Indian car buyers have swayed towards newer options offered by global car giants such as General Motors, Ford, Toyota and VW over the past couple of months, impacting sales of models which were once flagship ones.
Except for March, when BMW recorded unusually high sales, Mercedes sales were ahead in the other months.
Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces, Asia's largest hospitality chain, is looking to set up luxury properties in Africa, West Asia, China and Southeast Asia.
Volkswagen is looking to dislodge Honda's dominance in the premium mid-size segment in India, with the launch of a new executive sedan in the second half of this year.
With demand spiralling beyond the company's expectations and new capacities taking time to come on stream, Maruti Suzuki, the country's largest car maker, says it is being forced to reduce focus on the lucrative export market and divert production to the local market.
In a little over six months, Bajaj, the country's second biggest two-wheeler maker, has sold over 500 units of the Kawasaki Ninja 250R, price Rs 2.69 lakh (the 269,000 same as a Maruti Suzuki Alto car).
According to sources, the products would be priced in the range of Rs 2.3-2.4 lakh in the European market. However, the Indian market price is yet to be determined.
The country's largest car producer -- Maruti Suzuki -- is caught in a cleft. There is growing demand for its cars, but it does not have sufficient production capacity to feed this demand. To top that, this capacity constraint is not likely to be lifted before 2012.
Manufacturing lines at various car producing facilities across the country started to roll out the new range of Bharat Stage-IV compliant vehicles in the 13 notified cities from April 1, according to the Union government guidelines on emission norms.
Tata Motors now eyes the US, European and African markets.
Tata-promoted Taj Hotels may decide to add the Nano to their line of chauffeur-driven cars used for guest transfers.
New units of the iconic Maruti 800, Ford Ikon (1.3 petrol), Fiat Palio, Skoda Fabia (1.2 petrol) and Octavia (1.9 TDI engine), and Chevrolet Tavera (2.5 DI) of General Motors will no longer be sold in the 13 notified cities from Thursday, which constitute 40-50 per cent of total car sales in the country.
Pune Open Coffee Club or POCC is a free-form organisation which exists on the web and helps budding entrepreneurs realise their dreams.
The skyline is getting crowded by the day--not only in the big cities but across the country. India is expected to double the number of branded hotel rooms from 100,000 now in just three years. Leading the pack are global hotel chains, which will add over 300 hotel properties (an estimated 55,000 rooms) in the country by 2013.
Although the broad contours of the proposed agreement with Ashok Leyland to build a range of small cars is yet to be outlined, Nissan's intention is clear counter Volkwagen's plans with Suzuki to target the compact car segment.
Chennai-based Ashok Leyland Ltd, the second largest truck maker in India, has inaugurated an integrated manufacturing facility at Pantnagar, Uttarakhand. This unit, in which Rs 1,500 crore (Rs 15 billion) have been invested, is the company's seventh.
Auto makers, who enjoyed a record-breaking sales run over recent months, are now bracing themselves for upheaval, led primarily by changing government policies and rising inflationary pressures.
This year, the date falls on a Sunday, which is a holiday for most companies. But it has not deterred BPO firms from celebrating in advance.
As the April 1, 2010 deadline nears for introducing Bharat Stage-IV emission-compliant vehicles, manufacturers are worried about the availability of the BS-III fuel.
The move comes after Renault's troubled five-year partnership with Mahindra & Mahindra failed to provide the French company with a platform to become a serious player in the country.