Close to 50 models were launched in India in the past 12 months, but companies have not been able to realise their potential due to the pandemic.
Contrary to expectations that car sales dip in December, auto majors Maruti Suzuki and Hyundai Motor India are poised to grow 30 per cent in sales (the two companies control 72 per cent of the domestic market). General Motors is looking at 70-80 per cent increase in sales.
Korean auto company Hyundai has used the findings and comments made by European auto magazines and auto experts to show Maruti's newly launched hatch-back Ritz in poor light. Hyundai, in a web advertisement for its successful hatch-back i10, has made direct comparisons between the model and Maruti Ritz, using strong negative comments given by automotive experts.
The Sensex ended at 17,198, stronger by 272 points, and the Nifty closed at 5,122, higher by 89 points.
"We have given a notice...If we don't get any positive action from Hyundai management or from the labour department, we will fix the date for going ahead with a strike after December 5," CITU state general secretary A Soundararajan told PTI.
Maruti Suzuki is offering cash discounts ranging from Rs 5,000 on its hatchback Celerio to Rs 35,000 on entry level Alto800.
Reversing his predecessor's decision to set up a diesel engine facility in Chennai, Hyundai Motor India's new managing director and CEO Han-Woo Park on Wednesday said as of now there was no such plan.
The firm, which has operations in India through a wholly -owned subsidiary, Hyundai Motor India Ltd, will manufacture the car, which will be smaller than the Santro, at its plant in Chennai.
The 17-day strike by workers at Hyundai Motor India's Sriperumbudur factory ended after a meeting of workers' representatives, the company management and the labour board in Chennai.
Around 800 workers at Hyundai Motor India's Sriperumbudur factory, who were on hunger strike, were arrested on Wednesday.
Traditional heavy spenders on cricket properties Vodafone, car maker Hyundai Motors, Reliance Communications and soft drink major Coca-Cola have decided to stay out of the bidding for the sponsorship of the Indian cricket team with the Board of Control for Cricket in India setting a steep base price to Rs 510 crore for a four-year deal for one of cricket's most coveted sponsorships.
At a time when global auto majors are struggling, carmakers in India have been able to expand their overseas presence with exports from the country registering whopping 57.04 per cent growth in the last fiscal.
Major automobile manufacturers like Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai, Mahindra & Mahindra, Tata Motors and Toyota Kirloskar on Tuesday reported decline in domestic passenger vehicle sales in May compared to the previous month as a spike in COVID-19 cases and lockdowns across various states hit production and dispatches. The country's largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India (MSI), which shut production from May 1 to May 16 so as to divert oxygen from industrial use for medical purposes, reported domestic dispatches to dealers at 35,293 units last month, down 75 per cent from 142,454 units in April. The company said sales of its mini cars, comprising Alto and S-Presso, declined by 81 per cent to 4,760 units in May as against 25,041 units in April this year.
The share of government banks in auto finance has increased significantly in the last few months. In some cases, it has nearly doubled. The reason: these banks are offering cheaper loans than their private sector counterparts.
Prices across all models starting from Eon to Santa Fe has been hiked in the range of Rs 15,000 to Rs 127,000
After a worrying 7 per cent fall in sales in January, Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai Motors, Tata Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra and Honda Siel have notched up an impressive 18.78 per cent growth in sales in February. Strong demand for the SX4 and DZire models helped Maruti Suzuki, the country's largest passenger car maker, record an impressive 19 per cent jump in sales in the domestic market, hitting a new record of 70,625 units in February.
Hyundai, the second-largest car manufacturer in the country, will stop the production of its A2 compact car, the Getz, by 2011.
The country's second largest car maker Hyundai Motor India will ramp up its capacity by about 20 per cent from September onwards to cater to increased demand in the overseas markets and plans to hire 1,000 people this month.
Passenger vehicle wholesales in India rose by 14.16 per cent in August to 2,15,916 units, driven by pent-up demand, industry body SIAM said on Friday. According to the latest data by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers, passenger vehicle wholesales stood at 1,89,129 units in the same month last year.
Among the key concerns of the Street is market share losses in growth segments, led by higher competitive pressures.
MRTPC disposed of the one-year-old legal battle between the two auto giants, in which the Korean car maker accused MSI (formerly Maruti Udyog Ltd) of indulging in unfair trade practice by issuing "misleading" advertisements.
Besides, Toyota and MG Motor also reported nil sales as they suspended operations even before the imposition of lockdown on March 25 to check the spread of coronavirus. In two-wheeler segment, niche bike maker Royal Enfield said it had zero sales in the domestic market but exported a total of 91 units last month.
Car maker Maruti Suzuki India Ltd on Monday reported a 15.75 per cent jump in the total sales in May at 79,872 units as against 69,001 units in the same month last year.
Korean auto major Hyundai Motor Company will bring the diesel variant of its premium hatchback 'i20' by the end of this year as part of its plan of introducing at least two new products in the Indian market annually for the next couple of years.
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.
Hyundai Motor India Ltd on Wednesday launched a new version of its premium compact car i20 priced between Rs 4,52,000 and Rs 7,48,000, while adding two more variants to its existing range.
Major automakers, including Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai, Tata Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra, Kia, Toyota and Honda, on Thursday reported healthy growth in passenger vehicles sales in June, recovering from the disruptions induced by the second wave of COVID-19. The country's largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) posted total sales of 1,47,368 units in June, up from 46,555 units in May. Its domestic dispatches to dealers last month stood at 130,348 units, up from 35,293 units in May, as easing of COVID-related restrictions helped the auto major to dispatch more units to dealerships.
Ashok Kumar Jha will step into a role that BVR Subbu, a powerful and seasoned corporate campaigner, had demitted over a year ago.
The car will be available with a 1.2 litre Kappa engine in three variants. The company has also decided not to absorb 1,200 trainees as it reduces working shifts in its Chennai plant.
Korean car maker Hyundai Motors India Ltd said it will have to lay off 2,000 temporary workers, about one-fourth of its labour force, to tide over a decline in car sales. The company employs over 8,400 workers, of which around 3,300 are temporary.
A day after leading car makers Maruti Suzuki and Hyundai Motor decided to cut vehicle prices in the wake of a reduction in taxes, Mahindra Renault on Tuesday said its Logan sedan will be offered at a discount of Rs 60,000.
Hyundai Motor India Limited is taking the adage -- what cannot be measured cannot be controlled -- very seriously. In a move to control costs, it is implementing an innovative plan where the car-marker has incentivised every small idea to reduce the weight of the car it makes by offering Rs 100 for every gram saved in weight.
Sunil Pahilajani, managing director and CEO, Caparo India, said that the plant, which will operate as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Caparo India, under its division Caparo Vehicle Products India, will commence production in the final quarter of 2008-09. Caparo signed the technical support agreement with Hyundai Motor on Monday evening. The facility to be set on 20 acres will employ 200 people to start off with.
Michael Boneham, president, Ford India, said the small car would be engineered for Indian conditions and that the company was keeping options open for both petrol and diesel variants. Ford's mall car will mark its entry into the mainstream segment, popularly known as the B segment cars in India, which accounts for a little over 70 per cent of the 1.3 million India car market.
The LPG variant will be priced Rs 21,500 more than the existing petrol model. The ex-showroom Delhi price for Santro eco (GL) is Rs 354,294 and Santro eco (GLS) is Rs 373,357.
Hyundai Motor India reported 16.41 per cent growth in its total sales in September at 53,804 units, the highest ever monthly sales since the company first rolled out its car in India 11 years ago.
Hyundai Motor India Ltd on Wednesday launched a new automatic variant of its diesel powered luxury sedan Sonata Embera CRDi, priced at Rs 15,71,656 (ex-showroom Delhi).
The plant will double the company's production capacity to 6 lakh cars per annum and strengthen its Indian operations as a global manufacturing hub for Hyundai's small cars. The second plant, which has been developed adjacent to the first plant, was inaugurated on Saturday by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi.
Hyundai Motor India on Saturday reported a 21 per cent increase in sales between January-November 2005 at 2,36,878 units.
The company sold 62,515 vehicles in December 2007 which includes 4,114 units of exports
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