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Renault’s link with M&M for Logan to continue putting an end to the speculation about the split, confirmed by the Chairman and CEO of Renault-Nissan. The changes or strategies involved in the project are not revealed but the car is pairing with M&M’s Scorpio in the showrooms. Renault is firm and clear with its projects for the future Indian market and Logan is in no way a meddle for its business.
Renault is to have a clear mindset about marketing its products but it is to be remembered that the venture between Renault and M&M is on 51:49 basis for manufacturing Logan. The car has made a dismal show with less than 500 unit incurring a loss of Rs500 crore. The Nashik plant was designed for 50000 cars per year. M&M prefers to have changes in the design of Logan especially its length to be fit for small car in the Indian market so as to avail cut on duty of 8% (from20%) thereby reducing the cost of the car by Rs50000. Hence the mood in the Renault camp is to alter the vehicle for the improved sale in addition to localized components for reducing the cost.
Other factors will be worked out then and there. Everything will materialize before the ensuing Auto Show in Delhi. Renault is committed to deliver what the customer wants and to be value-driven. Logan is a great success in Russia, Europe and North Africa and Brazil. Renault is surprised about the Indian impact for this car and it gives importance for Logan on futuristic aspects.
Reva is pointing for right partners to do business in US and Europe. The contract deed for manufacturing is mooted by the company, said its MD Maini. Though talks are on with local parties nothing is in the foresight. The company is aiming to boost its sale to 30000 units in another three years from the current1000 units. The ratio will be 50:50 of domestic and export market. There will be increase in production from the current 6000 units to 30000 units, once the new facility gets ready in 2010.
The new plant will have Rs30 crore investment and the expansion will follow suit, said Maini. Reva’s agreement with General Motors for electric version of Spark, is open for other makers too, said he, as his technology is ideal and contemporary to meet the environment status. Reva’s gesture to Spark may be extended to other models of GM, he said. Reva’s own models NXG and NXR are getting ready for launch in 2011.
Reva is on the verge of the world’s biggest electric car plant for city drive. This will be the first ever mass production on green car, said the company’s founder Maini, an alumni of hybrid electric technology from California Stanford University. He was the one who promoted no-clutch, no-gear technology. He is heading a team of 75 engineers. MrMaini is of the opinion that the growing climate change focuses on electric cars and the solar energy can be a better source for driving the cars, he said.
He was in the news some two decades ago with the General Motors-sponsored solar-powered race in which his car came third much surprisingly. The existing environmental condition too designed this technology as more than 3000 such cars are on the Indian and Britain(as G-Witz) roads. The cars are on the roads for the past 8 years. Reva is the off-shoot of a JV between Maini Group and the US AEV, started in 1994. The early years were very tough that it took seven years to market the electric cars. In the interim period the company was analyzing the usage of such cars and the needs of people.
The recent recognition by General Motors to have a tie-up on technology with Reva has sparked a glimpse. Reva is designed to accommodate two adults and two children to run for 50miles on a single charge. New arrivals pose the sporty looks and run for more distance. The next generation electric car will be a hatchback NXR and will be a family car with 65miles/hr speed and 100 miles mileage with the charge ready in 90 minutes, and the price will be @10000 euros. NXG, the next model is designed to run 125-mile at 80miles/hr and the price will be 23000 euros in Europe.
But in India the cars will be sold cheaper than this price. The current retail cars, built indigenously in Bangalore, are at 350, 000 rupees and are ideal as second automobile. The running cost is nearly one-tenth of petrol and the electric cars will have no filters, spark plugs or radiators and less maintenance costs. The concept, according to Maini, was in his mind as a child when he assembled the toy cars.
Now his aim is to go for ‘5000’plus for next three years and then 30000 annual production from his Bangalore unit. The standard plug point of 15amps is ideal for running this car and the company’s tie-up with GM is a booster. Both the companies anticipate a lot about the electric Spark much in India.
Nano’s full scale production in Sanand is scheduled for the end of 2010, though the initial production work might begin in early March. The current production of Nano at Uttarkhand is delivering 3000-4000 units a month. Ace, also produced at Uttarkhand, would find the increase in production to more than 1.5 lakh per annum.
The export target is also increased – double than the present one from the current 12.5% to 30% in another five years. The target is a means for the export-oriented products such as Xenon, Trucks, Indica Vista and Manza.
The long awaited Air Car ranges from the co-efforts of Tata Motors and a French firm MDI is blocked away on technical snags. The car was to have run on the roads purely on compressed air as the only fuel. The technical aspects quoted for the problem are vehicle ranging, low engine temperature and cooling, according to the VP of Tata Motors. Basically air is treated as an energy replacing a fuel but not a full-fledged fuel like CNG. Hence this sort of problem is common for such vehicles.
The pact between two companies was inked in 2007 in a bid to sweep the technological expertise of Tata and its licensing in India. In addition, Tata was contemplating on hybrid buses to be able for city commuting, an electric sub-one tone cargo carrier Ace and the electric version of Indica. Tata’s CNG and LPG versions of Indica are on the roads under ‘zero km fitment scheme’.
Tata is in the news for its hithane project to spike CNG as a combination of hydrogen replacing tailpipe emissions. According to the company’s MD for the Indian operations, electric Indica will be launched in Norway, UK and Denmark in another one or two years.The Indian market would be assessed on the basis of cost factor and the lack of electricity will also be taken into account, he said. The cost of the battery would be on the higher side as the car would use lithium-ion instead of ordinary lead-acid batteries. The Europe market can expect electric version of Ace in the next year.
Tata’s proposed electric car in Indica will have a feasibility study before its formal launch. The car is in the shape form with the technical assistance from Norway-based firm to be marketed in Europe by 2011. According to an official from Tata Motors, the study is planned before the launch when the product is fully ready for delivery, probably from next year. The car faces a cost sense and its introduction in India is not in a hurry. The car was at display in the SIAM Annual Convention in 2008, held in Geneva.
The Indian government is pleasing the hybrid vehicles with a cut on duty. This is made to promote eco-friendly cars and encourage the makers, according to the Union Heavy Industries Minister. The move will be co-jointly decided by the Ministry with the Finance Ministry. The government is ready to analyse any suggestions from relevant corners, he said. He stressed that the increase in green cars will depend much on such financial flexibilities.
There should be a clear difference between hybrid and normal vehicles, he said. The current rate of 100% duty on imported hybrid and electric cars make them cost burden on the buyers. The target mooted by Automotive Mission Plan is on good acceleration, he said. The rough estimate of the auto industry by 2016 would be $145 billion needing an investment of $35-40 billion. He stressed further the need for both fuel efficiency and environment saving as the cause for good automobile growth.
The government has mandated all vehicles to display the fuel efficiency tags from 2011. The menace due to increased pollution has compelled the government to come out with such a proposal. The practice now is that the vehicle manufacturers are volunteering to do this. The Ministry of Forest and Environment claims that the auto industry is responsible for 15-20% of the greenhouse gas emission, which may go upto 25% by 2030.
The norm will be made effective through either Energy Conservation Act or the Motor Vehicles Act. The act will prompt all vehicles to clear the emission effect from the Bureau of Energy Efficiency and the manufacturers are at the perils to face the challenge. The pollution problem is high especially in metros and the environmentalists cry over this.
Delhi has the share of 50 lakh vehicles on roads per day and the territory government is maintaining its law on certain norms to enter from the 4 satellite towns. The government is keen on making this as a mandatory aspect to be followed by 2011. However, the emission from auto industry is less compared to power and agriculture sectors. Yet the emission affects the climate as well.
Maruti Suzuki will reach the peak of 1million cars by this fiscal end, a feat to be realized after its launch of Maruti 800 some six years ago. This hope is revived in the chit of demands in domestic and export market this year. If clicked, it will be a rare milestone in the Indian auto industry to be envied by its close rival Hyundai, as the difference in sale numbers would double, with Hyundai expecting to reach the mark 5,60,000 units for the period ending December 2009.
The comparative figures revealed by SIAM displays that Maruti’s stint in the period of April-October stood at 560579 units against Hyundai’s 321966 units of passenger vehicles. In the last year, a sum of 1838697 units of passenger vehicles were manufactured in India in which Maruti had a share of 42.1%(774623units) against Hyundai’s 502218 units. Excepting the period of temporary recession in 2008-09, Maruti has been in the good niche in domestic market and the one million mark would have come in its way last year itself if the export to Europe materialized fruitfully.
Now the company is hopeful with it’s A-Star making a good show in Europe market and the new milestone is not far from the sight. New product is also in the fray from Maruti- a van replacing Versa in meeting the Bharat Stage IV norms. Further, all models will be upgraded to meet this norm by April 2010. New hybrid and electric cars are also on the list but not in the near future.