Nissan to shift Micra production from the UK to India
Nissan has announced its decision to shift production of its small car - the new Micra hatchback - from the UK to India. 'We have decided to manufacture the Micra at our upcoming factory at Oragadam, near Chennai,' said Nissan India MD and CEO, Kiminobu Tokuyama, speaking to a national Indian newspaper.
The new Nissan Micra will be sold in India and will also be exported to Europe and some Western Asian countries. Moving production of the Micra to India has been prompted by better cost efficiencies and the presence of a high-quality vendor base here, which would ultimately allow Nissan to rationalise the Micra's prices in the hyper competitive small cars segment.
Over the next 3-4 years, in addition to the new Micra, Nissan is also expected to produce another 7-8 models at its facility near Chennai, where production will start from May 2010. Nissan's plant at Oragadam will have a production capacity of 400,000 units per annum and Nissan expects to invest as much as Rs 4,500 crore in this facility, by 2015.
[Via: indiaautomotive]
Tata Nano Mother Plant Ready by January 2010
"The Sanand plant will be ready by January next year. At first stage, the plant will produce more yellow and silver coloured cars as they are in demand in the market," Chairman Ratan Tata said at the company's Annual General Meeting here. The new plant will cater to the domestic demands first.
Later, when the plant is fully operational, it will manufacture cars to cater to demands from Europe, Africa and Asia. Tata Motors started delivering the first batch of cars in India last month. "European, African and some Asian countries have expressed great interest in Nano," said Ratan Tata.
Tata Motors is also planning to build higher capacity engines for its Nano car. It had launched the car targeting the lower income group in India who wish to own a car. However, looking at the strong demand from the export market, now the company is planning for its higher end versions as well.
[Via: cartradeindia]
Audi A5 Sportback
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5TPowmhKagw
Audi A5 Sport Back Honest Johns Road Test
GM to compete with Tata Nano
Tata has shaken up the auto world with its world's cheapest car, Nano, offering and now auto makers are also waking up to the cheap car market. Iconic automaker GM is seriously contemplating coming out with a competitor for the Nano in India, but its model will be priced at $4,000.
Nick Reilly, GM's new executive vice president for international operations, said that the new ultra cheap car has a market in certain countries (like Latin America and Asia) and GM would be interested in exploiting that space. If made, the car may be manufactured by SAIC-GM-Wuling Automotive Co which incorporates the Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp.
[Via: globalmotors]
Qatar now Holds a Stake in Porsche
Porsche Automobil Holding SE, Stuttgart, and Qatar Holding LLC (QH) signed an agreement signaling the entry of the Emirate of Qatar into the Porsche SE family. In the afternoon, the Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Porsche SE, Dr. Wolfgang Porsche, welcomed the delegation from Qatar led by Prime Minister of the Emirate, Sheik Hamad ibn Jassim ibn Jabir Al-Thani, to the historical Porsche Villa located on Killesberg Hill outside of Stuttgart. There, in the presence of the Minister President of Baden-Württemberg, Günther Oettinger, the two men signed two contractual agreements.
The Prime Minister of the Emirate of Qatar signed the purchase agreement with which Qatar will acquire ten percent of the ordinary shares of Porsche SE. As spokespersons for the family shareholders, Dr. Wolfgang Porsche and Hans Michel Piëch also signed the agreement. The second agreement, which provides for the takeover by the Emirate of a major share in the cash settled options relating to Volkswagen shares, was signed by Ahmad Al Sayed, CEO of Qatar Holding, and Chairman of the Executive Board of Porsche AG, Michael Macht, as well as his Deputy Chairman, Thomas Edig, who are both members of the Executive Board of Porsche SE.
Sheik Hamad ibn Jassim ibn Jabir Al-Thani emphasized that Qatar considers itself a strategic investor who has great interest in the long-term positive development of Porsche. "Porsche ranks among the most valuable automobile brands in the world. We are proud to be a part of this sports car manufacturer and its rich tradition and history. Through our trust-based collaboration with the family shareholders, we will help ensure that the success story of Porsche, and, in the future, of Volkswagen continues to be written," explained the Prime Minister.
[Via: CW]
Bajaj Mulling Over its Ultra Cheap Car Project
Bajaj had announced that it will introduce its ultra cheap car in the Indian market, soon after the Nano was launched. The car is coded as ULC and a feasibility study is underway to study the economic and technical feasibility of such a project in India.
''The techno-economic feasibility for the passenger 4-wheeler will be evaluated by Bajaj-Renault-Nissan for a final decision, leading to firming up of the co-operation parameters among partners and a suitable JV agreement,'' according to the company.
Bajaj will build this car in association with Nissan and Renault in India. The USP for selling this car will be its fuel economy as Bajaj promised that this car will deliver the best mileage, exceeding any other small car in the country and will be the most fuel efficient car in India. It stated the emphasis will be on the fuel economy and not the car's price. The car will be built at Bajaj's Chakan plant near Pune with an initial capacity of producing 250,000 units annually.
Bajaj is also revamping the car's design which was originally designed by Renault. The new design will take into consideration aerodynamic aspect and other features that will enable car to deliver better mileage.
[Via: cartradeindia]
Maruti A-Star Crosses One Lakh Mark
Maruti Suzuki launched its new KB series model A-Star last year. The company rolled out its 100,000th model from its Manesar plant recently. A-star is the flagship exports model of the company which is also being sold as Nissan Pixo in the overseas market. Other models like SX4, Swift and Swift Dzire are also being manufactured at the Manesar plant.
"A-Star is doing very well in the export market. We are planning to export over 75,000 units of the car by the end of this fiscal," said Maruti Suzuki India Chairman R C Bhargava. He also stated that Nissan, who sells the A-Star under its label in Europe, has increased its exports order from 30,000 units to 54,000 units. Earlier the company was hesitant to place the order but looking at the response from the European markets the company has increased its exports order.
Maruti also exports its A-Star model to Netherlands, the UK, Germany, Spain, Italy, Saudi Arabia, UAE and more than 40 countries across the globe.
[Via: cartradeindia]
Nissan Increases A-Star Order From Maruti
The Maruti A-Star is not only setting the sales chart on fire as a Suzuki but even as a Nissan. The growing demand for small cars in Europe has led Nissan to nearly double the cars that it buys from Maruti Suzuki. The contract manufactured A-Star's annual order is now in excess of 50,000 units.
"Against the earlier indicated order of 30,000 units for this fiscal, Nissan has now confirmed that it plans to buy 54000 units," Maruti chairman R C Bhargava said. "Total exports to Nissan will now far exceed what was originally projected by them," he added.
[Via: motorbeam]
Pininfarina to sell to Tata
There are strong rumors floating that Tata may be looking at buying a stake in Pininfarina. Pininfarina is heavily in debt and is looking at finance options to get out of it - the company has already committed to do so.
On its part, Tata which already has Jaguar and Land Rover under its belt and has made a success with its Nano, is looking either at a partnership (so unofficial reports say) or a controlling interest in this Italian design/contract manufacturing business.
Pininfarina has its fingers in many pies: it is working on an electric car with Vincent Bolore, it has contracts with both Ford and Volvo to build Cabriolets of the Focus Coupe-Cabriolet and the C70 and now perhaps it will deal with the Indian automaker. If it does sell to Tata, the Indian automaker will build on an already strong portfiolio of famous global brands.
[Via: autoincar]
80 Lakh Marutis in India
Maruti Suzuki India has passed the milestone of producing 80 lakh cars in India. The company is still India's largest car manufacturer and the second largest car exporter. Maruti accounts for every second car sold in India and dominate the small car segment that accounts for nearly two-third of the overall car sales in India.
The first car rolled out on 14 December 1983 from the Gurgaon plant. Maruti currently has its two plants, the second being at Manesar near Delhi. So far the company has manufactured 81,05,228 units from its two manufacturing unit. MSIL manufactured 27 lakh M800 all these year and at least 25 lakh units were sold in the domestic market alone.
Now Maruti Suzuki is looking at new business avenues. It is already setting up an India-exclusive R&D center in Bangalore which will be responsible for the development of new designs and models exclusively as per the Indian customers. It is also ready to ship its batch of 54000 units of A-Star which will be sold as Nissan Pixo in the UK.
[Via: cartradeindia]