GM India wins National Safety Award
General Motors India has won the National Safety Award in the Motor Vehicles category. Its Halol plant has been selected for the award for its best safety systems in the industry. The annual honour is presented by the Directorate General of the Factory Advice Service & Labour Institute (DGFASLI), the country's premier institution for safety under the aegis of Ministry of Labour & Employment, Government of India.
"The award demonstrates General Motors commitment to safety and security measures at its plants, said Mr. P. Balendran,Vice President, General Motors India. We have maintained a continued focus on encouraging accident prevention and implementing safety procedures across all our processes and management. This award is very significant, as it comes against stiff competition from automobile manufacturers in India. GM India aims to continue raising the bar for safety in all its operations, Mr. Balendran added."
Government of India instituted the National Safety Awards in 1965 to recognize good safety performance on the part of industrial establishments and to encourage accident prevention and safety promotion programmes. GM India was selected for the award in the automobiles category are for its safety performance against stiff competition, which has been endorsed by Directorate of Industrial Safety & Health.
[Via: CW]
Yamaha, Hero Honda, Suzuki and TVS log growth in sales
Yamaha India has reported an increase of 63% in its sales during August 2009, at 19,508 units, as compared to 11,974 units sold in August last year. The company has bookings for over 12,000 units for its latest bike that was launched in India recently - the 150cc Fazer.
Hero Honda reports an increase of 35.88% in sales during August this year, at 415,137 units, as compared to 305,516 units sold in August last year. 'With sales of more than four lakh units, August 2009 has been a month of record sales for Hero Honda,' said Anil Dua, senior VP (marketing and sales), Hero Honda.
Up next is Suzuki, which logged a 17.68% increase in its two-wheeler sales in India during August this year, at 13,030 units, as against 11,072 units sold during August last year. According to Suzuki, its latest offering in the Indian market - the GS150R - was the main reason behind this increase in sales.
And finally, TVS Motor, which saw its total two-wheeler sales go up by 11%, at 126,842 units during August this year, as against 114, 321 units sold during August last year. TVS sold 51,127 motorcycles and 28,582 scooters in the domestic market during August 2009. The company also exported 11,747 two-wheelers during August this year, a decline of 35% over last year's figure for the same month.
[Via: indiaautomotive]
Tata Motors August sales rise 14%
Tata Motors' total sales (including exports) of Tata commercial and passenger vehicles in August 2009 were 49,810 vehicles, a growth of 14% over 43,600 vehicles sold in August 2008. The company's domestic sales of Tata commercial and passenger vehicles for August 2009 were 47,126 nos., a 21% growth over 38,828 nos. sold in August last year. Cumulative sales (including exports) for the company for the fiscal at 220,978 nos., recorded a growth of 2% over 216,062 nos. sold last year.
Commercial Vehicles: The company's sales of commercial vehicles in August 2009 in the domestic market were 29,762 nos., a 28% growth compared to 23,231 vehicles sold in August last year. LCV sales were 18,644 nos., a growth of 42% over August last year. M&HCV sales stood at 11,118 nos., a growth of 10% over August last year. This is the second consecutive month of growth for M&HCV.
Cumulative sales of commercial vehicles in the domestic market for the fiscal were 130,226 nos., a growth of 11% over last year. Cumulative LCV sales were 81,824 nos., a growth of 34% over last year, while M&HCV sales stood at 48,402 nos., lower by 14% over last year.
Passenger Vehicles: The passenger vehicles business reported a total sale and distribution offtake of 20,146 nos. (17,364 Tata + 2,782 Fiat) in the domestic market in August 2009, a 26% increase compared to 15,948 nos. (15,597 Tata + 351 Fiat) in August last year. Sales of Tata cars, at 14,755 nos., grew by 21% over August 2008. The sales of the Tata Nano were 2,501 nos. The Indica range sales were 9,598 nos., a growth of 24% over August last year. The Indigo range recorded sales of 2,656 nos., lower by 41% over August last year. The UV/SUV range of Sumo/Safari/Xenon XT accounted for sales of 2,609 nos., lower by 22% over August last year.
Jaguar Land Rover sales continue to get an encouraging response. The Land Rover range will be augmented by the addition of the Freelander 2, which will be launched in September.
Cumulative sales and distribution offtake of passenger vehicles in the domestic market for the fiscal were 90,718 nos. (80,392 Tata + 10,326 Fiat), against 83,507 nos. (81,343 Tata + 2,164 Fiat) last year, a growth of 9%. Cumulative sales of the Nano were 4,976 nos. Cumulative sales of the Indica range at 47,010 nos., reported a growth of 15%. Cumulative sales of the Indigo family were 15,078 nos., lower by 31.5%. Cumulative sales of the Sumo/Safari/Xenon XT range were 13,328 nos., lower by 27%.
Exports: The company's sales from exports at 2,684 vehicles in August 2009 were lower by 44% compared to 4,772 vehicles in August last year. The cumulative sales from exports for the fiscal at 10,360 nos. were lower by 41% over 17,627 nos. in the same period last year.
[Via: infibeam]
Toyota to end its joint venture with GM
Toyota was a partner at a plant in a joint venture with GM in California. However, stung by GM's bankruptcy, Toyota is contemplating pulling out of NUMMI by March 2010. Toyota would transfer production of the Tacoma pickup truck to its light trucks factory in San Antonio, Texas in June. It will move output of the Corolla sedan to its factory in Ontario, Canada and a factory in Japan.
While no official decision has been announced, Toyota has already informed its main suppliers about this. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has appealed to the automaker to save the jobs of the 4,500 workers at the plant but if reports are correct, then Toyota will pull out of its partnership. The plant is working only at half its capacity and so closing it down will be financially viable for Toyota.
[Via: globalmotors]
New Bentley Mulsanne Makes World Debut
Bentley Press Release - NEW BENTLEY MULSANNE MAKES WORLD DEBUT AT PEBBLE BEACH CONCOURS D'ELEGANCE, CALIFORNIA
16 August, 2009 (Bentley Motors, Crewe, England) - Today, Bentley Motors unveiled the Mulsanne, the companys all-new flagship grand tourer, at the prestigious Pebble Beach Concours D'Elegance in Monterey, California. The Mulsanne is inspired by the company founder W.O. Bentleys crowning achievement in 1930, the 8-litre. And it was W.O.s own sensitively conserved company car that shared the podium with the new Mulsanne in Pebble Beach. This early motoring masterpiece represented the last big Bentley that was designed, engineered and built from the ground up by Bentley engineers - until now.
Nearly 80 years later, while paying respect to this illustrious past, the new Mulsanne is a thoroughly modern statement of luxury driving and grand touring. Conceived, styled and engineered entirely at Bentleys headquarters in Crewe, England, the Mulsanne, with its completely new and unique platform, goes into production next year in a new state-of-the-art manufacturing facility within the Crewe factory.
Introducing the Bentley Mulsanne at Pebble Beach, where Bentley was the featured marque, Dr. Franz-Josef Paefgen, Chairman and Chief Executive of Bentley Motors, said:
"The challenge we set our engineers was to create a new grand Bentley that would stand as the pinnacle of British luxury motoring, offering the worlds most exclusive driving experience. They have responded to this challenge with real passion and the result is a luxury grand tourer that sets new standards in terms of comfort, effortless performance and hand-crafted refinement the very qualities for which Bentley is renowned."
The Bentley design team, lead by Dirk van Braeckel, have created a flagship that offers the classic sporting, styling cues long-associated with Bentley - expressed in a thoroughly contemporary way.
From the very first hand sketches in the styling studio, we were inspired by the traditions of the grand touring Bentleys and have sought to evolve this story for a new generation of Bentley enthusiasts.
The return of the Mulsanne name to a car carrying Bentleys iconic Winged B emblem underlines the companys racing pedigree and nowhere reflects that heritage better than the famed Le Mans circuit, the scene of no fewer than six Bentley triumphs. Few places offer a stronger or more emotive connection with the Bentley marque than the famed Mulsanne corner.
The Bentley 8-litre displayed alongside the Mulsanne in California was first shown at the 1930 London Motor Show. It was the second-built and was W.O. Bentleys company car for two years. Capable of reaching more than 100 mph, the 8-litre demonstrated W.O. Bentleys ambition and ability to build a grand luxury car capable of surpassing every other leading manufacturer of the day. A total of 100 cars were built in 1930 and 1931.
The 8-litres breathtaking performance and quality was perhaps the finest example of a pure grand Bentley. Every mechanical detail carried W.O. Bentleys unique stamp and it was the clearest demonstration of a car built without compromise, commented Dr. Ulrich Eichhorn, Member of the Board Engineering.
The Mulsanne has been designed with exactly the same guiding principles, so it is entirely fitting that these Bentleys from different eras share the same stage.
The Bentley Mulsanne will go on sale from mid 2010. It will also be displayed at the forthcoming IAA Frankfurt Motor Show (15-27th September, 2009) where Bentley Motors will provide additional product information.
Rs. 8000 Crores Worth Capital Expenditure from Tata Motors
Tata Motors is ready to invest Rs. 8000 crores in next 3-4 years to polish and facelift its product portfolio. The company is taking advantage of easier availability of credit. It had earlier decided to cut down its capex plans as announced in May 2009. However, the financial situation is improving and the interest rates are expected to come to ideal levels.
The company intends to revamp its future products and launch new products like Indigo sedan, Indicruz crossover model and gen-next versions of Sumo and Safari. The new capex program will also cover the commercial vehicle division along with its passenger car division.
"At any point of time, Tata Motors works on several innovations on its product portfolio, in the light of long-term needs of its customers both on a domestic and global scale. We cannot share any specific information on our future plans," said Tata Motors spokesman. He also stated that this expenditure does not involve any investments for its international passenger car portfolio that includes Jaguar and Land Rover.
[Via: cartradeindia]
Tata Motors to launch Indica Vista Ignis
Tata Motors is all set to launch a top end variant of Indica Vista - Indica Vista Ignis, The changes in the new Indica Vista Ignis is not just cosmetic but skin deep. Yes, Indica Vista Ignis will get the advanced 1.4L SAFIRE engine. The 1.4L which already powers the Fiat Grand Punto develops 90PS of max power at 6000rpm and 115Nm of peak torque at 4500rpm.
Tata Motors will also equip the Indica Vista Ignis with lot of new features. When Tata Motors launched the Indica Vista, the company said it would soon come up with variants fitted with ABS and airbags. Trust Tata will use this opportunity to equip vista with those safety features.
[Via: Vicky]
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]