The result: car companies have fastened their belts and are trying their best to come up trumps in the sweepstakes. More
Courtesy:auto.indiatimes.com
Archive for April, 2007
Kick-ass Logan now in Motown
Published April 30th, 2007 in Ford India and Hyundai Motors. 0 CommentsIntermet Europe, which owns and operates two plants in Germany and one in Portugal, is engaged in precision castings in ductile iron for the automotive industry, with an annual capacity of 1.65 lakh metric tons.
Sakthi Auto Component(SAC) owns and operates two plants in India producing ductile and grey iron precision castings with a capacity of 60,000 metric tons. The acquisition was completed by raising 75 million Euro through the loan route and the balance via investment by its parent company and preference shares. More
Courtesy:economictimes.indiatimes.com
SSKU to begin indefinite fast at HM Uttarpara plant
Published April 30th, 2007 in HM/Mitsubishi. 0 CommentsSSKU secretary Abhas Munsi told reporters that the union submitted a revised proposal to the West Bengal Government to reach a tripartite settlement for reopening the Hindustan Motors’ Uttarpara unit, where the work is suspended since April 11 after an order from the Hindustan Motors management. More
Courtesy:economictimes.indiatimes.com
VW valued at Euro 36 bn, Porsche whets appetite
Published April 30th, 2007 in Launches and Volkswagen. 1 CommentPorsche, which is already the largest shareholder in Volkswagen, was required to bid for Europe’s biggest carmaker after Porsche’s voting stake exceeded 30 per cent in March, but it has made clear it is not striving for majority control at this stage.
Porsche is now offering 100.92 euros for each Volkswagen ordinary share and 65.54 euros per preference share, according to bid documents published on the Internet, valuing Europe’s biggest carmaker at nearly 36 billion euros ($49.01 billion).
The price for the ordinary shares was as envisaged, while Porsche had originally planned to offer 65.45 euros for the preference shares. More
Courtesy:economictimes.indiatimes.com
Ashok Leyland Ltd said on Monday that it had agreed to buy US-based Defiance Testing and Engineering Services Inc for $17 million.
Defiance, a unit of Nasdaq-listed GenTek, provides testing services for leading auto equipment makers, Ashok Leyland said in a statement. More
Courtesy:economictimes.indiatimes.com
Xenitis rolls out first two-wheeler in Bengal
Published April 30th, 2007 in Honda India, Toyota India and Bikes. 30 CommentsThe first two-wheeler manufactured in West Bengal was rolled out here on Saturday by the Xenitis Group in the presence of the West Bengal Chief Minister, Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, and a host of dignitaries representing industry in China and Singapore.
Named “Xpression”, the motorcycle variant is manufactured in Hooghly district.
The first two-wheeler unit has come up in technical collaboration with Guangzhou Motors Company of China.
Guangzhou Motors is among China’s largest automobile makers and is an original equipment manufacturer for Toyota Motors and Honda.
Speaking on the occasion, Mr Santanu Ghosh, Chairman of Xenitis, said Xpression would be available in three variants of 100 cc, 125 cc and 150 cc.
The company proposes to roll out motorcycles and scooters nationally within the next six months.
Mr Ghosh said Xenitis also plans to set up a four-wheeler manufacturing facility in Hooghly in collaboration with Guangzhou Motors. More
Courtesy:www.indiacar.net
India’s quest to become a global auto manufacturing hub could be seriously challenged by its inability to sustain its low-cost production base, global research firm KPMG has said.
A survey conducted by the research firm reveals that the Indian auto component manufacturers are increasingly becoming sceptical about sustaining the low-cost base as overheads including labour costs and complex tax regime are constantly rising.
The survey said many executives believe that India’s cost advantage is eroding fast as labour costs are constantly increasing and retaining employees is becoming more and more difficult.
Increased presence of global automotive companies in the country was cited as one of the reasons for the high attrition rate.
One of the auto component company interviewed in the survey said it presently recruits 10 per cent more management level staff than it actually requires, expecting that staff retention challenge would intensify. More
Courtesy:www.indiacar.net
Tata GY Batteries Pvt Ltd, a joint venture between Tata AutoComp Systems (TACO) and Japanese automotive battery manufacturers GS Yuasa International (GYIN), will invest Rs 160 crore over the next one year to expand its manufacturing capacity.
The company commissioned its first JV plant here recently with an initial capacity of 0.5 million batteries for four-wheelers.
“We will put in an investment of Rs 100 crore in the four-wheeler battery segment and another Rs 60 crore in the two-wheeler segment in this fiscal,” Tata AutoComp System’s(TACO)Managing Director D S Gupta said. The company would start production of two-wheeler batteries in the next fiscal.
More
Courtesy:www.indiacar.net
Honda plans launch of new scooter, motorcycle
Published April 30th, 2007 in Honda India and Bikes. 3 CommentsChennai Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India Pvt Ltd (HMSI), a wholly owned subsidiary of Honda Motor Company, Japan, plans to launch a new scooter and a motorcycle this fiscal. The scooter will be launched under a new brand in the second quarter, Mr Yadvinder S. Guleria, Head — All India Sales, Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India Pvt Ltd(HMSI), said at a press conference. He did not share technical details about the scooter saying it was “premature to talk about it”.
The proposed motorcycle will be a limited edition moto GP version built on a 150 cc platform. It is likely to be priced close to Rs 75,000 and will be manufactured on orders placed, said Mr Guleria, Head — All India Sales, Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India Pvt Ltd.
“Consumer tastes are shifting to higher cc vehicles (beyond 100 cc). So we are also studying higher models (200 cc and above) but are yet to decide on building any of them,”said Mr Guleria, Head — All India Sales, Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India Pvt Ltd.
More
Courtesy:www.indiacar.net
DaimlerChrysler looking at more models
Published April 30th, 2007 in Launches and DaimlerChrysler India. 0 CommentsHyderabad German automotive major DaimlerChrysler is evaluating some more models for launch in India even as it is gearing up to lay the foundation stone for a new plant near Pune in May.
This plant, with a capacity of about 4,500-5,000 cars per shift, would be commissioned by the end of 2008 or early 2009, according to Dr Wilfried Aulber, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of DaimlerChrysler India.
Dr Aulber told presspersons here that the Indian market had been extremely buoyant for the DaimlerChrysler India and the first three months were witness to a 17 per cent growth.
While the DaimlerChrysler India expects to continue the current trend, he said that the market for luxury cars was set to expand in India, and the learning from China provides significant insights into the way luxury car market has evolved there.
Introducing two of its latest luxury sedans — S 320 CDI and CL in South India, Dr Aulber said, “Young successful Indians — both entrepreneurs and professionals in the IT, financial services and areas such as real estate, are gradually shifting to big cars. Our production is fully booked for next two to three months.” More
Courtesy:www.indiacar.net
