Passenger vehicle retail sales rose to a record high in January driven by robust demand for sports utility vehicles, dealers' body FADA said on Tuesday. Passenger vehicle (PV) sales rose to 3,93,250 units last month, registering a jump of 13 per cent from 3,47,086 units sold in January 2023. "SUV demand along with the introduction of new models, greater availability, effective marketing, consumer schemes and the auspicious wedding season underpinned this strong performance," Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA) president Manish Raj Singhania said in a statement.
Hyundai Motor India and Honda Cars India on Wednesday joined the list of automakers planning to hike prices of vehicles from April, second time this year, to partially offset the impact of rising input costs and higher operational expenses. In a statement Hyundai Motor India Ltd (HMIL) said it will hike prices of its vehicles by up to 3 per cent effective in April 2025.
Mathura resident Tarun Gautam has alleged in the court that police threatened his family and framed his son, a B.Tech student, in false cases under the Gangsters Act, and Arms Act.
The vehicle, a Tavera, was on its way to Jammu from Srinagar and it fell into a 300-foot gorge at the Battery Cheshma area of the district around 1.15 am, they said.
The bus had gone to Delhi and was plying on the wrong side of the expressway after refilling CNG near Ghazipur border.
Home-grown auto major Mahindra and Mahindra on Monday unveiled a new visual identity, including a brand-new logo, exclusively for its SUV portfolio, ahead of the launch of its much awaited SUV, XUV700. The new brand identity is in tune with the company's focus to be makers of sophisticated and authentic SUVs. It heralds the strategic shift across Mahindra's SUV portfolio, where we are putting the building blocks in place for a new world with a range of authentic SUVs, the company said in a release.
While sedan sales have declined in the mass-market segment in recent years, demand remains strong for BMW sedans, which account for 45 per cent of its sales in India.
Car purchases in India are largely limited to the top 12 per cent of households with an annual income exceeding Rs 12 lakh, while even small cars have become unaffordable for the remaining 88 per cent, said R C Bhargava, chairman of Maruti Suzuki India Limited (MSIL), on Friday. "How can you get high car sales growth if 88 per cent of the country are below the levels of income where they cannot afford these cars costing Rs 10 lakhs and above?
French auto major Renault on Monday said it will buy out its Japanese partner Nissan's stake in their Indian joint venture -- Renault Nissan Automotive India Private Ltd. Renault Group would own 100 per cent of Renault Nissan Automotive India Private Ltd (RNAIPL), by acquiring the 51 per cent shareholding currently held by Nissan, the company said in a statement.
India ranks 6th in the Asia-Pacific region for the Italian super luxury carmaker.
Market leader Maruti Suzuki is putting finishing touches to its plan of finding its feet in what is being hailed as a battle of epic proportions in India's fastest-growing passenger vehicle segment, reports Arindam Majumder.
Auto majors Maruti Suzuki India and Hyundai reported muted sales performance in October as the companies curtailed dispatches to dealers in order to cut inventory build up.
Indian passenger vehicles market registered record wholesales of 43 lakh units in 2024, with companies like market leader Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai, Tata Motors, Toyota Kirloskar Motor, and Kia posting their best-ever annual domestic sales. The continued growth of SUVs, along with rural markets playing a key role in driving up car sales, helped the industry better the previous best of nearly 41.1 lakh units posted in 2023.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) in India has declared that cash and gold worth approximately Rs 52 crore, seized from an abandoned SUV in Madhya Pradesh last year, belonged to former state transport department constable Saurabh Sharma. The ED's statement ends months of speculation about the ownership of the seized assets and comes as part of an ongoing investigation into corruption charges against Sharma. The agency has also attached assets worth Rs 92.07 crore belonging to Sharma and his associates, alleging they were acquired through illegal means.
Homegrown auto major Tata Motors on Monday said it will launch its mini SUV Punch in the ongoing festive season. Punch is based on the H2X concept, which Tata Motors had showcased at the Auto Expo 2020. It will be positioned below the company's compact SUV Nexon and is expected to hit the market around Diwali this year.
Tesla needs to either sell the same models with reduced features to lower the cost for Indian market, or incur losses.
A loud sound was heard at around 1 am outside Kalia's residence near Shastri Market in Jalandhar, police said, adding that no one was hurt in the incident.
The driver of the truck involved in a fatal accident in Nelamangala, Karnataka, that killed six people, claimed on Monday that a car ahead of him applied sudden brakes, causing him to lose control and turn towards the road divider. Police are investigating the accident, reviewing CCTV footage and conducting a case study to determine the cause.
Citroen drives in its SUV late, but it's worth the wait, says Rajesh Karkera/Rediff.com.
Maruti Suzuki India is targeting markets like UAE, Saudi Arabia, Chile, Mexico and other Latin American countries with its upcoming new version of compact sedan Dzire to accelerate exports as it eyes over 3 lakh units of overseas shipments this fiscal, a senior company official said on Wednesday. In the domestic market, the company hopes to enhance its share in the sedan market amid the passenger vehicles market shifting towards SUVs (Sports Utility Vehicles), with the new Dzire which is slated for launch next week. "We have been growing (exports) at a rate of about 11.9 per cent in the first seven months of the financial year and we hope to continue on that momentum.
A strong demand for diesel SUVs has bumped up the contribution of these variants to Hyundai Motor India's sales to a three-year high, a company top official told Business Standard. The local arm of the South Korean carmaker has benefitted after some leading manufacturers - including car market leader Maruti Suzuki - pulled the plug on diesel models amid tightening regulations. Hyundai has also gained from the changing travel preference -people are frequenting getaways and taking to the road a lot more than what they did before the pandemic. This trend has been fuelling overall SUV sales.
Starlink's application for offering satcom services in India had been held up for the company's inability to comply with mandatory ownership disclosure norms.
Audi plans to focus the Indian market, including deepening market penetration and increasing sales volume.
Dealers said the discounts this March are higher than the same month in the previous year.
Travelling from South India to Kashmir in December was magical for Ganesh Nadar as he feasted his eyes on the beauty of the snow-capped Himalayas.
With nearly 100 launches and unveils, the Bharat Mobility Global Expo 2025, held in Delhi from January 17 to 22, made one thing clear to automobile enthusiasts: Electric vehicles (EVs) are the way ahead for the Indian auto market for years to come.
'The favourable rupee-dollar exchange rate, there are opportunities we can tap.'
Compact sedans (Maruti Dzire, Hyundai Aura, Tata Tigor)' share in the overall sedan category grew from 68% in 2021 to 74.6% in 2024. Mid-sedans' (Honda City, Maruti Ciaz, Volkswagen Virtus) share declined from 26.2% in 2021 to 20.2%.
Mahindra & Mahindra on Saturday said it has decided to rename its new electric vehicle brand as 'BE 6' but noted that it will continue to contest strongly in court with InterGlobe Aviation for the trademark 'BE 6e'. InterGlobe Aviation, which owns IndiGo airlines, has taken the automaker to court over the usage of 6E in its new EV brand.
The all-new Scorpio N will not have any component from the current Scorpio, which will now be sold as the Scorpio Classic, reports Rajesh Karkera.
However, the company has not provided a timeline for the launch of the small electric car.
The chargesheet in the murder case of Santosh Deshmukh, sarpanch of Massajog village in Beed district, reveals horrific details of the torture he endured at the hands of his abductors. The accused recorded 15 videos, clicked eight photos, and even made two video calls, documenting the brutality. Deshmukh was abducted and killed in December for attempting to foil an extortion bid on an energy company. Seven men, including a close aide of state minister Dhananjay Munde, have been arrested so far.
Maruti's strategy for the SUV segment is to arrest the decline in customers for entry level hatchbacks.
Traversing from being just vehicle manufacturers to mobility solutions providers amid a raging debate over which eco-friendly technology must be incentivised, the Indian automobile industry is driving in the new year under the shadow of a slowdown in sales with the post-pandemic pent-up demand in distant memory. The shift in the auto industry -- where advanced technologies like autonomous driving, vehicle intelligence, connected features and electrification are quickly gaining traction -- will be reflected in the upcoming Bharat Mobility Global Expo in which India's flagship Auto Expo has been clubbed to be held from January 17-22, 2025 in Delhi-NCR.
Luxury carmaker Mercedes-Benz India plans to roll out 8 new models, including battery electric vehicles, this year as it looks to sustain sales momentum having posted record sales in 2024. The company sold 19,565 units last year, registering a growth of 12 per cent as compared to 17,408 units in 2023.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has seized its biggest-ever cryptocurrency worth Rs 1,646 crore in a money laundering investigation into a fraud investment scheme called BitConnect. The scheme, which ran between 2016 and 2018, promised investors high returns through a proprietary trading bot but was found to be a sham. The ED tracked transactions through the dark web and seized the cryptocurrency from numerous wallets. This is the agency's largest-ever seizure of virtual digital assets and the investigation is ongoing.
Amid mounting inflationary pressures, escalating material costs, and rising operational expenses, luxury carmakers Mercedes-Benz India and BMW India have announced price increases of up to 3 per cent on their entire model ranges effective from January 1, 2025. Mercedes-Benz India will revise ex-showroom prices by Rs 2 lakh to Rs 9 lakh, depending on the model. This adjustment will impact vehicles such as the GLC SUV and the high-end Mercedes-Maybach S 680 limousine.
The Warren Buffet-backed Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer BYD will be unveiling a Born Electric SUV for the Indian market by the fourth quarter of the current calendar year. The deliveries of the same would begin in January, the company's top official said. This will be the first Born Electric SUV in the mass market. The Born Electric models from Tata Motors and Mahindra and Mahindra would be launched from 2024. BYD has been selling the E6 MPV in the Indian market since 2021.
As auto major Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) became the number two player in the retail passenger vehicle segment for the first time in February, powered by its new launches, the company is setting its sights on technology upgrades.
Passenger vehicle wholesales in India rose 11 per cent year-on-year in February, as sports utility vehicles continued to steer demand in the market, industry body SIAM said on Tuesday. The total passenger vehicle dispatches to dealers last month stood at 370,786 units, as compared to 334,790 units in the year-ago period.
