Chevrolet Cruze @ 2008 Paris Motor show
Saturday, November 15th, 2008
Fiat India Postpones Linea & Grande Punto Launch
Thursday, November 13th, 2008Fiat India has announced the delay in the launch of its popular model and mid-size sedan, Fiat Linea . It now plans to launch the sometime in December. Moreover, the launch of its Grande Punto has also been pushed back further to sometime next year rather than December 2008.
“We are optimistic that the market will improve in the last quarter of this year. We have pushed back new launches as the series of government initiatives are likely to bear fruit and improve sentiment by then. So, we will launch our new cars at an appropriate time,” said Rajeev Kapoor, CEO, FIA.
[Via: cartradeindia]
Bajaj to launch XCD sprint in December
Saturday, November 1st, 2008Bajaj has officially announced that it will launch the XCD sprint in December. Expectation on the XCD sprint is running high ever since the bike was unveiled at the January auto expo. Espscially when Honda came up with the sporty stunner everyone was expecting the XCD sprint but Bajaj remained mute.
Bajaj today officially said it will launch a new sport motorcycle in December, the third of four products off the XCD platform. Recently Bajaj launched the 125cc platina and last year it launched the XCD. XCD sprint is powered by a 4 valve, DTSi engine developing 12.5PS of peak power and 10.3Nm of peak torque at 6500rpm. 5 speed tranmission transmits power to the rear wheel. Gas charged suspension at the rear, LED tail lamps and LCD console are other distinct features of XCD sprint.
[Via: indiaautomotive]
Apollo Tyres Q2 FY 2008 profits down by 74%
Monday, October 27th, 2008Despite increased sales, Apollo Tyres has reported a steep fall in its Q2 FY 2008 profits due to increases in raw material prices. India’s second largest tyre manufacturing company, Apollo Tyres posted a consolidated net profit of Rs 151 million, on sales of Rs 12.6 billion in the quarter, compared to a profit of Rs 576 million on sales of Rs 10.8 billion in Q2 FY 2007.
The company’s consolidated net profit margin for the quarter came in at 1.2 percent, compared with the preceding quarter’s 4.4 percent. ‘It has been a testing quarter for the company and the industry, but I do believe that the worst might be behind us,’ said Onkar Kanwar, chairman, Apollo Tyres.
The company, which had last raised prices by about seven percent in July, is likely to raise prices again by 3-4 percent over the next one month. Apollo Tyres, however, stands by its forecast of 15-20 percent growth in FY09, and will also go ahead with its planned capacity expansion in India and South Africa, investing up to US$320 million towards this.
[Via: indiaautomotive]
Maruti To Launch Its First Luxury Family Car in India
Thursday, October 23rd, 2008|
Maruti Suzuki India Limited, plans to enter the D-segment of the Indian car market. It will be launching its new model, Kizashi, in India by 2009. It will be one of the first cars in India that will have four-wheel drive in its segment. The new model will compete with Honda Civic, Toyota Corolla Altis, Hyundai Sonata, Skoda Octavia, and Volkswagen Jetta. Maruti is already the most successful car manufacturer in the A-segment and B-segment cars in India. Its engineers are now working towards a new target of bringing the model from the concept form to the production level. The car was first unveiled at the Frankfurt Motors Show 2007. It was also showcased at the Delhi Auto Expo 2008. The new model, Kizashi , is basically a crossover sports sedan powered with an advanced four-valve turbo-fired 2-litre petrol engine completely compliant with Euro V norms. |
Maruti Suzuki tops J.D. Power’s 2008
Tuesday, October 21st, 2008For the ninth consecutive year, Maruti Suzuki ranks highest in customer satisfaction with authorized dealer service in India, according to the J.D. Power Asia Pacific 2008 India Customer Service Index (CSI) Study released today.
The study, now in its 12th year, measures satisfaction among vehicle owners who visited their authorized dealership service center for maintenance or repair work during the first 12 to 18 months of ownership, which typically represents the warranty period.
Overall satisfaction is determined by examining seven measures (listed in order of importance): problems experienced; service quality; user-friendly service; service advisor; service initiation; service delivery; and in-service experience.
Maruti Suzuki achieves an overall CSI score of 820 on a 1,000-point scale. Overall customer satisfaction with dealer service for the industry improves slightly in 2008-up by 3 points since 2007, with six of the 11 ranked brands demonstrating gains.
While ranking below the industry average, Tata and Mahindra emerge as the most improved brands respectively, particularly in the areas of service initiation, quality of service advisors and in-service experience.
‘Maruti Suzuki has effectively implemented simple procedures that improve satisfaction with the value of work performed and perceptions of the fairness and honesty of the dealer, such as greeting service customers quickly upon arrival and fully explaining charges and repairs,’ says Mohit Arora, senior director at J.D. Power Asia Pacific, Singapore.
[Via: indiaautomotive]
BMW India launches BMW Xpo
Friday, October 17th, 2008BMW India has launched the “BMW Xpo” at BMW dealerships across India until 28 October 2008, where prospective and existing customers can test drive the range of BMW cars at all BMW India dealerships during the BMW Xpo2008.
During the BMW Xpo 2008, special financing and leasing offers have been launched by BMW Financial Services in conjunction with ICICI Bank and ORIX Auto Infrastructure Services Ltd. Prospective BMW car buyers can also avail special insurance offers from Bajaj Allianz.
ICICI Bank will exclusively offer “Fixed Interest Rates” instead of “Floating Interest Rates” to all loans logged in for BMW customers. Attractive offers on the BMW 3 Series include “Zero down payment” option for select customers through ORIX Auto Infrastructure Services Ltd, Interest free option for a fixed period of time, Lower fixed interest rate of 15% from ICICI Bank, and a special discount of 30% on a basic insurance policy from Bajaj Allianz.
