Trail blazing

PITSTOP

Sometime in the middle of 2004, expect to see a new SUV on Indian roads.

Nissan, the third largest automotive manufacturer in Japan, is introducing their X-Trail SUV in the country. The X-Trail is Japan's biggest selling SUV, and it made an international debut at the Frankfurt Motor Show in 2001.

At present, it's undergoing tests at the Automotive Research Association of India, and once it gets an approval from them, it will be ready to go on sale in the country, as a completely built-up unit. Nissan officials expect it to be priced in the range of Rs 20 lakh.

Powering the X-Trail in India will be a 2184cc inline four, turbocharged intercooled diesel, mated to a six-speed manual transmission. And yes, it's a common rail direct injection unit. The engine develops 134 bhp at 4000 rpm and 32 kgm of torque at 2000 revs.

Nissan claims a 0 to 100 kph timing of 11.5 seconds, which seems quite remarkable for a diesel-powered SUV. Like the Chevrolet Forester, the X-Trail uses monocoque construction. So we can expect car-like driving qualities. Plus, with its four-wheel drive system, it can manage a fair bit of off-roading as well.

It will come with safety features like Electronic Brake Distribution, ABS and front and side airbags. The X-Trail comes with a host of thoughtful and user-friendly features.

It boasts of huge luggage space, versatile seating arrangement, great leg room and head room, plus of course, numerous slots and niches to hold various little things.

In India, the X-Trail will be offered in two trim levels, elegance and comfort. Nissan is setting up four dealerships in the country "� Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai and Kolkata "� for retail sales.

They expect to gather sales from people dissatisfied with their D-segment sedans and want to shift to an SUV, and others who expect car-like driving pleasure from an SUV. What can we say, but welcome, Nissan.

Filling up

Indian Oil and Coffee Day Xpress have come together to set up coffee bars and take-away kiosks at Indian Oil fuel pumps. Over ten Coffee Day Xpress kiosks will start operating soon at select Indian Oil fuel stations at the four metros plus Hyderabad, Bangalore, Pune, Chandigarh and Ahmedabad.

By next year, they expect to set up over 100 such kiosks all over the country. Coffee Day Xpress, part of the Amalgamated Bean Coffee Trading Company, is a take-away food and beverage chain and has 82 outlets already in various cities across India.

Indian Oil is also entering into a venture with Foodworld to set up convenience stores in select markets.

The first custom-designed Foodworld convenience store at an Indian Oil fuel pump is ready to be operational in Chennai, and similar such stores are expected to come up in the future.