Automobile

In the wake of the alleged rape of a 27-year-old woman by an Uber cab driver in Delhi, the Maharashtra Government has decided to ban web-based taxi services in the state.

“Orders have been issued to the Transport Commissioner to stop all the web-based cab booking services. He will take the required action immediately. Now, it is only a matter of time before the order is implemented by the Commissioner,” Transport Secretary S K Sharma told PTI here today.

The move comes after the state government received Centre’s advice to ban all web-based taxi services, he said.

Tata Motors plans to almost double its dealer network in the country by 2020, targeting rural areas and cities alike, as the company looks to claw back to a dominant position in the Indian passenger car market.

The company, which currently has around 500 touch points across the country, aims to add equal number of dealerships to expand its presence.

After declining for two months in a row, car sales in India rose by 9.5 percent in November, propelled by lower fuel prices and continued relief in excise duty.

Domestic car sales in November stood at 1,56,445 units, up 9.52 percent, as compared to 1,42,849 units in the same month of 2013, according to the data released by Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM).

Mercedes-Benz Research and Development India (MBRDI) on Tuesday inaugurated its second dedicated facility at Whitefield in Bengaluru.

Spread across an area of 266,000 sq ft with a capacity of over 2,400 people, it is located close to the head office of MBRDI, the company said in a statement.

Car-makers’ associatio0n, Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) Tuesday reported domestic passenger car sales growth in November at 9.52 percent, which stood at 156,445 units.

The Indian automobile industry had sold 142,849 units in the corresponding period of last year.

Data furnished by SIAM showed that total passenger vehicle sales, which include cars, utility vehicles and vans, in the month under review went up by 5.42 percent at 212,438 units from 201,521 units in November 2013.

A new survey has revealed that white is the most popular color for new cars in 2014.

According to vehicle paint giant PPG Industries, white was the most popular color for new cars for the fourth time consecutively, Fox News reported.

According to the company’s data, 28 percent of new cars were painted white in 2014 globally which has increased from 25 percent from last year.

Black color grabbed the second spot with 18 percent of new cars whereas silver and gray tied for third place in the popularity stakes, with 13 percent of new cars.

—ANI

Having run into troubles with institutional investors over its Gujarat plant transfer to parent Suzuki, car maker Maruti now wants to seek approval of minority shareholders after a proposed relaxation comes into effect in the Companies Act.

Maruti Suzuki India had earlier planned to seek shareholders’ approval for the transaction in November.

The Cabinet, meanwhile, has cleared a slew of amendments this month to various aspects of the new Companies Act.

General Motors India today said it will hike prices of its entire product portfolio by up to Rs 20,000 from next month, in order to partially offset rising input costs.

All the eight models of the company’s current product portfolio in the country, including entry level compact car Spark, will become costlier due to price hike.

Isuzu Motors India is looking at scaling up its production to 1,20,000 units per annum in the country with an investment of Rs 3,000 crore by 2016.

The automaker Sunday opened its first showroom here and has plans to open 60 outlets across India by end of 2015-16, its Deputy Managing Director Shigeru Wakabayashi told a press conference here.

It has also launched its sports utility vehicle MU-7 and its range of pick up trucks D-Max in the Rajasthan market.

Tata Motors bagged deals with various police and law enforcement agencies to supply 1,542 Sumo cars, thereby continuing its focus on the defence and security segment.

The company registered a growth of two percent in its total sales in November as compared with the previous year, having sold 41,720 vehicles, including consignments across commercial and passenger segments.

With not-so-encouraging sale of its electric vehicles on the home turf, leading commercial and passenger automobile company Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) is eyeing the export markets of Western Europe, an official of the company said.

“We are targeting the West European markets of Norway, UK and France for the sale of electric vehicles,” executive director and president (automobile and farm equipment) of M&M Pawan Goenka said here Friday.

M&M, which had already launched the ‘e2o’ electric vehicles in the country, was not quite satisfied with the sales performance.

Finding immense potential in the pre-owned car segment, German luxury car maker Mercedes-Benz today said it will announce the launch of a separate brand for pre-owned cars this month.

Noting that customers here are now “increasingly” demanding quality products in pre-owned car segment, the luxury car maker says it sees “phenomenal” growth in country’s pre-owned car segment, describing it as “next growth story” in luxury car business.

Showing signs of revival in auto industry, major car makers Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai, Honda and Toyota Monday reported good sales for November even as some others faced sluggish demand due to weak consumer sentiment.

General Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra and Ford India recorded decline in November sales.

Country’s largest car maker Maruti Suzuki said its domestic sales in the month stood at 1,00,024 units, up 17 percent from 85,510 units in November last year.

Tata Motors-owned Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) has concluded a deal over pay and pensions with its workers union after revising its offer, which will now be recommended to staff to settle a dispute that had threatened industrial action.

In a joint statement, the the two parties said: “JLR and Unite have concluded detailed pay and conditions negotiations, a revised offer has been made by the company that will be unanimously recommended by Unite to its members.”

Hyundai Motor India Tuesday said it has received 56,000 bookings for its premium compact car Elite i20 within four months of its launch.

Success of Elite i20 has further strengthened HMIL’s position as a premium car manufacturer in India across segments, the company said in a statement.

Hyundai Motor India Limited (HMIL), country’s second largest car manufacturer had launched the second generation model the i20 Elite on August 11 this year.

The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways will soon come out with mandatory crash testing norms for passenger cars.

“The government is planning to mandate the offset frontal crash test and side impact crash test norms for passenger cars,” Minister of State for Road Transport and Highways Pon Radhakrishnan informed the Rajya Sabha Monday.

To meet these regulations, majority of car manufacturers will need to have several in-built safety devices, including air bags.

Most of the Indian auto-makers Monday reported healthy sales last month on the back of surge in consumer sentiment and lowering fuel prices.

With international crude oil prices going below $70 a barrel, Indian retailers have recently cut petrol and diesel prices. Prices of both the fuels have been reduced by three rupees in November itself.

India’s passenger car market leader Maruti Suzuki reported an increase of 19.5 percent in its November sales, which stood at 110,147 units up from 92,140 units in Nov 2013.

Automobile major Hyundai Motor India Monday reported an increase of 8.7 percent in its total sales in Nov which stood at 54,011 units, up from 49,681 retailed during Nov 2013.

“Hyundai with a volume of 35,511 units indicate strong demand for Hyundai models, giving growth month after month bettering the industry slow growth. The strong investment of launching four new products in a year’s time has resulted in this growth,” said Rakesh Srivastava, senior vice president, sales and marketing, Hyundai Motor India.

Maruti’s entry level model Alto 800 ranks highest in the entry compact segment for initial quality, while rival Hyundai’s i10 gets the top slot in the compact segment, said a study on Thursday.

According to JD Power 2014 India Initial Quality Study rankings, Maruti Suzuki Alto 800 ranks highest in the entry compact segment with 97 problems per 100 vehicles (PP100), while the company’s Swift ranks highest in the premium compact segment with 78 PP100.

Car makers have asked the government to extend excise duty relief, which is ending on December 31, saying removal of this incentive could push the industry into a negative territory.
The government had cut excise duty on cars, SUVs and two-wheelers in the Interim Budget in February to help the industry tide over a demand slump.

In June, the new government extended the excise duty concession for automobiles by six months to December 31.

India’s largest two-wheeler maker Hero MotoCorp Friday launched six of its best-selling bikes here as part of its target to clock 1.2 million unit sales from global business by 2020.

“Colombia is one of the top two-wheelers market in South America and therefore, it is going to play a significant role as we continue to expand our footprint in the region,” Hero MotoCorp Vice Chairman and MD & CEO Pawan Munjal said.

“Going forward, we will aim at making Colombia a base for expanding our operations to neighbouring countries in the region,” he added.

Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India on Thursday launched touring motorcycle ‘Gold Wing-GL1800′ in the country, priced up to Rs 31.5 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi).

The bike, which is powered by a six-cylinder 1,832 cc engine, comes loaded with various features including independently adjustable heated seats and foot-warming system.

“It was our customers’ passion for adventure and travelling the open road that really defined the Gold Wing and has further, led us to introduce the same in India,” HMSI President and CEO Keita Muramatsu said in a statement.

Toyota Motor Corp recalled more than 40,000 vehicles in Japan today as part of a worldwide scare over defective air bags and is investigating a new type of air bag problem that could lead to further recalls.

Toyota’s recall for driver-side air bags is the latest in the widening safety problems related to Takata Corp. air bags.

Toyota’s recall involves three models: Vitz, Yaris and RAV4 vehicles made in 2002 and 2003.

Daihatsu Motor Co said it’s also recalling more than 27,000 Mira compact models in Japan for the same air bag problem linked to an inflator.

German luxury car maker BMW today launched next generation M3 sedan and all new M4 Coupe in India, priced at Rs 1.19 crore and Rs 1.21 crore respectively (ex- showroom Delhi).

Both the models would be available across the country as completely built up units, the car maker said.

“A new chapter in the fascinating history of high performance sports cars from BMW M GmbH is beginning,” BMW Group India President Philipp von Sahr told reporters here.

The cars deliver superior performance with a newly developed six cylinder engine and light weight design, he added.

Triumph, the legendary UK super premium motorcycles brand is betting big on Indian market after starting operations in the country 11 months ago.

“India is a strategic market for Triumph. Since the last 11 months, more than 1000 motorcycles have been sold which is beyond expectations,” Vimal Sumbly, Triumph Motorcycles India managing director said Wednesday.

Launching the first dealer outlet in the east here, Sumbly said by 2015 the expected sales would be around 1300 units and by 2017 the company was expecting to sell 2000 units.