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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
"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.
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