With Valentine's Day falling on a Friday, travel is picking up as people look for quick getaways.
With nearly 100 launches and unveils, the Bharat Mobility Global Expo 2025, held in Delhi from January 17 to 22, made one thing clear to automobile enthusiasts: Electric vehicles (EVs) are the way ahead for the Indian auto market for years to come.
In a continued push to spiritual tourism, there will be a focus on destinations related to the life and times of Lord Buddha.
'We have to be prepared for the larger disruption that is likely to take place.'
MSIL, which currently has a subscription service that allows customers to lease its petrol-run and strong hybrid vehicles on a flexible, long-term basis without ownership commitments, will introduce a leasing service as well.
The auto major is not just looking at domestic sales, but also planning to ramp up exports to key markets from here, like the Middle East, North Africa and Australia.
'Currently, EVs are about 30-50 per cent more expensive than ICE vehicles. I believe the inflection point for EVs will come when this price gap narrows to 20-25 per cent. That's when people will start coming in.'
'The path beyond diesel is not going to be clear. It is really going to be dependent on applications.'
About 99,165 electric cars were sold in India in 2024, but electric car penetration -- share of electric car sales in total sales -- was just about 2.5 per cent.
Chinese electric carmaker BYD is focusing on launching vehicles in the Rs 25-45 lakh price range in India even as it continues to evaluate customer preferences and demand in more affordable segments, its Head of Electric Passenger Vehicles in India Rajeev Chauhan told Business Standard.
However, while Splendor's annual sales surged 31.7 per cent to 3.638 million units between 2019 and 2024, Hero's other models suffered sharp drops.
Tata Motors is the leader in the electric car market with about 62 per cent share.
However, the company has not provided a timeline for the launch of the small electric car.
Hero MotoCorp anticipates a big rebound in two-wheeler (2W) sales in rural India over the next four to eight quarters, driven by favourable factors such as a decent monsoon, rising crop prices, improved employment conditions, and increasing consumer confidence, its chief executive officer (CEO) Niranjan Gupta said on Wednesday. Amid tepid rural sales, he stated that there is a "strong case" for GST (goods and services tax) on entry-level two-wheelers, which are under 125 CC, to be moved down from 28 per cent to 18 per cent as they are used by "masses".
'Without his vision and foresight, his willingness to take a risk that no one else was willing to take, his deep and abiding love for India, the Indian automobile industry could not have become the powerhouse that it has become.'
Homegrown fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) major Dabur India is set to record low single-digit growth in consolidated revenue in the December quarter, it said in an update on Friday. The maker of Hajmola candy and Real fruit juice said rural consumption continued to be resilient and grow faster than urban in the third quarter.
From highways connecting once-remote regions to aviation networks carrying millions, India's infrastructure story is one of transformation.
'Inflation is not good for industry. Nor for the economy as a whole.'
From specialised senior-friendly tours to redesigned hotel amenities, hotels are becoming increasingly attuned to the unique requirements of elderly travellers.
IndiGo on Wednesday said it was exploring an earlier introduction of wide-body planes in its fleet to meet the growing demand for international travel. Industry sources said the airline was in talks with Norse Atlantic Airways to wet-lease six B787 planes in its fleet.