Five cars that made waves in Indian auto industry in 2015

The year 2015 saw the arrival of many new cars and facelifts across different segments. By our calculations, over 30 launches happened over the 12 months in India. Some car launches were eagerly awaited for its USP. These cars were THE talk of the industry before and after the launch. We have compiled A LIST OF five of cars that made headlines in 2015.

Renault Kwid

Unarguably the most awaited launch of the 2015 was the Renault Kwid. The French company only had the Duster SUV in its portfolio before the Kwid. It was launched on 24 September, and blazed the sale trail of Renault India. Booking for the car is currently over 70,000 units, and the waiting period is north of six months.

The Kwid came with an impressive starting price of Rs 2.56 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi). Launched in four variants — Standard, RxE, RxL and RxT — Renault Kwid is powered by a 799cc three-cylinder petrol motor, which is tuned to churn out 54PS and a peak torque of 72Nm with a five-speed manual gearbox. The Kwid is the first car to be built on the CMF-A platform and offers best-in-class mileage at 25.17kmpl.

Hyundai Creta

The Indian car of the year 2016, the Hyundai Creta compact SUV was launched on 21 July. The compact SUV eventually became one of the most successful cars in India for the Korean manufacturer with sales averaging over 6,000 units per month. The Creta dethroned long-time bestselling SUV Mahindra Bolero in its first two months. Creta has bookings of over 70000 units.

Priced between Rs 8.59 lakh and Rs 13.60 lakh at the time of launch, Creta is being offered in both petrol and diesel-engine options. The 1.6-litre VTVT petrol engine churns out 121bhp and 151Nm of torque, while the 1.6-litre CRDi diesel engine develops 126bhp and 259Nm of torque. The 1.4-litre CRDi diesel unit churns out 89bhp and 220Nm of torque. The entire engine is mated to a six-speed manual transmission, while the 1.6-litre CRDi is also available with six-speed automatic transmission.

Maruti Suzuki Baleno

The name Baleno itself was good enough to make headlines in India. Baleno was a sedan sold by Maruti Suzuki early last decade, which had a good reputation in the rally field in India. In the latest avatar, the Baleno comes as a premium hatchback. The Baleno will be made only in India for the rest of the world even for Japan, home country of Suzuki.

The second car via Maruti Suzuki Nexa premium dealerships, the Baleno hatchback was launched on 26 October. The premium hatchback has been priced in the range of Rs 4.99-8.11 lakh (ex-showroom). Under the hood, it comes with 1.2-litre K-Series petrol or 1.3-litre DDiS diesel engines. While the petrol engine is tuned to develop 83bhp and 115Nm of torque, the diesel mill churns out 74bhp and 190Nm of torque. Both engines are mated to a five-speed manual transmission, and the petrol engine is also available with a CVT automatic gearbox. The Baleno diesel delivers ARAI-claimed fuel efficiency of 27.39kmpl and the petrol unit returns 21.4kmpl.

Fiat Abarth Punto

The launch of Fiat Abarth Punto has elevated the hot hatchback segment in terms of power, and the car has become the most powerful hatchback in the country at an affordable price.

Fiat India extended its high-performance Abarth range with the launch of Abarth Punto on 19 October with a price tag of Rs 9.95 lakh, ex-showroom Delhi. The 1.4-litre T-JET turbocharged petrol engine develops 145bhp and 200Nm of torque mated to five-speed manual transmission in Abarth Punto. The hot hatch runs 0-100kmph in 8.8 seconds and comes with an impressive fuel efficiency of 16.3kmpl.

Maruti Suzuki S-Cross

Maruti Suzuki kick-started its premium product offering with the launch of S-Cross crossover launched on 5 August. The first product via Nexa dealerships is priced from Rs 8.34-13.74 lakh, and offered only in two diesel-engine options. The 200 DDiS 1.3-litre diesel motor churns out 89bhp of power and 200Nm of torque while the 320 DDiS 1.6-litre diesel is tuned to pump out 118bhp and 320Nm of torque. The DDiS 200 engine comes paired to a five-speed manual gearbox, while the latter gets six-speed manual transmission.

The S-Cross made headlines with a price discount of up to Rs 1 lakh during festive season. The crossover reportedly sold with discount up to Rs 3 lakh in Delhi according to the reports.