Automotive Updates - 17th September 2014

• Yamaha Motor India Sales Pvt. Ltd., today launched FAZER FI Version 2.0 at Rs 83,850 (ex-showroom Delhi).The new FAZER FI Version 2.0 comes with a newly designed air-cooled 149cc 4-stroke, SOHC, single-cylinder fuel-injected engine on a lightweight frame to realize the product concept of a "Sharpened & Power-packed New FZ." and comes in three colour variants Red Dawn, Black Hawk and White Cloud . (ETauto.com)

• Honda Cars India Ltd (HCIL) is weighing its options to come out with a Sport Utility Vehicle, which is a 'growing and potential' segment, a top company official said here today. "Yes, we are studying it, as SUV is a potential and growing segment," Jnaneswar Sen, Senior Vice President, Sales and Marketing, HCIL, told reporters in reply to a question on plans to launch a compact SUV in the Indian market. (economicstimes.com)

• The Munjal family-controlled scooter and motorcycle maker Hero MotoCorp Ltd plans to offer stock options to its employees and directors in an effort to retain talent and hire top executives to drive its global aspirations. The offer of 4.99 million employee stock options (ESOPs) will result in a less than 2.5% dilution of the paid-up equity share capital of the company as on 30 June. At Tuesday’s closing price of Rs.2,791.30 per share, the 4.99 million shares are worth Rs.1,393 crore, according to a Mint calculation.(livemint.com)

• After being pursued by both Telangana and Andhra Pradesh and opting for the latter, Hero MotoCorp announced on Tuesday that its manufacturing plant near Sri City in Chittoor district will start rolling out motorcycles in 18 months time.(ETauto.com)

• Just ahead of the festive season in India, automakers in the country are keen to introduce new and facelifted models, while Mitsubishi rolls out its Pajero Sport Limited Edition priced at INR 23.99 lakhs, ex-showroom.(rushlane.com)

• Country’s leading car manufacturing company MSIL dispatched its 25th lakh car from its production plant located at Manesar in Haryana. The 25th lakh unit to roll out from plant was ZXi trim of its popular hatchback Swift. The production plant of company at Manesar covers an area about 600 acres and production facility divided into three lines A, B and C. It has production capacity of 8 lakh units and at present company’s three popular products namely Swift, Dzire and Celerio are produced in this plant. It would be interested to know that this MSIL is the first car manufacturer company in country to achieve this landmark.(carkhabri.in)

• Workers at auto component major Bosch Ltd’s Bangalore manufacturing facility in Adugodi have gone on an indefinite strike. The plant manufactures fuel injection pumps as well as some crucial parts for the company’s common-rail systems. According to S Prasanna Kumar, president of the company’s workers union called Mico Employees Association (MEA), the workers declared a strike since the first shift on Tuesday as their charter of demands, which is pending before the management for the past 22 months, has not been positively met by the management. (autocarpro.in)

• India has emerged to become the largest market for Japanese two-wheeler giant, Honda. For the last couple of months, Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India (HMSI) managed to sell more units than the company's subsidiaries in other large markets such as Indonesia and Vietnam.(team-bhp.com)

• Mayank Pareek, the sales chief of India's largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki has put in his papers after serving the company for more than two decades. Known among the automobile fraternity as the face of Maruti Suzuki, Pareek has served the carmaker for more than two decades at a time when its market share peaked to its highest for the past five years. According to people in the knowledge of he is likely to remain part of the automotive industry and may reveal his plans shortly .. (economicstimes.com)

• Bajaj Auto has announced a contribution of Rs 20 crore for the Prime Minister National Relief Fund to assist relief efforts in the flood-ravaged areas in Jammu & Kashmir. Over 200 persons have been killed in the worst floods to have devastated the northern state in a century. (autocarpro.in)

• Renault India have outlined two major launches next year, and the second launch, which will be the small car codenamed ‘XBA’, is expected to contribute significantly to volumes. Based on the Renault-Nissan Alliance’s CMF-A modular platform, the XBA will roll out of the Alliance’s Chennai factory with a high level of localization.(indianautoblogs.com)

• The Norma Group, a global market leader for engineered joining technology, has received recognitions for its production facility in Qingdao, China, by General Motors Company (GM) and Ford Motor Company. The GM Supplier Quality Excellence Award for the assessment year 2013/2014 and the Ford Q1 certification were granted for Norma Group's outstanding performance in China.  (autocarpro.in)

•  The local unit of Toyota Motor is planning to expand marketing focus on rural India to shore up sales of its sluggish compact models, following the successful strategy of rivals Maruti Suzuki and Hyundai Motor which sell a sizeable number of their small cars in the hinterlands.The Japanese carmaker, which is present in the country through a joint-venture with the Bangalore-based Kirloskar Group, is putting up a rural sales division to reinforce its marketing plan for the Indian automotive market that is gradually showing signs of improvement after shrinking for two consecutive years.(ETauto.com)

• The Honda Foundation, a public-interest incorporated foundation created by Honda Motor’s founder Soichiro Honda and his younger brother Benjiro Honda, has announced that the Honda Prize 2014 will be awarded to Dr. Helmut Clemens for his outstanding contributions and eminent achievements in the development of light-weight structural intermetallic titanium aluminides, so-called γ-TiAl based alloys. (Autocarpro.in)