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.
The country's largest car-maker Maruti Suzuki India on Tuesday launched a diesel variant of its SX4 sedan at an introductory price of Rs 7.74-8.62 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi).
India's largest car-maker Maruti Suzuki India Ltd on Monday announced a fresh investment of US $1.8 billion to achieve its target of producing one million cars by 2010-11. The bulk of Maruti's fresh investment will be in a research and development facility, for which the company has applied to the Haryana government for 500 acres of land near Manesar.
In a statement issued on Friday, India's largest car manufacturer said that 'due to sharp increase in the input costs and also introduction of BS-IV norms in some models, Maruti Suzuki India Ltd has decided to pass on part of this cost impact to customers.'
The company has tied up with scrap dealers across India to dispose of old cars exchanged for new cars and is welcoming customers to come with old cars of any make for exchange. The company has started giving offers to customers worth up to Rs 40,000 while purchasing a new car through exchange, while inviting bids from scrap dealers at the same time for the old cars.
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.
Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi wooed Indian auto giant Maruti Suzuki to set up a car project in Gujarat and said that the state government would provide all the facilities to it.
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.
For the entire 2012-13 financial year, however, the company's total sales increased by 3.33 per cent to 11,71,434 units from 11,33,695 units in 2011-12, Maruti Suzuki India said in a statement.
Japanese manufacturer Suzuki displayed two cars at the Frankfurt Motor Show that have a huge potential for launch in India.
Maruti Suzuki India has hiked prices of its vehicles across all models, except the entry level sedan DZire, by up to 3.4 per cent.
The company had posted a net profit of Rs 465.36 crore (Rs 4.65 billion) for the same quarter last fiscal, Maruti Suzuki India said.
Maruti Suzuki, India's largest car company by sales, is working on an ambitious plan to launch electric cars and compressed natural gas variants for three or four models in the domestic market.
The car will come with a petrol and a diesel engine option.
Maruti Suzuki India Limited (MSIL), which witnessed labour unrest at its Manesar facility, is set to complete the process of regularisation of contract workers at the unit by November-end.
The proxy advisory firm's latest comments come within days of Maruti saying that it expects to save about Rs 10,500 crore (Rs 105 billion) in the first 15 years by not investing in the Gujarat facility.
Suzuki will also meet Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, industry sources said. The country's largest car maker Maruti Suzuki India, majority owned by the Japanese firm, is investing up to Rs 1,500 crore (Rs 15 billion) in building test tracks and an R&D centre in Rohtak, Haryana.
Workers across Suzuki Motor Corporation's three subsidiaries in the country are standing firm on their decision to continue an indefinite sit-in strike at the company's Manesar facility.
Following the violence and arson, MSI had on July 21 announced an lockout at the plant.
According to experts, even if an additional 5 per cent of people opt to buy new vehicles, it may bring a huge boost to the sector.
Appellate tribunal NCLAT on Monday stayed the Rs 200 crore penalty imposed by the Competition Commission on Maruti Suzuki but directed the car maker to deposit 10 per cent of the total amount within three weeks. The amount has to be deposited with the Registrar of the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT). A three-member NCLAT bench stayed the demand notice issued on October 27 to the car maker, subject to the condition of depositing 10 per cent of the penalty amount.
Demand for models such as Ertiga, DZire and Swift were robust in the quarter despite slowdown in auto industry.
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.
MSI in January increased prices by up to Rs 31,600.
Sources close to Maruti management said the company has agreed to reinstate the 11 workers whose services were terminated for instigating the strike.
In April, MSI had recalled 1,03,311 units of its popular models -- Ertiga, Swift and DZire -- manufactured between November 12, 2013 and February 4, 2014 to replace faulty fuel filler neck.
Japanese carmaker Suzuki Motor Corp is recalling the automatic transmission version of its compact car 'Alto' in Europe, which is sold under the brand A-Star in India.
Japanese carmaker Suzuki Motor Corp is recalling the automatic transmission version of its compact car 'Alto' in Europe, which is sold under the brand A-Star in India.
Maruti Suzuki India (MSIL) plans to open new Arena Satellite showrooms as the country's largest carmaker aims to tap small towns and new markets, said a senior company executive, amid signs of recovery in rural demand and an approaching festival season. Senior executive officer for marketing and sales MSIL, Partho Banerjee, told Business Standard the company was aiming to penetrate deeper into markets and reach closer to its customers. "We have already had a concept of mobile showrooms in the Arena channel.
The move offers flexibility in compliance but also places penalties squarely on the designated manager of such a pool.
Maruti Suzuki India on Thursday launched a limited edition version of its popular model WagonR, named Avance, with prices starting at Rs 430,000.
The country's largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki on Tuesday said it plans to have an output of 15 lakh (1.5 million) units by 2015 to maintain its 50 per cent market share in the Indian car market.
After a strong opening, shares of the car-maker further zoomed 9.37 per cent to Rs 1,899.90 -- its 52-week high on the BSE.
The government is working on a recall policy.
Practice of opening bookings for cars prior to launch has been followed by several companies over many years in India.
80,000 customers are awaiting delivery of the new Maruti Suzuki Swift.
The Brezza is Maruti's answer to the Ford EcoSport and Mahindra TUV300 and was developed in India at a cost of Rs 860 crore.
The top six auto brands are: Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai, Tata Motors, Toyota, Kia and Mahindra & Mahindra.
We will not be in the ultra-low-cost car segment. Our focus will be on the A1 and A2 segments, which are growth areas in which many of the new players like Nissan, Volkswagen or Toyota are planning to enter. Our entry-level car will remain the Maruti 800.
