The Nano’s first painted body unit in Sanand will be ready by June 2010. The unit is to engage the robot for reducing carbondioxide emission. For this purpose, Durr India Pvt Ltd is the authority on turnkey basis for Tata. This paint shop is one of the units for Nano manufacture. The technology employed here is the Lean compact using robots and the first body paint unit of the cheapest car will roll on in June 2010. With the project investment of Rs45million Euros there will be import of robots from Germany for this job. The paint shop at Sanand will have the capacity of 60 cars an hour and will eliminate 47% of carbon dioxide all on the basis of loop process.
A warm welcome for Tata from Italy
Italy’s call for saving the downfall of Fiat is flashed in the Indian auto industry and the targeted are Tata Motors and M&M. the call came from the Italy’s Economic Development Minister who was here to promote the business deals at $8billion. The Italy car unit in the Sicilian island may be taken over by the Italy government and will be handed over to any Indian auto maker who comes for the rescue.
However no official comment could be got from either of the companies. The Minister too did not speculate nor confirm any such move but invited the Indian investors. The Italy unit of Fiat at Termini(the smallest of the 5 units) has the capacity of 400 cars a day. This is also the costliest plant because of the cost involved in shipping the parts to the island. The manpower is 3500 with the component unit to have 3000 more.
Fiat is in the mood of closing down the units after 2011 since the sale has fallen down. The government in Italy is not for this fearing protests from the people. Tata-Fiat is a combined network for Italian made cars in select cities of India. This is the reason to target Tata.
JV between VW and Suzuki to start by January
The proposed JV between the German car maker Volkswagen and the Japanese supreme Suzuki is getting a kick off from January 10, said Suzuki ‘s chief executive. Under the tie-up, VW will be entitled to have 19.9% share in the Suzuki and the official exchange of information and technology will take place from this date, said the CEO Suzuki. Their imminent need is to have a small car for the global market to expand the sale.
The car would cost $4300-$5400 and the apex body has the mandate for this in India (Maruti is no where in the picture). Suzuki tops the list in making 660cc mini vehicles and is in Japan only with a preferential tax relief. But the experience in micro cars have made the company to rethink in terms of mini cars on fuel efficiency. The Alto, launched 30 years ago, costed 470000 yen ($5250) and proved to be an instant success.
The car proved to be a trigger for the entire auto industry and by now it has crossed 10 million mark. Suzuki plans to deliver an average of 7000 Alto units a month in Japan. The current price in Japan is 677250 yen ($7561) for the commercial and 732900yen ($8183) for the passenger car. Suzuki has dropped the growth potential hope for 660cc in Japan and the sale would be down by 10% this year end @1.68 units.
Bookings for Nano to be cleared by Dec 2010
Tata Motors has sketched the delivery of Nano for the bookings made and the customers can drive their car by exactly a year later from now. This was disclosed by the company’s President for Passenger cars. Speaking on the occasion of the launch of Sumo Grande, he said so far 15000 cars have been delivered since July and out of 2.03 bookings 1.55 lakh customers are willing to wait for the delivery.
This indicates that Tata Motors is in need of 140000 cars for delivery by next 12 months @ an average of 4000 cars a month. This could be possible if the Sanand unit starts production from April next. The new launch Sumo Grande MK II is lesser by Rs30000 from the current version (Rs6.43lakhs –Rs7.50 lakhs). The car comes in BS-III compliance and in three variants; is equipped with 2.2 lit DICOR engine.
Tata likes to retain Sumo Victa (Rs5.5 lakh) but the Sumo Grande will be withdrawn. Tata’s Sumo segment has a sale volume of 2000 units a month and Safari enjoys 18% market share in utility vehicle sector.
Nissan seeks the blessings of Renault
The Japanese car maker Nissan’s seeking for the financial leisure from Renault is aimed on rolling down the local made small car in 2010. The MD&CEO of Nissan said that the company is hopeful that Renault would reconsider its decision to freeze the financial constraints. Depending upon the outcome of the financial crisis, Renault is likely to invest at the Oragadam plant for production and Nissan is planning for global small car.
Nissan is scheduling for nine models from its Indian origin of which five will be from Chennai plant in a bid to pluck 5.5 % market share. The share between Nissan and Renault on 50:50 (for Renault-Nissan Automotive India Pvt.Ltd) materialized in 2008 for making vehicles of both brands in India. The venture was to make 4lakh cars a year in 7 years with an investment of $1140 million. The CEO of Nissan expressed the company’s gratitude for recognizing a European-Asian alliance and hoped the revival from Renault.
Nissan is to import 4 direct top-end models from Japan and make 5 from the Indian plant. The company is shifting its MICRA from UK to India during 2010 whereby Chennai plant will be a hub for the global compact car. The cars will be exported to Europe from China, India, Thailand and Mexico. Nissan’s target for 2013 is 10 lakh, from the current capacity of 2lakhs, with the trial production already started in November.
The first of this kind is slated for the display at Geneva Motor show in 2010. As assured Nissan will launch its export base at Ennur and the Chennai plant will start export from the 2H of 2010. By this arrangement Nissan would export 110000 units covering more than 100countries (30 European countries) apart from Africa and West Asia. This will be gradually increased to 180000 units per year, said its CEO.
The other JVs including Nissan-Renault-Ashok Leyland (at an investment of $575 million) the operations may begin in 2011-12. By keeping aside the earlier plan to have a unit, the Ashok Leyland platform and Nissan-Renault plant will be used for manufacturing LCVs from mid 2011. In a vain to match Tata’s Nano the JV along with Bajaj has planned for a small car at $2500 million and may roll on the Indian roads by 2012.
For hybrid and electric modes, the JV had earmarked $4billion to initiate EVs for global market. In this connection an agreement with governments have already been made and the cars will be ready by next year. The JV is expecting a clearance from the Indian government for this proposal.
After party, Motown fears hangover
The increase in the car sales is whooping in the last 10 months -67%-and the celebration among the makers is going well. The reasons cited for this increase are the government’s stimulus package and loan offers from the financial institutions. But the jubilation might face the end, as the companies are rubbing their shoulders to tackle the proposed price rise in the new year. Almost all the manufacturers are in the plans to hike the price and to woo the customers for buying the cars by not minding the rise.
Skoda Auto (Fabia and Superb) has fixed the increase to a minimum of Rs20000; M&M is on the bid of meeting the emission norms thereby changing the engine patterns which will end up with an inevitable rise. Honda Siel quotes the import tax and the variation in yen value. But the car makers adduce the price due to the increase in the interest rates from the banks’ apex Reserve bank of India. RBI mooted this after the danger of rise in the inflation during November. Many banks have already fixed strict norms for two wheeler loans.
Toyota Motors says 75% of its sale is boosted from the finance only. The overall increase in the price of raw materials by 2-5% forced the makers to compensate with the hike in the cost of the cars. All these factors will have a deep impact on the market of the cars, says the president of M&M. this rise is in spite of the government’s relaxation of excise duty on compact cars to 8% from 12%.
The automobile industry has been facing a fever of fear on the budget proposals which is barely two months away. Whatever may be the outcome of the budget there will be a definite increase in April, when the emission norms comes into effect. The speculative value of currencies will also contribute to the rise in the price. Honda, Toyota, Skoda and VW all depend much on the local currency value. The Japanese Yen hits the market heavily with its rise in the last 14 years affecting the prospects of import, said the VP of Honda Siel. A relief to the customers is that the price will not be heavy on their shoulders.
Jaguar may reach operating profit levels next year
Tata Motors expressed the hope to revive the profitable run of Jaguar from the next year, said its Chief Financial Officer. The company’s focus is now to bring down the break-even point from the present 60-65% of the production capacity. The target period for this is next year and Jaguar Land Rover is noted for its high-level long term strategy which includes reduction in the price and the break-even points.
The vehicle’s retrieval will include all aspects including labor orientation and marketing. The revival mission has fetched Tata Motors a profit of Rs22 crore for the Q2 against the loss of Rs942crore during the same period last year. The company is able to reduce the loss on quarterly basis from Rs329crore to Rs22crore in Q1. The sale of Jaguar increased 23% (44300 units in July-September period) against 35900 units in the previous quarter.
Further the company has plans to go for green mode, low emission and hybrid products. There will be the smaller mode of Jaguar in next two years. The CFO is full of optimism that Jaguar has completely recovered from the loss immunity test and there will be the horizontal graph for it.
The nightmare with the car for more than 3-5 months has gone now, he said. However the reforming steps for this car is on with the closure of its West Midland plant by 2014 that too on the basis of huge loss. The company had sought the advise of KPMG and Rolland Berger who are with the Gaydon and Whitney sites in spite of the tussle over the making.
HMSI on the revival mission
Honda Motorcycles and Scooters India is on the mission of revival after facing the crucial labor unrest some three months ago. The company is likely to start a second plant outside Haryana to meet the demand for the products. In a bid to increase the production to fulfill the market needs – more than 15 lakh two wheelers by the next fiscal end.
With a feasibility study on green plant the company has in mind the expansion plans of the Manesar plant. HMSI is another maker after Rico Auto, auto parts maker, who faced the labor problem and both are contemplating on shifting outside Haryana. HMSI is preferably seeking an adjoining segment of North instead of South or West, to have better feasibility on supply base, said its CEO &President.
The labor unrest from July-October incurred the company a loss of Rs300crore by way of less production. The labors intentionally reduced the production demanding more wages and incentives, which fetched the company a decrease of 30% production. The company had got a chunk of orders for 1.6lakh which has to be compensated in three months, by increasing the production to 15 lakh.
The Operating Officer of Honda Asia Oceania said that Honda Siel is setting up a second plant for car at a plant in Rajasthan to add fuel to the first plant at Noida. The company is on the look out for similar second plant for scooters and bikes near Manesar, said the CEO.
Nissan
Nissan’s passion for sports models gets refined view with a new model iconic 370Z slated for the launch next month. This will be the third imported model for the Indian market following Teana and X-Trail. Further there will be four more models will hit the roads and all will be imported including a SUV.
Nissan enjoys a share of 5.67% in the global market and is on the verge of reaching 5.5% share in the Indian market in another 3-5 years. This is scheduled prior to the launch of new facilities in the Chennai plant possibly by May 2010 said the company’s MD and CEO who visited the country for inaugurating the first dealer outlet in Gujarat (9th in India).
In the meantime, the company will withdraw its MICRA model made in the UK and will be combined in the production at Chennai plant. This plant is known for its V-platform facility which will first make premium hatchbacks in the B-plus segment and will function as the hub for global sourcing, said the MD. Nissan has chalked out its plans of export of 110thousand units in the first year of production to more than 100countries of which 30 in Europe. The Chennai plant will be in the series of Nissan’s global compact car platforms after China, Thailand, Mexico and the fifth location is under process.
Tata Motors launches Sumo Grande MK II
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Tata Motors today announced the launch of Grande MK II, an upgraded version of its premium Sumo offering in the domestic market. The Grande MK II seeks to deliver added value to customers through substantial changes in the exteriors and interiors combined with improvements in drivability, ride and handling and comfort. The exteriors have been accentuated by a new chrome lined grill, side rub rails with chrome inserts and indicators on ORVMs. The interiors have been refreshed to give the vehicle a completely new, contemporary look with a two tone theme complemented by a new faux wood centre console and new fabric upholstery. The changed drive ratio in the Grande MK II gives a boost to low speed performance in city driving conditions. While a modified suspension ensures a comfortable ride, particularly for second and third row occupants, optimised anti-roll bars reduce body roll to a minimum during cornering. The existing low NVH levels have been further refined.
Several ergonomic improvements have been made in the Grande MK II — significant among these are a smaller steering wheel with floating horns, a grab handle on the ‘C’ pillar to aid egress of third row passengers, and new inner door handles. The Grande MK II carries forward the class leading features of the earlier version such as best in class third row seats and lowest turning circle radius of 5.25 m in the category, in addition to having one of the best fuel efficiencies in its class. Dual HVAC with roof integrated louvers, motorised ORVMs, height adjustable driver’s seat and a state of the art CD/MP3 music system are some of the other features Grande MK II continues to sport. The vehicle is powered by the new generation 2.2 litre DICOR engine fitted with a variable geometry turbocharger which delivers maximum power and torque of 120 PS and 250 Nm respectively.
The Grande MK II will be available in 3 variants – top of the line Gx, Ex, and Lx with a seating capacity ranging between 7 and 9 seats in front and side facing configurations. The vehicle will be available in three new colours, Walnut Gold, Platinum Beige and Castle Grey. The Grande MK II is priced in the range of Rs. 6.43 lakhs to Rs. 7.50 lakhs (ex-showroom, Delhi). It comes with a warranty of 2 years or 75,000 kms (whichever is earlier). An additional 2 years’ warranty can be availed through the extended warranty option. Customers would be able to accessorise the Grande MK II with a host of accessories available at dealerships across the country.
More Pictures of Tata Sumo Grande Mark II
