Automotive updates 20th June 2014

• Vehicle prices are likely to increase from July 1, as the excise cut on automobiles announced by the previous government to spur demand is expiring on June 30.It is likely that the government will return to the previous excise duty structure. That will increase the price of utility vehicles by as much as 6% and cars and bikes by 4.5-5.0%.

• Bajaj Auto Ltd (BAL), India’s first quadricycle manufacturer, is gearing up to begin exporting its RE60 soon, two sources close to the development told Autocar Professional. While it is known that the company has set up a monthly production capacity of 5,000 units of the RE60 at its Waluj, Aurangabad plant, it is believed to have  already rolled out around 2,000-2,500 units of these vehicles, which currently occupy the massive stockyard within the Waluj factory premises.

• Europe' s top carmaker Volkswagen group has scaled down its India market share target to 7-8 per cent by 2018 against the 20 per cent projected earlier as it struggles to make headway in the highly-competitive market dominated by heavyweights like Maruti Suzuk and Hyundai. 

• : Uniform excise duty on passenger cars, a scrappage policy and implementation of GST feature among the top expectations of the Indian automotive industry from the Prime Minister Narendra Modi's first general budget,Society of Indian Automobiles Manufacturers during an interaction with the Commerce Minister suggested the government should extend the reduced excise duty on vehicles.

• Hero MotoCorp, as part of its plunge into the hybrid two-wheeler segment, is to roll out its electric serial hybrid scooter Leap in February 2015. To be made at Hero’s Gurgaon plant, the manufacturer is looking at small volumes of the Leap to begin with, say sources in the know. An annual production figure of 6,000 units is what is estimated and, depending on demand, this could see a spike.  

• Mahindra and Mahindra LtdBSE -2.87 % said on Friday that it had no 'definitive' plans about setting up a manufacturing plant in Brazil, as reported by a newspaper. A media report on June 17 said that Mahindra was considering building a manufacturing plant in Brazil to circumvent local tax barriers, quoting Pawan Goenka, president of the company's automotive division. 

• Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd fell 2.4 percent on worries that weak monsoon may hit its tractor sales, investors say.Nearly a third of the company's revenues come from tractor sales which are largely dependent on farmers' incomes that can get severely impacted due to any shortfall in rains, analysts say.

• VW India will launch the refreshed Polo towards the middle of next month, Indian Autos Blog was told by its sources. The 2014 VW Polo facelift will launch in mid-July. The refreshed Polo will get a new front bumper with redone chrome enclosures for its foglights.         

•  image from indianautoblogs.com
•