New cars to be launched in July: Honda Mobilio, Mercedes Benz CLA 45 AMG, more

The month of July is yet to reveal some more surprises. After a spree of launches so far from Nissan Sunny facelift to several limited and special editions from Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai, Renault and Chevrolet, the automakers are leaving no stone unturned to get most out of the season. Where Maruti has brought in limited edition of Ritz and Ertiga, Chevrolet introduced special Manchester United Limited edition of Beat during the football fever. Renault introduced second anniversary edition of Duster, Hyundai launched Grand i10 LPG edition while Volkswagen too joined the movement and launched facelift Polo hatch. Are we missing something? Yes, there will be much touted Honda Mobilio MPV coming in a few days besides a couple of hot wheels from German luxury carmakers. Here is the chronological brief synopsis of each.

Mercedes-Benz already dazzled the Indian masses at the Auto Expo with its fascinating line of cars. Out of the spanking new cars, CLA 45 AMG, the pocket rocket grabbed majority of the eyeballs. Touted as India’s first ‘Compact Performance Sedan’, CLA 45 AMG employs the world’s most powerful 2.0L 4-cylinder petrol engine with direct-injection turbocharging technology developing massive 355bhp and torque rated at 450Nm. The engine will come mated with standard AMG Speedshift DCT 7-speed sports transmission system which joins the mighty engine to help the car to reach 100km mark from standstill in just 4.6 seconds of time attaining the electronically limited top speed of 250kmph. The performance packed car will be launched on 22nd July 2014. The CLA class compact sedan will compete with upcoming Audi A3 sedan, however, initially company will launch the AMG variant. Expected price of CLA 45 AMG is around Rs.45 lakhs.

Much have been talked about Honda Mobilio. The viral campaigning has already started with a bunch of online video commercials starring India’s favorite comedian Kapil Sharma and a few other commercial ads can be seen on TV channels. Honda Mobilio will be the first MPV from the Japanese automaker which will be pitched against Maruti Ertiga, Chevrolet Enjoy, Nissan Evalia and has potential to give severe blow to Toyota Innova as well. Bookings have already been started with an advance payment of Rs. 50,000.

Talking about the engine and specs, the car will house-in the same diesel and petrol motors doing duty in Honda City. The 1.5L i-DTEC diesel engine produces 98bhp and 200Nm of torque while the 1.5L i-VTEC petrol engine churns out 117bhp and 145Nm of torque. Both the engines are mated with 5-speed MT. In terms of mileage, company claims that the diesel variant will be able to return 24.2kmpl while the gasoline version returns 17.3kmpl, a notch ahead of its close rivals. Honda Mobilio also brings in new design philosophies “EXCITING H DESIGN” and ‘Man maximum, machine minimum’ of the company which are sheer examples of style and comfort. The 7-seater MPV would fall under the price bracket of Rs.8-11 lakhs. Let’s wait and watch the launch event on July 23rd 2014.

Well, Prime Minister Narendra Modi might have chosen one of the best security packed vehicle in the country in the form of BMW 760i, the German automaker is all set to launch a new hybrid version of the 7-series model for the elite folks. The new Activehybrid saloon will be one of the most expensive offerings from BMW that will land on the Indian shores via CBU (Completely Built Unit) route.

The powerful sedan would be getting a 3.0L six-cylinder twin turbo engine that yields power of 320bhp and max torque rated at 450Nm. The in-line petrol engine is paired to an electric motor that generates 55bhp and 210 Nm of peak torque. The combined output of BMW 7-series Activehybrid stands at 354bhp. The powerful engine and the proficient 8-speed automatic transmission system enables this car to sprint from 0-100kmph in just 5.7 seconds of time before touching the top speed of 250kmph. Despite the raging performance, the engine is very fuel efficient and the car delivers an excellent mileage of 14.7kmpl in the European driving cycle and emits 158 g/km of CO2. The launch event will take place on the same July 23rd 2014.