Hyundai Santro to Mahindra XUV700: 8 UPCOMING cars in October

Automakers are gearing up to launch new cars and facelifts, in October, to make the most of the festive season. We have compiled a list of 8 such upcoming launches. If you are planning to buy a car, take a look and decide for yourself. 

Ford Figo Aspire

Expected launch : 4^th October

Ford does not plan to launch any new model for the next two years, and so the updates coming now are expected to be available in the market for some time. The Figo Aspire has been in news lately with spy shots and other leaks surfacing. As it’s a facelift, don’t expect a complete overhaul of the current car. On the outside, the design changes include a new honeycomb mesh grille with redesigned front and rear bumpers. Newly styled fog lamps will also be present.

At the rear, the car will sport a redesigned bumper with a rugged look. The interiors will be given a slightly new look and the main change would be a floating touch infotainment screen with the new SYNC3 system. Revised upholstery and a new interior theme are also expected. The engines on offer will be a new 1.2-litre ‘Dragon’ series 3-cylinder petrol engine and the same old 1.5-litre TDCI diesel engine. Prices will be around Rs. 6 lakhs to keep the car competitive.

Isuzu MU-X Facelift

Expected launch: mid-October

The flagship offering of Isuzu in India will also get a facelift this October. Changes to the exterior, include a new front bumper along with LED projector headlamps and LED DRLs. On the rear, the Isuzu MU-X gets LED elements on the tail light cluster and a revamped bumper. The facelifted SUV is equipped with newly designed sporty 18-inch alloy wheels. Moving on to the inside, a touchscreen infotainment system and automatic climate control will be available in the facelift. But the overall design of the dashboard is expected to remain unchanged to keep costs in check.

Major change on the car will be an all-new 1.9-litre, four-cylinder turbocharged diesel engine that produces 148 Bhp of power and 350Nm of torque. The engine will be mated to a 6-speed automatic gearbox with a four-wheel-drive system. The car is expected to come with a price tag of around Rs. 25 Lakh.

Hyundai Santro

Expected launch: 23^rd October

The Santro has been on the cards for Hyundai for a while now, and will finally be launched on 23^rd October. It will come in as an Eon replacement, albeit more expensive and with a bigger footprint. The car will benefit from the iconic ‘Santro’ name and will battle Tata Tiago and Maruti Celerio among others. It is said to feature a 1.1-litre petrol engine which is an updated version of the one used on the last generation i10. It will also get Hyundai’s first AMT transmission. Expect pricing to be somewhere between Rs. 3.5 lakh to Rs. 5.5 lakh

Datsun Go

Expected launch: October

The simple and affordable Datsun Go was long due for an update and finally will be getting one now. The new facelifted car will feature a redesigned bumper with LED DRLs and new headlamps. A new grille with chrome inserts is also set to make an appearance on the car. The interiors will be freshened up along with the addition of a new dashboard.

The current three-cylinder, 1.2-litre petrol engine mated to a five-speed manual transmission will continue to work on this one too. Although unlikely, an automatic gearbox could be offered as an option. Pricing is expected to go up by Rs. 30-50 thousand than the outgoing model, which retails at Rs 3.31- 4.56 lakh range.

Datsun GO+

Expected launch: October

Datsun’s ultra-affordable MPV is also set to get a facelift this festive season along with its sibling, the Go hatchback. The new version will be also get the same update and changes as the GO. This includes a new bumper with LED DRLs along with redesigned headlights as on the hatchback.

On the inside, changes include a new dashboard design with a centrally mounted 6.75-inch touchscreen infotainment screen. The engine option will be the same as the current one. Prices are expected to start at around Rs. 4-4.5 lakhs. The company is expected to launch the vehicle towards the end of October.

Tata Tiago JTP

Expected launch: last week of October

The Tiago JTP was first seen at the 2018 Auto Expo. It’s a result of the collaboration between Jayem Automotives and Tata Motors. The Tiago JTP will be the most affordable hot hatchback in India upon its launch. It will carry a sticker price of around Rs. 6 lakhs, which is quite a bargain when you look at the competition.

Aesthetic upgrades on the car include an air intake on the bonnet, refreshed black grille, redesigned bumpers, and a JTP logo on the grille and multiple other places. It will be powered by the same 1.2-litre turbocharged three-cylinder petrol engine that powers the Nexon. However, the engine will be re-tuned to be more responsive and provide linear power delivery. Like a true-blue hot hatch, the Tiago JTP will come with a manual transmission only. It will be launched next month during the festive season.

Honda CR-V

Expected launch: 9^th October

Honda is bringing in the new CR-V this October to gain some of the market share back from the competition. The popular soft roader never did very well and one of the reasons for it was the lack of a third-row seat. Honda, however, has addressed this issue and the new model will come with a seven-seat configuration.

The car would be launched around October end this year with prices in the Rs. 25 lakhs range. The new CR-V will be available with a 1.6-litre diesel producing 120 PS of peak power and 300 Nm of peak torque and a 2.0-litre petrol giving out 154 Ps of power and 189 Nm of torque. The diesel variant will feature a 9-speed automatic, whereas the petrol ones will get a CVT.

Mahindra XUV700

Expected launch: last week of October

The much hyped XUV700 is basically a re-badged SsangYong Rexton G4. Mahindra does not want to bring the brand name back as the current lot of Rextons didn’t do very well in the market and hence the renaming process.The new XUV700 will be launched in the last week of October 2018. It will be the most luxurious and expensive car yet from the Mahindra stable. The XUV700 will come with many segment-first features like heated/ventilated seats among others.

It will also come with a host of safety features like ABS, EBD, 9 airbags and many more to comply with the upcoming stringent government norms.Under the hood, a 2.2-litre diesel engine producing a maximum power of 179 Bhp and 420 Nm will mark its presence. The engine will be mated to a Mercedes-Benz sourced 7-speed automatic transmission. Mahindra is known to place its products very wisely so expect the XUV700 to be positioned somewhere near Rs. 24 lakh mark making it much cheaper than the competition.