Japanese auto major Nissan on Thursday appointed Guillaume Sicard as Deputy President of its Indian operations with effect from July 1.
Sicard will report to Nissan India Operations President Kenichiro Yomura and will be responsible for accelerating strategic decision-making and streamlining operational efficiency to help achieve the company’s objectives, Nissan Motor India said in a statement.
The Competition Commission has closed a case against auto maker Hyundai Motor Company and three dealers as it did not find sufficient evidence to prove cartelisation.
It was alleged that car maker Hyundai Company and its authorised dealers –Nimbus Motors, Himgiri Car Pvt Ltd and Pawan Auto Wheels Pvt Ltd– have contravened the provisions of the Competition Act in respect to provision of car maintenance and repairing services.
US automaker Ford Motor issued safety recalls Thursday for nearly 1.4 million cars in North America, mostly in the US, to fix potential steering and other problems.
Ford said it was recalling about 915,200 Ford Escape and Mercury Mariner vehicles because a torque sensor within the steering column may malfunction, resulting in the loss of electric power steering assistance.
In that case, the steering system defaults to the manual steering mode, making the vehicle more difficult to steer, especially at lower speeds, which could increase the risk of a crash, Ford said.
The Union of Concerned Scientists has named Hyundai-Kia as the greenest automaker, which has beat Honda.
The scientists’ group has ranked the eight top-selling automakers based on carbon and smog-forming emissions of their fleets, who they say have reduced pollution for the first time, Fox News reported.
Hyundai-Kia beat Honda by equipping many models with smaller turbocharged engines and the researchers said that the automaker introduced gas-electric hybrid versions of its two top-selling models, the Hyundai Sonata and Kia Optima.
Two-wheeler major Hero MotoCorp Wednesday reported a 3.44 percent decline in its standalone net profits for the fourth quarter ended-March.
The company recorded a net profit of Rs.554.43 crore during the January-March quarter as against that of Rs.574.23 crore in the same quarter of previous fiscal.
Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) on Tuesday launched an all new version of its premium sedan Corolla Altis priced between Rs 11.99 lakh and Rs 16.89 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi).
The vehicle was unveiled in February at the Auto Expo 2014 and is the 11th generation of the Corolla model. It will have five grades in petrol, priced between Rs 11.99 lakh and Rs 16.89 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi).
Also, there are four grades in diesel, which are priced between Rs 13.07 lakh and Rs 16.68 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi), the company said in a statement.
The Delhi High Court today restrained Harayana government from “prosecuting” car maker Maruti Suzuki for not having prior environment clearance (EC) for its unit in Rohtak after the company gave an undertaking that it will apply for the green nod.
The court held that the company will have to get environment clearance prior to constructing any unit measuring over 20,000 square metres as per central government’s environment impact assessment (EIA) notification of September 14, 2006.
China plans to take more than 5 million ageing vehicles off its roads this year in a bid to improve air quality, with 330,000 cars set to be decommissioned in Beijing alone, the government said in a policy document published on Monday.
Pollution has emerged as an urgent priority for China`s leaders as they try to reverse the damage done by decades of breakneck growth and head off public anger about the state of the nation`s air, water and soil.
The country’s largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India on Monday launched a CNG variant of its latest compact car ‘Celerio’, priced at Rs 4.68 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi).
The CNG-powered ‘Celerio Green’ will be available with manual transmission in VXi trim, MSI said in a statement.
MSI Vice President (Marketing) Manohar Bhat said the idea of introducing a bi-fuel CNG variant was to strengthen the brand and offer more fuel choices to the customer.
Nissan Motor Co is looking to give its Infiniti premium brand a design makeover that will dilute its Japanese roots and flaunt a more “passionate” Latin feel.
The bold initiative aims to rev up an upscale brand that has struggled to establish itself in a competitive global market for premium autos. Launched a quarter of a century ago in the United States with an emphasis on its Japanese aesthetics, Infiniti sold about 180,000 cars globally in the year to end-March – about a tenth of rival Audi`s sales.
Tata Motors is giving a much stronger focus on the design of its cars, from planning product life cycle in a better way to incorporating subtle Indian elements to its future models, to woo back customers.
“Basically our cars are very good products, well engineered, very relevant for the segment they play in. It is just, somewhere I feel, we have now started to, also, focus much stronger on design,” Tata Motors Head of Design Pratap Bose said.
Tata Motors-owned Jaguar Land Rover on Thursday launched locally manufactured Jaguar XJ 3.0L in the country, with price starting at Rs 92.1 lakh (ex-showroom Mumbai).
The diesel powered luxury saloon, which is being manufactured at the company’ Pune plant, will be available in two variants—premium luxury and portfolio.
US safety regulators said on Friday that it is likely that more than 13 people died in General Motors cars recalled earlier this year for defective ignition switches.
The automaker told Reuters it had raised the number of crashes associated with faulty ignition switches but stood by its count for the number of fatalities.
Hyundai Motor India is recalling 2,437 units of its sports utility vehicle Santa Fe to replace a faulty stop lamp switch.
“Hyundai Motor India will voluntarily recall 2,437 number of Santa Fe vehicles of the 2011 model year in India for the manufacturing period June 26, 2011, to September 26, 2013,” the Indian unit of the South Korean company said in a statement.
The recall has been initiated to replace a stop lamp switch due to a potential malfunction. The switch is mounted near the brake-pedal mechanism and activated when the pedal is depressed and released, the company said.
Auto component maker Omax Autos Ltd today announced its foray into full-fledged truck assembly with plans to roll out 10,000 units in three years from its Bangalore plant.
The firm has completed deliveries of an order of 20 vehicles for an undisclosed original equipment manufacturer.
“Upon completion of initial batch successfully, Omax will work with the customer to invest for developing, a focussed infrastructure for high volume assembly line,” Omax Autos Ltd President & CEO (passenger cars and commercial vehicles) Kishor Karnataki said in a statement.
Suzuki is recalling more than 184,000 small cars in the US because the steering columns can catch fire.
The recall covers from 2004 through 2008 and Reno models from 2005 through 2008. Both vehicles were made for Suzuki by General Motors.
The Japanese automaker says the headlamp switch or daytime running light modules can overheat, melt and catch fire on the left side of the steering column.
The company will notify owners and fix the problem for free. It hasn’t scheduled the repairs yet.
New Delhi: TVS Motor Company on Friday launched all new 110-cc commuter motorcycle ‘StaR City+’, starting at Rs 41,500 (ex-showroom Delhi), as it looks to enhance its presence in the below 125 cc segment.
The Chennai-based firm, which currently sells Star City and Sport models in the below 125 cc segment, aims to enhance its market share with the launch of the new model.
Isuzu Motors today launched in Kerala its India-made range of ‘D-Max’, one of the largest selling pickup trucks.
The D-Max range comprises of three models – two cabin options and two deck options.
DMAX Single Cab will be priced at an introductory launch price of Rs 5.99 lakh and the DMAX Space Cab will be priced at Rs 6.19 lakh for the flat deck variant and Rs 7.09 lakh (all ex-showroom Kochi) for the arched deck variant, respectively.
Tata Motors Thursday launched its new intermediate and light commercial vehicle (ILCV) range of trucks – ‘Ultra’.
“Tata Ultra has been designed to fast-track the consumer’s business growth and deliver a reliable, safe, comfortable, vehicle with superior performance,” Ravi Pisharody, executive director, commercial vehicles business unit, Tata Motors was quoted in a statement.
The two variants of the new range includes Tata Ultra 812 and 912 with a starting price of Rs.10.53 lakh, (ex-showroom Chennai for Tata Ultra 812) and Rs.10.94 lakh for Ultra 912.
GM recalls another 2.6 million vehicles, doubles 2nd-quarter chargeDetroit: General Motors Co said on Tuesday it is recalling another 2.6 million vehicles globally, raising the number of vehicles it has recalled so far this year to almost 15.4 million.
The four recalls are the latest announced by the largest U.S. automaker, the highest profile of which is the recall of cars with defective ignition switches linked to at least 13 deaths. GM has been criticized by safety advocates and fined by U.S. safety regulators for not catching the faulty switch earlier.
Fiat says to launch new B-class model talian auto giant Fiat plans to invest 563 million euros (USD 771 million) in a new B-class model at two Polish plants, the government in Warsaw said on Tuesday.
“Fiat Auto Poland plans to begin production on a brand new B-class model at its plants in Tychy and Bierun,” the government statement said.
Production could begin in late 2017 and is expected to create 420 new jobs at the southern plants, which already employ around 3,000 people.
The country’s largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India on Tuesday said its compact car Alto has become the second model from the company’s portfolio to cross the 25 lakh unit sales mark in the domestic market.
The Alto has entered the 25 lakh club, where the only other car is the Maruti 800, Maruti Suzuki India said in a statement. “Launched in 2000, the Alto has attained the 25 lakh milestone in less than 14 years, the fastest by any brand; we are overwhelmed and humbled by its popularity,” MSI Vice President Manohar Bhat said.
Suzuki Motorcycle India Limited (SMIL) aims to increase its market share in the scooter segment from 12 to 15 per cent with the introduction of the new LET’s scooter.
“Currently in Karnataka we have 16 per cent market share, nationally we have 12 per cent. Karnataka is more than our national average and it is a very important market for us,” SIMA Executive Vice President Atul Gupta told reporters here.
Maruti Suzuki’s tailgate car Celerio, which hit the Indian roads in February 2014, will shortly launch its diesel variant in the country this fiscal. It is currently India’s cheapest automatic car. Moreover, Celerio’s CNG variant will be launched in June 2014 and will be available only in manual variant.
The car has received good reviews post its launch and the demand for the set of wheels is surging and the company is finding hard to keep the increased demand.
German auto giant Volkswagen Group is planning to invest about 100 million euros (over Rs 800 crore) in India to expand business, including launches of sedan and SUV in the compact segment along with a hatchback.
“At present, an investment of approximately 100 million euros is in the decision process for new models and for further localisation of parts and components,” Volkswagen India President and Managing Director Mahesh Kodumudi told a news agency.