Saturday, 1 February 2014

Auto Expo 2014 Harley-Davidson lineup: Street 750, Street Bob and Street Glide

The big news for Harley-Davidson, of course, is the new Street 750, their first India-made product. The company intends to announce prices for the Street 750 at the Auto Expo and open bookings and expects to start delivering the Street 750 to Indian customers by May-June 2014.
Harley-davidson-Street-750-(1)
Harley-Davidson Street 750
At the global launch in Milan, the company also confirmed that it intended the Street 750 to be priced at under Rs 5 lakh on road, setting the stage for a Harley that will be priced at an extremely tempting and affordable Rs 4.4 lakh. We expect the Street 750 to be the largest-selling Harley in India before the year is out. Harley-Davidson will also showcase the new Street Glide model that our Alan rode a couple of months ago in Malaysia.
2014 Harley-Davidson Street Glide
2014 Harley-Davidson Street Glide

The motorcycle which came out of Harley’s Project Rushmore feature among other things part-liquid cooling and significant upgrades. Harley will also present and start sales of the new 2014 Street Bob model – one of our favourite Harleys in the whole range and a bike that is in CKD assembly in India.

Ashok Leyland launches Partner and Mitr LCVs in India

Ashok Leyland has launched two LCVs (Light commercial vehicles)- Partner and Mitr in India. This is the second offering from the Ashok Leyland-Nissan joint venture in India.
Pricing for the Partner, which has two variants based on their wheelbase i.e 2850mm and 3350mm is Rs 8.89 lakh and Rs 9.19 lakh. The Ashok Leyland Mitr bus is priced at Rs 12.49 lakh (ex-showroom, Chennai).
Partner is a LCV based on the Nissan F24 platform. Manufacturer claims that its focus with this vehicle is on driver comfort and it has given the Partner a modern Euro cabin with car-like interiors.
Ashok Leyland Parner
Ashok Leyland Partner
This LCV weighs in at 6.6 tonnes and is capable of hauling a 4 tonne payload. Power is derived from a ZD30 common rail diesel engine. Air conditioning is also available in the top end LX trim but power steering is standard on all models. A tilt-able cabin allows for easy servicing.
The Mitr is a 26+1+1 seater bus which is targeted to be a staff carrier. It shares its engine and platform with the Partner.  The ZD30 engine produces 116PS and a peak torque of 320Nm. Power is transmitted by a five speed manual gearbox. Mitr has parabolic suspension at both front and rear ends. A school bus variant is also expected to be launched soon.
Ashok Leyland MITR school bus
Ashok Leyland MITR school bus
Speaking at the occasion, V. Sumantran, vice chairman, Ashok Leyland, said, “We are delighted to present the next range of products from the Ashok Leyland-Nissan JV – PARTNER and MiTR. With these two new products, we have stayed true to our LCV mission – to deliver to the Indian customer, contemporary products that deliver best-in-class user experience, coupled with exceptional efficiency.”