The Central Bureau of Investigation has taken over the investigation of four distinct cases from the Assam police, all connected with the death of the state police sub-inspector Junmoni Rabha last month in a suspected road accident, according to officials.
Overseas shipments at auto firms expanded at a brisk pace year-on-year (YoY) in March, bumping up the overall annual exports for FY22 and taking it to a record level for some like Maruti Suzuki India and Bajaj Auto. Amid a semiconductor shortage, a depreciating rupee and a strong demand in various export destinations, passenger vehicle makers diverted capacity meant for the local market in favour of the more-lucrative export market. Among the passenger vehicle makers, market leader Maruti Suzuki led the rally with its overseas shipments touching a record level of 238,376 units in FY22 - the highest for the company in any financial year.
The self-styled Sikh preacher managed to give police a slip after changing his vehicle on Saturday when police had launched a crackdown against him and his outfit 'Waris Punjab De'.
Maruti Suzuki's contribution to the sales revenue of its Japanese parent, Suzuki Motor Corporation (SMC), has touched the highest-ever figure during April-December of FY23. According to SMC's results declared on Tuesday, Maruti's share in its global revenues jumped from 33.42 per cent in April-December of FY22 to 40.93 per cent in the corresponding period of FY23.
Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) will keep consolidating its existing product line-up, including hatchbacks, while bolstering presence in the fast growing SUV segment to power its way back to 50 per cent market share in the domestic passenger vehicle market, as per a senior company official. The country's largest carmaker, which has seen its market share drop to 43.38 per cent in FY22 from 47.7 per cent in FY21, aims to bring in multiple SUV products with focus on new technologies like hybrid powertrains in order to enhance fuel efficiency, making them comparable or better than diesel-powered models that are currently being sold in the market, especially by its Korean rivals. With no intention of making a comeback in the diesel segment, MSI is also focusing on increasing its play in the CNG segment to bring in additional volumes.
Rode, the place chosen for the dastarbandi (turban-tying) event on September 29, 2022, happens to be the ancestral village of slain terrorist Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale.
The country's largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) witnessed a 3 per cent drop in production last month. In a regulatory filing, the auto major reported total production of 145,560 units in November compared to 150,221 units in November 2020. "The shortage of electronic components had a minor impact on the production of vehicles during the month," it noted.
Haryana Police have arrested a woman who allegedly harboured Amritpal Singh and his associate Papalpreet Singh at her home in Kurukshetra district, an indication that the pro-Khalistan preacher might have fled Punjab.
India's passenger vehicle exports rose by 26 per cent in April-June 2022 aided by enhanced shipments to Latin America and Africa and a low base of the year-ago quarter that was hit by the second wave of COVID-19. As per the latest data released by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), passenger vehicle shipments rose to 1,60,263 units in the April-June period of this fiscal as compared with 1,27,083 units in the same quarter of 2021-22. Passenger car shipments saw an 88 per cent year-on-year growth at 1,04,400 units while utility vehicle exports rose 18 per cent to 55,547 units during the period under review, SIAM data showed.
Auto Expo 2023 may not trigger a fresh rally in automobile stocks, say analysts, as this year's edition lacks participation from major listed players. It is also owing to the focus on electric vehicles (EVs), a segment where four-wheelers have minuscule market share. "In the passenger vehicles (PV) segment, Maruti Suzuki India and Tata Motors are the only listed players.
According to Siam data, Indian auto companies sold 982,456 units of utility vehicles in the first half of FY23, a 50.29 per cent growth over the corresponding period last year.
Open order books in February breach 700,000; wait period for some models exceed a year.
Only five of India's top 20 car models have seen a reduction in wait times over the past year.
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.
Domestic passenger vehicle sales could touch a record level of nearly 40 lakh units this year on strong demand and companies finding ways to enhance production despite semiconductor shortage, a senior Maruti Suzuki India official said on Monday. Even as the chip shortage issue has improved compared to a year back, the industry is estimated to have a pending order of around 7.5 lakh units of passenger vehicles with Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) alone having around 4.18 lakh units, company senior executive officer, marketing and sales, Shashank Srivastava told PTI. "I think it would be slightly below 4 million (units mark).
Buying a car, particularly a diesel-powered one, is set to pinch the customers' pockets even more from the next financial year, as the second phase of Bharat Stage VI (BSVI) emission norms kicks in. The rules require cars to be compliant with real driving emission (RDE) norms, which measure pollutants emitted by cars while they are being driven on the road, unlike in a laboratory test. The norms may increase the cost of producing diesel vehicles by nearly Rs 75,000 to Rs 80,000, and petrol-powered ones by Rs 25,000 to Rs 30,000, analysts said.
The Mahindra's Scorpio-N becomes the first body-on-frame chassis SUV to secure a five-star Global NCAP rating.
Passenger vehicle exports from India increased 43 per cent in FY22, with Maruti Suzuki India leading the segment with dispatches of over 2.3 lakh units, as per the latest data by industry body SIAM. The total passenger vehicle (PV) exports stood at 5,77,875 units in 2021-22 fiscal, as compared to 4,04,397 units in 2020-21. Passenger car shipments saw 42 per cent growth at 3,74,986 units, while utility vehicle exports rose 46 per cent at 2,01,036 units during the last fiscal, the data by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) showed.
'Some of the launches may get deferred due to the semiconductor shortage, which is unlikely to get resolved before the second half of 2022.'
Maruti Suzuki India is eyeing a leadership position in the SUV segment as it continues to add new products across various sub segments, a top company official said on Wednesday. The country's largest carmaker has bolstered its presence in the high volume entry and mid level SUV segments with new Brezza and all new model -- Grand Vitara. "In every segment except SUV, we are the market leader by a distance. "It is only in the SUV that we are behind, so we need to catch up. Clearly, we have to become number one in the SUV space also," Maruti Suzuki India MD and CEO Hisashi Takeuchi said in an interaction on the sidelines of the global unveiling of Grand Vitara.
Clock 11% growth in the first 11 months of 2022.
The recent currency volatility - rupee's depreciation against international currencies - may have given heartburns to automakers that rely on imports or pay royalty to parent companies abroad. But for Maruti Suzuki India, favourable movement of the yen - the currency that matters the most - against the Indian rupee, has given it reasons to cheer. The yen's sharp fall against the rupee and the rupee's depreciation against the US dollar, which in turn will bump up export realisations, are set to give a margin boost to the maker of Baleno and Brezza, said analysts. The softening of commodity prices and slew of new SUV launches in the coming months will also aid margins, they said.
The auto major is eyeing 20 per cent of the compact SUV market with the petrol and diesel variants of the XUV300, reports Shally Seth Mohile.
Automakers Maruti Suzuki, Tata Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra and Kia reported robust growth in their vehicle dispatches in the domestic market for August buoyed by festive demand and easing of semiconductor shortage woes. Other manufacturers like Hyundai, Toyota and Skoda also reported growth in wholesales in August as compared with the same month last year. The country's largest automaker Maruti Suzuki India said its domestic passenger vehicle dispatches increased by 30 per cent to 134,166 units in August as compared with 103,187 units in the year-ago month.
At a price starting from Rs 849,000 and going up to Rs 12.14 lakh, the XUV300 competes with the Maruti Brezza, Tata Nexon, Ford EcoSport, and Honda WR-V.
A lot rides on this new vehicle for Renault, the seventh largest player in domestic passenger vehicle market, as its brand new SUV takes on Maruti Suzuki Brezza, Hyundai Creta and Ford EcoSport.
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.
Good sowing of kharif crops, better minimum support prices, and fewer Covid-19 cases (in villages) will help the rural growth story to continue, says Maruti.
While compact SUV Vitara Brezza will cost Rs 20K more, Baleno will be constlier by Rs 10K
First off the block will be a new multi-purpose vehicle which is being co-developed with Toyota - Suzuki's alliance partner. The model will also wear a Toyota badge.
The company had sold 1,58,076 units in March last year, Maruti Suzuki India said in a statement. Domestic sales declined by 46.4 per cent at 79,080 units last month as against 1,47,613 units in March 2019, it added.
Higher exports will also drive up volumes, as the company seeks to avail of the benefits under the government's recently announced production linked incentive scheme.
The company cut production of its mini cars comprising Alto, and S-Presso by 98.32 per cent at 401 units as against 23,874 units in the year-ago month.
Tata Motors, India's third largest passenger vehicle maker, took pole position in the competitive sport utility vehicle (SUV) market in October, reveals the data from industry sources. Riding high on the Punch - the sub-compact SUV offering launched on October 18 - the Tata group flagship sold a record 23,381 units in October, higher than 20,022 units sold by archrival Mahindra & Mahindra, 18,538 units sold by Hyundai Motor India, and 15,931 units sold by Kia Motors India. Utility vehicles - that include SUVs and multipurpose vehicles - accounted for almost one in every two passenger vehicles sold in India in the first seven months of the current financial year, according to the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers.
The country's largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) on Thursday reported a 30.8 per cent increase in total sales at 1,60,442 units in September. The company had sold 1,22,640 units in September last year, MSI said in a statement.
The country's largest carmaker, Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) on Friday reported a 4.5 per cent increase in total sales at 1,53,435 units in October.
Lack of a petrol engine and an automatic variant for the current diesel motor might upset some of the buyers.
The country's leading automakers Maruti Suzuki and Hyundai Motor reported a decline in dispatches to dealers in March as shortage of electronic components impacted production. On the other hand, Tata Motors, Skoda and Kia India posted their highest ever monthly wholesales last month. Toyota Kirloskar Motor said its dispatches in March were the highest in the last five years while Mahindra & Mahindra also reported a robust increase in its passenger vehicle dispatches in March.
Leading carmakers Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai and Tata Motors reported robust dispatches to dealers in May on the back of strong demand for passenger vehicles across regions, even as the global semiconductor shortage continued to impact production. Mahindra & Mahindra, Kia India, Toyota Kirloskar Motor, Honda Cars and Skoda also witnessed strong demand for their models last month. The month of May also witnessed Tata Motors race ahead of Hyundai in terms of domestic wholesales.
This major shift in the consumer choice has forced carmakers to field their version of expedient under 4-metre machines in the market.
