Automobile

With India forecast to be world’s fastest growing major economy by 2016-17, super luxury car maker Rolls-Royce is gearing up to tap the country’s billionaires with new models, including new convertible and a potential SUV.

The company that sells a range of super luxury cars with starting prices ranging from Rs 4.5 crore to Rs 9 crore is confident that India, which is projected to be “home to the fourth-highest number of billionaires in the world by 2023”, to be one of its key markets.

After failing to meet high expectations with its small car Nano, Tata Motors is planning several initiatives, including introducing an automatic gear shift version, to revive sales.

“We have in place more initiatives to strengthen the Nano portfolio,” a Tata Motors spokesperson said, refuting reports that the company was looking to phase out the model due to continuously falling sales.

Elaborating further, the spokesperson said the company has already launched the Nano Twist in January 2014, to bring in new features sought by customers for a smart city car.

Japanese car maker Nissan is looking to double its sales network in India to around 300 dealerships in the next two years with almost 50 percent of the new outlets in smaller cities and towns.

“We plan to double our dealership network by the end of next year. This is our vision. Apart from big cities we are also working hard to establish presence in tier II and tier III towns,” Nissan India Operations President Guillaume Sicard told PTI.

Commercial vehicle major Ashok Leyland Thursday said it has posted a turnover of Rs.3,361 crore and a net profit of Rs.32.09 crore for the third quarter of the current fiscal.

In a statement issued here, the company said it reported a revenue of Rs.3,361 crore for the third quarter — up from Rs.1,953.21 crore logged during the corresponding period last year.

The net profit, too, increased to Rs.32.09 crore for the period under review from a net loss of Rs.167.21 crore posted during the same period last fiscal.

Suzuki to invest up to Rs 8,500 cr in Gujarat facilityJapan’s Suzuki group will invest up to Rs 8,500 crore in setting up a manufacturing facility here to supply cars to its Indian arm Maruti Suzuki India.

The foundation stone of the facility, which will have a total capacity of 7.5 lakh unit annually, was laid by the state Chief Minister Anandiben Patel here Wednesday. The first line of the plant will be operational by May 2017.

Auto major Tata Motors plans to raise up to Rs 7,500 crore via rights issue which will be used to invest in business expansion and reduce debt.

The company’s board has approved seeking shareholders’ approval through a postal ballot for raising funds up to Rs 7,500 crore through a rights issue of ordinary shares for meeting the company’s growth plans as well as for reducing the debt on its balance sheet, Tata Motors said in a statement.

The quantum, pricing and timing of the issue will be decided later, depending on market conditions post the shareholders’ and other approvals, it added.

The country’s largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India on Tuesday reported 17.8 percent increase in net profit at Rs 802.2 crore for the third quarter ended December 31, 2014.

The company had posted a net profit of Rs 681.15 crore in the same period last fiscal, Maruti Suzuki India said in a statement.

“Higher volumes, material cost reduction initiatives and favourable foreign exchange contributed to the bottomline during the quarter,” the company said in a statement.

German luxury carmaker Mercedes-Benz on Thursday launched CLA Class sedan, priced in the range of Rs 31.5-35.9 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi), to further strengthen its position in the country.

The car will be available in both diesel and petrol options in three variants with prices ranging from Rs 31.5 lakh to and Rs 35.9 lakh (all prices ex-showroom Delhi).

“We expect the CLA to be one of the volume drivers and that’s why we decided to produce the car in India,” Mercedes-Benz Managing Director & CEO Eberhard Kern told PTI.

In its second bid in four months to get back the lost market share and consumer connect, Tata Motors on Thursday launched premium hatchback Bolt in both petrol and diesel variants.

Powered by 1.2-litre petrol engine, Bolt comes at a starting price of Rs 4.65 lakh (ex-showroom Mumbai) while the 1.3 litre diesel-powered variant starts at Rs 5.75 lakh.

The diesel engine claims a mileage of 22.9 kmpl and the petrol 15.6 kmpl.

Automobile major Tata Motors Thursday launched its sports hatchback Bolt priced between Rs.4.65 lakh and Rs.5.75 lakh (ex-showroom, Mumbai).

According to the automobile major, the new passenger vehicle comes in two fuel variants of petrol and diesel and is manufactured at the company’s Pimpri plant in Pune.

“We expect Bolt to strengthen our presence in the hatchback market, one of the most popular segments for the Indian customers,” said Mayank Pareek, president passenger vehicles business unit, Tata Motors.

Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India (HMSI) on Wednesday tied up with Shriram Automall India for selling pre-owned two-wheelers in the country.

Through the tie-up, the partners aim to sell 3.5 lakh two wheeler units in the next three years.

“At present the industry lacks an organised and reliable structure. Through this tie-up we aim to bridge this gap,” HMSI Vice-President, Sales and Marketing YS Guleria told reporters here.

Currently the contribution of pre-owned two-wheeler market is estimated to be around 15 percent of overall sales, but the potential is immense, he added.

French auto major Renault is recalling 646 units of hatchback Pulse and mid-sized sedan Scala in India, manufactured between September 2011-July 2012, to fix faulty driver side air bags.

“Renault is conducting a voluntary check on certain potentially affected Renault vehicles, 620 Pulse and 26 Scala, produced between September 2011-July 2012 which may have a possibility of driver air bag problem that was reported to Renault by airbag supplier, Takata,” a company spokesperson said.

Bajaj Auto is aiming to regain its lost share in the Indian two-wheeler market with six product launches in the next six months that will include a new 100 cc bike besides a 400 cc model under its flagship brand Pulsar.

The company that had once looked away from the high volume 100 cc segment is looking to create a new space in the mass market as it eyes an overall share of more than 20 percent in the domestic market by March this year.

“In the next six months, there will be one launch every month from us,” Bajaj Auto President (Business Development & Assurance) S Ravikumar told PTI.

Eicher Motors on Sunday said it has appointed Rudratej Singh as President of Royal Enfield.

Prior to this, he was based in Singapore with Unilever as Vice President – South Asia, HPC & Foods Marketing Operations.

Now, Singh will be based in Gurgaon and report to Eicher Motors Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer Siddhartha Lal, the company said in a statement.

Lal said: “Rudy joins Royal Enfield after spearheading global brands and businesses for almost two decades across emerging and developed markets.”

Japanese auto major Nissan will miss its target of achieving 10 percent market share in India by 2016 but may advance the launch of a third vehicle from its Datsun brand in the country to propel growth.

The company that last week launched a compact multi- purpose vehicle Go+ to add to the Go small car will expand its network in small towns to boost sales of its Datsun brand of vehicles.

Bajaj Auto Ltd on Thursday reported 4.78 percent decline in its net profit to Rs 861.24 crore for the third quarter ended December 31, 2014.

The company had posted a net profit of Rs 904.55 crore crore in the same quarter previous fiscal.
Net sales during the period under review stood at Rs 5,520 crore as against Rs 5,294.55 crore in the year-ago quarter, the company said in a statement.

In terms of volume, sales during the quarter were marginally down at 9,84,520 units as against 9,93,690 units in the same period last fiscal.

Japanese car major Nissan Thursday launched its second offering from the Datsun family with an under-4 metre compact family wagon Datsun Go + in a price range of Rs 3.79 lakh to Rs 4.61 lakh, ex-showroom Mumbai.

The company had launched the first edition of the century-old model Datsun Go ten months ago and has so far sold only 12,000 units, which is much below its target.

The seven-seater new Datsun is expected to give a tough fight to Maruti and Hyundai’s entry level models.

Domestic bus sales that have been on a decline for the last 30 months are expected to grow by up to 12 per cent next fiscal on account of economic activity gaining momentum, automobile industry body SIAM today said.

Besides a low base effect, beginning of delivery of buses under JNNURM programme during the next fiscal will be a major factor which would help achieve growth.

German luxury car maker Mercedes-Benz will increase prices of its products in India by 4 percent across models from January 22 to offset impact of higher excise duty, post withdrawal of concessions by the government.

“The end of excise duty cut on December 31, 2014 was instrumental in the price revision of Mercedes-Benz products,” the company said in a statement.

Mercedes-Benz sells a range of products in India – from luxury hatchback A-Class priced at Rs 26 lakh to sedan S 500 priced at Rs 1.44 crore (both ex-showroom Delhi).

Italian super sports car manufacturer Ferrari Wednesday announced two new dealerships in India.

“Ferrari has announced the appointment of two new dealers to extend its official presence in India, a strategic market for the company,” the company said in a statement.

The company said that it enjoys a passionate and enthusiastic following in India and is firmly committed to providing a class-leading sales and after sales service in the country.

The General Motors has finally unveiled the new battery-powered Chevrolet Bolt.

According to The Verge, the car, a high-roofed hatch, promises “more than” 200 miles on a charge at a price around 30,000 dollars – not far from the market Tesla is looking to go after with its upcoming Model 3.

The car supports DC fast charging and has a 10-inch touchscreen in the centre of the dashboard.

It also includes high-tech features like the ability to use a smartphone as the key, integrated ride-sharing management, and self-parking capability, the report added. (ANI)

The first 110cc scooter in the Mahindra stable will enable the company to make a greater penetration in the eastern region, a company official said.

“Contribution of the eastern region in Mahindra’s national scooter sales is 30-33 percent. So far we were into 125cc scooters. We were waiting for the product to register sales volume,” Mahindra Two Wheelers zonal business head (east) Amarendra Kr Verma said here Monday.

West Bengal has remained as an important market for Mahindra contrubuting 10 percent to total volume of scooters sold, Verma said.

Tata Motors-owned Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) has announced 1,300 new jobs at its UK plant to build a new car model which will hit the road in 2016, as the upmarket manufacturer enters the booming sports utility vehicle (SUV) segment.

The additional workforce, intended for its Solihull plant in the West Midlands region of England, coincides with Jaguar’s entry into the sports utility vehicle (SUV) sector with the?all-new Jaguar F-Pace unveiled at the Detroit auto show yesterday.

Suzuki Motor Corp’s new car manufacturing unit in Gujarat, being set up at an investment of Rs 4,000 crore, will be ready by 2017, its Chairman Osamu Suzuki said Sunday.

“Currently we are constructing a new plant in Gujarat… we will complete it by 2017 with the support Chief Minister of Gujarat,” he said at the Vibrant Gujarat, which is also being attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

He said Gujarat is “definitely superior” in terms of infrastructure development and ease of doing business and hence the company “opted Gujarat as the next location for our plant”.

US auto major Ford plans to introduce in India its latest version of communications and entertainment system, SYNC 3, in its vehicles by next year.

Ford showcased its SYNC 3 technology at the International CES here. SYNC 3 will be available in vehicles in US this year.

According to the company, its latest infotainment system SYNC3 would be faster, more intuitive and easier to use than the existing SYNC AppLink present in Ford cars.