Automobile giant General Motors will invest Rs 1,000 to Rs 1,200 crore (Rs 10-12 billion) to set up a power train (engine and gear box) manufacturing facility at its Talegaon Plant near Pune.
A slowdown in the automobile industry is set to reverse by the year-end. The slowdown, which is cyclical in nature and occurs after every seven years, should come to an end in the next three months, according to the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), the country's apex automobile body.
Banks make criteria tougher for funding the car. Tata Motors Chairman Ratan Tata's dream to help the common man own a four-wheeler may meet its bete noire in bankers as ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and rival lenders realign rules to finance the Nano, touted to be the world's cheapest car.
The demand from second-time car buyers outstrips the demand from those seeking to upgrade themselves from two-wheelers. Tata Motors' city dealers say about 60 per cent of all Nano buyers are those who already own a car and the rest 40 per cent are those who either own a two-wheeler or have never owned a vehicle earlier.
Vehicles going from Mumbai towards Goa and Konkan were diverted from Panvel via Khopoli and Pali as the stretch near Pen at Vashi naka was blocked by farmers protesting against the Maharashtra government's decision to approve the rehabilitation and resettlement package announced by Mumbai SEZ Pvt Ltd, a Reliance Industries company.
The Chennai-based company is developing bikes in the range of 200cc and above to compete with Bajaj Auto's Pulsar range, which begins with the 150cc variant and ends with the 220cc model at the top of the ranks, sources, who declined to be identified, said.
London-based Dar Consultants has said its bid and the one by preferred bidder Anil Dhirubhani Ambani Group's RELINFRA-Hyundai consortium are both 'responsive' or worth considering. Dar Consultants' recommendation puts the responsibility of re-considering the preferred bidder between the warring brothers squarely back with the political executive. The state cabinet's committee on infrastructure will meet Wednesday to decide the fate of the project.
Mahindra & Mahindra is developing a small engine for a smaller version of its UVs and replicate the Tatas dream of a small car, a company official said.
The Maharashtra government will take a final decision on the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG)-led consortium's bid for the Rs 6,000 crore (Rs 60 billion), six-lane sea link between Sewri and Nhava Sheva, better known as the Mumbai Trans Harbour Link (MTHL), within two weeks, said Public Works Minister Anil Deshmukh.
Mahindra & Mahindra, the world's fourth largest tractor maker, has deferred its plan to build a Rs 400 crore (Rs 4 billion) tractor facility in Chennai on apprehensions that tractor sales may slow, a top company executive has said.
Speaking to Business Standard a day after the company announced indifferent results for 2007-08, Kant said this year is going to be the toughest for the auto industry in a long time because of soaring input costs and crude oil prices. But the credit squeeze could have a far-reaching impact on the industry's fortunes.
Despite a general slowdown, Audi India has posted a dizzying growth figure of 123 per cent, selling 321 units in January-April 2008. All set to launch the new A4 sedan in July, Benoit Tiers, managing director, Audi India, tells Business Standard about the company's objectives.
In what may be a sign of the changing political environment ahead of general elections, the Centre has turned down the Maharashtra government's proposal to provide labour law flexibility in special economic zones.
The auto sector is doing well in India, despite stock market meltdown, emerging signals of industrial slowdown and rising costs.
Now Delhi-based Sona Koyo, which is supplying steering systems for the Nano, and Minda Group, which supplies electrical switches, have confirmed that they and other component suppliers have suggested a price rise to Tata Motors.
Honda Siel Cars India President and CEO Masahiro Takedagawa, in an interview with Business Standard, shares the company's India strategy, including the launch of hybrid technology (a first on Indian roads), small cars and outlook on diesel technology, an area where the company is losing ground to other auto majors. The company launched its 8th generation Accord today in Mumbai.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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