India may see its busiest EV festive season in 2025 with SUVs, luxury cars and scooters set to launch, but rare-earth supply bottlenecks risk delaying rollouts.
Maruti Suzuki India on Monday said it has hiked prices of its vehicles across models by about 1.1 per cent. This is the second price hike that the carmaker is undertaking in the ongoing fiscal year, after increasing it in April 2022. In December last year, the company had said it would hike prices of its vehicles to offset the impact of rising input costs and make provisions to update the model range to conform to stricter emission norms which will kick in from April 2023.
Automakers Maruti Suzuki, Mahindra & Mahindra and Audi India on Monday announced plans to hike prices of their passenger vehicles in January 2024 citing reasons, including cost pressure driven by overall inflation and increased commodity rates. Besides, Tata Motors and Mercedes-Benz India are mulling increasing the prices of their models from January. The country's largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India, which sells a range of vehicles from entry-level small car Alto to multi-utility vehicle Invicto, priced between Rs 3.54 lakh and Rs 28.42 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi), on Monday said the price hike would vary from model to model.
Maruti Suzuki India, Mahindra & Mahindra, Hyundai Motor and luxury car maker Audi have extended support to customers in cyclone and flood affected regions of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. In a statement, Maruti Suzuki India said it has collaborated with its dealer partners and made several arrangements at its workshops. As soon as the news about the cyclone 'Michaung' was reported, the company proactively sent out 7 lakh SMS alerts containing precautionary steps to its customers to ensure that even before the cyclone hits, customers could take precautionary measures to safeguard their cars against potential damage, it said in a statement.
The Maruti Udyog board has approved the purchase of Suzuki Motor Corporation's shares in their joint venture Maruti Suzuki Automobile India Ltd for Rs 12 crore (Rs 120 million) and merge the arm with itself, the Lok Sabha was told on Thursday.
The country's largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India on Monday said it has hiked prices of hatchback Swift and CNG variants of other models by up to Rs 15,000. The price change for Swift and all CNG variants is owing to an increase in various input costs, Maruti Suzuki India said in a regulatory filing.
Maruti Suzuki is set to launch a new multi-purpose vehicle (MPV) -- Invicto -- next month. It will be the company's first passenger vehicle with an ex-showroom price tag of Rs 20 lakh or more, said Shashank Srivastava, executive director (sales), on Tuesday. The upcoming MPV will compete with the likes of Toyota Innova Hycross, Kia Carnival, Hyundai Alcazar, MG Hector Plus, Tata Safari, Mahindra & Mahindra XUV700, and Mahindra & Mahindra Scorpio-N - all having three rows of seats. Invicto will be based on the Hycross by Toyota, which will manufacture Maruti's most expensive car at its Bidadi plant in Karnataka.
The Hayabusa from the Suzuki stable is an insane machine. But that is not the only motorcycle that the Japanese automaker produces. There are so many more, so let's take a quick journey through the iconic bikes made by Suzuki.
The list clearly shows the dominance of Maruti and Hyundai in the Indian passenger vehicle market.
Supporting the all India strike called by 11 trade unions, Suzuki Motorcycle India Employee Union President Anil Kumar said: "As many as 27 workers unions of different factories in the Gurgaon, Manesar, Dharuhera and up to Bawal have agreed to go on strike for a day. So, there will be no production at our plant tomorrow."
The proposed reforms in goods and services tax (GST) announced by the government last week, coupled with the eighth pay commission dole-out, is likely to push consumption-driven stocks - such as air conditioners (ACs), select automobiles, fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG), retail, and counters of quick-service restaurants (QSRs) - into higher orbit over the next few months, believe analysts.
'Some buyers get carried away by festival offers and purchase higher variants or larger vehicles than they truly need, which impacts running cost and long-term affordability.'
The government should not be running businesses as public sector companies are inefficient and do not generate enough resources to fund their own growth, according to Maruti Suzuki India chairman R C Bhargava. Public sector companies need support all the time to grow and need funds from the government for capital investments, he told PTI in an interview. "I have no doubt that government should not be in business. No way," he said when asked if governments should be in the business of running enterprises on the basis of his experience of witnessing the transformation of the then government-owned Maruti Udyog Ltd to Maruti Suzuki India Ltd, majority owned by Japan's Suzuki Motor Corporation.
India's used car market, which has been growing steadily at 10-12 per cent over the last 2-3 years, is expected to reach $40 billion in FY26.
Developed at an investment of Rs 620 crore (Rs 6.2 billion), the most on a car by Maruti Suzuki, the Ciaz will also be exported to West Asia, Europe, Africa and Latin America.
Tesla needs to either sell the same models with reduced features to lower the cost for Indian market, or incur losses.
Toyota's India unit will also source two cars manufactured by Maruti Suzuki, the Baleno and Brezza, including their hybrid variants, and in return Toyota will offer its Corolla sedan to Maruti.
The automobile industry has sought government support in expediting approvals from the Chinese government for importing rare earth magnets used in various applications, including passenger cars. As per the industry sources, various domestic suppliers have already sought approval from the Chinese government through their local vendors in China.
'Bharat has been leading, but it cannot carry India as the bulk of the sales come from India in terms of volume and profitability.'
Domestic passenger vehicle wholesales were down 0.8 per cent at 3,44,656 units in May this year as compared to 3,47,492 units in the same month last year, Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers said on Monday.
Maruti recorded a 13.12% year-on-year surge in average revenue earned per car in 2023 compared to M&M's 7.56%, Hyundai's 6.76% and Tata Motors' 1.88%.
...But sales of domestic passenger vehicles dropped 2% to 3% year-on-year in August owing to low demand.
Despite the benefits of hybrid technology, a lack of government backing and few launches have kept the segment from gaining ground.
They are also on the board of Maruti Suzuki India.
Selected applicants will receive a monthly stipend of Rs 4,500 from the government and an additional Rs 500 from participating companies as a part of the Prime Minister Internship Scheme (PMIS) 2025.
The initial public offer of Hyundai Motor India Ltd, the Indian arm of South Korean automaker Hyundai, got subscribed 2.37 times on the third day of the bidding on Thursday, helped by institutional buyers. This is the largest IPO in the country, surpassing LIC's initial share sale of Rs 21,000 crore. The Rs 27,870 crore initial share sale got bids for 23,63,26,937 shares against 9,97,69,810 shares on offer, translating into 2.37 times subscription, as per NSE data.
Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai and Tata Motors reported a decline in wholesales in September as the companies curtailed dispatches to dealers to reduce inventory build-up amid a decline in demand. Maruti Suzuki India reported a 4 per cent dip in total domestic passenger vehicle wholesales last month to 144,962 units compared to 150,812 units in the year-ago month. The auto major said sales of mini segment cars, comprising Alto and S-Presso, grew marginally to 10,363 units against 10,351 units in September 2023.
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.
Maruti is trying to move up the segment by focusing on premium cars, SUVs and even trucks.
Maruti Suzuki chairman RC Bhargava has said that reducing carbon emissions does not require making a choice between hybrid and electric cars, and that both can play key and complementary roles if the government wants to achieve its aggressive emissions target. Responding to the fact that the sales numbers of hybrid cars have been higher than electric cars in the last quarter of 2024, Bhargava pointed out: "It has never been about electric versus hybrid. "Both have a clear role to play. By 2030 we expect electric car penetration to be around 20 per cent.
Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi will be on a five-day tour to Japan from Sunday to expand business ties with that country and will also meet auto major Maruti Suzuki's top brass, official sources said.
Passenger vehicle retail sales witnessed 3 per cent on-year decline in May with customers delaying purchases in several states due to India-Pakistan conflict and further softening of demand for entry-level models, dealers' body FADA said on Friday. The passenger vehicle registrations last month stood at 302,214 units, as compared to 311,908 units in May 2024.
The figures are encouraging for the auto industry amid apprehension that due to higher cost and lack of fuel availability, cars with stricter emission standards may not be popular in initial stages. Automakers had even cited this confusion as one of the reasons for dwindling car sales in India, reports Arindam Majumder.
Sedans and hatchbacks have both lost market share to SUVs, which now account for more than 50% share of the 4 million-odd-unit PV market in the country.
The country's biggest carmaker, Maruti Suzuki India, has raised concerns about the continuing slide in small car sales.
Maruti Suzuki India is facing stiff resistance from private sector mutual funds and insurance companies, which own almost 7 per cent of the company, for its decision to allow Suzuki to make cars for the Indian car-maker at a proposed plant in Gujarat instead of manufacturing vehicles itself.
Apart from physical stores, the company operates 2,700 digital touch points in the form of web pages, which is gaining good traction from tier-II and III centres.
'The reported deal between the European Union and China should mitigate it (shortage) for the medium to long term. Let's wait and watch how this plays out.'
Currently, Maruti Suzuki has 14 car brands, but it has decided to expand into some new segments.
Central trade unions have questioned Maruti Suzuki's decision to terminate the services of 500 of its permanent workers, alleging not just violation of the Industrial Disputes Act, but also immaturity on the management's part in failing to arrive at a peaceful settlement of the dispute.
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