A likely easing in inflationary pressures in the forthcoming months will reopen the window for the RBI to once again prioritise growth and ease its interest rates.
Only a few thousand chargers dot the Indian landscape, some in working condition, others not, with some held hostage to the power supply vagaries of local utilities, reports S Dinakar.
'I'm very much against petrol and diesel....'' 'I travel in an electric car.' 'I have had a really good experience with it.'
To ramp up domestic battery manufacturing capacity and reduce the dependence on imports, the government has initiated talks with a few lithium-rich countries to supply the mineral to Indian companies, industry sources informed Business Standard. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) held a meeting with the ambassadors of countries, including Argentina, Chile, and Bolivia, among others, to put forth its request.
Union Minister Nitin Gadkari on Monday said American electric car major Tesla is set to start its operations in India next year and would also look at setting up of a manufacturing unit based on demand. The Road, Transport and Highways minister has been pushing for green fuel and electric vehicles for cutting India's huge Rs 8 lakh crore crude imports. Tesla Inc. co-founder and chief executive Elon Musk had in October said the company will enter the Indian market in 2021.
In a rare face off, captains of the auto industry have hit out at the government for not walking the talk. At an industry event in the capital on Wednesday, R C Bhargava, chairman of India's largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki, and Venu Srinivasan, chairman of TVS Motor, questioned the government's intent to support the auto sector. Revenue secretary Tarun Bajaj sat in the audience listening, before his turn came to counter them.
After five years, we are still waiting for permission to sell our four-wheeler in the country: Rahul Bajaj.
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.
In September, sales of 125cc models - that include the Hero Glamour, Splendor, Pulsar 125, Victor Star City, among others - grew by a whopping 30 per cent over the same period a year ago to 305,615 units.
Auto companies are now grappling with a slowdown in sales, triggered by pent up demand due to the COVID-led lockdown easing a bit and supply-side issues for raw material.
For an industry which saw sales shrinking in 2013-14, this is hope indeed.
Bajaj Auto, the world's largest three-wheeler maker, expects to launch its four-wheeled passenger carrier RE60 by end of the current financial year.
There are four things that stand out in China's strategy for electric vehicles, says Vandana Gombar.
The extraordinary spurt in two-wheeler sales over the last year and a half seems to have set tyre companies rolling. JK Tyre, like Apollo and Ceat, is entering the two and three-wheeler tyre market.
The company, which sells every second car in the domestic market, said it expected production and sales to grow between 4 per cent and 8 per cent for the financial year started in April.
After selling brands like Pulsar, Boxer, Platina and RE in over 70 countries, Bajaj Auto plans to enter Thailand this year followed by Brazil next year.
A majority of HMIL's current export comprises the i10 model, which is exported to Asia, Latin America and Western Europe. In addition, the company has stated that 90 per cent of the i20 model (a premium hatchback) will be exported. The company will produce 150,000 units of the model annually.
With a million-odd electric vehicles (EVs) - two-wheelers, e-rickshaws, buses and passenger cars - expected to hit the road this calendar year, the shift from gasoline-powered vehicles has become irreversible. Now the question is whether the supply chain is ready for this shift. Key components - the high-powered lithium-ion battery and the cells which go with it, the electric motor, and the electronics powered by chips - account for nearly 60 per cent of the cost of an EV.
Vehicle sales across categories registered a decline of 8.62 per cent to 20,86,358 units from 22,83,262 units in May 2018.
Also said that the slowing demand for Tata's Nano shows consumers aren't looking for low-cost cars.
Leading indicators suggest economic activity has been disrupted after demonetisation.
The total vehicle registrations in India fell by 29.85 per cent to 1,52,71,519 units in financial year 2020-21, the lowest in the last eight years, the Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA) said on Monday. Total vehicle registrations were at 2,17,68,502 units in fiscal year 2019-20. All categories of vehicles, except tractors were in red in FY21 with two-wheeler (2W), three-wheeler (3W), commercial vehicles (CV) and passenger vehicles (PV) falling by 31.51 per cent, 64.12 per cent, 49.05 per cent and 13.96 per cent respectively -- the lowest in last eight years and way below the FY13 levels, FADA said in a statement.
The entry of SoftBank-backed Ola into the electric scooter (e-scooter) segment is set to power up the overall market and perhaps fast-track the adoption of battery-operated vehicles. But for manufacturers of internal combustion engine (ICE)-powered two-wheelers, such as Bajaj Auto, Hero MotoCorp, and TVS Motor, it will be a double whammy. Not only will they have to contend with the aggressive pricing of Ola's scooter and incur a loss at each unit of the e-scooter sold, the volumes of their regular (ICE) models, too, could feel the squeeze, observed analysts. Ola is expected to price its e-scooter in the range of Rs 85,000-1.1 lakh.
PV registrations in this year's festive period stood at 287,717 units as against 333,456 units in the corresponding period last year, down 14 per cent. Two-wheeler registrations also fell by 13 per cent to 15,83,276 units as against 18,11,703 units in the year-ago period.
It is expected to be ready by 2017.
The group of five 'gau rakshaks' also allegedly forced one of the victims to beat up a woman accompanying them with chappals, a police officer said.
India has a history of jugaad, and retrofitting vehicles is one such manifestation of the legendary Indian skill. Not so long ago autorickshaws and small Marutis used to strap on subsidised LPG cylinders and power themselves to a cheap ride. There were the odd explosions, lives were lost, but the jugaad continued. Then compressed natural gas (CNG) was introduced in Delhi following a court order. Initially, customised CNG kits were fitted to conventional (internal combustion engine or ICE) autos cheaply, enabling commuting at less than half of what you would cough up for diesel. The industry is better organised now with Suzuki and Hyundai designing CNG-fired vehicles, and Mahindra and TVS manufacturing liquefied petroleum gas (LPG)-powered three wheelers.
The soaring prices of metals like lithium, nickel and cobalt, which are the primary constituents of the cell, as well as supply chain bottlenecks, are also pushing up the cost of batteries
While traditional automakers in India are reeling under a global shortage of semiconductors, the country's electric vehicle (EV) makers, too, are now facing a shortage of lithium-ion batteries, a key raw material. The soaring prices of metals like lithium, nickel and cobalt, which are the primary constituents of the cell, as well as supply chain bottlenecks, are also pushing up the cost of batteries. Battery manufacturers say that prices have been increasing every quarter since the beginning of 2021.
The Auto Component Manufacturers Association of India on Wednesday sought reduction in GST rate to a uniform level of 18 per cent for the entire automobile industry to stimulate demand and help save around 10 lakh jobs, which are at risk due to prolonged slowdown in vehicle sales.
'Rahul inspired Indian industry with an ethos, an ethos of being more confident, more independent, more thorough, more competitive, more generous, more public-spirited, and more national and more international all at once,' remembers Naushad Forbes.
10 stocks which are most popular with brokerages right now and are expected to deliver maximum upside over the next 12 months.
Italian auto major Piaggio Spa is making its wholly owned Indian subsidiary the global manufacturing hub for three-wheelers and a source of components to be used in its units located in other parts of the world.
TVS Motor Company plans to launch about eight two-wheeler models, including six motorcycles in the next 15 months in an aggressive bid to increase its share in the world's second largest two-wheeler market.
Utility vehicles leader Mahindra and Mahindra on Monday announced a nominal 0.5 per cent price hike across all models, expect for the premium sports utility vehicles XUV 500 and the Rexton from its Korean arm, despite falling sales, which dipped nearly 8 per cent in June.
While hybrids, CNG and biofuels found favour in 2018 among many carmakers including Maruti Suzuki, Mercedes-Benz, Toyota and Honda, others such as M&M and Tata Motors have shown full faith in electric vehicles.
A series of flip-flop on policies and a non-existent charging infrastructure are the biggest challenge in achieving the target of selling 6-7 million hybrid and electric vehicles by 2020.
An EV has to be purchased along with the battery as there are hardly any battery swapping, rental, or leasing business models available across India.
New Creta, petrol Vitarra Brezza.. A quick look at what went down at Auto Expo Day 2.
An increase in sales across all categories in the automobile industry, has made need for higher working capital inevitable.
