New units of the iconic Maruti 800, Ford Ikon (1.3 petrol), Fiat Palio, Skoda Fabia (1.2 petrol) and Octavia (1.9 TDI engine), and Chevrolet Tavera (2.5 DI) of General Motors will no longer be sold in the 13 notified cities from Thursday, which constitute 40-50 per cent of total car sales in the country.
Maruti Suzuki India growing by a paltry two per cent in January, recorded the lowest growth in this financial year, which could be due to the launch of Tata's Nano.
D Deve Gowda, the former prime minister of the country, is back in the news. And again, for wrong reasons. A 23-year-old man committed suicide after his car collided with Gowda's car, creating a stir in Bangalore.
The i10 managed to impress the Business Standard Motoring jury across various counts, including build quality, ride, handling, driveability, comfort and safety features. A compelling price tag and above average fuel efficiency further clinched the deal for Hyundai's made-in-India car for the world.
Three models from Maruti Suzuki, as well as models from Mahindra-Renault, Chevrolet, Toyota and Honda have got top rankings in their respective segments in a survey for new-vehicle design and performance in India, according to J D Power Asia Pacific 2007 India Automatic Performance, Execution and Layout Study (APEAL) released on Wednesday.
The industry will see as many as 24 new launches in 2008, from 14 car makers across the country, with nearly all of them being unveiled at the upcoming Auto Expo in New Delhi. New model releases from the top three manufacturers will include Tata's much awaited 'One lakh car' concept (almost production ready), new compact car Indica, mid-sized car Indigo and the Sumo multi-utility vehicle.
Leading manufacturers, including Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai and General Motors, are planning to raise prices of each of their models starting from the last week of this month or early next month.
Carmakers seem to be driving in the right lane with their new models, with three of the new launches - Maruti Swift diesel and Mahindra Renault Logan as well as GM's Chevrolet Aveo U-VA - finishing on the top of their segments in a customer satisfaction survey.
If you buy a Chevrolet from the General Motors (GM) stable in 2012, the chances are that it will have a good amount of design input from Bangalore. The world's largest automobile manufacturer on Thursday opened its India Design Lab in the city, which will comprise 100 professionals involved in styling cars.
General Motors said on Thursday it will launch a mini car in India in the first half of next year.
The limited edition Aveo comes at a premium of Rs 54,000 over the existing base price of Rs 5.95 lakh. The new variant would be powered by a 1.4 litre petrol engine and has been introduced to commemorate GM Corp's centenary celebrations, GM India said in a statement.
They are known to have introduced northern India to luxury cars. But now the British Motor Car Company (BMC) is playing an active role in the country's fitness movement.
The Spark will be available for Rs 2.79 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi) compared with its usual price of Rs 3.32 lakh. Hyundai Motor India (HMIL) will offer a discount of up to Rs 40,000 across various models till the end of next month aiming to cash in on the festive season.
Some analysts, however, suggest that car-makers threaten price rises every January in a bid to clear calendar year-end inventory. "There is always a threat from auto companies, usually in January, on a price increase in an attempt by them to clear the inventory. Sometimes, the ploy is never exercised," said Mahatesh Sabarad, a Mumbai-based analyst with Centrum Broking.
The company's exports during the month surged 59.6 per cent at 5,739 units compared to 3,596 units in August 2006, MUL said in a statement.
A significant portion of the growth in June was propelled by new car launches, including Maruti's SX4, M&M's Logan and GM's Chevrolet Spark.
The sales comprise 1,504 units of hatchback Chevrolet Spark, 1,550 units of multi-utility vehicle Tavera, 1,227 units of Aveo/Aveo U-VA and 498 units of sedan Optra, it said.
R Balendran, director and vice-president, corporate affairs, General Motors India, said on Wednesday that the company might bring in the SUV as either a completely built unit or a completely knocked down unit.
Positioned in the same category as Octavia, the Optra diesel version is competitively priced in the range of Rs 8.73 lakh and Rs 9.99 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi), while the latter is being sold in the range of Rs 11.35 lakh to Rs 14 lakh.
Planning to buy a new car? Confused as to what type suits you and which model to buy? This is a ready reckoner for models available in India.
General Motors India on Wednesday said it would hike the prices of its multi-utility vehicle Chevrolet Tavera ranging from Rs 4,800 to Rs 8,700 across all variants from December 24.
General Motors India on Thursday cut prices of critical spare parts of two of its best selling models Chevrolet Optra and Tavera by as much as 26 to 52 per cent.
The company on Thursday introduced its luxury sedan Teana.
General Motors, the world's biggest carmaker, on Tuesday rolled out its small car Chevrolet Spark in India as it takes on market leader Maruti Suzuki in one of the world's fastest growing automobile markets.
General Motors also plans to increase sourcing from India over the next 4-5 years to $1 billion annually.
Maruti Udyog, which controls more than half of the country's passenger car market on the strength of its dominance in small cars, has embarked on a strategy to increase its share in the bigger car segments.
A slowdown in the automobile industry is set to reverse by the year-end. The slowdown, which is cyclical in nature and occurs after every seven years, should come to an end in the next three months, according to the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), the country's apex automobile body.
Maruti Suzuki is heading for an image makeover through its new sedan SX4, which is expected to hit the Indian roads by mid-May with a price range between Rs 700,000 and Rs 800,000.
The car will adhere to the small car norms as specified by the union budget and thereby will benefit from the 16 per cent excise duty.
"Just media hype," said a relieved Sachin Kumar, executive of the Auto Vikas showroom of General Motors India in West Delhi's Moti Nagar. "There were some showroom queries on the first two days, but it died down."
General Motors subsidiary Chevrolet will introduce a diesel engine option in Optra by April-May this year. Currently, the car is only available with petrol engine.
It vowed to 'Keep America Rolling' after 9/11 terror attacks and also solved a puzzle about one of its Pontiac cars not liking vanilla ice cream, but it could not avoid bankruptcy, even with the help of the United States government.
Sales in the month of March was, however, down by 2.1 per cent at 70,296 units as against 71,772 units in the same month last year. During the full fiscal year, domestic sales stood at 7,11,818 units as against 6,35,629 units, a growth of 12 per cent. Exports also recorded a quantum jump of 34.9 per cent at 53,024 units as compared to 39,295 units in the previous year.
General Motors was considering setting up powertrain facilities in India, warranting a fresh investment of $300 million, Nick Reily, vice-president, General Motors, and president - Asia Pacific, said.
The much-awaited excise duty cut on small cars to 12 per cent (from 16 per cent) made by the finance minister may have brought smiles on the faces of car manufacturers but this, dealers say, will increase the waiting period on some popular models by another additional month.
The launches will include new cars from General Motors, Tata Motors, Hyundai, Maruti, Volkswagen, Skoda, Mahindra-Renault, Honda, DaimlerChrysler and BMW.
Within the first 15 days, it has hit the tarmac with 5,000 units, some 2,000 of which were logged in the first five days alone.
General Motors Asia-Pacific on Friday announced the appointment of chief operating officer, Rajeev Chaba, as president and managing director of General Motors India with effect from June 1.
General Motors India, the wholly-owned subsidiary of General Motors Corporation, on Friday announced expansion of production capacity of its Halol facility to 60,000 units per annum.
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