Centre mulls strategy to ensure powers given to the agencies are not misused.
Carmakers Mercedes-Benz, Audi, Renault, Kia India and MG Motor on Wednesday announced plans to hike vehicle prices from January to partially offset the impact of rising input costs. They join the likes of market leader Maruti Suzuki India and Tata Motors, which have also made the year-end announcements to raise prices from next month. Audi India said it will increase prices of its entire model range by up to 1.7 per cent, while Mercedes-Benz India noted it will hike the prices by up to 5 per cent from January 1.
The country's leading automobile show, the Auto Expo, which was scheduled to take place in February next year at Greater Noida, has been postponed due to the COVID-19 situation and apprehensions of a possible third wave, industry body SIAM said on Monday. The last edition of the biennial automobile show took place in February 2020. "The magnitude of the risk of spread of infection is extremely high in a business-to-consumer (B2C) show like the Auto Expo which is visited by large crowds and maintaining social distancing would be difficult.
The SP Concept SUV will be the first of the products to be rolled out from the company's plant in Andhra Pradesh, where it has invested USD 1 billion. The plant will have a capacity of 3 lakh units annually.
The central government is expected to complete the auction of the 5.9-million tonne (mt) lithium reserves discovered in the Reasi district of the northern Union Territory (UT) of Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) by the end of this calendar year, Union Mines Secretary Vivek Bharadwaj said on the sidelines of the launch of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci) report on 'New-Age Energy Minerals' on Tuesday. "Auction will be over by the end of this year," said Bharadwaj, adding, "We have already recommended a transaction advisor to the J&K government for the auction of lithium reserves." However, the exact timeline for an auction will be decided by J&K authorities, Union mines minister Pralhad Joshi said in Parliament last month.
South Korean auto giant Hyundai Motor Company is considering tax implications of listing its Indian unit before taking a final call, according to sources privy to the development. Hyundai Motor is mulling an initial public offering (IPO) for its Indian arm to raise around $3 billion (at a valuation of up to $30 billion), and talks are in the early stages between the company and bankers, banking sources revealed. Hyundai Motor India Ltd (HMIL), however, declined to comment on the development.
Catamaran, the family office of Infosys founder Narayana Murthy, is targeting 15 per cent returns on its portfolio investments per annum as it shifts focus from early-stage investments to growth and late-stage bets. This would double the firm's assets under management (AUM) from the current $1 billion to $2 billion over the next five years. "For direct investments, we are focusing on growth-stage investments and very selectively on early stage," Deepak Padaki, president, Catamaran, told Business Standard. "(This is) primarily because the early-stage space in India, in the last three-four years, has completely changed. "There has been a huge influx of capital in the last two years. It has become a very crowded space for early-stage investment," he said.
Many big countries are facing difficulties in doing so for their citizens, Modi said.
The entry of SoftBank-backed Ola into the electric scooter (e-scooter) segment is set to power up the overall market and perhaps fast-track the adoption of battery-operated vehicles. But for manufacturers of internal combustion engine (ICE)-powered two-wheelers, such as Bajaj Auto, Hero MotoCorp, and TVS Motor, it will be a double whammy. Not only will they have to contend with the aggressive pricing of Ola's scooter and incur a loss at each unit of the e-scooter sold, the volumes of their regular (ICE) models, too, could feel the squeeze, observed analysts. Ola is expected to price its e-scooter in the range of Rs 85,000-1.1 lakh.
Increasing the duties on auto parts and putting an additional cess on petrol and diesel could drive up costs of vehicles, specially where volumes are low and localisation is not viable.
From setting up cutting-edge facilities to cater to the domestic market and building capabilities of global standards, the action is building up.
Whether it is protecting its turf in its core utility vehicle segment through new model launches, or stepping up investment in electric vehicles, the Anand Mahindra-led firm is leaving nothing to chance
Posco Daewoo, the South Korean conglomerate whose Cielo sedan and Matiz hatchback were once the pride of Indian car owners, is looking to re-enter India. And its return journey is riding on plans to sell electric bikes and e-cycles. The company termed India's robust economic growth and surging consumer demand as reasons behind its comeback plans, saying they make India "one of the world's most promising consumer markets," according to Y S Choi, general manager, Posco Daewoo South Korea.
Ola founder and chief executive officer (CEO) Bhavish Aggarwal will step back from day-to-day operations to focus more on engineering functions, team building, and products, apart from focusing on long-term strategic projects, such as two-wheelers, cars, and innovations in quick commerce and international expansion. "I'll be spending more time with all engineering functions, team building, and on products," said Aggarwal in an internal note, adding, "I'll also be increasing my focus on our longer-term strategic projects, including new two-wheeler products, our car project, innovations in quick commerce, electrifying ride-hailing, our cell research and development (R&D), international expansion, building our Pune technology (tech) centre, and Futurefoundry UK." To drive scale, speed, and quality, Aggarwal said he is expanding Ola Group's chief financial officer (CFO) G R Arun Kumar's role to help him steer 'day-to-day operations' across the group.
Tamil Nadu secured investments worth Rs 1.44 trillion on Monday by signing of memoranda of understanding (MoU) with 60 companies, laying of foundation stones and inauguration of new projects.
Automobile retail sales in the country fell 18 per cent year-on-year in the 42-day long festive period this year as semiconductor shortage impacted production across companies affecting their ability to supply adequate numbers to dealer partners, FADA said on Thursday. During the period under review, barring three-wheeler and commercial vehicles, all other segments including passenger vehicles, two-wheelers and tractors were down as compared with the same period of last year. As per data collated by the Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA), total retail sales across segments stood at 20,90,893 units this festive period, down 18 per cent from 25,56,335 units in 2020.
Foundries in Taiwan account for more than 75 per cent of the chips that mobile devices made in India need, according to estimates by the Indian Cellular and Electronics Association (ICEA), which represents global and domestic manufacturers. The number is slightly lower, 60 per cent, if one considers all chips -- those of consumer electronics, PCs, laptops, autos, etc. This ties in with the fact that foundries in Taiwan, led by TSMC, account for over 70 per cent of the world's microchip supply, according to estimates by Gartner.
Auto companies are now grappling with a slowdown in sales, triggered by pent up demand due to the COVID-led lockdown easing a bit and supply-side issues for raw material.
JLR is developing its own autonomous car technologies, which could one day trickle into Tata's more affordable people carriers.
The Quad summit to be hosted by India in 2024 is likely to enhance New Delhi's strategic intent.
Ather Energy would set up 30 charging points across Bengaluru by the end of May and the number would go up to 60 by the end of the year.
Nearly 40 per cent of IITians sitting for placements in 2024 are yet to receive job offers, showing a doubling of the 'unplaced' in the last three years from 19 per cent in 2021-2022 to 38 per cent in 2023-2024.
Adani Group on Thursday said it has formed a 50:50 joint venture with Japanese conglomerate Kowa Group for sale of green hydrogen in Japan, Taiwan and Hawaii markets. Billionaire Gautam Adani-led conglomerate is investing up to $50 billion over the next 10 years in setting up a fully integrated green hydrogen ecosystem in India. This includes the production of 1 million tonne of green hydrogen in the initial phase which will be ramped up to 3 million tonne later.
While commercial vehicles are expected to benefit from strong replacement demand, the two-wheeler and tractor segments are expected to gain from a recovery in the rural economy.
GST Council extends anti-profiteering authority's tenure, sends rate cut on EVs to fitment panel and also extended the date for filing annual returns under the GST by two months to August 30.
The Camry hybrid sold 466 units in January-April in the region.
The Indian economy is likely to post better than anticipated growth in the second quarter (July-September) owing to robust urban consumption and expansion in services, a Business Standard analysis of high-frequency indicators showed. While gross domestic product growth in the September quarter is expected to come below the 7.8 per cent print in the June quarter due to a favourable base fading, analysts say the print will be much closer to 7 per cent than the 6.5 per cent anticipated earlier. While the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had estimated 6.5 per cent growth for July-September, last month Governor Shaktikanta Das said the growth figure would surprise on the upside.
The company, which already has around 66 per cent market share in the hatchback segment and about 50 per cent in the overall domestic passenger vehicle segment, currently sells Vitara Brezza and S-Cross in the SUV segment. In an interaction with PTI, MSI managing director and CEO Kenichi Ayukawa acknowledged that there was some lag in launching new products due to the pandemic but the company is now on track regarding new model launches.
The move marks the entry of GWM, one of the largest manufacturers of sport utility vehicles (SUVs) and pick-ups, into the Indian market and a complete exit for GM from the country, two years after it stopped selling cars here.
Dixon Technologies right now is a beehive of activity. It is building a new facility in Noida to make 1.3 million laptops for Taiwanese PC maker Acer. The facility must be up and running in four months. The pace of activity will only increase. Last week Dixon won a similar contract from Lenovo, the Chinese personal computer maker and the third largest information technology (IT) hardware brand in India, to assemble laptops and notebooks. Though the clientele in these two cases is Taiwanese and Chinese, Dixon is a company reaching for the stars with its feet planted firmly in the Indian government's policy.
The change in stance follows a strong opposition by automakers of the proposed government plan to ban two-wheelers (below 150cc) and three-wheelers by 2023 and 2025, respectively
In October, the company had launched Ciaz in both petrol and diesel options.
Automobile companies are worried about challenges from electric mobility, automation and connected vehicles.
The government has initiated a process to define standards and guidelines for electric charging stations.
The regulatory burden is the highest on small cars, a key segment of the Indian automobile industry and having a uniform tax structure across all segments of vehicles will not augur well for the sector growth, according to Maruti Suzuki India chairman RC Bhargava. He also said India's economic growth rate could be higher if the manufacturing sector grows fast, which 'unfortunately' has remained a laggard despite the best efforts of the Narendra Modi-led government at the Centre due to implementation gaps at the ground level. "The burden of regulatory changes on the small cars is far higher than the regulatory burden on big cars and that is changing the whole market behaviour.
At a time when climate change poses significant challenges and the need for sustainable and efficient farming practices has never been more critical, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) allow farmers to gain a bird's-eye view of their crops from ground level. Drones have become a new force in precision agriculture, helping increase productivity while prioritising sustainability and resilience. Fertiliser major IFFCO is exploring this very transformative power of technology in agriculture.
Tesla, which produces the luxury Model S sedan and Model X sport utility vehicle, aims to become a high-volume automaker in a matter of years
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.
'We started AgniKul to show that space transportation should be as simple as road transportation.'
At Rs 1.24 lakh, it's the most expensive scooter manufactured in the country but the 450 deserves every penny.
