Automotive Updates - 29th September 2014

• Tata Motors Ltd, India's No. 1 automaker by revenue, has poached a top executive from rival Maruti Suzuki Ltd as it looks to strengthen its passenger vehicle business and regain market share.Mayank Pareek will join on Oct. 1 as president of the passenger vehicles business unit, Tata Motors said on Monday. Pareek was formerly head of sales and marketing for Maruti, the nation's top carmaker by volume.(financialexpress.com)

• Toyota Motor has revived plans to launch its Lexus luxury brand in India where sales of high-end vehicles have bucked the trend in an otherwise weak auto market by growing at a double-digit pace for three straight years. Toyota sells Lexus across all major markets, with US being the largest. It deferred the plan to bring Lexus here in 2012 because of high import duty and a sluggish local auto market. (economicstimes.com)

• Entering the lucrative 110 cc automatic scooter segment today, Mahindra announced the launch of their all-new scooter Gusto. This is a global scooter, which has now been launched in India, export to overseas markets will soon follow. Available for an aggressive price tag of Rs 43,000 (ex-showroom, Delhi), Mahindra Gusto competes with the likes of Honda Activa, TVS Jupiter, Hero Maestro and TVS Scooty Zest. (rushlane.com)

• Dunlop India's West Bengal plant at Sahaganj, which had remained closed since 2011, reopened  and both the state government and management headed by Pawan K Ruia are optimistic on sustained phase-wise revival of the plant.The reopening of the plant at Sahagung in Hooghly district just before the Durga puja is seen as a major achievement by the state government and Rs 5,000 as part payment of one-time settlement due comes as a great relief to the workers in distress.(ETauto.com)

• Steel Strips Wheels Ltd (SSWL), the Punjab-based automotive steel wheel manufacturer, has decided to expand its capacity following increasing demand from OEMs, particularly for passenger cars, and the aftermarket, both from the domestic and international market. The company will increase its annual production capacity by 1,500,000 wheels. The wheelmaker will invest Rs 5 crore to expand capacity and the additional capacity will see fruition by April 2015. (autocarpro.in)

• Nissan has announced the appointment of Guillaume Sicard as president, Nissan India operations, effective October 1, 2014. Sicard has been serving as Nissan’s deputy president in India since July, 2014.Sicard takes over from Kenichiro Yomura, current president of Nissan India operations, who is returning to Japan where he has been appointed general manager, Africa Business Management Department, Nissan Motor Co. Sicard will report to Takashi Hata, senior VP of Nissan Motor Co, in charge of Africa, Middle East and India region.(autocarpro.in)

• General Motors India has commenced vehicle exports to Chile. The first 140 left-hand-drive Chevrolet Beatswere shipped from the Mumbai Port Trust of Maharashtra on September 25 and are expected to reach Chile in the next few weeks. The Beat is manufactured at GM’s facility in Talegaon, Maharashtra and is one of the most popular products in their line-up as it is a fuel-efficient hatchback. As part of GM CEO Mary Barra’s recent trip to India, she participated in the rollout of the first Beat for export on September 10. The Talegaon manufacturing facility has an annual production capacity of 170,000 vehicles and 160,000 engines.(carwale.com)

• Japanese auto electronics parts maker Rohm Semiconductor has set up its new R&D Centre in Bangalore. With this, the company has chalked out plans to play a major role in the Indian automotive electronics market. Talking to Autocar Professional, Akihito Tomii, managing director, Rohm Semiconductors India, said the company is considering India as one of its potential markets. The company manufactures auto electronic parts in the areas like integrated circuits (ICs), discrete semiconductor and passive electronic components. Currently the company has a workforce of around 35 employees in India, of which 25 engineers will work in the R&D Centre, which commenced is operations in May this year.   (autocarpro.in)