Ford updates the Freestyle CUV just before the Indian festive season

The Indian festive season has commenced and all the car makers are busy showering various offers, special schemes and discounts on their offerings to draw maximum buyers during this great shopping season. Car buyers usually also launch all-new, refreshed and special edition models during the festive season to pull the crowd. American auto major, Ford’s festive season preparations in India is also in line with the other auto majors operating in the Indian car market. As part of its festive season preparations, Ford India has mildly updated its Freestyle cross-hatch model.
The Ford Freestyle is the latest product offering in India from the house of the American automaker. Based on the Ford Figo hatchback, the new Freestyle is a cross-hatch, but Ford calls it a CUV (compact utility vehicle). Ford has updated the Freestyle very mildly just before the festive season by offering a few slight changes, which includes a new exterior body paint, namely - Ruby Red. The car has been also endowed with body coloured Outer Rear View Mirrors that has been made as a standard offering across the range of the car. The updated Ford Freestyle also now comes with adjustable rear headrests, a feature which was not offered originally at the time of the Freestyle’s launch earlier this year.
Apart from these subtle changes, the Ford Freestyle cross-hatch has not got any noticeable changes. All the mechanical and technical features also remain unaltered. The Freestyle is available for sale in the Indian car market in both its petrol and diesel avatars. The car’s petrol version draws its power from a new 1.2 litre naturally aspirated 3-cylinder petrol engine from Ford’s new Dragon petrol engine series. This new petrol mill has the capability to generate a max power output of 96 hp along with 120 Nm of peak torque. On the other hand, the diesel version of the car gets powered by the accomplished 1.5 litre, 4-cylinder TDCi oil burner which is good to belt out a peak power output of 100 hp along with a top torque of 215 Nm. The transmission duty is handled by a 5-speed manual transmission gearbox.
Due to various factors including the falling rupee, and the few updates, Ford India has increased the price of the Freestyle’s base model trim by around Rs. 20,000. The Ford Freestyle CUV, which launched in India in April this year, now comes with a price range of Rs. 5.23 lakhs to Rs. 7.89 lakhs (prices ex-showroom, Delhi). The attractive and sporty looking Ford Freestyle fights in the Indian car market with the likes of the Tata Tiago NRG and the Maruti Suzuki Ignis.
Ford is fully braced to make the most of this year’s festive season in India by updating its models. Apart from mildly refreshing its Freestyle, Ford has also launched the refreshed versions of its Aspire subcompact sedan model recently. The new Ford Aspire facelift shares quite a lot with the Freestyle when it comes to visual appeal, features and engines. We hope these new models boost Ford India’s sales performance during this festive season.

Mercedes-Benz to debut B-Class, GLE and Mercedes-AMG A 35 4MATIC at the 2018 Paris Motor Show

German luxury auto giant Mercedes-Benz is going to debut as many as three models at the soon to commence 2018 Paris Motor Show, which will be held from 4th to 14th of October. Mercedes’ parent company Daimler has revealed that the company is going to make the world premiere of three vehicle models, namely – the Mercedes-Benz B-Class, Mercedes-Benz GLE and Mercedes-AMG A 35 4MATIC, are at the 2018 Paris Motor Show. This hat-trick of the new Mercedes-Benz models’ world premiere will certainly be a treat for the Mercedes fans visiting the grand French auto show this year.
However, this is not all, as on top of these three Merc models’ first public debut at the Paris Motor Show, the German auto behemoth will also be showcasing the all-electric Mercedes-Benz EQC, the EQ Silver Arrow Concept car that’s inspired by the 1937 W 125 and the A-Class sedan at the auto event. The company stated that it is going to showcase this slew of models in order to make a statement about the company’s current manufacturing practice of a wide variety of car models, and also to offer a glimpse of to expect from Mercedes-Benz in the future.

The Mercedes-Benz GLE SUV, which is the bestselling SUV from the German luxury car maker’s stable, continues to improve like all of the other popular Mercedes vehicles following Mercedes’ motto of constant improvements. The GLE is getting enhanced in terms of looks, refinement, customer requirements and cutting-edge technologies. Mercedes has been especially concentrating on endowing the GLE with enhanced driving assistance systems, which is also the focus on several other global auto majors and this year’s Paris Motor Show will be showcasing a slew of cars with amazing cars loaded with advanced driving assistance systems. The all new Mercedes-Benz GLE will be showcasing its new user interface among many other technological enhancements at the auto show.
On the other hand, the new Mercedes B-Class is going to boast of being more dynamic as compared against its predecessor, while it will also come with enhanced agility offering improved comfort, ride and handling. The all-new B-Class will also offer a perfect amalgamation of sophisticated style, luxury, performance, safety and top-notch technologies to offer an all-rounder of an enticing package.
Speaking of the performance-centric Mercedes-AMG A 35 4MATIC model, as per the German luxury auto major, this model offers the entry point into the Driving Performance world. The Mercedes-AMG A 35 4MATIC is undoubtedly built for the driving enthusiasts who don’t want to miss out on the luxury quotient as well. This new model is focused on offering an engaged driving experience with powerful dynamics and sporty look and feel.

Adding to the long list of model showcases from Mercedes-benz at the soon to commence 2018 Paris Motor Show, will be a smart brand show car that will be commemorating the brand’s 20th anniversary. The new Mercedes-Benz EQ brand will present the single-seater Silver Arrow concept model to wow the audience, while the first EV production model – the EQC will also make its public debut. The recently unveiled A-Class sedan will also be displayed at the auto show.

2018 Tata Tiago NRG Launched At INR 5.50 Lakh

Tata Motors launched the Tiago NRG crosshatch in the country priced at Rs 5.50 lakh for the petrol variant and Rs 6.32 lakh for the diesel version (ex-showroom, Delhi). Available for sale at all the authorized Tata Motors’ dealerships, the  NRG version will be offered in three exterior colour options - Canyon Orange, Fuji White, and Malabar Silver.

Guenter Butschek, CEO and MD, Tata Motors said- In line with our brand promise ‘Connecting Aspirations’, we want to be in sync with the growing trend of bringing to market more SUV like vehicles. To meet this aspiration, we have launched today, the Tiago NRG as our ‘Urban Toughroader’. With this launch, we are extending the Tiago brand and increasing our presence by entering into newer segments and tapping new sets of buyers. This launch is a step towards our Turnaround 2.0 journey, as we continue to focus on ‘winning sustainably’ in the PV business. We are confident that our customers will appreciate the Tiago NRG just like the Tiago hatchback."

The “Urban Toughroader” as the Tata Motors calls it, the newly launched Tiago NRG gets a raised ground clearance of 180 mm compared to regular Tiago’s 170 mm as well as has grown bigger with  47 mm in length, 18 mm in width and 52 mm in height. In terms of features at the exterior, the crosshatch gets a black body kit, two-tone front bumpers, integrated silver scuff plates, side skirts and cladding on wheel arches and tailgate, and the grille, roof, mirrors, and B-pillar are blacked out. Other than these, projector headlamps with black inserts from the top Tata Tigor variant have also been offered. 

Talking about the features at the inside, the 2018 Tiago NRG offers a new 5-inch touchscreen infotainment system, black interior with orange highlights, some silver accents on the central console, cooled glovebox, six-way adjustable driver seat, AC vents, and gear knob and the 8-speaker Harman sound system, while the safety features include dual front airbags, ABS with EBD and corner stability, reverse parking sensors, follow me home lamps and driver seat belt reminder. 
Under the hood, the Tata Tiago NRG gets the same as 1.2-litre Revotron petrol and 1.05-litre Revotorq diesel motors as the standard model. While the 1.2 litre petrol engine generates 84 bhp and 115 Nm, the diesel mill develops 69 bhp of maximum power and 140 Nm of peak torque. Both the engines are mated to a five-speed manual transmission only in the Tiago NRG. 

The newly launched Tiago NRG competes against the likes of the Maruti Suzuki Celerio X that is priced between Rs. 4.75 lakh and Rs. 5.61 lakh as well as more expensive Ford’s Freestyle and Mahindra’s KUV100 NXT and the entry- level cross hatch the Renault Kwid Climber in terms of features. However, in terms of pricing, its pricing also overlaps with a few variants of the Ignis and the Grand i10. Apart from this, Tata Motors has recently launched the new Nexon Kraz limited edition model in the country priced at Rs 7.16 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi). The launch marks the 1st anniversary of the Nexon brand in India. Based on the Nexon XT trim, the Tata Nexon Kraz is pronounced as ‘craze’ and has been offered in two variants- Kraz and Kraz+. Stay tuned to V3cars.com for further updates from Tata Motors.