Automotive Updates - 10th March 2015

•  Home-grown two-wheeler major Hero MotoCorp has appointed Ashok Bhasin as the Head of Sales, Marketing & Customer Care function for the key India market.Bhasin will report directly to Pawan Munjal, Vice Chairman, Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer, and will be part of the leadership team, the apex decision making body at the country's largest two-wheeler maker.(Etauto.com)

• Swedish commercial vehicle major Scania is to open its bus manufacturing plant near Bangalore later this month. Anders Grundstromer, MD, Scania India and senior vice-president, Scania Commercial Vehicles, has confirmed the official inauguration on March 30, 2015. He had earlier said: “Scania is well renowned for its sustainable transport solutions such as vehicle running on renewable fuels. Now we make these solutions – city buses running on locally produced biofuels and premium quality intercity buses – in India. This will have a major impact for a genuine sustainable development in the Indian market and society, here and now.” - See more at: http://www.autocarpro.in/news-national/scania-inaugurate-indian-bus-plant-march-7891#sthash.bpQvmaZF.dpuf

• Honda Cars India’s new cars stocked at the Greater Noida facility suffered damages caused by paint fumes from the adjoining under construction manufacturing facilities. Half of the vehicles manufactured in February were affected and were ready for dispatch to the dealers but the Japanese automaker has restrained the vehicles from leaving the facility until resurrection. Reportedly, the manufacturing facility under construction is of a components supplier to large Korean electronics manufacturers.(cardekho.com)

•  Maruti Suzuki India Limited today announced that it will inspect and replace the `right hand door latch assembly' of 33,098 vehicles comprising 19,780 units of Alto 800 and 13,318 units of Alto K10, manufactured between 8th December 2014 and 18th February 2015.Maruti Suzuki dealers in the domestic market will contact owners of all the affected vehicles. The dealer workshop technicians will inspect the condition and carry out the necessary replacement, free of cost. (Etauto.com)

• Tata Motors has launched a new top-end variant on the Zest compact sedan. The Zest XTA Quadrajet, as the name suggests, is the range-topping diesel variant of the Maruti Dzire rival, fitted with an automated manual transmission (AMT). Until now, the AMT was available only on the XMA trim, which is priced at INR 6.99 lakhs. The XTA retails at INR 8.07 lakhs, and for reference, the XT with a manual transmission comes at INR 6.99 lakhs (all prices are ex-Showroom, New Delhi).Read more: http://indianautosblog.com/2015/03/tata-zest-xta-with-amt-launched-172459#ixzz3TzHJZtjn 

• DSK-Benelli has officially announced the launch of its new range of motorcycles in the Indian two-wheeler market on March 19, 2015. Moreover, the company has also announced that the bookings for the bikes will commence from March 10, 2015. Customers can book their motorcycles through DSK-Benelli stores in Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Goa, Mumbai, Kolkata and Pune.(cartrade.com)