While a range of new motorcycles and cars have already been launched this year so far, manufacturers still have more surprises waiting for us for the remaining part of the year
It is no secret that India is currently going through an economic slowdown, and like all other industries, the automotive industry is suffering too. However, it seems like automobile manufacturers want to get back on track ASAP, and have a range of new product launches lined up for next month, which includes both motorcycles as well as cars.
We have combined the list of the five big car and bike launches that will take place in June 2020, take a read to know in detail about these five vehicles –
1. New-gen Honda City
Honda was all set to debut the new-gen City in the Indian market on March 16, 2020, but ended up postponing the event indefinitely. However, the Japanese carmaker is all set to launch the 2020 City in the Indian market next month, and it will surely be one of the biggest launches this year.
The car will feature an all-new revolutionary design over the outgoing model, and will also be larger than the car it is set to replace. Honda also revealed that the new-gen model will come packed with features like a one-touch electric sunroof, lane watch camera, full LED headlamps with 9 LED shells, Honda Connect connected-car tech with first-in-industry Alexa Remote Support, and more.
Powering the car will be a new 1.5-litre four-cylinder petrol engine, with a power output of 121 hp, and the peak torque output is expected to be rated at about 150 Nm. Also on offer will be a BS6-compliant 1.5-litre four-cylinder diesel engine producing 100 hp max power.
2. Royal Enfield Meteor 350
Royal Enfield will soon be replacing the Thunderbird 350 from its lineup with an all new motorcycle which will be dubbed the Meteor 350. Spy shots of the motorcycle have been spotted on test a couple of times revealing some vital information about the bike.
The Meteor 350 will be underpinned by a new ‘J-platform’, and will be feature a split seat setup, split grab rails, an instrument cluster with a digital display, a halogen headlamp, LED DRL and more. However, the Meteor 350’s styling will likely be inspired from the Thunderbird 350X, with just a few changes.
The Thunderbird 350’s 348 cc motor churned out 19.5 hp and 28 Nm, but the Meteor is expected to be offered with a new 350 cc engine with slightly higher power and torque output. The engine will likely come mated to a 6-speed gearbox, unlike the 5-step setup seen earlier.
3. Maruti Suzuki S-Cross Petrol
Maruti Suzuki is all set to launch the S-Cross with a BS6 1.5-litre four-cylinder petrol engine that belts out 104 hp power and 138 Nm torque, which will be replacing the BS4 1.3-litre DDiS oil burner that was earlier on offer with the crossover.
While a 5-speed manual gearbox will be offered as standard, the S-Cross will also get an optional four-speed torque converter automatic gearbox for the first time. Speculations also suggest that the automatic transmission will be offered with all three variants (Delta, Zeta, Alpha) of the car.
No cosmetic changes are expected to be made to the S-Cross, and features like LED projector headlamps, 16-inch alloy wheels, cruise control, keyless entry, push-button start/stop, electrically adjustable ORVMs and a SmartPlay Studio touchscreen infotainment system integrated with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto will be retained.
4. Hero Xtreme 160R
Hero MotoCorp revealed an all-new motorcycle called ‘Xtreme 160R’ at the Hero World 2020 earlier this year, and the bike has been listed on the manufacturer’s website since March. Hero claimed that it the Xtreme 160R will largely focus on the youth, thus the bike is given a modern and sporty design.
The Xtreme 160R gets a dual-tone paint scheme coupled with stylish graphics and a sleek headlamp. The bike draws power from a 160 cc single-cylinder air-cooled engine that generates 15 hp of max power and 14 Nm of peak torque. Its 5-speed gearbox will help the motorcycle sprint from 0 to 60 km/h in just 4.7 seconds.
The motorcycle will be offered with a host of features including a full LED headlamp, an LED tail lamp with H graphics, LED turn signals, a hazard lamp switch, side stand engine cut-off feature, and a blue backlit fully digital LCD instrument cluster that displays vital information.
5. Honda WR-V Facelift
A few weeks ago, Honda teased the BS6-compliant WR-V which confirmed that the crossover will be getting a mild facelift apart from the cleaner engine. The WR-V facelift will sport a slightly redesigned front fascia with a tweaked grille and new fog lamp housing. The car will now come equipped with new LED projector headlamps as well.
Powering the car will be the updated versions of the same 1.2-litre petrol (90 PS/110 Nm) and diesel (100 PS/200 Nm) engines that were previously on offer with the BS4-compliant model. Features like 7-inch touchscreen infotainment system with smartphone connectivity, an electric sunroof, cruise control, push-button start/stop etc will be carried over to the facelifted model.