Take out Maruti Suzuki and Honda, and the auto sector's prospects suddenly don't look all that rosy.
Pawan Munjal, MD & CEO, tells Business Standard that Hero Motor is firming up distributors abroad and considering assembly bases in some countries to sell a million units outside India by 2017.
After a very weak December quarter and a poor year-to-date fiscal year volumes-when sales plunged to the lowest in nine years, the signs in the first 15 days of January haven't been encouraging either. "Though the severity of the current wave is not as high as the previous one, it has hit the sentiments hard impacting conversion of enquiries into sales," said Vinkesh Gulati, president, Federation of Automobile Dealers Association (FADA).
Hyundai Motor and Toyota Kirloskar Motor have announced the suspension of manufacturing operations at their respective plants amid coronavirus outbreak. On Sunday, various automakers like Maruti Suzuki India, Honda Cars, Mahindra & Mahindra and Fiat announced a temporary halt in manufacturing operations at their respective facilities.
Auto firms bet big on premium bikes
Leading automakers Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai and Tata Motors on Thursday reported robust sales in March as a shift towards personal mobility and pent up demand continued to help companies push dispatches to their respective retail partners. Toyota Kirloskar Motor, Honda Cars and Mahindra and Mahindra (M&M) also reported strong sales last month as compared to the year-ago period, when dispatches were adversely impacted due to the impending transition to BSVI from April 2020 and the nationwide lockdown to contain the coronavirus pandemic. The country's largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India said its domestic sales stood at 1,49,518 units last month. The auto major had reported sales of 76,976 units in March 2020.
The Bajaj Pulsar 150 classic is Rs 10,118 cheaper than the standard Pulsar 150.
New electric and hybrid vehicles on display as manufacturers plug into environment-friendly segment.
The year gone by witnessed some amazing new and updated products launched in the 150cc premium commuter segment. Let's check them out.
Market leader Maruti Suzuki India's passenger vehicles sales declined by 2.34 per cent last month at 133,702 units. Hero MotoCorp reported total two-wheeler sales of 480,196 units last month, down 20.05 per cent.
Passenger vehicle wholesales in India increased by 12.73 per cent to 285,367 units in November as against 253,139 units in the same month last year riding on the back of festive demand, auto industry body SIAM said on Friday. According to the latest data by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), two-wheeler sales rose 13.43 per cent to 16,00,379 units, compared with 14,10,939 units in the same month last year.
How Bajaj, Colgate, Raymonds, Zee lost out.. Strategic errors have hurt many companies, says adguru Sandeep Goyal.
Two-wheeler sales were down 15.24 per cent in July to 12,81,354 units as compared with 15,11,717 units in the same month last year.
The increase in PV sales in September was driven by festive season purchases, with SUV models like Maruti Suzuki's Brezza, Hyundai Creta, Mahindra Scorpio, Ford Ecosport and Honda W-RV witnessing good traction
The TVS Phoenix 125 is a comfortable commuter motorcycle with good quality, writes Faisal Ali Khan of MotorBeam.com.
SoftBank-backed Ola Electric took the wraps off its maiden e-scooter offerings -- Ola S1 and S1 Pro -- for a commercial launch on Sunday. With prices starting from Rs 99,999 (excluding state government incentives, registration fee, and insurance cost), the Bhavesh Aggarwal-founded firm said the e-scooters are designed and engineered in India for the world and will deliver the best scooter experience to the consumer. He suggested that after 2025, sale of petrol-powered two-wheelers should not be allowed.
Passenger vehicle wholesale in India increased by 14.19 per cent to 3,10,294 units in October against 2,71,737 units in the same month last year as companies despatched more units to dealers to cater to enhanced demand in the festive season, auto industry body SIAM said on Wednesday. According to the latest data by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), two-wheeler sales also rose 16.88 per cent to 20,53,814 units, compared with 17,57,180 units in the same month last year. Motorcycle sales were at 13,82,749 units as against 11,16,886 units in October 2019, up 23.8 per cent.
Car and two-wheeler makers are giving India's largest auto hub the miss, thanks to prolonged labour unrests.
Piaggio Vespa Sport, Piaggio Fly 125, Honda PCX150 and Yamaha 125cc Scooter are going to make the biggest launch stories this year.
Navratri and Onam saw flat sales, but industry hopes to turn the corner with a cracker of a Diwali.
Maruti Suzuki, riding on the success of models like Swift, Estillo and Dzire, posted a growth of 3.4 per cent over the same period in the previous fiscal.
India has a history of jugaad, and retrofitting vehicles is one such manifestation of the legendary Indian skill. Not so long ago autorickshaws and small Marutis used to strap on subsidised LPG cylinders and power themselves to a cheap ride. There were the odd explosions, lives were lost, but the jugaad continued. Then compressed natural gas (CNG) was introduced in Delhi following a court order. Initially, customised CNG kits were fitted to conventional (internal combustion engine or ICE) autos cheaply, enabling commuting at less than half of what you would cough up for diesel. The industry is better organised now with Suzuki and Hyundai designing CNG-fired vehicles, and Mahindra and TVS manufacturing liquefied petroleum gas (LPG)-powered three wheelers.
As a tech services company, Ola has never been in hardcore manufacturing. And unlike in ride hailing, which is a two-player market (Uber is the only other competitor), in two-wheelers it faces many entrenched players. But most of all, rivals say Ola's targets are out of sync with most, even ambitious, projections.
Each year, at least 10 million Indians marry and the market is estimated at nearly $35 billion, growing at about 25 per cent annually.
With entry-level cars being preferred amid the pandemic, market leader Maruti Suzuki has strengthened its hold, along with Hyundai Motor India.
Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai, Mahindra and Toyota reported low single-digit sales growth for the month owing to weak market sentiment
Analysts say Bajaj's move to correct prices can potentially disrupt the market.
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.
New participants included Chinese players such as Great Wall Motors and Haima Automobile along with Olectra.
Car makers are cautiously optimistic, even as two-wheeler firms are clearly upbeat.
Sales, which were growing impressively in the first seven months of the year, decline in November. Ajay Modi reports.
MotoGP world champion Jorge Lorenzo won the San Marino Grand Prix for Yamaha on Sunday but Marc Marquez extended his overall lead to 34 points after finishing second.
Mercedes's brilliant pitstop strategy spoiled the game for Max Verstappen in Hungarian Grand Prix, says Rediff's F1 columnist Raja Sen.
Besides regular buyers, there is lot of interest among those in essential services, such as health, banking, and IT. The sales will be helped by social distancing becoming the new normal in both urban and rural regions as people will be averse to using public transport.
The key beneficiary of this expansion in the motorcycle market happens to be Bajaj Auto.
Besides their country of origin, General Motors, Ford Motor and Harley-Davidson have another trait in common: all three have failed in India, the world's fifth largest automobile market. All three of them took a tough call to de-prioritise India as a market amid disruption from heightened regulations and sharper focus on capital allocation by the parent.
Mopeds are sought by people with smaller businesses, with their weight-carrying and haulage ability beside being lighter and easy to manoeuvre in traffic.
Let's not expect miracles in 2018 from a man nearly 10 years removed from his most recent major championship victory, and four-plus years from any victory.
Niki Lauda pondered the mystery of the disappearing Mercedes on Sunday after Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg finished one-two in the Japanese Grand Prix but barely featured in television coverage.
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