Home-grown automotive players like Tata Motors, Ashok Leyland, Bajaj Auto, Hero Honda, TVS Motors and Maruti Suzuki are augmenting the use of plastics in engine components in an ambitious effort to reduce dependence on key metals like steel and aluminium, all of which have witnessed stupendous rise of 35-50 per cent in the past 5 months.
Stockbroker Harish Bhasin has got Rs 22 crore stuck in the bid to take over DCM Shriram Industries, the Delhi-based sugar company. He invested the money to raise his stake in DSIL from 12.87 per cent to 25.05 per cent over the last five-and-a-half months. He bought DSIL shares from the open market. However, his open offer to buy 22.88 per cent stake has not taken off, pending an approval from the Securities and Exchange Board of India.
Skoda Auto is considering shifting the production of the Fabia, its compact hatchback, to parent company Volkswagen's Chakan plant in Pune. At present, Skoda is manufacturing cars at its Aurangabad plant. The surge in demand has pushed the waiting period for the car to more than 2 months.
US President George W Bush and his Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice may have their numbers wrong when they accuse China and India of contributing to the global food crisis as a result of growing prosperity-led consumption.
The bikes will be imported as completely built units on which there is a 60 per cent import duty. Each bike will cost more than Rs 10 lakh. Ducati's Global Chief Executive Gabriel Deltorchio will be flying to India on the day of the formal launch in Delhi.
Interestingly, it is the long products that have witnessed the steepest price increase (between 50 per cent and 62 per cent), clearly reflecting the booming demand from construction activities. However, the flat products, by comparison, have seen a price increase of 17-24 per cent, almost half compared with the long products. Driven by demand, the share of the long products in the total steel production has been steadily increasing.
Numbers collated by the Business Standard Research Bureau show that in the last three years, leading cement manufacturers have multiplied their nine-month profits manifold and mining and paper companies have more than doubled it.
The auto sector in Pune, which houses production centres of the most prominent auto manufacturers in the country, says that 60-70 per cent of its labour is already local. They were reponding to the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray's call yesterday urging companies to reserve 80 per cent of all industrial jobs created for local Maharashtrians.
The model, considered as large van or a mini bus, has sliding doors and can comfortably seat around 15-18 people. It will be imported into India initially. The model is currently undergoing road tests in Pune, according to sources.
The country's leading steel producers have devised a new strategy to pass on rising raw material costs to the end users without raising prices. Companies are now levying raw material surcharges while keeping the base price unchanged.
The mandatory 10 per cent ethanol blending in petrol may not happen for the existing 101 million vehicles on the Indian roads without introducing technical changes in them. The central government plans to make 10 per cent blending compulsory from October from the current 5 per cent. Existing vehicles are not capable of running on 10 per cent ethanol-blended petrol as ethanol releases more heat and can corrode vehicle engines, experts say. It will lead to a 3% drop in mileage.
On Tuesday, in the midst of the government's multi-pronged crackdown on inflation, the cement producers had announced a rise in prices. The export ban will augment domestic availability while the cheap imports from Pakistan will soften prices.
The price rise in individual key food commodities over the last one year is significantly higher than what is conveyed by the wholesale price index. While the latest government data show inflation at 6.68 per cent for the week ended March 15, the price change in most food items is in double digits.
"We are planning to bring Evo 10 to India through the completely built route (import). This may push the cars' end cost but the company has no plans to locally build the car yet. The response for the car (from the market) will decide whether it can be manufactured here or not," said a company executive on the condition of anonymity. Internationally, the car costs $30,473 (Rs 12 lakh) and $32,697 (Rs 13 lakh) for different variants.
Excise duty relief brought in by the Budget may wither away on input cost pressure for cars in India. In light of these details, Indian car makers are contemplating hiking car prices, although none of them has confirmed the exact hike. Top executives from the auto industry have said the hike could be around 3-5 per cent. Most of the car manufacturers had already slashed prices (on small cars) in the beginning of March following the Budget announcement of a cut in excise duty.
Tata Motors has set up a separate team at its plant in Pune to examine ways to cut manufacturing costs on the Nano, the small car scheduled for an October launch, to bring the ex-showroom price down to the psychological Rs 1 lakh mark, managing director Ravi Kant said.
Maruti Suzuki is planning a further investment of Rs 9000 crore in India for world class R&D centres, design facility, regional distribution centres and logistics support. The fresh investment will be made over a longer period, about eight years, as compared with three years for some earlier investments. Regional warehouses will cut short the delivery time of vehicles. The centralised and timely despatch of vehicles from its facilities in the north will mean faster shipment.
The Tata-Fiat joint venture is looking at catering to the global demand for engines through its Ranjangaon plant.
The much-awaited excise duty cut on small cars to 12 per cent (from 16 per cent) made by the finance minister may have brought smiles on the faces of car manufacturers but this, dealers say, will increase the waiting period on some popular models by another additional month.
Auto component sourcing has touched $3 billion in India and is expected to double by next financial year-end. Such sourcing has provided Indian players with the opportunity to charge a premium that varies between 5 and 10 per cent.
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