Bajaj

The small car initiated by the tie-up among Renault-Nissan and Bajaj is to be smaller than Maruti Alto, it is learnt. According to the EVP of Renault the agenda is about the small car lesser in size than Alto in 1.2lit category. The car was under process among these companies to be ready for launch in 2012. The partners have resolved their responsibilities- Bajaj is to take care of design, engineering, sourcing, and manufacturing; Renault-Nissan will look after marketing and selling.

The irony is Bajaj won’t get brand identity. The MD of Bajaj said that there will be common components about 70-80% with Bajaj’s two wheelers and three wheelers. The car materialized after a one year delay due to hassle in the tie-up otherwise set as a competitor for Nano. The association among the companies is on the basis of 50% stake for Bajaj, Renault and Nissan each having 25% and the expected annual production is 4 lakh units.

The bond is tight between VW and Suzuki

The nexus between Volkswagen and Suzuki went off well with each of them sharing the reasonable honor. VW will have a bigger say with a transferred amount of $2.4 billion for availing 19.9% stake in Suzuki. The amount enabled Suzuki to avail stocks of VW worth $1billion. The project will see Suzuki involving in developing parts and procurement while devising a new model might take three years.

The marketing of the brands between these two is to be individual as VW is always for brand separation. Suzuki will benefit the technological environment from VW by exchanging mid level labors at the headquarters. There will be no more purchasing of diesel engines from Renault, PSA and Fiat since this will be taken care by VW. The association between Suzuki and GM will cease to exist soon. The honeymoon between Suzuki and VW goes off well in right track.

Bajaj to launch new Discover and Platina

2010 has started, but Bajaj is yet to ignite the firecrackers. More bikes on Platina and Discover brand will hit the market soon. “We will launch both models either under the Discover or the Platina brand,” S. Sridhar, chief executive of Bajaj Auto’s two-wheeler business, told Dow Jones Newswires by phone recently. Mr. Sridhar declined to give details about the engine specifications or the likely prices of the new vehicles. “The commuter segment is doing well. We need more models from this segment,” he said. While Bajaj offers complete range of Pulsar series to woo the performance buyers, the mass segment is catered solely by Discover 100cc. Bajaj wish to add few more bikes in the segment to give splendor and passion a tough competition. As we reported, on of the model could be the Bajaj Disover 150cc.

Yamaha to re-launch RX100

Seeing the title, you may wish to jump to skies. The most expected comeback may finally happen soon. It’s like schumacher return to F1. Yamaha is actively working on to bring back the legendary RX100 in a different avatar. Royal Enfield has been successful in making vintage bikes to suit the young buyers and stricter emission norms. Yamaha loves to do the same with the RX100. Yamaha is believed to be working on 4-stroke version of RX100. Yamaha would carry the vintage styling without making any serious change. However, the 2-stroke monster will be replaced by less polluting and environment friendly 4-stroke engine. We are keen to know the power ratings of the new RX100. Can RX100 bring back the golden era for India Yamaha ? share us your opinion

Honda small car to run India and neighbours

Honda is planning to launch its small car in India, Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan. Slated for 2011, the car will have 80% components from India and no proposal as such for other countries. Having sensed the success of its “City’, Honda believes that its brand will sell positively. The most preferred brand from Honda for over a decade, City, will supply many of its features to the small car and meet the demands of sub-Asian market.

The design of this small car was made after an analytical study for two years. Honda believes that the strategy behind the study was to have a first-hand knowledge about the needs and likes of the consumers. After the launch of its concept in the just concluded Auto Expo, the car is to be made from the company’s Greater Noida plant.

Along with this small car, other current models too(with City and Jazz having 75% and Civic having 71% and the Accord with28% local components) will be fitted with majority of local components. The launch of small car will strengthen the base of dealer networks- 166 from 66- spread to 20 new cities.

Maruti Suzuki plans to open brand centres across metros

Maruti is on the verge of creating brand equity by initiating brand centres in major cities. Maruti Suzuki is an Indian arm of the Japanese firm having 54% stake. The proposed centres will start functioning from two years. According to its commercial business head, already 44000 sq ft of space( a minimum space required for brand centres) in Rajarhat(Kolkata) has been earmarked for the purchase.

With many timely changes possible in future, the brand centres might display the best of the company’s products like the two wheeler Hayabusa and Mauti’s Eeco. Maruti’s brands include Omni, M800, Swift, Eeco, SX-4, A-Star, Grand Vitara, Dzire; Suzuki India’s brands include Hayabusa 1300, Intruder M1800R, GS 150R, Zeus and Access 125 scooter.

The space in Kolkata belonged to one of Maruti’s largest dealers- Dewar’s Garage while for other cities the deal is solicited from the owners having such amount of space. The company is in the process of hiking the prices for its ranges(due to rise in steel and copper as well as rubber). The new prices may officially be effected in another two weeks.

GM-SAIC JV for Chevrolet

A defined version of cars from GM-SAIC is in the offing and the outcome of the current market study will pave way for commercial vehicles under this JV. After the launch of Beat, the company is now on the process of launching new products by the end of next year. SAIC has got a lion’s share in the JV and has committed to invest Rs1620 crore for the India projects. December2011 will see LCVs from Talegaon plant and will be followed by passenger cars (probably Chevrolet range) from Wuling in the next year.

In the meantime the company is on the look out for dealerships. The company is aware of the consumer approach towards Chinese makes and has given 2 years as the trial period for the product to establish. Halol and Talegaon will see additional investment for making these vehicles. Once the power train gets ready at Talegaon facility the roll down of Beat will come into effect.

The power train engines may be on both petrol and diesel variants in 1.5 lit to begin with as the plant has the capacity of 1.60 lakh engines(likely to be increased to 3 lakhs). Engines as well as cars fitted with engines will be exported from this unit while the Korean plants will export cars for other countries. Beat may be exported to European belt and Asia-Pacific countries.

BMW to be available in seconds market

The luxury car has entered into the seconds market penetratingly as BMW announced its product in addition to financial support. Currently BMW has 40% luxury market with its sales crossing 3619 units last year. The seconds dealing by BMW will be an organized one- selling, financing and liaison with buyer and dealer. The company’s MD for India said that the avenue is for those who desire to own a BMW.

Another luxury car maker Mercedes is also chalking out its plans for seconds in this segment. The deal will have a separate platform in another 6 months in addition to the ones in Mumbai and Hyderabad. The business is, however, not up to the mark. Out of the required investment of RS6 crore for this market, the dealers are pouring Rs2 crore to run the show. The dealers in this used car segment welcome such entry by own companies. Audi too will soon follow the suit in this regard.

Bosch to excel with its diesel for Nano

The premium engine manufacturer Bosch has finished the design of diesel engine meant for Tata Nano. Bosch is waiting for the formal launch of diesel Nano. The proposed engine will be of 750cc range and the full swing production will start by the Q3 or Q4 of 2011 fiscal. Bosch had invested Rs20000 crore for its global expansion which includes this diesel variant for Nano. Yet, there has been no official word from Tata about this despite its earlier commitment for alternative fuels for Nano.

The diesel variant of Nano would be ideal for those customers who switch over from two wheelers. But the technological question arises about the diesel engine being fitted at the rear of the car which may turn out to be a great challenge. Since the diesel engine is from CRS 1.1 common rail system, the cost would also be a snag(an estimated increase of Rs20000). However, Tata has started its trial production of Nano at the Sanand plant with the commercial production to start from this March.