Honda has upped the competition by introducing a new compact car concept, just when Toyota introduced its Etios hatchback and sedan at the Auto Expo 2010. Honda doesn’t have a name for the car yet, but it’s confident that the concept will roll out from the production lines by 2011. Auto Expo staged the world premiere for the car (a global model, they say) which comes with special changes to meet the demand of the Indian customers. It has five-seats and three doors and has been designed on the principle of ‘Man Maximum-Machine Minimum’. Courtesy of the wide platform, this compact car concept offers plenty of cabin space.

Small family cars are a big thing in the Indian market which is slowly but steadily becoming the global hub for such cars. The latest sensation that has its name doing rounds across the country is the small family car Toyota Etios which is slated to compete with the likes of the Maruti Suzuki Swift. The segment to which it caters is a very competitive one in the Indian market and therefore Toyota has priced the Etios competitively at 4.5 lakh ($10,000).

The Etios is slated for a debut at the New Delhi Auto Expo and the commuter has already been spy photographed prior to that launch. It will be launched both as a sedan and a hatchback variant and will be available for purchase by the end of 2011. India will have the largest production facility for the Etios followed by Brazil and China where the car will be introduced next year.

The Indian car market is opening a lot of options to the willing buyers and therefore a lot more international models are making it to this market. The Beat was caught on camera without any kind of a guise and it was evident that nothing much has changed from the concept on which it is based. It is a thoroughly designed small car with prominent features like a high bonnet and a bold front end with big headlights. A look at the side reveals a window line that slopes all the way from the rear to the A-pillar. The new Chevrolet Beat is powered by a 1.2-litre Chevrolet Family-B petrol engine that produces 82bhp. Also joining the engine options sometime later will be the 0.9-litre Fiat-sourced diesel engine which will render 57bhp at 140Nm of torque. [via motoroids.blogspot.com]

India’s Tata Nano will soon be the cheapest (disposable?) car on the market. Suzuki,  not Toyota, not Honda, does the best business of any Japanese car maker, make that any car maker in India.

Suzuki  sells the Splash and Splash VDi Diesel. The Splash will likely replace the R-Wagon and they Hyundai i10. The A-Star will be cheaper than Suzuki’s Swift. The actual price hasn’t been disclosed but the A-Star has been spotted in India.

Suzuki works with another Indian car maker, Maruti, which holds the major market share in India. But…Toyota and Honda are coming.

The Tata Nano will be the cheapest car, to be sure. But, we all know or should know, that you get what you pay for in the end. And, in the end, it’s hard to beat Japanese cars.

With the war against emissions and environmentalists criticizing big trucks with low mpg consumption, GM decided to stop producing the Hummer. However, rest assured because rumors are tsaying that either Tata or Mahindra would probably take over, but none of them cared to comment.

I don’t know for sure if that’s a good investment because Hummer is already a bleeding brand and cars like the Chevrolet Volt or hybrids are really getting market share over here, not to mention the high gas prices one would have to pay. It’s true that if you can afford a Hummer you’ll most likely afford to pay twice as much as you’re paying right now for a full tank, so we’d better keep an eye coz we might see Indian Hummers soon!