Bajaj to launch a new bike in association with KTM

The second largest two wheeler company in India, Bajaj is joining an association with Austria’s KTM to launch a new bike. The bike may roll out in the next financial year in Europe followed by India, said Bajaj’s CEO for two wheelers. The bike will be assembled at Pune plant, to be marketed under KTM [images] brand at the price range of Rs1 lakh. Bajaj has shelled out 20 million euros to stake a claim in KTM for about 35.7%(earlier it had 31.9% stake).

Maruti

A Swift move by Maruti Suzuki has set a record entry into Guinness Record. The company made a parade of its sensational brand Swift [images], a number-342- that took it into World Record. Already Maruti has sold 4.5 lakh units of Swift in all these five years of its run in the car market. The parade took place in Gurgaon, while similar parades conducted at Mumbai and Chennai did not yield world record. With this parade, Maruti boasts the ever-growing popularity of Swift, and the happiness of 4.5lakh owners, said its Executive Officer for sales and marketing. Maruti produces 12000 monthly units of Swift from its Gurgaon and Manesar units. Still there is a difficulty in meeting the on growing demand, as waiting period has been stable at 2-3months for petrol version and 4 months for diesel version. The petrol version of Swift comes with 1.2 lit K-series engine as diesel version has 1.3lit DDiS engine.

The previous best such parade was held in London in 2009 where 1450 units of Minis were in picture marking the 50th anniversary of BMW’s small car. Similar parades by Ford and Volkswagen with large number of cars too entered into records, but not with single brand cars. Last February, Ford gathered in its car rally some 586 units in South Africa. In April, 460 VW cars, largely Gol, brought in for parade at Sao Paulo in Brazil.

GM to seek Chinese help to counter Nano

In a bid to counter the smart turn out of Tata’s Nano small car, General Motors is exploring the Chinese help, it is learnt. According to the company’s President for International Operations, all possibilities are taken into account for this purpose. The deal struck with the Chinese car company SAIC on 50% stake in GM India is seen as a potential source to penetrate the entry-level car market in India. As of now, GM’s small car segment has Chevrolet Spark [images], Beat [images], Aveo [images] (designed in Korea on Daewoo platform). The new approach by GM is seen as a U-turn, from its earlier stand that the Nano’s success had no implication on its strategy. It is estimated that the first lot of GM’s deal with Chinese companies Wuling and SAIC will be on roads from the end of 2011 in India.

The products expected are Wuling Rongguang and Sunshine, both to be built at GM’s Talegaon and Halol plants in India. The tripartite venture among these companies will have the secured portfolio of cars- passenger and commercial vehicles -in India. The JV has made the Chinese companies happier than GM, anticipating more opportunities for the members. The official from SAIC claimed that the models meant for India are GM’s global range and not belong to Chinese invention. GM has a twin purpose in joining hands with the Chinese company- giving an access to the brand which ruling global market and inducing sensitivity of India towards Chinese companies. The Indian government has earlier banned the entry of the Chinese telecom Huawei Technologies and ZTE Corp on security terms. GM has no concern over the SAIC stake of 50% in its Indian operations. GM has cleared all such aversions and hue and cries. The products expected from GM’s Halol and Talegaon plants are Wuling minivans and Chevy Sail. GM views this deal with the Chinese companies as a step towards making the company as a volume player in India.

Honda compact car to isolate from the volume segment

The Japanese car maker Honda said the ensuing hatchback car for India, under a JV with Siel Group slated for 2011 will not find place in the volume prone small car segment. Rather it will have its slot above the small car range. The Chief Operating Officer of the company’s Asia and Oceania area said the engine capacity and the price will be soon publicized and it is certain that the car will be positioned above the small car category. However, the Indian market has small cars in the price range of Rs2-4 lakhs like Maruti Alto, WagonR [images], Hyundai Santro [images], GM’s Spark [images] and Beat [images] , Ford Figo [images] (petrol).

There has been a talk about this small car segment as the volume market, but Honda sees its position just above this category. The official made it clear that there won’t be sedan version of the ensuing car. The proposed car was displayed at the Delhi Auto Expo in this January and it was informed that the official launch would take place in 2011 at the price tag of Rs5 lakhs. It is to be noted that in the Honda’s tradition the cheapest car is Jazz [images] offered at Rs7.11 lakhs in India. The newly appointed CEO and President of Honda India revealed that the company’s stature hereinafter would be on 80%localization of components, to be assembled in India for the competition led market.

Currently Honda’s Jazz and City have domestic components in the range of 77% and 76% respectively. Honda’s Civic [images] has 74% while Accord [images] has 28% localization. Honda, he added, is not concerned about the volume of sales and the dip in sales has no way linked to its reputation. Honda received a jolt in its sales- a fall by 2.13% by selling 3578 units in April while its sale in March was a fall by 19.54% with the sale of 5928 units. He said that the company’s position in respect of diesel engines is well known and is primarily targeted for the European market. The company is developing both higher and lower versions of diesel engine. He asserted that the diesel version of Indian car would be based on the market need.

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Craze for Nano may go off the air in another six months

The sensation created by Tata’s Nano as the world’s cheapest car @Rs1 lakh is no more in the offing. Gone are the days when people were seen longing to own this car though it was the dream of Ratan Tata the Chairman of Tata Group, to provide a car for the middle class family. Given the rush details for analysis, the company is looking for reviving the sensation by way of more advertising and promotion campaigns. The company sees the launch of the second plant for Nano at Sanand as the next step. This plant will have the annual capacity of 2.5 lakh units to ease the delivery of cars. The bookings for Nano [images] is under suspension till last year and there is a move to clear the 1 lakh bookings by this December. Till date the company has delivered 35000 units built from its Pune plant.

The change is price is not ruled out though first lot bookings will be delivered at the assured price of Rs1 lakh. Fresh lease of life for this sensational car would be derived after the pending booking are cleared. As the Sanand plant is expected to ease the delivery there would not be demand for this car, it is expected. Nano’s production faced a hiccup when the proposed plant at Nandigram in West Bengal immersed into controversy. According to an official of Tata the company does not want to create lot of expectations among the customers but to create delight. The production at Sanand plant for Nano will pave way for smooth business it is hoped by the dealers of Nano. The dealers expect Tata to keep the lot ready for anytime delivery instead of booking and taking lottery system. From now on Nano would be targeted towards people promoting from motorcycle when the car readily reaches the mass. The middle class segment need not be disappointed on the factors of long wait and lottery system.

However, the brand experts see a tough phase ahead for Nano to retain the fever of Nano’s initial stage. The main reason cited is the long delay in delivery as the MD of Madison World advertising claims, the customers are always wary of delay in getting the product of their desire. In the meanwhile Maruti Suzuki, country’s largest car maker, is on the trail of assessing the situation. However, the enquiry by an independent team on the manufacturing defects, wrote off Nano free from any such lapses, including fire break out. Nano fetched the gold award at the 2010 Edison Awards, America’s most prestigious feat for new products. Amidst all these factors, the company foresees an increased fervor for Nano, which is considered as a traffic stopper.It sees that the setting of organized delivery of Nano may hit the sale of its own products.

Figo to cost more from next week

Not able to withstand the rise in the input cost, Ford India has proposed the rise of price for its Figo [images] from May end. The cost of Ford now is in the range of Rs3.5-4.48 lakhs which may see the rise. The company’s Executive Director said that there has been a rise in the industry cost, steel price rise and rise in the cost of components and transportation. The new price will come into effect from June 1 which is expected to be below 2% he revealed. Figo came to the market in March as a 1.2 petrol and a 1.4 diesel version at Rs3.5 lakhs and Rs4.48 lakhs respectively. Since then Ford India got bookings for 20000 units thereby making a waiting period of 4 weeks. He said Figo, launched by the company’s CEO during last year, will continue to be the mainstay in the Indian market for some time now.

Since the demand for Figo is on the increase, the company does not want to introduce any new model to disturb the tempo. The demand has prompted the company to initiate the second shift at the Chennai plant from July, by employing 700 new people. The man power will be distributed to shop floor and engineering section. The monthly capacity of the Chennai facility is 6000 units as the second shift is focused to increase the number substantially. Currently there is a reduction in the waiting period, from six weeks to four weeks, and steps are being taken to reduce it still further. Efforts are on to transit the car to South Africa, by increasing the output at the Chennai plant.

Volkswagen inaugurates Polo cup in India

Sailesh Bolisetti, the 22-year old driver from Vishakhapatnam, won the inaugural race of the Volkswagen-JK Tyre Polo Cup India 2010 on the street track in the Balewadi Sports Complex in Pune. The racer from Hyderabad led from start to finish as he created history by becoming the first winner of the Polo Cup today. He was followed home closely by Saran Vikram from Chennai and Karthik Shankar from Delhi.

Mohammed Fahad Kutty had finished in 3rd place but had then been given a 15 second penalty by the stewards for overtaking under yellow flags. It was a close finish as the top 6 were covered by less than 10 seconds at the chequered flag.

Sailesh had a great start and led from the start with Saran Vikram and Karthik Shankar behind him. Starting from 6th on the grid, Fahad Kutty (Mohammed) made a brilliant overtaking move to pass Shankar (Karthik) for 3rd position on lap 2. As he closed on second-placed Saran Vikram he clipped the tyre barrier into the first corner damaging his car in the process. He was unable to challenge Saran after that but did crossed the finish line in third place. He was later penalised for overtaking under yellow flags.

A delighted Sailesh commented, “This is a great day for me and I would like to thank Volkswagen for giving me this amazing opportunity. I made a good start and after that just had to make sure that I did not make any mistakes. It was quite a tough race as the cars behind me were really close together but am really satisfied with the result.”

Prof Heizmann, Member of Board of Volkswagen AG, commented, “I would like to congratulate all the drivers for putting on a fantastic performance today. This is a proud day for motorsport in India and Volkswagen is really happy to be a part of it. We look forward to the rest of the season and am sure all the drivers will give it their best.”

Second placed Saran Vikram,“I am really happy to race here on this circuit and am satisfied with the result. As overtaking is tough on this circuit I knew challening Sailesh would not be possible. I will now try to do my best for the second race.“

Third placed karthik Shankar commented,“A big thank you to the organizers of this event for hosting such an amazing event. This is a historic day as not only is this only the second street race in India but also Volkswagen’s big entry into motorsport in India. Fahad Kutty overtook me under yellow flags and I knew that it was illegal so did not fight back. Will now look forward to a good result in the second race.“

Karthik Shankar from Hyderabad finished in 3rd position while Vishnu Prasad (Chennai), Sahil Shelar (Pune) and Fahad Kutty rounded off the top 6. The only woman driver on the grid Alisha Abdullah finished in an impressive 14th place in her debut race.

There were a host of dignitaries present for the inaugural race of the Volkswagen-JK Tyre Polo Cup in India. This included Mr. Suresh Kalmadi, President, IOA, Mr. Suresh Shetty, Minister of Sports for the state of Maharastra, Mr. Raghupati Singhania, VP & MD, JK Tyre and Industries, Prof. Jochem Heizmann, Member of Board of Volkswagen AG, Mr. Joerg Muller, Volkswagen Group Chief Representative India and Mr. Kris Nissen, Volkswagen Motorsport Director.

Another surprise was in store as Bollywood actress Soha Ali Khan was invited to flag off the race, along with Prof. Heizmann and Mr. Kris Nissen. The Bollywood star was an instant hit with both the fans and media as she attended her first race.

Maruti sets Guinness record

Maruti Suzuki, the country’s number one car maker, has set a new Guinness Book of World Record by bringing together 342 Swift cars at a ‘car parade’ in Gurgaon. The congregation of such a large number of cars of a single brand has never been attempted before in India. Similar ‘car parades’ were held today simultaneously in Sriperumbudur and Mumbai but the world record was set at Gurgaon. As per the Guinness World Records, the earlier world record for maximum number of cars of a single model was set with 249 cars in New Zealand in October 2005. Maruti Suzuki planned the feat to commemorate the Swift’s fifth birthday celebrations. The Swift was launched on May 25, 2005.

At Gurgaon’s Leisure Valley Complex, there was a dazzling display of 342 Swift cars. An equally enthusiastic gathering of Swift owners was witnessed at Mumbai’s Bandra-Kurla Complex grounds and at Sriperumbudur Test Tracks, near Chennai. In each of these three cities, hundreds of Swift owners along with their families joined the unadulterated Sunday morning revelry and interacted with fellow car owners. For participants, Maruti Suzuki had several incentives, including free fuel and free service/accessories coupons for Swift owners. The accompanying families, meanwhile, had a good time at the several interactive games kiosks at the venue.

Maruti Suzuki Managing Executive Officer (Marketing and Sales) Mayank Pareek said, “In a short period of five years, the trendy Swift has transformed the Indian car landscape and established itself as a ‘cult car’ of India. People across age groups and gender rate it as the most stylish and sporty car. Today’s world record is a testimony to the ever-growing popularity of the Swift. The new record is a victory for all the 4.5 lakh Swift owners.”