Agreement between Fiat and Suzuki for diesel engines

FIAT India has announced that it has reached an agreement to supply the 1.3-litre, BSIV compliant, Multijet diesel engine (75 HP) to Maruti Suzuki for the next three years. The supply will start this month and every year FIAT will supply Maruti Suzuki with 1 lakh diesel engines for use in the Ritz, Swift and Swift DZire. The production of these engines will commence in the fourth week of January at FIAT-Tata’s joint venture plant in Ranjangaon near Pune. These engines are other than the ones which FIAT already licenses to Maruti Suzuki for production by Suzuki powertrain India. FIAT also supplies Premier with Multijet engines for the Rio compact SUV.

Mahindra to increase the production of XUV 5OO

Buoyed by the influx of bookings for its newly-launched global sports utility vehicle (SUV) – XUV500 – Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) is looking at scaling up the production capacity of the all-wheel drive vehicle at its Chakan plant near Pune to 3,000 units per month during the next fiscal.

“The demand is clearly exceeding than what we can produce. So, looking at the demand we are putting in all our efforts and we would like to touch a volume of 3,000 units, from the existing 2,500 per month, in the short run and then ramp it up further,” Arun Malhotra, senior vice-president (sales and customer care) said here on Tuesday.

Since its launch on September 29 last year, the XUV500 received over 8,000 bookings in just 10 days, post which M&M suspended new bookings in October due to inability to meet the demand. The vehicle was available only in five cities of Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai, and Pune then.

Announcing the launch of XUV500 in the Hyderabad market, Malhotra said their primary objective was to ensure that their customers had no longer waiting periods. “Our idea is to supply to the first lot and then go to other cities. By the end of February, we will try to deliver all the 8,000 units that have already been booked,” he said.

M&M will open the Phase-II of bookings for XUV500, the fourth SUV from its arsenal, with the other three being Scorpio, Bolero and Xylo, for a limited period of 10 days starting January 25 in 19 cities including Hyderabad, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Chandigarh, Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Patiala, Kochi, Thiruvanthapuram, Kozhikode, Trissur, Coimbatore, Nagpur and Nashik.

“If the bookings exceed 7,200 units, then we will go for a scientific and transparent draw process, which will be validated by Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India,” Malhotra said, adding that the Rs 80,000 amount to be paid with the XUV draw application form was refundable.

M&M, which launched XUV500 at introductory prices ranging between Rs 108 lakh and Rs 11.95 lakh, had hiked prices in the beginning of this month with its two variants becoming dearer by Rs 35,000-Rs 50,000.

“We have passed on only 50 per cent of the price hike to those customers who have booked XUV in the first lot. The new bookings that we are doing now is with the new price,” Malhotra said, adding that the XUV is available at Rs 11.2 lakh for the W6 model and Rs 12.57 lakh for the W8 2WD model (ex-showroom, Hyderabad). On the exports front, Malhotra said the company had started exporting XUV in small volumes to South Africa. “Once we are able to ramp up the production and feed the domestic demand, we will go into more countries,” he said.

Source : BS Motoring

Car prices hiked by Maruti and GM

Suzuki and GM have hiked the prices of their products by up to Rs 17,000 to offset rising input costs and the impact of currency fluctuation.  This hike is in spite of the poor sales in the recent months.

Maruti India (MSI) has hiked prices of its vehicles across models, except for entry-level sedan DZire, by between 0.3 per cent and 3.4 per cent. This translates into a minimum increase of Rs 2,400 on the SX4 sedan and a maximum of Rs 17,000 on the diesel variant of its Swift hatchback.  Hike is effective from Monday.

The company had stated it would hike the prices of its models to offset the impact of rising input costs and foreign exchange fluctuation.
Before the hike, the SX4 sedan was priced between Rs 7 lakh and Rs 9.11 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi), while the Swift diesel was available at prices ranging from Rs 5.27 lakh to Rs 6.47 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi) for different variants.

The company's best-selling Alto model will also become dearer by Rs 4,000 vis-a-vis the current price tag of between Rs 2.32 lakh and Rs 3.31 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi). Maruti sells a variety of models, ranging from the M800, which starts at a price of Rs 1.97 lakh, to the top-end Kizashi, which comes with a price tag of Rs 17.5 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi). The company has not touched the price of the DZire sedan as it will launch a new version next month.

GM India has also increased product prices by between 0.5 per cent and 1.75 per cent for models including the Spark, Beat, Cruze and Tavera, translating into an increase ranging from Rs 3,000 to Rs 15,000.

Honda destroys more than 1000 cars

Honda destroyed 1055 cars affected by Thailand floods.

Suzuki to launch new Dzire in February

Suzuki is all set to launch the new Swift Dzire in February in India. This will be a shorter version in length to qualify for the excise duty of 10 per cent enjoyed by small cars. In India, cars having a length less than 4000 mm enjor some benefits in excise duty.  The company said it is unlikely that the new version of DZire will be priced lesser than the existing one, which ranges between Rs 4.94 lakh and Rs 7.29 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi).

The interior of the new Dzire is laid out in the same manner as the Swift. Features such as steering-mounted audio controls, dual tone dashboard, five-speed manual transmission, etc are copy of new Swift.  Maruti has neatly differentiated the sedan from the hatch using a new grille, triangular fog lamp modules and unique wheel caps.

 

Source : indianautosblog

 

Audi achieves its highest sales ever

Audi sold around 1,302,650 cars in 2011 which is its highest tally.  It was better than its previous sales record by more than 210,200 units. The brand’s strong growth spanned all regions of the world: China became Audi’s biggest single market for the first time ever, with 313,036 vehicles delivered. In Europe, the Ingolstadt-based brand increased its unit sales by 12.1 percent to around 726,300 cars; it also achieved a growth rate well into double figures in the United States. Audi ended the past year with a new sales record in more than 50 markets.

Since the market launch of the new-generation A8 and A6 and of the A7 Sportback, more than one in four U.S. customers have opted for a full-size model. Within one year, Audi has thus increased the U.S. sales share of the top-end car lines by more than half. Across all models, Audi sold 117,561 automobiles in the United States last year, a further advance of 15.7 percent on the 2010 figure.

Worldwide, too, the full-size models were instrumental in driving Audi’s growth: Even before the appearance of the new-generation A6 in China, the sedan model’s biggest market, global sales of this car line rose by 12.2 percent to around 229,200 vehicles. The new A6 sedan appeared in its first markets in March, with the Avant, which is especially popular in Europe, following only in the fall. By contrast the A7 Sportback has now been on the market for its first full year, attracting over 31,300 customers worldwide. The brand with the four rings also increased its presence in the full-size category with the Q7, with sales up 21.4 percent on the previous year. Launched at the start of 2010, the brand’s flagship A8 model actually doubled its volume (+101 percent).

Source : Carwale

Car companies in bad health, postpone price hike

January is the month when car manufacturers usually hike the prices of their cars.  However, this year has been different.  Companies like Maruti, Volkswagen, Hyundai have not increased the prices inspite of the fact that input costs have risen and rupee is much depreciated against dollar.  All this is because gloomy economy is threatening to reduce the already lean customer presence in their showrooms.  In fact, some of the car companies are still giving discounts on various models.  For example, Nissan Micra is still available at Rs. 3,75,000 ex-showroom, Delhi against the usual price of Rs. 4,10,000.  Volkswagen is luring the customers with a surprise gift if they book Polo/Vento.  Maruti is continuing with various discounts on its models.

It is the first time in 15 years that companies have not hiked the prices in January.

Source : Economic Times

Car sales are down from 218000 (September 2011) to 159000 (December 2011) in spite of heavy discounts given in December.  This shows how badly sales have been affected during this period.

Nano all set for Bangladesh

Nano, the cheapest car in the world, is all set to enter Bangladesh next month.  The initial price will be around 600,000 taka (approx. 400,000 Rs.).  The company plans to export around 300 car per month initially.  After Bangladesh, nano is likely to enter South East Asia via Thailand, Indonesia and Myanmar.

Volkswagen is the no. 1 in sales

The German car company Volkswagen has become the no.1 car manufacturer in the world by selling as much as 8.16 million units thus displacing Toyota as no.2 which sold 7.9 million units during 2011.  Volkswagen increased its tally by 14.3 per cent over the previous year.  It is pertinent to mention that Toyota had to face production cuts due to earthquake in Japan during March 2011. 

Production figures for the American giant GM are yet to be received. 

Jazz and Brio production to restart from mid-February

Honda is going to restart production of Jazz and Brio in India from mid-February.  These cars were not in production for a couple of months due to problem in supply of parts from Thailand caused by floods there.  In fact, Honda had to face this problem everywhere in the world.  In India, the problem was very peculiar for Honda as all of its products are petrol driven which itself is a disadvantage as price of petrol is too much when compared to diesel price.  This has caused a huge demand for diesel vehicles and these are generally available after much waiting in spite of the fact that economy is not in a good mood and diesel cars are expensive compared to petrol vehicles.  However, when Honda reduced the prices of Jazz in August 2011, it immediately became a hit due to people’s belief in Honda’s petrol engines and overall quality of their cars.  Similarly, Brio, launched in September 2011, is also a popular model and people are ready to wait for this.

Along with Jazz and Brio, Honda is likely to start production of new version of City from mid-January itself.  At its factory near Delhi, Honda can produce up to 100,000 cars every year.

Bloomberg-UTV Autocar Awards 2012

The prestigious Bloomberg-UTV Autocar Awards 2012 have been declared and following is the list of winners-

Car of the year – Suzuki Swift

The Swift won Car of the Year in 2005. And it wins it yet again this time. Though the new Swift looks exactly like the old model, this car is a grounds-up new generation of the Swift. This model is based on an all-new platform and is now both longer and wider. The Swift’s interior styling, which is heavily borrowed from its Kizashi sibling, is now plusher.

The car is now sportier to drive and the 1.2 K-series petrol gets variable valve timing (VVT) to bump up power to 86bhp. The 74bhp 1.3 diesel Multi-jet engine remains largely unchanged but the carmaker’s effort to make the cabin a quieter place is evident. Maruti Suzuki has taken an already good car and made it even better by ironing out the flaws in the older car. Despite stiff competition this year from among nearly all the world’s majors, Maruti Suzuki’s new Swift shows the competition a clean pair of heels to pick up the prestigious award of the Bloomberg-UTV Autocar Car of the Year 2012.

Bike of the Year – Honda CBR250R

The Honda CBR250R came like a breath of fresh air for Indian motorcycle enthusiasts long stuck between underpowered city commuters and horrendously expensive imported superbikes. Here was a motorcycle that offered great styling, zippy performance, street-friendly handling with a price tag that did not need you to mortgage your house. The CBR250R has all the big bike visual cues with its VFR 1200 inspired headlamp and CBR1000RR fairing. It ticks all the right boxes in the design and styling department. For its combination of style, performance, streetfriendly handling as well as advanced technology at a decent price, the Honda CBR250R is the Bike of the Year.

Winners for other categories are-

Best Styling & Design – Hyundai Verna

Best Value for Money – Mahindra XUV500

Best Variant of the Year – Chevrolet Beat Diesel

Best Driver's car – Ford Fiesta

Manufacturer of the Year – Toyota

Technology and Innovation award –  Audi A8

Sub-compact car of the Year – Honda Brio

Best Compact car of the Year – Maruti Suzuki Swift

Best Saloon car of the Year –  Skoda Rapid

Best Executive Saloon of the Year – VW Jetta

Luxury Saloon of the Year – Audi A6

SUV of the Year – Mahindra XUV500

Luxury SUV of the Year – BMW X3

Best Automobile Ad of the Year – Volkswagen Jetta 'Flyboy'

Premium Bike of the Year – Kawasaki Ninja 650R

Import Bike of the Year – BMW K 1600 GTL

Green Car Award – VW Passat for BlueMotion technology

Man of the Year – Pawan Goenka

Viewer's choice award - CAR – Mahindra XUV500

Viewer's choice award - BIKE – Honda CBR250R