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
Private consumption is back driven by festive spending, and the medium-term economic outlook remains bullish as the innate strength of the macro-fundamentals reasserts itself, the Reserve Bank Bulletin said on Wednesday. Global economic activity remained resilient during Q4:2024 amidst fragile confidence and rising protectionism, said an article on 'State of the Economy' published in the November Bulletin.
The Rs 500-crore Electric Mobility Promotion Scheme (EMPS) 2024, introduced by the Centre to provide incentives to the electric mobility industry, will conclude on July 31 with barely 3.6 per cent of the targeted vehicle sales achieved so far. This is in stark contrast to the earlier flagship Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles (FAME) scheme, which exceeded its sales targets. According to data from the Ministry of Heavy Industry (MHI), only 13,499 of the 372,215 targeted vehicles have been sold under the EMPS scheme.
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.
Ola Electric, the SoftBank-backed electric vehicle (EV) maker, is likely to pursue a valuation of approximately $4.5 billion in its upcoming initial public offering (IPO), marking about 18 per cent decrease from its last funding round valuation of around $5.5 billion, according to industry sources. The Bhavish Aggarwal-founded firm aims to file for the IPO by next month, according to people familiar with the matter. "The strategy is to price the IPO attractively for investors, fostering long-term growth and wealth creation," said a source.
koda Auto India is set to drive in a new car by the first half of next year to reach its target of 100,000 unit annual sales in the country by 2026. The compact sports utility vehicle (SUV) will be positioned against the likes of Maruti Brezza, Hyundai Venue, and Kia Sonet, and would be competitively priced, a senior company official said. koda will also export the car to right-hand-drive markets like Australia, New Zealand and the Asean nations.
Smaller players manufacturing electric two-wheelers (E2Ws) are unlikely to raise prices of their models initially in 2024 in order to ensure volumes do not drop. The prices of E2Ws range from Rs 90,000 to Rs 1 lakh, the players being Lohia Auto, Godawari Electric, Emobi, etc. As India's E2W sector gears up to go past one million in 2024, manufacturers are likely to maintain price stability, underpinned by strategic independence from subsidies under Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric (and Hybrid) Vehicles II (FAME II), localisation efforts, sustainability initiatives, and a focus on affordability.
The company aims to follow the government's push for environment-friendly vehicles by driving in models with green technologies.
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.
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.
Hopes to launch full-size SUV MG Gloster by Diwali 2020, and have four products in the market in one-and-a-half years of its operations in India.
There is no impediment to normal operations as Tata Motors puts in place the demerger process of its commercial and passenger vehicles businesses. Instead, the demerger would provide greater manoeuvrability for both new entities to operate independently, according to Tata Motors management. While there may not be immediate value unlocking, it will give investors clarity about future growth and the financials across different segments.
Major two-wheeler manufacturers in India witnessed a double-digit increase in domestic sales in October, driven by the festival fervour.
The Tata Group is one of the very few Indian MNCs which has carved out a niche in China's highly competitive market, notes Rup Narayan Das.
Justice Gavai, who wrote a 281-page separate but concurring verdict, said it is the duty of the State to give preferential treatment to the backward class of citizens who are not adequately represented in government jobs.
Investors attribute the revival to the country's strong public markets, which are boosting confidence in initial public offering (IPO)-bound startups offering viable exit opportunities.
Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) reported weak growth through H1FY24 but it witnessed a boost in embedded value (EV) due to equity-market performance. But concerns regarding its stock include loss of market share as it is outpaced by private sector rivals, sticky operating expenses (reduced slightly year-on-year but up in Q2FY24 versus Q1FY24), and high sensitivity of embedded value to equity volatility. Traders may also factor in the likelihood of another stake sale by the Government of India.
Tata Motors will soon submit a detailed report on the upcoming manufacturing plant in Tamil Nadu's Ranipet district and a decision, on whether the facility will churn out passenger or commercial vehicles, will be taken by the company on the basis of market trends, state's industries minister TRB Rajaa said on Thursday. "They are keeping the options open, and market trends will determine it (the type of vehicles the plant will make). "They will quickly come up with a detailed report on that," Rajaa said.
With US-based electric vehicle (EV) maker Tesla scouting for a suitable location for its foray in India, Rajasthan has joined the fray with a host of offers to woo the Elon Musk-led company. Other challengers include Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, and Maharashtra. Sources privy to the development said that an initial meeting between the senior executives of Tesla and the government of Rajasthan, which was held last week, turned out to be "quite positive." Tesla would now carry out a survey and is expected to share the survey details with the state's investment promotion department soon.
Indian passenger vehicles market registered record wholesales of 43 lakh units in 2024, with companies like market leader Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai, Tata Motors, Toyota Kirloskar Motor, and Kia posting their best-ever annual domestic sales. The continued growth of SUVs, along with rural markets playing a key role in driving up car sales, helped the industry better the previous best of nearly 41.1 lakh units posted in 2023.
The government has taken a slew of steps to boost the sales of electric two-wheelers and three-wheelers under its Electric Mobility Promotion Scheme (EMPS) 2024, which includes allowing manufacturers to upload claims twice a month and gives them a 120-day window to submit it. The Rs 500-crore scheme -- which had replaced the flagship Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles (FAME) scheme-- comes to an end on July 31st.
It's a bird, it's a plane, it's the new electric SUVs from Mahindra! Rajesh Karkera and Hitesh Harisinghani/Rediff.com describe the futuristic BE 6e and XEV 9e.
Mercedes-Benz India is aiming to post double-digit growth in sales volume during 2024 as it plans to launch over 12 car models during the year, says its managing director and CEO Santosh Iyer. The German carmaker, which leads the luxury car market in the country, recorded 10 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) growth to 17,408 units in 2023. "For 2023, we always said that the growth would be in double digits.
'Before you work on your business plan, before you build your team, you should have a clear idea about what your product is, who your customer is, how valuable the product is, and whether the market is deep and wide.'
When it comes to electric cars, the electric dream is turning out to be a six-letter word starting with f, ending with y, and having antas in between, notes Suveen Sinha.
Railways is testing waters for locomotives to run on lithium-ion batteries, the most common ones used in electric vehicles.
The VBL board approved the purchase of SBC Tanzania for Rs 1,304 crore and SBC Beverages Ghana for Rs 127 crore. These own manufacturing/distribution rights for NARTD (PepsiCo branded) beverages in Tanzania and Ghana. The acquisitions will help VBL gain ground in East and West Africa.
As Modi's government embarks on its third term, apart from ensuring these schemes boost India's green mobility, addressing bottlenecks like battery swapping and meeting PLI deadlines are likely to be the government's major tasks.
Tata Motors plans to have 10 new battery electric vehicles (BEVs) in its domestic product portfolio by 2025 as it looks to drive its business model towards sustainable mobility going ahead, as per Tata Motors chairman N Chandrasekaran. In his message to the shareholders, he noted that the auto major aims to be amongst the world leaders in sustainable mobility solutions and as part of that it is also exploring tie-ups in cell and battery manufacturing to secure supplies for its portfolio of green vehicles. "In India, EV penetration in our portfolio has now doubled to 2 per cent this year and we expect penetration to increase exponentially in the coming years. "Tata Motors will lead this change in the Indian market. By 2025, Tata Motors will have 10 new BEV vehicles and as a Group, we will invest proactively to set up charging infrastructure across the country," Chandrasekaran informed shareholders in the company's Annual Report for 2020-21.
BMW Group India recorded its highest annual sales on the back of strong demand for its top-end ICE (internal combustion engine) and electric vehicles (EVs). The German luxury automaker on Thursday announced that its domestic car sales jumped 18 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) to 14,172 units in calendar year 2023 (CY23). This mirrored a trend in the luxury space, with its peers also reporting record numbers.
Hybrids have helped Maruti acquire leadership in SUVs, a segment that was never its forte. Toyota has also risen with the hybrid tide to clock its highest-ever annual sales in 2023.
Tata Motors is likely to exit the S&P BSE Sensex and the Nifty50 indices once the demerger process of its commercial vehicle (CV) and passenger vehicle (PV) businesses is complete, analysts at Nuvama Institutional Equities said. They have compared the development with Reliance Industries (RIL) and Jio Financial Services, which got listed separately and eventually (in the next few days) got excluded from the domestic indices.
Can Vijay's strategy. vision outshine other TN parties?
The MG Cyberster, an electric sports car, was launched in Mumbai, March 20, 2024.
'Gujarat is the frontrunner at present.'
'However, Tamil Nadu's robust automobile ecosystem and Telangana's aggressive incentives make them strong contenders.'
Tata Motors on Monday announced the demerger of its commercial and passenger vehicle segments into two separate listed entities to better capitalise on growth opportunities. The commercial vehicles business and its related investments would be housed in one entity while the passenger vehicle business, including electric vehicles, Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) and its related investments, would be part of the second entity, the auto major said in a regulatory filing. Tata Motors chairman N Chandrasekaran said that Tata Motors has scripted a strong turnaround in the last few years.
The two-wheeler giant had only 14 per cent of the electric two-wheeler market in May this year, but its 26.8 per cent in December
Nearly one in two luxury cars sold in India in the first three months of 2024 was a Mercedes Benz, which achieved its best ever quarter (January-March), selling 5,412 units, up 15 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) from 4,697 units in the previous year.
Delhi Chief Minister-designate Atishi will have to hit the ground running to accelerate the city government's functioning and ensure that the flagship projects and schemes are back on track in view of the assembly polls due in February.
After climbing to a record high of Rs 523 on September 30, shares of commodity major Vedanta have come off over 15 per cent amid a fall in the overall markets. The Anil Agarwal-led firm's latest slump comes after its stock price doubled over the past one year. Is it a blip or a trend reversal?
