Hero Honda HUNK

A surprise from Hero Honda. Not too long after the launch ok; relaunch of its premium bike the 150cc CBZ Xtreme as the revamped version as it is called, another bike from the hero honda stable, the latest offering known as HUNK employs the same mill as the CBZ Xtreme does but a little more masculine in terms of its looks.
The company’s strategies cant be understood as of now.But such a strategy proved to be not so fruitful in the past when hero honda had two bikes in the 125cc executive segment namely, super splendor and glamour where neither of them tasted success.but in the 100cc economy segment inspite of having three bikes in the past i,e,the splendor, CD deluxe and passion plus,the company was a market leader in the segment but it cant be the same in the premium segment as there is a lot of competition from the refined pulsar and the ultra refined Unicorn. Even after the much hyped launch , hero honda did not exactly set the market on fire with CBZ Xtreme and only time will tell whether HUNK would emulate the success of CBZ .
Watch this space for more reviews……..

HYUNDAI i10

The Hyundai i10 will be launched in India this month. The new Hyundai small car for India, codenamed Hyundai Pa, has been in the making for some time now. India will be first country in which the Hyundai i10 will be introduced. The i10 will be the flagship small car brand for Hyundai in India.

Currently, Hyundai Motor India is producing two main variants of Santro, which are sold between Rs 2.69 lakh and Rs 3.64 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi).The price will be a premium to Hyundai’s current largest selling small car Hyundai Santro. Introduced 10 years back, the Santro has been the bread-winner for Hyundai Motor India for long. Apart from the Santro and the Accent, Hyundai has not had a big hit car in India so far. As of now, Hyundai is the third largest car maker in India, after Maruti and Tata Motors.

In a move which is seen as a precursor to sell out maximum number of Santros before the i10 makes its appearance, Hyundai on Thursday slashed the price of its Santro model by around Rs 40,000. Usually, carmakers make way for the new models by announcing steep price cuts for the existing models, which may not sell once the new model (in this case i10) rolls in.

Hyundai’s recent models like the Getz and the Getz prime have not been able to gain traction in the market. The Hyundai Verna, which was widely expected to replace the Accent, is now produced alongside it. Its Terracan has been scrapped and the replacement Tucson has not been doing well either. The Sonata Embera has also failed to bring volumes for Hyundai in India. Hyundai, like other carmakers, is concentrating on the small and mid-size car segments, where the competition is fierce.

The engine is a 1.1 litre one, with petrol and diesel versions. The car will have ABS and airbags as optional accessories, will have superior styling and comfort. Hyundai plans to make India as the export hub for the i10, to serve overseas markets. Already, Hyundai’s Chennai plant is the largest plant the company has outside Korea. The factory is already running at 100% capacity with three shifts. Hyundai is setting up another plant adjacent to the existing one, to feed voracious demand for its small cars made in India. Hyundai Motor India sold 65,696 cars (Santro, Getz) in the period April to August 2007, down by 6% against the corresponding period.