Pressure is mounting on Honda Motorcycle and Scooters India, India's fourth biggest two-wheeler maker by volume, to resume normal supplies of scooters and motorcycles to its dealers, who are forced to ask customers to wait for up to four-five months for delivery.
Although most companies had geared for increased production at their plants, most say the surge in demand was unexpected, partly driven by yesteryear purchases which had been postponed earlier due to lack of funds.
The base variant of Rio will be priced at Rs 5 lakh (Rs 500,000), making it 30 per cent cheaper than its nearest competitor and the launch will take place this month after Diwali.
Affluent Indian automobile buyers may get another brand to choose from. Nissan, Japan's third largest carmaker, is looking at the possibility of launching Infiniti, a luxury brand owned by it, in India. Known for its luxurious features and power-packed driving characteristics, Infiniti is a premium brand which competes with benchmark ones globally such as Mercedes, BMW, Porsche, Audi and Accura.
Renault and Nissan's decision to launch their own compact cars is independent of a tie-up with Pune-based motorcycle maker Bajaj Auto to develop a low-cost car that is expected to debut in 2011. A formal joint venture agreement is yet to be signed among the partners, though work on the small car is progressing at a slower pace.
John Brumby, Prime Minister of the state of Victoria in Australia, decided to cancel his scheduled trip to Mumbai after a detailed advisory issued first by the US and then by Israel, which said terrorists are planning attacks in India.
Second hand demand entirely for the top-end LX variant
Global motorcycle majors find a surging response.
Under the scheme, the government provided incentives of $1,000-5,600 directly to those buyers who were willing to trade their old, gas-guzzling vehicles for new, fuel-efficient vehicles. Indian auto bigwigs, including Tata Motors and Mahindra & Mahindra, among others, through the association of the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (Siam), had approached the government to implement a similar programme. However, they are yet to succeed.
Prices of key inputs up 44% to 74%; analysts expect earnings squeeze after a quarter or two.
India's biggest two-wheeler manufacturer, Hero Honda, is already predicting a certain impact by November-December.
Companies that made expensive overseas acquisitions lead the way in driving cost efficiencies.
With both leisure and business travellers dropping Pune from their itineraries, 30 to 50 per cent of all grades of rooms in the city are vacant. This steep fall comes as double whammy for these hotels, since they were forced to pare tariffs 35 to 40 per cent owing to falling occupancies as a result of the economic slowdown.
The JV company, Tata Motors (Thailand) Ltd was formed between the two in December 2006. Tata Motors holds 70 per cent stake and Thonburi the balance 30 per cent.
Maruti Suzuki and Hyundai Motors are expected to see overseas sales fall sharply following the recent removal of an incentive scheme.
Tata Motors has sold one Jaguar and Land Rover model a day since it launched the marque brands in India just under a month ago -- on June 28. But that's enough to satisfy the company and has, in fact, come as a surprise to many market experts.
Bajaj Auto has phased out the Pulsar 200 model to make way for the new Pulsar 220, as both were priced on a par, despite the latter being more powerful.
Five-year time frame for 'slow process of integration'. Bajaj Auto, through its 100 per cent Dutch subsidiary, Bajaj Auto International Holding BV, will buy the additional stakes in the Vienna Stock Exchange-listed KTM on-behalf of the company.
Bajaj Auto, the country's second-biggest maker of two-wheelers, says it will use its famed digital twin-spark plug technology in its compact car, due for launch in 2011.
The Freelander, a compact yet premium 4X4 SUV, is sold in large European markets.
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