Tuesday, November 18th, 2008
Whether or not Bajaj’s partnership with Renault-Nissan gets formalised, Bajaj is committed to its four-wheeler project, which will include a small, low-cost car and a mini commercial vehicle, with both vehicles sharing a common engine.
Of course, none of this means that the Bajaj-Renault- Nissan alliance for the ULC is off. ‘Everything for the proposed JV is absolutely on track and all our teams are working 24×7 on the ULC project,’ said a Renault spokesperson recently.
As per the MoU - which is yet to translate into a formal agreement - Renault-Nissan will handle the car’s styling and design, while Bajaj will handle the manufacturing and sales/marketing. The powertrain - engine, transmission and gearbox - is supposed to be jointly developed by all three companies.
[Via: indiaautomotive]
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Wednesday, November 12th, 2008
Bajaj is working on a new variant of its XCD Sprint - XCD Sprint 150 , which would be fitted with the 150cc engine from the Pulsar 150 DTS-i. With its new 150, Bajaj hopes to take on bikes like the Suzuki GS150R , Hero Honda Hunk, TVS Apache RTR and Yamaha FZ16 . The new XCD Sprint is expected to be launched by the end of this year.
In the meanwhile, in response to the ongoing slump in demand in the Indian two-wheeler market, Bajaj has scaled back production at its Aurangabad plant in Maharashtra. This initiative is aimed at reducing inventory at the plant, which is currently said to be at around 18,000 units. Bajaj has also, in the recent past, cut down on production at its plants in Chakan and Pantnagar.
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Thursday, November 6th, 2008
Hyundai Motor India Ltd today said it is working on a new ‘mini car’ in the entry-level segment, which should hit the roads by 2011.
“We are developing a small car in the entry level range and it should hit the market by 2011,” HMIL Managing Director H S Lheem told reporters here. He, however, refused to divulge the details including the cost of the proposed car. A query, whether the HMIL’s small car was being planned to compete with the Tata ’s Nano , failed to elicit any response from the company officials, though sources said the target group for this product would be the same as Nano’s - two-wheeler users aspiring for a car.
Lheem further said the car would be manufactured from the company’s existing plant at Sriperumbudur, about 40 km from here. “We have adequate capacity to manufacture (the new car) in the plant. It’s capacity is about 6.5 lakh cars per annum and we are sure that it will accommodate,” Lheem, who was here to flag off the company’s ‘i20‘ range of cars, produced at the Sriperumbudur plant, to the European market, said.
[Via: sakaalytimes]
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Saturday, November 1st, 2008
Bajaj 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]
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Thursday, October 23rd, 2008
India`s second largest two-wheeler maker - Bajaj Auto - on Thursday announced a 22.50% decline in its standalone net profit for the quarter ended September 2008. During the quarter, the profit of the company fell to Rs 1,849.10 million from Rs 2,386 million in the same quarter, last year.
Total income for the quarter climbed 7.65% to Rs 25,705.30 million from Rs 23,877.70 million in the prior year period. Earnings per share stood at Rs 12.80 for the quarter ended September 2008. Shares of the company declined Rs 10.8, or 2%, to trade at Rs 530. The total volume of shares traded was 3,353 at the BSE.
[Via: myiris]
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Wednesday, October 22nd, 2008
Tata Nano will soon have a competitor from Honda Siel Cars India Ltd. Bajaj-Renault-Nissan have already announced to launch their Nano competitor in the Indian market and Honda Motor Company from Japan recently shook hands with Siddharth Sriram Group to launch a second small car in India.
The new small car will be a 600cc car that will be launched in the B or B+ segment. The 600cc K-series engine, currently being sold only in Japan, will power the new car model in India. It will roll out from the Rajasthan manufacturing facility and will be designed specifically for the Indian driving conditions.
The company also plans to launch its hatchback model, Jazz , in India which is a premium model powered by a 1200cc engine. It will be available in India by 2009.
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Friday, October 17th, 2008
Bajaj Auto, the country’s second largest two-wheeler manufacturer, may cut production as it sees a slowdown in motorcycle sales after the current festival season.
“We are preparing for a slowdown. This is the festive season, so demand is high but product rationalisation may happen from mid-November,” Sanjiv Bajaj, executive director, told reporters at a conference. “Production cut is not a bad word for us.”
Bajaj also said the company was extending credit directly to dealers and making faster payments to suppliers amid tight liquidity in the financial system. The statement comes amid uneasy financial conditions in the market which has dented consumer sentiment.
Stringent lending norms by banks and imposition of higher interest rates have affected the sales performance of the company. It is, however, expanding the reach of its in-house financing company, Bajaj Auto Finance, to all outlets to fill the void.
The company has seen a decline of 1.4 per cent in sales during the first half of the current financial year with sales of 786,000. In comparison, Hero Honda , the market leader, has posted a gain of 20 per cent in sales during the same period at 1.8 million units.
In September, however, sales rose 5.5 per cent on higher exports. Bajaj Auto shares rose Rs 6.25, or 1.2 per cent, to Rs 535.45 at the close of trading on the Bombay Stock Exchange today. They have dropped 11.5 per cent in the year compared with a 35 per cent drop in the benchmark Sensitive index.
Bajaj Auto recently launched a new motorcycle Platina 125 in an attempt to woo buyers in the festive season. The 125cc bike, which is priced at Rs 39,000 (ex-showroom) is cheaper than India’s largest selling 100cc bike Hero Honda Splendor, which is priced at Rs 41,000.
[Via: Business-standard]
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Friday, October 17th, 2008
BMW 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.
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Wednesday, October 15th, 2008
Auto components major, JBM Auto is planning to invest around Rs 245 crore at its plant in Chakan, near Pune. The company will be making body panels for various car manufacturers like Fiat, Tata, M&M and GM. JBM may also manufacture body panels and various other parts for Bajaj -Renault- Nissan ’s ultra low cost small car, which will be made at Chakan and is due to be launched in 2010.
[Via: indiaautomotive]
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Monday, October 6th, 2008
Out of the Pulsar variants, the P200 has been abnormally successful and Bajaj has decided to give it a lift in performance. Pulsar 200 will have the Fi engine as in the Pulsar 220.
This will improve the performance and the fuel economy of the bike. The Pulsar 220 is also expected to have an upgrade by the year 2009. It will have all black and feature a carbon fibre exhaust.
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