Car Articles

The Uno was introduced in India in 1996. Only 617 cars of the 30,000 ordered were delivered by Fiat's joint partner PAL. As a result of this the Fiat Uno could not fare well in India in spite of being a huge success initially. The car was designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro and was voted European Car of the Year in 1984.

Fiat is considering on re-launching the Uno in a couple of years. The new Uno will fit somewhere between the Fiat 500 and the Grande Punto. We can only hope that the Fiat Uno will be rolled into the Indian market and Fiat's new Indian business partner could market the car well.

The Fiat Siena is a small family car that can be described as the four-door sedan version of the Fiat Palio. The car is very similar to the Fiat Albea.

The Fiat Sienna got a facelift for the first time in 2001. The new design was made by the famous Italian car designer Giorgetto Giugiaro. The facelift Sienna came with a new front and rear design, and a brand new interior. The engine was replaced by the 16 valve FIRE engines 1.0 L 70cv and the 1.2 L 82cv. The Fiat Sienna in the new design was widely accepted by the people.

The Maruti Suzuki Baleno is a sedan, but Suzuki also introduced the Baleno Altura which was also Suzuki's first station wagon. The Baleno came with a 1.6 L engine and had the option of 4WD. The Maruti Baleno came in two variants.

The Maruti Suzuki Baleno came with various standard features such as tilt adjust power steering, central lock door locking, electric windows, tachometer, trip metre, "key not removed" warning buzzer, AC illumination system, cigarette lighter, ash tray illumination, electrically operated AC louvre switches, semi concealed windshield wiper (2 speed plus 2 controlled intermittent), front and rear mud flaps, day/night inside rear view mirror, velour floor carpet, front door armrests and pockets (both sides), rear door child lock, lockable glove box, side impact beams and many more. The top version included leather steering cover, automatic climate control, rear spoiler with LED stop lamp, stylish alloy wheels, MP3 music system, silver finish centre garnish and remote keyless entry also.

The Maruti Suzuki Baleno was phased out in 2007 to make way for the Maruti Suzuki SX4.

The Peugeot 309 is a small family car that was introduced in India by the collaboration of Premier Automobile Limited (PAL) and Peugeot Limited. The car dominated the Indian roads between 1994 and 1997. The Peugeot 309 was originally designed and manufactured by Peugeot between 1985 and 1993.

The Daewoo Cielo was a very comfortable and spacious car that did not need much maintenance. The car was affordable compared to other cars of the same segment of that time. The car came with an excellent air-conditioning system that removed dust, pollen and moisture from the air for easy breathing.

But the biggest flaw of the car was it was a gas guzzler. Moreover, buying spare parts of the car had left the owner with a hole in the pocket.

The Daewoo Matiz graced Indian roads in 1998. The Matiz is an exceptionally beautiful car designed by the famous Italian designer Giorgetto Guigiaro.

The Matiz has won the 'Most Beautiful Automobile' award at the Milan Show and the 'Best Small Car' at UK Motor Show. It entered the Guinness Book of Records for 'The Most Fuel-Efficient Car' at 32.01 km to a litre of petrol. The Matiz was powered in India by a 796-cc engine that produced 52bhp. It has a Multi-Point Fuel Injection system.

The interior was able to accommodate five persons comfortably. The car conformed to European Safety Regulations. The Daewoo Matiz forms a protective shell around the passengers to protect them in case of serious accidents. Moreover, it is the only car in India to have successfully passed the stringent 40% Offset Frontal Crash Test.

The Matiz is now available as the Chevrolet Spark in the Indian market. In fact, the Spark was the perfect platform for General Motors to venture into the Indian small-car market.