The next giant step for China into India

Nearly two decades have gone that China tried its best to penetrate the Indian auto market. Now the decks are being cleared with the JV arrived with General Motors India for a possible car manufacturing. The JV between GM and Shanghai Automotive Industry Corpn is currently in operation in China for GM segments – Cadillac, Buick, Chevrolet and Saab. Two or three more models will accompany these in the Indian market. SAIC’s JV with GM is in the series of Korean Ssang Yong Motor Company and Chinese Nanjing Automobile.

The company Chairman said that it likes to leverage on individual brands as well as JVs in the Chinese market and to have the same sting in other markets too, particularly India, which is a potential car market on par with China. Under the 50:50 share with GM, the company will design and deal with Buick in the Roewe platform. SAIC’s plan of activities include intruding the Indian market with small cars- Roewe and Buick; the Korean Acyton hatchback, the entry-level Rodius SUV, in addition to Soyat, and the sporty MG Rover(owned by Nanjing Automobile group).

SAIC is a part of three-fold JV among SAIC-GM-Wuling, under which GM is to illuminate its Spark in India soon. This car will stand along the low-cost cars prevalent in India. Wuling has made its presence with its vans in North Africa, South America and the Middle East under Chevrolets. GM is launching the Wuling portfolio under N200 and N300 to penetrate the potential market dominated by Maruti Omni and the ongoing O2 segment from Maruti itself.

GM will carry on with Wuling pick-up trucks(single/double cab) as well as mini van passenger carriers to match Tata ACE Magic. SAIC happens to be the first car maker to enter into India officially as other companies Chery Automobile and Dongfeng Motor Corporation are polishing their wheels to enter at any time. GM will retain its hold, in spite of equal share, and will capitalize on the price sector Rs5-7 lakh.

The topnotch officials from GM revealed that a majority of Chinese cars on the development stage and the hatchback models may see freezing process. The time span focused for the Chinese cars is two years and in the meantime the freezing of hatchbacks and sedans will be on. Further, light trucks in 1 tonne category is mooted amidst efforts for customizing the manufacturing to suit for Indian market, said GM India President.

The R&D will be given due weightage with a headcount of over 1000 in the Bangalore facility for the Chinese products. SAIC will take along the Talegaon plant (capable of producing 2.2lakh cars annually) for delivering the cars for India. The Halol in Gujarat (production capacity of 80000 units will be allocated for utility vehicles and trucks). GM sees the sale to triple with the arrival of Chinese models, by pinning 70000 units by the end of this year, which may be taken to 2 lakh in the next two years.

Yeoman Service of Hamara Bajaj

Once the two wheeler portrait of Bajaj, the scooters, will have the curtains down as the company is keen of motorcycles only. The end of this fiscal will bid adieu to the scooters that too with just one model, 100cc gearless Crystal. This puts an end to the era of scooters which spread for nearly three decades with the famous slogan Hamara Bajaj.The company is opting between the choices and preferred the popular one, bike, said its MD. With the latest launch of 135cc Pulsar, Bajaj is sharpening its tools to motorcycles segment.

The sale of scooters is par below 1000 units a month from which a major share goes overseas. Bajaj sets a target to become the world number one motorcycle manufacturer, of course, without time-bound process. This, the company intends to achieve at the expense of scooter segment. The SIAM reveals the figure of Bajaj scooter sale as 154 units of Crystal in November along with export of 104 units. This made the net volume of scooter sales(April-November) to 3356 units and export of 728 units.

Volkswagen to occupy the driver

Volkswagen has succeeded at clamping 49.9% share of Porsche deal at an outright purchase for $5.8 billion. This will make the reversal of fortune for Porsche AG to deconsolidate 51.1%. the acquisition deal will be in effect from 2011, when by there will be a merger of these two companies, said a statement from VW. The annual synergies out of this proposed merger would be around 700 million Euros.

In the process of revamping the 75% control of VW share, Porsche had accrued a debt about millions of euros; there was sacking of two top level managers. However, VW was fortunate to gain out of this and the management got the consent to accumulate the share transactions by 2014 (amounting to 135million). VW assessed the combined value of Porsche AG and Porsche Holding to 16 billion euros. Porsche happened to be the Europe’s largest car manufacturing group.

Chinese Automaker SAIC Targets India

Following a potential deal (50:50) with General Motors for car market, Shanghai Automotive of China entered into another deal. This time it is with the Japan’s pioneer in electronics Pioneer for car navigations systems in China. After a nightmarish deal it had with the Korean firm, Ssangyong Motor for $500 million (2004) SAIC is very cautious in its every step of JV. SAIC documented Korean anti-Chinese obsession for the break up.

The company’s diversion now to India is seen as a surprise. The history discloses that both the countries had a tough war in 1960s and there has been an unresolved border dispute. Leaving them as history, the trade and commerce world has a different approach as more electronics and fiber goods have earned good command in the Indian market. The Chinese government company’s (SAIC) diplomacy is to gain entry into India through the back door for ensemble of more business prospects.

A hope of rise for Mercedes-Benz in India

The US car maker Mercedes-Benz has good moments to cherish, if the sale of its car brings home fortune. The company sees positive outlook on the rise of sales due to the improved market conditions globally. The luxury segment was the worst-affected last year, but the conditions have revived since July this year, said the company’s director.

Compared to 2900 cars sold till November in last year, this year it is 3625 cars, with promising base got from Punjab (8-10% of the total sales) with Delhi remaining the strong base. The company has a reason to smile as its suv New M-class received positive response- sale of 130-140 till now, compared to 100 in the same period last year. This prompted Mercedes to go in for new suv models next year. As of now there are two dealers, which derives good rapport with the customers for an excellent after- sale service.

GM’s compact car Beat to be priced at Rs 4-5 lakh

The upcoming Auto Expo in New Delhi will see the launch of General Motors’ small car Chevrolet Beat. The current portfolio is filled with Spark and Aveo U-VA and GM is planning to redefine the existing models like U-V instead of withdrawing them. A new model of Captiva is also in the offing for next year.

The Chevrolet Beat will be in 1.2lit petrol model @RS4-5lakh and the diesel model will follow soon. This small car is Beat for India and other markets is Spark. The car is built with indigenous specifications – suspension and powertrain found in Korean model are no more here. GM dares that this small car will vie with Swift, Ritz and Hyundai i10.

Having sensed the sting at the pricing of Spark, GM has awakened to fix the cost of this Beat, said its president of India. The company’s Talegaon plant will take care of producing this Beat as the Spark will be shifted to Halol in Gujarat. GM is optimistic to reach the 2 lakh mark by 2012 (from the current 70000 units). GM sees the scope of growth only in the new models including the Beat, new passenger and LCVs (in association with Shanghai Automotive of China).

The company is on the mission of grabbing the customers for the price factor, since there is a proposal for more brands from Chevrolet segment and Cadillac brands. The sale figure of the company for November is 7118 units (against 4307 units last year same period), which comprises 4202 units of Chevrolet Spark, 1264 units of Chevrolet Tavera, 524 units of Aveo U-VA, 412 units of Aveo, 518 units of Cruze, 114 units of Optra and 84 units of Captiva.

Honda to have a vivid identity for its 110cc

There wont be any clash of the titans – Hero Honda and Hero Motorcycle &Scooter India, over the launch of new 110cc bike. Splendor and Passion will continue to run on the separate identity from Hero Honda, while HMSI will deliver the new 110cc on its own. HMSI possesses 26% share in Hero Honda and the new brand will be a niche targeted at the youth.The new 110 cc will cost 10% more than Passion Pro (Rs44000) and Splendor (Rs39,250). Hero Honda still remains the torch bearer in the global motorbike industry and the apex body in Japan is shying away to collapse the momentum, by making the new bike as a joint venture between the sister companies.

The existing agreement will continue till 2014, when the contract period might cease.Auto industry analysts predicted that any JV between these two companies will end up with cannibalization. Hence the bike is intended to be a stylish one rather than the commuting vehicle, in addition to better mileage. The 110cc bike from HMSI will be a unique one in that it will fascinate the young minds, said its official.The advantage for the two companies is that the component segment are similar for both these entry-level segments.

Hero Honda had a good run amidst the economy downfall and Honda is too repulsive to retain the momentum in the global share. Thus, the event of fragmenting Hero from the umbrella of Honda will be a litmus test, said the CEO of Honda Siel Cars India.Hero Honda Splendor is the largest selling bike in the world, with one million units in this year itself and Passion too contributed a substantial sale volume to accrue 50-60% market share among 3-4million units sold globally.

On the other side, HMSI received a reaping sale of 400000 motorcycles annually with its scooter share comprising 60% of its net volume of 1.2million units. The motorcycle market has a potential of 7 million units a year of which Hero Honda dominates. So it is natural for HMSI to enfold the greater volume and is not in a mood to give way for the staunch rivals like Bajaj and TVS.

Bajaj launches Pulsar 135cc

You read it first at vicky.in

As u read it,  Bajaj has launched the Pulsar 135cc (called Bajaj Pulsar 135LS – Light Sport) in Delhi. Powered by 4 stroke, air cooled, 4-valve, single cylinder is of carburetion type. The new pulsar 135cc develops 13.5PS of peak power at 9000rpm and 11.Nm of peak torque at 7500rpm. As per Bajaj, “the light kerb weight of only 122 kg gives it a great Power-to-weight ratio of 110.6 Ps/tonne to make it optimum balance of agility and comfort to maneuver hustle-and-bustle of urban traffic”. Bajaj Pulsar 135LS has the fuel tank capacity of 8 litres and along with a reserve  of 2.5 litres (1.6 litres usable) capacity.  The new pulsar 135LS available in 2 colors (Cocktail Wine and Midnight Black). New Pulsar 135CC comes with  5-speed transmission. Brakes Front Disc (Diameter 240 mm). EStart System  available in Kick and Self. Bajaj pulsar 135LS comes at a exshowroom (Delhi) price of Rs. 51000).

About superior 4 -valve DTS-i engine in Pulsar 135LS

A 4-Valve engine is designed for better performance than regular a 2-Valve engine. Combined with the revolutionary DTS-i (Digital Twin Spark-ignition) technology which maximizes combustion to deliver enhanced power and superior mileage with low emissions, the Pulsar 135 LS has one of the most efficient production engines ever.

1. More power: The 4 valve provides for a greater intake and exhaust area resulting in more power, almost equivalent a 2 valve 150cc engine.
2. Sustained top end power: The light-weight character of the four smaller valves (as opposed to two heavier valves), which allow the engine to effortlessly rev to an eye-popping 10,500 rpm (electronically limited)!
3. Sporty ride: Given the wider rpm band, the engine can be revved hard and high in each gear resulting in a genuine sporty ride.
4. More Mileage: Established superiority of DTS-i blended with 4 valve not only enhances the performance but also returns a very good fuel economy (68.1 km/l certified by ARAI)
5. More green: Comfortably meets BSIII regulations.

Pictures of Bajaj Pulsar 135LS.

Catch the complete launch pictures here

More Bajaj Pulsar153cc LS Pictures

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Hero Electric to assemble e-scooter in foreign soil

The assembling of e-scooter, by Hero Electric, will be hereafter from the foreign markets in a tie-up with local players, from the next year. The company has five models in its portfolio- E-Sprint, Maxi, Optima Plus, Wave Dx and Wave Dx Extra Mile.

According to the company’s MD, talks are on now with possible players in Western Europe and North America and agreements may be reached in a year. This follows last year’ export to SAARC countries and Canada.

This step is to reduce the overall cost of the product, but there will not be contract mode of manufacturing, he clarified. By sticking on to the individual and own identity, the assembly will be on case-by-case mode. The company has already proposed to export to Latin America and Europe by the end of this fiscal.