Racing with luxury

Forget about a slowdown in the economy for a moment and brace up for a series of luxury car rollouts. The segment is going to see a host of high-voltage luxury sedan and SUV (sports utility vehicles) launches in the domestic market, to spoil you with choices at price tag of Rs 10 lakh to 20 lakh.

And stepping on the gas first is Honda, which is all set to introduce the new version of its discontinued sedan Accord — packed with new features. And don't expect that the present negative sentiment would mean a lower or equivalent price tag, compared to the one that has been phased out. Luxury comes at a price and Honda is expected to jack up the cost for the new features and the additional power, given in the new model.

Next in the line is Toyota, which is bringing its new 'Corolla'. The gen-next Corolla has already been rolled out in various markets and is likely to be launched in India soon, though company officials refused to confirm. The new Corolla will add spice in the premium segment and help Toyota give competition to Honda, that dominates the segment with its 'Civic' model.

Volkswagen, Mitsubishi and Hyundai are also lining up new launches in this segment. Hyundai is planning to get 'Avante' to replace its 'Elantra' model that is not doing well. The company managed to sell a poor 203 units of Elantra in 2007-08 and the replacement with Avante is expected within next few months.

Hyundai will also roll out 'Santa Fe', its globally successful SUV. The 2.2-litre common rail diesel model will be launched later in the year and could replace the 'Tucson' model. European car major Volkswagen, that is aggressively expanding in India, also plans new launches to increase its offerings. VW, that currently sells the luxury 'Passat' and the SUV 'Touareg', will introduce its 'Jetta' sedan in both petrol and diesel variants at a price range of Rs 13-16 lakh. It will also roll out super luxury 'Phaeton' this year, which would be imported and cost upwards of Rs 50 lakh.

"Income and wealth is growing in India and more and more people are now buying luxury cars," a senior VW official said, adding, the current negative sentiment would not impact new purchases. VW is expected to launch its iconic 'Beetle' model in India this year sporting a price tag between Rs 15 lakh and Rs 20 lakh. And there are more. Mitsubishi will launch its 'Outlander' SUV in August this year at Rs 15-20 lakh price bracket to get a foothold in the segment.

Peter Kronschnabel, president, BMW India, which also has some plan for this segment, said the premium car market would grow and there are no reasons for growth to slow down.

BMW 'Mini' not coming to India in '09

For those of you who have been waiting to lay hands on BMW’s iconic premium small car ‘Mini’, there is bad news.

The German auto major, which had announced plans to roll out the car in India in 2009, has postponed the launch, saying the market "does not appear to be viable".

"We will not be launching the Mini in India in 2009," BMW India president Peter Kronschnabl said.

The company has just finished a feasibility study that pointed out that conditions were not conducive to bring the model to India soon.

"We have taken the decision about a week back," Kronschnabl said, though adding that the decision does not mean an end to Mini’s India launch.

"We have not abandoned the plans altogether. But yes, we have certainly postponed as conditions do not appear to be viable at the moment," he said.

The high-performance Mini is an iconic brand globally and despite its small size, it carries a price tag comparable to premium cars. Originally a British car brand, it was bought over by BMW.

Auto majors plan company-run showrooms to drive car sales

To carve out a niche in the competitive Indian automobile market, auto firms are setting up brand experience outlets for consumers. Carmakers, in line with international marketing practices, are opening their own showrooms and studios to display latest models, technology, vehicle architecture and interior design to bring in new level of experience for customers.

Traditionally, automakers have banked on a dealer network for their distribution as well as for showcasing the products. In India, such brand experience centres are used by electronics firms to showcase gadgets, which also doubles up as a sales outlet.

The facilities owned by companies will offer actual and virtual test drives, along with customised car solutions to influence customers’ buying decisions and generate sales. Taking the lead is the leader in passenger car market, Maruti Suzuki, which is opening its company-run showroom in South Delhi. Modelled on the lines of its Japanese parent Suzuki’s international branding stores, the firm will expand such showrooms in other major cities.

The new showroom will start functioning later this year and showcase its existing range and future cars — A-Star, Splash and Kizashi — along with international line-up of Suzuki’s business vans and concept cars.

Maruti Suzuki managing director Shinzo Nakanishi told ET: “We are planning to invest heavily and start a new marketing set-up in India. We will have a new class of company-owned showrooms to showcase our current and future cars. It is part of the Rs 9,000-crore investment plans to overhaul the marketing set-up and have a new R&D centre.”

Maruti is not alone. German luxury automobile major BMW, after its success in India, is also launching its marketing concept in Delhi. It will start the BMW Studio to be located at Janpath in Central Delhi by June this year. Its 3,000 square feet facility will house all BMW marquees — Series 3,5,6,7 and the X-3, X-5 and X7 sports utility vehicles — besides its future products — MINI and Rolls Royce brands — for the Indian market.

BMW India president Peter Kronschnabl said: “It’s a major display centre for BMW cars with world-class experience similar to our headquarters in Munich. It will showcase our design excellence and unique cross-pollination approach to Asian markets. It is a major part of our branding exercise to bring people closer to our international range of cars and BMW technology concepts.”

Two-wheeler makers also have a similar gameplan. The largest two-wheeler maker in the world, Hero Honda, is also starting a new retail chain format similar to its arch rival Bajaj Auto, which has already started its branded ‘Pro-Biking’ stores in Delhi, Pune, Chennai, Mumbai, and other major cities.

“It signifies a strong brand status and is much more than just displaying the actual products. Customers will have a first-hand experience of the latest Honda technology, which goes into our products,” said a senior executive of Hero Honda

India's Ratan Tata Is On A Roll

Ratan Tata had a dream: build a car cheap enough for average Indians.

He promised to price it at just one lakh, or $2,500. That was in 2003.

Hardly anyone believed him.

Critics called his project a folly. And when prices for steel and other car parts soared, they figured he would give up or raise the price.

Tata didn't do either one.

Although he's chairman of Tata Group, India's largest conglomerate, Tata isn't averse to taking risks. His car idea was inspired by a problem he saw everywhere: whole families crammed onto a single motor scooter. He wondered how he could get them into something safer.

He challenged suppliers and engineers to think differently.

"They took a clean sheet of paper and said, 'How are we going to create a vehicle that is one lakh?'" said Daryl Rolley, senior vice president of Ariba Inc., a supply-chain adviser to Tata. "It's easier to start with an existing product and pull costs out."

One supplier taking up Tata's challenge was Germany's Bosch, which designed a small generator and adapted a motorcycle starter motor to lighten the new car's weight.

On Jan. 10, Tata unveiled the Nano, named for its small size, at the New Delhi Auto Show. The price was as promised -- one lakh, making it the cheapest new car on earth.

Though it lacked flourishes such as a radio and air conditioning and had only a 33-horsepower engine and one windshield wiper, it looked as stylish as Mercedes-Benz's Smart Car. And it could seat five people.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Tata said to a throng of spectators. "I invite you to join me in this journey of innovation and evolution."

Tata's perseverance shouldn't come as a surprise. He has a history of facing down naysayers.

When he was named chairman of Tata Group in 1991, entrenched heads of companies within the outfit said he was wrong for the job: too shy, no stomach for business. Rivals didn't think he'd last.

Tata managers then ran their firms -- hundreds of them -- like independent fiefdoms, "forging ahead in different directions, some in an uncoordinated way," R. Gopalakrishnan, executive director of parent Tata Sons, told IBD.

Century-old Tata Group appeared to be a plodding giant losing out to newer and leaner rivals just as India was opening its economy.

Despite his quiet nature, Ratan Tata showed a fighting spirit as he steered Tata into the approaching millennium. By enforcing a mandatory retirement-age policy, he edged out some of the feudal chiefs.

The most controversial involved Tata Steel's 75-year-old chairman, who liked to compare himself to Napoleon and appealed all the way to the prime minister, to no avail.

Ratan Tata coordinated the disparate companies by organizing them into seven groups, trimming businesses along the way. He upset old-timers by selling the soap and detergent unit to Unilever.

The Spark

Tata set performance goals and groupwide standards of conduct. He motivated managers to do better by talking to them one by one on a grass-roots level.

"Rather than telling them what to do, he asked them what they liked to do and how they would advance that (goal)," Gopalakrishnan said. "It's a very empowering form of leadership, rather than a directive form of leadership."

Tate's top question: How can we think differently about doing this?

Tata took Tata Group from a loose federation of companies with less than $5 billion in annual sales to a more cohesive group with almost $30 billion in revenue in the fiscal year ended March 2007.

That doesn't include revenue from Anglo-Dutch steel giant Corus Steel, which Tata bought last year for $11 billion. It was the biggest Indian takeover of a foreign company.

Tata looked to expand outside India after his company posted record losses during an economic slump in the late 1990s. He didn't want to be dependent on one economy. At the same time, he wanted to further India as a global player.

Starting with British icon Tetley Tea in 2000, he bought foreign outfits, including undersea cable firm Tyco Telecommunications, coal and steel mines in Asia and the truck unit of Daewoo in South Korea.

Tata Motors was already a leader in commercial trucks in India. Now Ratan Tata, a car enthusiast, urged his team to enter the car market.

He had just the kind in mind: a compact hatchback. It would be India's first homegrown auto.

Not everyone shared his enthusiasm for India's first indigenous car. Many doubted customers would buy the car due to perceptions that Indian products lacked quality.

Even Ratan Tata had doubts. "I had a great sense of fear that it may not work out. We never designed a car before. India had never done it," he told a local reporter. "Everyone was telling us that we were foolish."

He went ahead anyway. And in 1998, out rolled the Indico. It became the No. 1 compact car in India.

"He sees no boundaries and barriers," David Good, former U.S. consul general in Bombay and now Tata's North American representative, told IBD. "What seems impossible to other people, he finds ways to make possible."

Last year, in his quest to achieve global scale, Tata merged Tata's steel arm with Corus Steel.

In March, he beat out two rivals for Ford Motor's lagging Jaguar and Land Rover business in the U.K. He was personally involved in negotiating the $2.3 billion deal.

A key roadblock was getting union approval. After meeting with all three vying parties, the union's leader pronounced, "The one that we trusted the most was Tata."

Though skilled at deal making, Tata gets more satisfaction when he starts from scratch. "Corus is a transaction," he told an interviewer this year. "We didn't build anything."

Tata wanted to build as a young man. He earned a degree in architecture from Cornell University, but duty to family compelled him to join the Tata business.

Moving Up

Even though Tata had the pedigree to secure a top post, he spent three years working on the floor of a steel mill. He then moved up the ranks.

Now comes the Nano. It will go on sale later this year.

Some critics wondered why Tata would pursue the tony car brands Jaguar and Land Rover while launching the world's cheapest car.

Tata pointed out that multinational firms have no qualms about selling products that target all income levels.

"He sees himself benchmarked against global companies, not Indian companies," said Good.

When Ratan Tata took over the conglomerate, he had to face comparisons with his charismatic predecessor and distant cousin, J.R. Tata.

Gradually people warmed to the younger Tata, who took over at 53 and is now 70. He has been called a "man of steel" and a frugal business version of Gandhi.

Ferrari Roars to be Heard In India Soon

Ferrari is Italy’s most popular brand for cars. It sells its cars more on ‘wow’ factor rather than their price, sales figures or revenue generation. This company offers unique designs and exquisite interiors of the car which are flagship of its brand value.

The company is obsessed with its legacy and this has made the auto company to develop a cheaper and smaller car to the rising demand of the developing nations.

“We want to remain an aspirational brand associated with our niche clientele. Our prime target is to maintain exclusivity,” Davide Kluzer, Ferrari spokesperson. Cars from Ferrari are never for mass consumption. They are known for their exclusiveness.

Although Ferrari has no plans to launch any car in India soon, however, it has already started its studies of the Indian auto car market. According to Kluzer, the company marks India as one of the top booming economies along with China, Brazil and Russia. Its current biggest market is North America that accounts for more than 30% sales of the company.

Kluzer is in India as a part of Magic India Discovery which is spanning 57 cities of India in 74 days as a convoy of 10 cars out of which there are two 612 Scagliettis, flagship Ferrari model.

Mitsubishi to roll out Outlander in Sept

Hindustan Motors is set to add more dealerships in the country for a pan India presence to facilitate Mitsubishi Motors to reach out in new centres and also facilitate roll out of a wider model range.

Mitsubishi Motors is viewing India aggressively and plans to launch its popular global sports utility vehicle Outlander by September this year and is also looking at expanding the range in the sedans, including the CNG variant of sedan Cedia, according to Y.V.S. Vijay Kumar, Vice-President ad Strategic Business Unit Head, Chennai Car Plant, Hindustan Motors.

Cedia is already offered in LPG option.

Mitsubishi, which has a wide range of models globally, is now looking at expanding the company product portfolio. From just one model two years ago, the company now offers four models Lancer, Cedia, Pajero and Montero.

Montero has done much beyond initial expectations and the roll out of Outlander SUV will be able to address the segment now filled by Honda CRV and Chevrolet Captiva.

“The company now has 43 dealers, of them eight were added in the last two months and we expect to add seven more by the end of this year,” he said.

The company now sells about 500-600 vehicles a month on an average, of them three models are assembled in the Chennai plant. The company expects its capacity of 24,000 vehicles to be met within a couple of years as more models are rolled out in the country.

Tata Motor Car Company introduces a gasoline-free automobile

The Tata BO-4 Roni...The ultimate driving machine! Especially after a plate of beans and cabbage!

Paris, France - Tata of India's Vice President of marketing, Punji Gupta, has unveiled a unique offering that could change the way many Europeans will drive...Gasoline free!

"Drivers in emerging markets have long clamored for a reliable, cheap, and extremely fuel efficient means to allow travel to and from homes that are often located miles from urban centers. Centers that are often choked with manufacturing jobs," said Gupta to a group of automotive industry analysts.

Tata has introduced the BO-4 Roni, a revolutionary vehicle that runs entirely on body odor and emits only a fraction of polluting hydrocarbons. In fact, Tata claims the BO-4 Roni model produces less pollution than a normal French male's body odor emission during a typical warm summer day!

Gupta claimed," All body odors seem to work as a means of fueling the BO-4 Roni during driving activities. Body odor, flatulence, bad breath, and yeast infections seem to work best!"

When asked about the company's claims of a 'revolutionary driving experience with a zero gasoline dependance factor,' Gupta clarified the statement with one of his own, "We encourage our buyers to continue with their normal hygiene practices to insure our 'zero gasoline dependance factor' promise. The stronger the body odor, the better milage you will receive and the less you'll have to depend on traditional fueling methods."

The Tata Motor Car Company is India's largest producer of automobiles and has recently purchased Land Rover and Jaguar from Ford in a multi-billion dollar deal. Tata will re-engineer the two famous brands into a gasoline free engine as well by 2012.

Tata plans on adding a few other new models for available markets in Pakistan, Belarus, Egypt, and Albania. The company has already 'softened' entry into these markets by an aggressive advertising campaign that promises....'Skip the Saturday night bath, and drive all week for free

Suzuki Motors to launch 'world car' from India end-2008

Suzuki Motors' next world car will come from its Indian venture at Gurgaon, near Delhi, by the end of 2008, Shinzo Nakanishi, managing director of Maruti Suzuki India, has said.

The new model will be launched by end-2008," he said. "To begin with, we have plans to export 100,000 units of the new model annually to Europe and the rest of the world," Nakanishi told IANS in an interview.

The Manesar plant at Gurgaon was set up under a joint venture company, called Maruti Suzuki Automobiles India in which Maruti Udyog Ltd holds 70 per cent equity while Suzuki Motors of Japan holds the remaining 30 per cent.

The total investment in the new car plant was Rs.1524 crore ($384 million). The capacity of the plant will initially be 100,000 cars per annum, with a potential to scale it up to 250,000 units.

"I believe that Maruti Suzuki is ready to play a much bigger role in Suzuki's global operations, and my task is to make that happen," said Nakanishi, who took over as managing director Dec 19 last from Jagdish Khattar.

"Today the company's manufacturing capability has reached a level where we want to make small cars exclusively in India for exports to the European markets."

In fact, Maruti Suzuki has created a new record in 2007-08 by selling 764,942 vehicles, the highest ever in its history, marking a 13.3 per cent growth over the previous fiscal.

The total sales figure of 764,942 includes export of 53,024 vehicles, again the highest since it started production in 1983, and marked a growth of 34.9 per cent in its exports.

A member of Suzuki Motor's board of directors worldwide, Nakanishi expressed confidence that the auto major would be able to "maintain its leadership in the Indian auto market".

Suzuki currently holds a 54-per cent stake in Maruti Suzuki India.

"Of the three million cars that Suzuki wants to sell worldwide, almost 30 per cent would have to come from Maruti Suzuki India," Nakanishi explained.

He said that in the recent past, Maruti Suzuki has started sharing its good sales and service practices with other Suzuki companies worldwide and this flow would gain further momentum in the coming few years.

"A 50-per cent-plus market share - and we are leading in terms of sales growth and customer satisfaction. As for the future, we are focused on the goal of achieving one million domestic sales by 2010-11," he said.

"This will require us to expand capacity and continuously upgrade manufacturing facilities, for which we have already announced an investment of Rs.9000 crore ($2.3 billion)."

Expansion of sales and service network is also under way for achieving the target of manufacturing one million cars, Nakanishi added.

Asked about the company's global strategy in the wake of the changed scenario in the automobiles sector, Nakanishi said Suzuki Motor has embarked on a strategy of "World Strategic Models" to drive its long-term growth.

As part of this strategy, the company has been developing "global models which are European in overall styling and design, and carefully modified to suit local markets".

"What this means is that the Indian customers get international levels of quality and design. Specifically for India, 'Splash' and 'A Star' models will be introduced here as part of our overall World Strategic Model approach."

Asked about the dip in the sales of its popular people's car Maruti 800 and any possible plan to phase out the car, he replied there were no plans as such "in the immediate future".

Toyota 800L: Small car for India?

Toyota seems to have finally decided that they want a slice of the Indian small car market pie.
The company is developing a new compact car model codenamed 800L.
This car is being developed in Japan and is likely to be sold in BRIC economies —- Brazil, Russia, India and China.
Toyota is likely to bring this new car to the Indian market first.
The engine is going to be imported from their Thailand plant but they would try to localize other components to lower the cost.
This car is likely to be introduced in the market in 2010 in both petrol and diesel options.

New V10 boosts Gallardo to 552bhp

Lighter, faster and more powerful - this is Lamborghini’s facelifted Gallardo, the LP560-4. It takes its name from the 560PS (552bhp) power output of the new 5.2-litre V10, up by 40bhp. The engine, developed with Audi, is new and uses the VW Group’s FSI direct injection, which Lamborghini is calling Inienzione Stratificata. Torque is up by 3kgm to 54.2kgm. The extra shove fractionally improves the Gallardo’s 0-100kph time — now 3.7sec and a match for Ferrari’s 430 Scuderia — but it should also improve midrange performance with more torque available at 4000rpm than the old car had at its peak output. And it should make an even better noise with a new exhaust system. On the outside there’s a new Reventon-style front bumper and an entirely new rear designed to make the back end look more horizontal. Some of the changes are aimed at cutting costs. The engine has plastic covers, and the accerartor pedal is now plastic with a clip-on alloy cover; it was solid aluminium.

Toyota to Build New Plant in India to Make Small Cars

Toyota Motor Corp, Japan's largest automaker, will build a second car factory in India to challenge Suzuki Motor Corp's dominance in the country where economic growth is spurring demand.

The company will spend about 35 billion yen ($343 million) to open the plant in 2010, it said in a faxed statement. The factory, which will have an annual capacity of 100,000 vehicles, will produce the Corolla sedan and a new low-cost small car, developed specifically for emerging markets.

Toyota, with 0.6 percent of the Indian car market last year, has lagged behind rivals in the world's second-fastest growing major economy. Automakers including General Motors Corp., Honda Motor Co. and Volkswagen AG have already announced a combined $6 billion investment in the country.

``At last, Toyota has begun moving into full gear in India,'' said Hirofumi Yokoi, an analyst at CSM Worldwide, an auto consulting company in Tokyo. ``Demand for cars in the country is just accelerating.''

Industrywide sales in India jumped 12 percent to a record 1.2 million units for the year ended March 31, according to the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers. India's car market, which doubled in the past five years, may triple to 3 million units by 2015, according to government estimates in 2006.

Toyota's sales in India fell 8 percent to 7,201 in the last fiscal year, according to SIAM. In contrast, Suzuki, which has three factories in the country, reported a 12 percent sales increase. Suzuki's Maruti unit makes over half the cars sold in India.

Capacity Expansion

Toyota's new plant will boost the carmaker's production capacity in India to 160,000 units a year, the company said. Toyota plans to export the low-cost cars built at the new plant, adjacent to its existing facility near Bangalore in southern India. The company will shift production of the Corolla to the new factory.

The Toyota City, Japan-based automaker, the world's biggest by market capitalization, said last year it plans to get 10 percent of India's market. Toyota makes the Corolla and Innova minivan in India. It imports the Camry sedan and the Land Cruiser sport-utility vehicle. Production at the plant rose 18 percent to 52,000 units last year, Toyota said.

Toyota said the small car it proposes to sell in India ``is being developed with the aim of meeting the broad needs of customers in India.''

Expansion in India is part of Toyota's strategy to grow in emerging markets including China and Russia as demand slows in the U.S. and slumps in Japan. Toyota opened its first plant in Russia in December.

Toyota rose 2.5 percent to 4,950 yen at the 3 p.m. close on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. The announcement was made after the stock market closed for trading.

Ajanta to challenge Nano with electric car

There is competition for Tata's Nano from Gujarat. The new entrant in the small car sector is the Morbi-based world famous clock-maker Ajanta group. The company is planning to manufacture an electric car at its unit at Samkhiyali in Kutch district and market it at a price lower than Rs 1-lakh Nano.

Ajanta group director Jaysukh Patel told TOI: "The company is already manufacturing electric scooters and bikes under ‘Oreva' brand. Production of electric car is not difficult for us as the technology is almost similar and 70 per cent of its parts can be produced in-house, giving us an edge over the vehicle's pricing."

The R&D team was exploring the viability of the small car project under the conditions in India, he said. Sources said the company has imported eight electric cars of different brands, and they were being tested and studied by the technical staff for necessary modification under Indian conditions."

The Ajanta group is serious in its attempt to keep the basic price of the proposed car as low as Rs 85,000. At present, in the electric car segment only Reva car is available in India.

Another player in the small car segment, the Rajkot-based Field Marshal group, is in negotiations with Australian company Farnow Technologies for a joint venture for a low cost electric car.

Tata Motors' Nano heads for South Africa

Tata Motors, the country's largest automobile company, plans to take its Rs 1-lakh car, Nano, to South Africa.

The company is also working on a comprehensive plan to tap the African continent which includes setting up its commercial vehicles manufacturing and assembling facilities in different countries.

Tata Motors managing director Ravi Kant, speaking on the sidelines of the Indo-Africa summit in Delhi on Wednesday said, South Africa is one of the biggest international markets and Nano perfectly fits into the personal transport market. We will be pleased to have Nano in many African nations in future.

Tata Motors will shortly expand the manufacturing facility at Rosslyn in South Africa, which it had acquired from Nissan last year to make trucks and buses.

Among other African nations, the company will start assembling pick-up trucks in Senegal, where it had previously supplied completely knocked down (CKD) kits of buses. The firm is also conducting a feasibility study for assembling semi-knocked down (SKD) kits of commercial vehicles in Congo, and will start selling cars there from this fiscal year.

We are looking at marketing our passenger cars in Congo and possibly will start selling them during this financial year. We are already supplying trucks and buses for public transport. We have a long history in Africa and our buses and vehicles are plying in the continent for many decades,Mr Kant said.

The company supplied 228 buses to the Congo government for urban transportation during the last fiscal. On the issue of rising steel price Mr Kant said that the company has absorbed the hike in the past three months, but was forced to raise prices to keep its profit margins intact.

Diesel CR-V coming soon. SPY SHOT

Honda has staunchly adhered to its philosophy of using only petrol power for its cars in India. The carmaker never saw the need for a diesel, and its petrol range has always been acknowledged as extremely frugal. However, in an extremely mileage-conscious country like India, diesel power is fast gaining ground. And Honda can’t ignore the diesel category anymore. It’s no longer question of ‘if’ but rather ‘when’ Honda will eventually plonk an oil-burner under the hood of its cars.

As you can see from these exclusive spy shots by observant Autocar India reader, Rishi Magoo, that day isn’t very far away. The i-CTDi badging you can clearly see at the base of the rear windscreen is a term coined by Honda for intelligent-Common-rail Turbocharged Direct Injection. The i-CTDi is the first diesel from Honda’s range worldwide, and debuted in the Accord. It has done duty across the range in the Accord, CR-V and Civic. In India, the first diesel Honda will be the CR-V. Honda realises that the recent launch of the Chevrolet Captiva could hurt sales of the CR-V and the Hyundai Santa Fe and Toyota Fortuner will eventually come.

The key issue for Honda though will be price; the CR-V is imported as a CBU, which means it attracts a very high import duty. Also, the cost of the motor itself is higher. To keep the costs within check, Honda will offer the CR-V with fewer creature comforts. That means no leather interiors, no automatic transmission, no CD changer or sunroof, as you can make out from the pictures.
Stripping these features will help offset the higher cost, and company insiders claim the diesel CR-V will be competitively priced, around the same as the fully-loaded 2.4-litre petrol. In the future, we can expect a diesel variant with all the bells and whistles, if the company feels there is a demand for it. The car currently being tested has pressed steel wheels, but these are expected to be standard alloys when the car is launched.

The car is currently undergoing testing, and the engineers are reportedly concerned about the quality of diesel available. The i-CTDi unit produces 138bhp, but expect that to be tamed slightly for Indian fuel. This means it has about 10bhp less than the Captiva, but then the CR-V weighs approximately 130kg less. The core of the CR-V is its driving dynamics, and these are expected to be remain undiluted. The trump card though will be the fuel efficiency, as with all Honda engines. The diesel CR-V has the potential to monopolise its segment, one in which it already has the largest share of the pie

Hyundai to Roll Out its Low Cost Car in India

It’s a fast drive for low-cost cars in India. After Tata Nano, everyone seems to be thinking with a single mind. After Tata and Suzuki, now it’s Hyundai that plans to roll out a new low cost car in India.
There has been a rise in demand for small cars over the past few years. Moreover, in countries like China, India as well as African countries, one can always expect a demand for basic cars that can combine modern comfort with safety at fraction of the cost. It also spells luxury in a small amount.
When Tata initially announced to launch a car under $2500, it was ridiculed by the Auto world all over the globe as “four-wheel bicycle”. Now after the launch of Tata Nano, the realization is dawning fast upon other car makers as well.
Hyundai already has India as its hub for small car production and also plans to double it up over the next few years. It has also begun its research in Seoul R&D center to manufacture a low –cost car under $3000. Combinations from markets like India with their cheap engineering, low cost labor and Western innovation on design would enable India to expect a new low-cost car from Hyundai by 2011.

Hyundai exports five lakh cars

INDIAN MAJOR small car manufacturer, Hyundai Motors India, has exported five lakh cars from India. The exports volume has been driven by its global car Hyundai i10, produced exclusively in India.

Commenting on it, the managing director of Hyundai Motors Limited, HS Lheem, said, “The exports are right on schedule. The growth has been very encouraging, as far as Hyundai cars are concerned.”

In order to meet the increasing demand from local and its overseas markets, the company had increased the production capacity to six lakh units from the existing three lakh. The decision to hike production target was taken up after it opened its second plant in Sriperambudur near Chennai in February, this year.

Hyundai is exporting four popular models -i10, Santro Xing, Getz Prime and Accent to its markets spread across 90 countries. The company achieved its first milestone of one lakh cars in October 2004. Thereafter, it has continued to sell one lakh cars yearly. It had touched the four lakh car mark in August 2007.
The company now plans to reach the 5.3 lakh units production by this year end. Of these 2.2 lakh units will be exported to its overseas markets. Hyundai Motors has plans to make India its production hub for its global cars in future, starting from the first i-series car, the i10 in India.

Volvo India to launch six car models

Volvo Car India is in the process of introducing six new models in the Indian market in phases. The company will also initiate dialogue with about 80 candidates who have applied for opening dealerships in eight cities.

Speaking to Business Line the Managing Director of Volvo Car India, Mr Paul de Voijs, said the company has three dealerships in Chandigarh, Delhi and Mumbai and delivery of the cars has started. At present, the company is looking at opening up dealerships in 8 cities - Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Jaipur, Hyderabad, Kochi, Kolkata and Jaipur, he said.

A new dealership would need to spend about $200,000 (Rs 80 lakh) to equip the showroom and service centre, apart from investments in land and building. Since the real estate prices are soaring, Volvo would prefer to give dealerships to those who own land in prime locations, he said.
Last year, the company booked orders for about 100 cars for two models – S80 (sedan) and XC 90 (crossover) in three engine configuration each.

The company hopes to launch 6 new Car models, V50 and V70 (station wagon), C30 (3-door coupe), C70 (2-door coupe convertible), XC60 and XC70 (both crossovers). Of these XC60 and C70 are likely to be launched Cars in India soon, he said. The company hopes to sell 500 cars in the current year.

By 2009, Volvo would have 14 dealerships, covering a large part of the country, he added. “For the moment we bring them (Volvo cars) as CBUs and after at least one year of experience, we will make up our minds on whether we need to do assembly here or not,” he added.

DSM Engineering Plastics approved for Tata's Nano car in India

India's Tata Motors unveiled the Nano- its small car in January this year. The Nano is a family car for the masses at a target price of US$2500.
DSM Engineering Plastics are to be associated with Tata Motors and their Tier-1's on the development of various components for the Nano. DSM's engineering plastics have been approved in more than 20 parts in under the bonnet components and in parts for transmissions- in some critical interior and exterior components.
DSM is one of the few multinational corporations with local engineering plastics manufacturing and application development support in India. In less than a decade, DSM has achieved market leadership position in relevant markets with Stanyl® (a high performance polyamide), Akulon® PA6, Arnite® PET and PBT, and Arnitel® TPE, all of which form a strong portfolio of materials suited perfectly for highly engineered applications.

Suzuki Motors to launch 'world car' from India end-2008

Suzuki Motors' next world car will come from its Indian venture at Gurgaon, near Delhi, by the end of 2008, Shinzo Nakanishi, managing director of Maruti Suzuki India, has said.

The new model will be launched by end-2008," he said. "To begin with, we have plans to export 100,000 units of the new model annually to Europe and the rest of the world," Nakanishi told IANS in an interview.

The Manesar plant at Gurgaon was set up under a joint venture company, called Maruti Suzuki Automobiles India in which Maruti Udyog Ltd holds 70 per cent equity while Suzuki Motors of Japan holds the remaining 30 per cent.

The total investment in the new car plant was Rs.1524 crore ($384 million). The capacity of the plant will initially be 100,000 cars per annum, with a potential to scale it up to 250,000 units.

"I believe that Maruti Suzuki is ready to play a much bigger role in Suzuki's global operations, and my task is to make that happen," said Nakanishi, who took over as managing director Dec 19 last from Jagdish Khattar.

"Today the company's manufacturing capability has reached a level where we want to make small cars exclusively in India for exports to the European markets."

In fact, Maruti Suzuki has created a new record in 2007-08 by selling 764,942 vehicles, the highest ever in its history, marking a 13.3 per cent growth over the previous fiscal.

The total sales figure of 764,942 includes export of 53,024 vehicles, again the highest since it started production in 1983, and marked a growth of 34.9 per cent in its exports.

A member of Suzuki Motor's board of directors worldwide, Nakanishi expressed confidence that the auto major would be able to "maintain its leadership in the Indian auto market".

Suzuki currently holds a 54-per cent stake in Maruti Suzuki India.

"Of the three million cars that Suzuki wants to sell worldwide, almost 30 per cent would have to come from Maruti Suzuki India," Nakanishi explained.

He said that in the recent past, Maruti Suzuki has started sharing its good sales and service practices with other Suzuki companies worldwide and this flow would gain further momentum in the coming few years.

"A 50-per cent-plus market share - and we are leading in terms of sales growth and customer satisfaction. As for the future, we are focused on the goal of achieving one million domestic sales by 2010-11," he said.

"This will require us to expand capacity and continuously upgrade manufacturing facilities, for which we have already announced an investment of Rs.9000 crore ($2.3 billion)."

Expansion of sales and service network is also under way for achieving the target of manufacturing one million cars, Nakanishi added.

Asked about the company's global strategy in the wake of the changed scenario in the automobiles sector, Nakanishi said Suzuki Motor has embarked on a strategy of "World Strategic Models" to drive its long-term growth.

As part of this strategy, the company has been developing "global models which are European in overall styling and design, and carefully modified to suit local markets".

"What this means is that the Indian customers get international levels of quality and design. Specifically for India, 'Splash' and 'A Star' models will be introduced here as part of our overall World Strategic Model approach."

Asked about the dip in the sales of its popular people's car Maruti 800 and any possible plan to phase out the car, he replied there were no plans as such "in the immediate future".

Volkswagen India to launch two small cars within 4 years

Auto maker Volkswagen India Pvt. Ltd will launch at least two small cars in the Rs5 lakh segment in India in the next three-four years, one of which is likely to be the Up! concept car that was unveiled recently, and the other a model from group company Skoda Auto India Pvt. Ltd.

Top-down strategy: The Up! concept car. Volkswagen will have products ranging from the luxury Phaeton to the compact car Fabia in India.

“This is the segment that is seeing a very big growth and we are now working out a small car strategy so that we are present in the fastest growing segment,” said Joerg Mueller, president and managing director of Volkswagen India. “The car will be under 4m in length,” he added, declining to provide further details.

The company’s new 110,000-unit-a-year plant coming up at Chakan, near Pune, will have a flexible assembly line to make a range of cars from across the group’s various models, he said.

Some 20,000 units of group company Skoda’s Fabia model (also in the Rs5 lakh segment), currently made at its Aurangabad plant, will be produced from Chakan from mid-2009.

From 2010, the company will build a car based around the popular Polo model — a hatchback in petrol and diesel versions—from Chakan that will be priced at around €7,000 (Rs4.36 lakh), Mueller said.

Volkswagen AG has invested Rs3,500 crore in India to set up the new plant, which makes it the largest German investment in the country, Mueller said.

The group will, however, follow a top-down strategy for the Indian market, and will have products ranging from the luxury Phaeton and the middle-segment Jetta to the compact car Fabia.

“India is a huge strategic market for us and we will work towards having a product in every segment using a mix of imported completely built-ups, assembling here or manufacturing locally,” he said.

Meanwhile, the company has finalized plans to build a vendor park for its suppliers in India at its 575-acre campus at Chakan. Volkswagen is looking for a local partner to construct the facility that will allow its vendors to be close to the production facility.

The group has already identified the components it would like to procure from Indian vendors for its global supply chain. These include tyres, sheet-metal parts, small-pressed parts, and plastics.

“Last year, we made some 6.2 million cars globally, and Indian vendors who fit the quality requirements have the opportunity to be part of our growth in future,” Mueller added.

i10 Wins Indian Car Award

Hyundai Motor's ``i10,'' its first overseas-exclusive model, won India's Car of the Year award.

The model was judged the best of all models launched in India from last year by a panel of 12 local car journalists, the auto group announced on Sunday. Four other media outlets also picked it as the best automobile for 2008.

``It's the first time a single model was unanimously named the year's best here,'' Lheem Heung-Soo, said Hyundai Motor India's managing director. ``We expect this will help boost its Europe and Asia sales as well.''

The production of i10 is done at the maker's second Indian plant in Chennai, which opened in February. The model sold 45,000 units on the local market and also earned an accumulative shipment order of 72,000 by March.

Honda leased the first commercial hydrogen car

Honda FCX Hydrogen Car

In 2005, Honda leased the first commercial hydrogen car to a family in Redondo Beach, California, pictured above.

For the past 28 years, the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) has been conducting research on hydrogen fuel cells for use in transportation, industry and residential use. According to the LANL, "Hydrogen & Fuel Cell Research at Los Alamos has made significant technological advances in Polymer Electrolyte Membrane (PEM) fuel cells, Direct Methanol Fuel Cells (DMFC), and related technologies such as the electrolyzer (a fuel cell in reverse, liberating hydrogen from electricity and pure water)."

Unlike many of the hybrid and "green" cars currently on the market, hydrogen cars offer the promise of zero emission technology, where the only byproduct from the cars is water vapor. Current fossil-fuel burning vehicles emit all sorts of pollutants such as carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, nitrous oxide, ozone and microscopic particulate matter. Hybrids and other green cars address these issues to a large extent but only hydrogen cars hold the promise of zero emission of pollutants. The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that fossil-fuel automobiles emit 1 ½ billion tons of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere each year and going to hydrogen-based transportation would all but eliminate this.

Not only that, hydrogen cars will lessen the United States' dependence upon foreign oil. The so-called hydrogen highway will mean less dependence upon OPEC, the big U. S. oil companies, oil refinery malfunctions and breakdowns and less resistance from oil-selling nations like Venezuela and Saudi Arabia or from hostile nations who would rather sell elsewhere. Consumers will finally get a break from the never-ending rising prices at the gasoline pumps.

President Bush has already allocated approximately $2 billion in hydrogen highway research. California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is pushing to get 200 hydrogen filling stations built by 2010 stretching from Vancouver, British Columbia, all the way down to Baja, California. Since Californians buy one-fifth of the nation's cars, the new hydrogen car technology could simply replace the current gasoline engine automobiles in what is called "disruptive technology" where something so innovative comes along it simply replaces the old technology very quickly.

Then again, a more likely scenario is that dual-fuel automotive systems will be developed that can run on either gasoline or hydrogen as the hydrogen infrastructure is being developed. The conversion from gasoline-powered internal combustion engines to hydrogen powered combustion engines is agreed upon by most scientists and engineers to be a particularly easy transition and would buy time for hydrogen fuel cell cars to be fully adapted.

But, hydrogen cars are not isolated to those that burn the fuel in internal combustion engines. There are more hydrogen fuel cell cars being built currently than any other kind. Let's also not forget about hydrogen-on-demand vehicles that are either using a hydrogen compound or electrolyzing water to create hydrogen, avoiding the compressed or liquid hydrogen refueling scenario altogether. And, what about adapting hydrogen peroxide for fuel in car since it is currently being used in racecars and jet packs as a propellant?

Hydrogen cars are the future, so why not take a test drive of this website right now and see what you'll be driving a few short years from now. The hydrogen economy is just around the bend. Will you be ready?

GM to launch small-car in India by 2010

According to a senior company official at General Motors Corp., the company is planning to launch a small-car in India by 2010 to take advantage of growing markets and possibly to make up for any decline in sales figures in the US.

The new car will be available at a lower price than GM's lowest priced car-Spark- in India at present. This is one more addition to Indian car market which is dominated by small-cars with less than 12 feet length.

According to GM the new car will not only benefit India but also other countries where small cars are in demand. The car will be quite different from Nano, the world's cheapest car ($2500) to be rolled out in the middle of this year.

General Motors shares only 3% of the Indian automobile market now with a plant at Halol, Gujarat and will soon have the second one near Pune, Maharashtra with a capacity of 140,000 cars. From the plant in Pune the first car will come out this week on a trial base and the production will start towards the last quarter of this year.

Tata Motors to list on Tokyo Stock Exchange

Auto major Tata Motors, which made history with the acquisition of British marquees Jaguar and Land Rover last week, plans to list its shares on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, a Japanese media report said.

According to Japanese daily, The Nikkei , the firm is finalising plans to list the shares as depository receipts on the bourse in Japan.

"India's Tata Motors Ltd is finalising plans to list its depository receipt on the Tokyo Stock Exchange as early as the summer," the daily said in an article published in its online edition.

Last week, Tata Motors had entered into an agreement with the US car maker Ford for the 2.3-billion-dollar takeover of British luxury brands - Jaguar and Land Rover.

Tata Motors' American Depository Receipts (ADRs) are listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

SWIFT DZIRE

The Swift DZire looks identical to the hatchback from the front save for a chrome grille. From the side you can see that the car has been completely redesigned from the second pillar onwards (behind the front door). The rear door is an all new design and bigger than that of the hatchback, with greater glass area. This ensures that the rear doesn’t feel as cramped as the hatchback. At the rear the car gets a boot, with a raised trunk lid. which can swallow around 440 litres of luggage. It gets a chrome strip across the lid above the number plate.

The overall design isn’t as appealing as the Swift hatchback but just like the Indigo (which was developed on the Indica), we expect it to grow on us over a period of time.

Maruti haven’t changed much on the interiors, which are identical to the hatchback. So you’ll get the same modern and classy looking dashboard. The top model also gets stereo mounted audio controls along with a stereo integrated into a dash. The stereo is intuitive to operate and delivers decent sound quality as well.

As Maruti hasn’t extended the car’s wheelbase you get roughly the same legroom all around. That’s disappointing, especially compared to the Logan and Indigo. Engineers have increased the width of the seats and have also inclined the rear backrest over the hatchback, which we feel is a tad too much, ensuring that passengers slouch rather than sit upright. And the bigger rear door with the larger glass area ensures that you won’t feel as claustrophobic as you do in the Swift hatchback at the rear. But, while you can sit three in the rear, the limited legroom ensures that you’d wish it wasn’t you sitting there for long journeys. The wide rear door and the high-set seats mean that getting in and out of the car isn’t a chore.

The DZire uses the same engines as the Swift. Weighing only around 30kgs over the regular Swift ensures that performance is similar to the smaller hatchback. The steering offers good levels of feel and combined with the slick gearbox and the smooth clutch makes driving this car an enjoyable experience no matter what is powering it, diesel or petrol. But unlike the Logan which can be driven over bad roads with considerable aplomb, you’ll have to slow down the DZire on less than perfect surfaces unless you enjoy being rattled.

Though the DZire disappoints is in the rear passenger legroom, the boot is adequate and you can also expect the car to deliver on fuel efficiency which won’t be far off from the Swift hatchback. This ensures that after the SX4 the DZire is another winner from Maruti

Maruti to launch new middle segment car Dzire

Auto major Maruti Suzuki Ltd Wednesday announced the launch of a new middle segment car, Dzire, which has luxury features like steering mounted audio controls, automatic climate control and dual airbags for safety. Maruti said the sedan would be available in both petrol and diesel versions.

The ex-showroom price of the petrol version in Delhi ranges from Rs.449,000 to Rs.590,000, while the diesel version will be priced between Rs.539,000 to Rs.670,000.

The Dzire offers luxury features like integrated stereo, steering mounted audio controls, automatic climate control and power windows. It also comes with safety features like dual airbags, collapsible steering column and other advanced systems along with anti-theft facility, a statement by the company said.

“The DZire is the seventh model Maruti Suzuki has launched in the last three years. It has a special place in our product strategy,” said S. Nakanishi, managing director of Maruti Suzuki Ltd.

He added: “Millions of Indians own compact cars. With growing incomes and better lifestyle, many of them want to upgrade to a sedan. But today, they are not able to find an entry-level sedan that offers style, features and performance. The DZire offers all this, and at an attractive price.