Skoda India, which is the wholly-owned local arm of the Czech carmaker and part of the Volkswagen (VW) group, has reiterated that it will go ahead with its product launch plans during calendar 2009 despite the current slowdown. Even during the downturn they confirmed that they will go ahead and will be focusing on quality which will go a long way in building customer confidence.
New Superb,new Laura and yeti
In addition Skoda plans to expand the car’s line-up, which will include an affordable entry-level option to attract a larger buyer base. The company has also plans to launch the new Superb and Laura along with the Yeti sport-utility vehicle during 2009. These will be part of the Aurangabad product rollout plan.
New small car
Skoda and VW will jointly develop a platform and a car below the Fabia and Polo in terms of price. This could then retail for under Rs 5 lakh, which could translate into huge volumes in this predominantly small car market. Only after these can the projected volumes of 1,10,000 cars are attained at VW’s Chakan plant sometime in 2012-13 or even earlier.
Higher localisation for Fabia
The company’s most critical offering in the second half of 2009 is the Fabia, which will roll out of VW’s integrated Chakan plant near Pune. The car is already being assembled at Skoda’s Aurangabad facility but is constrained by low localization content and limited volumes. It said that after the production at Chakan plant its localization levels for the Fabia will be up to 50 per cent in three years from the present 15 per cent. The VW plant in Chakan has critical infrastructure like a paint shop, engine assembly etc in place which makes mass production of fast-moving models possible. In contrast, the Skoda facility, being an assembly operation, can focus on high-end cars like the VW Passat and Audi series.
(Vicky.in)
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Toyota to launch its Innova CNG next month!
Toyota Kirloskar Motor plans to launch a compressed natural gas (CNG)-based variant of its multi-utility vehicle, Innova, by January end, hoping to stir demand amid sagging sales. The company is conducting trials of the model. It will tie-up with Minda Industries to provide CNG kits for its model. “The CNG Innova should be launched commercially some time in January end. At present, we are conducting test trials of the model,” said Mr Sandeep Singh, Deputy Managing Director (Marketing), Toyota Kirloskar Motor Pvt Ltd. Mr Singh said the CNG Innova would cost about Rs 75,000-90,000 more. This will include warranty and installation costs. “Since the kit has to be approved by Toyota Motor Corporation, Japan, and there is a difference in the installation procedure, our CNG kits will cost more than the usual,” he explained. Mr Singh was talking at the sidelines of the launch of the company’s express maintenance service at one of its dealerships. It claims to provide service to Toyota’s customer in an hour. Sale plan :With regard to sales, Toyota is aiming to boost Innova’s demand, especially in the commercial segment. Toyota’s sales in November were 48 per cent lower at 2,087 units. In April-November, sales remained flat at 35,533 units. “About 15-20 per cent of the demand for Innova is met through tour operators and radio taxis amongst others. Considering the running cost of CNG to be one third of petrol, we expect sales to boost up,” Mr Singh added. When asked if the company intended to launch such variants on its other models, he said , “at the moment we are considering it only for Innova.”
Monday, December 1, 2008
Maruti Suzuki to launch 'Ritz' in April 09!
Maruti has disproved two things - the splash which was expected to hit the Indian roads in 2008, it will actually hit in 2009. While we know the car as ’splash’, the Indian splash would be called as Ritz. Ritz would follow the recently launched A-star and fit into Maruti ever growing small car portfolio. Ritz will be powered by Suzuki’s new KB series engine. Though Ritz is built on Maruti’s successful splash platform and sports shorter wheelbase than the swift (30mm), the car will be roomy. Higher roofline and wider tracks at the fore and aft will ensure Ritz spaciousness. Ritz (splash) replaced the Wagon-R in european countries but as Maruti did it in the past, Ritz will co-exist with Wagon-R in India. Ritz is expected to hit showroom in april 2009 and is expected to be priced around Rs4 lakh.
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Merceds Benz to soon offer its ///AMG cars in India!
The most popular German autogiant - Mercedes Benz (A part of Daimler Chrysler) is planning to launch its hyper performance ///AMG (Aufretch Melcher Grobaspatch) tuned cars in Indian market by the end of this year, 2008 ,according to media reports.
///AMG which is synonymous to performance is Mercedes Benz's performance tuning division, has a knack for turning 'ordinary' luxury saloons into lighter, faster, meaner cars where the focus is on outright power and performance rather than mere opulence.
Mercedes Benz has not announced yet , which AMG cars will be offered for Indian auto market.
but Mercedes Benz could be looking at launching up to six AMG cars in India very soon, with prices starting from Rs 1.25 crore and going all the way up to Rs 3.10 crore! The cars will be CBU (Completely Built Unit) imports from Germany and will be delivered within 8-12 weeks of an order being placed.
But then what about the global economic recession ?
Well, according to Mercedes Benz, the high-end, premium car market in India has not been affected by the gloomy economy and is actually doing very well. According to the company , Indian consumers are looking for an even wider range of exotics and high-performance cars and Mercedes' ///AMG cars will cater to those requirements.
Mercedes Benz has already sold 1,936 units in India, between April-October of this year, as against 1,322 units in the same period last year.
Mercedes Benz is a very popular brand in all over the world and incl. India ,everyone knows what is Mercedes ,and people now associate it with expensive and sheer luxury in auto market.
Its very nice to see that such brands like M-B are considering India as an important market and introducing such great cars anyways now lets wait and watch ,what happens next!
///AMG which is synonymous to performance is Mercedes Benz's performance tuning division, has a knack for turning 'ordinary' luxury saloons into lighter, faster, meaner cars where the focus is on outright power and performance rather than mere opulence.
Mercedes Benz has not announced yet , which AMG cars will be offered for Indian auto market.
but Mercedes Benz could be looking at launching up to six AMG cars in India very soon, with prices starting from Rs 1.25 crore and going all the way up to Rs 3.10 crore! The cars will be CBU (Completely Built Unit) imports from Germany and will be delivered within 8-12 weeks of an order being placed.
But then what about the global economic recession ?
Well, according to Mercedes Benz, the high-end, premium car market in India has not been affected by the gloomy economy and is actually doing very well. According to the company , Indian consumers are looking for an even wider range of exotics and high-performance cars and Mercedes' ///AMG cars will cater to those requirements.
Mercedes Benz has already sold 1,936 units in India, between April-October of this year, as against 1,322 units in the same period last year.
Mercedes Benz is a very popular brand in all over the world and incl. India ,everyone knows what is Mercedes ,and people now associate it with expensive and sheer luxury in auto market.
Its very nice to see that such brands like M-B are considering India as an important market and introducing such great cars anyways now lets wait and watch ,what happens next!
Monday, November 24, 2008
Honda India to Hike Prices!
Honda is set to hike car prices across models by Rs 10,000 to Rs 1.5 lakh from January next year to factor in increased production cost due to depreciation of the rupee and expensive raw materials.
“Many of the parts are imported and the rupee’s depreciation has made them expensive . Thus, we will be revising car prices with effect from the first week of January,” Jnaneswar Sen, marketing vice-president for Honda Siel Cars said.
The highest impact would be on the sports-utility vehicle CR-V, which is imported to India as a completely-built unit (CBU). While price of the luxury sedan Accord will go up by Rs 30,000-50 ,000, Civic will likely to be dearer by Rs 10,000-20 ,000. For the moment the price of City wont be hiked as its new model and has just been launched. Honda has received 5,000 bookings so far,
The imported content in the Accord is about 75% and in Civic about 22%. The new City has about 26% imported parts. The current price of CR-V variants is between Rs 17.7-19 .9 lakh, the Accord between Rs 16.9-17 .7 lakh and the Civic between Rs 11-12 .8 lakh (all ex-showroom Delhi). The rupee has been weakening against the dollar for months and crossed Rs 50 last week. “The cost of imports from Japan alone has gone up by 30-35 % in the last around three months,” Sen said.
“Many of the parts are imported and the rupee’s depreciation has made them expensive . Thus, we will be revising car prices with effect from the first week of January,” Jnaneswar Sen, marketing vice-president for Honda Siel Cars said.
The highest impact would be on the sports-utility vehicle CR-V, which is imported to India as a completely-built unit (CBU). While price of the luxury sedan Accord will go up by Rs 30,000-50 ,000, Civic will likely to be dearer by Rs 10,000-20 ,000. For the moment the price of City wont be hiked as its new model and has just been launched. Honda has received 5,000 bookings so far,
The imported content in the Accord is about 75% and in Civic about 22%. The new City has about 26% imported parts. The current price of CR-V variants is between Rs 17.7-19 .9 lakh, the Accord between Rs 16.9-17 .7 lakh and the Civic between Rs 11-12 .8 lakh (all ex-showroom Delhi). The rupee has been weakening against the dollar for months and crossed Rs 50 last week. “The cost of imports from Japan alone has gone up by 30-35 % in the last around three months,” Sen said.
(Source: Motorbeam)
Fiat - Tata Ranjangaon Facility
Fiat's Ranjangaon facility is finally humming with not just activity but positive fervour as the very first saleable Fiat Linea rolled off the ultra modern assembly line on November 21. It contrasts markedly with what was in effect a very large sized ghost shed set up more than a decade ago when Fiat came into India to do the manufacturing business with its then erstwhile partner Premier Automobiles.
For Full Report ,check this link - http://zigwheels.com:/b2cam/newsDetails.action?path=/INDT/News/Fiat11_20081121&name=Fiat11_20081121&page=1&pagecount=2
For Full Report ,check this link - http://zigwheels.com:/b2cam/newsDetails.action?path=/INDT/News/Fiat11_20081121&name=Fiat11_20081121&page=1&pagecount=2
Will the Tata Nano cost Rs.1lac?
As the launch date for the Tata small car, the Rs 1 lakh Nano draws closer, Tata Motors is facing vastly changed conditions from the time the car was unveiled. While unveiling the Nano at the January 2008 Auto Expo, Tata Motors chairman Ratan Tata had promised to live up to the promised price tag of Rs1 lakh for the Nano, while commentators had maintained that the company would live up to its commitment, at least till the launch of the car this October.
Since then, consumers have been hit by double-digit inflation, soaring fuel prices, higher interest rates and higher excise duty on cars - and that is just on the demand side. Carmakers including Tata Motors are suffering supply constraints such as rising prices of steel and other raw materials.The Nano has already received enough publicity to last it several years. Expectations from the small car at present are sky-high and Tata’s biggest job on hand is to fulfill them.
(source: carwale)
Since then, consumers have been hit by double-digit inflation, soaring fuel prices, higher interest rates and higher excise duty on cars - and that is just on the demand side. Carmakers including Tata Motors are suffering supply constraints such as rising prices of steel and other raw materials.The Nano has already received enough publicity to last it several years. Expectations from the small car at present are sky-high and Tata’s biggest job on hand is to fulfill them.
(source: carwale)
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