Automotive Updates - 8th October 2014

• Country's leading two-wheeler maker Hero MotoCorp today launched two new products in the market to cash-in on the festive season.The company launched 100 cc Splendor Pro Classic, which has a cafe racer styling, priced at Rs 48,650 (ex-showroom Delhi) and another 100 cc on-road-off-road bike Passion Pro TR at Rs 51,550 (ex-showroom Delhi).(financialexpress.com)

• Mahindra Tractors, the world’s largest tractor maker in terms of volumes, has launched the Mahindra Yuvraj 215 NXT compact model.The 15 HP tractor is suitable for small land holdings and inter-culture operations. The Yuvraj 215 NXT is the first product in its segment to feature a water-cooled direct injection engine.(indianautoblogs.com)

• BASF India has opened its large production facility in Dahej, Gujarat, India, today. With a total investment of € 150 million (Rs 1,168 crore), the facility is the largest single investment of BASF in India. The site was opened by Anandiben Patel, prime minister of Gujarat, Saurabhbhai Patel, minister of finance, energy and petrochemicals of Gujarat, and Michael Heinz, member of the Executive Board of BASF SE, together. Heinz said: "The strengthening of our production platform in India is part of our investment plans for the Asia-Pacific region, in which we want to invest more than € 10 billion (Rs 77,870 crore)  between 2013 and 2020.  (autocarpro.in)

• Mahindra’s flagship, the XUV500 will be launched in a hybrid form in 2015. The company says that this new system (termed E-Motor by Mahindra) will bump the fuel economy by a noticeable 18% when it hits the XUV500 in production form and the SUV will be the first manual diesel-hybrid car in the world. We at Motoroids are quite chuffed to see this development in the Indian automobile space and think that this will get the ball rolling for other Indian car makers to come out with similar cars as rivals to the XUV.(motoroids.com)

• Petronas, the Malaysian Oil and Gas company has been a well known brand in the global market. Petronas Lubricants is Indian automobile biggie Maruti Suzuki's new partner for sales and service in the Indian market. As for Petronas, the deal is of immense importance as Maruti Suzuki holds over 3100 service outlets in the country. In India, the Petronas brand operates in India through distributors and collaboration with OEM's like Fiat, Piaggio and Tata Motors. Besides engine lubricant, the company also manufactures and markets machinery, transmission Fluid and other industrial equipments .(cartrade.com)

• Two-wheeler manufacturerTVS Motors plans to produce 10,000 units per month of its newly launched TVS Scooty Zest 100, a company official said here today. Zest, aimed at young girls, would be availabe in the market from October 15, TVS MotorsSouth Zone Manager Satheesh Kumar told reporters after launching the vehicle. (ETauto.com)

• Yamaha Motor India is all set to open its new manufacturing plant in Chennai with an installed capacity of 400,000 units early next month. The new facility, which will start product in CY15, will roll out the 113cc Alpha scooter initially and gradually start producing other scooters. The company, which sold around 450,000 two-wheelers in CY13, is targeting sales of 600,000 units in this calendar year. Export sales last year were 200,000  in 2013 and the same number is likely to be maintained this year. Like its scooter-making rivals in India, Yamaha remains bullish on the scooter segment which has recorded close to 30 percent growth in CY14 thus far. (autocarpro.in)

• We already know that Toyota has been making plans to launch its luxury brand Lexus in India. Now, its ace Japanese rival Nissan too has similar plans. Nissan is coming up with a new strategy to gain a higher customer base in India. One part of the strategy is to introduce the Infiniti brand here. Infiniti is Nissan’s luxury arm. Since we have seen the premium vehicle segments dominated by Mercedes, BMW and Audi growing substantially since the past few years, Nissan too is eyeing these segments and wants to cash in on the demand. The newly-showcased Infiniti Q30 has the ability to compete with the Audi A3, Mercedes A-Class and the BMW 1-Series.(motorbeam.com)

• Hero Cycles bought 47% stake in 105 year old, currently loss making Germany’s largest bicycle maker Mitteldeutsche Fahrradwerke AG (MIFA) in August 2014. Before acquiring controlling interest, Hero has called off the deal.(rushlane.com)

•  Car rental firm Carzonrent andTata Motors have inked a pact to launch an initiative in the Delhi/NCR region, under which customers would be able to hire a Tata Nanocar for self drive at just Rs 399 per day. As part of the 'Myles City Drive' initiative, Tata Motors would supply 200 Tata Nano Twist cars to Carzonrent fleet for self-drive service in the Delhi/NCR region. (ETauto.com)

• Volkswagen India has announced the launch of their 24-day mega carnival ‘Volksfest 2014’ starting today, 8th October. The Volksfest 2014 will be held till 31st October and customers can avail of a range of valuable offers, exciting benefits and assured gifts. Coinciding with the festive season in India, the Volksfest 2014 brings best deals on car finance, attractive offers on new car purchase, after sales services including road side assistance, benefits on selected Volkswagen genuine accessories and merchandise, body and paint services.(cardekho.com)