Cars coming to India in 2020: Sedans
The roaring 20s are back! Although the car industry might beg to differ. But even in this depressed market, we have a massive number of launches lined-up for this year. Many of these are because of the impending BSVI switchover, which will see many cars being discontinued, given how the economics of this change is difficult to justify for small diesel cars. But many carmakers are also taking this opportunity to strengthen their line-up. It's quite clear that buyers are still looking for new and exciting cars, and will happily pay for one, manufacturers have understood this and many are on an aggressive product strategy.
Here's a look at all the sedans that we think will come to the Indian market by 2020
Ciaz BSVI
Maruti Suzuki has been one of the first carmakers to start selling most of its range with BSVI engine options. Currently, the BSVI portfolio of Maruti Suzuki consists of Alto 800, Baleno, WagonR, Swift, Dzire, Ertiga, XL6 and the S-Presso, which have seen over three lakh sales cumulatively. The Ciaz is expected to follow suit soon with the same petrol mill as in the XL6.
How much? Rs 8.4-11.2 lakh | When? Early 2020
Hyundai
Aura
Replacement to the Xcent, the Aura takes everything nice about the aggressive design of the Nios, and gives it a boot (and cargo capacity) to match. Marginally wider (20mm) and with a longer wheelbase (25mm) than the car it replaces, the Aura is all-new and should bring some sheen back to Hyundai's luck in the compact sedan segment. There will be a 1.2-litre petrol, a 1.4-litre diesel, and the punchy 1-litre turbo petrol, with an option of five-speed AMTs for the first two engines.
How much? Rs 6-9 lakh | When? Early 2020
Verna facelift
Like the refreshed Elantra, the Verna will get a big cascading grille, likely with lots of chrome, and wrap-around tail lights. Also expect connected car tech like the rest of the Hyundai range â€" and 1.5-litre petrol and diesel engines, with the option of a 48V mild-hybrid system for the petrol.
How much? Rs 9.5-14.5 lakh | When? Mid 2020
Sonata
This is a bit of a long-shot but the Hyundai Motor Group recently announced that it would try to dethrone Maruti Suzuki as the country foremost carmaker. Both Hyundai and Kia brands have a role to play in this, and the new-gen Sonata is expected to play a role in this. The brand is conducting market studies to see how viable this car is for the Indian market.
How much? Rs 25-30 lakh | When? Late 2020
Kia
K5
Kia Motors India recently previewed the new-gen Kia K5, also known as the Optima in North America. The K5 is an aggressively styled fastback sedan similar in size to the Elantra. There are many engines available internationally, a 1.6-litre T-GDi engine that works up 180PS with265 Nm torque gets things started. The top-spec car is the K5 GT, which comes with a 2.5-litre T-GDi motor making 290PS and 422 Nm. The Korean carmaker hasn't confirmed the K5 for India, but it seems to be under consideration.
How much? Rs 25-30 lakh | When? Late 2020
Tata Motors
Tigor facelift
The Styling of the facelifted Tigor will closely mirror that of its hatch sibling. So expect a front fascia derived from the Altroz, with similar wide headlamps, and an inward slant to the face. Also expect more features on the inside and BSVI engines
How much? Rs 5.0-7.5 lakh | When? Early 2020
Toyota
Corolla
With a move to new TNGA underpinnings, the 12th generation Corolla looks set to woo buyers with new-found quality, features and comfort in addition to its lineage of bulletproof reliability. Not to mention its sharper clothes. The new Corolla also moves to a multilink rear suspension set-up, and a renewed focus on driving dynamics should make it more fun to drive. Top-end variants should get full digital instrumentation and eight-inch touchscreen infotainment. In lieu of the current model's ageing 1.8-litre petrol, we could see a new 2-litre petrol with 169PS, or even a 1.8-litre hybrid with 121PS total power.
How much? Rs 17-21 lakh | When? Mid 2020
Honda
City
The new-gen Honda Civic… excuse us, the new fifth-gen City borrows a fair bit from its elder sibling's design, including the thick chrome 'forehead'. Longer than the outgoing model by 100mm, the new City promises more seating comfort despite an 11mm reduction in its wheelbase. A more straightforward cabin design that includes rotary climate controls, and an eight-inch touchscreen infotainment with a more modern-looking interface, and better quality of materials used in it. It will continue with the 1.5-litre diesel, upgraded to be BSVI compliant, the 1.5-litre petrol with 117PS and 145Nm, and hopefully, the new 1-litre turbo petrol with 122PS and 173Nm as available internationally.
How much? Rs 10-15 lakh | When? Late 2020
Ford
Aspire BSVI
The Aspire is available the 1.2-litre three-cylinder Dragon petrol which offers 96PS and 120Nm. The diesel remains the unchanged 1.5 litre unit and puts out 100 PS and 215 Nm. These will be mated to the new five-speed manual transmission. The six-speed automatic option continues to be available with the 123PS 1.5 litre petrol. We expect all of these to move to BSVI emission standards with a corresponding hike in prices.
How much? Rs 6.2-9.4 lakh | When? Mid 2020
Volkswagen
Vento BSVI
Volkswagen has just refreshed the Polo and Vento, as it plans a replacement for those cars under the India 2.0 plan in 2021. The firm is going the petrol-only route in the BSVI era, and we think the Vento will get a new 1.0-litre three-cylinder that has already debuted globally. This motor comes in 95PS and 115PS guises.
How much? Rs 12.0-13.5 lakh | When? Mid 2020
Passat BSVI
The flagship VW sedan is expected to get a minor refresh and should also have its diesel mill swapped out for a new 2.0-litre petrol motor with 190PS and 320 Nm, paired with a seven-speed DCT. Aside from the minor changes on the outside, we also expect a refresh to the cabin, and more in the way of connected tech.
How much? Rs 28-31 lakh | When? Mid 2020
Skoda
Rapid BSVI
The Rapid is also expected to get a similar treatment as the Vento. The new 1.0-litre engine should be seen here as well. A new face for the Rapid debuted in Russia recently, but given that the car is unrelated to the one sold here, it's not expected to be seen here.
How much? Rs 12.0-13.5 lakh | When? Mid 2020
Octavia
The sleek new Octavia has the numbers to back it up â€" 0.24Cd makes it quite slippery. New MQB platform makes it larger, more spacious (78mm more knee room is a lot!) and more comfortable too, with plenty of new tech to excite, like the gesture control infotainment and shift-by-wire transmission. Speaking of the drivetrain, we expect the new Octi to get a 1.5-litre turbo petrol motor making 150PS, with a seven-speed DSG automatic, and 48V mild-hybrid tech. The new Octavia could debut Skoda's plug-in hybrid tech in India, as it will internationally, with its 1.4-litre TSI and electric motor combo producing 204PS, and offering an electric-only range around the 50km mark.
How much? Rs 17-27 lakh | When? Early 2020
Superb facelift
The Superb facelift is expected to come with a single petrol engine option. We expect the 2.0-litre petrol to make 190PS between 4,200 and 6,000rpm, max torque is 320Nm from 1,500 to 4,100rpm. As for design changes to the Superb facelift, the butterfly grille now has a thick chrome strip running over it while the headlamps are slimmer and full matrix LED units with new elements. Also new is the front bumper. The air dam is wider and stretches the entire length of the car, also housing the wide LED fog lamps. It gets the wide Skoda lettering seen on the Scala while the tail lamps now have new detailing.
How much? Rs 28-31 lakh | When? Mid 2020
A-Class sedan
The newest entry-level Mercedes won't disappoint with its new-age styling inside and out, or it's seriously aerodynamic 0.22Cd, among the lowest for production sedans. Despite the slippery shape, expect more headroom over the CLA, given it has a regular roofline and not a coupe's. The bigger news is the massive upgrade in the quality of the cabin compared to the CLA, and along with new tech (MBUX, for example) as seen on other new Mercedes models, we expect a new 1.5-litre petrol engine and 2-litre diesel engine to provide power to this front-wheel-drive car.
How much? Rs 33-38 lakh | When? Mid 2020
A8L
Audi India is focusing more on its brand image, hence the push for more upmarket products. The A8L, alongside the Q8 and e-tron, are the major models behind this push. The A8L has been completely refreshed a couple of years ago, which is also when we drove it.
How much? Rs 95 lakh -1.5 crore | When? Mid 2020
BMW
2 Series Gran Coupe
While India's only encounter with the 2 Series has been in the form of the hooligan M2, the 2 Series Gran Coupe is an altogether different (front-wheel drive only) machine, positioned as the entry-level BMW sedan in India. Much shorter in wheelbase and length than the 3 Series, the 2 Series Gran Coupe will go up square against the Mercedes A-Class sedan when launched. Closely related to the X1 (it uses the same platform), expect it to get the new 3-cylinder, 1.5-litre turbo petrol engine with 140PS, apart from the existing 2-litre diesel and petrol.
How much? Rs 32-37 lakh | When? Mid 2020
Volvo
S60
The Swedish carmaker is expected to bring in the latest generation of its C-Class rival. The S60 gets styling similar to the S90 but with a younger vibe to it. The interiors are standard for a Volvo, with a digital instrument cluster, 9-inch Sensus infotainment system along with wood/aluminium trim. The S60, like the XC60, XC90 and S90, is based on the Scalable Product Architecture(SPA). Notably, the S60 is available only in petrol. There are four engine options internationally at launch, all based on a 2.0-litre petrol.
How much? Rs 40-50 lakh | When? Mid 2020