to lure customers away from local rival Maruti Suzuki India Ltd and foreign competitors including Hyundai Motor Co and Honda Motor Co.

Tata's domestic car sales fell 39 per cent year-on-year in the year that ended on March 31 and its market share also dropped to 4.2 per cent at end-June from 10.2 per cent two years ago, industry data showed.

Lack of a product pipeline, an image that its cars are not cool because they are used as taxis and the legacy of its ultra-cheap Nano, perceived as a poor man's car, has put Tata Motors out of favour with buyers.

In the past, the automaker has relied on its trucks and buses, as well as on the strong sales at its luxury unit Jaguar Land Rover, to offset the weak performance at home.

But with trucks and buses sales declining as India's economy battles the longest spell of below 5 per cent growth in quarter of a century, Tata Motors has now shifted its focus to cars.

It also wants to capitalise on any improvement in the economy under the new government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, executives say. Car sales in India, expected to be the world's third-largest car market by 2018, are likely to rise this year after posting a decline for two consecutive years.

Investors, however, say it won't be easy for Tata Motors to convince buyers of the merits of its passenger cars after being largely absent from that market for so long.

"It will be more of a challenge for Tata because it is in very different segments," said Walter Rossini, a Milan-based portfolio manager for Gestielle India, which manages Indian stocks including Tata Motors shares. "For them it would help to focus more on their commercial vehicle business in India and luxury international business."

Some analysts said Tata has taken a well-calculated risk by launching a compact sedan because of the popularity of smaller, fuel-efficient vehicles. Deepesh Rathore, analyst at Emerging Markets Automotive Advisors, however, said the company still had to change its image, adding: "It will not happen in a hurry."

As part of its new strategy, Tata Motors plans to launch two new vehicles every year until 2020. The Zest will be followed by the Bolt hatchback later this year, said Yadav.

Read more Latest News from Auto News India

New Jaguar XE sedan to make global debut in September

The Jaguar XE will use a new grade of high strength aluminium called 'RC 5754', which has been developed specifically for the XE, the company said in a statement.
   
"This new alloy features a high level of recycled material and makes a significant contribution to Jaguar's goal of using 75 per cent recycled material by 2020," it said.
   
Commenting on the new product, Jaguar's Chief Technical Specialist Mark White said: "The Jaguar XE body uses over 75 per cent aluminium content, which far exceeds any other car in its class."
    
He further said: "We've made sure our aluminium-intensive body structure exceeds all global safety standards without compromising on vehicle design or refinement."
    
Designed and engineered in the UK, the Jaguar XE will be the first Jaguar to be manufactured at a new purpose-built production facility at the company's Solihull plant in the West Midlands in the UK.
   
"The world premiere of the new Jaguar XE will be held in London on September 8," the company added.
    
It further said the XE is projected to deliver fuel economy of less than 4 litres/100km on EU combined cycle.
   
JLR has been focussing on lightweight construction for its Jaguar brand. The Jaguar XJ, XK and F-Type have all been developed using aluminium structures. The XE becomes the latest model to use aerospace-inspired technology in cars.

Source: Auto Industry News

Honda launches MPV Mobilio

The car will be priced at Rs 6.83 lakh and 9.86 lakh for its petrol variant while its diesel version costs Rs 8.25 lakh to Rs 11.31 lakh.

Mobilio, which has already garner about 7,000 orders from when bookings opened in early July, is expected to push Honda to the third-largest domestic carmaker spot in the next few months, behind Maruti and Hyundai right now it is trailing close behind Mahindra & Mahindra.

Honda Cars India president and CEO Hironori Kanayama said, “The launch of Honda Mobilio follows the success of Honda Amaze and the new City, which led to our exceptional growth of 83 per cent in the previous financial year.”

The car is developed at the company’s R&D centres in Bangkok exclusively for the Asian markets, particularly Indonesia and India. During the fiscal 2013-14, Honda Cars India reported 83 percent increase in sales at 1,34,339 units as against 73,483 units during the previous year.

Honda India aims at selling 300,000 units annually by March 2017.

Mobilio is based on Honda’s latest Earth Dreams Technology, the 1.5 litre i-DTEC diesel engine which delivers a power of 100 ps at the rate of 3600 rpm, maximum torque of 200 Nm at the rate 1750 rpm and fuel economy of 24.2 kmpl as per test data. The 1.5 litre i-VTEC petrol engine delivers a maximum power of 119 ps at the rate of 6600 rpm, maximum torque of 145 Nm at the rate of 4600 rpm and fuel economy of 17.3 kmpl.

Jnaneswar Sen, Sr Vice-President (Marketing & Sales) said, “The company which currently has 170 dealerships across 107 cities hopes to take this number to 230 facilities in 150 cities by March 2015.”

The company hopes to open new dealerships in Bellary, Belgaum, Udupi, Shimoga and Gulbarga in a few months.

Source: Auto News