Nano, the small car from the Tatas, is projected to become India's second best selling car next year, according to market research firm JD Power.
The lockdown in Maharashtra will have a catastrophic impact on April sales, as dealers will not be able to realise the potential of festivities like Ugadi, Gudi Padwa, Baisakhi and Poila Boishakh.
Will you ditch Honda City or Hyundai Verna for Maruti's latest offering?
In the domestic market, the car has been well accepted and currently the company has over 80,000 bookings for the model.
Customers, instead of visiting showroms, now do most of their decision-making in the comfort of their drawing rooms using internet
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.
On the highway, it pulls along with ease and offers smooth commuter ride and drive experience, and also has little competition, says Pavan Lall.
Auto sales have been declining for 13 straight months as a broader slowdown in the economy has crippled demand across the country.
Urban and rural FMCG sales growth data for the last five quarters show the latter outperformed the former consistently.
After GM's India exit, Ford-Mahindra 'strategic alliance' under spotlight.
For players like Toyota Kirloskar and Ford, the contribution of UVs to overall sales is now well over 60%.
Fiat India Automobiles Ltd, a 50:50 joint venture between Italy-based Fiat SpA and domestic auto major Tata Motors, plans to position the car in the premium hatchback segment along with Maruti Suzuki's Ritz, Hyundai's i20, Skoda's Fabia and to be launched Honda Siel's Jazz, the company said.
Japanese automobile company Mitsubishi Motors may launch a compact car in the B segment in the country. The car is expected to hit the roads in three years. Though Mitsubishi sells Pajero SUV and Lancer sedan in India, they have not generated adequate volumes for the Japanese automobile company. The compact car will take on Maruti Swift, Hyundai Getz, Skoda Fabia, Fiat Palio, Chevrolet U-VA and Ford Fusion
With the Thar, M&M has come full circle. In a market where every other vehicle has an SUV tag, the company plans to stick to its core competence of making rugged, true-blue, all-terrain SUVs, and marks a fresh beginning for the 75-year-old firm that enjoyed an indomitable position in the SUV segment till 2012, reports Shally Seth Mohile.
Chennai and Ennore ports are set to become hub for car exports from South India. After Hyundai, the two ports have started attracting global manufacturers like Renault SA, Nissan, and Ford.
'This is purely a brand sale. It includes the Ambassador with its variants. Peugeot is likely to relaunch the brand with multiple variants.'
Market leaders Maruti Suzuki and Hyundai, who together control two-thirds of the domestic market, have not yet firmed up a decision on raising prices.
Prices of second-hand cars, mainly compact ones, have fallen 15-20% in the last few days. Dealers in the unorganised market fear a further price dip of 10 per cent when delivery starts and the Nano is seen prominently on roads. The Nano, expected to sport an on-road price of Rs 1.25-1.3 lakh for the no-frills, base version, will compete with the compact cars of Hyundai Motors, Maruti Suzuki, Tata Motors and General Motors.
Riding on the success of Ford Ikon and Ford Fiesta, in the mid-size sedan segment, Ford plans to roll out the new car by March.
While the share of diesel vehicles sales in the overall passenger car industry has already fallen sharply, sales of CNG vehicles have shown a compound annual growth rate of 15.5 per cent over the past five years.
Maruti is now at a market share of 50.4%, up from 47.3% last year. In China, the world's biggest market, Volkswagen is the largest, with a share of 17%. In America, the second biggest, GM is leader with 18%. One exception is South Korea, where Hyundai has a market share in excess of 60%.
One can see the scale of recalls going up as the market expands.
The Italian car company Fiat's much-awaited launch of the year, Grande Punto hatchback, which is expected to take on Maruti Suzuki's Swift and Hyundai's Getz, will not be priced close to the two models.
The second-generation Tata Indica will be called Indica Vista. The car that was previewed for the public at the Auto Expo, New Delhi this year will carry the new tag to differentiate itself from the Indica that is currently in production.
Auto Expo's Twitter handle (@AEMotorShow), with a follower base of 16,000, is abuzz with activity. The Facebook page of Auto Expo has about 158,000 followers.
The growing impact of inflation on car sales is clearly reflected in the dismal growth in domestic sales of the country's three leading auto-makers - Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai India and Tata Motors - which constitute more than 75 per cent of the car sales.
According to the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers, significant growth is being witnessed in the multi-axle trucks segment, which has posted 112 per cent growth in the year 2006-07.
FMCG players -- Dabur, HLL, PSU BPCL, Korean car maker Hyundai, liqour barron Vijay Malaya's Mcdowell and TVS motors -- are among the major companies found to violate Advertising Standards Council of India code.
General Motors subsidiary Chevrolet will introduce a diesel engine option in Optra by April-May this year. Currently, the car is only available with petrol engine.
It lacks the finesse of its direct rival, the Hyundai Creta, but otherwise it is fun to drive and power is in abundance too
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