Plug-in hybrids have two engines and the electric part has a much larger battery than in the regular hybrids. Car companies, led by the Japanese, are pushing the Indian government to look at hybrids in the interim if it wants to reduce carbon emission.

The top six auto brands are: Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai, Tata Motors, Toyota, Kia and Mahindra & Mahindra.

With US-based electric vehicle (EV) maker Tesla scouting for a suitable location for its foray in India, Rajasthan has joined the fray with a host of offers to woo the Elon Musk-led company. Other challengers include Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, and Maharashtra. Sources privy to the development said that an initial meeting between the senior executives of Tesla and the government of Rajasthan, which was held last week, turned out to be "quite positive." Tesla would now carry out a survey and is expected to share the survey details with the state's investment promotion department soon.

'Gujarat is the frontrunner at present.'
'However, Tamil Nadu's robust automobile ecosystem and Telangana's aggressive incentives make them strong contenders.'

With polls to elect the 18th Lok Sabha approaching, district poll panels are fixing the rates for expenses as part of the election expenditure monitoring process.

Leading automakers Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai and Tata Motors on Friday reported robust sales for February as demand for sports utility vehicles continued to remain strong. Mahindra & Mahindra, Toyota Kirloskar Motor and Honda Cars also witnessed higher vehicle dispatches to dealers last month. February turned out to be the third-best month for sales for the industry ever.

Hero MotoCorp, India's largest two-wheeler maker, has seen a decline in its market share in rural areas since 2018, losing ground to major competitors such as TVS Motor Company, Bajaj Auto, and Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India (HMSI), according to data from JATO Dynamics reviewed by Business Standard. Hero's share of rural two-wheeler sales in India has dropped from 40.4 per cent in 2018 to 33.3 per cent in 2023. In contrast, Bajaj's share increased from 12.7 per cent in 2018 to 13.9 per cent, HMSI's from 21.8 per cent to 22.2 per cent, and TVS' from 15.5 per cent to 17.8 per cent. Suzuki Motorcycle India has also seen its share rise from 1.7 per cent to 2.5 per cent.

Formula One will have a record 24 races in the season that starts in Bahrain on Saturday.

Glimpses from the Bharat Mobility Global Expo in New Delhi.

Bajaj Auto, the king of the market for CNG-powered passenger three-wheelers, now wants to replicate this dominance in two-wheelers. The difference is that while the former is zooming - registrations for CNG-powered passenger three-wheelers nearly doubled during January-December 2023 - the latter, meaning a market for CNG-powered two-wheelers, does not exist.

The 2024 Hyundai Creta not only promises a stylish and modern design but also offers a technologically advanced cabin and a safer driving experience. With its launch just around the corner, the already crowded mid-size SUV segment is set to get even more competitive.

'Nearly all companies are extending festival offers for entry-level, sedan, and hatchback segments.'

Ducati's Francesco Bagnaia won the season-ending Valencia Grand Prix on Sunday to claim a second straight MotoGP World Championship after closest contender Jorge Martin crashed out following a collision with Marc Marquez.

Of the 15 car manufacturing companies in India, eight have a market share of below 2 per cent, raising questions about their long-term future in a competitive market that has already seen Ford Motors and General Motors slam the door on India.

Passenger vehicle wholesales in India rose to a record high in October as companies pushed dispatches to dealers to cater to the enhanced demand in the festive season. The overall passenger vehicle wholesales in October rose to 391,472 units, up 16 per cent from 336,679 units in the same month last year. Last month witnessed the highest-ever dispatches of passenger vehicles in the domestic market by Maruti Suzuki India and Mahindra & Mahindra.

The two-wheeler segment is, however, still far from its H1FY19 peak of 9.7 million units

At a time when consumers increasingly embrace green mobility solutions, it is not electric cars but hybrids that are taking the lead, as automotive sales data indicate. Since January, 64,097 electric cars have been sold compared to 266,465 hybrids, according to data from the ministry of road transport and highways' Vahan dashboard. Hybrid car sales have surged from 4.42 per cent of the 4.1 million cars sold in calendar year 2022 to 7.2 per cent this year.

Vasundhara Raje may have had her faults but she is an unconventional and brave leader who deserves better, observes Aditi Phadnis.

At a time when consumers increasingly embrace green mobility solutions, it is not electric cars but hybrids that are taking the lead, as automotive sales data indicate. Since January, 64,097 electric cars have been sold compared to 266,465 hybrids, according to data from the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways' Vahan dashboard. Hybrid car sales have surged from 4.42 per cent of the 4.1 million cars sold in calendar year 2022 to 7.2 per cent this year.

Can Bhavish Aggarwal upend the electric two-wheeler market, which is now overwhelmingly in favour of scooters?

India's Sajan Prakash and Advait Page finished fifth and seventh in their respective finals to draw curtains on the country's swimming campaign at the Asian Games in Hangzhou on Friday.

The limited availability of flexible (flex)-fuel vehicles in the Indian market and the slow rollout of ethanol-blended petrol by oil-marketing companies (OMCs) remain major obstacles to achieving widespread use of biofuels in the transportation sector in India. Recently, two Union ministers have emphasised India's biofuel potential, arguing that it has the capacity and potential to lead a transition towards widespread biofuel adoption. Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari signalled that this transition is well underway and urged car manufacturers to quickly adapt and introduce new biofuel-run vehicles, lest the government resort to taxing diesel vehicles.

Bezzecchi, riding for Mooney VR46 Racing Team, had to ward off stiff competition from Jorge Martin and Francesco Bagnaia, the championship leader, before standing on the victor's podium at the Buddh International Circuit.

The victory at Suzuka was the Dutch driver's 13th in 16 races this season and left him on the brink of a third world title.

Bezzecchi came out with flying colours registering the best time to grab his third pole of the season.

The sprint race later on Saturday, as well as Sunday's main race, has been shortened due to the conditions at the circuit on the outskirts of New Delhi, organisers said.

Marc Marquez and Suresh Raina rode around the Buddha International Circuit in a Royal Enfield Classic with a sidecar.

Former MotoGP rider Capirossi pleased with BIC ahead of inaugural race

Indrani is in a buoyant and energetic frame of mind these days -- in a full-on Mood Positive. She has a tell-all book titled Unbroken out, that she terms as an 'eet ka jawab kalam se' and appears in media interviews all over the place, when she is not kick-boxing, doing yoga, or travelling, visiting temples, or floating in shikaras on Srinagar's Dal Lake.

Led by Tata Motors and Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), the combined revenue of the Tata group's listed firms crossed the Rs 10-trillion mark for the first time, in 2022-23. The group's 14 key listed companies in which Tata Sons holds a direct equity stake reported a combined revenue of Rs 10.07 trillion in FY23, up 15.3 per cent from Rs 8.73 trillion in FY22. The combined net profit of these companies was, however, down 10.6 per cent year-on-year (YoY) at Rs 66,670 crore in FY23, from a record high of Rs 74,540 crore in the previous financial year, when the profit had jumped 156 per cent YoY, aided by Tata Steel's strong showing.

Yeh Meri Family is rescued by the actors. All of them have delivered on the warmth and crankiness of a close-knit family without putting on any hum saath saath hain fakery, observes Deepa Gahlot.

Automobile dealers' body FADA on Thursday sought a cut in GST on two-wheelers from 28 per cent to 18 per cent, saying the segment being essential for millions should not be categorised as luxury item. The industry body said it has appealed to the finance minister, chair of the GST Council, all GST Council members, the ministry of heavy industries, which supervises the automobile sector, and the ministry of road transport & highways. This timely and decisive intervention would help in making two-wheelers more affordable, reviving demand and reinvigorating an industry that has seen a significant slump in sales over the past few years, the Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA) said in a statement.

Prince Harry and his wife Meghan were 'pretty nervous' as they were chased by paparazzi in New York, according to an Indian-American cab driver who drove the couple for about 10 minutes after picking them up at a police station in Manhattan.

A quarter of the car sales in China are of electric vehicles; domestic brands command 81% of EV sales in the country.

Automotive retail sales saw a 14 per cent rise in March on a year-on-year (YoY) basis, according to data released by the Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA). For the whole of financial year 2022-23 (FY23), sales grew 21 per cent YoY. For both March and the financial year, all categories, except for tractors, and including two-wheelers, three-wheelers, passenger vehicles (PVs), and commercial vehicles (CVs), posted double-digit growth. However, the total retail sales of 22.1 million for the financial year were still 12 per cent lower than the pre-Covid (FY20) level of 25 million, owing to an 18 per cent dip in the two-wheeler segment.

Amid a shift in mobility trends and people increasingly opting for less polluting energy sources, sales of compressed natural gas (CNG) vehicles increased more than 82 per cent in the past five years. A total of 729,902 CNG vehicles were sold in 2022-23 against 400,825 in 2017-18, according to VAHAN Dashboard. Though the increase in sales of CNG-powered vehicles has been significant, their share in overall vehicle sales remains minuscule as is the case with EVs.

With a new chief executive officer (CEO) at the helm, the country's largest two-wheeler maker Hero MotoCorp is now looking to cut flab and move towards a leaner organisation. It has launched a voluntary retirement scheme (VRS) for its staff as it aims to make the organisation 'agile and future-ready'. Recently, the company's erstwhile chief financial officer (CFO) Niranjan Gupta was elevated as CEO.

'In FY23, PV sales are expected to end the year at a record 3.8 million units, up 26 per cent. In FY24, however, the industry is expecting 5-7 per cent volume growth'

Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India (HMSI), India's second-largest two-wheeler maker, on Wednesday revealed its electric vehicle (EV) roadmap, which includes setting up a dedicated EV factory, launching the first two EVs in 2023-24, and establishing 6,000 battery exchange points in the country. HMSI plans to establish a specialised unit for the manufacturing of electric vehicles (EVs), named 'Factory E', at its Narsapura plant located in Karnataka. Factory E will be created by converting an existing production line that currently manufactures internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles, said Atsushi Ogata, HMSI managing director and chief executive officer.

India must integrate more with East Asia by getting into regional trade arrangements, lower its tariff walls, and improve the quality of its workforce, suggests T N Ninan.