Automotive Updates - 1st July 2014

• Mercedes-Benz today launched the 2014 edition of its luxury sedan CLS 350 in petrol engine, priced at Rs 89.9 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi).

• In a disheartening revelation, Mr. Vikram Kirloskar, President of Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) and VC of Toyota Kirloskar Motor, estimated that the Indian automotive sector had lost about 25-30 lakh jobs in the last two years.

• Daimler India Commercial Vehicles (DICV) along with Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corporation, Japan (MFTBC), a Daimler Company, has begun exporting its robust DICV-made Fuso trucks to Indonesia, a key strategic market in Asia. Daimler says the Fuso brand is the market leader in Indonesia with a share of 45.4 percent. In the light-duty truck segment (5-8 tons GVW) served by the Colt Diesel, the company has a market share of 53.1 percent in (January-December 2013). The company has sold over 280,000 units in Indonesia across light-medium and heavy duty segments.

• The TSI technology from Volkswagen has received the international engine of the year 2014 award. The engine in question is the 1.4-litre TSI twincharger, which took this award for the ninth consecutive time. Carstem Helbing, head of application EA888 and alternate fuels in the Volkswagen petrol engine development division, took this award

• South African auto website IOL has received confirmation from the Ford’s subsidiary on the new Figo’s launch. The vehicle will launch in the country next year with at least one diesel variant.

• The crisis in oil-rich Iraq is having its impact in India. Effective midnight of July 1, oil marketing companies (OMCs) have hiked the price of petrol by a steep Rs 1.69 per litre and diesel by 50 paise a litre, excluding local sales tax or VAT, which means the hit on the motorist’s wallet will be higher. Petrol in Mumbai will now cost Rs 81.75 per litre, up Rs 1.59 from Rs 80.16 a day ago. Diesel rates have risen by 17 paise in Mumbai to Rs 66.01 per litre (both prices excluding local taxes) .

• Power management company Eaton today launched its first India Sustainability Report in New Delhi. The report was launched as part of an industry symposium ‘Business Leadership for Energy Sustainability in India’ hosted by The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI). Eaton India is a member of the TERI Business Council for Sustainable Development (BSCD) a forum through which TERI engages with the corporate sector on issues related to sustainable development.

• PSA Peugeot-Citroen will be hoping it is third time lucky as far as India is concerned. After its first local venture, in collaboration with the Doshis of Premier Automobiles, collapsed in 2001, it considered another stab at the local market with a R4,000-crore plant in Sanand, Gujarat, in 2011, but shelved it due to financial troubles at home. Now the only global car manufacturer that does not have a presence in India is set to mark its re-entry shortly.

• Rane Brake Lining Limited (RBL), part of the Rane Group, has been ranked as the third  in the list of “Best Workplaces” in the Indian auto components Industry for the second year in a row. The ranking came from the Great Place to Work Institute. The Great Place to Work Institute is a global research, consulting and training firm that helps organisations identify, create and sustain great workplaces through the development of high-trust workplace cultures.

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•  image from http://katalogus.hasznaltauto.hu/mercedes-benz/cls_350_cdi_automata_-19176