Automotive Updates - 14th and 15th December 2015

• Heavy rain in the southern Indian city of Chennai will disrupt auto manufacturing because the ensuing flooding disrupted the production of components needed by carmakers, according to a manufacturers group.The output of vehicles this month will be lower due to a shortage of components, Vishnu Mathur, director-general at the Society of India Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), said in New Delhi on Friday, without being more specific. PriceWaterhouseCoopers LLP estimates that more than a third of India’s auto production comes from the Chennai region and it will take at least one month for production to return to normal.(livemint)

• Following the National Green Tribunal's order, Supreme court of India on Tuesday said that it could ban diesel cars and SUVs with engine capacity of more than 2000cc. The ban will be in effect for three months from January. This comes five days after NGT had ordered to stop the registration of all diesel cars in Delhi till January 6, when the next hearing has been scheduled. The tribunal had also asked central and state government to stop buying diesel cars in Delhi. (Etauto)

• Mahindra & Mahindra will name its upcoming compact SUV, the KUV100. Earlier rumored to be called the XUV100, this new model is currently known by its codename S101.  Sources told Autocar India, Autocar Professional’s sister magazine, that the rationale behind naming the latest Mahindra as the KUV100 is that the company wants to position it as a completely different vehicle from its popular XUV500 SUV. Also, another key reason is that M&M did not want to dilute the XUV500 brand (commonly known as XUV in the mass-market) with a smaller and cheaper vehicle. The ‘K’ in the ‘KUV100’ moniker stands for ‘Kompact’, company sources told Autocar India. Official details of this new sub-four-metre SUV will be revealed by the carmaker on December 18, 2015. - See more at: http://www.autocarpro.in/news-national/mahindra-upcoming-compact-suv-kuv100-9888#sthash.9FimBAq6.dpuf

• Japanese carmaker Honda Cars India has introduced a new application; Honda Connect, as an information platform for its customers to stay directly connected with the company.The new application for its new cars initially paves the way for advanced Net-based connectivity between the customer, his car, his family and Honda. Based out of a device to be plugged into a car, the new app would integrate car systems with the company servers allowing safer and convenient information flow to the customers.(businesstoday)

• This is the first time that any of the Maruti Suzuki made cars will be exported to Japan. The first vehicle is the Maruti Baleno. The Baleno is manufactured in Maruti Suzuki’s Manesar plant and India is the first market where it got launched. The new Maruti Baleno is a premium hatchback that comes with a 1.2-litre petrol engine (K-Series) and a 1.3-litre diesel engine. These engines are available with a five-speed manual transmission.(cartrade)

• Earlier this year, the joint venture between Ashok Leyland and Nissan ran into rough weather. It suffered a loss of Rs. 791 crore in the financial year 2014-15. Demand for its products was weak and the Ashok Leyland Stile, which was a badge-engineered Nissan Evalia was discontinued. The Dost small truck has also failed to make an impact in the market.Now, the JV has received another setback. It has been sent a tax demand for Rs. 202 crore by the directorate of customs and intelligence. The factory machines, which were imported by the Renault-Nissan for the JV could also be seized. This is because the alliance had imported tools, robots and jigs under the Export Promotion Capital Goods scheme, which gives tax incentives for exports and the JV did not manage to ship any vehicle out of the country.(Teambhp)