Bajaj rides 100-cc to regain second spot in 2-wheeler mkt

A big dividend for Bajaj with its 100-cc two wheelers. The recent launch of Discover enabled the company regain its slot on top – second largest two wheeler company after Hero Honda- in the entry level segment. TVS is also in the fray with these companies. During the recession and the socalled downfall of sales in 2008 Bajaj lost its foothold of second slot that made a thrust to leave the 100-cc segment and to concentrate on bigger and sporty bikes. The SIAM Bajaj and TVS had a close tie on sale figures with 5000 units shooting to 120000 units from April-October 2009. But the volume difference between Bajaj and Hero Honda stood at 2.5 lakh: 1 lakh in the same period.
Bajaj’s stint is really a come back and a morale booster as it had to vie against the major companies like Hero Honda, TVS and Hero Scooter and Motor. Since 2001 the company is lagging behind Hero Honda for the first slot, which it had possessed then. But the company came in for a close knit in September 2006 by a margin of 37000 units. Bajaj has introduced the Pulsar 180-cc and Discover 100-cc this year to retain its status among the customers. The success of these two bikes came from the two different regions with Discover reaching the rural and the Pulsar hitting the urban. The growth made the increase in the market share from 17% in the second half of 2008-08 fiscal.
The overall increase in the 100-cc segment has gone to 290% in the last two months @ an average sale of 90000 units which was 23000 in the same period of the last year. The Discover found some 2 lakh customers ever since its launch to boost the overall increae in market share. The strategy was to launch the long term bike and the strategy worked out well for Bajaj. Now the company wishes to launch the bike which the people like to buy.
The new launches will be upgraded to suit the taste of the customers, said the MD of Bajaj. The analysts view the strategy of Bajaj as a foolish one that the company has ignored the entry level segment which has the potential of 70%. But the company’s mission, against all odds, is to make 2009-10 as the best year for the industry’s history.

GM in talks to bring Chinese cars to India

A PTI release reveals that General Motors is on the verge of bringing the Chinese car into India, as the negotiations between GM and Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp is expected to finalise soon. Wuling will be the other partner in this deed, which started some 8 months ago. The President for the Indian unit of GM said the company is now in a position to discriminate what can be done and what cannot be. Currently the three companies are in a JV in China under the label of SAIC-GM-Wuling Automobile co. The move is to bring only commercial vehicles though the partnership is fully involved in commercial vehicles and passenger vehicles with Wuling trading mini vans, mini trucks and also the GM Chevrolet Spark mini car. The company is mooting this idea of entering into the engineering innovation to excel in the automobile market. However, the officials from all these three companies are tight-lipped about the move. GM is the biggest foreign automaker for China – 1.4 million vehicles in this year itself.

Fiat to increase price of Grande Punto

As the festive season gets over, manufacturers are all set to roll back discount and increase the price of their models. Fiat plans to hike the price of its hatchback – Grande Punto citing increase in raw materials cost. The price of Grande Punto variants will see a price raise between Rs10,000 to Rs12,000. Grande Punto is currently priced between Rs3.99 lakhs to Rs 6.11 lakhs. Mahindra and Mahindra also hinted that it may opt for marginal raise in price of its products soon.

Shifting gear of the Nano vendors

The all means of Nano vendors, presently doing a good job to Tata, are making their new location in Sanand by next March. Till then they will be in the present locations, said the company. Sanand is located 35km from Ahmedabad and the main supplier for Nano, Amul Industries (rods and crankshafts) is migrating to Sanand from Rajkot. The new initiative will cost Rs15 crore for Amul which has stabilised its supply ratio. Soon other suppliers like Bosch (for brake solutions, fuel injection, the electronic control unit, starter motor and generator) would continue to feed Nano at Sanand. In addition, Bosch is making the brake assembly unit in Sanand as its fuel injection system unit is to function in Bangalore. Exide battery, which supplies for Nano, is to continue from Singur till the need arises to stand beside with the volume of Nano increasing.
The vendor-park sparked furore following the agitation by the people in Singur, West Bengal forcing Tata to withdraw its project. Now the move is to balance the logistics cost to keep the car cost on par with the fixed one. The proposed unit in Sanand is set to manufacture 350000 cars a year under expansion phases. The vendors are at wait to receive the delivery at the production site.

Mahindra poised to land in Chennai for its plant

Mahindra & Mahindra is drafting its stance to have a unit in Cheyyar near Chennai. The company has earmarked 550 acres of which the government of Tamilnadu has apportioned 225 acres so as to make the company procure the rest of the land. It the scheme materialises, then the unit would produce tractors and an exclusive automobile project. The allocation of land will not be a problem since the government has benchmarked the area for the automobile park with 2400 acres.

It is to be remembered that in 2007 M&M, along with Renault and Nissan, has entered into a MoU with the TN government for such a venture near Oragadam at Rs4500 crore by which it was projected to make 4 lakh units of automobiles and 50000 units of tractors. But in 2008, M&M withdrew its presence to make its own and is on the cards with another project of Mahindra Research Valley @Rs500 crore in the SEZ at Mahindra World City.

Whereas the JV between Renault and Nissan is still alive that the production might blossom this year. M&M sources claim that the proposed new location will see the production of Scorpio, utility vehicles and low tonnage vehicles.

A final impasse from Renault

The criss-cross situation for Renault in Indian market has nothing to do with its continued presence, said the company people. They are relieved that the likes of Peugeot (which went into recluse 12 years ago leaving some 2000 people jobless) would not happen with Renault. Renault’s Indian proposals include one with M&M which is kept on high profile, a design centre in Mumbai, a logistics centre in Pune, an engineering centre in Chennai.

In addition, there will be a JV with Nissan(at Chennai)  at Rs4500 crore and a JV with Bajaj for a low-cost car. There will be a common President & CEO for both Renault and Nissan. But as of now Nissan is making news with its movements, while the JV with M&M is kept in abeyance (since the fall of Renault’s Logan in this month to just paltry 500 units). Sensing the trouble, Renault has initiated the revival mission and is to bring the second wave of products. But the industry observers feel that there is still a tough time for Renault to retrieve its Logan unless it is modified with its length by 4 meters (which would fetch less excise duty). Also in the mindset is to go for whole localisation to reduce the cost.

It is to be seen how Renault is going to swing the steering to reach the safe and right direction. Renault sees much scope in sharpening the proposal meant for the Chennai plant in terms with Nissan so as to accrue volume of business but the company has not yet ignited properly.

Honda readies for the launch of 110cc bike

The Indian roads will a new see a new find from Honda Motorcycle & Scooter. The 110cc bike is expected to roll down in the current fiscal as a ‘full-fledged’ at an affordable pricing(Rs45000) Though coming under 100c segment, this bike will be known for its sporty nature and style, said the company official. The company has already created sensation with “Stunner” the 125cc bike in the charming way and now has been on the verge of sporting a healthy and attractive competition against the leader Hero Honda. The new bike will be bracketed with Hero Honda’s ‘Splednor’ and ‘Passion’ and Bajaj’s ‘Discover’ all putting the total number of units to 3.5 lakhs of which Discover constituting some 80000 units.

It is HMSI’s mission to concentrate on fun biking than commuter biking. The company’s target for this new bike is the working youth, and it is expected to grab 40000 units a month, backed up with the Honda image. This is one among the reserves from HMSI for the ensuing fiscal along with a new bike next year and another one in the subsequent year, probably in the 150-200cc ranges. HMSI is running its show with full confidence ever since it launched its Unicorn (150cc) only to shaken Bajaj’s Pulsar. Since then there has been no looking back for HMSI until it encountered another success of sporty bike in its Stunner. Hence it  is no wonder to see that the siblings too are crafted in the same spirit.

HMSI is slowly recovering from the labor problem it faced in October, when the production was hit largely, resulting with the dip in sales. Now the situation has revived and is expected to hit the news again with full production. The company anticipates to feed some 1.25 million bike likers in 2009-10 and has changed the gear for the future needs. The two-month trauma has set in the company into full confidence to compensate the loss incurred during the festive phase. Now the long term mission is to expand for future capacity and is estimated to fulfil 1.5 million units in another three years. For this there is a search for an expansion unit from places like Manesar, Haridwar or Pantnagar in Uttarkhand.

Mahindra Gio Specifications

Engine Dimensions
Type     Single Cylinder, Direct Injection
Bore x stroke (mm)     86 X 76
Displacement cc     441.5
Compression ratio     20.3:1
Max. Engine output (kW @ rpm)     6.8 ± 0.3 kW @ 3600 rpm
Max. Torque (Nm @ rpm)     21 ± 1 Nm @ 2000 – 2400 rpm

Clutch
Type     Multi plate wet type clutch

Gear box
Type     Sequential shift, Constant mesh gear box
No. of gears     4 forward, 1 reverse

Suspension
Type / Description
Front     Independent Mc-pherson with Banded Piston
Rear     Leaf Spring with Telescopic Shock absorber

Brake
Front & Rear Brake     Hydraulic Drum
Parking Brake     Internal expanding type on rear wheels, hand lever cable type

Wheels and Tyres
Tyre size     4.50-10 LT 8PR
Tyre pressure (Kg/Cm Square)     Front 1.8 & rear 4.0

Electrical system
System voltage (Volt)     12 DC

Fuel TankCapacity (Litres)
Fuel tank capacity (Litres)     10.5

Vehicle Dimensions
Wheel base (mm)     2005
Overall width (mm)     1460
Overall length (mm)     3180
Overall height (mm)     1815
Front track (mm)     1060
Rear track (mm)     1260
Min. ground clearance (mm)     180
Cargo body dimensions (mm)     1570 X 1460 X 380

Vehicle Weights
Maximum GVW (kg)     1110
Kerb weight (kg)     610

Turning Radius
Turning Radius (m)      3.8m
Seating Capacity     D & D+1

Mahindra Gio Price: Rs1.65lakh (ex-showroom)

Mahindra Gio Mileage: 27kmpl

For more exterior and interior Pictures of gio  visit http://www.vicky.in/slideshow/mahindra-gio-pictures/