Automotive Updates - 30th December 2014

• Come 2015, the prices of automobiles and consumer durables will go up as the government on Tuesday decided not to extend the reduced excise duty rates provided to these sectors beyond Wednesday. “The government is not extending the excise duty concessions on the auto sector and consumer durables,” a senior finance ministry official said. The move is expected to help the government raise additional revenue in the remaining three months of the current financial year to achieve the fiscal deficit target of 4.1% of the gross domestic product (GDP).Read more at: http://www.livemint.com/Industry/XUTN2VM1Wb4UYJsDgkF9CJ/Cars-SUVs-to-become-costlier-from-January-as-govt-ends-exci.html?utm_source=copy

• Junglee.com, a leading product search and comparison site in India, has announced the launch of its pre-owned vehicles store which enables users to find used vehicles on Junglee.com from over 160 cities across India. The company has also partnered with Mahindra First Choice for auto inspection and launched an automotive accessories store The store enables customers to search over 25,000 pre-owned vehicle listings across 160 cities from car dealers like Mahindra First Choice, classifieds sites like Carwale, Zigwheels, Gaadi.com, Drivespark and many offline dealers and individuals. Usually, shopping for vehicles is inherently limited to a city. - See more at: http://www.autocarpro.in/news-national/jungleecom-enters-vehicles-business-7219#sthash.Nqao4hkL.dpuf

• Volvo Eicher Commercial Vehicles (VECV) is planning to launch a number of trucks under the Eicher brand in India. In an interview with Autocar Professional, Eicher’s senior vice president of sales marketing, Shyam Maller, confirmed the same. The new products will include a Pro 1000 platform based 14-tonner which will be powered by a 3.3-litre diesel engine ‘E483′, and a Pro 3000 platform based 10.5-tonner which will be powered by a new 3.8-litre diesel engine ‘E494′.Read more: http://indianautosblog.com/2014/12/volvo-eicher-to-launch-new-trucks-in-2015-163055#ixzz3NO8Q5xf3 

• Hyundai Motor India Limited (HMIL) celebrates over 5 million fans on Facebook, and confirms domestic sales of over 4,00,000 units in 2014. Official Facebook page of Hyundai India was set up in 2011 and has reached 5 million fans within 3 years. Hyundai India now gives you a chance to meet Bollywood Superstar and Brand ambassador Shah Rukh Khan, as the auto manufacturer celebrates 50 lakh fans on Facebook through a virtual Hi-5 to SRK. Top 5 fans get an opportunity to meet SRK at Hyundai’s next TVC shoot. Read more at http://www.rushlane.com/hyundai-india-4-lakh-cars-sold-2014-12140366.html#iM8vKXyBaOuOf8FI.99

• : Post a successful run with the Zest compact sedan, Tata Motors is now set to introduce its second product under the 'Horizonext' banner, the Bolt hatchback on January 20th. The online bookings for the new hatchback commenced quite recently at a booking amount of just INR 11,000.(cardekho.com)

• 2015 will be a very interesting year for Hero MotoCorp as the company has a slew of new launches in the pipeline that will feature with a range of updates. While the company’s new flagship the HX250R is highly anticipated, the Indian two-wheeler giant hasn’t forgotten about the commuter space and will be coming with a range of new offerings next year that include two new scooters and motorcycles each in the mass market (we reported about it a couple of weeks back HERE). Now the first spy shot of the upcoming 110cc motorcycle has emerged online which is a Passion Pro and could be a facelift to it’       Read more at http://www.motorbeam.com/2014/12/bikes/hero-motocorp/hero-starts-testing-110cc-commuter-with-non-honda-engine/#GTat5FGje1t06ukV.99

• Honda India launched the Jazz way back in 2009 but the vehicle failed to set the sales charts on fire for the Japanese car maker. Now, we all know that Honda India is all set to launch the 2015 Jazz soon, but that’s not the big news. The 2015 Jazz will be sold here with a CVT on the petrol powered variant. This can be confirmed from the fact that Honda India has imported the paddle shifters from Thailand and can be seen on the source link below. Akin to the Honda City, the 2015 Jazz CVT will also feature steering mounted paddle shifters.(motoroid.com)

•  Hyundai Motor Co said on Tuesday it would build two factories in China, its first new manufacturing plants since 2012 as the South Korean automaker bets on growth in the world's biggest car market even as the economy slows. Hyundai said the factories, which will start production in 2016 and 2017, would help it better compete with rivals including Volkswagen and General Motors. Affiliate Kia Motors Corp also said it would expand capacity at one of its three Jiangsu province factories to up to 450,000 vehicles by 2016 from 300,000 now. (ETauto.com)