Automotive Updates - 14th and 15th January 2016

•  Getting closer to the start of operation at its new plant in Sri City, Isuzu Motor India has stopped production at the Hindustan Motor plant in Thiruvallur in Chennai. In December, the Japanese utility vehicle manufacturer produced zero vehicles. "We are entering into Phase-2 of our production which will begin at our new plant in Sri City in Andhra Pradesh," said Shankar Srinivas, senior general manager.(ETauto)

• In what could help India combat vehicular pollution, the automobile industry on Thursday agreed to skip one stage and move straight to Bharat Stage-VI (BS-VI) emission norms from 2020.In return, it sought assurance that BS-VI fuel would be available across India at once, unlike a partial roll-out of BS-IV fuel, which is only available in top 50 cities even after five years of India accepting that standard.It also asked the government to scrap vehicles that comply with older BS-I, II, and III norms as well as even older ones that do not comply to any norms at all. This would result in an increase in demand for vehicles that comply with BS-VI norms. (livemint)

• Auto firm Mahindra and Mahindra launched a compact SUV 'KUV 1OO', targeted at the first-time car buyers and youth, with a starting price tag of Rs 4.42 lakh (ex-showroom, Pune).The SUV launch also marks the company's debut into the petrol segment. The company is targeting buyers who would otherwise go for premium hatchbacks like Maruti Suzuki's Swift and Hyundai's Grand i10, and stressed that the KUV1OO's price range between Rs 4.42 lakh to Rs 6.76 lakh is very competitive across variants.(businesstoday)

• India will have seven world class automotive design and testing centres being set up by National Automotive Testing and R&D Infrastructure Project (NATRiP) by the end of this year.The government has already made it mandatory for vehicle manufactures in the country especially cars for complying with best international standards for safety of driver and passengers and has set October 2017 deadline to comply with new norms.(ETauto)

• A total of 72 suppliers worked with M&M on the development of the mFalcon engines.With the launch of Mahindra & Mahindra’s (M&M) 1.2-litre, petrol-engined KUV100 SUV today, the all-new mFalcon engine family will see the light of day.M&M invested Rs 500 crore to design and develop this all-new engine family, which comprises petrol and diesel engines in three- and four-cylinder configurations with cubic capacities ranging from 1.2 litres to 1.5 litres. The current 1.2-litre petrol and diesel motors will be followed by a set of 1.5-litre, four-cylinder petrol and diesel engines, which are currently under development.- See more at: http://www.autocarpro.in/news-national/suppliers-partner-mfalcon-engine-project-10167#sthash.ORFcL6lK.dpuf