Thursday 28 June 2012

Renault Duster launched in Britain for GBP 8995

Dacia, the makers of the Duster, have officially launched the the much awaited compact SUV in the UK market for £8995.  The pre-order starts today with first deliveries in January 2013.
 

The Duster will be exported from the Chennai plant to the UK. Considering the Duster’s India launch is also in sight, the company wants to make sure that it has ample capacity for both markets. In Britain, the Dacia-badged Duster will be available with a 1.6-litre petrol engine delivering 104hp, linked to a five-speed manual gearbox. The diesel duties will be handed to the 1.5-liter dCi turbo diesel rated at 108hp paired to a six-speed manual.

There are three trims levels available, Access, Ambiance and Laureate with features such as -
  • 16-inch steel/alloy wheels
  • ABS
  • Longitudinal roof bars
  • Electric front windows
  • Four airbags
  • Height adjustable steering wheel
  • Radio/CD system with AUX, Bluetooth, USB connectivity
  • Trip computer
  • Scuff plates and side sills
Dacia will also offer a standard three year/60,000 mile warranty to make the Duster a compelling ownership proposition. In India, the Duster is expected to be launched in the first week of July.

Wednesday 27 June 2012

Car Companies under Investigation for Unfair Means

Times of India has reported that Competition Commission of India is looking into the allegations of controlling the prices of spare parts unfairly.


New Delhi: A section of car makers has allegedly been found engaging in anti-competitive practices by withholding sales of spare parts in the free market, resulting in controlled and hefty prices at dealerships and service centres authorized by them. The findings are based on a probe by the investigative arm of fair-play watchdog Competition Commission of India (CCI).
In its report to the regulatory agency, the director general (investigation) has accused the auto players of controlling and restricting supplies only to their network, sources told TOI. The probe, spread over a year, studied the after-market supply chain and spoke to various players, including car companies, component manufacturers and open market players.
Companies, including Volkswagen, Honda, Ford and General Motors, said they would study the report before commenting on it, while Toyota stuck with the stand of exclusivity. “Clearly it is not anti-competitive. Only accredited people should be allowed to fix parts as it is in the interest of the customers,” said Toyota Kirloskar deputy MD Shekar Viswanathan. “It is inherently unsafe for non-trained people to fix parts.” A spokesperson for GM India said the company cannot comment until it saw the fine print, while Honda did not answer queries sent on Tuesday evening. A spokesperson for Ford India said, “We will need time to review the development and understand the report before we can comment.”
CCI had asked its investigative arm to probe the matter in March 2011 after a car buyer accused companies of abusing their dominant position by making spare parts available only through their authorized dealers, who in turn were allegedly sold them at high rates. The practice is more prevalent with several of the newer car entrants, while the established ones such as Maruti Suzuki, Mahindra & Mahindra and Tata Motors make spares available in the open market. CCI will now look into the findings of the DG’s probe before deciding if there is a case of anti-competitive behaviour. It will also hear car companies and other parties before an order is issued in a few months. A ruling against car companies will force several of them to sell components in the open market and restrict sales to exclusive dealerships.
It will be a boon for consumers as car majors will not be able to scrap a vehicle’s warranty if its owner gets a faulty part replaced in the open market. The problem has been plaguing car owners for a long time. They are forced to buy parts only from exclusive dealers of companies at the rates they ask for, many times waiting for several days if the component is out of stock. The problem is acute for those living in smaller cities where many of the international players do not have a dealership. The market size of service and spare parts industry is estimated at Rs 15,000 crore annually.

Saturday 23 June 2012

300000 cars wainting to be sold

The automobile companies in India are now facing the consequences of economic slowdown. This combined with already executed expansion plans has put these companies in a difficult situation i.e. production surpassing the demand.  This has resulted into piling of unsold cars.  Total number of unsold new cars is 300,000 in India as of May 2012; out of which 200,000 are petrol cars and rest being diesel driven ones.  While it was already difficult to sell petrol cars considering the high petrol prices and cheaper diesel, now the diesel cars are also going the same way on account of economic slowdown and moreover high interest rates for auto loan.
Some companies like Tata Motors and Volkswagen have decreased their production by regularly shutting down their plants.  Some have moved from 6 day per week to 5 day per week production.  Some are raining huge discounts on petrol cars.  Others are guaranteeing protection from petrol price hike for a year or so.
Nothing is better than this time to buy a new car, particularly petrol one.

Tuesday 19 June 2012

Suzuki Alto Crosses 2 Million Mark in India

The Maruti Alto became only the second Suzuki India car ever to reach the 2 million mark this month. It's been 11 years and 9 months since Suzuki launched the car in India. It was the fastest to sell 10 lakh units in the domestic market. Within 8 years and 3 months. The next ten lakh units came much faster within three years and 6 months.

The Alto has been Suzuki's as well as India's largest selling car for a while now. Only this month, it was toppled by Suzuki's very own Swift which sold marginally higher than the Alto.On the occasion, Mr. Mayank Pareek, Chief Operating Officer, (Marketing and Sales), said, “Alto’s superior fuel efficiency, compact sleek design, good manoeuvrability and overall low cost of ownership are the attributes that make it the best car for the first time buyers. Alto as a complete package continues to win customer’s hearts and surprise everyone with its performance.”

Encouraged by the demand for the Alto, Suzuki launched a powerful K-Series engine in an Alto K-10 avatar in August 2010. At the same, they also introduced a CNG variant of the Alto.

Source : BS Motoring

Tata and Volkswagen to Halt Production in India

The economic slowdown is clear and present.  Automobile giants like Tata and Volkswagen are heading towards halting the production.  An article published in Indian Express says -

Automobile majors Tata Motors and Volkswagen are planning stop-production (block closure) this month in Pune. The companies say there has been a drop in end-user demand “because of slowdown”. While Tata Motors has confirmed a three-day block closure, Volkswagen workers’ union claims that the company is planning a month-long block closure soon.

Debasis Ray, head (corporate communication), Tata Motors, said, “The Pune commercial vehicle plant will have a block closure on June 22, 23 and 24 to align production with demand.”

During this block closure, employees will be paid half a day’s salary per day of the closure.

Tata Motors had undertaken block closure in 2008 and 2009, when production was stopped for three and five days respectively.

At Volkswagen’s Chakan plant, the company will be observing a five-day week instead of the usual six days. “For the past 15 days our production has come down from 430 vehicles per day to 400 per week. We expect this trend to continue till December,” said a source from the company.

However, the company’s head of communications, Alexander Skibbe denied any plans of block closure in Volkswagen or reduction in production.

Anant Sardeshmukh, executive director general, Mahratta Chamber Of Commerce Industries and Agriculture, said the automotive sector is facing 15 to 20 per cent crunch in demand, which could be the beginning of a slowdown.

Tuesday 12 June 2012

XUV 500 Gets 7000+ Bookings in Two Days

Mahindra & Mahindra re-opened bookings for its highly successful SUV 'XUV 500' on 8th June.  Within two days, the bookings have crossed 7200 mark.  M&M has already raised the production level to 4000 units per month.  This will be further raised to 5000 per month by September-October this year. In addition to domestic demand, soon this SUV will be exported also. 

In the previous round of bookings which was second round of booking, this vehicle was booked using a lottery system.  For more information on that system, you can visit - Now get XUV 500 through draw of lots.


Wednesday 6 June 2012

Honda Celebrating 500,000 Customers in India

Honda India is celebrating 500,000 car sales in India.  On this occasion Honda is giving various discounts and benefits on Brio, City, Civic and Accord.  These include free insurance, road side assistance and extended warranty.  However, one of its important hatchback Jazz is not included in the list.  So, no discounts on that model.

Last month, Honda registered an impressive growth of 342 per cent in sales when compared to the same month last year.  Honda's growth is more impressive because demand for petrol cars in general has gone down drastically, whereas Honda is producing only petrol models.

Saturday 2 June 2012

Embassy Vehicles facing the Heat in India

Last month, Supreme Court of India ordered that no car in India should be allowed to have any kind of darkening material pasted/attached on its windows e.g. black film.  Only cars which have their window glasses tinted by the manufacturer with a certain minimum visibility were allowed to move. As the order came from the Supreme Court, police started the crackdown against vehicles violating its order.  Many had to pay the fine in addition to removal of black films whose initial installation itself was somewhere around Rs. 5000 to 15000.  In some places, police itself removed the films, sometimes causing damage to the window glasses.  This removal increased the heat intake inside the vehicles particularly during the summer season which is so uncomfortable in India.  Only vehicles doing security duty of important persons were allowed to have this material.

Yesterday, Delhi police's crackdown was directed towards vehicles belonging to various embassies.  Many of them were caught and made to remove the films.  In cases where drivers were Indians, police made them pay the fine also.  Foreigner drivers escaped due to diplomatic immunity.  Police has advised all the people to follow the law.

Honda India Grows by 342 % in May 2012

 


Honda Siel Cars India Ltd. (HSCI), manufacturer of Honda cars in India, posted a remarkable growth of 342% in May 2012. The company reported sales of 10334 units in the month of May 2012 as  against 2334 units in the corresponding month last year.

The growth is more remarkable due to the fact that other car manufacturers have shown declining trends due to economic slowdown and more over, Honda is a company producing only petrol run cars, whose demand is heading downwards because of comparatively very cheap diesel fuel.

 

Top 5 Car Manufacturers in India - May 2012

Following is the list of top five car manufacturers in India on the basis of monthly sales figures for May 2012 (figures rounded off to nearest 100)-


1. Suzuki       89500
2. Hyundai    32000
3. Mahindra   20600
4. Tata            20500
5. Toyota       15500

Among these, Mahindra is a manufacturer producing only diesel vehicles. Suzuki has maintained its undisputable lead with 42 per cent share in the passenger car market. In the bottom three, there are Mitsubishi (425 units), Renault (485 units) and Fiat (1000 units).

Top Ten Best Selling Cars in India - May 2012

 

Following is the list of tep ten best sellers in India during the month of May 2012.  Figures have been rounded off to nearest 100 -

1.  Suzuki Alto (20700)  
2.  Suzuki Swift (20100)
3.  Suzuki Dzire (17700)
4.  Mahindra Bolero (9600)
5.  Tata Nano (8500)
6.  Hyundai i20 (7700) 
7.  Suzuki Omni (7500)
8.  Hyundai Eon (7300)
9.  Suzuki Wagon R (7100)
10. Hyundai i10 (7000)

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