Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India is the market leader in the gearless scooter segment of India but it's close to two months now that the Auto major is facing severe labour problems at its factory located at Manesar in Haryana. And due to which Honda predicted a 50% fall in its sales like we had reported earlier. But this is a blessing for competition as consumers want to ride back home in a brand new two-wheel this festive season. Now that they can't get a Honda soon some of them are opting for the second best option.
Sources close to Honda disclosed that because of the 50% drop in daily production at HMSI factory, the waiting period for Honda scooters now stands at around two months. But he feels that the customers who want to buy a Honda are willing to wait to get delivery of their two wheelers.
Other manufacturers like Bajaj say that there are people who must have a new vehicle for the Diwali season. So there's a palpable spillover in the increased demand for Bajaj models. The other Japanese two-wheeler maker Suzuki added that they were confident of touching 31,000 units both for September and October, which represents a 40% growth against similar period last year. Most two-wheeler manufacturers, including Honda achieve around 10% of their yearly sales during the festive months between September and October.
[Via: BIKE-India]
BMW India has announced an investment of Rs. 250 crore to set up a financing subsidiary in the country to serve the credit needs of retail customers, fleet owners and dealers, for which it has sought regulatory approval. BMW sought the Non Banking Financial Company (NBFC) status for its proposed retail financing arm - BMW Financial Services India, which would be a wholly-owned subsidiary of the BMW Group and would be run by a new head. It would be headquartered at Gurgaon. BMW Financial Services was established in 1993 and it has subsidiaries in 31 countries, besides presence in more than 60 nations across the globe.
[Via: Motorbeam]
Honda has shifted the European production of the Jazz from Japan to UK as it rolled out the first British built Honda Jazz off the production line in Swindon. Every year Honda sells more than 70000 units of Jazz in Europe. Few months back, production of the Civic and CR-V has to be temporarily shut at the Swindon plant to cut costs. Honda UK plans to build 20000 units of the Jazz by the end of March 2010, with 75% cars to be sold in the UK.
"We see this third model as a wonderful opportunity in the current climate and we're extremely proud to be building the Jazz here in Swindon. The car is incredibly popular with customers, and it has won countless awards for quality and reliability. Shifting production to the UK is a real vote of confidence in all our Associates here in Swindon, and recognition of the high standards which we have been able to achieve at the plan," David Hodgetts, Director Honda UK Manufacturing said.
[Via: motorbeam]
Tata Manza Photos Revealed Before Official Launch
12th October is turning out to be a hot date to launch cars with 3 cars scheduled to break cover including the Chevrolet Cruze, the new Maruti SX4 and also the BMW Z4 Roadster.
BMW India will unveil its rear wheel drive sports car in Mumbai which is expected to cost around Rs. 60 lakhs and would be imported as a CBU from Germany. BMW India is hopeful of selling 40 units of the Z4 in the first year.
[Via: motorbeam]
Premier India which was once famous for its padmini sedan, is now planning to make a bang with the launch of a all new SUV - The Rio. Rio is basically the Zotye RX6400 which is manufactured by leading chinese auto manufacturer - Zotye Autos. The factory occupies 500,000 square meters and there are over 6,000 employees. They have the capacity of annually producing 100,000 cars.
Rio a.k.a RX6400 is a small city SUV which has been developed on basis of advanced technology from domestic and international autos. And its strong power comes from Mitsubishi engined 1500cc engine.
The Doshis of Premier Auto have been waiting to be back with a bang. The company has tied up with a Chinese auto company Zoyte International.
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.
Skoda India has decided to sell the Fabia entirely online which is a first of a kind initiative by an auto manufacturer. Selling the Fabia online would cut selling costs by 5-10% which is equivalent to Rs. 40,000-50,000 per car. Skoda, which does not offer any cash discount on the Fabia, will pass on the benefits to the buyer resulting in competitive price of the not so hot selling car. Buyers will need to interact with the dealer only for a test drive and at the time of delivery. Thus the booking process will be completely paperless.
"You will get the car through the dealership, but it will be available (for booking) only online," Thomas Kuehl, director, sales and marketing, Skoda India said. "We are working on something completely new for the first time for the Fabia," Kuehl added.
[Via: Motorbeam]
Tata Indigo Manza Images.... Manza is based on Indica Vista.....
The new Tata Indigo will be unveiled in Mumbai on October 14th by Ratan Tata, Chairman, Tata Motors. The new Indigo will be christened ' Manza ' and is essentially the saloon version of the Indica Vista. The Manza comes with a huge boot and promises best in class interior space. Typical of Tata cars, the Manza promises to offer good value for money as it is expected to be packed with equipment. Some of the features that can be expected are projector headlamps and steering mounted audio controls. The dashboard design is similar to the Vista's but will embellish with superior trim.
The Manza is expected with two engine options, the same that powers the Fiat Linea. The mainstay is expected to be the 1.3 litre, 90 bhp diesel while the 1.4 litre 95 bhp petrol will be the entry level model. Prices are not yet announced but we estimate the base version of the Manza petrol to cost Rs 5.8 lakh while the top-end diesel should be in the region of Rs 7.4 lakh (on road, Mumbai).
[Via: AutocarINDIA]
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.