Automotive Updates - 11th July 2014

• The installation of anti-lock braking systems (ABS) will become mandatory starting April 2015, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has said. While this deadline applies to new trucks and buses, the deadline for on-road vehicles to get ABS fitted is October 2015.

• Tata Motors  today reported a 10.46 per cent decline in global sales, including that of Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), to 75,623 units in June. The company had sold 84,458 units in the same month last year. 

• Prices for aluminium could climb around a third to as high as $2,500 per tonne if more U.S. automakers start producing vehicles made from the metal, said the new head of Japan's aluminium industry body.

• Homegrown auto major Mahindra & Mahindra is wooing bank employees across India with a special scheme offering Rs 25,000 discount on purchase of its passenger vehicle. The scheme is applicable to employees of all banks across the country and will be in effect for two months starting July till August 31, 2014, the company said in a statement. 

• Mahindra has launched its e2o electric car in Bermuda at 22,995 USD (INR 13.82 lakhs), ex-Showroom. The launch of the car took place in Hamilton, Bermud,The e2o’s launch in Bermuda sees Mahindra teaming up with Bermuda Engineering Company Limited and Auto Solution Limited. The trio will also work on charging infrastructure within the island and setting up of local service and maintenance works.

• The Volkswagen Passenger Cars brand has won the National Energy Globe Award Germany for its holistic ‘Think Blue. Factory’ environmental program. Earning particular recognition was its eco-friendly use of resources in production. With the Austrian Energy Globe Foundation as its patron, the award allows outstanding projects from all over the world with a focus on conserving resources, energy efficiency and using renewable energies to be honored every year. The award was presented by the Austrian ambassador Dr. Ralph Scheide in Berlin.

• Automakers, white good makers and other manufacturers will not have to pay excise duty on the discounts they offer to their consumers. Finance minister Arun Jaitley has corrected a significant anomaly in the excise law created by the controversial 'Fiat judgment', as part of slew of measures to boost the country's manufacturing sector.

• Chrysler Group LLC said it would recall almost 900,000 sport utility vehicles (SUVs) to fix the wiring for vanity mirror lights in sun visors, to prevent short circuits.

• The Yamaha YZF-R25 seems in no mood of slowing down be it on the track, sales chart or even the assembly line. While the bike has proved its quickness on the tarmac, it seems to be equally fast on the assembly line as well. According to a statement made by a company official, it takes just 3 minutes to roll out an R25 off the assembly line at Yamaha’s Pulogadung plant located in East Jakarata. To put things into perspective, by the end of this article a brand new Yamaha R25 would have been rolled off the assembly line.

• The Renault Lodgy MPV is arguably the next big launch for the French car maker in India. While the Renault Duster did a brilliant job to put the company on the Indian car buyer’s radar, the Lodgy MPV, which is also a rebadged Dacia and is based on its platform, is touted to shift Renault India into a higher gear as far as market share is concerned.

image from livemint.com