Automotive Updates - 18th November 2014

• As a part of its ongoing ambitious global expansion plan, the country’s oldest motorcycle brand Royal Enfield is gearing up to set up its third manufacturing facility, the second in the Oragadam industrial corridor in Chennai. The company which is owned by Eicher Motors has purchased a 50 acre plot in Vallam Vadakkal which is just 10 km away from its second unit in Oragadam. Royal Enfield’s original facility is located at Thiruvottiyur. (indianautoblogs.com)

• French tyre manufacturer Michelin plans to set up an R&D centre in India. The facility will be set up in Gurgaon and will be its first such unit in a developing country. It is understood that the company has already started hiring Indian engineers to staff the R&D centre.  However, the level of investment Michelin will be putting into the unit is not yet known. While the company’s focus is still on track tyres, it is optimistic about growth in India as the new government is expected to give a fillip to infrastructure, in turn generating demand for premium passenger car tyres. (autocarpro.in)

• Toyota is celebrating the first anniversary of the Camry Hybrid in India. The company has sold 541 units of the hybrid car in our country till date and is so pleased with its performance that they plan to introduce more such vehiclesin the Indian market.Out of the total sales of Camrys, 75 per cent of the units sold were Camry Hybrids. The car is currently assembled on a separate assembly line in Toyota Kirloskar Motor's second facility in Bidadi, Bangalore. Toyota's hybrid cars are only manufactured/assembled in nine countries around the world out of which India is one.(carwale.com)

• Homegrown auto major Mahindra & Mahindra is recalling 2,300 units of different variants of its popular SUVs Scorpio and XUV500, and multi purpose vehicle Xylo to rectify a defective vacuum pump in engines manufactured in May this year. The preventive inspection and replacement, if needed, of the vacuum pump would be free of cost for customers, who would be individually contacted by the company, Mahindra & Mahindra said in a statement. (ETauto.com)

• In order to improve its sales in the country, Renault India has announced an interesting offer on its slow selling Pulse hatchback and Scala sedan. The French automaker is now selling the diesel variants of the Pulse and Scala at the price of their respective petrol versions.As part of the limited period year-end stock clearance offer, Renault is offering Scala RxL diesel variant at a lucrative price of Rs. 8.01 lakh. Adding to it, the company is also giving a 2 years extended warranty and 4 years of free roadside assistance with the car. (cartrade.com)

• Tata Motors showcased two products from its municipal range of solutions at the Municipalika 2014, which was held in Gujarat last week. The Ace Hopper, according to Tata is ideal for “door-to-door garbage collection” and unloading waste into a larger garbage compactor. It is available in BS 3 and BS 4, and gets a Cathodic Electro Deposition (CED) treated body to prevent corrosion.The other vehicle showcased was the Super Ace Suction Machine available only with a BS 3 engine. The Super Ace Suction machine is good for door-to-door sewage cleaning and even that of narrow lanes.(indianautoblogs.com)

• All eyes were set on Tata Nano, which was expected to revive the car’s fortunes in India, however, if the reports received recently, are trusted, Tata Motors has completely stopped the project for an indefinite period. The team, which was behind the project, has been reassigned different projects. Incidentally, the Engineering Research Centre at Pimpri was assigned the job to revive the Nano. However, the entire team has been shifted to some different project according to the reports. (cartrade.com)

• India has set up a special committee of officials to expedite Japanese investment in India, separately from the Japan Plus team of officials from both sides constituted last month to research, outreach, promote and facilitate Japanese businesses wanting to set up base in Asia’s third largest economy. In response to Japanese concerns about infrastructure bottlenecks in India, Shatrughan Singh, additional secretary in the department of industrial policy and promotion (DIPP), also said the government was fast-tracking the development of industrial corridors besides setting up a new national industrial corridor development authority for the purpose.(livemint.com)