Car Studio – It's all about Cars, Engines, anything and everything about cars » 2010

Jun 21

RANBIR REVS UP BOOKINGS FOR NISSAN MICRA

Mumbai: The Nissan Micra, scheduled to be launched in mid-July, has received nearly 1,000 bookings since the process began on May 25.

The momentum has picked up from June 10, soon after the news of Bollywood actor Ranbir Kapoor being roped in as Nissan Motor India’s brand ambassador became public. Till then the booking tally was around 400, but sources said the number could now be near 2,000 by the end of this month. “Ranbir is a big draw among youngsters who enjoy seeing his films,” said a source.

The Micra will be part of the B-plus segment (which includes the Suzuki Swift and the Hyundai i20) and is expected to be priced in the range of Rs 4-5.5 lakh for its four versions. The booking trend indicates that the top-end option, Micra XV, has had the maximum response followed by the XL, which is next in line. In contrast, the base XE version is someway behind, sources said.

Nearly 35 per cent of the bookings in Bangalore have been made by women, most of whom are professionals in the IT sector.

“This is an interesting feedback and has been a pleasant surprise to Nissan,” an official said. Delhi has emerged tops among the metros, something which was “not entirely unexpected”.

Customers, especially women, have been curious to know when the company is planning to bring out an automatic version, especially in the context of growing traffic and difficult driving conditions. Others have expressed interest on a diesel version of the Micra and it remains to be seen how soon the manufacturer will comply with this demand.

The retailing process will be the responsibility of Hoover Automotive India, Nissan’s sales and distribution arm. Thus far, there are only 11 dealerships. But there are plans to increase this to 20 in the coming months.

To that extent, the accessibility of the Micra will be confined to select cities and towns though the retail network could expand after gauging the market response to the car.

Nissan has, of course, readied a business model that will see exports play a big role to the extent that domestic numbers will lag behind for some time.

This is also largely a result of shifting the Micra’s production line from the UK to India — which also brings in the added responsibility of servicing European markets.

According to sources, the company’s biggest challenge would be to ensure that it can cope with its order book so that customers do not have to wait for months on end to get their car. “This is critical, especially when there are other options in the compact car segment,” said a source.

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2010/06/17/stories/2010061752660200.htm

Jun 18

CAR MAKERS GEARING UP FOR NEW LAUNCHES

Posted in: SUVs and MUVs

New Delhi: Car companies are preparing to raise prices for the fourth time this year in July as raw material costs go through the roof, but are banking on strong pent-up demand to prevent sales from falling.
Companies like M&M, General Motors, Ford, Toyota and Maruti are negotiating the extent of the hike with their vendors. “If commodity prices continue to rise at the current rate, we will be forced to go in for a price hike,” said Pawan Goenka, president, auto and farm division, M&M.
Prices of commodities like steel and rubber have risen sharply since the second quarter of the previous financial year, with most of the increases coming in April-May. “Overall, the commodity price curve has gone up by 20-25%,” said Rajesh Jejurikar, chief of operations, auto division, M&M.
But with passenger vehicle sales rising 35% in April-May over last year, companies could pass on part of the commodity price hike to customers without worrying about losing market share.
Toyota Kirloskar said it reviewed prices every quarter, and like Honda and Maruti Suzuki, will take a final call next month. Car prices have already seen three mark-ups this year — an input cost-driven hike in January followed by one due to the 2% excise duty hike in the Budget and another hike on account of the move to higher emission norms.
Ford announced a 1-2% hike in the price of its small car Figo from June. The company too will decide on raising prices of its other brands by July. “We will assess the effect of a rise in commodity prices on our products by the end of the current quarter,” said Ford India president and MD Michael Boneham.
Companies such as Volkswagen and Honda, however, will not take a decision just yet. In addition to commodity prices, Honda will watch the yen-rupee exchange rate, said Jnaneswar Sen, vice-president (marketing), Honda Siel.

Jun 16

MARUTI JOINS GREEN DRIVE, TO ROLL OUT CNG VARIANTS SOON

Posted in: Uncategorized

New Delhi: Alto, WagonR and SX4 will be some of the top-selling Maruti Suzuki models to sport a CNG engine this year as India’s largest carmaker looks at alternate fuel technology to build a more environment-friendly fleet for the Indian market.

Aiming to retain its 50% market share, Maruti will launch new compressed natural gas (CNG)-fired versions of these vehicles that will be priced at a premium of around 15-20%. All these cars will come packed with a new technology that will be factory-fitted, unlike most other petrolpowered vehicles in the country at present which are retrofitted.

“It’s our answer to green technology that will also be most fuel-efficient auto fuel in India, blending the benefits of gasoline engine power at the cost of the CNG,” said IV Rao, managing executive officer (engineering) at Maruti Suzuki.

Maruti is using an in-house developed i-GPI (intelligent gas port injection) technology that will give the option of driving with either petrol or CNG as fuel. Mr Rao said it will be the only factory-fitted computer controlled gas distribution system to be integrated into the petrol engines using injectors to fire gas directly into engine eliminating any loss of power.

Carmakers at present use venturi type CNG technology in products such as Hyundai Accent, General Motors’ Spark or Toyota’s Innova that faces around 15% loss of power when these vehicles are driven on CNG. Maruti will import the injectors from US, which will make the products dearer but still less than the hybrid cars in the country. The ex-showroom price of Toyota’s Prius in Delhi is Rs 26.5 lakh. Maruti preferred to use CNG as a fuel for i-GPI as it is cheaper than electric and other forms of hybrid engines.

Analyst tracking the sector remain optimistic on the CNG fuel strategy adding volumes for Maruti. “Initiatives from the government in the form of better availability of alternative fuels and tax rebates on green technology would push up sales,” said Sumit Arora, associate director at Synovate Motoresearch.

Jun 15

MARUTI’S HATCHBACK SHARE HASN’T BEEN DENTED YET

Posted in: Uncategorized

New Delhi: Fears over Maruti Suzuki India losing its grip over the domestic passenger car market due to intense pressure from competition may be exaggerated, at least for now.

Despite a flurry of new launches across the hatchback segment – Honda Jazz, Tata Nano, Chevrolet Beat, Ford Figo and Volkswagen Polo since April 2009 – Maruti’s hatchback market share remains virtually unaffected.

The country’s largest car maker did see market share fall below the 50 per cent mark around April in the A2 segment though.
Seven out of 10 cars sold by Maruti fall in this segment and the decline around April this year was because of about 25 per cent fall in the sales of flagship model Alto due to new emission norms kicking in. But Maruti has gained back share now to settle at well over the 50 per cent mark.

Sachin Gupta of HSBC Securities and Capital Markets, in a recent note said Maruti has begun to regain market share whereas “market share loss has been higher for Tata Motors and Hyundai Motor India”.

But while Maruti has maintained its grip over the market, profitability has taken a beating. As per Batliwala and Karani, sustained competitive intensity is bringing about a “sustained downward shift in profitability. We believe that among listed names, Maruti is more vulnerable to commodity price increases…export profitability will also be lower due to the strengthening rupee and drop in exports to Europe”.

Meanwhile, now that new launches from competition have lessened, Maruti is lining up CNG launches and together with a bit more pricing power, things look good for the country’s largest car maker. Executive Officer (Marketing & Sales) Mayank Pareek says Maruti has been able to retain market share because it held fast to three core values: value-for-money, trust and reliability of the product and styling.

“We have always been able to provide the lowest cost of ownership in cars and now, even in the styling aspect we have matched competitors”.

According to HSBC’s analysis of Maruti WagonR, Chevy Beat and Ford Figo, the cost of spares needed for the Figo is about 25% higher and for Beat about 40% higher than the WagonR while both the cars score much lower than the WagonR in terms of residual value (resale).

Pareek said that aggressive competitive pricing of hatchbacks has not been able to shift Maruti’s focus from providing overall value-for-money. The company is yet to conclude negotiations with commodity vendors for raw material supplies this fiscal but it is possible that Maruti could go in for another round of price hikes if input costs continue to remain high. On supply constraints, Pareek said that the waiting period for the Dzire is down from six months earlier to three months; Swift Diesel is available after 8-12 weeks whereas the petrol variant comes within a month.

http://www.dnaindia.com/money/report_maruti-s-hatchback-share-hasn-t-been-dented-yet_1396489

Jun 12

WE WILL FOCUS ON LOCALISATION TO BRING DOWN COSTS – Merc Benz India

Posted in: Interviews/Features

WE WILL FOCUS ON LOCALISATION TO BRING DOWN COSTS

Shweta Bhanot

The Financial Express (Web & Print Edition)

Mercedes-Benz India is looking at a growth rate of 20% in its bus business this year. The company has seen a slow start with total sales of 67 units till date since 2008 when it entered with a two-axle coach bus. The company hopes to boost its business as it enters the city bus segment in 2011. In an interview to FE’s Shweta Bhanot, Wilfried Aulbur, managing director and chief executive officer, Mercedes-Benz India Pvt Ltd, shared his views about the company’s plans to bring down costs through enhanced localisation and at the same time maintaining the brand promise of high quality and reliability.

Excerpts:

How do you justify a volume of 67 buses since your entry into the segment in 2008?

We had a terrible 2009. Our focus on two-axle buses for private operators was badly impacted by the recession, wherein operators were not keen on making new purchases in an environment of unavailability of finance, and later swine flu. Their occupancy levels were significantly low. We sold only nine units that year. Things look good now and we have sold 43 buses in the first five months of the year. Of that, 30 are two-axle buses and the remaining are three-axle ones. At present, there is a backlog of around1 10-15 three-axle buses.

How do you plan to boost volumes and what is the current volume of production?

We are making seven to ten buses per month at the Chakan plant. We are ramping up production to meet the demand. We have a strong order book from state transport units (STUs). The launch of city buses in 2011 will further boost our volumes. We will soon be putting prototypes of our city buses to test in Rajasthan, Karnataka, Haryana and Maharashtra. These STUs will test the buses for six months.

What are your plans for localisation in a bid to bring down costs?

We will be looking at full localisation of the bus body; and depending on the volumes, localisation of the chassis will be considered. A commercial vehicle owner looks at the total cost of ownership. While the initial cost is high, the maintenance cost of our buses is low. We will soon start producing bus body in-house with our Egyptian partner MCV. This will be for city buses. Later, we may look at coaches as well. We will also look at synergies in terms of suppliers and other leverages arising out of our parent’s plant in Chennai (Daimler AG). All this will help us reduce costs. The in-house bus body building will help cut cost by Rs 1 lakh spent on transportation currently.

Will you continue with your tie-up with Sutlej Buses and what kind of cost advantage will you get once you make the bus body in Chakan?

We will continue with Sutlej, which is currently doing the coach bus body building for us and later may look at city bus body building as well. We want not confine ourselves to just one partner and will look at more partners as and when volumes grow. We have two partners at present, which we feel is enough for the current volumes.

What will be the capacity of the bus body building facility at Chakan and what will be the investment?

We are still finalising the details. The investment in Chakan will be a part of Rs 300-crore investment package for India. The city bus body building will start in another nine months.

How are the Actros trucks doing?

We had delivery problems during the end of the previous year. There was a shortage of finished goods and we somehow pulled it up. There were only 12 kits. We have sold 104 Actros so far. We are doing on an average 25 units a month. Things have improved since then.
http://www.financialexpress.com/news/We-will-focus-on-localisation-to-bring-down-costs/632163/

We will focus on localisation to bring down costs
Yahoo India

http://in.biz.yahoo.com/100610/50/bavrfk.html

Jun 11

Uno is on way back to India, Palio stares at end of road

Posted in: SUVs and MUVs

UNO IS ON WAY BACK TO INDIA, PALIO STARES AT END OF ROAD

Lijee Philip & Gouri Agtey Athale

The Economic Times (Web & Print Edition)

Mumbai/Pune: Fiat SpA is resurrecting Uno, a boxy small car that best epitomises the Italian automaker’s chequered history in India, in a new-look green avatar.

Uno, whose downfall in 1996 is a stark reminder of Fiat’s poor run in India but whose arrival will culminate its revived fortunes in a humming market, is expected to hit showrooms towards the year-end, people familiar with the development said.

Uno’s rollout could trigger the demise of Palio, a hatchback that has taken a backseat after the introduction of the Grande Punto last year, the persons said.

These days, Fiat India rolls out the Palio only against orders, with some dealers admitting to monthly sales of up to two units. Another reason for phasing out Palio is that the car does not comply with new emission rules.

The move is tinged with irony because the Palio was introduced in 1999 as a substitute for Uno.

Fiat stopped Uno’s production in Italy but continued with the model in a few countries, notably Brazil, where a new variant was unveiled recently. There has been relentless speculation on the model’s entry in India after having undergone a makeover with a brand-new design and engine.

The hatchback’s arrival will coincide with Fiat’s improved operations in India. The Uno was launched globally in 1983, but Fiat introduced the car in India with former partner Premier Automobiles Ltd (PAL) only in the 1990s.

Despite its boxy design drawing brickbats constantly, a surfeit of bookings was testimony to the huge interest in Uno.

But Fiat and PAL were unable to fulfill the demand after labour issues cropped up at the Kurla factory. The image of Uno and subsequently that of Fiat took a knocking soon after. Complaints of non-refund and poor after-sales support were also rampant during those days.

Having learnt its lessons the hard way, Fiat entered into an alliance with Tata Motors in 2006, the Indian automaker’s vast distribution and sales network and vendor base boosting its image in the country.

Fiat also did away with its earlier portfolio of products like Siena, Palio Weekend and Adventure. Instead, a raft of new launches such as the Palio, Linea and the Punto made their way into India.

Sales now average around 2,500 units a month against 500 before the 50:50 JV, which envisages an investment of E650 million for the Indian and overseas markets, with the Tatas was signed.

Though Fiat is still playing catchup with peers, the company aims to post sales of 6,000 units a month and turn in profits by 2011. This year, the target is to sell 40,000 units from 25,000 in 2009.

The new Uno, which will use renewable materials to reduce emissions and enhance fuel efficiency and to be powered by a one-litre engine, could help complete Fiat’s turnaround. The design of the new Uno is far better and if priced right, it could drive in volumes for the company, said the persons.

“We will not be in a position to comment on speculative reporting,” a Fiat India spokesman said, adding that there has been no change in the company’s position on the Fiat world car being developed at the Ranjangaon plant near Pune.

“That car is slated for India beginning 2012 and the specifications of the car are not yet known,” he said. Fiat also makes the Linea, Punto and Palio models in Ranjangaon.

The auto major has also drawn up plans to refurbish Linea and Grande Punto with higher-powered engines, in both the petrol and diesel versions. The multi-jet diesel, 1.3 Grande Punto will be launched in early July while the petrol 1.4 Linea will be introduced in August.

Currently, Linea and Grande Punto run on 1.3-litre engines, feeble by the standards of auto enthusiasts.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/News-By-Industry/Auto/Automobiles/Uno-is-on-way-back-to-India-Palio-stares-at-end-of-road/articleshow/6034577.cms?curpg=2