With increasing incidents of electric two-wheelers catching fire, Union minister Nitin Gadkari on Thursday said the companies found negligent will be penalised and a recall of all defective vehicles will be ordered after receiving the report of an expert panel that has been formed to enquire into the matter. In a series of tweets, Gadkari said several mishaps involving electric two-wheelers have come to light in the last two months. "We have constituted an expert committee to enquire into these incidents and make recommendations on remedial steps.
Hero MotoCorp (HMCL) saw strong volume performance in the first quarter of the current financial year (Q1FY25), but margins disappointed due to weak spare part sales and negative electric vehicle (EV) margins. The company hopes for a strong festive season due to better rural sentiment. Revenue grew 16 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) to Rs 10,140 crore, operating profit was up 21 per cent to Rs 1,460 crore, and adjusted net profit grew 19 per cent Y-o-Y to Rs 1,120 crore.
'We are seeing one of the highest discounts in recent years across companies.' 'October is a crucial month with several festivals coming up.'
Mark your calendar! On August 7, Tata Motors is unveiling a revolutionary vehicle -- the Curvv, billed as India's first SUV coupe.
State governments need to focus on building charging infrastructure to realise the goal of transitioning a large proportion of their sales to EVs, reports Ishaan Gera.
India's electric mobility goal, which has so far been riding on two wheels, is all set to graduate to four wheels. At least, the journey has begun. Hyundai Motor India said it would invest Rs 4,000 crore till 2028 to launch half-a-dozen electric vehicles (EVs) in India. It would eventually straddle premium and mass segments. The first of these - the electrified version of an internal combustion engine (ICE)-powered model - will go on sale as early as next year.
Hero MotoCorp anticipates a big rebound in two-wheeler (2W) sales in rural India over the next four to eight quarters, driven by favourable factors such as a decent monsoon, rising crop prices, improved employment conditions, and increasing consumer confidence, its chief executive officer (CEO) Niranjan Gupta said on Wednesday. Amid tepid rural sales, he stated that there is a "strong case" for GST (goods and services tax) on entry-level two-wheelers, which are under 125 CC, to be moved down from 28 per cent to 18 per cent as they are used by "masses".
Numeros Motors is also planning to come up with a passenger vehicle four-wheeler or a three-wheeler by 2027.
Tata Motors is actively considering tapping into some of the export markets beyond South Asia, for its range of electric vehicles (EVs) as it sees an opportunity of selling affordable EVs in markets outside India. The export plans will coincide with the commercial launch of the Curvve - an electric SUV concept that broke cover on Wednesday, in two years from now, Shailesh Chandra, MD, Tata Motors PVs and Electric Mobility, told Business Standard. "We are actively thinking of the international markets and we would like to go with a portfolio of products. "We have identified a few markets and in a couple of years, we should commence the same," said Chandra.
This year's edition, three years lost to the pandemic and scheduling, wore a distinctive shade of green, and, as would befit an era of technology shift from internal combustion engines to electric motors, had a clutch of high-technology exhibits and concepts. But the excitement of the expo's heyday was missing.
Baidu and the Chinese automaker Geely unveiled a prototype of an AI powered fully autonomous EV hatchback ROBO-01 under tbe brand name Jidu in Beijing on Wednesday, June 8, 2022.
Rajesh Karkera/Rediff.com takes the XUV 400, the first electric SUV from the Mahindra stable, for a spin and comes away impressed.
'This market for diesel starts at around Rs 6.3 lakh and goes up to Rs 7 lakh, and with Saathi we have our usual price set at Rs 6.5 lakh, so we are slightly on the lower side with a superior product.'
Tata Motors on Tuesday launched its second electric vehicle -- Tigor EV, catering to the personal segment in the domestic market, priced between Rs 11.99 lakh and Rs 13.14 lakh (ex-showroom). The model comes in three variants, priced at Rs 11.99 lakh, Rs 12.49 lakh and Rs 12.99 lakh. A dual tone top-end trim is tagged at Rs 13.14 lakh. The auto major has already achieved success with its first electric model, Nexon EV and now commences deliveries of Tigor EV from around 150 sales outlets in 70 cities across the country.
An EV has to be purchased along with the battery as there are hardly any battery swapping, rental, or leasing business models available across India.
The GST Council, in its meeting on Saturday, is likely to decide on reducing tax rates on life and health insurance premiums, while hiking it on high-end wrist watches, shoes and apparels, besides considering a separate 35 per cent tax slab for sin goods. The 55th meeting of the GST Council, chaired by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and comprising state counterparts, is likely to discuss rate rejig in about 148 items, besides, it will also deliberate on bringing Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF), a major component for airline industry's operation cost, in the Goods and Services Tax (GST) fold.
Auto manufacturers have focused on launching CNG variants of their popular models to meet consumer demand for vehicles with lower running costs.
Police have registered a case on charges of culpable homicide not amounting to murder against the driver of a BEST bus involved in an accident in Mumbai which claimed six lives and left 43 others injured, officials said on Tuesday.
Maruti Suzuki India will launch electric vehicles in the country only after 2025 as demand for such vehicles at the moment is less and it would like to sell around 10,000 units a month whenever it enters the electric mobility space, company chairman RC Bhargava said on Wednesday. Addressing a virtual conference on the company's second quarter earnings, he said under the current circumstances a lot of things in the EV ecosystem such as batteries, charging infrastructure and electric supply are done by other parties and therefore the costing is not in the hands of the company. Also with fuel prices going up, car market leader Maruti Suzuki India is intensifying its focus on more CNG offerings of its models.
Tata Elxsi (TelX) reported a weak Q3FY25, with a sharp deceleration in the transportation vertical. However, recent deals in the Asia-Pacific (APAC), higher mix of original equipment makers (OEMs) and partnership with Qualcomm will improve growth. FY25 is the third successive financial year of revenue growth deceleration and second successive financial year of profit deceleration.
Tata Motors on Wednesday unveiled Tigor EV, its second electric model in the personal mobility space after Nexon EV. The auto major has tasted success with Nexon EV, which currently commands about 70 per cent market share in the domestic electric vehicle segment. The Tigor EV comes powered by the company's high voltage electric architecture - Ziptron - and has been developed based on three pillars of technology, comfort and safety.
Mercedes-Benz India is looking at electric entry-level models to attract first-time luxury car buyers, as it sets eyes on another double-digit growth this year, its managing director and CEO Santosh Iyer said on Monday. The company, which launched all-electric entry SUV EQA 250 at an introductory price of Rs 66 lakh, has also introduced the new EQB 350 SUV (5-seater) priced at Rs 77.5 lakh and EQB 250+ SUV (7-seater) tagged at Rs 70.90 lakh (prices all India ex-showroom). It will also launch the EQS Maybach SUV and electrified G-Class models in India later this year.
The all-new ZS EV will be available in two variants -- Excite and Exclusive, priced at Rs 21.99 lakh and Rs 25.88 lakh, respectively. The company said it has initiated bookings for the Exclusive variant, while bookings for the Excite trim will commence from July 2022. The model comes with the largest in-segment 50.3-kWh (kilowatt-hour) battery with advanced technology, offering a 461-km certified range in a single charge.
Driven by a rise in sales during the current year, German luxury carmaker Mercedes-Benz said on Thursday that the company is expecting a growth in sales of around 8-10 per cent in the next few years. This comes at a time when the company is ready to surpass the previous highest sales of 15,538 vehicles (2018) in 2022. During the first half, the company sold 7,600 units. It already has an order bank of around 7,000 vehicles. In 2021, the company sold 11,242 vehicles.
In a boost to the electric vehicle boom in India, Taiwanese major Hon Hai Technology Group (aka Foxconn) is likely to set up an EV manufacturing unit in India through its subsidiary Foxtron. Amid speculation that the company may look at Tamil Nadu and probably the Ford India unit near Chennai for its new facility, sources indicate that the group was already betting big in the electric vehicle component space in India through Bharat FIH, which is already having a tie up with companies like Ola Electric and Ather. Bharat FIH currently has two manufacturing units in Tamil Nadu's Sriperumbudur that manufactures phones like Apple iPhones and Xiaomi phones.
Two Japanese auto giants, Honda and Nissan, are moving towards a potential merger, but it remains unclear how their Indian operations will be immediately impacted.
The iCNG version of the Tata Nexon is quick, safe, eco-friendly, and it is affordable too, notes Rajesh Karkera/Rediff.com.
Tata Motors is planning to invest Rs 15,000 crore in the EV segment in the next five years, a top company official has said. The company, which is a leader in the newly emerging EV segment with offerings such as Nexon, is also planning to develop around 10 more new offerings in the segment, president for Passenger Vehicles Business of Tata Motors Shailesh Chandra said. "As far as future is concerned, in next five (years) we will invest Rs 15,000 crore in electrification.
Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) and two other public sector oil firms will install 22,000 electric vehicle (EV) charging stations over the next 3-5 years to support the nation's target to reduce its carbon intensity and reach net zero emissions by 2070. IOC, the country's largest state-controlled refiner by capacity, will set up EV charging facilities at 10,000 fuel outlets over the next three years, chairman Shrikant Madhav Vaidya said. Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) said it will set up 7,000 stations over the next five years while Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) has plans for 5,000 stations.
For the first time in history, the luxury car market is poised to cross the sales mark of 50,000 units in 2024, with Mercedes leading the way
Homegrown auto major Tata Motors on Tuesday said it will raise $1 billion (Rs 7,500 crore) in its passenger electric vehicle business from TPG Rise Climate at a valuation of up to $9.1 billion. Tata Motors Ltd (TML) and TPG Rise Climate, the dedicated climate investing strategy of private investment firm TPG, have entered into a binding agreement in this regard. Under the agreement, TPG Rise Climate along with its co-investor ADQ, will invest in a subsidiary of Tata Motors that will be newly incorporated, the company said in a statement.
In light of the recent incidents involving scooters from prominent electric mobility brands bursting into flames, the subject of electric vehicle (EV) safety has come under the spotlight. As many as 20 electric scooters of Nashik-based Jitendra EV Tech caught fire after being loaded on a transport container. While no one has been reported injured, the company said it is conducting an investigation to find the 'root cause' of the fire.
Tata Motors is looking to ramp up the production of electric vehicles as demand continues to outpace the manufacturing activity by a huge margin, according to a top company official. The Mumbai-based automaker, which led the passenger electric vehicle space in the domestic market in last fiscal year, has been receiving an average of 5,500-6,000 bookings in the past two months for its EV range. The company sells three electric products -- Nexon EV, Tigor EV and XPRES-T -- in the domestic market.
Tata Motors and Mahindra & Mahindra have cut the prices of their SUV models to boost demand. Tata Motors has revised the starting prices of its flagship SUVs, the Harrier (Rs 14.99 lakh) and the Safari (Rs 15.49 lakh) and extended benefits of up to Rs 1.4 lakh on other popular SUV variants.
Mahindra is coming up with the Thar Roxx. MG Motor India announced a third electric vehicle Windsor. Hyundai and Kia are expected to introduce updated versions of the Alcazar and Carnival respectively.
'The scheme excludes tractors, light commercial vehicles, and medium and heavy commercial vehicles.'
Subsidies have been stopped for several manufacturers that are under investigation for alleged violations of local-sourcing rules.
Jio-BP, the fuels and mobility joint venture between Reliance Industries and UK's BP, on Thursday announced a partnership with BluSmart - India's first and largest all-electric ride-hailing platform - to set up a network of commercial large-scale EV charging stations. As part of the partnership, Jio-BP will set up these stations for passenger electric vehicles and fleets across the country, the company said in a statement. "Through this partnership, both companies will collaborate in planning, development and operation of EV charging infrastructure, at suitable locations across cities where BluSmart operates," it said.
'At present, hybrids emit lesser carbon despite using fuel than pure play electric cars.' 'That is because EVs have to be charged and 76 per cent of the country's electricity is still coal-based and not renewables.'
The GST Council on Saturday postponed a decision on cutting tax rate on life and health insurance premiums, officials said. The 55th meeting of the GST Council, chaired by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and comprising state counterparts, decided that some more technicalities needed to be ironed out and tasked the GoM for further deliberations.