Automotive updates - 11th and 12th November 2014

• The United States-headquartered conformal coating giant Humiseal is looking to set up its manufacturing unit in India soon. The conformal coatings produced by Humiseal are used to protect automotive electronic assemblies. Conformal coating material is applied to electronic circuitry to act as protection against moisture, dust, humidity, damage caused by insects, chemicals, and temperature extremes that, if uncoated (non-protected), could result in damage or failure of the electronics to function. (autocarpro.in)

• Honda Cars India has started facing the heat from rivals as evident from the sales figures for the month of October 2014. The Honda Amaze has been overtaken by the new Tata Zest compact sedan during October.The Amaze managed to clock 3,482 units last month as against the Tata Zest’s 3,524 units. The Tata sedan edged past with a narrow margin of 42 units. However, the Maruti Swift Dzire with a staggering volume of 17,950 units continues to dominate the sub-4 metre sedan segment and the Hyundai Xcent finished second with 4,629 units. The Swift Dzire outsold the competition put together!(indianautoblogs.com)

• Honda India has announced that it will soon add a second production shift at its Tapukara facility in Rajasthan. Now this will only serve as good news to those who have been looking to buy the company’s popular C-segment sedan – the City. From mid-November onwards, the additional shift will boost the plant’s annual capacity to 1.2 lakh units. Speaking of which, the Tapukara facility is spread across 450 acres and features a vehicle assembly line, a diesel engine component production line and a forging plant.(carwale.com)

• TVS Motor Company has been one of the oldest brand among two-wheeler makers in the country. The bikemaker has been reportedly planning on investing about Rs. 150 Crore for a new engine plant in Himachal Pradesh. This would be a second investment made by the company in this state. The company is currently in talks with the local government for a 50 acre land. Speaking more on the occasion, R Ramakrishnan, TVS Motor Company Ltd Director, said, “The new facility will be the company’s second manufacturing plant in the state. We started off our operations in Himachal Pradesh in 2007 with a plant in Nalagarh in Solan district. Our company is very satisfied with the performance of the plants there and the co-operation given by the government.”(cartrade.com)

• Fiat Group-owned automotive component manufacturer, Magneti Marelli has suggested that its automated manual transmission (AMT) technology is likely to be used in 30% of the cars sold in India by 2020. At present, only 1-2% of the total passenger vehicles have the system.At present, Magneti Marelli produces AMT kits in Italy and imports them as CBUs. The demand for units has been so great that the company is setting up a manufacturing facility at Manesar in the state of Haryana. The company could also use this facility to supply AMT kits to Japan and ASEAN countries.(autocarpro.in)

• Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) is recalling 119 units of its sedan Camry, manufactured between March and July 2011 in Japan and sold in India, to rectify a defect in front suspension.The move is part of a global recall of 1.7 lakh Camry models by Japanese parent Toyota Motor Corp, the world’s biggest car manufacturer.(financeexpress.com)

• Bajaj is gearing up for back-to-back launches in the upcoming year. Among these new models, there are speculations that one will be an upgraded Platina, which is expected to be launched somewhere around early 2015. The Platina segment of motorcycles were somewhat overshadowed by the Pulsar and Discover ranges of motorcycles. Bajaj will hope that the series of Platina will be revived with this new-generation model in 2015.(cartrade.com)

•  Auto majors Tata Motors and Mahindra & Mahindra today announced price increases in the range of 1-2 per cent citing higher input costs.Mahindra & Mahindra raised prices by up to Rs 11,500 (ex-showroom) of passenger, commercial vehicles and tractors, while Tata Motors has hiked prices of its commercial vehicles in the range of 1-2 per cent. (ETauto.com)

• UML, a 50-50 JV between American bikemaker UM Motorcycles and Lohia Auto Industries, is planning to roll out mid-segment (300cc to 500cc) cruisers by Q2 CY2015. In an official communication today, the company release stated that “the cruiser bikes to be launched will have engine capacities in the range of 300cc to 500cc as against the 200cc to 230cc that was announced previously. The company plans to start with about 50 dealers in the first phase in the first year (CY2015), which will mostly cover all metro cities.” (autocarpro.in)

• Indian car major Maruti Suzuki is trying to boost the sales of its hatchback, the Ritz. In one such strategy, the carmaker has introduced a limited edition of the Ritz named the Ritz Elate. Customers can also save upto Rs 65,000 by buying the new limited edition Ritz Elate. What to expect on this limited edition model? Well, it will only be cosmetic upgrade while mechanically the car will remain the same.(motoroids.com)

• ndian Railways have been transporting cars since quite some time now, but all these were either through Railway's investment or by disjoined private investment. Now, Railways have begun transporting cars by freight trains in association with the private sector as a result of the newly framed policy by the Indian Railways.The first freight train carrying 280 finished vehicles has been flagged off by Union Railway Minister - D V Sadananda Gowda from Melpakkam near Arakonam, Chennai to the multi-modal logistics park of Container Corporation of India at Khatuwas near Delhi.(teambhp.com)