Unprecedented bribery charges, farewells, separation, failed union, monumental mergers and record-breaking IPOs, along with a healthy dose of online happenings in the form of spat and lessons in customer care, corporate India saw it all in 2024.
Benchmark equity indices Sensex and Nifty pared early gains to settle lower on Wednesday due to late selling in index major Reliance Industries, ITC and HDFC Bank even as the RBI took the first step towards a rate cut in its monetary policy review. Erasing its early gains, the 30-share BSE Sensex fell 167.71 points or 0.21 per cent to close at 81,467.1. During the day, it surged 684.4 points or 0.83 per cent to hit an intra-day high of 82,319.21.
From the Sensex stocks, Maruti Suzuki India, Tata Motors, JSW Steel, Larsen & Toubro, Tata Steel, Mahindra and Mahindra, Tata Consultancy Services, Tech Mahindra, HCL Technologies and Infosys were the laggards. HDFC Bank, Sun Pharmaceuticals, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Nestle India and Asian Paints were among the gainers.
The country's largest car maker Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) on Friday said it is recalling 1,81,754 units of petrol trims of various models, including Ciaz, Vitara Brezza and XL6, to replace faulty motor generator unit. This is the company's largest vehicle recall till date. As a responsible corporate, keeping in mind customer safety, the company has announced to proactively undertake a recall of some petrol variants of Ciaz, Ertiga, Vitara Brezza, S-Cross and XL6, MSI said in a regulatory filing.
On the Sensex chart, Bajaj Finserv, Maruti, Larsen & Toubro, Bajaj Finance, Infosys, Axis Bank and ICICI Bank were the biggest gainers. Hindustan Unilever, JSW Steel, Titan, NTPC and Tata Motors were among the laggards.
Maruti Suzuki India is eyeing a leadership position in the SUV segment as it continues to add new products across various sub segments, a top company official said on Wednesday. The country's largest carmaker has bolstered its presence in the high volume entry and mid level SUV segments with new Brezza and all new model -- Grand Vitara. "In every segment except SUV, we are the market leader by a distance. "It is only in the SUV that we are behind, so we need to catch up. Clearly, we have to become number one in the SUV space also," Maruti Suzuki India MD and CEO Hisashi Takeuchi said in an interaction on the sidelines of the global unveiling of Grand Vitara.
From the 30 Sensex firms, Mahindra & Mahindra, JSW Steel, Maruti, Tata Steel, Larsen & Toubro, ICICI Bank, Power Grid, Nestle, Bharti Airtel and Adani Ports were the biggest gainers. Tata Consultancy Services emerged as the only laggard.
Former Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh passed away at the age of 92 on Thursday. He will be given a state funeral with full state honors at Nigambodh Ghat on Saturday. Singh served as Prime Minister from 2004 to 2014 and was known for his role in India's economic reforms. Leaders from across the political spectrum paid their respects to the departed leader, highlighting his contributions to the nation.
Among the 30 Sensex firms, Tata Motors jumped over 4 per cent, followed by Bajaj Finserv, Bajaj Finance, HCL Technologies, ITC, Reliance Industries, Tech Mahindra, Maruti and State Bank of India. Reliance Industries climbed nearly 2 per cent after Mukesh Ambani, chairman and managing director of the firm, said the board of the company will meet on September 5 to consider issuing bonus shares in the ratio of 1:1.
Most of the Sensex firms settled in the positive territory. Mahindra & Mahindra, Tata Motors, Tech Mahindra, JSW Steel, State Bank of India, HCL Technologies, Reliance Industries and Infosys were the biggest gainers. Kotak Mahindra Bank and Maruti were the laggards.
Among the 30 Sensex firms, HCL Technologies, NTPC, Bajaj Finserv, Tech Mahindra, JSW Steel, Titan, Mahindra & Mahindra, Tata Steel, Larsen & Toubro and Tata Consultancy Services were the biggest gainers. Kotak Mahindra Bank, IndusInd Bank, Maruti and Hindustan Unilever were among the laggards.
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.
The country's largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) on Monday said it has increased prices of its entire product range, except Celerio, by up to 1.9 per cent with immediate effect. In a regulatory filing, the company noted that it has taken the decision to hike prices due to an increase in various input costs. The weighted average price rise in ex-showroom prices (New Delhi) across select models is 1.9 per cent, it added. This is MSI's third price hike this year.
High cost of acquisition due to a variety of reasons, including higher GST than all other major countries, is slowing down car demand in the country and unless the Centre and states take steps to reduce it, the industry is unlikely to experience reasonable growth, according to Maruti Suzuki India Chairman R C Bhargava. Addressing shareholders in the company's Annual Report for 2020-21, he said after the devastating second wave of the coronavirus pandemic hitting the first quarter of FY22, the performance in the next three quarters will largely depend on how effectively people get vaccinated and observe safety protocols.
The country's largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) witnessed a 3 per cent drop in production last month. In a regulatory filing, the auto major reported total production of 145,560 units in November compared to 150,221 units in November 2020. "The shortage of electronic components had a minor impact on the production of vehicles during the month," it noted.
'A murder has occurred in the room, but there were no signs of struggle.' 'RG Kar says the body was discovered at 9:30 am. But the media was informed at 8:30 am.' 'We realised that crucial evidence was being destroyed.' 'She had several bite marks on her neck, but no swab was collected.' 'My daughter had 28 injuries on her body. But there was no DNA of the assailant under her nails.' 'Are you saying she did not try to defend herself?'
Maruti is sticking to this strategy at a time when rival Hyundai is looking to make the most of the monopoly it will have in the compact diesel segment from April 1, 2020, when the BSVI emission norms kick in. The market leader's confidence stems from the rapid shift in favour of petrol in the PV segment. For newer models such as MG Hector and Seltos, nearly 75 per cent bookings are for petrol variants, Kia has 55 per cent from petrol variants. The change in customer preference from diesel variants to petrol has happened quickly over the past few years.
A shortlist using artificial intelligence would be prepared to identify eligible candidates and match them to the suitable internship opportunity. The shortlist would be shared with the companies on Tuesday, October 15.
Among Sensex shares, State Bank of India, NTPC, UltraTech Cement, Mahindra & Mahindra, Bajaj Finance, Tata Motors, Maruti and ITC were the biggest winners. On the other hand, Asian Paints, Tata Steel, Axis Bank, JSW Steel, Tech Mahindra and Tata Consultancy Services were among the laggards.
The country's largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) on Wednesday reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 475 crore for the first quarter ended June 30. The auto major had posted a consolidated net loss of Rs 268 crore in the April-June quarter of 2020-21. It noted that during the first quarter its sales and production were adversely impacted due to the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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.
Hyundai Motor India (HMIL) raised Rs 8,315 crore from anchor investors on Monday, setting the stage for the country's biggest-ever maiden share sale. The Indian arm of the South Korean carmaker Hyundai Motor Company (HMC) allotted 42.4 million shares to 225 funds at Rs 1,960 apiece, the higher end of its price band. Among the investors receiving allotments were the Singapore government's sovereign wealth fund (GIC), New World Fund, and Fidelity.
From the 30 Sensex firms, Larsen & Toubro, Reliance Industries, Axis Bank, Asian Paints, Tata Motors, Bajaj Finance, Maruti, Bajaj Finserv, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Titan, Adani Ports and HDFC Bank were the major laggards. JSW Steel emerged as the only gainer.
From the Sensex stocks, Power Grid, NTPC, HDFC Bank, Nestle India, Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone, Maruti Suzuki India and Reliance Industries were the major gainers. In contrast, Mahindra and Mahindra, Tata Steel, Bajaj Finserv, State Bank of India, Larsen & Toubro and Tata Motors were the laggards.
Among the 30 Sensex firms, Adani Ports and Power Grid climbed over 3 per cent each. Tata Steel, JSW Steel, Infosys, Mahindra & Mahindra, Maruti, and Larsen & Toubro were the other big gainers. IndusInd Bank, Bharti Airtel, Hindustan Unilever, Tech Mahindra and Titan were the laggards.
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 company has the largest car park in EVs in India, estimated to be around 170,000 units. As a pilot, it has already started work with used online car marketplace Spinny.
Among the 30 Sensex firms, Bharti Airtel, Infosys, IndusInd Bank, Sun Pharma, Tech Mahindra, Mahindra & Mahindra, Bajaj Finance and JSW Steel were the biggest gainers. Asian Paints, Maruti, Nestle, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Axis Bank and UltraTech Cement were among the laggards.
The first luxury car will be launched in the first quarter of 2025 and the company is planning to open 12 'MG Select' showrooms in the next six months.
First off the block will be a new multi-purpose vehicle which is being co-developed with Toyota - Suzuki's alliance partner. The model will also wear a Toyota badge.
The name of the country's most popular car brand, Maruti Udyog Ltd, has been changed to 'Maruti Suzuki India Ltd' with effect from September 17.
India Inc continued to grapple with muted revenue growth in the September 2024 quarter (Q2FY25) and witnessed a decline in margins and profits. The headwinds were especially severe for non-financial companies, while banking, financial services, and insurance (BFSI) firms significantly outpaced the rest of the corporate sector. The total profit of 1,353 listed companies that have released their Q2FY25 results thus far dropped by 0.6 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) - the first cumulative earnings decline in eight quarters.
Another trend: A preference for coloured diamonds among brides, who are pairing them with their groom's birthstone. So, along with yellow or white diamonds, they are choosing pink, green, blue sapphires, emeralds or red rubies.
The top six auto brands are: Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai, Tata Motors, Toyota, Kia and Mahindra & Mahindra.
The list clearly shows the dominance of Maruti and Hyundai in the Indian passenger vehicle market.
From the Sensex pack, Tata Motors, NTPC, Bajaj Finserv, Power Grid Corp, Titan, Asian Paints, IndusInd Bank, Maruti Suzuki India and Tata Steel were among the biggest gainers. Sun Pharmaceuticals, ITC, Hindustan Unilever, Bharti Airtel, UltraTech Cement and Reliance Industries were among the laggards.
From the Sensex basket, Sun Pharma, Maruti, IndusInd Bank, Titan, ITC, Tata Motors, Larsen & Toubro and JSW Steel were the major gainers. On the other hand, Infosys, Wipro, HCL Technologies, Tata Consultancy Services, Tech Mahindra and Bajaj Finserv were among the laggards.
The country's top carmaker Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) on Wednesday said it has decided to advance maintenance shutdown at its two Haryana-based manufacturing plants by a month amid a surge in the COVID-19 cases across the country. The auto major was supposed to take the shutdown at its two plants in Gurugram and Manesar in June, but due to the tsunami of COVID-19 cases, it decided to take it one month earlier to save oxygen for medical needs. MSI noted that as part of the car manufacturing process, it uses a small amount of oxygen in its factories, while relatively much larger quantities are used by the manufacturers of components.
In September, JSW MG Motor India, the newly minted joint venture between SAIC Motor, which is present in 100 countries, and Indian conglomerate JSW Group, launched the Windsor, an electric car that introduced battery as a service (BaaS).
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.