Mitsubishi may bring Delica MPV, Attrage sedan to India

Mitsubishi Motors has said that it may be looking at getting the Delica MPV and the Attrage sedan to India in the next three to four years. In the MPV segment, the Delica would go up against the Toyota Innova, which means that prices might be in the range of Rs 15-20 lakh.

Currently, the Mitsubishi Delica is made in some Southeast Asian markets like Indonesia. In India, the carmaker might look at manufacturing it locally to keep the price tag down.

“...We will have to work hard on pricing and localisation. If we were to import the Delica, it will cost more than Rs 30 lakh, which does not make sense. So, we are always looking at the manufacturing route to reduce costs. Initially, we can look at a localisation of 15-20 percent that can move upwards to 30-40 percent local content, later,” P Vijayan, CEO of HMFCL, told our sister publication Autocar Professional . “But all this is in the evaluation stage at present and plans can change over the next few years,” he added.

However, this is not the first time that Mitsubishi has announced plans of getting a new car here. There were announcements in the past too, which did not materialise.

Last year, Mitsubishi Motors had announced business plans for 2014-16 that revolved around bringing five new models to India. One was the Mirage hatchback that is manufactured in Thailand, but Uttam Bose, managing director of Hindustan Motor Finance Corp (HMFCL), the company that manufactures and markets Mitsubishi cars in India, said that plans of bringing the Mirage were dropped as it wasn't commercially viable and has stiff competition in India.

He, however, did confirm that the Attrage sedan may make its way here by 2017. “Studies are underway and we are working on it, then we will take some decisions." The Attrage will come with a diesel engine mated to a manual gearbox and there will be no automatic option. This year, the company also plans to bring the new Mitsubishi Outlander and Montero SUVs in petrol guise, with both automatic and manual transmission options. The diesel variants will follow next year.

Comments

Honda CB Unicorn 160 vs Suzuki Gixxer comparison

There is no replacement for displacement, as goes the old American saying, with which the rest of the world often nods in agreement. Increase in the number of cubic centimeters of fuel that our engines burn, seems only to be a pleasant idea to almost every petrolhead. More power, more torque and a healthier sounding grunt from the exhaust are the common expectations from larger engines. Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India (HMSI) has walked this same path, to add 10 extra cubic centimeters of capacity to the now proven CB Unicorn engine, to make the Honda CB Unicorn 160. FROLIC FASHION Although some of the features of the older CB Unicorn have been bettered, we’ve gone ahead and pitched it right in at the deep end, to face off against the very best in the segment to find out the exact degree to which this motorcycle has improved. So, in steps the Suzuki Gixxer, a Japanese-made premium commuter that’s fast rising to the top of its segment, with enough promise to overshadow all o...

2018 Lamborghini Urus India review, test drive

On first introduction, it’s a recipe for intimidation. It’s claimed to be the fastest SUV in the world (0-100kph in 3.6sec and a top speed of 305kph puts it nearly in supercar territory), and it’s made by Lamborghini – creator of some of the most savage vehicles on the market. Things – as with any Lamborghini, for that matter – would be a lot less daunting if we were driving on a smooth European country road, a wide motorway, or even a race track. But today we’re driving the Urus on a narrow ghat road, as well as through some heavy Pune traffic. Perhaps the intention was to demonstrate that this is the first Lamborghini ever to go on sale in India that truly works in our conditions – but still, I doubt they accounted for rush hour. It’s requisitely mad to look at, employing as many ‘sporty’ design tropes to an SUV body style as possible – the only thing missing is a massive wing on the back; and somehow, it works. It’s ...

ABS brakes mandatory for two-wheelers soon

The Government Of India is paying some attention to road safety issues in the country. Keeping road safety in mind, the GOI is working on making the anti-lock braking system mandatory for all two-wheelers above the engine capacity of 125cc. This is a big step forward in the right direction, as over 70 percent of accidents that take place in India involve two-wheelers. Nitin Gadkari, Road Transport Minister has just recently approved this proposal, and is working on implementing it. Gadkari, who was recently present at the Bloomberg TV Autocar India Awards 2015 also talked about his plans of building safer roads for India. This is absolutely necessary, keeping in mind that as per data collected in 2013, 39,353 people were killed on Indian roads while riding two-wheelers. While the time frame for the Indian government to enforce this law remains undecided, sources say that safer roads for India aren't too far away.

Automobilestillnow

Search This Blog