Maruti-Suzuki Awards Autoliv India
Autoliv India has been presented with the Maruti Suzuki Overall Excellence Gold Award. This award was presented to Autoliv India for the successful launch of the first airbag project in India in Maruti Suzuki A-Star. The award was given in recognition of supplier excellence during the annual supplier conference.
Maruti-Suzuki is India's largest passenger car manufacturer and A-Star is the first Indian car to have domestically produced airbags (Front & Side) in it. Autoliv supplies all 6 airbags and the steering wheel for A-Star.
"It is a great honor for Autoliv to be recognized with such a prestigious award", said Jan Carlson, Autoliv's President and CEO, after the award-winning ceremony in India. "It acknowledges the hard work of our Indian team and the importance of safety for automakers in emerging markets."
Autoliv has four manufacturing facilities in India Bangalore, Gurgaon, Chennai, and Uttaranchal. Apart from manufacturing airbags and seatbelts, it has testing & development facilities for seatbelts and airbags. Started in early 90s, the company is the leader in the Indian seatbelt and airbag markets, with a market share of more than 50%. Major customers include Maruti-Suzuki, Hyundai, Tata, Mahindra, Toyota, GM, Ford, & Nissan and sales totaled approximately $50 million in 2008.
[Via: carazoo]
Maruti To Launch Zen Estilo With K-Series Engine
Maruti will phase out the current F10D engine of the Zen Estilo and will plant the 1.0 K-Series engine in it. The 1.0 K-Series engine is a 3 cylinder unit which does duty in the A-Star and is known for being fuel efficient.
Along with the engine change, Maruti will also do minor cosmetic changes to the exterior as well as the interior to keep the car looking fresh. Due to Bharat IV norms Maruti has no option but to change the engines in almost all its cars.
[Via: motorbeam]
Maruti Suzuki wins ‘Golden Peacock Eco-Innovation Award’
Maruti Suzuki India Limited, the leader in Indian car market, has bagged the 'Golden Peacock Eco-Innovation Award' for adopting environment friendly technology in its products and processes.
The award was presented to the company by the World Environment Foundation during the recently organized 'Global Convention on Climate' in Palampur, Himachal Pradesh.
An eminent jury, under the Chairmanship of Justice P N Bhagwati, former Chief Justice of India and Member, United Nations Human Rights Commission, selects the winner. The criterion of the award was based on a product or service, which shows a quantum jump in the usage of current technology to achieve maximum customer satisfaction at a minimum cost.
Speaking on the occasion, Mr. MM Singh, Managing Executive Officer (Production) Maruti Suzuki said, "We are committed to contribute to the cause of environment by constantly bringing in green technology into our products and processes. We are very happy that our efforts towards a greener environment have been recognized. This award will provide us with further fillip to explore and research for new avenues to go green."
Maruti Suzuki was short-listed for the award for two landmark initiatives taken towards reduction in the green house gas emissions throughout the life cycle.
First, the company launched K-series engines, that are ready for future emission norms,. This series includes engines that are compliant with BS-III, BS-IV norms (the currently applicable environment norms in India) as well as the Euro-V (for the European markets).
These engines are highly fuel efficient while being very low on CO2 emission. The K series engines are used in the recently launched Maruti Suzuki Ritz as well as A-star in India. The A-star is exported as Suzuki Alto to the European markets. The Suzuki Alto is Euro-V compliant and has CO2 emissions as low as 103g/km.
Maruti Suzuki's parent company, Suzuki Motor Corporation, Japan has designed the K-series engines with an aim to play an important environmental role globally, by introducing Green Engine technology that is vital for reducing CO2 emissions and enhancing fuel consumption.
The KB engine plant at Maruti Suzuki's Gurgaon manufacturing plant is a masterpiece, boasting of energy efficient, environment friendly manufacturing facility.
The second initiative that helped Maruti Suzuki bag the award was the company's initiative to use specially designed double-decker railway rakes for dispatching cars as opposed to the conventional use of trailers. This, first of its kind initiative in India helps in transporting cars in highly efficient manner, at much lower costs and impact on environment.
The 'Golden Peacock Eco-Innovation Award' is given annually to the most innovative product satisfying the customers' long-term needs in a most cost-effective manner. This international certification is awarded to a company only when it demonstrates its commitment and compliance to environmental concerns; ensure quality, especially in terms of customer satisfaction; and taking adequate health and safety measures to contain risks and hazards to its workforce.
The World Environment Foundation (WEF) is one of the leading non-profit, non-governmental organizations solely dedicated to the improvement of the environment and the sustainable development.
[Via: infibeam]
Maruti Swift Dzire tops Indian C-segment
By tacking on a boot to the very stylish Swift, Maruti created the very dumpy, awkward looking Dzire. However, it would seem that for C-segment car buyers in India, looks don't matter. And that's because the Swift Dzire was the no.1 bestselling car in its segment during FY 2008-09, with Maruti selling as many as 61,952 units during the period.
With average monthly sales of around 5,000 units, the Swift Dzire stayed comfortably ahead of its rivals like the Ford Ikon, Hyundai Accent, Tata Indigo and Chevrolet Aveo etc. The fact that the Dzire is available with a 1.3-litre diesel engine has helped - according to Maruti, as much as 65% of the Dzire's sales comprise of the diesel version.
[Via: indiaautomotive]
Maruti Suzuki A-Star to be sold in Africa, South America
The Maruti Suzuki A-Star, which is already exported to Europe (where it's sold as the Suzuki Alto), may soon be headed to Africa and South America. Maruti is looking at doubling its exports during the current financial year, the target figure being 150,000 cars.
Hence, the company is exploring the possibility of exporting the A-Star to various countries in Africa and South America. Apart from Algeria in Africa and Chile and Mexico in South America, the A-Star might also be exported to neighbouring countries like Malaysia, Sri Lanka and Nepal.
[Via: indiaautomotive]
Maruti Suzuki plans ELV, BS IV-compliance for full range
On occasion of the World Environment Day, Maruti Suzuki has reaffirmed its commitment to further increasing its focus on introducing 'green technologies' in its cars and manufacturing processes.
'In terms of future technology that is still to come to India, newly launched Maruti Suzuki models A-star and Ritz meet the End of Life [ELV] norms that are yet to be adopted in India. Progressively, we will make all Maruti Suzuki models ELV compliant by 2010,' says Shinzo Nakanishi, Managing Director and CEO, Maruti Suzuki India Ltd.
Compliance with Euro-spec ELV norms means the A-star and Ritz use ecologically harmful substances (such as Chromium, Cadmium, Mercury and Lead) only within the permissible limits as per European standards, thus ensuring recyclability of materials.
In fact, with the Ritz launch in May this year, Maruti Suzuki became the first car company in India to launch a car that conforms to BS IV emission norms, which will actually come into effect only in April 2010. The company is now working on making all its cars BS IV compliant, which will happen over the next few months.
Maruti Suzuki's R&D department is also currently working on a road map for CNG vehicles. 'Our initiatives for non-conventional clean fuel will take a step further in the coming times with factory fitted CNG options on several models,' says Nakanishi. Maruti also offers various LPG variants in its line-up, including LPG versions of the 800, Omni and Wagon R.
[Via: indiaautomotive]
2 Wheeler Companies register 5%-82% increase in sales
TVS Motor Co. Ltd. has reported a 5.15% increase in its two-wheeler sales for May 2009, at 118,574 units, as against 112,770 units sold during May last year.
TVS domestic motorcycle sales stood at 43,165 units in May this year, as against 41,901 units in May 2008. Exports, however, were down 21%, at 11,135 units during May 2009 as against 14,071 units in the year-ago period.
Yamaha kept the momentum going, with an 82.38% hike in sales during May. The company sold 16,952 units during May this year, as against 9,295 units during May last year.
The country's no.1 two-wheeler manufacturer, Hero Honda logged an increase of 22.52% in sales during May 2009, at 382,678 units, as against 312,317 units sold during May 2008.
[Via: indiaautomotive]
Maruti Becomes the Most Important Suzuki Stable
"Maruti is definitely becoming more and more important in the Suzuki stable," the Indian company's MD Shinzo Nakanishi said. His words come after Maruti sales posted a 14% growth in last fiscal while Suzuki sales dropped by 14 percent globally.
Suzuki currently holds 54 percent stake in Maruti Suzuki India Limited and Maruti reported sale of 800,000 units which is highest in last 25 years. This has been the brightest spot for Suzuki in the past year as the whole auto industry was left grappling by falling sales and tight credit availability in the market globally.
"All major markets, including the US, Europe and most of Asia along with Japan, were down last year. Maruti's performance has been much better than these markets," Mr Nakanishi said.
Suzuki seems quite happy with the present scenario and is planning to set up R&D center in India which will be the biggest outside Japan. "Suzuki will definitely spend on R&D for Maruti, but with a focus on India and neighbouring markets," Mr Nakanishi said. Moreover, Maruti has already decided to export its own cars irrespective of its parent company's decision. This will be have double benefits as Maruti will grow out of the clout, it will lend greater autonomy to the company and Suzuki will be able to spend more on the R&D.
[Via: cartradeindia]
Maruti Suzuki Expects Better Car Sales in 2009
The Indian car manufacturer Maruti Suzuki was anticipated to exceed three to five per cent growth figures for this fiscal. According to Amitava Roy, General Manager, Maruti Suzuki India, "A 3-5 per cent growth has been projected for automobile sector this year and we hope to do better than that."
At the launch of the new car Ritz in Kerala, Mr Roy refused to comment anything on the targeted sales of the car and in turn said that the company does not want to limit itself to any target.
Maruti Suzuki Ritz is the first passenger car in India to be tested and verified for EMC (Electro Magnetic Compatibility) compliance. The EMC standards are already present in European countries.
Maruti Suzuki which dominates the market share 58 percent in the small car segment in comprises of six models including Alto and Swift.
[Via: carazoo]