Automotive Updates - 19th June 2014

• Kicking off a price war in the mid-sized sedan segment Ford India today launched the new version of its Fiesta model, priced up to Rs 9.29 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi). The new Fiesta will directly take on Honda City and Hyndai Verna and is priced Rs 67,000 to Rs 1.7 lakh lower than the competition, depending on the variant. 

• Precision Camshafts Ltd (PCL), which manufactures over a million chilled cast iron camshafts every month at its Solapur plant in Maharashtra, has announced a strategic alliance with EMAG Germany to acquire tried-and-tested assembled camshaft technology which employs the EMAG-patented 'Force Free Heat Shrink' process.

• Maruti Suzuki India Limited has commissioned a new 1MW mono-crystalline photovoltaic solar power plant at its Manesar facility. The company says the Rs 10.3 crore solar power plant will help it offset CO2 emissions to the tune of over 1,200 tonnes per annum.

• Honda has been promoting the Mobilio MPV at various locations prior to its launch scheduled in India in July this year.However, Honda had some special plans for Indonesia where the Japanese manufacturer officially launched the Mobilio RS, a premium version of the Mobilio MPV. 

• Ratings agency IcraBSE 0.21 % today revised downwards its tractor sales forecast for the current fiscal to 4-6 per cent from 8 per cent earlier.The agency said untimely rains in some parts of the country during February and March impacted Rabi crop as well as consumer sentiments. 

• More Tata Nano variants are in the pipeline, as Tata Motors tries every trick in its bag to flog a dead horse. The planned variants include a turbocharged Tata Nano and an electric Tata Nano.

• Tata Motors-owned Jaguar Land Rover has announced an investment of 200 million pounds at its Halewood plant in the UK to support introduction of its upcoming SUV Discovery Sport. 

• Harley-Davidson might be planning to launch its first ever electric motorcycle on June 19.In a 15-second long Youtube video, it is shown that a bike of some sort goes by on the route 66, it must be a Harley but it doesn't sound like a Harley because it is quieter like the jet engine of a very small plane.

• General Motors Co on Wednesday received more awards for initial quality from JD Power than any other automaker in the US market, as its chief executive officer was grilled by a US congressional committee about safety issues. It was the second year in a row that GM had the most models named with the best initial quality in the annual JD Power study.South Korea's Hyundai Motor Co took five awards and was the best overall mass-market brand in the survey, jumping to fourth place from 10th a year ago.

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•  image from motoroid.com