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Price rise for Indica and Indigo mooted by Tata

Effective October 1, 2010 Tata Motors is on the verge of hiking the price for its Indica and Indigo to meet the in put rise like the ones for tyres. Though no official word is coming from the Tata camp, it is believed that the company will follow the suit of Hyundai Motors which has already increased price for its certain models. Hyundai effected an increase of 1.2% for its models from this month quoting the rise in input costs of components. Hyundai has thus hiked the price for its top models like Verna, i10, i20, Sonata and Santro. The top company Maruti Suzuki is also on the price rise spree for the same reason and it had made the rise last month. The lone car to be exempted from this price is the newly launched Alto and the rise is in the range of Rs7500.

New launch from Daimler on trucks

Daimler, who is the top most seller of trucks in the world, is on the upbeat mood to launch a new model for the Indian market. The truck in the 6-49 tonne category will mark the launch in commercial segment in another two years. The launch will involve an investment of Rs4400 crore with the commissioning of Daimler India Commercial Vehicles. There will be a new facility near Chennai which will have the capacity of 3000 units. The dealerships too will be increased to 20 during the period of 2012. The company’s VP for Marketing and Sales said that the product will be unique and will be from the sole proprietary of the Indian subsidiary. Daimler’s global deal in trucks include Mercedes-Benz, Freightliner, Detroit Diesel, Fuso and Western Star. For India, he said, there will be 25 tonne truck to start with during the Q2 of 2012 and in the following 18 months there will be trucks under 6-49 tonne category. All the vehicles are to be delivered from Daimler’s platforms containing Mitsubishi Fuso and Mercedes. In Mitsubishi, Daimler has got 85% stake on Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corporation.

To be more specific, 25 tonne truck will be from Benz platform and the rest will be from Mitsubishi platform, with the prototype versions will begin in 2012, he added. There will be 80% localization for these products for making the vehicle price competitive and fitting the Indian standards. The current manpower strength of 600 will be increased to 3000 by 2012 and dealership will suitably be increased to20 in another 4 years, he specified. There will be 6 more dealers in 2011 as a mark of pilot scheme to widen the presence. The company has identified 73 prime locations which will feed 85% of business in India and Daimler is devising to make its presence more penetrating. By 2014 Daimler would have reached these 73 prime locations and there will be 25 service point across the country. For this the first dealer is to spring from Chennai, for which the inking will be made soon, he admitted.

A reversal of fortune with Maruti 800

When Maruti Suzuki paraded the Alto, replacing the once flagship M800, the company would not have expected the fortune to favor. After pressing the BS IV norms, the company was not in a mood to focus on this car, but the current demand in export market raised many eyebrows in the company. During the period of April-August 2010, Maruti was able to meet an export chunk of 4435 units, indicating a rise of 91.49% which was just 2316 units in the same period of 2009, said SIAM. During August alone, it stood as 1075 units which was just 236 units in August 2009, making a massive 355.5% increase. Maruti’s M800 is exported to Chile, Algeria and Egypt.

This trend is a reversal compared to the domestic market, where Maruti had got just 10505 units during the same period, which was 12649 units in the corresponding period of 2009. The domestic market saw M800 moving downward with the sale of 1919 units in August alone compared to 2734 units in August 2009, showing a fall of 29.8%. however, the fall in domestic market is attributed to the phasing out in 13 cities, following the BS IV norms. Maruti was not in a position to upgrade the model for these cities as a matter of business proposition, said its Chairman. He disclosed that the company did not concentrate much on export segment which constitutes a small volume. In the automobile field, Maruti has been there for over 26 years with sale volume of 28 lakh units, with 25lakhs units comprising the domestic market. The company could produce 840 cars at the time of the initial year of its operations in India. currently, with the phasing out of M800, the company is selling 2000 units per month in the country alone.

Tata to launch Nano Plus

Tata Motors plans to jack-up the craze for Nano with the launch of new variants. Nano once a big buzz word in the automotive industry lost its glamor because of unending delay in deliveries and firing incidents. With the new Sanand plant, deliveries won’t be a problem hereafter. Tata motors has announced the spot booking of Nano recently and has already initiated a marketing campaign to lure customers. To lure more customers, Nano may get new variants including an upmarket variant called Nano Plus and Nano diesel.

Nano Plus will get a higher displacement engine and extra features. Nano Plus will be on the lines of Nano europa and will take on the Maruti Alto and Chevrolet Spark. Tata Nano+ is likely to get an 1L engine producing more power. Tata Nano plus will also get ABS, alloy wheels and integrated music system. Tata Nano plus will hit the market in 2011.

Maruti to launch SX4 diesel in 2011

After lots of ifs and buts, Maruti may finally the SX4 diesel in Indian market. SX4 which is selling moderately faces intense competition from Honda City, Fiat Linea, Hyundai Verna Transform and Volkswagen Vento. The segment is hotting up and every manufacturer is trying their best to hike up the sales numbers. Hyundai recently facelifted the Verna with the launch of Verna Transform. Fiat will soon launch a powerful version of Linea called Linea T-jet. Volkswagen which is available in petrol and diesel segment is expected to shake-up the market once it is widely available.

Maruti remains on the spectator stand while watching these actions due to the huge demand for its Fiat’s sourced 1.3L DDiS engine which powers the Ritz,Swift and Dzire. However things are expected to change as the Maruti expansion drive kicks-in. SX4 will get the same 1.3 Multijet diesel engine but with higher power rating. SX4 diesel will take on the Hyundai transform, Fiat linea diesel and Volkswagen Vento. Expect the launch of Maruti SX4 diesel around February 2011.

Fiat to launch Linea T-jet 2

Following the Punto 90bhp, Fiat will launch the Linea T-jet soon. Linea T-jet was first shown at Delhi Auto Expo. As the name denotes, Linea T-jet will come with a turbo charged engine developing 118bhp of maximum power. This will make the Linea T-jet more powerful than its competitors Volkswagen Vento and Honda City. Linea T-jet will also get features like larger alloy wheels, leather seats, hill holding assist and rain sensing wipers. Linea will hit the market on 08th October.

Source: Autocar India

Upcoming Bikes

The evolution of Indian bike Industry in the past decade proves a staggering growth. The powerful bikes (above 200 cc, excluding Bullets), which drew mixed comments from public, finally surpassed all the ridicules and became part of Indian households and youths became crazy about these bikes. [Click Here To Read More]

Bajaj Avenger

Feel the beat of Bajaj Avenger 220cc. Also enjoy the 360 degree view of Bajaj avenger 220.

Bajaj Avenger 220

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Hyundai i10 2010

Hyundai’s i10 facelift had been a topic for the past 2-3 months. We did not have any concrete clues as to tell you whether the facelifted i10 will be launched in India or not. [Click Here To Read More]

Introduction | Hyundai i10 External Styling | Hyundai i10 Internal Design | Hyundai i10 Engine | Conclusion

No more India-prone cars from Ford

Ford, which has been enjoying a good stint in the Indian car market with its models, has taken a stand to abandon India specific cars. Rather, it is known, the company will now focus more on the global market like Europe and South America. The company’s President and MD said the cars produced hereinafter will be based on the global standards made in tune with the specifications of India and the world. India has become a hub for Ford’s global activities, whereby it will export cars built with fuel efficiency in diesel and petrol versions. Therefore no sort of exclusiveness for Indian market, he stressed. The move is to feed the hunger of world customers who need cars of global standards rather than the localized ones, he remarked. To start with, Figo will be exported soon to 50 countries.

To meet the demand for such moves, the company has allocated funds for expansion, particularly in its Chennai plant. The facility will be strengthened to yield 2 lakh units from the current 1 lakh units. There will be five different derivatives to take up this venture of assembly line, body shop, trimming the size of the cars. Ford has learnt some good deeds from its ally Mazda on production lines, which are exploited in the production of Chennai plant. Another new from Ford will come in the form of an automatic version of SUV 4 X 2 Endeavor @Rs18 lakhs. The car has got good numbers for Ford, a sale of 350 units per
month, surpassing the previous year’s by 70%. Ford has slated its expansion for the coming decade, with 8 new launches before 2015 which will fit in the major models available in the market. For this the workforce has also been increased to 1000 along with the equally increased dealers to 200 from the current 160.