New Yamaha Ray

2013 looks like becoming the year of the scooter in the Indian two-wheeler market. We only just brought you news of veteran scooter maker Bajaj working towards fine tuning an all-new exciting scooter, and know that Vespa will shortly launch another 125cc scooter. Honda meanwhile just launched their revised Activa, Aviator and Dio scooters with a freshly engineered, 109cc, Honda Eco Technology (HET) enabled engine. All of which has the scooter segment basking in the limelight, with every other manufacturer striving overtime to keep pace with the booming market growth, to establish their footprint in the space before others.



Yamaha hasn’t really been missing out on much action here, having recently launched the Ray, a 113cc, automatic transmission scooter in late 2012. The Ray targets the fairer sex, but here’s further confirmation Yamaha are now on the verge of introducing a larger, all-new and macho automatic scooter, in a bid to make deeper inroads into our scooter market.

It’s still early days, with Yamaha staying mum on the subject, but do expect to see contemporary, angular and sharp styling on this new Yamaha scooter, that will grab the attention of male buyers looking for automatic scooters. In keeping with their DNA, we do expect the new Yamaha scooter to score high on performance as well as handling, proving to make a zippy and attractive scooter option to ride in India. The new Yamaha scooter is expected to come equipped with telescopic fork front suspension, with a features list at par with scooters currently on sale in India. Yamaha’s latest scooter will house a four-stroke, single-cylinder and air-cooled engine displacing in the region of 125cc, offering the conveniences of an electric starter and automatic transmission. Expect this engine to offer slightly more power than provided by the Ray.

There currently exists a blank in the scooter market that no manufacturer has addressed, with several seasoned motorcyclists looking for a powerful, able handling automatic scooter, and it’s exactly this segment Yamaha’s upcoming new scooter will target. 

Yamaha plans to launch this exciting new scooter by around mid 2013. Stay tuned for more!

Mahindra Verito Executive Edition

Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) has announced the launch of the Verito Executive edition. This new trim has been priced at Rs 7.75 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi).

The Verito Executive edition’s interior gets Italian leather seats, a leather-wrapped steering wheel and matching door inserts. The car also comes equipped with a touchscreen navigation unit with Bluetooth capability. New alloy wheels, body decals, ‘Executive’ badging, and what the company calls ‘blue vision’ headlamps round up the additions to the exterior of the car.

Speaking on the launch of the Verito Executive edition, Pravin Shah, chief executive, automotive division, M&M, said, “The Verito Executive edition will add a premium and aspiration quotient to the sedan. Together with the proposition of space and mileage, which the Verito is already known for, this new edition will provide premium interior and exterior features to our customers. The features of the Verito Executive edition have been carefully chosen to meet the increasing customer demand and aspiration for a stylish sedan. This will clearly take the Verito to the next level in terms of style, premiumness, convenience and comfort.”

Royal Enfield Cafe Racer

Even as enthusiasts across the country await the launch of the Café Racer, Royal Enfield has unveiled the motorcycle at the Long Beach Motorcycle Show in the USA last month. The bike will be launched in the US by June or August 2013 as a 2014 model, and the unveiling has revealed some more details about the motorcycle, things we were not told at the Auto Expo 2012 in New Delhi. For the Café Racer, the Classic 500’s 499cc, air-cooled single has been bored out to displace 535cc, the displacement of the erstwhile Lightning 535. Power output is also up, from the Classic 500’s 27PS to 36PS, which is the highest ever for a Royal Enfield. Torque ratings were not disclosed but we expect that to be significantly higher than the Classic as well.

The frame has been designed and developed by Harris Engineering, while suspension has been developed by Paioli. The Café Racer is expected to be lighter than the Classic by about 21 kilos, which should make it as light as a Honda CBR250R. The higher power output, weight loss and the hike in engine capacity should easily make the Café Racer the quickest and fastest Royal Enfield to date. The bike is expected to retail in the USA for the equivalent of Rs 4 lakh. While we do not expect it to be as expensive when launched in India at the next Auto Expo, we believe pricing could be in the region of Rs 2.5 to 3 lakh. A host of accessories were also announced at the unveiling, which include aluminum bits like fenders, upper and lower triple brackets, aftermarket exhausts and optional clip-on or clubman handlebars. Options will also include a single or twin saddle seat, different fuel tanks – steel, plastic or aluminum, apart from different gear ratios.

As of now, it is difficult to comment on how many of these accessories will make it to India when the bike is launched, but the engine specifications do have us waiting for the launch already!

LAMBORGHINI GALLARDO END'S....!

Lamborghini is calling it a wrap with the Gallardo - its most successful super car to date. The ageing super car has been around since 2003 and Lamborghini has sold over ten thousand examples in the years since -  big number for an all out super car. The Italians recently unveiled the 2012 Gallardo at the Paris motor show which featured at tweaked design. Despite being nearly ten years old the Gallardo boasts some insane numbers. 552PS from a wailing V10 and a 3.7 second run to the ton is still very serious stuff.

Nevertheless we can expect to see the replacement sometime this year. Lamborghini have a very serious job on their hands replacing the car that quite literally changed their fortunes. But given the awesomeness of the Aventador that replaced the flagship Murcielago we think they are on the right track

BMW F800 GT

BMW have now added a touring model to the 800cc parallel twin engine line of motorcycles with the F 800 GT. The motorcycle replaces the ST (Sport Tourer) model. The new bike gets comfort related upgrades as well as a 5PS boost to 90PS. BMW will offer both stability control and electronic suspension adjustment on the motorcycle as options, ABS is standard. Other changes? A longer swingarm, more load carrying capacity, lower seat heights optional hard luggage