Speculation over the Price of Polo would be over soon

The VW sensational car Polo is getting its final touch with the price tag and come Feb 23, the public would know it. The localized price may be in the range of Rs4.5 lakhs with three options for engine. However, the initial product will be 1.2 lit 75bhp petrol, to be followed by 1.2 lit 75bhp diesel and 1.6 lit 104bhp petrol. This Polo comes with lot of promises to please the owners in varied manners- Trendline, Comfortline and Highline.

Auto firms may skid on new fuel norms

The deadline for new fuel norm Bharat IV, will make the vehicles in jeopardy. They must atleast run on BS-III level fuel, which is in steep scarcity in the country. The problem with the current BS-II fuel will be damage to internal parts, engine of the BS-IV upgraded vehicles. This fuel will fit in for the old cars, say experts. The new BS-IV vehicles, to be sold in those select 13 cities, will emit high sulphur content and low octane if let to run on BS-III fuel.

The problem will be with the availability of the new fuel as well as BS-III fuel. The cars having the current engine types are fit to run on BS-II or BS-III fuels. If the BS-IV compliant engines are fed with inferior fuels, then the damage will be severe for the vehicles- in acceleration, reduction in fuel efficiency and decay to the life of the engine. BS-IV vehicles will not be tuned to run on inferior fuels which possess higher amount of sulphur(50); in BS-II it is 500 and in BS-III it is 150.

The octane level will also vary- 91 in BS-IV whereas it is 88 in BS-II. The inferior fuel will affect the catalytic converter (which takes care of reducing harmful emission). The life of this converter will reduce from the tuned 80000 km. in vehicles of new technology, there is an onboard diagnostics system to alert the condition of other systems. The main hit, due to the inferior fuel like BS-II will be noble metals and catalytic converter. The practical difficulties for the car makers is that there is no instant availability of components to upgrade to BS-IV norms. The views regarding the effect of inferior fuel are expressed and echoed by technicians from Maruti and M&M.

Honda Motor sets up plan for second unit

Sensing the downfall in auto demand, Honda Motor has set aside its proposal to have the second unit in Rajasthan. The second unit will materialize, only if the current facility(Jnaneswar Sen) becomes full packed- 1lakh units-, said its Marketing Head. In that case, the second unit will have the capacity of 60000 units at an investment of 10 billion rupees. The sale performance of the company till October 2009 was 49609 units, at an increase of four times to the previous year’s.

M&M to ride on the two wheelers

Despite the speculations over the JV with Renault, M&M is eying on the banks of two wheeler segment. 2010 will be a brisk year for M&M, said its chairman and MD. A firm decision on the entry of two wheelers and the continued JV with Renault (for promoting Logan) will be disclosed before April, he said. The products in the motorcycle segment will be various, he added. Renault, on the otherhand, has sketched its own map for the journey, allied with Nissan and the unit in Chennai will see the making of new products.

This is in response to the state of Logan in the market in last year- 550 units. M&M sees justification on Renault’s part and for its own defense it says the downfall in the Logan sale was due to the much expectations shown on it. Added complication was the higher tax structure for the uneven size of the car. M&M is planning for the US market with the SUV Scorpio, provided it gets a platform for assembling in the US itself. Alternatively, there will be negotiations with the local Navistar for assembling. M&M is alertful about the relaxation in stimulus package by the govt. this package is contradictory to China or the US, where it is large (in India it is a measured package).

GM to double car output at Talegaon by March; to hire 800 people

GM is doubling its production in Talegaon unit next month much ahead the schedule by engaging 800 personnel in next few months( in addition to the current 4000). This move is in the wake of growing demand for its vehicles- in January 2010, the company set a record in sale. As a result, the Talegaon unit will run to second shift from March instead of June- to deliver 400 units from the current 200 units, said the company’s President for India.

The Talegaon unit is in charge for Chevrolet Spark and Beat, while Chevrolet Tavera, Optra and Aveo are coming from Halol (Gujarat). This Halol is running two shifts producing 250 units a day and process is on to increase it to the third shift. GM had a good stint in January 2010 by selling 9421 units which turns out to be the highest ever in its history of Indian market. the company has got the tie-up with the Chinese Shanghai Automotive Industry to deliver LCV and passenger cars. Of these, except LCVs, all other cars will bear the banner of Chevrolet, he said. Different set of vehicles – from LCVs, pick-ups and MUVs, vans- would come from the JV.

The net sale target for this year is 1.2 lakh in contrast to 70000 units of 2009, an increase of 70%. The JV will boost this sale to 3 lakh units and about 20% of the net sales would be constituted by export market especially Asia-Pacific region. Nepal and Bhutan get a feeble range of cars from GM.

Honda’s 250cc bike by Diwali

The much celebrated festival in India, Deepavali may witness a pompous launch of the 250cc bike by Honda Motorcycle. It would cost Rs1.5 lakh. The trial production is to begin in another three months and the bike will be the first of its kind from the company. On the sideline is the sneak of similar version from TVS. In the meantime, HMSI will offer the upgraded version of its 125cc Shine and the Unicorn(150cc) ( this will be the third upgradation in the period of 5 years).

HMSI has got in store another bike in the basic version- 110cc CB Twister– entering into the strong contingency of ranges from other bike makers like Hero Honda and Bajaj(Discover). By reviving the mass market, the company targets to sell 2.2 lakh units in FY2011; which in turn may increase the market share from the current 13% to 15%, said the company’s VP for marketing and sales. The cost of this Twister is Rs44870- Rs51150 and is the premium level in its segment but the company hopes to rely on the brand image. The dealers opine that the cost of Twist may see the swallowing of Shine in the market.

But HMSI sees the crunch and intends to widen the price gap by upgrading the Shine and Stunner. The sale of these bikes are Shine -25000 units and Stunner 10000 units per month. This indicates the full-capacity run of the company’s Manesar unit (capable of 15 lakh units) and a new plant may sprout soon. The company faced labor dispute during the festival month of 2009 but could achieve the sale of 1.25 million two wheelers. The company is pinning of more exports – 83000 by this year end – which may reach 1 lakh in the next year, said the official.

Maruti 800 may become an antiquity

The once celebrated four wheeler from the country’s top most car maker Maruti, M800 is shown the way to museum. Hereafter there would be no upgrading of this car to comply with Euro IV norms, said its Chairman. Put into sales 28 years ago, the car is destined to be banned in select 13 cities-including Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Delhi, Pune, Kanpur, Ahmedabad, Surat and Agra- where the Euro IV norms are to be implemented from this April.

With this, Maruti is identifying the models for branding as outdated and the current line up of cars include M800, Alto, WagonR, Estilo, A-Star, Ritz and Swift. The exodus will be for the cars which don’t comply with the norm. till 2015, when the norm would come into effect, these cars will run as usual. Facing this norm, global companies like Toyota, VW, Ford, Nissan and the Indian car maker Tata are focusing on small cars. After phasing out its Zen, Maruti is now on the verge of promoting Alto by offering on cost efficient level.

Suzuki to roll down its Bandit and GSX 1000R in India

The sale of superbikes in India boosted the morale for Suzuki to introduce its GSX 1000R. the company felt the presence of its Intruder and Hayabusa at a larger scale. However, the Bandit and GSX 1000R are the two top selling bikes for Suzuki worldwide. They are earmarked for the Indian customers added by latest color schemes. Thus Suzuki is on the process of enumerating its showroom numbers.

Another sensation is Gixxer and with 1000R too on the launch pad, the bikes mean a lot for speedsters. Technically speaking, in this 1250cc bike the crankshafts are upgraded by Suzuki. Bandit has the back up of the box office hit Dhoom, in which it featured. Bandit will be religiously unfurled on 15th Feb. the 1000R is priced Rs12.5 lakh while Bandit costs Rs9.5 lakhs. Both these bikes do what they are meant for- high class performance. Nicked as ‘naked street fighter’ and ‘super sport series’, they are eager to rule the road.

Suzuki

The sport sensation from Suzuki, Kizhasi will alarm the Indian roads soon, said American Suzuki Motorcorp’s VP. Disclosing the launch in India on the occasion of Chicago Auto Show, he had not made any elaborate announcement. The car will showcase Suzuki’s maiden entry into luxury sedan segment. It has already hit the North America two months ago and has fetched 300-400 units sale. Kizhasi has displayed the 4 trim levels of 2010 model at the Chicago show. These models are priced at the range of $18999 and $21749 with the most luxurious model SLS costing the range of $24399 – $26749.

Suzuki is an ally of the India’s top market leader Maruti who possesses 50% of the market share in India. The JV has got popular models in India- Ritz, Alto and A-Star hatchbacks, Estilo, Wagon R, Swift Dzire, SX4.