Tuesday, November 18th, 2008
Maruti Suzuki is inching close to the one-million mark in Alto sales in India. Launched eight years ago, the Alto has displaced the 800 as Maruti’s no.1 bestseller in the domestic market.
Alto sales have actually picked up very fast over the last 24-30 months. While Maruti only sold around 500,000 units of the Alto within the first six years of the car’s launch, it has sold around the same number over the last two years.
Apart from sales in the domestic market, Maruti has also exported about 180,000 units of the Alto, to various European countries. In 2009, most parts of the world will get a brand-new Alto, which will be sold as the A-Star in the Indian market. The current Alto will continue its innings in the Indian market.
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Saturday, November 15th, 2008
India’s first electric car, Maini Reva , is planning new marketing strategies to push its sales further. It plans to partner major electronic retail chains to sell its car at their showrooms. Reva is opting for unconventional and non-traditional routes to promote its eco-friendly car in India.
Owing to the rising petrol prices, the car has witnessed a surge in its sales since past 10 months. It has already sold 300 units in India by October 2008 as compared to its overall sales of 160 units in the last fiscal year. It expects to reach a target of 750 cars by the end of the year.
It now plans to sell its cars at exclusive showrooms that sell electronic products and electric cars. “The issue which keeps coming up is how do I feed my distribution channels if the sales are down,” says Mr. Chandramauli, who earlier worked with TVS Motors. He also stated that conventional modes of marketing usually do not work with models like Reva and a partnership with electronic retail chains, selling electronic products and electric cars, will act as “plug and play” model.
[Via: cartradeindia]
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Saturday, November 15th, 2008
Ford Fusion shall be phased out soon from the Indian car market. The model has shown a decline in sales since past several months. The company plans to phase out the model owing to its poor sales performance. The model was launched in early 2004 but has received a very poor response from the Indian auto market.
“Every car launched is phased out over a certain period. Fusion is not doing well in a slowed down market. Hence, we will take a call at the right time,” said Michael Boneham, President, Ford India. He also added that the car will be phased out gradually and certainly not with immediate effect. “The model is selling, but the response is not as expected… But we do not have a fixed schedule by when that would happen,” he said.
He said that Ford plans to launch its small car by 2010 and will stick to its $500 million investments in India. “We would also roll out the proposed small car with both petrol and diesel variants in 2010,” he added. The company will double its assembly line capacity from 1 lakh unit to 2 lakh units and will also set up an engine manufacturing facility for 2.5 lakh units in Chennai.
[Via: cartradeindia]
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Friday, November 14th, 2008
Hyundai Motor India has reached a landmark figure of two million cars, which the company has sold in India over the last 10 years. ‘Since its inception, Hyundai Motor India has always brought the best and the latest in automotive technology and design, backed by the best of warranty, competitive pricing and a huge sales and service support network.
This new record of producing two million cars will further empower Hyundai to play a vital role in the growth of the Indian automobile industry,’ said HS Lheem, MD, HMIL.
[Via: indiaautomotive]
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Tuesday, November 4th, 2008
Car and two wheeler sales in India took a dip in the month of October. Although the companies had been eyeing the festive season to move their stocks and clear their inventories, but the ongoing economic scenario compelled the small car segment buyer away from the market. The auspicious day of “Dhanteras” marked sales of 15000 units across the country which was lesser than last year’s sales of 17000 units on the same day.
Maruti Suzuki and Tata Motors have already reported a drop in sales in the month of October 2008. These two car manufacturers have stated that the market is seriously hurt by the rising interest rates and the overall credit crunch in the market. Maruti reported sale of 64,490 units in October 2008 as against 69,415 units last year.
On the other hand, the major two-wheeler manufacturers, Hero Honda, Bajaj and TVS Motors have also reported a decline in their sales in the month of October 2008. On the brighter side, the exports figures have lent a serious support to the sales figures of especially Bajaj and TVS Motors.
[Via: cartradeindia]
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Saturday, November 1st, 2008
Tata Motors has reported a 6.1% increase in revenues (net of excise) to Rs 7,078.85 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2008, compared to Rs 6,672.65 crore in the corresponding quarter last year. Profit before tax (before notional loss on foreign exchange valuation) was Rs 643.03 crore, an increase of 8.9%, compared to Rs 590.34 crore in the corresponding quarter last year.
After considering notional exchange valuation loss of Rs 285.02 crore (compared to a notional gain of Rs 30.85 crore in the corresponding quarter last year), reflecting the volatility in foreign exchange rates impacting the company’s long-term funds raised through issue of foreign currency convertible (FCC) instruments, profit before tax was Rs 358.01 crore, a decline of 42.4%, compared to Rs 621.19 crore in the corresponding quarter last year. Profit after tax (after notional loss on foreign exchange valuation) was Rs 346.99 crore, a decline of 34.1% compared to Rs 526.84 crore in the corresponding quarter last year.
[Via: indiaautomotive]
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Saturday, November 1st, 2008
The luxury car market seems to be unaffected by the ongoing financial turmoil in the country. All the luxury car makers like Porsche, BMW , Volvo, Mercedes, Audi, Rolls Royce have recorded fantastic growth in the past months. Daimler India, that owns the brand Mercedes has clocked 61 percent growth in its sales.
Porsche India is also hopeful of doubling its sales in the country and aims to sells 200 cars and sports utility vehicles against last year’s sales of 101 units. “There is a lot of pent up demand in the market, which was not fulfilled earlier due to the absence of companies which makes those cars.
We will be launching two more models next year,” says Rod Wallace, Managing Director, Porsche India. Porsche currently sells Boxster, Cayenne, Caymany and 911 models in India. Its cars cost around Rs. 50 lakh to Rs 2 crores in the domestic market. It also plans to appoint more dealers in the country, especially in Punjab along with Hyderabad, Chennai and Bangalore.
[Via: cartradeindia]
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Friday, October 31st, 2008
TVS Motor Company has reported a 23.2% increase in its revenues for the July-September quarter, FY2008-09, at Rs 1,034 crore, compared to Rs 839 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous year.
Despite increasing input costs, the lack of availability of retail finance and a general downturn in the economic scenario, TVS posted profit before tax of Rs 13.9 crore and profit after tax of Rs 10.4 crore, compared to Rs 16.9 crore and Rs 11.9 crore in Q2, FY2007-08 (which had the benefit of Rs 10.2 crore (net) on account of exceptional items.)
TVS also recorded a growth in its two-wheeler sales, with 181,000 bikes being sold in Q2, compared with 144,000 units sold in Q2 last year. TVS scooters clocked sales of 77,000 units, compared to 76,000 units sold in the corresponding period last year. The company reached a significant milestone in July this year, when it reached the two-million mark in the sales of the TVS Scooty.
TVS exported 55,000 two-wheelers in Q2, an increase of more than 50% over the corresponding period last year. The company now exports its two-wheelers to more than 54 countries worldwide.
[Via: indiaautomotive]
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Wednesday, October 22nd, 2008
Racing ahead of main rival Bajaj Auto, Hero Honda continues to record an amazing performance this year, despite the overall recession in the Indian automotive market.
In fact, Hero Honda posted its highest net profit in five quarters, with a 50% increase in profit after tax (PAT) at Rs 306.3 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2008. The company clocked Rs 204.3 crore in the same period last year, and Rs 298.7 crore in the fourth quarter of FY 2007.
Due to better cost control, more efficient work practices and higher sales, Hero Honda’s operating profit margins also improved to 15.26% during the quarter, against 14.06% in the same period last year, and 12% in the first quarter.
Hero Honda’s motorcycle and scooter sales went up by 29% during the quarter to 972,000 units, against last year’s 756,000 units. The company sold 537,000 vehicles during the Diwali month in 2007, and aims to cross that mark this year with 600,000 units.
‘We have posted the best-ever sales in the fiscal and are aiming to net the highest-ever sales in October. Our margins grew as a result of good sales volume and strong fiscal discipline. Cost-control and greater penetration in the market also helped bring in better profits. We have built a huge stock to attain the highest volume growth in the festive season. To meet the liquidity crunch in the market, we have entered into tie-ups with regional, rural and co-operative banks to meet customers’ credit needs,’ said Pawan Munjal, MD, Hero Honda.
Hero Honda, which currently has a 55% market share in the two-wheeler segment in India, recently launched four new variants of its existing bikes, and is expected to launch more variants and perhaps two or three all-new bikes by end-2009.
According to analysts and industry experts, Hero Honda’s fundamentals are strong and it has posted impressive volume growth, outperforming the entire two-wheeler industry. The company improved its realization on the back of shifting bulk production to the tax-free zone in Haridwar, and its bottom line has grown with effective cost control management.
[Via: indiaautomotive]
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Wednesday, October 22nd, 2008
With the new Honda City having been launched in India recently - which is expected to boost the company’s sales significantly - Honda Siel Cars India Ltd. (HSCI) is looking at an overall sales target of 65-70,000 cars this year.
Up to seventy percent of HSCI’s sales in India come from the City, and with the new City widely expected to outperform the competition in its class, and with the Jazz hatchback also coming in by mid-2009, the next 12 months may well be extremely good for Honda in terms of sales.
[via: cartradeindia]
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