Automotive Updates - 12th September 2014

• General Motors CEO Mary Barra concluded a three-day fact-finding visit to India yesterday, where she met with Indian prime minister Narendra Modi and key stakeholders throughout the country. “India represents a great opportunity for Chevrolet,” Barra said. “With a relatively small vehicle population and rapidly growing, young middle class, India is expected to become one of the world’s three largest markets by 2020. “GM is working to better understand the Indian market so we can give Indian customers what they deserve – safe, high-quality Chevrolet vehicles with exceptional designs that exceed expectations.” (autocarpro.in)

image from team-bhp.com

• As part of her first visit to India, between September 9-11, GM’s CEO, Mary Barra, visited the Talegaon plant to roll out the first ever export car. The car in question is the Chevrolet Beat, which will be made in LHD (left hand drive) specification for export to the Chilean market.(indianautoblogs.com)

• Honda Cars India has initiated the process to acquire land in Gujarat to come up with its third manufacturing plant in the country.The auto company, which currently has two manufacturing plants at Greater Noida and Tapukara, is also looking to start a second shift at the Tapukara facility.(businesstoday)

• Ford Motor Co plans to launch four new car models in India and is looking to increase the amount of locally-made parts to reduce the cost of its vehicles sold in the country, the head of its local unit said on Friday. Ford’s sales in India have increased 9.5% to 84,469 vehicles in the fiscal year that ended on 31 March, pushing up its market share to 3.4% from 2.9% a year ago, industry data showed.(livemint.com)

• Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India (HMSI) today said the operationalisation of its fourth plant in Gujarat will be delayed by about a quarter and will start production in the beginning of 2016."Due to the elections earlier this year, there has been a delay in the start of work at the Gujarat plant. We expect to start production at the plant in first quarter of 2016 instead of last quarter of 2015 as planned earlier," HMSI Keita Muramatsu told PTI here on the sidelines of SIAM annual convention.(ETauto.com)

• Country's largest car maker Maruti Suzuki India plans to roll out its light commercial vehicles (LCV) project on a limited scale, a top company executive said today."We will begin the LCV project on a very limited scale and take the initiative forward by understanding the marketing and sales experience. We will slowly roll out it as we do not want to rush into it. The commercial vehicle sector is a new sector for us," Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) Chairman R C Bhargava said on the sidelines of SIAM Annual Convention.(financialexpress.com)

• Suzuki Motorcycles India is developing four new products, including a 100cc motorcycle, which would be rolled out over the next two years. The models in question are two scooters and two motorcycles which are currently being developed at the their headquarters in Hamamatsu, Japan. Following the trend these days, the company also plans to make India a manufacturing hub for motorcycles, which would be exported to countries in Latin America, Africa and the Middle East, apart from neighboring countries.(motoroids.com)

• Tata Motors launched Zest sedan with a lot of expectations, hoping that this new compact sedan will contribute positively to the brand’s current market share of 6%. Many considering Zest to be Tata’s make or break product, it seems that Tata is on the right path with the new Zest. Post launch, Tata Motors revealed that the Zest has received over 10,000 bookings, and thus an order pipeline for two months.Launched on 12th August, Tata Motors retailed 2671 units of Zest in the month of August. The company expects to see even more sales over the upcoming festive season and company dealers have already noted increased footfalls into company showrooms.(rushlane.com)

• German luxurious car maker Audi has added a new variant codenamed as Dynamic in one of its best selling SUV’s Q3 and has priced it Rs. 38.4 lakh (ex-showroom price in Mumbai). The newly added variant would be now the top end version of Q3 and which has received some contemporary cosmetic changes so as to place tough competition to upcoming Mercedes Benz GLA. The major features offered in new Audi Q3 Dynamic are 17 inch alloy wheels, panoramic sunroof, Audi Drive Select and Dynamic comfort suspension system, clear lens tail lamps and few more to list. Apart from the new Q3 Dynamic has been offered three passionate colors including mythos black, florett silver and monsoon grey.  (carkhabri.com)

• The Volkswagen Group is moving towards becoming the largest car maker in the world. They are only marginally behind Toyota now and have recorded a further rise in deliveries in the period to August, handing over 6.52 (January-August 2013: 6.17; +5.6 percent)* million vehicles to customers. Developments during the month of August were also positive, with the company delivering 740,500 (August 2013: 720,900; +2.7 percent)* units worldwide.(motoroids.com)