Toyota cuts production of Corolla Altis

Yet another shocker for auto sector! as the financial crsis creeps into India we are constantly reporting about production cuts in our stocks section http://vicky.in/stocks/

First we heard about Tata then Mahindra and Bajaj, now its Toyota’s turn. But what surprising is the production cut is made for a product that was launched barely two months ago.  Altis launched in September 2008 was expected to clock 2000 units every month, but as the customer response plunges. Toyota is making only 1,000 units of the altis at its Bidadi factory in Karnataka from 2,000 earlier. Toyota officially confirmed the production cut but denied to confirm the figure. “Certainly there is a production cut for the Altis, but I am not sure what the figure is just now,” said deputy managing director Sandeep Singh.

Lohia Auto launches e-bikes

Lohia auto part of Lohia group launched two new electric bikes. Lohia auto will manufacture these electric bikes at Kashipur in Uttarakhand. The two e-bikes are priced at Rs. 25,000 and Rs.35,000. The prices of the two models — Oma and Fame — were kept same and it was before the tax rebate being offered by the Delhi government According to Lohia auto, these e-bikes (oma and fame) can go over 50 km per charge at a cost of only 10 paise a km. As the top speed of the e-bikes (oma and fame) is limited 25km/hr, you do not need registration and license to run these bikes on road. Unveiling the electric bikes (oma and fame) on the inaugural day of the India International Trade Fair here, company President V. K Gupta said the e-bikes, developed with technical collaboration from Germany, were powered by 250 Watt motor rechargeable battery that could also be charged with an inverter or generator.

Lohia Auto plans to launch an electric three wheeler in next three months. The company also plans to three more electric two wheeler in 2009. Lohia auto hopes to sell 20,000 units in this fiscal. With a total manufacturing capacity of two-lakh units annually, the company was looking at exporting e-bikes, particularly to China, Thailand and Indonesia, he said.

GM service centre in BPCL outlets

GM has never turned its business in reverse gear. It ever aims at accelerating its growth in all platforms and the present move, apart from marketing cars, is to install Chevrolet Authorized Service Centre. The project, as a tie-up with BPCL, will be in force at Select BPCL workshops. A Fortune 500 company, BPCL is offering these privileges to the owners of Chevrolet at Select Retail Outlets. As on date, 50 such workshops exist spread over India, and BPCL has fixed its target to 500 centres before 2010-11. The frist such Service Centre was inaugurated by Mr.Karl Slym, President and MD, General Motors India. The Service Centre is located at Lodhi Road, New Delhi. He disclosed the company’s proposal to instill the service at 15 more centres across the country , by December 2008.

The core element of the agreement between the companies is to providing Service Training and technical know-how to the technicians of BPCL and it will be carried out by the technical experts by General Motors.  The technicians at BPCL will avail this training at V CARE backed up by the Diagnostic tools and tackles of GM. The technicians, once get training, will provide the state-of-the art service to the Chevrolets periodically.

Mr.Ankush Arora, vice-President , Marketing, Sales and Aftersales, General Motors, briefed the GM’s initiatives and said that the moves by the companies have all along been successful and this is another one. GM strongly became triumphant in marketing and classical mode of sales and service. This venture, mooted by GM, will be a boon to the prospective and existing customers of Chevrolet. The easy accessibility of the customer is high on the raise and both GM and BPCL have come closer to the customer satisfaction. There is no substitute for the provision of service at the customer’s doorsteps and GM is quite willing in this regard. This V CARE is an another credit and a major breakthrough for both the companies in terms of customer satisfaction. There is a strong harmony and affinity between these two companies  for a quite long time and they are In an unbreakable sprit. Both companies are pinning on the hope that this Service Centre will go along in shaping a new dimension to customer satisfaction.

The project will run smooth since the two companies have already found a pride of place in the automotive industry. Quite significantly, BPCL is in good terms with GM by being one of the major OE suppliers of genuine oils and lubes. An excellent venture to grease their hands indeed.

Maruti Suzuki A-star to come in three variants

While the technical specifications are already out (you can read it in vicky forums – http://www.vicky.in/forums/topic/maruti-suzuki-a-star-technical-specifications) slowly we are getting informations on A-star’s prices and variants.

Similar to the swift petrol, a-star will come in three variants – A-star LXi,A-star VXi and A-star ZXi. ZXi being the top end will come with loads of features such as dual tone interiors, power steering,front electric windows, console box, tachometer,fabric seats and rear parcel shelf. A-star ZXi will also come with contemporary safety features such ABS with EBD and airbags. Three variants will be priced between Rs3.5 to Rs4.5 lakhs. Remember this little cute machine will roll out on November 19th. Keep watching this space.

GM Chevrolet plans premium small car

As you read here few days back, GM Chevrolet will launch two new cars in India apart from the upgraded variants of existing cars. GM Chevrolet’s new cars is believed to be the cruze (civic competerior) and spark 800 (alto and Maruti 800 peer). But GM today said that the small car which is due in 2009 won’t be the Maruti 800’s challenger but a premium one. Expect a premium small car from the american giant on the lines Skoda’s Fabia and Honda’s Jazz in 2009.However GM added the 800 competetior will come at a later date. “We are also working on a car that could be priced below the Spark (which already competes with the M800 at ex-showroom price of Rs 2.66 lakh) but this is not coming in 2009,” Slym, President and Managing Director of General Motors (GM) India

Premium car makers facing the heat

Just when premium segment car-makers thought they were insulated from the slump in the automobile market, unlike mass market car-makers, data from the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) seem to shake them out of their comfort-zone.
In October, sales of high-end cars (priced between Rs 8.02 lakh and Rs 1.24 crore) fell by 30.51 per cent to 2,859 units compared to 4,114 units in the corresponding month of last year. The hardest hit was the luxury segment (price ranging between Rs 73.6 lakh and Rs 1.24 crore), which was considered to be the most insulated from the current credit crisis, declining by 61.19 per cent to 26 units from 67 units in the same month last year. In this category, German carmaker Mercedes-Benz’s sales (the S-class model) in Indian market plunged by over six fold in October to only seven units from 44 units in the year-ago period, SIAM said, adding BMW India’s sales (7-Series cars) in the segment also declined by 17.39 per cent at 19 units compared to 23 units in the same month last year.

SIAM pointed out that sales of executive segment cars in October also plummeted by 34.29 per cent to 2,313 units from 3,520 units in the corresponding month of 2007. Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM), however, registered an impressive growth of over two fold in the executive segment riding on the novelty factor of its new offering ‘Corolla Altis’ with 1,110 units selling in October compared to 526 units in the year-ago period.
Mercedes-Benz and BMW, which offer ‘C-class’ and ‘3-series’ cars respectively in the segment, also managed to push their sales in the positive direction. While the ‘Corolla Altis’ priced between Rs 10.83 lakh and Rs 12.86 lakh, the ‘C-class’ and ‘3-series’ are offered at range of Rs 26-30 lakh and Rs 27-33 lakh respectively.
The premium segment also declined by 1.33 per cent at 520 units during the last month as against 527 units in the corresponding month last year, SIAM said. In the category, the sales of TKM (Camry) and Mercedes-Benz (E-class) plummeted by nearly four fold in October, while that of HMIL (Sonata) fell by nearly three fold. However, BMW, HSCI and SkodaAuto India registered jumps in their sales in the premium category, SIAM said.  The October sales slip is quite contrary to confidence exuded by players in the high-end categoy. BMW had revised upwards its India sales target for this calendar in July by 40 per cent to 2,800 units from an initial 2000 units. Mercedes-Benz had also said they were expecting to sell about 3,000 units and a company official said in the Jan-Oct period it has already sold 3,141 units.

Ford to phase out Fusion

Ford Fusion – No non-sense car to go

Owing to the poor sales, Ford India plans to phase out the Fusion. First introduced in 2004, the fusion got an upgrade in 2006.  In 2007, Ford added a Fiesta diesel to this no non-sense car and in March 2008 it made price cut on Fusion diesel. But none of these upgrades or engines fail to create among enthusiasm among the Indian buyers. During the launch Ford India said the Fusion combines the solidity, robustness and road presence of a sports utility vehicle and the dynamic, agile qualities of a mid-size sedan. But the Fusion fails to take buyers amidst superior hatchback like skoda Fabia and sedans like Honda city. “We will eventually phase it out due to poor sales,” Michael Boneham, president and MD, said on Wednesday.

Honda Civic Hybrid at Rs13.36 lakhs

Honda today come up with a sprakling offer for its greenest machine Civic Hybrid. The civic hybrid now comes at Rs13,36,000 (ex-showroom Delhi). Earlier civic hybrid was retailed for Rs21 lakhs.Though the Civic Hybrid earned rave reviews across media, its hefty price tag deterred the customers. Till the end of the October, Honda managed to sell only 60 units the civic hybrid. Honda launched the civic hybrid in July 2008. Since the civic hybrid is imported as CBU, it attracts a hefty import duty and  Honda has been pressing the Indian Government for concessions.

Then how come a lower price tag for civic hybrid today? Has the Indian Government announced concessions for green vehicles? Absolutely NO.  Honda says, based on feedback received from the customers, the company itself has decided to partly bear the cost of the car on behalf of the customers for a limited period and volume so that car becomes more affordable and more customers experience & own this new technology. The new price for CIvic hybrid is expected to boost the sales of the car and this special offer will be valid upto December 31st.

Maruti Suzuki to launch A-star on November 19th

Maruti Suzuki will launch the much awaited A-star on November 19th. A-star which has been raising expectations ever since its concept unveiled at the Delhi Auto expo is the first global model for suzuki to be built only in India. A-star with its european stylings,compact dimensions and ultra frugal K-series engine will give its rival a  run for its money. A-star is expected to be priced around Rs3.5 lakhs.

For more info visit www.marutisuzukiastar.com or www.marutiastarfans.com