Automotive Updates - 22nd June 2015

•  Sales of passenger vehicles will grow 5-7% in India in 2015-16, ratings firm ICRA Ltd said in a report on Monday. The growth it said, will be supported by first-time buyers, replacement demand over the large base of 2010-11 and several new launches in the compact utility vehicles segment.However, luxury car sales are expected to grow much faster at 15-20%, ICRA said.Also, despite a likely increase in sales, ICRA does not expect profitability rising much in the near term. The industry has to meet recurring expenses towards new product development and an increase in employee costs as several automakers have announced substantial wage increases.(livemint)

• Investment management company Vanguard Group Inc picked up 1.57 lakh shares of Eicher Motors for an estimated Rs 309 crore through open market transaction.A total of 1,57,058 shares (representing 0.58 per cent stake) of Eicher Motors were bought by Vanguard Group through a bulk deal transaction on the National Stock Exchange.Shares of the company were purchased on an average price of Rs 19,676.89, valuing the transaction at Rs 309.04 crore. However, the identity of seller of the shares could not be ascertained immediately.(Etauto)

• Automobile manufacturer Hyundai Motor India on Monday announced that its premium hatchback “Elite i20″ reached a cumulative sales mark of 100,000 units in India.“We are overwhelmed with the customers response by receiving over 100,000 sales for the Elite i20 in 11 months,” said B.S. Seo, managing director and chief executive, Hyundai Motor India.(financial express)

• Homegrown auto major Mahindra & Mahindra plans to launch six new tractors in the next three years, three each under its Mahindra and Swaraj brands. Expecting good monsoon this year, the company is optimistic about the overall tractor sales in the country to grow about 5% and is banking on new introductions to rev up sales."We had launched 'Arjun Novo' (under the Mahindra brand) last year which is doing very well but it is in a very small segment. Towards the end of the financial year, we will be launching the 'Dhruv' in the volume segment and one more product which we will launch sometime in FY17," Mahindra & Mahindra Executive Director Pawan Goenka told PTI.(cartrade)

• Launched on May 19, the latest iteration of Nano offers comprehensive styling and mechanical changes in a bid to increase sales. Seems the enhancements, especially the addition of AMT, have worked well in favor of new Tata Nano GenX. The city car has registered sales of 3,000 units in the first 30 days since launch, giving the automaker a much needed relief. In comparison, the slow selling city car ended last year with an abysmal average monthly sales of 1,400 units.(rushlane)

• Daimler India Commercial Vehicles (DICV) has announced that it has started selling made in India FUSO trucks in Cambodia. The southeast Asian country is DICV's 13th market.Cambodia's market is growing rapidly in many sectors like garments, logistics, mining and constructions. To cater to these sectors, DICV is offering the FA, FI and FJ models of FUSO trucks. These trucks are left-hand drive vehicles, that suit the Cambodian market's requirement. They are being distributed through RMA Cambodia, DICV's distributor in the country. The distributor will also provide support on technical services and spare parts as well as financial service.(team-bhp)

• DB Schenker in India has won the CII Supply Chain and Logistics Excellence Award (SCALE) 2014 – Top Freight Forwarder of India for the second time in a row. The Confederation of Indian Industry’s (CII) SCALE awards recognise excellence amongst logistics service providers and supply chain aspect of user industries like automotive, engineering, consumer, retail and pharmaceutical. A total of 212 applications were received for nomination in various categories, of which 86 were shortlisted and 43 companies made finalists. Overall, 21 companies were awarded in 14 different award categories. - See more at: http://www.autocarpro.in/news-national/db-schenker-wins-cii-supply-chain-logistics-excellence-award-8675#sthash.R9Z6hBlp.dpuf

•  image from eicher website and overdrive.in

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