Chennai's Automotive and Auto Components Industry Updates!

[rsubbu.mdu]

Datsun to take on Maruti Alto with first India car in Jan 2014

HT

Homegrown auto major Tata Motors may have envisaged the Nano, the world’s cheapest car, with an eye at two-wheeler buyers in the country, but Japanese brand Datsun, which is looking at a range of no-frills cars for India, does not share this point of view. The brand is owned by the
Nissan, a part of the global Franco-Japanese alliance Renault-Nissan, which revived Datsun in March this year to provide low cost alternatives for emerging markets like India, Indonesia and Russia.

It plans to launch at least two products in these markets, beginning with a launch in India in January 2014.

“Some look at low cost cars as an alternative to two wheelers, but I don’t see it that way,” said Vincent Cobee, corporate vice-president, Datsun Business Unit. “The advantages that a bike provides — high fuel economy, no parking hassles, no congestion and lowest cost of ownership — I don’t think a car can match that. A Datsun car will complement a two-wheeler buyer who will use the car during weekends for outings with the family.”

These cars would not be built on global platforms, and will be low-frills, optimised vehicles suited to local market needs. The models for India, Indonesia and Russia would have little in common. The first car is expected to compete directly with India’s largest selling car, Maruti Alto, and Hyundai’s Eon. The other car would be slightly more expensive and reportedly share the V platform of Nissan Micra.

“There can be some commonality but that will be negligible,” Cobee said. “What we are looking at is providing market centric solutions with the quality assurance of a global brand. The cars would be a value proposition, but not cheap. A customer should not be ashamed to buy a Datsun car. Unlike somebody who buys, say a Jaguar, he is spending much more of his earnings... say a year or two years of his annual savings, to buy the car.”

Though the Rs. 1.43-2 lakh Nano has had a topsy turvy ride in India so far, Renault Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn has been a big supporter of the project. Ghosn had in the past tied up with two-wheeler manufacturer Bajaj for a similar low frills car, and has not ruled out making such a car under Datsun brand directly.

Datsun is expected to account for between 33-50% of Nissan's overall sales in its three markets by the end of fiscal 2016. The cars would be made at Renault-Nissan’s existing factory near Chennai.

[karkal]

Fiat R&D centres

“We have five R&D centres in the Asia-Pacific, of which the biggest is in Chennai with over 1,200 engineers. The second is in Ranjangaon near Pune, which employs 35 engineers. These people are the most important group in the Fiat world,” he had said. Engineers here develop projects for Fiat in North/Latin America, Europe, West Asia and Africa.

SRC : http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/...ue&ref=wl_home

[karkal]

Chinese automakers set to churn India's car market news
10 December 2012

Some of China' biggest automakers, including Beiqi Foton Motor Co and Great Wall Motor Co, are planning to enter India in a big way, giving a new twist to the current competition among a long list of Indian and foreign auto makers operating in the country.

While Beiqi Foton Motor Co has acquired land in Maharashtra to build a commercial vehicle factory, another Chinese auto maker, Great Wall Motor Co, is looking for a location in either Gujarat, Tamil Nadu or Maharashtra, an official with the industry association said.

The arrival of the Chinese carmakers is likely to shake up the Indian automobile market that include home grown Mahindra and Mahindra and Tata Motors and a number of subsidiaries of foreign auto majors that include Japan's Suzuki and Toyota, General Motors and Ford of the United States, Korea's Hyundai, Germany's BMW and Daimler, Czec Republic's Skoda, Italy's Fiat, etc.

Great Wall, which sells sport-utility vehicles and pick-up trucks in other emerging markets such as Russia and South Africa, has no presence in India at present.

[rsubbu.mdu]

A news not related to Chennai Automotive scene, but still something which will bring cheer to the Global OEM's which have set shop in India..

Cheaper spares to benefit Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Ford as import tariffs from Asean to fall by 50%

[MethodMan]

Rane TRW Steering Systems Adds A Rs 35 Crore New Airbag Manufacturing Unit At Its Chennai Plant

Rane TRW Steering Systems Ltd (RTSSL), a 50:50 joint venture Company of Rane Group and TRW Automotive today announced that it would expand RTSSL to include manufacture of airbags at its plant which currently made seat belt systems in Singaperumal Koil, near Chennai in Tamil Nadu.

[Subra]

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/...w/17597953.cms

Commenting on the investments for India he said: "To meet our target, we will invest 70 billion yen (about Rs 4,700 crore) by 2015-16."

When asked how many new plants will be set up, Hitachi India MD Ichiro Iino said: "Currently we have 12 plants in operation, including those of joint ventures in India. We will have five new facilities coming up by March 2016 across all our business verticals."

The five new plants will include two for auto components in Chennai and Neemrana in Rajasthan and also plants by joint venture, he said, without sharing further details

[karkal]

Ford EcoSport pre-launch trials



Youtube user ‘SenthilVR’ has filmed a white, undisguised test mule of the Ford EcoSport driving on what appears to be the expressway outside the Ford plant in Chennai.

What you ought to know about the Ford EcoSport

• The vehicle launches in early 2013.
• It’ll be the first mass market launch with a turbocharged engine though the market for petrol cars is shrinking.
• There are three engine options – 1.5L petrol, 1.5L diesel, 1L petrol – expected to be on the table from D-Day.
• The EcoSport is classified as a small car in India, and therefore it gets attractive excise benefits that helps Ford in pricing it smartly.
• Ford has already launched the new EcoSport in Brazil and China. Over 700,000 EcoSports, in its first generation form, traverse Brazilian roads.
• The EcoSport will be built for export markets in Chennai. The export market plan has not reached the public domain yet.
• Over 700 crore rupees was invested on the Chennai plant to prepare the lines for the EcoSport.
• Moving forward, the EcoSport will be made in Thailand. India, China and Brazil are the other three countries where the EcoSport is produced.
• The EcoSport is based on the B3 platform that underpins the Fiesta. The core hardware will be used on future Ford products for the Indian markets such as the next gen Figo, Classic, B-Max, etc.
• Ford designed the EcoSport in Brazil. The exterior was launched by Ford CEO Alan Mulally at the 2012 Delhi Auto Expo, while the interior was revealed in Beijing and Brazil simultaneously in April.

Read more: http://indianautosblog.com/2012/12/y...#ixzz2EwnALgHt

[Vijay M]

Saw a blue Ford Ecosport this morning being tested on GST road, it looks very good! It'll definitely shake up the competition if its priced well. The one I saw was a road ready vehicle with no patches/ disguise, probably hinting an early 2013 launch.

[karkal]

Bangladesh Railway to buy 30 Indian DEMU units under $1.0b package from ICF Chennai

http://www.thefinancialexpress-bd.co...8xXzE1MzE1MQ==

[janarthanan.04]

Mitsubishi to exit sedan market; focus on SUVs in India

http://www.financialexpress.com/news...ndia/1042471/0

Japanese car maker Mitsubishi has decided to become a pure SUV player in India, after putting a hold on previously announced plans to launch the Mirage hatchback and slowly phasing out its sedan range of the Lancer and Cedia. Its SUV range includes the diesel Pajero Sport and Montero, apart from the petrol Outlander.
This is because the company feels that the higher-margin and niche SUV market will be easier to tackle with its limited sales and service network, industry sources said. In contrast, it would need much higher economies of scale to be profitable in the extremely price-sensitive and competitive small car and sedan segments.
“The company will focus on SUVs, which constitute our strength, for the next few years. Pajero Sport has been especially accepted very well worldwide. Once we establish a strong foundation through SUVs, we will move on to other segments such as sedans and compact cars,” a Hindustan Motors (HM) spokesperson told FE. Kolkata-based HM, a CK Birla Group company, has a technical collaboration with Mitsubishi Motors Corporation since 1998 and a licence to manufacture and market Mitsubishi vehicles.
This is a volte face from March this year, when Mitsubishi officials had said that the company is looking at the “feasibility” of bringing both the hatchback and sedan versions of the Mirage to India. The Mirage is made in Thailand and was launched in the same country last April.
As for its sedan range, production of the Lancer sedan has been stopped at its Tiruvallur plant (in Tamil Nadu) a few months back, while company sources said the Cedia model will also be phased out soon because of lacklustre volumes. Between April and October, the petrol-only Cedia sold 69 units compared to the other petrol executive sedan, Honda Civic’s 469 units, and segment leader Toyota Corolla’s 3,697 units. It had a third sedan on sale, the Lancer Evolution X sports car, of which 12 units were imported and have mostly been sold.
In comparison, the SUV range is doing better. The Pajero Sport and Outlander together sold 998 units between April and October this year, in a segment where Toyota’s Fortuner strongly led with 9,202 unit sales. The more expensive Montero sold 15 units in the same period.

[iaafosc]

Originally Posted by janarthanan.04

Mitsubishi to exit sedan market; focus on SUVs in India

http://www.financialexpress.com/news...ndia/1042471/0

Japanese car maker Mitsubishi has decided to become a pure SUV player in India, after putting a hold on previously announced plans to launch the Mirage hatchback and slowly phasing out its sedan range of the Lancer and Cedia. Its SUV range includes the diesel Pajero Sport and Montero, apart from the petrol Outlander.
This is because the company feels that the higher-margin and niche SUV market will be easier to tackle with its limited sales and service network, industry sources said. In contrast, it would need much higher economies of scale to be profitable in the extremely price-sensitive and competitive small car and sedan segments.
“The company will focus on SUVs, which constitute our strength, for the next few years. Pajero Sport has been especially accepted very well worldwide. Once we establish a strong foundation through SUVs, we will move on to other segments such as sedans and compact cars,” a Hindustan Motors (HM) spokesperson told FE. Kolkata-based HM, a CK Birla Group company, has a technical collaboration with Mitsubishi Motors Corporation since 1998 and a licence to manufacture and market Mitsubishi vehicles.
This is a volte face from March this year, when Mitsubishi officials had said that the company is looking at the “feasibility” of bringing both the hatchback and sedan versions of the Mirage to India. The Mirage is made in Thailand and was launched in the same country last April.
As for its sedan range, production of the Lancer sedan has been stopped at its Tiruvallur plant (in Tamil Nadu) a few months back, while company sources said the Cedia model will also be phased out soon because of lacklustre volumes. Between April and October, the petrol-only Cedia sold 69 units compared to the other petrol executive sedan, Honda Civic’s 469 units, and segment leader Toyota Corolla’s 3,697 units. It had a third sedan on sale, the Lancer Evolution X sports car, of which 12 units were imported and have mostly been sold.
In comparison, the SUV range is doing better. The Pajero Sport and Outlander together sold 998 units between April and October this year, in a segment where Toyota’s Fortuner strongly led with 9,202 unit sales. The more expensive Montero sold 15 units in the same period.

Good move...

[karkal]

Bumper to Bumper Ford EcoSport

[rsubbu.mdu]

Originally Posted by Vijay M

Saw a blue Ford Ecosport this morning being tested on GST road, it looks very good! It'll definitely shake up the competition if its priced well. The one I saw was a road ready vehicle with no patches/ disguise, probably hinting an early 2013 launch.

Ecosport production is starting at the Chennai Plant from Mar'13.

[rsubbu.mdu]

Renault Duster 4x4 India launch by March 2013
Source

As Renault India brings in their new 4x4 Duster into Indian markets by March 2013, it is expected that this SUV will be one of the most fuel efficient 4x4s in the country. Currently, being exported by Renault India to right hand drive markets like the United Kingdom, means that there will not be infrastructure adjustments to take into consideration once this SUV is available in India, production of which will continue from the Renault plant in Chennai.

Once launched, the Renault Duster 4x4 could command a premium of INR 70k to 90k over other 2wd variants while timing of launch is perfectly timed as the Ford EcoSport is also planning its Indian debut. Renault Duster will be offered in a choice of two engines and in three states of tunes. The base variant will possess a 1.5 liter 99 bhp petrol engine offering 85 bhp and 200 Nm torque mated to a five speed manual gearbox.

A 1.5 liter K9K turbo diesel engine is also expected offering 100 bhp and 250 Nm torque mated to a six speed manual transmission. No automatic transmission option is available with the Duster SUV even though it is being offered in overseas markets.

[rsubbu.mdu]

Compact SUV segment is getting hotter.. Duster is making merry and lets see how it goes Once Eco sport hits the road...

Some shots shared by a reader in Motor Vikatan of the Ecosport test mule in Chennai :

[darkprinz]

Looks great ...

[vinodgopal]

can someone compile the list of Auto Manufacturers in Chennai/SCR belt. And keep adding to the number if one more player comes to Chennai. That way we could statistically assume economic possibilities of growth.

[karkal]

Renault hires Logan creator to devise low-cost car plan in India

Renault’s move into low-cost cars, which has kept the French automaker afloat as mass-market peers drown in European losses, may soon help it sink competitors beyond the old continent.

That is the long game for Gerard Detourbet, the man behind the no-frills Logan and other “Entry” models, who has a new mission: to devise an even cheaper vehicle programme for India that can compete with such champions of frugality as Maruti Suzuki and Hyundai.

If he pulls off the challenge set by Renault-Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn, it could then give his carmaking alliance a new weapon. IBN Live

If he pulls off the challenge set by Renault-Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn, it could then give his carmaking alliance a new weapon with which to undercut rivals in emerging markets around the globe.

Detourbet, 66, moved to Chennai early this year and has been quietly building an Indian supplier network and crack team of local executives, including several lured away from the competition.

“We don’t set out to poach people, but it happens that they sometimes come to us from Suzuki and Hyundai,” Detourbet said in a recent interview during a return visit to Paris.

“We’ve put together a new team, so of course there are people from all over.”

Set firmly in Chief Executive Ghosn’s sights is a major auto market combining the promise of breakneck growth with implausibly low prices.

Suzuki Motor Corp holds sway in India with models from its Maruti subsidiary starting below 250,000 rupees and accounting for 1 million registrations a year in a market of 2.6 million.

Hyundai has also made dramatic inroads of late with its Eon mini, priced closer to 300,000 rupees.

Renault’s new “sub-entry” architecture will offer roomier cars for a similar price tag and spawn at least one additional model for Nissan, Detourbet said.

Renault and its 43.4 percent-owned Japanese affiliate, which share Ghosn as CEO, already make costlier vehicles such as the Pulse and Micra subcompacts at their Chennai factory, claiming a combined 3 percent Indian market share for April-November.

BATTLE PLANS

Producing a car in the Eon’s $5,500 (4,300 euro) bracket would then provide the blueprint for an assault on the lower ends of markets such as Brazil and Russia, outflanking offerings from Volkswagen, General Motors and others.

“India is the only country where you begin to see modern cars at this kind of price,” Detourbet said.

“Once you’ve done battle with the world’s best cheap car manufacturer, you can go into another country where there isn’t a Maruti Suzuki and be relatively comfortable.”

While most French auto executives come from applied science backgrounds or hothouse business schools, Detourbet left behind a promising career as a university mathematician. Admirers including Arnaud Deboeuf, his successor on the Entry programme, say his approach is refreshing.

“With Gerard, it’s an innovation a minute,” Deboeuf said. “He’s not your typical auto engineer.”

After joining Renault in 1971 as an IT specialist, Detourbet rose steadily through the ranks to become senior vice president in charge of gearboxes and transmissions in 1997. Louis Schweitzer, then CEO, asked him to set up the group’s low-cost car programme three years later.

Logan-derived models such as the Duster SUV and Lodgy minivan have since become an earnings mainstay, helping Renault to avoid the kind of job cuts and plant closures announced by PSA Peugeot Citroen and Ford.

Thanks largely to the 12,000-euro Duster, Renault recorded a modest auto division profit in January-June, with almost half its global deliveries outside Europe. Peugeot, which still depends on the region for 61 percent of sales, lost 662 million euros.

FINAL MISSION?

But the success of low-end Renault models – built in Romania and Morocco and sold under the Dacia brand in Europe – has also proved controversial as France struggles to defend industrial jobs and the carmaker presses unions to give ground on pay and conditions.

“The money invested in Dacia could have been spent on developing the new mainstream Renault models that are seriously lacking today,” said Patrick Biau, an official at the Force Ouvriere union.

Renault-Nissan’s scramble to field cut-price Indian vehicles follows several false starts in the country.

While the original Logan caught on unexpectedly in Europe, Indian consumers were not seduced. Renault scrapped a production venture with Mahindra & Mahindra in 2008, then discussed plans with Bajaj to build an ultra-cheap car to counter Tata Motors’ $3,000 Nano.

That project was abandoned last year, as the Nano itself fell far short of Tata’s sales objectives.

Finally, Detourbet was tapped once again for what, given his age, might be his last major overseas assignment for Renault. The new programme could launch its first car in late 2014, he said.

“We’re about where we were two years before the Logan launch, in a race against time to prove feasibility,” he added, insisting that “nothing’s been decided yet”.

But Detourbet smiled when asked if he could still report back to Ghosn that the idea won’t fly.

“I get the impression that would be difficult,” he said.

[jaish]

What price on road for Ford Ecosport and Reanault Duster

[Vijay M]

Originally Posted by vinodgopal

can someone compile the list of Auto Manufacturers in Chennai/SCR belt. And keep adding to the number if one more player comes to Chennai. That way we could statistically assume economic possibilities of growth.

Hyundai
Ford
BMW
Hindustan Motors
Renault- Nissan
Royal Enfield
BharatBenz
Yamaha
Ashok Leyland

Pls add to the list if I hv missed out something.