Areas in the National Capital Region -- Noida and Gurugram -- recorded an AQI of 529 and 478 respectively both in the highly toxic 'severe'.
Indian automakers dispatched nearly 2.92 lakh passenger vehicles, the highest ever for February so far, driven by strong demand for cars and utility vehicles, industry body SIAM said on Friday. The total passenger vehicle dispatches from companies to dealers last month increased 11 per cent to 2,91,928 units from 2,62,984 units in February 2022. Passenger car sales rose to 1,42,201 units in February against 1,33,572 units in the year-ago period.
The company would roll out the BS-VI range of products and an automatic transmission version of its latest car 'Triber' next year.
Automaker Jeep India on Wednesday launched a locally assembled version of its premium SUV Wrangler in the country with introductory prices starting at Rs 53.9 lakh (ex-showroom). The company had started the production of the model at its Ranjangaon plant near Pune in February and is now ready for retail across the country. The locally-assembled Jeep Wrangler is available in two variants - the Unlimited and Rubicon, priced at Rs 53.9 lakh and Rs 57.9 lakh, respectively. Both variants come with a BS-VI compliant 2-litre turbo petrol powertrain, which produces 268 horsepower and 400 Nm of torque and comes mated with an 8-speed automatic gearbox.
While hybrids, CNG and biofuels found favour in 2018 among many carmakers including Maruti Suzuki, Mercedes-Benz, Toyota and Honda, others such as M&M and Tata Motors have shown full faith in electric vehicles.
With Delhi recording air pollution levels seven to eight times above safe standards on Monday, the city government announced the return of its flagship odd-even scheme after four years anticipating further deterioration of air quality post-Diwali.
The poisonous haze has been causing significant problems for people with existing respiratory issues, according to doctors.
As the air pollution in Delhi-NCR ameliorated over the last two days, the Centre's air quality panel Sunday directed authorities to lift the ban on plying of non-BS VI diesel light motor vehicles in the region and the entry of trucks into the capital imposed under the final stage of the Graded Response Action Plan.
New regulatory rules, softer freight rates and a liquidity crunch at non-bank lenders are among the reasons.
The FM said, change in the mindset of the millennials not to commit any EMIs towards buying an automobile and instead taking Ola, Uber or the Metro (train) services also led to automobile sector slowdown.
Companies also said confidence was yet to return among buyers, with many holding back their decision to buy cars.
Automobile retail sales in India clocked best-ever performance last month aided by robust registrations across segments including passenger vehicles, two-wheelers and commercial vehicles, automobile dealer' body FADA said on Friday. The overall automobile retail sales rose by 26 per cent to 23,80,465 units last month, as compared with 18,93,647 units in November 2021. "November 2022 has clocked highest retails in the history of Indian automobile Industry with March'20 as an exception when retails were higher due to BS IV to BS VI transition," Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA) president Manish Raj Singhania said in a statement.
Maruti Suzuki India will increase the prices of its vehicles 'substantially' from next month as it looks to offset the impact of rising input costs and make provisions to update the model range to conform to stricter emission norms which kick in from April 2023. In a regulatory filing on Friday, the country's largest carmaker said it continues to witness increased cost pressure driven by overall inflation and recent regulatory requirements. While the automaker makes maximum effort to reduce cost and partially offset the increase, it has become imperative to pass on some of the impact through a price increase, it added.
Shortage of semiconductors, price hikes pull January auto sales into red. Dec had seen sales grow for 1st time this FY, which dealers called a one-off.
'Battery electric, hydrogen fuel cell and hydrogen ICE, could be the three technologies which have the potential of being zero emission and that are what we will have to work on,'
TVS Motor Company, the only company in India to manufacture mopeds, said domestic sales dropped by 25.58% in April-Oct and exports fell by nearly 40%.
The model, which will compete with the likes of Hyundai Verna, Maruti Suzuki Ciaz and Skoda Rapid, now features smart devices ecosystem including Alexa remote capability and 32 connected features as standard feature across all variants with a five-year free subscription.
Automobile dealers' body FADA on Thursday said passenger vehicle (PV) retail sales in March witnessed a year-on-year growth of 28.39 per cent to 279,745 units, as compared to the year-ago period which saw disruptions in the market due to COVID-19 led lockdown. According to the Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA), which collected vehicle registration data from 1,277 out of the 1,482 regional transport offices (RTOs), PV sales stood at 217,879 units in March 2020. Two-wheeler sales, however, declined 35.26 per cent to 11,95,445 units last month, as compared to 18,46,613 units in March 2020. Commercial vehicle sales also declined 42.2 per cent to 67,372 units, as against 116,559 units a year ago.
Two-wheeler prices are likely to rise by 10-25 per cent on account of higher premiums on insurance and commodity prices, mandatory safety regulations and BS-VI emissions that kick in from April 1, 2020.
Dealers say the significant increase in sales was driven by a need to plug the diminishing inventory as most dealerships were transitioning from BS-IV to BS-VI when the Covid-19 lockdown was announced.
'Inquiries and bookings are at quite a healthy level.'
Vehicle sales have been hampered by weak consumer sentiment and still-weak availability of financing following tighter liquidity at non-banking lenders since the middle of 2018.
The company cited low demand in the second half of the year due to high interest rates, increased insurance cost and fuel prices for its downward revision
Companies expect recovery in second half of fiscal as BS VI approaches, claim banks and NBFCs showing greater interest in financing.
Indian auto industry's dependence on China is high and it will continue to be so in the BS-VI era and as the country moves towards electric mobility. Domestic players lack both technological competence and the sheer pricing advantage that support Chinese imports.
On the highway, it pulls along with ease and offers smooth commuter ride and drive experience, and also has little competition, says Pavan Lall.
Only five of India's top 20 car models have seen a reduction in wait times over the past year.
Domestic passenger vehicle sales declined 0.84 per cent to 2,63,773 units in November from 2,66,000 units in the year-ago period. Motorcycle sales, too, declined 14.87 per cent to 8,93,538 units. Vehicle sales across categories registered a decline of 12.05 per cent to 17,92,415 units from 20,38,007 units in November 2018.
Retail sales of overall vehicles in India grew by 15.28 per cent to 2,11,20,441 units in 2022 led by record sales of passenger vehicles and tractors, Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA) said on Thursday. In 2021, total retail sales of vehicles in India were at 1,83,21,760 units, FADA said in a statement. Two-wheelers retail sales stood at 1,53,88,062 units last year, a growth of 13.37 per cent from 2021 when sales stood at 1,35,73,682 units.
From Hyundai to Tata Motors, automakers are staring at a bleak future. With no succor provided in the Budget, the pain for companies is likely to continue for the next two quarters.
'These measures should be in place throughout the year in order to bring down AQI levels to 100 or below'
Vehicle prices have gone up as manufacturers gear up for the transition to stricter emission norm BS-VI from BS-IV beginning April 1.
Government needs to promote electrification and charge points and make sure India has stable power supply.
While commercial vehicle (CV) sales were the worst hit, down by 21 per cent to 67,793 units from 85,833 units, two-wheeler sales dropped by 16 per cent to 12,64,169 units from 15,00,545 units. Passenger car sales dropped nine per cent to 215,716 units from 236,586 units.
The new model, which is based on the company's fifth generation HEARTECT platform, comes with a BS-VI compliant one-litre petrol engine with a claimed fuel efficiency of 21.7 km per litre.
'Petrol cars, which constitute the majority, do not contribute to the 2.5 PM emissions as petrol used in the country is of higher quality.'
Petrol and diesel prices were hiked by 60 paisa per litre on Monday, for the second day in a row, as State-owned oil firms reverted to daily price revisions after an 83-day hiatus. Petrol price in Delhi was hiked to Rs 72.46 per litre from Rs 71.86 on Sunday, while diesel rates were increased to Rs 70.59 a litre from Rs 69.99, according to a price notification of state oil marketing companies.
The demand environment is expected to improve over the next three quarters, aided by a recovery in demand from the construction sector, following release of payments to contractors after elections.
According to the Icra report, earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation margin of its sample declined by 44 basis points on a YoY basis and 23 basis points on a quarter-on-quarter basis to 16.6 per cent.
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