Automotive Update - 07/04/2014

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• The US$ 16.7 billion Mahindra Group has appointed Ruzbeh Irani as Chief Group Communications & Ethics Officer, from April 1 this year. Ruzbeh is also a member of the Mahindra Group Executive Board.
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• Honda Cars India is gearing up to produce two of its new offerings, the Mobilio and Jazz. A report on Autocar Professional says that production of the Mobilio will commence in June this year at Honda India’s Greater Noida plant. Production of the Jazz will commence at Honda’s Tapukara facility as early as July this year, according to Autocar.
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• Italian scooter maker Piaggio estimates a fall of around 8% in first-quarter net revenues at current exchange rates, as a weaker Indian rupee deepens a drop in sales on that market.
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• General Motors' European brand Opel plans to start selling an all-electric compact car no later than by 2017 as the automaker is striving to meet EU emission targets, Automobilwoche reported on Sunday.
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• Tata MotorsBSE -0.46 % is close to finalising a joint project with its British subsidiary Jaguar Land Rover to develop a premium sports utility vehicle that could be priced at Rs 20-25 lakh and pitted against the likes of Toyota Fortuner, Ford Endeavour and Hyundai Santa Fe. 
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• Buoyed by the response to its cars, Fiat Group Automobiles India Private Ltd (FGAIPL), the fully owned subsidiary of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, will be introducing four new models by December this year, 
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• Escorts, a Delhi-based industrial conglomerate, is planning to restructure its auto component business and is looking out for a strategic partner to expand operations.The Rs 4,000-crore Escorts Group, widely known as a tractor maker, is expecting the move to result in a strategic foray to high value-added products in the auto space.
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• Global chemical major BASF and Toda Kogyo Corp, one of the industry leaders in the development and manufacture of cathode materials for lithium-ion batteries, have announced that they will enter exclusive negotiations to form a joint venture for cathode active materials (CAM) based in Japan.
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• A report on Business Standard quotes a Gujarat government official who is said to be close to the development, saying that the Honda  has shown interest in a 250 acre land parcel in Vithalapur. The town of Vithalapur is about 67 km from Sanand and 32 km from Hansalpur, where Maruti Suzuki’s contentious plant is set to come up.