Automotive Updates - 6th Nov. 2014

• Crash test results from Global NCAP in Delhi this week reveal Nissan’s Datsun Go received a zero-star safety rating. Datsun Go structure collapsed and was rated unstable when testing. Crash test dummies saw high forces placed on them, giving reason to believe grave risk of death or serious injury. Datsun Go small car body shell’s unstable finding deems it pointless to include airbags in the car, which means even adding safety features would not have a safe effect.(rushlane.com)

• Poly Plastics Auto Components has opened a new facility in Chennai at an investment of Rs 20 crore. The plant is located in the Nissan supplier park, near Oragadam. In the first phase, the plant will produce injection moulded parts including wheel rims covers for both Renault and Nissan. Poly Plastics is one of the biggest suppliers of car decorative parts including emblem monograms, grills, garnishes, wheel rim covers and wheel caps, fohg lamps door handles and ash trays, body side mouldings and moulded parts. Kapil Gupta, joint managing director, said, “In the first phase, the plant will make wheel covers, injection moulded parts and other decorative parts for the cars for Renault and Nissan. We can expand the plant three times the current size and subsequently will add more products and customers.” (autocarpro.in)

• US private investment firmBain Capital is selling $200 million worth of shares in Hero MotoCorp Ltd, with an option to sell more, according to a term sheet seen by Reuters. Bain Capital is selling nearly 4.3 million shares in India's biggest maker of motorcycles and scooters at a price range Rs 2,859.58 to Rs 2,963.30, the term sheet showed. (ETauto.com)

• Harman, a premium audio and infotainment solutions company is all set to commence the production operations at its Chakan facility. According to sources closely associated with the development, the company is expected to start manufacturing the passenger vehicle-specific audio systems by mid-November 2014. It can be recalled that nearly two years back, Harman, a US-based company (2013 net sales: USD 4.3 billion), had announced its plans of investing USD 10 million in the first phase to setup a production plant in Chakan. The planned production plant, which is expected to have an annual production capacity of 400,000 car sets, will tap the OEMs based in and around the Pune automotive belt. (autocarpro.in)

• Country's largest car maker Maruti Suzuki India (MSIL) is investing up to Rs 4,000 crore in the next 2-3 years in key areas like product development, R&D and marketing infrastructure, a senior MSIL official said on Tuesday. MSIL would also focus more on bringing out models with auto gear shift technology, going forward, executive director- engineering, CV Raman said."Currently Rs 4,000 crore worth of investments are going into research and development, product development and marketing infrastructure over period of two to three years (including the current year).(businesstoday.in)

•  Premium luxury carmaker Rolls-Royce will launch the Ghost Series II, in India,on November 7. The Ghost got a few changes in 2012; however the Series II gets more subtle changes to the exterior and interior also a few additions to the options list.(carwale.com)

• Stating that car makers in India meet the country’s safety norms,auto industry body SIAM today defended Maruti Suzuki and Nissan, which had failed crash tests conducted by Global NCAP on their Swift and Datsun GO models respectively.Lashing out at Global NCAP, an umbrella body of consumer car safety testing bodies, for “scaremongering”, SIAM Director General Vishnu Mathur said: “Every country has its own safety requirements. Our cars are meeting safety norms set by the government.”(finanacialexpress.com)

• Chennai-based Rajsriya Automotive Industries, a tier-I supplier of sheet metal pressed parts is opening a new plant in Nalagarh, Himachal Pradesh in January in order to be at a location close to its largest customers, TVS Motor Company. The Himachal Pradesh plant will supply products to TVS’s existing product in the initial phase. “We bought the land four  years ago and have just finished the construction and supply will start soon”, said P S Govindachari, managing director, Rajsriya Automotive Industries.   To cater to Chennai-based customers, the company recently opened a new integrated powder coating plant within its existing facility at Sriperumpudur. Both the plants together involve an investment of Rs 30 crore. (autocarpro.in)

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