Finance
The Indian auto market is witnessing a revival of demand as consumers are showing more interest in buying new passenger vehicles boosted by the preference for personal mobility. Several automakers are trying to encash this momentum and launching their new products in the domestic market.
While Kia Motors has unveiled the Carens MPV ahead of its launch in the coming weeks, the latest on the list is the Toyota Hilus pickup truck that has been unveiled and scheduled to launch in March this year.
Here are some exciting cars that are set to be launched in the Indian market in this financial year, by March 2022.
Kia Carens
Kia Motors has unveiled its fourth product for the Indian market – Kia Carens. The Kia Carens MPV comes with a design inspired by an SUV and the practicality of an MPV. It comes with a visual appearance that is completely different from the other three Kia cars available in the country – Seltos, Carnival and Sonet.
Kia has claimed that it received almost 8,000 bookings for the Carens on the very first day. Kia Carens MPV will be available in both six and seven-seater configurations and it will be offered five different trim options – Premium, Prestige, Prestige Plus, Luxury, and Luxury Plus. It will be available in eight different colour options – Imperial Blue, Moss Brown, Sparkling Silver, Intense Red, Glacier White Pearl, Clear White, Gravity Grey and Aurora Black Pearl.
Kia Carens MPV promises to come equipped with a host of safety features, 66 connected car features. Also, it will be available in three different engine options – 1.5-litre naturally-aspirated petrol, 1.5-litre turbo-diesel and 1.4-litre turbocharged petrol. Transmission options for the MPV will include both manual and automatic gearbox choices. Upon launch, it will compete with rivals such as Maruti Suzuki XL6, Toyota Innova Crysta etc.
Toyota Hilux
Toyota Hilux comes as one of the most exciting upcoming launches in the Indian auto market. This lifestyle pickup truck will compete with Isuzu V-Cross. The lifestyle pickup truck is a segment that is less explored in India, but widely popular in the global market. With changing preference Indian customers, Toyota aims to tap the segment and hopes to receive a positive response for Hilux.
Toyota Hilux uses the same Innovative International Multi-purpose Vehicle (IMV-2) underpinning shared by Toyota Fortuner SUV and Innova Crysta MPV. It also shares several components with the SUV and MPV. The pickup truck is already available for booking across the country and will hit showrooms in March this year.
The muscular-looking pickup truck gets power from a 2.8-litre turbocharged diesel engine that churns out 2904 PS of power and 420 Nm of torque. It gets a six-speed manual and a six-speed torque converter automatic gearbox. Toyota Hilux will be available in both 4×2 and 4×4 configurations. The 4×4 variant will come with an electronic differential lock.
2022 MG ZS EV
MG ZS EV is among the few electric cars currently available in the Indian market. The British carmaker is now readying a facelifted version of this pure electric SUV. The 2022 MG ZS EV is expected to launch in India sometime in February this year. It gets a bigger and more powerful battery pack ensuring a longer range.
The 2022 MG ZS EV comes with a host of design changes at the exterior and inside its cabin. The major change in the upcoming model includes a completely redesigned front fascia that ditches the current grille and adopts a flat panel, revised LED headlamps with integrated LED daytime running lights, an updated front bumper etc.
The new MG ZS EV gets a 10.1-inch touchscreen infotainment system, Level 2 autonomous ADAS, AI assistant from MG Astor SUV. The new ZS EV is expected to come with new colour and trim options as well. The power source for the upcoming 2022 MG ZS EV is a new 51 kWh battery pack that promises around a 480 km range on a single charge.
