New Delhi. If you are planning to buy a new car, then this festive season is going to be very special for you. More than 20 new cars are going to be launched in the Indian market in the coming 3 months. New cars will be launched from Navratri to Christmas and will be introduced with updated models and features. According to the information, in this festive season, companies are ready to spend Rs 20 lakh crore in the auto industry. The price of the cars to be launched will be between Rs 6 lakh and Rs 2.25 crore.
Looking at the demand of the customers, the auto companies are focusing on the launch of SUVs and 7 seater vehicles. Mercedes, Kia and Volkswagen are bringing premium SUVs. 80% of these cars are from the SUV-MPV segment.
The trend of SUVs is getting stronger Car buyers are always attracted to new features. This makes the customer decide to buy a car. Car manufacturers launch new cars taking advantage of this mindset of the customer. Currently, a strong trend of SUVs is being seen. Keeping this trend in mind, companies are also preparing to attract rich customers. The market is full of SUVs as compared to hatchbacks of the same size. Customers are liking cars with airbags, sunroof, infotainment and comfortable features more. It is expected that dealers will receive attractive bookings for cars before the festive season.
12% more discount than last year Currently, car dealers have an inventory of about 75 days, which should normally be 30-45 days. Dealers have 7.8 lakh cars worth Rs 80 thousand crores ready to be sold. The cost of maintaining these cars in the showroom is increasing. If these cars are parked for a long time, the margin will reduce to 1%. Therefore, dealers are selling these cars by giving huge discounts.
According to global automotive and intelligence firm JATO Dynamics, the average discount of vehicle companies is 12% higher this year compared to last year. There is a discount of Rs 20 thousand to Rs 3.25 lakh on vehicles. In 2023, it was Rs 25 lakh to Rs 1 lakh, which was 40-45% higher than 2022. According to the data, the average discount on vehicles right now is Rs 38,816, which was Rs 34,630 in 2023.
Tags: Auto News, Car Discount Offers, Festive Offer
Infotainment systems have become a vital part of cars now. In the past few years, the infotainment system has developed significantly. Because of this, they have become an important factor when making a purchase decision when someone is buying a new car. However, there are still many old cars on the road which have a pretty basic infotainment system.
By: Paarth Khatri | Updated on: 21 Oct 2023, 17:35 PM
The infotainment system measures 9 inches so it would be able to fit most cars. However, additional fitment might be required depending on the vehicle.
Yes, the after-market is full of infotainment systems but there are very few well-reputed companies that are offering an infotainment system. One such company is Uno Minda, they are best known for supplying parts to OEMs and they have been doing this for several years. Now, they are entering the market with a new infotainment system of their own. It is called WTUNES-649TAACP and yes it is a very typical infotainment name. However, we got to test this new system and here is our review of it.
Uno Minda WTUNES-649TAACP: Runs on Android
The infotainment system measures a good 9 inches so it is still within the driver’s reach. The system runs on an Android system which means that it can possibly run any application that can be used on an Android phone. It comes with a Play Store so the applications can be updated as well as new applications can be installed using Wi-Fi. Apart from this, there is split screen functionality on offer as well. Uno Minda uses a T5 processor so there are no lags or stutters throughout the user interface. It also has 4 GB RAM and 64 GB onboard storage. This means that it can multi-task quite easily and the on-board storage helps in case the driver wants to store a few media items on the system itself.
The latest update of Android Auto can run on a split screen. There can be Google Maps on one side and Spotify on the other. There are voice commands on offer as well.
Uno Minda WTUNES-649TAACP: Wireless Android Auto & Apple CarPlay
Honestly, most people will be using Android Auto or Apple CarPlay on the infotainment system. The best thing about the infotainment system is that it comes with Wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay. This means that you need to set it up just once and the next time you start the vehicle, the Android Auto or Apple CarPlay is automatically connected and is ready to go. I tested only Android Auto and it worked fine for the most part, I only faced two issues. The first one is that the touch is not as responsive as the OEM systems while the other one is that the Google Maps do not change the theme automatically. Because of this, the light theme does get annoying while riding at night and vice versa.
Moreover, the manufacturer has configured the system to turn on the hotspot automatically. This might look like a small thing but there are few aftermarket players in which the driver needs to turn on the hotspot manually.
Android Auto also shows the notifications and the driver can hear them and reply to them as well. The music application shown below in the form of a bar so that the driver can change the music anytime he or she wants.
Uno Minda WTUNES-649TAACP: Audio quality
The manufacturer has equipped the infotainment system with a 36-band equalizer which also has presets. The audio quality of the system is also quite good. It also supports an amplifier and a sub-woofer, in case the person plans to fit them. Apart from this, there is also a setting for fader and balance.
Uno Minda WTUNES-649TAACP: Features
Uno Minda has added several features to the infotainment system. It comes with support for the 360-degree camera which will make parking in tight spots very easy if you get the cameras installed. You can also just use the front and rear cameras, it is not necessary to have all four cameras. Apart from this, the infotainment system also comes with in-built support for high-definition cameras. If your car has controls on the steering wheel then that can also connect to the system.
The infotainment system is based on Android so it can theoretically run most of the applications that are available on Google Play Store. There is FM/AM on offer as well.
Then there are some clever features such as the volume automatically lowering when the reverse gear is engaged. Moreover, the brightness automatically turns down and the backlit behind the buttons automatically turns on when the headlamps are switched on. The infotainment system comes with two USB ports that can be used to charge the mobile phone, connect a USB stick to transfer stuff or connect Android Auto or Apple CarPlay. However, we did notice that the battery would start falling while using these USB ports because they are not rated for high output.
Uno Minda WTUNES-649TAACP: Verdict
The MRP on the box of the unit is ₹34, 990. However, depending on the seller, there is a possibility that a person ends up paying less. One important thing to note is that the fitment of the system is not very simple. I had to get new housing for the AC vents so that the infotainment system would fit. However, this depends on the car that the person is using. Then there is the additional cost of the panel and fitting that a person might have to consider. Having said that, fitting an infotainment is a one-time job so if you are planning to keep a car for a long time and want the convenience of Android Auto or Apple CarPlay, the WTUNES-649TAACP from Uno Minda is a great option.
