Auto Industry Updates and Reviews
BMW India is set to make a bang with the launch of BMW 3-Series Executive which is stripped down version of regular 3-Series from which many options and accessories have been removed to make it more affordable.
It is expected that BMW 3-Series Executive is going to be priced around 24 lakh rupees which will make it the best sedan in its segment in comparison to its main rivals Audi A4 & Mercedes C-Class.
MUMBAI: Three brands of Super Hyper Cars (SHCs), including the world’s fastest car, Ultimate Aero, are all set to storm Indian roads by the end of this year. Dubai-based Ultimate Motors, one of the leading distibutors of exotic and luxury sports cars in the world, will be launching the three brands of commercial SHCs - Shelby, Zenvo and Arash, by December. The three will be SSC Utimate Aero , Arash AF-10 and Zenvo ST1 .
“The demand for luxury cars in India is increasing of late and people are now keen to have customised cars. We are in touch with four leading dealers in India and expect to launch the commercial SHCs by the end of this year,” Ultimate Motors’ President, Nasser Al-Hai, told PTI here on the sidelines of a luxury lifestyle event here. Expect price of all three cars in range of 4.5 to 7 crores.
After the huge success of recently launched Apache RTR 180 & Flame SR125, TVS India is all set to tap the market of clutchless bikes with the launch of TVS Jaive .
Though no official announcement has been about the price and launch date of Jaive but it is being speculated that TVS is going to launch it in last week of November. TVS Jaive will feature an automatic clutch and four gears. TVS has good experiance in manufacturing bikes with automatic clutch as they are selling TVS Neo in Indonesia and it is selling in good numbers.
[Via: Bikes India ]
Tata Motors and Fiat joint venture is apprehended to launch Jeep Cherokee in India soon. This partnership will be launching a number of Chrysler models in India. The iconic Jeep Cherokee will be produced at the Ranjangaon facility near Pune. The Tata-Fiat alliance will initially start retailing the Cherokee and follow up with other products.
Italian car major Fiat acquired a 20% stake in Chrysler after the Michigan-based company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy earlier this year. Fiat’s 20%, stake in Chrysler could eventually go up to 51%. Chrysler will get access to Fiat’s small car technology while Fiat gets a footprint into the US market. With financing from the Federal Government, the `new Chrysler’ is supposed to change its product portfolio towards fuel-efficient vehicles. The Tata-Fiat alliance has been expanding production at its Ranjangaon facility.
Recently, Fiat India Automobiles (FIAPL), the Tata Motors-Fiat JV raised $510 million through a multi-tranche syndicated loan, which includes a $200 million term loan for working capital requirements. FIAPL is a 50:50 joint venture between Fiat Group and Tata Motors and manufactures Fiat and Tata cars and produces transmissions and engines.
[Via: Carazoo]
By around 2011, Wuling’ N200 and N300 series vans will be sold in India, which marks GM’s entry into the LCV segment in India. The LCV segment is populated with names like Force, Tata Motors, Mahindra, Piaggio etc. But as GM is going to sell minivans initially, they would have to compete with the likes of Maruti’s Omni and Tata’s Ace Magic. GM will equip the vans with fuel efficient diesel engines.
Wuling , which operates under directions of GM, is also said to be secretly developing a small car that will be slotted under the Chevrolet Spark in the future in India. Though there is no official confirmation of such a launch, GM officials overseas have spoken about the strategy adopted for the low-cost product which will use a lot of tried and test components from previous generation models.
Wuling’s vans are already sold in North Africa, South America and the Middle East as Chevrolets. GM could use the same ploy in India as it enjoys a good status among utility vehicle buyers through the Tavera. GM China sells about 80,000 Wuling minivans every month and cornered a market share of 43 per cent in the Chinese minivan segment. It will look to repeat the same with the Indian market as well.
[Via: BS-Motoring]
The CKD version of the car will be assembled at premier’s Chinchwad facility in Pune, where it currently manufactures Sigma van and Road-star pick-up. Rio will be less than four metres in length and will have a less than 1.5-litre diesel engine, it may thus get the tax benefit of a small car.
It is expected that the Premier Rio is likely to be priced around Rs 5 lakh. Premier Auto hopes to sell 1,000 units of the product initially. The existing 30 dealerships of Premier will sell the product and the company is opening up another 20 by the year end. The investment in this project is just a couple of crores as of now as the company would be using its existing assembly line in Pune.
Bajaj India has announced the launch date for much awaited Kawasaki Ninja 250R , it is going to be launched on 7th October and deliveries will start before diwali. Kawasaki Bajaj’s Official Website is also up and runnung. But it is not going to compete with R15 and Karizma ZMR because of its price which will be around 1.60-1.90 lakhs.
It is an entry level sports motorcycle with a fairing made further as if an actual off-road sports bike. Bajaj along with Kawasaki will be marketing it in India and is soon expected to be seen in the market in Bajaj Pro biking showrooms. Bajaj will import the Ninja250R in CKD form from Thailand to save on custom duties.
Kawasaki has marketed the Ninja 250R since 1986 as an entry-level sport motorcycle intended for use on paved roads. The bike is marketed in the US as the Ninja 250R, as the ZX250 in the UK, and as the GPX250 elsewhere.
[Via: BIKEINDIA]
By the year 2012, Nissan would run as many as 9 models in India, said the company. Of these five will be local assembled by which the company plans to capitalize 5% share of the market. The company has already made a tie-up with the French car maker Renault by which an investment of Rs. 4500 crore has been made to increase the production from the current 700 to 3000 by 2012. The company is running its show in India with just two models - X-Trail and Teana and is on the verge of making three more models in 2009. Nissan has sensed the market potential of India- a possible 3 million units by 2014.
Nissan’s aim is to grab the same 5% share which it possesses in the global market. For this the dealership too will be increased to 55 by 2012. Renault Nissan Automotive India Pvt Ltd is a joint venture between Renault and Nissan for the production in Chennai unit. The JV is to enhance the employee power to 3000 by 2012, of which the first 1500 will assemble in May 2010, when the production starts. With this expansion the Chennai unit will be able to deliver 4 lakh units per year with the full operation of the unit. The major feature of this production will be 85% of localized components.
Maruti Suzuki India has temporarily stopped production of the SX4 in order to change the engine, which would be Bharat IV compliant. The current Maruti SX4 doesn’t comply with the new norms which go in effect from April, 2011 in 11 cities in India.
The new engine will be a 1.6 VVT powerplant producing 106bhp (9 Bhp more than current). Maruti will also give some cosmetic design upgrades to the exterior to keep things afresh.
[Via: motorbeam]
